The data for Alpha-One was flashing red, telling him that it was old and unverified. The fact both ships he'd sent around the planet had yet to either report back or update their status weighed heavily on his mind, but not as much as the fact the enemy ship hadn't come back around Xi'an. Even at a leisurely orbital velocity, it should have reappeared before the Ares had opened fire on its twin.

"Link connection re-established with the Icarus," Davis said. "Atlas is still unresponsive. Data coming up now."

Jackson leaned forward. The position for Alpha-One changed very little. It had drifted up to a higher altitude, but it was still hanging over Xi'an and looked for all the universe like it was waiting on them.

"Can the Icarus verify the target's orientation for us?" Jackson asked, not directing his comment at anyone in particular.

"Icarus is still not answering coms, Captain," Lieutenant Keller said.

"Link connection just dropped again," Davis said. "I can't get it back, but from the last radar image, I'm able to determine the target's orientation in relation to the planet. Putting it on the main now."

Jackson studied the rough representation of the target, his fears confirmed. "Helm! Roll ninety-six degrees to starboard and pitch down thirty-two degrees," he ordered. "Standby for throttle up."

"Sir-"

"I'm overriding the safety locks," Jackson said. "Carry out the order."

"Aye aye, sir," the helmsman said, hesitation still evident in his voice. "Rolling over and diving toward the planet."

Jackson continued to look over the calculations he'd been working out on his own terminal, ignoring the concerned looks around him.

"OPS, retract forward optics and antennas, and secure outer hatches," he ordered. "Helm, continue your dive, and level out at twenty-five thousand, three hundred meters above the surface of Xi'an."

"Captain, that will-"

"In a moment, Commander." Jackson cut off his XO. "Nav, verify my numbers." He bracketed his calculations with his two hands on the display and sent them over to the nav station where the chief on duty plugged them into his system.

"Course verified, Captain," the chief said. "We are currently flying too slow for it to work."

"Thank you, Chief." Jackson's eyes were glued to the outside view on the main display until it disappeared once the optical sensors had been retracted. "Helm, ahead full. We need at least twelve thousand, five hundred and seventeen meters per second forward velocity."

"Ahead full, aye," the helmsman said, sounding confident with the more specific command.

The Ares rolled and descended rapidly toward the opaque atmosphere, her two main engines spewing white hot plasma at full power. Once the ship began to rub up against the thermosphere-mesosphere transition, it began to shudder as the hull temperature rose.

"OPS, keep an eye on our hull temp," Jackson said. "Helm, when I give the order, I want you to pull us up into a climb, fifteen degrees nose-up. Lieutenant Davis, as soon as the hull temps begin to drop again, redeploy the sensors and get me a fix on Alpha-One. Tactical, be ready to snap fire three Shrikes. You'll have to be ready to acquire the target and fire very quickly."

There was a chorus of affirmations as the Ares really began to rock and buck deeper she flew into Xi'an's atmosphere.

"Sir?"

"I have a hunch, Commander," Jackson said to Celesta. "It looks like the pair are talking to each other, as we'd suspect, and this one is waiting for us to appear over the horizon at any moment."

"Agreed." Celesta raised her voice over the harsh rumbling now that the ship was pushing even deeper into a place it was never meant to go.

"At the altitude it's sitting at, I think we have a good chance of coming up underneath it while its concentrating on where we should be from what they've observed of our normal orbital flight profiles," Jackson said.

"I feel I must point out that if it isn't fooled, and we take a serious hit while so low in the planet's atmosphere..." she left her sentence unfinished.

"I'm well aware of the risks," Jackson assured her. Any faltering in either main engine meant the ship would decelerate and simply fall to the surface of the planet. "But I'm confident in the strategy. They learn quickly by observation, but no other Terran starship is capable of this maneuver, so I doubt they'll be expecting it."

"Commander Singh will not be happy." She pointed to the spiking hull temperatures now displayed on the main in flashing red.

"I wouldn't think so," Jackson agreed. "Helm, standby!"

"Standing by, sir!" the helmsman said.

