“Yes, Sir,” she repeated dutifully.
Fifteen minutes, and I had hit the head, showered, dressed in a new uniform and was on my way up to the bridge.
This time, the Fleet made its approach even more cautiously than before.
“Approaching combat range,” reported Tactical.
“Moving into attack position,” DuPont said crisply.
“The order is to attack. Relay it to squadron commanders and above,” I instructed.
The fleet turned into a line of silver and bronze as warships began to move out by task force until it wrapped around the outer edge of the bug Swarm.
Turbo- and heavy lasers lashed out as the leading warships came into range of the first Swarm scouts and bugs, spewing atmosphere and green internal fluid into space.
In response, the bug scouts lashed out angrily, their light lasers as likely to strike empty space as they were one of our warships, and those lasers that hit did so from such a short range, they barely impacted our shields.
Like a sharp knife peeling the skin off an apple, the Capital Defense Fleet cut through the outer edge of scouts and marauders without taking any real damage in return. Then the leading ships of Captain Starborn’s task force ran into a large group of unstealthed boring beetles.
Point defense lasers flared and chain guns fired as the beetles were targeted for destruction. Hundreds of beetles died but dozens more survived fire from his leading destroyers and follow-up cruisers to enter attack range.
Of those dozens, the majority of them slid past the lead destroyers missing their intercept but eventually, one and then three more lined up their attack runs and then ran smack into the shields on the lead trio of destroyers.
Shields flickered and as I watched and listened to the chatter as Starborn had the lead destroyers fall back, replacing them with a pair of cruisers.
Better able to take damage, the cruisers bulled their way into the Swarm of boring beetles. Point defense lasers fired and everything seemed to be going decently well when the boring beetles started firing fire and forget bombs. Only one or two per beetle but with hundreds if not thousands of beetles firing the numbers soon added up.
I kept my face stonily blank as the lead cruiser staggered out of position, streaking air and atmosphere behind it and the second lost engine power.
Starborn rapidly advanced the rest of his ships to cover his cruisers but the damage was done.
One ship here and two ships there, warships began to fall out of formation. None of them had been destroyed, yet, but it was only a matter of time at this rate.
“Flag Captain Starborn is asking if you want his task force to fall out of position and rotate to the back of the line, Sire?” asked Communications.
“Tell the Captain he is to continue as planned,” I said.
“The Captain says he wishes to lodge an official protest,” said Coms.
I lifted an eyebrow.
“Over a couple of damaged warships?” I asked with disbelief and then shook my head. The Confederation promised this world and all the other worlds of the Spine protection, swearing to put themselves to the hazard if necessary and that was exactly what they were going do. But the sad fact was the Confederation wasn’t used to taking losses.
Maybe a few old transplants such as Commodore Hammer’s people—who’d been stuck in cryogenic storage to use as hostages by the droids—were used to it, or those like the Easy Haven contingent that been cut off when the Empire pulled out of the Spineward Sectors initially… but on the whole, the Confederation was more used to police actions with overwhelming strength on their side than anything resembling a fair fight or, heaven help them, an actual war.
Even the Confederation Fleet led into the Spine by Charles Thomas had seen precious little if any actual combat.
It wasn’t that I was deaf to Starborn’s concern, but a couple cruisers were not reason enough for his task group to fall back.
Slowly but surely, the larger ships and more specifically the main contingent of the Wall lead by Rear Admiral Druid, ranged on the bugs and began clearing everything under a harvester from the sensor plot.
It was slow but steady work and the decision to start the attack on the Swarm from a side position appeared to be paying off. So far, the number of stealth attacks had been minimal.
Fingers crossed that it would stay that way.
I ordered the fleet to continue until we’d done a 360-degree sweep and arrived back where we started.
Despite my hopes, stealth-coated boarding bugs started appearing at close range even as we swept around the front of the Swarm. By that time, most of the scouts and marauders had been annihilated. They died and we triumphed. Other than a handful of ships here and there, we were good.
Of course, ones and twos added up eventually.
That was why it was time to step things up.
“Let’s finish this,” I said.
“Jason?” Akantha asked, surprising me with her presence. I didn’t know why she did, maybe I expected her to suit up in battle armor and wait with the lancers for a chance at the action.
I gestured to our battle plot where most of the surviving scouts and marauders had pulled back in close to the harvester-class warships and pulled up the most recent numbers.
“We’ve killed or destroyed an estimated five hundred bugs, not counting their boarding bugs and boring beetles, but they were almost entirely scouts and marauders. We could make a few more passes, sure,” I admitted, “but with those harvesters pulled in tight to the Swarm Queen and her Mothership, we’re going to have to get in there and get our hands dirty anyway.”
“Wouldn’t it be wiser to take more time clearing out the small fry first before taking on the harvester-class bugships?” Akantha asked.
“It might be if there weren’t all of those stealth bugs I had to worry about,” I explained.
Akantha nodded in understanding.
“As it is, we have a rough idea of where they are and thus where they aren’t. If we give them time, they might spread out. They’re probably doing that right now. Either the decision’s been made, or we’re going to take the battle to the bugs,” I said.
