"Captain Risher is requesting permission to pursue the Alliance formation, Admiral," the coms officer said.

Jackson held up one finger to let her know he'd heard her as he studied the tracks being plotted on the main display. The sensor data from the enemy fleet was over the Link, and since Taskforce Wolfpack had all its ships networked together with dedicated Bluebird data channels that didn't go through the normal Fleet com network, he saw the ships as Risher did.

The Alliance fleet commander obviously knew they were there but hadn't immediately pushed for an escape vector. That told Jackson either their transponder ruse was far more successful than he'd have ever hoped it would be, or the small force of cargo haulers had a little surprise of their own. On the other hand, he couldn't just allow them free navigation of a Federation system.

It allowed them to dictate the terms of the engagement and automatically put Jackson on defensive footing, which he hated. He'd always won engagements with long odds by being aggressive and forcing the enemy to react to him while disrupting their strategy.

So, why was he so hesitant to intercept a group of freight barges when he had the most advanced warships in existence at his disposal? Did he not trust Captain Risher to command the group in his stead? No. That wasn't it. If he'd had doubts about Risher's command ability and tactical skillset, he would have had him removed before they left port. He trusted his people, but still that doubt remained telling him that things weren't as they appeared to be.

"Admiral?" Captain Ellsworth prompted.

"Tell Captain Risher he is clear to intercept, but I don't want any unnecessary chances taken," Jackson said. "He is not cleared to use intra-system warp hops, and I want him to keep the taskforce outside the effective range of any known Alliance weapon."

"Aye, sir. Sending update," the com officer said.

Jackson watched the updated Link stream as the four ships commanded by Captain Risher accelerated to break their orbit and pursue the Alliance fleet. The acceleration profile Risher had chosen was quite aggressive, and the gravimetric wake they produced would almost certainly be detected by the enemy so the element of surprise was gone. Jackson knew the Alliance ships likely were aware of their presence, but a more subtle touch during the intercept might have kept them guessing until the Wolfpack ships were almost upon them.

"Captain Risher must be in quite a hurry," Ellsworth remarked, his voice carrying just a hint of reproach.

"Have CIC keep a close watch on the Link for any hint the enemy is up to something," Jackson said quietly. "This doesn't feel like a straightforward raid on a fortified base."

"Will do, Admiral."

9

"We've received word that Admiral Wolfe's new taskforce might be in Star System B-1171."

"Might be?" Vadim Kohl asked, spinning on his intel liaison.

"B-1171 is a system we know has a secret base on one of the habitable moons," the lieutenant pressed on quickly. Admiral Kohl wasn't known for his patience lately. "Fleet Command has been running a classified op for almost a year now to either capture the base or deny the enemy. The small incursion fleet sent in first reported back that the system wasn't deserted as current intel said it should be. There were five Federation CIS transponders active that all went dark at the same time. The lead ship reported the accelerometer data suggests the ships were at least destroyer-class not Prowlers."