"Yeah, where are the Dulons?"
"Fourteen warships without all that other mess, seems like something that might be manageable."
Tawn opened a comm to the Earther fleet commander. "We'll be coming straight to this end of the fight, Admiral. Any thoughts as to why there are no Dulons this time?"
"First, thank you for coming. We will need your help if we're going to push this assault back today. As to why the Denzee did not send their Dulons I can only speculate. With our change in tactics last fight we managed to kill twenty-six of them and capture one. We also damaged or destroyed eight of the Ratoons. Our own losses were extreme at a hundred eighty-six. But it was at least progress."
"You have one of their Dulons?"
"Our engineers are tearing it apart right now."
Harris held up a hand. "Since you'll have these secrets soon enough, I'm passing the data over to you now. You'll be able to fold these items into your designs a lot faster this way."
Tawn muted the mic. "You sure you want to do that?"
"They're under four hundred ships in their fleet. They could lose half of those today. We need an edge if we're gonna slow this thing down. They lose and we're next. I'd rather we have time for at least a minimum of preparation."
"OK. But you mess this up and it's on you."
Harris chuckled. "It will be on all of us. Would take them months to add this tech to their new ships. Don't think they have months."
"Admiral. The data should be well ordered for your engineers to make immediate use of. Let us know if they have questions and we'll try to get them answers."
"The emperor will be grateful, Mr. Gruberg. We thank you."
The comm was closed as the first ultrapowerful beam came the way of the Bangor. A hard turn had the ship safely out of danger. A cut back had several railgun rounds heading for the warship as a second turned toward them.
"We've got company," Tawn said. "And a third just turned our direction."
Harris nodded. Take out those missile batteries on this side. I'll swing us around for more work on that main gun. After that we stick close on this ship until the Earthers get aboard."
"Got it. Port missile tubes will be silent in about three seconds... and... done. We have a destroyer coming in using a transport as a shield. The lights are dimming."
Harris brought the Bangor around as the main weapon of the Ratoon fired, obliterating the shield ship and partially damaging the destroyer behind it. Tawn followed the Denzee effort with a volley from the Bangor's guns, smashing the face of the disc, driving it back by several meters.
"Scratch one Ratoon."
Harris replied, "Next one is forty seconds out. We're crossing the red line now."
Harris cut hard right as the lights on the Ratoon dimmed. The shield ship flying up front took a partial hit, burning away a third of the forward hull plating before they slipped out of the invisible beam. A second cut had the Bangor racing in for the kill. Ten seconds straight of hypervelocity tungsten rounds crushed in the forward decks of the warship. A slight turn had a second barrage taking out the missile silos for the four Earther destroyers that were following just behind.
Harris turned the ship away from the third Ratoon as it closed the distance between them.
"You aren't going after it?" Tawn asked.
"Our shield took a big hit. You trust it will hold up?"
Tawn commanded the vessel to spin around, making the damaged portion visible. "Wow. A little more than I thought, but we still have all those bulkheads and the back hull. Could we turn it sideways where the hull is intact?"
Harris shook his head. "Only four bulkheads going across. Would burn all the way through. I think we can manage with what we have, but it will be risky."
A comm came in from an Earther captain. "Mr. Gruberg, I've been directed to move in and act as a shield for your next run. We need your firepower to take out that main weapon."
"You sure you want to do that, Captain? It's pretty much a death warrant."
"The twelve million citizens down on that planet demand it, Mr. Gruberg. My sacrifice is for them."
Tawn said, "Captain, have all unnecessary personnel move as far back in the ship as possible. If you take a hit at least some of them may survive."
"Already done so, Miss Freely. Can we engage this warship while it's alone?"
Harris flipped the Bangor around, coming in behind the Earther Destroyer as a second destroyer joined the attack, taking the lead position. The lights dimmed on the Ratoon as it came within range. The face of the lead destroyer disintegrated, taking out the bridge, the captain, and the flight crew. The damaged ship dropped from the fight, slowly spinning end around end as it moved forward.
Harris growled, "They'll get another shot off before we can fire. There has to be a better way than this. How's the rest of that fleet looking."
Tawn frowned. "They've engaged on other Ratoon with a boarding party. I count twenty-six destroyers and three cruisers as badly damaged or destroyed."
"All that for one ship?"
"Which is why they need us."
As the lights dimmed on the Ratoon the destroyer in front took a devastating hit straight on. The forward hull vaporized and was quickly followed with bulkhead after bulkhead collapsing and burning. Harris steered around the disabled ship as Tawn unleashed her fury. The main weapon took its beating before aim was turned at the missile silos that protected the warship from a boarding force. Two Earther destroyers slipped past as the railgun silenced the warship's defense.
"Who next?"
Harris pointed, "That pack of three to our left."
"We have eight destroyers falling in behind us. I'm getting a hail."
"Captain," Harris said, "We're heading for the group I'm designating."
"Fall in behind us, Mr. Gruberg. We'll take you in."
The Bangor slowed, allowing the Earthers to pass. A string of nine ships formed up as they took aim at their new target. A second and then a third line of Earther ships joined the assault.