Jackson would have chuckled at the young man's high-pitched voice if he wasn't feeling the same fear himself. He said a silent prayer that the Ares's internal sensors were as accurate as he needed them to be before giving his next order. "Helm, pitch up! OPS, Tactical... get ready!"

If anything, the violent buffeting increased as the attitude jets struggled mightily against the slipstream to raise the Ares's nose. The computers took note of this and angled the "nozzles" of the main engines up ten degrees to compensate. After that short, ass-clenching moment, during which Jackson thought he may have killed his entire crew and lost his ship without taking a single shot from the enemy, the destroyer pulled her nose up and began to climb rapidly out of Xi'an's upper atmosphere.

The hull temperature started to drop just as quickly as the warship was gaining altitude, the advanced material shedding off the heat now that the friction was removed. Once it dropped below seven hundred and fifty degrees Centigrade, he knew they were out of immediate danger... and flying into a worse one.

"Outer hatches opening, sensors redeploying," Davis called out. "Radar and optics searching for target."

"Target acquired!" Barrett nearly shouted.

"Fire at will!" Jackson was equally excited as the image of the Alpha appeared above them and slightly to starboard... still diligently pointed toward the horizon where it expected them to appear.

"Birds one, two, and three are away," Barrett said, after he fired off three tactical nukes. "Flying hot and clean. Time to impact, four minutes."

"We rarely get a shot this close," Jackson said. "Helm, shallow out our climb. Two hundred and fifty kilometer altitude, maintain inclination."

"Aye, sir."

The Ares flattened out in her climb, passing rapidly under the Alpha and continuing along toward the far horizon and the battle against the Alpha-Two.

"We've been spotted," Davis said. "Alpha-One is rotating around, bringing its nose to bear. Weapon ports opening along the leading edge."

"Range?"

"Thirty-four thousand kilometers and increasing."

"First missile impact in fifteen seconds," Barrett said, silencing all conversation on the bridge as everyone held their breath. They were so close, they didn't need to wait for the light to reach them before they knew the first missile had found its mark. The Ares's optical sensors were attenuated enough that Jackson could actually see the distortion ripples as a nuclear shockwave propagated across the Alpha's organic hull.

"Impact!" Barrett broke the silence with the unnecessary update.

The next two missiles hit in quick succession, burying their warheads deep as they flew unimpeded through the gashes opened up in the hull from the first missile. The detonations of the last two warheads shredded the insides of the Alpha. The tough organic hull undulated and bulged as the waves of energy bounced around, completely destroying the inner workings of the massive ship until it could no longer hold and burst open like a seedpod, sending the smoking ruins of the Alpha's guts streaking off into space.

"Yes!" Lieutenant Keller pumped his fist in the air. The rest of the bridge crew cheered and clapped as the Ares flew away unscathed, save for a discolored hull. Jackson let them carry on a moment longer before reasserting control.

"We are still engaged, people," he said sternly. "Get me status updates on the rest of the squadron, and prepare the ship to face Alpha-Two when we come around the planet."

Davis checked her Link statuses. "Atlas is unresponsive. Icarus is unresponsive. Artemis has taken damage, but nothing critical, and Hyperion is FMC. Artemis is reporting that Alpha-Two has departed the system."

"Coms, find out where in the hell my other two destroyers went," Jackson said. "Tactical, begin scanning for debris along their last known flight path." His insides twisted at the thought of losing forty percent of his force in the first real battle of what was becoming an inevitable war.

"Plasma fire coming up from the surface!" Lieutenant Davis shouted. "Impact in seven seconds!"

"Helm! Full emergency stop!" Jackson ordered. "Roll to port seventy degrees!"

Even with the cutting edge artificial gravity generators, the crew was still thrown forward as the main engines reversed thrust and pushed mightily against Ares's inertia. Jackson climbed quickly to his feet, having been tossed from his seat, and saw the nine plasma shots intended to destroy them streak past just off the port bow as the ship completed her roll maneuver.

"All shots missed... barely," Davis said.

"All ahead full!" Jackson ordered. "Nav! Get me an orbital transfer and a path away from this damn planet. OPS, use our drone data, and coordinate with Tactical for a surface strike, use the two Shrikes we left in orbit."

