Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  “Indeed I have,” Emilie said as a wide smile spread across her face. “He is quite the looker. If he doesn’t take too much after his father, he could be a real lady’s man. I could send them over to you if you like, I’m sure James wouldn’t mind in the least.”

  “That would be nice,” Becket said with a nod. “I would enjoy that.” She had seen a few images of what everyone in the fleet was calling the Imperial baby and James’ most recent letter had been full of descriptions of Jonathan, but like the typical man that he was, he hadn’t included any images or holographic recordings. “Your ship has been refueled and rearmed I trust?” Becket asked as she came down to business.

  “Aye Admiral,” Emilie replied. “I’ve had my engineers going over the three freighters you’ve given me with a fine-tooth comb. They should be able to last the trip without any incident.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Becket said as a wry smile appeared on her lips. “I wouldn’t want you going all that way for nothing.”

  “Neither would I,” Emilie replied as she mirrored Becket’s expression.

  “In that case, I wanted to inform you that the other Admirals and I have decided to break orbit in two days. This is your official order to proceed with your part of the mission as soon as possible. If you can leave today, you may do so.”

  Emilie looked away for several seconds then turned back to Becket. “I think that should be doable. We could probably get going in six hours or so.”

  Becket smiled again. “I’m not in the least surprised. You young captains are always keen to get out from under the eye of your betters.”

  “I’m sure being a flag officer has benefits of its own,” Emilie replied as she winked. “Though for the life of me I haven’t seen any of them yet.”

  “Just make sure you don’t enjoy yourself too much,” Becket responded. “Come to think of it, I should probably arrange for Lieutenant Alvarez and his team to be put on a transport back to Earth. Now that Intrepid is part of a regular fleet, there is no need for you to have his team on board. I’m sure having his people around has been a real bore on the kind of long voyages you’ve been on.” When Emilie’s cheeks visibly reddened, Becket smiled and pointed at her younger friend. “You see, there is one advantage to flag rank. Nothing gets past a Rear Admiral… But in all seriousness, I’m sure Alvarez could be put to much greater use back on Earth. He is probably due his own ship or at least a First Lieutenant’s slot. You should discuss it with him before you break orbit. If he wishes, he can be on the next transport back home.”

  Emilie nodded slowly, as she replied Becket could tell she was trying to control her emotions. “We will discuss it Admiral. Thank you. It will not be a pleasant conversation, but I understand exactly what you mean.”

  “Very good,” Becket replied. “If it would help put Alvarez’s concerns to rest, I can order you to keep your hands to yourself while he is away.” Emilie’s face reddened even more, but before she could reply Becket wagged at her again. “You see, there is the second advantage. You can make fun of your subordinates and they cannot do anything in response.”

  Emilie shook her head. “That’s not fair at all.”

  “A third advantage,” Becket said as she smiled again and held up three fingers. “Admirals get to decide what is and isn’t fair.”

  Emilie rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, you win. Have mercy on me. Change the subject please.”

  Becket paused for a couple of seconds and held Emilie’s gaze before relenting. “Okay, I’ll be nice. But in return I want something from you. You’re to promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks while you are gallivanting around on your own. Your uncle is upset enough that I kept you here under my command. I don’t want to have to be the one to tell him something has happened to you.”

  Emilie smiled. “I’ll do my best Rear Admiral, but we both know I can’t make any more of a promise than that. Intrepid seems to have a habit of getting herself into tricky situations.”

  Becket rolled her eyes at her friend. For the past several months she had been using Intrepid and several other stealth ships to probe Karacknid systems. She had been seeking to evaluate the accuracy of the ship dispositions and fleet strength intelligence the Kalassai had shared with Emilie. For the most part they had proven surprisingly accurate. “All right,” Becket said. “I’m sure you have a lot of final preparations to make before you can depart. Just make sure you leave your station as soon as you have accomplished your task. I want you to re-join us as soon as possible. I imagine we are going to need your eyes and ears if we’ve made it that far.”

  “That is a promise I can make Rear Admiral. As soon as we’re done, we’ll hightail it straight for the rendezvous system.”

  “Good,” Becket said as she gave Emilie a nod. She raised a hand in a salute. “Good luck Captain.”

  “And to you too Rear Admiral,” Emilie replied just before Becket ended the COM channel.

  Becket took a second to roll her shoulders then she pulled up the additional orders she had asked Wilson to write. After reviewing them she approved each one and sent them to the bridge to be transmitted to their respective ships. Then she stood and left her quarters. She had a meal to attend. After that a thousand other things would no doubt demand her attention before the fleet could actually move out and begin the campaign. Not for the first time, her mind turned to one of her long dead heroes, General Jackson had given her the inspiration for the Valley campaign. His success had been in large part down to luck and determination, but a significant amount of planning had been involved as well. As her own plans continued to come together, her respect for him only continued to grow.

