Read Stand Into Danger: Empire Rising Book 0 for Free Online

cruiser broke in two. Both halves began to spin away from each other, venting debris and bodies into the cold of space.
     
    The Russian destroyer, unharmed by the missiles, obviously still saw the freighter as a threat for she quickly turned to present her port missile tubes at Clara . A full broadside of four missiles quickly homed in on the freighter and ensured she came to a quick end. Jensen couldn’t help but feel sorry for the freighter as it broke apart under the explosive force. Watching the Russian light cruiser break apart had been tragic. It was a waste of good lives. Yet they had brought it on themselves. Clara was her ship; she had an emotional connection to the little freighter that she couldn’t explain. She had only captained her for five days and even so, as the last sign of the ship faded from the shuttle’s sensors, she felt an overwhelming sense of loss.
     
    *
     
    The lost freighter was the last thing on Somerville’s mind. Coming in hot behind Clara, Achilles was about to enter missile range of the destroyer. He wanted to make this a clean sweep and take it out before it could do Achilles any damage. After the battle with the two frigates at Ouvea, he knew their missiles could penetrate the Russian point defenses. One broadside should do it.
     
    “Fire!” he shouted as soon as the destroyer came into range. The exhaust plums of the eleven missiles that streaked off towards their target momentarily blinded the ship’s sensors. When the sensors cleared they showed four Russian missiles bearing down on Achilles . As both ships had fired at extreme range the destroyer managed to fire another salvo before it had to raise its point defenses to protect itself. Somerville could have fired another salvo too but he wanted to see what damage his first one caused before wasting more missiles.
     
    His judgment proved correct as the destroyer’s point defenses only managed to take out five of the British missiles. The rest closed with their target and at least one got a direct hit, causing enough damage to put it out of the fight.
     
    Achilles fared much better. Her point defenses were designed to take on many more missiles than the two salvos of four that tried to destroy her. In the end none of them managed to get even close enough to score a proximity hit.
     
    As the last missile exploded from a plasma cannon hit the crew on the bridge cheered. Somerville let them enjoy the moment but he knew that they were getting carried away. As yet Achilles hadn’t come up against an equal foe. The light cruiser and destroyer together would have given her a real test but ,thankfully, Jensen had taken care of it. If they had to face similar odds again Somerville knew they couldn’t count on being so lucky.
     
    When the crew had calmed down he gave the order for the sensor officer to send a signal to Jensen and her shuttle. They had been drifting without any systems powered up so the Russian destroyer wouldn’t detect them. Now it was time to get them home.
     
    Leaving the retrieval of Jensen to the junior bridge officers, Somerville brought up the sensor data that had been collected on the ships further into the system. As soon as the two Russian warships had been destroyed the remaining warships had broken orbit from around the gas giant and began to make for Achilles . The rest of the ships had scattered. The sensor officer’s readings suggested that the ships fleeing were military freighters while the warships were another light cruiser, a destroyer and two frigates. Achilles could never take them all on and hope to survive.
     
    Turning to his first officer Somerville asked, “what do you suggest we do now?”
     
    Hamilton was a good tactician. Somerville had already recommended him for promotion. Aggressive and yet careful to apply it at the right time, he was just the sort of officer the RSN was trying to get into command positions.
     
    “We could make a run for it,” he began as he manipulated his