The battle at Barrier raged for four hours with sixteen Ratoons having their main guns take offline before the colonel's team suffered a loss. The Lightning took a broadside hit from a stray disc weapon. Half her twelve man crew was lost with the remainder rescued. The half of the freighter that survived was then pummeled by a slew of tungsten pellets, leaving little available for salvage.
Two additional hours of fight saw the Earther fleet down 65%. The Hailstorm, after severely damaging a Ratoon, was forced from the field of battle when a partial shot by the superweapon damaged her drive system. With the heavy losses for the Humans, and the Denzee down by only 40%, an order came down from the Earther fleet commander to pull back.
Tawn yelled as the Bangor moved to within the kill zone of a Ratoon. "We're bare! Cover is pulling out!"
Harris pushed the control stick hard forward, sending the ship in a downward direction before cutting hard to port. The Ratoon aligned on the closing Thunder, just as the freighter released a barrage of pellets. The Biomarine crew had no time to react.
The five bulkheads going all the way back to the first of the freighter-bays, disintegrated. Harris flipped the Bangor into a roll, coming around for Tawn to unleash a steady stream of hypervelocity tungsten into the aft half of the newly commissioned freighter, her crew having already perished. A debris field scattered as Harris turned the ship away. Forty seconds of flight had them safely out of immediate range.
Harris shook his head. "Too powerful. Don't think the entire Earther fleet being here would have made a difference. Maybe another dozen freighters and we'd have given a good fight."
"We did all we could," Tawn said.
A comm came in from the colonel as Harris turned the Bangor to avoid two incoming beams. "Gruberg, we have injured and we're in need of repairs."
"Take them home, Colonel. This fight is lost. Twenty seven of those Ratoons remaining are too much. We clipped seventeen. The Earthers lost two hundred ships today. And I feel for those colonists. They were not evacuated in time. Another quarter million Human lives will be lost."
"Today's fight may be over. This war is only beginning. Give me a comm or come see me once you're settled."
A pair of wormholes opened before the two ships. Each slipped through to their destination.
— Chapter 11 —
* * *
Harris paced back and forth in front of the others in the supply hut. "That did not go well. We should have planned better."
Tawn shook her head. "Planning would not have mattered with that fight. We were outgunned. They can kill us easier than we can kill them. We just need more ships."
"And therein lies the problem. Our people won't commit to building them. The ones being built by the Earthers are inadequate."
Harris stopped with a scowl on his face. "I can't believe I'm about to suggest this, but we may need to give our technologies to the Earthers. They have the shipyards and the dedicated workers needed to build ships that at least offer a fair fight. I just have to wonder if they will have the time needed to retool."
Tawn winced. "You can't be serious about giving them this tech. You know if they're able to defeat the Denzee we're next."
"How are we supposed to stop them?"
Tawn held up her store. "We could build another dozen of those freighters. Or better still, have the designers hack out the freighter portion, reducing the cost and size, and allowing us to build maybe thirty total. Imagine what we could have done with thirty of those ships today?"
Harris crossed his arms. "Alex? You done with your analysis?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"I've run a number of simulations since you returned. Only once did a change equal the damage your team inflicted. During that scenario, another fifteen Earther ships were lost. It would appear your strategy was optimal."
Harris sighed. "Sad thing is, those Earther ships were all full of troops as well. I bet they lost close to two million soldiers today. A huge mistake on their part for bringing them."
Trish said, "Two million? How is that even possible?"
"Those destroyers typically have ten thousand troops aboard. That's how the Earthers move them into battle. Three or four smaller transports in their docking bays are used to move them to the ground. They lost close to two hundred ships today."
"Wow. That's insane."
Tawn shook her head. "It's tragic. And regardless of us giving secrets to the Earthers, I think we should also build our own ships."
"I think it's time we talked to the colonel for his full take on this."
Tawn nodded. "Open the comm."
The image of Alex faded as the connection was made to the Retreat. "Good. Tell me you have something for us."
"Tawn, open your store and load the colonel up. Colonel, we've decided to spend all our credits to build as many ships as we can. These will be versions stripped of all resemblance to a freighter. They'll be a much smaller target, adding to our advantage, and Mr. Morgan can build them for much cheaper. We might even think about scrapping the freighters they just started on as we could get twice as many of these smaller ones."
The colonel thought for a moment. "The freighters should stay. If only so they can be used as transports for Marines and their gear. Besides, scrapping the hulls they've already started would only slow efforts down. We can change out the three that would be coming next."
"Any way to sit on the DDI so they don't interfere in this?"
"That may be a tough sell. I'm putting together a briefing right now to deliver to them."
Harris said, "We have another consideration, Colonel. Do we give our technologies to the Earthers? They have the ship factories capable of turning out much larger quantities of these hardened, rail cannon boats. I shudder to think of it, but we might not have a choice. Given today's outcome, the Denzee could be knocking on New Earth's door tomorrow. Most of their ship manufacturing is in orbit there."
