Weapons Free
Battlegroup Z Book One
Daniel Gibbs
Contents
CSV Zvika Greengold Blueprints
SF-86 Sabre Blueprints
Starchart - Sagittarius/Orion Arms
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
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Acknowledgments and Afterword
Weapons Free by Daniel Gibbs
Copyright © 2020-2021 by Daniel Gibbs
Visit Daniel Gibb’s website at
www.danielgibbsauthor.net
Cover by Jeff Brown Graphics—www.jeffbrowngraphics.com
Additional Illustrations by Joel Steudler—www.joelsteudler.com
This book is a work of fiction, the characters, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For permissions please contact [email protected].
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Battlegroup Z
Book 1 - Weapons Free
Book 2 - Hostile Spike
Book 3 - Sol Strike
Echoes of War
Book 1 - Fight the Good Fight
Book 2 - Strong and Courageous
Book 3 - So Fight I
Book 4 - Gates of Hell
Book 5 - Keep the Faith
Book 6 - Run the Gauntlet
Book 7 - Finish the Fight
Breach of Faith
(With Gary T. Stevens)
Book 1 - Breach of Peace
Book 2 - Breach of Faith
Book 3 - Breach of Duty
Book 4 - Breach of Trust
1
System 36XNZ—Asteroid Belt
Terran Coalition Border Zone
27 September 2433
Four swept-wing space superiority fighters flew through the void, maneuvering around asteroids and ring material.
First Lieutenant Justin Spencer piloted the lead craft, a Terran Coalition SF-76 Sabre, around the latest hazard to crop up in his path and readjusted back to the flight plan.
The belt was unusually dense, composed of not only standard hunks of space rocks but also material from the rings of a gas giant. The science report Justin hadn’t bothered to read had probably laid out the how and whys, but all he cared about was the challenge of flying through the muck.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” he said into his commlink.
“It would be more beautiful if we had something to shoot,” Second Lieutenant Elisabeth Mateus replied. She hailed from Brasilia, one of the member worlds of the Terran Coalition. The planet was populated primarily by descendants from a Brazilian colony ship that had fled Earth during the Exodus of 2072. “Watching rocks go by for hours on end is boring.”
“But required to keep up our flight certifications.” Justin glanced at the LIDAR readout on his Sabre. It still showed no contacts, aside from the four of them. He stretched his neck. At almost two meters tall, he was at the maximum height to fly fast movers. “Another hour of dodging rocks, and we can head back to the barn.”
They were only out there to ensure their reserve fighter squadron had enough flight hours to keep its wings during the upcoming flight evaluations.
“Alpha Three to Alpha One. I’m showing something anomalous on my forward LIDAR threat tracker,” Second Lieutenant Dvora Feldstein said. “Do any of you see it?”
Justin quickly pulled up a sensor overlay for his HUD. It showed nothing out of the ordinary. “Negative, Alpha Three. Pass your sensor data.”
“Acknowledged, Alpha One.”
A moment later, Justin’s HUD came alive with the new data. A moving contact flickered on the screen. Looks like something’s there. Very faint. Probably space debris but worth putting ourselves through the paces to track. This is training, after all. “Possible bogeys at our ten o’clock, twenty degrees declination. Break to heading three-two-zero.”
The four Sabres streaked toward the new direction, engines coming alive with bright-blue cones of energy. The fast turn’s twelve Gs would have pummeled the pilots if not for strong inertial dampening.
“Tracks increasing in sensor resolution,” Mateus said. “I count four separate bogeys.”
“Confirmed, Alpha Four,” Justin replied. He toggled the comms channel to the primary fleet frequency. “Zvika Greengold Command, this is Alpha One. Do we have any friendly birds on our patrol route?”
After a pause, First Lieutenant Gopinath Singh’s voice carried over the commlink. “Negative, Alpha One. No other contacts on our scopes. You should be clear.”
“Understood. We’re going to run it down.”
“Acknowledged, Alpha flight. Zvika Greengold out.”
As the group of Sabres accelerated toward the contacts, Justin let out a breath. “Looks like our bogeys are small-craft sized. Definitely not cargo vessels.”
“Concur, sir,” Feldstein said. “Who the heck is out here? It’s an abandoned system used as a training ground for the fleet.”
“Well,” came the rich baritone of Second Lieutenant Jackson Adeoye, “don’t forget about the automated helium-3 mining facility here.”
“This is too weird,” Justin muttered. He toggled to the guard frequency, the standard emergency band. “Attention, unidentified spacecraft in vicinity of 36XNZ asteroid belt—this is Lieutenant Spencer, Coalition Defense Force. Squawk IFF and identify yourselves immediately.”
Static was the only reply. A few seconds later, the bogeys suddenly split into two groups and headed directly toward Alpha flight. Justin gripped his flight stick as adrenaline coursed through his veins. What are the odds of combat on my last space patrol, at the end of my two-week reserve tour? Especially when we’ve been at peace for thirty-five years?
“Alpha One, this is Alpha Two. I’m being spiked by a bogey. Request permission to arm weapons and lock the target.” Feldstein’s pitch rose with excitement.
“Negative, Alpha Two. We remain weapons hold. Wait one.” Justin clicked his comms channel back to the fleet. “Zvika Greengold, this is Alpha One. Bogeys
