Koban: Rise of the Kobani Read Free Page A

shuttle, so a large vertical landing ship, like the Mark of Koban, was outside his expertise as a pilot.
    Mirikami pulled at his lip. “I’ll have to slow and hover over the canyon for a moment to get centered. Unless the wind is high that day, I should be able to counter any side drift. I don’t want to still be evading missiles or chase planes when I go vertical and settle. The long-range sensors show that Navy Carrier you said was usually here. It’s standing off and parked out by the inner gas giant, orbiting one of its moons. How many of its fighters do you think would be in the inner system?”
    Reynolds shrugged. “I was a dirt pounder. I know that sometimes the one or two man fighters would come in for cover and air support if our forces were being hit in the rear by single ships. It took a four or five to one advantage to take on one of their single ships, and our pilots stayed well away from the Dragons and front lines, since those portable plasma cannons can knock them down from five or even ten miles away.
    “Our pilots and planes are far and away more maneuverable than a single ship in atmosphere, since they have wings, and a single ship is a simple tube that farts propellant to turn or accelerate. It also as Normal Space drives with tachyon Traps, usually for operation in space. It is much faster and has heavier armament than our space planes, but a Krall pilot isn’t as good as our people, once they leave orbit and hit air, even if a Krall can take much greater acceleration.
    “The atmosphere is a big drag, literally, on their effectiveness as air attack fighters or bombers. Our smart missiles are better, because they aren’t as easily spoofed by electronic counter measures, and they don’t cause collateral damage for our side if they can’t score a hit. Naturally, the Krall don’t give a shit about what happens if they miss. However, I don’t think you will have any fighters try to close with us. The lasers or plasma cannons of a clanship can vaporize them, and its own tough hull and stealth make it hard for them to hit or damage. They won’t know that we aren’t trying to kill them, and they’ll stay away.
    “However, our planes and ground Batteries can fire some long-range missiles, if they can get targeting information from the Turb AI. Our safest course is to descend over Krall territory where the planes can’t fly and the ground launchers are at extreme range and then we can approach the canyon at tree top level from there.”
    “What sort of AI?” Marlyn asked. “Tub did you say?”
    “Turb, for turbulence detection. The PDC fills the air with microwaves, and a grid of ground detectors sense the refraction from atmospheric disturbances that the AI examines. There is a lot of turbulence that is natural, from storms and such, particularly over windy mountain ranges. However, none is long and vertically tubular at high altitudes, as when a Krall craft penetrates fast, nor does nature often form horizontal tubes at lower altitudes, as we’d make during high-speed horizontal travel. Those are most likely a fast moving clanship or single ship making a penetration, and if there is no corresponding hard radar or laser reflection, then it’s targeted as a stealthed enemy.”
    “Is it accurate?” Noreen wanted to know.
    “Fairly accurate, but the Krall don’t fly a nice straight line, and there is a slight lag in detection as the atmosphere reacts to a ship’s passing, so the ship may have changed direction by the time the Turb AI has a targeting solution. Before I was captured, one case that was initially touted as a destroyed clanship proved not to be, when no debris was found. Investigation and recordings revealed the Army had successfully killed a funnel cloud, by heat disruption with lasers and plasma cannons.”
    He laughed. “It was an expensive triumph for violent weather control however.”
    Mirikami chuckled with him for a moment. “I think we will try a more sedate entry,