“You’re the expert on ship-to-ship combat,” she said.
That gave me pause, the young, uncertain, untrained, unready officer I’d been back at the beginning momentarily poking out his head. I ruthlessly quashed those feelings and nodded in reply.
“While I’m hesitant to use the term expert,” I turned the palms of my hand up, “I think it’s safe to say I’m at least somewhat competent at fleet operations by this point,” I said.
“Let’s hope for all our sakes you are more than simply competent,” she said.
I shot her a disgruntled quelling look.
She returned a challenging gaze.
I suppressed a sigh.
Even when she seemed to be trying to support me, she couldn’t help but challenge me in the process. At least she was urging me to be a better person or at least an Admiral rather than fighting me over everything under the sun.
Maybe I was being too hard on her?
“What are your orders, Sir?” Lisa Steiner prompted after it was clear I’d fallen into my own thoughts.
My expression stiffened.
“We attack,” I said.
Over the next several minutes, the long silver and bronze snake that was the line of ships representing the Capital Fleet changed course and began constricting around the bug Swarm.
We were still circling around the bugs but this time, I timed things so an entire taskforce came into contact with the bugs simultaneously.
This time, instead of Starborn and his cruisers taking the lead, I sent in the Wall. It wouldn’t do to give the Confederation too much cause to yell about favoritism and discriminatory practices, I thought with an evil smile.
Turbo-Lasers flared as the heaviest ships in the fleet opened fire, followed shortly by thousands of h
eavy lasers as Druid closed to attack range.
With fifty warships firing at a hand full of targets, harvesters were hit so many times in quick succession they were quickly destroyed.
The return fire was almost immediate. Like an angry hornet’s nest that had just been kicked, harvesters responded by opening fire and setting a pursuit course. This opened a hole in the bug formation.
The equivalent of oversized medium lasers could never come close to the same weight of fire of our battleship-sized turbo-lasers and being fired at extreme range didn’t help either, at least it didn’t help the bugs. It suited me right down to the ground of course.
Unfortunately, the bug harvesters didn’t get more than several ship lengths away from support before they turned around and fell back into position. But I would take what I could get.
Several times, bug harvesters would pull out of position only to fall back in before they could get outside of supportive range of their friends. Then the Confederation Flotilla and their attached local warships moved into firing position.
Unfortunately for the confeds, the makeup of their warships, being mostly destroyers and a strong contingent of cruisers, meant they had to get a great deal closer to the harvesters to be effective.
This resulted in the harvesters’ return fire being that much more effective. However, Starborn’s coordinated firing pattern and the bugs spreading their fire over his entire formation once again meant the Capital Fleet was getting the better end of the deal.
One by one, the other Task Forces moved into firing range until the line of human warships was coiled around the bug harvesters like a snake.
The bugs got a few lucky shots in but for every twenty harvesters knocked out of action, one of ours was forced to withdraw due to battle damage.
Then something changed and the bug Swarm began reorganizing.
“They’re up to something. Any ideas?” I said, staring at the battle plot showing the Swarm intently.
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon,” commented the First Officer.
I gave him a withering look.
“Sorry, Sire,” he said shamefaced.
“Any helpful ideas?” I asked with an edge to my voice.
I looked at my Tactical Officer.
“All I can say is to expect an attack of some kind,” put on the spot, the ship’s Tactical Officer replied.
Truer words were never spoken because not five minutes later, every scout, marauder and light harvester in the fleet threw itself at our fleet. It looked like the bugs’ surprising moment of discipline was finally over.
“More than three hundred bugs are on the move!” reported Sensors.
“Give me numbers and tell the Starborn and his confeds to pull back behind the wall!” I ordered as it became clear the bulk of the harvesters were aimed at his taskforce.
“Starborn’s acknowledging,” said Coms.
“Druid and the Wall are moving to cover!” reported the XO.
“I’ve got those numbers,” said Tactical.
I made an irritable move along with a gesture.
“I’m reading five hundred bugs! One hundred fifty of them light harvesters, one hundred of them marauders and the rest scouts,” said Tactical.
“Sensors is picking up what look like unstealthed boring beetles mixed in with and immediately behind those harvesters!” reported Sensors.
“This is it people. The big push. This one’s for all the marbles,” I said, leaning forward intently.
Sure, there were heavy and medium harvesters to deal with but once we got rid of all the bugs’ smaller faster ships, we could pick apart their heavy hitters at leisure. The simple fact was we had tougher ships, faster ships and longer-ranged weapons.
As long as their light harvesters couldn’t force a close engagement with our heavies and tie them down long enough for their heavies to get to grips, we had this battle in the bag.
“Helm, reorient the Clover head on to the Swarm, and if you see the chance to take out that Mothership Weapons just do it, don’t you wait for my order,” I said.
“Easy peasy, Admiral,” DuPont said drolly.
“Yes, Sire!” the Weaponeer in charge of the Hyper Plasma Cannon said sharply.