When the Ares shot around the horizon at full power, she'd already climbed up to a transfer orbit in order to reach the altitude the Artemis and Hyperion were sitting at. Jackson had been more than a little shocked when he'd looked over the damage report for the Artemis. The destroyer had taken quiet a beating, including a direct hit with one of those Alpha missiles, but had managed to stay in the fight. Captain Forrest had requested permission to withdraw to a safe distance from Xi'an to begin effecting repairs. Jackson immediately approved and sent the Hyperion along with her as an escort.

"How are we looking, Tactical?"

"New flight profile has been sent to the Shrikes, Captain," Barrett said. "They've got enough fuel left for a deorbit burn, and then they'll freefall the rest of the way in."

"Air burst detonation?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Very good." Jackson sat back in his seat. "How long until they're in position?"

"Deorbit burn will happen in another seventeen minutes," Barrett said. "After that, it'll be another six minutes to detonation."

"OPS, launch another drone," Jackson said. "I want it loitering outside the impact zone at a safe distance, and when the blast subsides, let's get some data on what's left on the ground. Have it transmit the data as a burst and then self-destruct."

"Aye, sir," Davis said. "Drone launching momentarily."

"Self-destruct?" Celesta asked.

"We're going to be steaming away from Xi'an by the time the area is safe for it to get in there," Jackson explained. "While it's true, we could put it back in orbit or land it on the surface for a potential later pickup, I don't see a point in leaving it intact for the enemy to find if they come back. A lot can be learned about our level of technology and engineering methodologies by studying something as mundane as an automated drone, not to mention exactly which part of the EM spectrum we communicate on and how we perceive the universe around us."

"Of course, sir," Celesta said. "I should have thought of that."

"Don't worry, I have something more important for you to think about," Jackson said. "I need you to find my missing ships. I can't leave this system without knowing where two fifths of my squadron disappeared to. You're authorized to pull from any departments and utilize any equipment you need, including long-range coms and high-power radar."

"Right away, sir." She shot to her feet. "I'll be in CIC."

"Missiles are entering the atmosphere now," Barrett said after a few more minutes of relative calm on the bridge. "Standby for confirmation of detonation."

It was another tense few minutes before they saw evidence of the nuclear detonation on the surface. The Ares was just coming around the terminator, crossing into the night side, when the horizon lit up with a tremendous flash. The light from the explosion diffused in the polluted atmosphere so it appeared to be a glow that encompassed half a continent.

"Detonation, both missiles," Barrett still reported, even though everyone had already seen it with their own eyes.

"That's it until the drone confirms the ground site has been eliminated," Jackson said. "Stand down from general quarters. Nav, plot a course to rendezvous with the Artemis. Helm, you're clear to engage... ahead two thirds. Let's leave this godforsaken planet behind us."

Chapter 4.

"So, Captain, please show me the supplemental technical data you received from Tsuyo that led you to believe that a Starwolf-class starship was capable of being flown within a planet's atmosphere." Daya Singh pasted an obviously forced smile on his face.

"Well, Commander, it was simple supposition based on first year academy physics." Jackson took a sip of water. "She's two thirds the weight of the old Raptor-class ship with over four times as much available engine power. Not only that, but with all her antennas and sensors retracted, she has a fairly slippery shape. I will admit it was a tad unnerving though."

"Seriously, Jack." Singh dropped all pretense of joking. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I was once again leading a woefully inadequate ship against a Phage Alpha," Jackson said. "It was a calculated risk just slightly less insane than blindly flying around a planet directly into the damn thing's field of fire."

"That's why you're a captain and I'm an engineer, I suppose." Singh shrugged.

The pair was sitting in the Captain's Mess enjoying some down time and an evening meal while the Ares continued her leisurely flight back to the rest of the squadron where the Artemis's crew was scrambling to get field repairs complete before they departed the system. Commander Wright was still trying to find the Icarus and Atlas and hadn't taken a break since Jackson had tasked her with the project.

"I'm going back to the bridge." Jackson stood suddenly. "I want to be there when we meet up with the Artemis and Hyperion, and I'm not going to be able to relax until we find out what happened to the other two ships."

"I should probably get back to my work center as well." Singh also stood. "Your little joyride through the Xi'an sky wasn't without consequences. The external heat exchangers have dropped in efficiency since the engagement."