"I think we need to bring Mr. Morgan into this conversation. He can give better insight into production schedules. If we can make thirty of these ourselves, we may not need the Earthers for more than a distraction."
A comm was opened and connected. "Mr. Morgan," Harris said, "I was just discussing matters with the colonel."
"I heard the Denzee are back. Any truth to that?"
"They're attacking Barrier right now. We just finished an attempt to stop them. We failed. The Earthers lost about two hundred ships. We lost two of our new freighters along with a crew and a half. In the coming days we expect the Denzee to wipe out the entire population of Barrier. More than two hundred fifty thousand colonists."
"This just happened?"
"It's happening now." Harris sighed. "We don't know what their next target will be. And we currently have nothing to stop them. Which is why we came to you. What's the schedule on our new ships?"
"Same as it was. Four weeks for the first three with another two weeks for the second. We could do three more every two weeks after."
"We have a change. I'll forward the designs, but we want to convert to the smaller version of warship only after these first three. What kind of timeframe are we looking at for that?"
"If the designs are as we discussed, removing the freighter portion, I would estimate four weeks again for the initial units. It takes that long to tool up and organize the effort. After that we'd be back on the two week schedule. I would add though, those ships are much smaller. And with the enclosed bays we could possibly run four lines at once in each bay."
"So a dozen ships in a month?"
Bannis shook his head. "We have three weeks left on the current set. Another four weeks for the warships."
Harris frowned. "That's an insanely long time right now, Mr. Morgan. We have the credits to throw at this effort. Any way to squeeze that in?"
"If we were lucky? Maybe a week tops. We still have to get the materials out there too. Some of those items are longer lead times than others. This also assumes we can get what we need when we
need it."
"What if we stop production of the freighters? And if we use those for parts for these warships?"
Bannis thought for several seconds. "I think we're still looking at four weeks. The couple days we could save by dumping in more credits would be lost during conversion of those bays."
"There must be something we could do to speed that up."
"Hmm. We're running two ten hour shifts with a four hour maintenance break per standard day. I could run it up to three shifts of eight with maintenance done on an as-needed basis. Might hit a few bumps, but we could possibly knock off a couple days that way. Will really be pushing our crew though."
Harris nodded. "Let's do that. And bonus the crews as incentive. And let's hope the Denzee don't go after New Earth in the meantime. We lose those ship factories before we have these warships ready and we might not have an Earther fleet to pair up with. And I don't want to have to count on Domicile. Those idiots won't make a move until the Denzee have actually attacked us."
Harris glanced at the colonel's comm. "Those credits we just sent over. Might as well pass them on to the man who needs them. Oh, and Mr. Morgan, Fritz Romero is an available asset. Any way to put him to work on helping to expedite this effort?"
Bannis gave a steady nod. "Would love to have him aboard."
"I'll forward his comm to you. So are we all in agreement on this course of action? Scrap the freighters and start building the warships?"
Gandy spoke up. "What should we call them? I mean, besides warships?"
"What you got?"
"How about... Legions. Like the Roman armies from Earth."
"Legions it is."
Nine hundred twenty-six million credits were transferred. The comm to Bannis Morgan was closed.
Harris said, "Well colonel, that leaves us with the second part of this. Given it will be four weeks before we have more ships, do we share our tech with the emperor or not?"
The colonel slowly shook his head. "That's a tough call and would normally be something that takes place far above my pay grade. If we don't we run the risk of losing our only ally in this fight. If we do, and they're successful, are we next?"
"Maybe I can make a deal with the emperor. We give the tech and in return we get some type of ironclad assurance that New Earth will not attack any Domicile worlds, or truce worlds for that matter."
"Not sure how such an agreement would work. He's the emperor. He can change his mind."
"How about he has to publicly give a speech to both Domicile and New Earth that he won't."
The colonel chuckled. "And you'd trust his word just because it's public?"
"I do know he loves his children. Maybe they have to come live on Domicile for some period of time?"
"I don't know of any reputable father who would make that deal."
"His empire is about to be overrun and annihilated. Might be safer for them to be on Domicile anyway. When the fighting ends and he shows to not be belligerent, they go home."
"Seems like a sketchy plan, Mr. Gruberg."
"Well I'm all ears if anyone else has anything."
Trish said, "How about throwing Eden in the mix? He publicly gives up all claim to Eden and it's resources, turning them over to Domicile. In return, the Domers run the mines and provide him with the titanium he needs for his fleet. This new alloy is heavily titanium anyway. If he defeats the Denzee, he will still need to build a fleet to take on Domicile."
Harris rubbed the back of his neck. "Not bad. Would at least give us a chance to shut down those mines when the Denzee fight is done. He would have to declare war to get them back, which our government couldn't ignore. Colonel, you think this would be something the DDI could oversee?"
"I think they're exactly who should oversee it."
Harris took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I guess this means we have a trip out to Eden ahead of us. We get Bax to connect us to the emperor and see if he's interested in making a deal."
Tawn asked, "Any reason we can't sit on this overnight? Might give us a chance to kick around a few more ideas."
