TBntG Chpt 35

==The Bull and the Genie- Chapter 35 - Warships Vs. Fighters: FIGHT!==
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===Taking fight to the Pirates===
Toland Orbit - Toland, Lyran Commonwealth
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The SLDF had many books on orbital support. Entire officer-track programs were dedicated to the training. 
Any one of those officers would have been cashiered in an instant for what the pirates were doing. A ship providing orbital bombardment, especially sustained bombardment, was hideously vulnerable. Unable to establish an orbit, as opposed to hovering over the target, a simple engine malfunction could see it plummeting to the ground. Worth more than entire regiments of mechs, any enemy would be insane not to go for it.
SLDF doctrine involved counter air sweeps of fighters, close in dropship and fighter defenses, and above the Warship. Too far out to bombard the world, but close enough to fire on any attackers going for the bombardment platform, other warships, prepared to unleash a hail of fire in defense of their comrade.
Lastly, the SLDF used their cheap ships for this, the collarless designs so scorned by armchair admirals. But designs that they could afford to lose in a way that even the SLN could not afford to lose a McKenna or Potemkin.
The first attack wave were fighters—every Taurian and militia fighter on the the planet. A single hit from an NPPC would kill even the largest fighter, so the goal was to swarm the ship, not provide it with driblets of targets. Behind them, came nearly a dozen dropships. 
Piloted by volunteers with most of their crews on the ground. 
Flight Commander Santos, named for the long dead CNO of the TFN, was not going to get any more people killed than he had to, and dropships were just big enough to be easy to hit, just small enough to die quickly.
They were armor, of a sort, because they would hopefully keep the pirates busy while the fighters got to point blank range. 
"Right, everyone, this is a fast bypass. One shot, make it count, then try to skim around the world for the next shot. If you lose your engines, don't lose your head. We've got small craft that can find you, as long as you pop your beacons. Wait until we're out of range of their guns before you do that. This lot is going to be a might angry with us."
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===Caught by Surprise===
Potemkin Cruiser, In Orbit - Toland, Lyran Commonwealth
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"Holy fuck! Boss, the sensors!"
What the—he stared at the big screen, better than anything he's seen, and it showed the fighters skimming just through the very top of atmosphere, close enough that they were actually glowing from the friction.
"Cancel all fire support! Get those bastards!" he shouted. 
The big ship rolled, and its NPPCs and laser batteries opened fire. 
Two fighters, a Lyran and Taurian fighter were blotted from the sky, but the mass continued driving forward. 
"The fuck!"
"They're too small for the particle guns!"
"Get our fighter cover back up here!"
"Too late!" 
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===Taking on the Potemkin===
In Orbit - Toland, Lyran Commonwealth
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Fast past engagements were called sudden death in the manual, and Santos understood why. One second, the ship was just a computer-assisted blip on his hud.
The next second, it was looming in his canopy, and he pulled the triggers. His Mod-C fighter had never been intended to dog fight, but then, battleships didn't dodge worth a damn, and he was going for the sail assembly. The big class-20 autocannon roared away along with the softer sound of his flushing all the SRM's. 
The other craft were firing away, lasers, auto-cannon, missiles—the bombers they'd brought along had flushed the half-dozen or so guided ASM's they'd brought, more because the book said so than anyone though they'd be shooting at a battleship, and some of them were actually carrying dumb-bombs, the lunatic pilots claiming that they could land a hit on a battleship.
The big guns had stopped firing on them, concentrating on the distraction force. A Union was struck by no less than four NPPC's and just seemed to fall apart, but then Santos was past the ship.
<<"Confirm, did we hit the sail!">>
<<"Damage to the drive, but—yes, the sail is falling apart!">>
"Good hits, good—"
NPPCs were not suited for anti-fighter engagements, but sometimes they got lucky. Flight Commander Santos would never return to his home on Taurus. Nor would approximately 25 percent of the total force that engaged the Potemkin.
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===Panic in the dark skies===
Potemkin Class Troop Cruiser - Toland System, Lyran Commonwealth
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"Morgaine wants us to provide more fire support—"
"Fuck her!"
"We've lost the sail, and the KF regulator's acting screwy."
He rounded on the engineering officer. "Then fix it!"
"Me and what army! It's a KF regulator and core for a battleship. I need to go over it, and figure out what the hell happened. Then we can jump, and hope we can run a hot-charge."
"Fuck. FUCK! Boost us out of here, full power! Tell Morgaine and Ryan they can ask the Bulls for a ride. Any dropships that can't catch up with us stay behind!"
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===Handling the Stragglers===
Toland City - Toland, Lyran Commonwealth
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<<"General, the enemy's panicking.">>
"Do tell." Thomas said. There were dropships lifting off, not caring if anyone was in their danger zone. The fighters that had survived the attack on the Warship were rearming, while the VTOLs he had left were sniping them as they lifted up.
"This is Thomas to all commands. They've lost their rides and they're in an empty city. Nobody dies a hero. We pin them down and kill them from long range, and if anyone accepts some BS demand for a duel from a pirate, I will personally kick your ass back to Tharkad if you're Lyran, or Taurus if you're one of my lot."
<<"General?">>
Thomas opened the private frequency. "Yes?"
<<"Redjack Ryan is dead, confirmed.">>
"How'd you take him out?", asked Thomas
<<"He tried to get through a building. We dropped it on him and then Infernoed the ruins. Infantry just reported: Extra Crispy.">> 
"They are going to be insufferable." Thomas shook his head. "Well, tell the boys and girls to remember to get their names right—I think there's a bit of a bounty on his head and we wouldn't want it going to the wrong person." 
<<"It's odd.">> the Zeus pilot, Jaimie, was her name, said. 
"Oh?" 
<<"I grew up with stories of duels. You know, two mech's deciding a world's fate and this…">> The younger militia pilot paused. <<"You've run things so I don't think we've engaged at worse than 3-1 odds once, just three of our mechs, hammering them, or dropping buildings on them…">> 
"Well. That's just how you fight a war. Speaking of that, I bet that Morgaine is going to be heading back for the landing zone. Still a few dropships that are disabled, and they're here only ride off this world. As the senior Lyran officer I'm with, I believe you should be the one to inform her that having landed without papers or passport, we will have to detain her."
<<"And when she says no?">> The other pilot asked. 
"Then we crush her like a cockroach.", he told militia pilot 
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