"Jack McKinney - Robotech Sentientals 4 - World Killers" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinney Jack)

One of the tactics that had given the Humans the upper hand in the
Robotech War was developed when Miriya Sterling revealed a weakness in the
pods' design. Concentrated fire on a spot just aft the junction of the legs
would disable the pods and leave them drifting and helpless.
The first surprise the Ghosts got was in discovering that the pods had
been retrofitted to overcome the Achilles' heel, and the second was that the
pods' own weapons and accuracy were deadlier than ever. Furthermore, Breetai's
pilots had plenty of experience in fighting VTs, while the young Ghost fliers
had been trained after the end of the Robotech War. And these Zentraedi were
among the very best.
The end result was that the first few moments of combat saw Ghosts
exploding in fireballs and erupting in white-hot wreckage, as the outnumbered
Battlepods took an immediate upper hand. Once again, missiles lit the
blackness, and beams of raging energy bickered back and forth.
Breetai watched a Logan come apart at the seams like a bursting melon,
light and explosive force gushing from it. "We vowed to be your allies," he
muttered, "but never your slaves or your victims."
On the bridge of the Tokugawa, Renquist watched, mortified, as the
Zentraedi drove off his first attack wave with heavy casualties, though the
giants had taken a few hits themselves. Operations and intel officers and
their computers had a dozen poor excuses and supposed analyses, but he brushed
them aside. The Ghosts were simply being outflown.
A face appeared on one of the side screens, a young flying officer.
"Commodore, with all due respect, I must protest! We were given definite
orders by the council to negotiate with Breetai before any direct action was
taken!"
Renquist narrowed his eyes, his jowls quivering. "Negotiate, hell! How
dare you? One more word from you and I'll have you executed for mutiny!" At an
angry gesture from the commodore, the connection was broken.
But it reminded Renquist of another unfortunate aspect of his mission.
As Breetai had guessed, Edwards was too wary to strip REF Base Tirol and SDF-3
of the bulk of his Ghosts and leave himself at risk. Therefore, nearly half
the flying group assigned to Renquist was composed of elements drawn from the
various other units remaining after the Skulls had been tapped for duty with
the Sentinels. And the Jokers, Diamondbacks, and the rest were less eager to
follow this departure from council instructions.
But Renquist felt he had now seen the enemy's total strength. After all,
there were only slightly more than one hundred Zentraedi altogether! All he
had to do was to make sure the Human numerical advantage was absolute.
The Zentraedi had won in a limited matching; but even after the initial
defeat, Renquist could double the odds without resorting to any but the Ghost
Riders and surely overwhelm the giants.
He turned to a bridge officer. "Launch the rest of the Ghosts
immediately and reform the survivors of the first attack wave. This time we're
going to crush those alien scum!"
Breetai had expected no less. The Alphas and Betas and Logans thronged
at the Battlepods, driving them back or blowing them to smithereens, some of
them breaking through and coming for the Valivarre.
The ore vessel's gun batteries and missile racks opened up, but she was
a mining craft, not a warship; soon, shots threatened to penetrate her