  Chapter 9

  Every Imperial officer longs after the homeworld of their youth. It is only natural. Joining the Imperial Navy means that we will visit many star systems throughout our careers. I have set foot on forty-four. Still, in my mind none compare to Mala’nuoer. I hope to retire there when I am no longer needed in the Imperial Academy here in the Famarian system.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  IS Viper, 17th October 2483 AD (five weeks later).

  “How long has it been since the last activity?” Becket asked from her command chair on Viper’s bridge.

  “Three hours Rear Admiral,” Lieutenant Armitage, Becket’s sensor officer answered. “The freighter that moved from the Karacknid orbital base at the fourth planet to the gas mining station is still docked there.”

  Becket nodded to acknowledge her subordinate’s response. The fleet was on the extreme outer edge of a Karacknid border world. They had been sitting there in stealth for the last eighteen hours. In that time almost nothing had happened. When they had arrived one freighter had been moving towards the system’s fourth planet. After a couple of hours it had entered orbit and hadn’t moved since. Several hours later, a second freighter had moved from the fourth planet to the small gas mining station the Karacknids had built in orbit around the system’s only gas giant. The only other movement within the system came from four patrolling frigates. Their patrol arc was extremely predictable and they were only using their passive sensors to observe the space around them. “How is our analysis of their main base coming along?” Becket asked. She had seen the preliminary analysis several hours ago but now that they’d had time to watch one complete revolution of the fourth planet her analysts would have a clearer picture.

  “We’re pretty much done,” tactical officer Salaman responded. “We’ve identified six more warships. Two light cruisers and four destroyers. That brings the total garrison up to forty-two. The largest ship is a medium cruiser. We are ninety-eight percent confident that there are no other ships powered down in orbit. Certainly, if there are any we’ve missed, there can’t be more than one or two.”

  “The two battlestations?” Becket followed up.

  “They are indeed a new design we have not encountered before,” Salaman answered. “Though new may be the wrong word. I believe they are an older desig
n. If I had to guess, I’d say their hull is based on a Karacknid battleship’s hull, with a few minor alterations. Without the need for any engines and supply storage, each probably has twenty percent more firepower and point defenses. If we had a fleet of equal numbers, they would pose quite a risk, but they don’t tip the balance in the Karacknid fleet’s favor in any significant way. Of course, if the battlestations are of an older design, their missiles and point defenses may be somewhat outdated.”

  “The rest of the Karacknid base?” Becket asked.

  Salaman made the image on the holo projector zoom in on the system’s fourth planet. “The nine other orbital stations appear to be for supply storage and fleet maintenance. There has been the occasional shuttle moving back and forth between them and the planet’s surface. But traffic has been minimal. The small installation on the planet itself appears to be inconsequential. We are too far away to detect any serious subterranean facilities. But it appears the small planetary structure is used more for R&R or ground-based training. There are zero energy signatures coming from the planet’s surface. Either there’s nothing of significance there or their reactors are in cold shutdown.”

  Becket felt like shaking her head. She could hardly believe she was looking at a Karacknid base. From her experience fighting the Karacknids, it just didn’t seem possible. Normally at least half of a Karacknid war fleet in orbit around a planet would have their reactors powered up, ready to respond to a threat instantly. They would have more ships out patrolling with their active sensors ablaze. It looked more like she was staring at a fleet operated by some other species that had no experience of interstellar warfare. And yet the ships were most definitely Karacknid.

  “They are clearly not expecting any kind of threat at all,” Captain Rogers commented. “We could sneak past their patrols and right into powered missile range and they wouldn’t detect us.”

  Becket nodded. “According to the Kalassai intelligence, the Karacknids incorporated the system into their empire almost forty years ago when they conquered a nearby sentient species.” It seemed as if the fleet she was looking at had been stationed here ever since. “If they haven’t seen any action in nearly forty years it’s no wonder they are so ill-prepared.”

  “Apart from the Karacknids’ quick conquest of the Nanee species, they haven’t extended their borders too far in this sector of space for quite some time,” Commander Wilson added from the midst of Becket’s staff officers. “If this entire sector of their Empire hasn’t seen much action, this may be where they send their second or even third grade officers. The entire Valley could be filled with squadrons and fleets like this.”

  “We can only hope,” Becket replied wistfully. “Though it would be foolish to make such assumptions. For now, we can make use of their lack of preparedness. Get me Rear Admiral Maleck on a COM channel,” Becket requested as she glanced at her COM officer. She had been working on a plan over the last several hours and it was time to put it into action.

  “Aye Rear Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon responded.

  A few moments later Maleck’s face appeared on Becket’s command chair’s holo projector. Maleck smiled when they locked eyes. “I think your species has a saying that would sum up what we are looking at. It seems we’ve caught the Karacknids with their pants down… How does that sound? Is that right?”

  Becket couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, I think you’ve captured it perfectly. I just hope it’s not a ruse.”

  “It would be a very impressive ruse if this was all being faked,” Maleck said, gesturing towards the inner system.