Tawn shook her head. "Twenty ships. I bet they sacrifice at least half."
"How's the rest of the fight looking?"
"Counting the ships we're approaching, there are nine Ratoons still in operation. The Earthers are down close to forty ships now."
"Keep an eye out for wormholes opening. We're still out in free space here, which I think is a mistake on the Denzee's part. Attack the Earthers close to the planet where those portals won't open and it at least takes a few minutes to withdraw. With the faster ships, it gives advantage."
"The Earther ships are still slow out here. Don't think it matters."
The next assault was devastating for the New Earth Empire, losing seven ships before the first of the main guns was taken offline. Four fell taking on the second and another two on the third. When the Bangor turned away, another twenty destroyers were sent in for the next attack.
Tawn stared at the nav display as they approached. "I can't fathom us taking those kinds of losses during a fight. Command would never have committed to such."
"Command never had a colony of twelve million that were about to be wiped out. We handle these next three before any more show and we have this fight won."
"But at what cost? Another hundred ships lost? And we still have no idea of how many warships the Denzee have."
"All we can do is fight the ones that are here. We push them back and take the victory, even if only temporary. Another week we'll have the Hailstorm back and the first of the Legions. That's when we see what they're really made of. And if the Earthers can make the new updates to their ships in a timely manner they'll lose a lot less just from that."
The next fight went off similar to the prior set. Twelve of the twenty Earther destroyers that had fallen in line were severally damaged or destroyed. The loss of lives of the crews and the soldier contingents aboard was gut-wrenching, but victory appeared to be at hand.
As the Bangor turned toward the next group of three a pair
of wormholes opened. The Denzee ships that were able to move made their way toward an escape as those that had been boarded were all given the command to self destruct. As the warships exploded, another eight Earther ships were lost.
Harris opened a wormhole beside the escaping Denzee and made the jump. A deep scan was performed before the last of the ships slipped through and the wormhole closed.
"What was that?" Tawn asked.
"I got the coordinates of their jump. It's to Jellon."
"And?"
"And we go to Jellon and watch to see if the damaged ships make another jump."
Tawn nodded as a wormhole opened in front of the ship. A ten minute flight had the Bangor slowing near the second planet in the system.
Tawn shook her head. "They're gonna know we're here and won't jump."
"I'm hoping the interference from this planet will keep us hidden. Tell me when those ships show on the display. I'll start a focused scan if they decide to jump. Maybe we can get a glimpse as to where they are going."
Ten minutes of slowed movement beside the first planet in the Jellon system had the damaged Denzee ships showing on the nav display. No movement was made toward the Bangor. Shortly after acquisition, a wormhole opened.
Tawn asked, "You get it?"
"One sec... yes!"
"And?"
"And now we take this to the emperor and we make use of the boson bomb. When the Earthers have jumped through, we again destroy all the damaged warships."
Harris turned the Bangor. Slipping back behind the planet before speeding away to free space. A jump was made to Eden where a comm was opened to Baxter Rumford."
"We have what we believe are coordinates for the Denzee repair facilities. Call the emperor and order us up a fleet."
"Where are they and how'd you find them?"
"Just sitting out in empty space. We followed them back to Jellon. Was no indication they saw us, so this raid should be another mop-up operation like last time."
"Give me a minute," Bax replied.
Harris leaned back in his chair with a grin. "This would be a double win for us today."
Tawn nodded. "Would make a nice start to a trend."
Bax returned. "You'll have fifty ships at the coordinates you sent in precisely twenty minutes from... mark."
"Hows the ship production coming?" Harris asked.
"Up to about four and a quarter a day. Still losing them faster than we can build them. Hopefully today is a sign of things to come."
Tawn said, "You still lost over a hundred ships in that fight."
"Seventy-six to be exact. Thirty-seven have been hauled back for repairs. The rest are being salvaged for parts. And I heard you sent the captured Denzee tech to our engineers. About time. I know why you took so long, but it's costing us lives."
Twenty minutes later the Bangor slipped through a wormhole to the coordinates as given to the Earthers. The Denzee repair docks were full of ships with another dozen parked in wait.
Tawn nodded. "I have fifty Earther destroyers on the screen."
"Releasing the boson bomb. And... we are now free to move about without wormholes opening."
"I'll pass that on to the Earthers."
The group of attackers swarmed the docks and the damaged warships. Fighting lasted for more than an hour before the last of the warships was destroyed. For the hour that followed the repair facilities were pummeled with tungsten pellets and plasma rounds.
As the negation of the boson field began to collapse, the Earther ships moved out to free space for a jump home. The Bangor followed with a jump to Midelon.
— Chapter 24 —
* * *
Tawn and Harris hopped out onto the grass in front of the bunker, their bots following just after.
Gandy was standing with his arms crossed. "About time. We thought we might be stuck here."
Harris said, "You could have just called the comm shuttle back down and asked Alex to let you leave."
"Couldn't do it. The shuttle got hacked by the Denzee when Alex was using it to scan one of the systems they captured. Burned up in the atmosphere before the remains crashed into the ocean."
"Wow. Didn't think they were that advanced."
