by Chris Hechtl
He paused again.
"There are different ways of doing it. Making them think you are invincible is one. That you are winning the battle of supply is another. But a third is to make it clear that you can be merciful …. get in their head and convince them and you've got them by the balls. It's harder for us, not so much for fighting the Xenos. You either fought or ran, binary solution set."
"Or died," Protector added.
Admiral Irons turned to his adjunct and nodded. "Yeah, that too unfortunately." He turned back to the class. "We have to temper justice too. The pirates have been committing genocide, and there is no excuse for it. They know that, and they know that we're not going to go easy on them when we win. So the leadership is highly motivated to not surrender, much like Hitler during World War II, or some of the backers of the A.I. during the First A.I. War. But the rank and file are just scared. Getting the message through to them that it's time to give in is going to be tough."
He grimaced. "And then there is the Stalin issue."
He paced for a moment. "During World War II one of the political commanders, Joseph Stalin saw his people crumbling. He ordered brutal ruthless measures to get his people to stop and to stiffen their spines. I expect to see the same on the enemy's side soon enough." He shook his head. "But we'll get through. The cost might be higher than we'd like to pay, but eventually we'll get the job done."
"We have to. There is no other choice," he said softly.
Chapter 46
H002
TF 2.2 was momentarily surprised by the arrival of the courier at the H001 jump point. UFDV-010S, a familiar Sojourner class dispatch boat courier that had been assigned to Second Fleet was expected however.
After the little ship sent out her IFF she set up a split transmission to Commodore Harris's flagship as well as to the ansible. The flagship downloaded the location of the ansible to the courier so the ship's A.I. could lay a direct communications laser on the platform receivers rather than rely on an omni broadcast.
The courier's message was simple; they were letting command know H001 was in the possession of TF2.3, along with their battle log. A copy of the alert went to Antigua as well.
While they were transmitting the signal, the courier made her way across the star system to the Garth jump point. A day into that journey a familiar prowler arrived at the H001 jump point behind them.
Captain Dulley couldn't help but rib Captain McArren as soon as UFN-008P arrived. “Hurry up slow poke! You are falling behind!”
“Not fair you've got a head start!”
“Tough. Last one to Garth buys the first round!”
“Oh, it's on!” the Neogorilla growled. “It's definitely on! Engineering! Pour on the steam! Wind up the hamsters! Feed them sugar if you have to! I'm not ready to lose this race; that son of a bitch can run up one hell of a bar tab!”
-~~~///^\~~~-
Dwight was relieved to hear that everything was moving forward smoothly. “So far so good,” he murmured, watching the courier and prowler as they crossed the star system.
He wanted to move forward into H001, but his orders were to hold the star system. The good news was that TF 2.4 was shaking out and would be arriving to relieve him shortly.
Well, he didn't quite think of that as good news.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Garth
Amadeus received the news that H001 had fallen as planned. It was a pity that Trajan hadn't gotten a piece of the enemy, but that had been expected. He immediately authorized the next phase.
From now on most of the convoys coming in would steam direct to H001 and then recycle through Garth. To add to that the convoy that had recently arrived stopped unloading and instead reloaded their cargo and headed for the H002 jump point. Fourteen of the prize ships joined them. The prize ships had been refitted under Commodore I'r'll's careful hands and were ready to go at their own speed. He knew that the crews were not happy about going without an escort, but he refused to send one since H002 and H001 were currently secured.
He was of two minds about the Horathian prisoners. Most of the combatants were being interned for a time and then sent back in a returning convoy. However, they now had hundreds of civilian noncombatants to contend with.
They were keeping the groups separate, but there were so many that they couldn't all be interred at the lunar colony. An island had been set up for them.
He hadn't realized that the general had deliberately placed them there and then leaked the information about them to use them as bait. He had even delayed transferring them to space to return on a convoy.
Law and tradition stated they had to export enemy noncombatants out of a war zone. But Garth was a planet full of them so the jury was still out on how to handle that. He could see the wisdom of sending the high value targets to Antigua though.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Finagle
UFN-013P wasn't suited for her current role, but it was obvious none of the brass cared. And the crew needed some downtime, not that any of the brass cared about that either, Captain Fluckey thought with a familiar feeling of annoyance and exasperation. Ships like his had been on the line for years with precious little liberty. Sure, the oversized prowler's stealth and other systems were finely tuned, but his crew needed to get out and stretch their legs in a friendly port now and again.
That and they needed a fresh perspective, which meant a new assignment. They were overdue on that too.
"Well, let's see what we've came here to see," he said as his ship exited her hyper bubble. The good thing about his oversized prowler was that they had an antimatter reactor, so they were speedy and didn't need the same resupply schedule as other prowlers.
The bad news was that it made for even longer hauls for the “dirty dozen.”
His ship had been built as an infiltration and insertion ship. By rights they should have been picking up a shipload of spooks and then inserting them behind enemy lines on occupied planets. Hell, even Horath! But again, the brass had other ideas.