As the Clover shifted eighty degrees in space, the bugs went wild, opening fire in all directions and lighting off their fire-and-forget bombs and missiles. There was so much flak in the form of explosions and energy spikes from their light and medium lasers that the sensors fuzzed.
“Well that’s one way to jam the side with superior sensor technology,” I observed tensely.
Half of the bug weapons slammed into the Confederation Flotilla, but the rest almost seemed to be aimed at each other, exploding inside or just outside the main force of light harvesters.
Every human ship within range returned fire, only adding to the energy spikes and explosions cluttering the main screen. The firm green lines that showed the projected courses and speeds of the bug attack wave went from green, indicating strong likelihood of being correct, to yellow, and then to almost 20% red—for uncertain or actively believed to be wrong but still going off the latest reliable data.
“What’s wrong with my tactical feed?” demanded Tactical.
“We’re receiving anomalous readings,” said Sensors.
“Clean it up, Sensors,” ordered the First Officer.
“I’m trying!” the Sensor Officer said in a loud voice.
Just to add to the chaos, the main force of bugs launched over 75% of their fire and forget missiles in a track alongside the group of light harvesters.
“Just what are these bugs playing at, Sir?” asked the Tactical Officer.
“Tell the fleet to ready point defense systems,” I said.
The main force of heavy and medium harvester bugs fired again and then the first wave of bombs and missiles exploded just in front of the light harvesters, causing the screen to fuzz.
“They’re deliberately trying to blind us,” I observed, “get me the Lancer Colonel.”
“Warlord?” asked the Colonel.
“Prepare to repel boarders, Colonel,” I said.
The Colonel’s eyes widened and then clashed his gauntlets together.
“You can count on me, Warlord Montagne,” he said.
There was an alarm siren in the sensor pit and I cut the channel I’d done what I could to prepare the ship. Now I had to wait for more information. Something I expected would be arriving shortly.
The main screen once again shuddered with new tracks appearing. The light harvesters had shifted the focus of their attack. They were no longer projected to hit Starborn’s Confederation forces.
“They’re coming right for us!” shouted DuPont hands tensing on his controls.
I opened my mouth to issue new orders when the bridge rumbled and the weaponeer pumped his fist downward.
“Clear target!” reported the Weaponeer as the ship rocked backward.
The Lucky Clover belched fire and a white streak appeared on the main screen as the HPC launched a fast-moving projectile straight toward the center of the Swarm.
“Thy will be done, my King, as I send that bug to kingdom come!” the Weaponeer said with wild eyes.
I gripped the edge of my chair as the hyper-plasma round pierced through the leading edge of the light harvesters and struck deep into the heart of the main Swarm.
The newly-arrived harvesters and the continued explosions that preceded them once again fuzzed the sensors. Almost a thousand light and medium lasers hit the super-battleship at the same time and our shields dropped.
“Port shield collapse! Secondary shield generators coming on line now!” shouted the Shield Operator.
“Turn the ship, DuPont!” I ordered.
“Return fire!” bellowed Tactical, speaking into his microphone to the gun deck.
Another salvo slammed into the ship, much less coordinated than the first one, an uncoordinated rain
of lasers rather than one well-coordinated blast—but it dropped our secondary shield generators before the shields could fully form.
“Secondary shield generators two, four and six have taken damage and are offline,” reported Shields.
“Closing firing port,” cried the Weaponeer as the open hole in the forward armor of the ship that allowed us to use the HPC closed.
“Main generator is still in the middle of emergency shutdown protocols. I’m redirecting full power to our remaining secondary shield generators and expanding coverage to compensate,” reported Shields.
I looked up to see the Lucky Clover still in the middle of a ponderous turn.
“Roll the ship, DuPont,” I snapped.
“Aye, Sir,” said the Helmsman, sweat beading on his forehead as he continued to push his controls against the safety locks.
A weak shield began to form.
The light harvesters fired again, this time in an even more ragged volley, but it went back down.
An image of the outside hull showed a large series of small thin holes in the super battleships’ outer armor like inverted porcupine quills, that instead of sticking out of the ship, pierced inward.
“Fire!” ordered Tactical.
The port side exploded in a fiery storm of lasers, plasma balls and even chain guns as everything on that side of the ship returned fire.
A handful of light harvesters fell out of formation but dozens more entered close range.
As DuPont simultaneously turned and rolled the ship and the enemy harvesters came closer, more of our broadside came into play.
Half the ship facing the Swarm was covered by starboard shielding when the first harvester did a close flyby at high speed, leaving a trail of small black contacts in its wake.
“Sensors scan those objects, I need a combat profile,” demanded Tactical.
“We’re trying,” snapped Sensors.
Then a good scan return came back in the form of a sensor operator launching to her feet.
“Boarding bugs!” she cried.
“Point defense, retarget those boarding bugs,” ordered Tactical.
Within a handful of seconds, a handful of plasma balls and the majority of our chain guns were focused on the boarding bugs. A handful more, and almost all of our point defense weapons including our point defense lasers were lashing out at the would-be boarders.
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