  “It would,” Becket responded. “But we’ll be careful all the same. Given how lackluster their patrols appear though, I was thinking we could take advantage of that. If we can prevent any word of our attack getting out of the system it will buy us more time to run riot further up the Valley. How do you feel about sitting this one out? It would be good to give our allies some experience. A decisive victory will do their morale good as well.”

  “You want my ships to block any Karacknids from fleeing?” Maleck asked.

  Becket nodded. “There’s two shift passages they’re likely to try and use. You’ll have to split your fleet.”

  Maleck looked away for several seconds as he thought her suggestion through. “If their entire fleet goes one way, we’d be left outnumbered.”

  “If it comes to that, your ships will have to pull back,” Becket suggested. “There’s no point risking such an engagement so early in this campaign. I intend to get as close to their base as possible before striking. I doubt much of their fleet will be able to escape, even if their commander is of a disposition to flee his post. Even taking into account how lax things look here, given what we know about the Karacknids, I’d be shocked if they simply fled.”

  “You’re right,” Maleck said. “On both counts. If we can stop word getting out of our attack it will buy us another week or more. It’s worth the risk. When do you want us to get into position?”

  “I can’t imagine we’re going to learn anything significant if we wait around much longer. The system is so quiet we could wait weeks and nothing else would happen. You may as well get going.”

  “Very well, Admiral, Jaran and I will split our forces and cover the two shift passages. We will stay in stealth unless we’re forced to engage.”

  “I’ll see you on the other side Admiral. Good luck,” Becket said.

  “And to you,” Maleck replied before ending the COM channel.

  “I’ll speak to Admirals Shraw and Faroul next,” Becket said. “And inform Commodore Fang that we will be moving soon too.” Becket watched the forty Alliance ships that had been holding station around Viper slowly move away from her fleet. They split into two distinct groups as they angled for the two shift passages on the opposite end of the system.

  “The time has come Admirals,” Becket said as the two Conclave admirals appeared in front of her. “Are your ships ready?”

  “Ready and eager,” Shraw responded. “You intend to make sure no witnesses escape?”

  “If we can,” Becket answered. “Though the Alliance ships won’t be taking any undue risks. We’re going to sneak in as close as we can. If the Karacknid ships run we can chase them down. Their heavier ships shouldn’t be able to outrun us and if they detach the lighter ships, Maleck’s fleet can handle them.”

  “A good plan,” Faroul decided. “Our ships await your orders Rear Admiral.”

  “We will begin entering the system immediately,” Becket said as she sent a flight path to Lieutenant Rondon. “Your navigation officers should be getting the route now. It will take a few hours but as long as the Karacknids’ patrol frigates keep using their passive sensors, we should be able to get close. We have the numerical advantage, but Karacknid missile technology is effective. Make sure you remind your crews of that. We don’t want to take any losses due to overconfidence.”

  “Don’t worry Admiral,” Shraw said. “I don’t think overconfidence is going to be a problem. All of our crews are more than a little nervous. It has been a hundred years since a Gramrian fleet has gone into combat for real. And back then it was against our Conclave neighbors. Everyone will be at their best.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. We’ll keep in contact via laser COM link as we proceed. I’ll give the order to move momentarily,” Becket responded.

  “We will be at your side,” Shraw said as both he and Faroul tilted their heads slightly.

  Becket smiled at them and cut the COM channel. “Send the order to the fleet, take us in. Make sure everyone stays in stealth. We don’t want to give the game away before it begins,” she said as she looked towards her command staff.

  Becket stayed on the bridge as her ships slowly crept into the system. Though Maleck’s ships had long since passed out of visual range, representations of their approximate positions were displayed on the holo projection of the system. Only once they were in position and no alarm had been raised did Becket allow herself to relax
slightly. “What’s your best guess for when they’ll detect us Armitage?” she asked her sensor officer.

  Armitage paused, looking for the right words. In the end he simply shrugged. “I don’t know how to best answer that Admiral. If this was a Karacknid fleet stationed on the frontline I’d expect them to have detected us already. The ships’ passive sensors mustn’t be as sensitive as we’re used to.”

  Becket nodded as she mulled over that tidbit of information. She was closer than she had expected to get to the system’s fourth planet and the Karacknid orbital base. There was no chance the Karacknid fleet could flee without engaging her fleet, at least for a short missile duel. She’d be able to fire two or three salvos into the Karacknids as they passed. They really are this unprepared, Becket couldn’t help but conclude. Suddenly she sat up in her chair. Something else had occurred to her. It was possible the Karacknids had detected her ships and were luring her in. If they happened to have a number of stealth battlestations or ships hidden nearby, she could be the one walking into a trap and the deeper she went, the harder it would be to get out. When she glanced at Commander Wilson she saw her Chief of Staff was watching her closely. “Have several ships release a wave of stealth recon drones. I want to get one final picture of our target before we reveal ourselves. Check the upper orbitals of the planet as well. Let’s make sure there’s nothing in stealth,” she said in an even tone, so as not to cause alarm.