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“Comms, set up a data-link with the rest of the pack. Let’s see what we can get by putting our heads together.” You ordered as the armored shields over the bridge windows silently retracted into their resting positions. Not that it did much to change that you could see. You could parse about as much information from the random smattering of stars as you could from the armored bulkheads.
“From the looks of it… we dropped out closest to the Achilles and the supply barge. They’re a couple dozen kilometers off our port, while the Iconoclast and the Galaxy are around a hundred kilometers off our starboard.” The sensors officer crowed as your tactical display winked into life, showing the approximate position of the other vessels in your wolfpack.
Your unit was DESRON-35’s third flotilla, and was intended to operate as its own wolfpack just like the other two formations. But unlike the other two, the third was a hybrid unit. The force was made up of two Halberd class light destroyers -the Ionoclast and the Galaxy, a pair of Able class heavy destroyers -the Longinus and the Achilles, and a single unmanned supply vessel. And on top of that little unique feature, there was also the fact that every vessel in the flotilla was carrying a smart AI. This far out, and with no chance of reinforcement, the high likelihood of losing multiple AI was worth it in order to boost the combat effectiveness of the flotilla.
That alone was a ringing endorsement of just how effective these wolfpacks could be, even if the risks were incredibly high.
“Standby, the Ionoclast is sending a handshake protocol. They’re booting the TAC-NET. Commander Trafford is also hailing us.” Diana informed you, pre-empting the comms ensign by a couple of seconds.
“Understand, patch him through.” You replied, stealing yourself to speak with your semi-official commanding officer.
Commander Tyler Trafford was an experienced officer, he’d been commanding vessels before you even joined up. From New Constantinople to Paris IV, he’d managed to rack up a good number of kills, even if his own vessel had been shot out from under him a few times. You would have expected him to be a cruiser or even carrier captain now, but something was holding him back. And while he hadn’t said anything obviously hostile, it was obvious that he wasn’t happy at the idea of you matching his rank and posting. Even if you were on an older vessel to his block 40 Halberd.
A holographic display was quickly projected onto the window in front of you, giving you a window into the surprisingly roomy command bridge of his Halberd class vessel. The old commander regarded you with a carefully neutral look, and an even more neutral tone. “Commander Wells. How’s the Longinus holding up?”
>“Green across the board. What’s the plan sir?”
>“We’re doing fine, how about the Iconoclast?”
>“Well the front hasn’t fallen off. So that’s always good.”
>Other (write-in)
