“We can’t hide, so we may as well attract some real attention,” Eric said. “We can also take a beating. You can’t. So we’ll keep them focused while you flank them. Stay dark until you get a shot, then change course and speed after every one.”

“This goes against pretty much every SOP for carrier escort, you realize?” Ian asked dryly.

“The Heroics are not carriers—we’re battleships,” Eric told him. “We can cover our own flanks. Do you each understand your orders?”

The captains of his Rogues acknowledged his command, some less eagerly than others, but Eric wasn’t concerned with that.

“Relax. I have no intention of sacrificing another ship.” Eric smiled darkly. “This is probably an unnecessary maneuver anyway. The Imperial ship we tangled with was not maneuvered by what I’d call a tactical genius. And while their weapons were more powerful than expected, like the Priminae and the Drasin they seem to rely primarily on brute force. You’re all giant killers, ladies and gentlemen. Have no fear of Goliath.”

“And if Goliath brought friends?” Ritter asked with a very slight Southern drawl.

“That’s why we have Heroics, Max.” Eric smiled. “Let us live up to our name.”

►►►

► “The difficulty isn’t just in precision flying,” Chief Siing Khava insisted as he spoke to the others present around the table. “As close as you want to fly, Commander, we’ll need to worry about resonance between our drives.”

The chief could see the others were somewhat mixed in their understanding. However, with the engineers of the other Heroics nodding along, he was gratified that the pilots seemed to have some idea of what he was saying.

“Our drives can cancel each other out, then?” Lieutenant Commander Samuels asked.

“That,” he said, “or worse, they might enforce one another.”

“That would be a problem in precision flying,” Steph conceded.

“More than that, I’m afraid,” Siing offered, sighing. “If you reinforce the drives beyond the safety limit, you risk creating an artificial singularity large enough to swallow the ship.”

“Hang on,” Samuels interjected. “I thought the systems were designed to keep the singularities ahead of the ship?”

“They are. However, if a singularity becomes too large, then the prow of the vessel might cross the event horizon anyway.”

“I’m assuming that would be as bad as it sounds,” Steph said. “Alright. If we want to get close, what sort of numbers are we talking?”

“That would depend on whether you wanted to avoid a mandatory refit after the maneuver,” Siing said. “Even if we managed to maintain drive stability, at that proximity, the stresses on the hulls will be significant.”

“Okay, so I need numbers from you for maximum ‘safe’ distance,” Steph said, “and numbers for military maneuvering.”