"Sounds relatively minor," Jackson said. "Let me know what you find."

Even after trying to sit for a meal and calm himself down, Jackson was still wired, buzzed on adrenaline and fear. He'd left the bridge shortly after the Ares had broken orbit for the outer system, so the crew wouldn't see that his hands were shaking after the encounter with the Alpha. They seemed to have all the confidence in the universe in his ability to get them through alive. Some of the crew aboard that had served on the Blue Jacket even seemed to look forward to the chance to kick some more alien ass.

But the truth ate at him: eventually his luck was going to run out. The Phage adapted and learned from each encounter at a frightening rate, and he still relied on panic-fueled inspiration to find workarounds for the inadequacies of human weaponry against the Phage's true big guns like the Alphas. To make matters worse, even after four years, much of what they thought they knew about their enemy was just best guess. Destroyed Phage ships offered little in the way of useful intel, other than that they were all crewless and were either a form of automaton or, more terrifyingly, were some sort of living machines.

Jackson left that sort of speculation for the eggheads at Fleet Science and Engineering. He'd worked with CIS and CENTCOM to develop a set of tactics and standard operating procedures when engaging the Phage based on his own experience, but it all went out the window with every battle as they seemed to demonstrate a new ability or completely different behavior. The fact that the two Alphas seemed to have been mimicking Terran missiles and kinetic weapons instead of their usual directed plasma bursts was yet another wrinkle in trying to understand the Phage.

His comlink chirping made him stop midstride, just before he got to the hatch leading onto his bridge, a soft whine of protest coming from his left leg as he planted all his momentum on the prosthetic. The screen on the unit was a text only message informing him that Captain Forrest wanted to debrief him as soon as possible. He debated making her wait, but he had nothing pressing going on other than trying to come up with a plausible story in his head to explain to his superiors how in the fuck he lost two irreplaceable, top-of-the-line warships in their first real engagement with the enemy.

He spun on the ball of his right foot and quickly made his way back to his office, confirming the request on his comlink and letting Captain Forrest know he'd be available within the next five minutes.

"Senior Captain Wolfe." Captain Olivia Forrest nodded respectfully, her entire demeanor much changed from all the other interactions Jackson had ever had with her. "Thank you for taking my request on such short notice, sir."

"Not a problem, Captain." Jackson shifted in his seat. "Is there a particular reason you wanted a face to face? We'll compile all of the Artemis's mission data with our own when we submit the final mission report to CENTCOM."

"Yes, sir," she said. "I wanted to apologize for allowing the Alpha to escape the system and for allowing my ship to be so badly damaged."

Jackson was surprised for a second time in as many minutes. Olivia Forrest apologized for nothing, especially her own mistakes. The more at fault she was, the more aggressive she became.

"I think we were all taken by surprise, Captain," he said carefully. "I'm not ascribing blame to anyone in particular for any of the missteps we made from the time those two Alphas appeared. We'll parse through the data with a dispassionate eye and make adjustments so next time we don't repeat our mistakes."

"That is very gracious of you, sir," she said with no hint that she was being anything but sincere. "Your tactics against the other Alpha were inspired, if I may say." She seemed to hesitate a moment before she continued, looking at each of the other captains before she did. "I also wished to speak with you so I could request permission to withdraw the Artemis back to uncontested space."

Jackson leaned back in his chair as he considered her request. The Artemis was banged up but still combat capable. Having her pull out of the system before he knew what had happened to the Icarus or Atlas might be foolish on his part.

"Request denied, Captain," he said. "We're still missing two ships, and I'd rather keep the Artemis here in case we need her resources in the search... or the recovery. As soon as we locate them and ascertain their condition, I will revisit your request."

"Understood, sir." Forrest's mouth pinched. "Artemis out."

Jackson reflected on the exchange for a moment as well as the unexpected request. The crucible of combat, even the sterile type of combat done from the bridge of a starship over vast distances, tended to change a person... and change them almost immediately. It wasn't that he was unsympathetic. He understood her desire to leave after surviving a firefight, but he didn't have the luxury of indulging her discomfort.