"Every hour we delay is an hour we risk losing. But I can't deny the gravity of this decision. Morning is a good option."
The colonel nodded. "Keep me informed. I have eighteen Biomarine crewmen to eulogize."
Five robotic assistants stood in the doorway to the supply hut.
Harris' assistant, Idiot, raised a hand as he delivered what could only be described as an awkward grin. "We're here to help. What can we assist with?"
Harris chuckled. "You know how to kick Denzee ass? If so, build a few million of yourself and go have at it."
"I will need a shop such as what Trish has, and materials."
Gandy tilted his head to one side. "Wait. You can replicate yourself?"
"Yes."
If I asked you to build a ship like the Bangor could you do that?"
"Yes. Given the tools, material and time."
Gandy nodded. "I think we may be onto something here. Idiot, how long would it take you to replicate yourself, if you had the tools and the parts?"
"Valid estimates would range from three months to sixteen standard years. That range is dependent on having some of the parts as units. An example would be the main core processor. With tools and materials a core could be constructed in approximately five years. If that core is already available, the five years is not required."
Gandy frowned. "Three months wouldn't cut it anyway."
"What were you thinking?" asked Tawn.
"Have them build a few thousand bots and have those bots start building ships. No paying anyone, or feeding or housing them for that matter. And they would work around the clock."
"Idiot," Harris asked, "if given the parts for a three month assembly, how long before you would have a thousand of yourself operational?"
"Thirty months."
"And a million of you?"
"Thirty additional months."
Harris laughed.
Tawn asked, "What's so funny?"
"Was just thinking about having a million Idiots running around. Sounds a lot like Chicago Port Station."
Tawn shook her head. "OK. I see this idea thread going nowhere fast. Let's try to focus on our immediate problem. The Denzee, what can we do?"
Harris sat on a bench. "For the next four weeks, not much. We can take the Bangor and the Hailstorm out and try to damage a few more of those Ratoons, but the numbers we're up against are overwhelming."
"Regardless," Tawn replied, "I think we have to do exactly that."
Gandy said, "We should steal one of those Ratoons so we know what we're up against with that superweapon."
Harris winced. "Can't get close enough. They still have those missile tubes. In our fight so far we haven't come within five hundred kilometers of one of those ships. We'd be lucky to make it to fifty. Boarding parties are out. We only managed that with the Dulon because Sharvie's people had control of the ship's systems."
Sharvie held up a hand. "They have us blocked from getting into their network, but what if we had another way in?"
"We're listening," said Harris.
"We have the one ship we took. What if we go in and load it up with back doors and access pathways, then give it back to the Denzee? If they accept it and reconnect it to their networks we would be in... probably deeper than we were before."
Gandy shook his head. "If they fell for that they would just be dumb. Why wouldn't you expect that and scrub those systems top to bottom? That would be too easy."
"Might still be worth a try though."
Harris said, "I like your thinking, but I doubt the DDI would ever give us access to that ship, much less give it up. These are good ideas people. Let's keep them coming."
The idea jam went late into the evening. Nothing of consequence was brought forward. As the Midelon sun began to show light over the horizon, Tawn was up and eating.
Harris wobbled into the supply hut, scratching his head. "Not waiting for the
others?"
"Didn't know we had to have group meals. Wasn't expecting you up this early."
"We have work to do. And besides, it's already mid day on New Earth at the emperor's palace. And mid afternoon at Fireburg. We need to get moving if we're gonna catch Bax and the emperor both awake and available."
Tawn gestured toward their stack of MREs. "Grab your breakfast and let's get moving then."
Trish followed Gandy and Sharvie into the room. "Were you planning to leave without us?"
"Wasn't planning to take you with," Harris replied. "There won't be any action and all we'll be doing is talking to the emperor. And I'm certain he would want that conversation private."
"Why not open a comm wormhole from here to Bax and have her connect him in?"
"Same reason we've been avoiding using that except to trusted sources. Too much at risk to have our systems open to a hack like that. Anyway, we'll be leaving once we finish eating."
"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
"What am I? Your babysitter?"
Trish scowled as she walked to the MREs to join Gandy and Sharvie in a search for a morning meal.
Tawn leaned forward with a whisper. "You might try encouraging them sometime. They know you appreciate them and you care, but you need to show that sometimes."
Harris sighed. "Those were some good ideas the three of you were coming up with last night. Keep pushing those around. See if any more pop up. You have the use of this facility, which means Alex and those bots. Try to make yourselves productive. We need all the help we can get."
Gandy sat beside Harris, unwrapping a self-heating portion of an oatmeal-like substance called himerang, made from a grain that grew wild on Domicile.
"You know, Mr. Gruberg, I've been thinking about all the disparate systems we now have on the Bangor. We keep adding to it in an endless fashion. Maybe it's time for a redesign where we could eventually build more. I can sit with Alex and go over that with him."
"Excellent idea."
ARMS Eden Lost: (Book 4) Page 10