"Sir, we're getting active pings. They definitely have a picket here. I'd say a good sized one," Lieutenant Commander Reuben “Bull” Underwood stated. Bull was the ship's XO and chief engineer and was a bit long in the tooth to be an XO. By rights he should have been promoted off the ship to his own command when he'd gotten his last promotion. But the brass again had other ideas.
"Time to run silent and see what we can see," the captain said mildly. "We've got …," he checked the clock, "six hours to scout and get a good look around before we've got to report back. Let's make the most of it, shall we?"
-~~~///^\~~~-
Rear Admiral Iruke Knowles was wary of the report. He'd brought his force to within twenty million kilometers of the inner edge of the Bd1r17 jump zone only after orders from the Admiralty had come in to picket it.
He didn't know how they'd figured that he hadn't intended to hold the jump point so closely. He had checked the log. Commander Stuart had as well. It was irritating to be second-guessed and micromanaged from afar.
Not that he had much of a choice in the matter.
"I don't care what the brass says; if they are here and scouting, it bodes ill for Admiral Quartermain and his force," the admiral stated. He'd just sent off the latest report via a passing convoy. He was kicking himself for not demanding more support. Hell, even the late Admiral De Gaulte had gotten more than what his picket was getting! It had been all he could do to squeeze fuel and food out of the damn planet!
The idea of setting up fixed defenses at the jump point was becoming more and more wishful thinking at this point he realized.
He had two Emperor's Blade battle cruisers, six new heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four destroyers, two of the new CEVs, the support ship, and two couriers and not a scrap more from home. They hadn't even replaced his expenditures like the recon drones and buoys he'd deployed around the star system.
It was all he could do to get replacement parts out of home; they were that stingy.
He wanted to feel elation that he'd landed the picket and his cousin had gotten the Vengeance Fleet but at the moment he just wasn't feeling the love. It was more like the feeling one got when they were too far out on a limb and someone was busy cutting it off behind you.
"You don't think whoever this is missed them?" Captain Jasmine Fontain asked mildly.
He and Jasmine had an easy relationship. They had become lovers some time ago. It was strictly against regs to bang your flag captain but they kept it low key. No doubt the countess or II knew, but as long as they got the job done, no one was going to complain.
At least, they'd better damn well not within his hearing.
"Like two ships passing each other in the void? That's certainly possible given transit times and such. But I'm not so sure. That CruRon got away. That meant they had to alert someone higher that trouble was following in their wake. No, I'm betting they are on their way back," Commander Stuart, his chief of staff said.
"Think we'll scare them off?" Lieutenant Rico, the staff TAO asked. The admiral and captain made a face and looked at him as if he was stupid. He caught the looks and shook his head. "Yeah, I thought not too."
-~~~///^\~~~-
When the prowler returned with her report, the Veraxin admiral scanned it and then considered her options carefully. "I'd like to go with Charlie Four if we can arrange it," she said, turning to her chief of staff.
"Charlie Four, aye aye, ma'am. Do you want to run the sims based on what the prowler brought back?"
"Yes. Make sure the ships have the most up-to-date information."
"Aye aye, ma'am. Timing?"
"Oh, give it until the morning. We'll arrive fresh."
"Aye aye, ma'am."
-~~~///^\~~~-
"See? I told you, nothing to worry about. Whatever they were going to send in, and I bet it was probably that CruRon, it hasn't appeared. So, most likely they saw we're here in strength and ran," Captain Fontain said with a grin to her XO.
"We don't know that for sure. And you are so full of shit; you and I both know that isn't what you told me," her XO responded. They had an easy-going, comfortable working relationship.
Jasmine chuckled. "I guess I remember things differently."
"Yeah, I thought your memory was slipping. Old age does that over time. Perhaps we should arrange the doctor to check on that," he said dryly, playing along. She snorted.
The snort and retort ended instantly when fresh alarms announced another arrival.
"Frack."
"Yeah, I know, I told you so. Trouble."
"Yeah. Let Finagle know we've got problems, and we're pulling out. Someone wake the staff and the admiral, ASAP," the captain said, turning to the officer of the watch. It all had to happen when she was on the bridge.
"Aye aye, ma'am."
"Alert the couriers. Get our logs off to them and order them to prep to run. They are to keep monitoring the situation until the enemy is within twenty million kilometers of them. Keep a running transmission to them and make damn sure it is encrypted. We don't need the enemy hacking them."
"Aye aye, ma'am."
As she began to issue crisp orders, she felt the crew settle down into the job at hand. If only that was what it would take to get them out of the crack they were in she thought—the Feds coming in, a crazed emperor to return to.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Admiral V'z'r'll noted the enemy picket was falling back as expected. She ordered her force to move forward cautiously. So far, the enemy was reacting just as they were expected to. That was usually a good thing, but until she was sure of the battlespace, she wasn't going to take any chances.
Especially with part of her force still in hyperspace.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Commodore Binks was grateful that his implants kept him from puking but only marginally grateful. The nausea of their last bumpy transition faded quickly though, so his head cleared and he could focus on the matter at hand.