"They're flying starships around the galaxy. How advanced do they have to be?"
Harris chuckled. "Guess I didn't think of it like that. Anyway, we have some good news to mix in with our misfortune. We went out to Gondol, attacked the building there and then fought against a warship. Captured two workers for the colonel to interrogate."
Tawn cut in. "And get this, our bots took off in the ship to fight, leaving us stranded on the ground. We had to hold off three hundred Denzee warriors until they came back. They did put the warship out of commission though. And they did come back for us."
"And there's more," Harris said. "We got called from there to a new invasion by the Denzee. Along with the Earther fleet we took on fourteen Ratoons, damaging ten before they fled."
"You won?"
"We did. And we were able to track the damaged ships back to their repair facilities where we took out the ten we had damaged at Pache, and the eight that had been damaged at Jellon, and the two from Beinshee, and of course the one we had disabled at Gondol. It was a good day to be Human."
Trish joined the conversation. "Any chance we can get a new comm shuttle and a standard shuttle?"
Harris grinned. "Can I eat first?"
Trish threw up her hands. "Sure, why not."
A celebratory feast consisting of MREs was consumed. Upon completion a comm was opened to Alex.
"Tawn, Harris, welcome back."
"So you let the comm shuttle get hacked?" Harris asked.
"I wouldn't say let would be the proper term. The Denzee gained access to our shuttle, yes."
"And they crashed it."
"That statement would be incorrect. I made the decision to activate the shuttle's drive and to send it to a certain death by switching off the inertial dampener field while accelerating through the atmosphere at full speed. It was the only way we had to prevent further infection."
"How close did they come to accessing your systems?"
"I was forced to do a momentary comm shutdown to negate their access. Another few seconds and the intrusion would have been irreversible. As a consequence, the boson generators would have failed over to an automated shutdown sequence. Which would have left only a minute before this facility went thermonuclear."
"This place is rigged to blow?"
"It is."
Harris rubbed the back of his neck. "At least tell me you got some worthwhile intel from your scans."
"I wish I could say. Those records had to be purged due to possible contamination."
"What was your latest intel before that happened?"
"Counting the invasion force at Pache, the Denzee have thirty-two known Ratoons along with three hundred seven Dulons."
"Three hundred?"
"And seven. They now have what would be considered finished facilities at both Rumanta and Jellon. You of course are aware of the destruction of the building at Gondol. There are also three other facilities similar to the Gondol structure. One in the Dresny system, one at Abocore and a third in the Washex system."
Harris glanced over at Tawn. "Sounds like we may need to pay those a surprise visit."
"Only if we can get a few dozen Earther ships to join us. If there's a Ratoon or more at each."
Alex said, "Each facility had a Ratoon and at least three Dulons."
Tawn nodded. "A single one we can handle. If we have the help of the Earthers."
Harris sat back. "That's it then. We first need to make a jump to the facilities at the Retreat to get our shield repaired. Should only take a short time to weld new plating on that hull. Then we'll make a jump to Domicile to pick up a couple new shuttles. Then out to Eden to arrange for an Earther escort to these other systems."
"Sounds like the plan," Tawn replied. "And I think we can leave all the bots
behind this time."
Alex said, "I would advise you to take them with you. The experience they receive from seeing how you interact with others will be invaluable."
Harris sighed. "Fine. We'll take them along. You sure you won't be lonely out here by yourself?"
"I'm an AI. I don't get lonely."
"Was just being facetious."
"Good to know."
Harris chuckled. "Let's get a move on before I have to give someone a good thrashing."
The group boarded the Bangor and was soon jumping through to the Rabid system. Minutes later the ship settled in a repair bay.
Harris hopped out to greet a dock foreman. "Our shield took bit of a beating out there. See what you can do to weld on some new plating. We'll want it back in three or four hours if possible."
The foreman nodded. "Will do all I can, sir."
Harris hopped up into the cabin. "Next stop, Domicile."
Tawn glanced at the door. "Still not sure how we got here, but that's how you want to run a war. Just drop in, give orders and be on your way. No fuss no hassle."
"We do own these factories, you know."
"I know." Tawn nodded. "And I appreciate that too. I just have a hard time believing it sometimes. I mean, look at my credit store. How is that even possible?"
Harris raised an eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, that number is going to more than double the next time we see Bax. We killed twenty one Ratoons today at that repair facility. That's over two billion credits we're due."
"With today's results, the emperor should be happy to pay. In another week, given the Hailstorm and those other ships are ready, we might be able to wrap this whole thing up."
Harris shook his head. "Then it's back to Eden to shut that place down."
"Yeah, but I'm confident we have the means to do it now. Before I wasn't so sure."
"That will make us outlaws again. The pacies in our government will be enraged. And the emperor will be egging them on. Unfortunately that will mean two empires will be hating us."
Tawn smirked. "Three. Don't forget the Denzee."
The Bangor taxied out into space. With coordinates set, a jump was made to Domicile space. A ten minute run had the shuttle landing at the ship dealership where Tawn and Harris had first met Gandy.
ARMS Eden Lost: (Book 4) Page 21