The Neocat wasn't thrilled about the Charlie 4 plan; it was a pincer move but orders were orders. There was a lot of risk involved, however, and his fur felt like it had been steamed by the time his command jumped out of hyperspace. It had stood on end the entire jump out. Not to mention his claws felt like they were permanently embedded in his chair. It had been one hell of a bumpy ride.
The screen had jumped in as far deep into the solar system as they could risk to get a lead on the enemy force and their inevitable retreat. They didn't have a water dweller helm crew on any of his ships, but what they did have was a crack, seasoned helm team on each ship and detailed maps of the star system courtesy of the Winterspell CruRon and the other ships that had been stationed there.
The jump course had skirted the outer edge of the solar system and then had cut in deeper, cutting the enemy's retreat path off. There had been a lot of mass shadows to dodge in hyper.
He checked the plot. It had been expected that his command would be scattered as it came out of hyper. They were indeed; some of the cruisers from the four cruiser squadrons as far out as two million kilometers. The plot looked like buckshot with blinking icons and IFF beacons.
But before he could pass the order to “ollie ollie in free,” they were already falling in to their flagships and then to his ship. They were still getting long-range sensor returns, but it looked like they had plenty of time to get organized again. Just based on the gravitational and neutrino signatures alone the enemy picket force was at least two days out.
Perfect for him to drop in ahead of them and ruin their day he thought with a feral grin.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Admiral Knowles was just starting to feel comfortable about their lead when CIC reported a massive jump exit ahead of them. At first, wild hope made him think it was a relief force from home. It was the right heading. Then he thought in dread, it was a convoy.
It turned out to be neither of them. It was worse, far worse.
The sudden arrival of a massive jump well ahead of them spoke volumes of the risks the enemy was willing to take. And Lady Luck's blessings were obviously with them. There might be only thirty or so ships ahead of them, but they were more than enough of a road block to make her day even harder.
He swore viciously and ordered an immediate course change. He coldly noted the carrier force had changed course and was lumbering out on a direct course to the distant Horathian jump point as well.
He couldn't help but swear even more when he realized the course change would put them in a pincer with the new arrivals on one flank and the carriers astern of him but on the other. It was now a race to the jump point and possible safety. As the plot settled, he realized it wasn't going to be that easy.
Jasmine saw the pincer and winced. Rock and a hard place indeed she thought in self-reproach for taunting Murphy, even mentally.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Captain Misipeki separated from the screen as his orders dictated. He had to keep himself from taking his CruRon on a flat-out run to the distant Bd2r3 jump point however. His cruiser squadron didn't have the punch to take on the enemy alone. Winterspell could no doubt hurt them on the way out though if they chose to run to Sigma.
He was glad the admiral had gone with Charlie 4, though he wouldn't have minded playing bait with any of the Baker plans. Apparently, the admiral wanted to run the enemy to ground rather than draw them in to a frontal engagement on the Bd1r17 jump point and pin them there.
So be it.
The Neoape couldn't help but grin a rubbery grin at the enemy's natural reaction to flee a superior force. “Yeah, that's right, we're back, and this time we brought friends,” he growled playfully.
There was a chuckle around the compartment from that statement.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Admiral V'z'r'll realized her screen was going to get the bulk of the fighting to come. So be it, she couldn't have swapped places and endangered her carriers with that run. The screen
would just have to suck it up until her small craft got into range to support them.
She noted the separation between the two parts of the screen. It felt like she was watching an old Terran game where the defenders were doubling their chances of intercepting a ball carrier before they could get the ball. It gave her a few ideas on how to take advantage of that.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Captain Underwood wanted to prop his feet up and munch popcorn as the enemy continued their run. If it was on time lapse, he'd do just that. Unfortunately, things were playing out in real time.
He wished his ship was armed but of course she wasn't. He'd heard that the navy had even built a few armed prowlers. He didn't know why, but he would love to have one right about now.
“They are so fracked,” he muttered.
-~~~///^\~~~-
Commodore Binks had a healthy respect for the two enemy battle cruisers and the two CEVs with them. The rest of the ships he had no problem taking on.
It seemed like the enemy was making a conventional run to Horath. He'd expected as much, though they could throw a course change in at any time; that was why he'd put the Winterspell CruRon so far out. He wanted the ability to get some of his force out ahead of the enemy and perform a rake if they changed course.
Once his ships had gotten sorted out, they'd flipped to face the enemy. They were on a ballistic course, waiting for the enemy to come to them. If they needed to speed up or alter course, they could easily flip and perform a burn and then flip again. For the moment they were bow on to the enemy ships to minimize their profiles. Only when they got within engagement range would he pivot turn to expose his flanks to cross their T.
The two couriers ahead were barely in his mind. There was nothing he could do about them; he needed all of his fighters for defense of his force. As he watched one of the CEVs was launching fighters. It was nice to have stealth recon platforms along the line of the enemy's march. It would have been even nicer if they'd been mines or bombers though.