Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  “We have one that should go with them. The rest of my fleet is ready to proceed. It is time for us to split up, unless you think it unwise?” Shraw asked.

  That was the question on Becket’s mind. She had already split her fleet once. The plan had been for her and Shraw to split their forces again to cover more systems. Maleck and Faroul should have already split their ships. Yet if Karacknid border fleets were pulling back there was an even greater risk than she had anticipated. “If Maleck or Faroul encounter a fleet similar to the one we just faced they are going to be in trouble,” she said.

  “I’m sure if they find themselves so outmatched they will run for it,” Shraw replied. “If they can.” Indeed, Becket thought but didn’t say. Shraw continued, “but in the systems we’re going to attack, we’re unlikely to run into another border fleet. There shouldn’t be one for at least ten systems.”

  “There shouldn’t,” Becket agreed, though if the Karacknid border fleets were getting orders to fall back and rendezvous with one another, one could be heading for the systems she and Shraw were about to head to. It is the risk we all decided to face, she said to herself. “We will proceed as planned,” she said after weighing up her options. “If the Karacknids can amass enough ships to stop our advance sooner than we were expecting, we’ll have to fall back before reaching the Upper Valley. If that’s the case, we may as well do as much damage as we can. We’ll each hit our next two systems and then rendezvous as planned unless something changes. Don’t take any unnecessary risks Admiral.”

  “I won’t Admiral,” Shaw said in return. “We can stay in almost constant contact. If either of us detects a force we cannot face we can come to each other’s aid.”

  “That’s the plan,” Becket replied. She hoped that if it came to it, they’d have the time and space to do just that. At least if they dispatched frigates to one another every six hours or so they’d be able to stay abreast of each other’s progress. “Ready your ship that needs to go home and we will proceed.”

  “I’ll let you know when it’s ready to go,” Shraw informed her as the Gramrian ended the COM channel.

  An hour later Becket’s fleet split into two groups as Viper led the Human warships towards one shift passage and Talon led the Gramrian ships to another. Behind them four Human and one Gramrian ship huddled together as they carried out as many repairs as they could before trying to slip out of Karacknid space and back to safety.

  Chapter 15

  In five hundred years the Karacknids have not changed. They would rather enslave other species and force them to do most of the menial work of empire building for them. The irony is that when they actually put their minds to it, they can achieve great things. Their skills can be used for more than just warship production and fighting battles. Sadly, they will not accept this truth. It is why the Imperial Fleet must watch them to this day.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  IS Viper, 14th November 2483 AD (nine days later).

  Becket pursed her lips as she weighed up the situation. Over the last two weeks they had encountered more success than she had hoped for. Her fleet had raided one system with a significant gas mining operation and a second that had been home to several large shipyards. The shipyards had only been capable of producing freighters, but taking them out would likely hamper the Karacknid’s supply situation in the Valley. The speed of her success and the constant updates she had from Shraw informing her about his successes had made her decide to push onto a third system before heading to the rendezvous point. Now she faced a dilemma. Ten minutes ago her ships had exited shift space and they had encountered more than they were expecting.

  The system in front of her was one the Karacknids had built up themselves rather than conquered from another species. The orbital stations were all armed with modern weapons and there were three battlestations guarding the rest of the Karacknid real estate. According to the Kalassai intelligence, it acted as one of four supply hubs for the Lower Valley. She had planned to avoid it for fear that it would be heavily defended. But the scouts she had sent forward to watch for a Karacknid fleet had reported there were only twelve warships in the system. Now the number defending the orbital stations around the system’s only gas giant had climbed to twenty. Even with the three battlestations in orbit, it was a force she could assault. The supply depot wasn’t her only target, however. On Viper’s scopes a large convoy was crossing through the system. Over a hundred freighters with fourteen warships as escorts was a juicy target.

  “What do you think they are hauling?” Rogers asked.

  “They know we’ve been raiding their systems,” Becket answered. “They may be evacuating as many resources as they can. Those freighters could be full of raw materials for warship construction or even newly built missiles or other munitions.” That was the cause of Becket’s dilemma. She couldn’t catch the convoy, not with her medium and heavy cruisers, but she could detach her lighter ships. Yet if she did that, she wouldn’t have the strength to assault the depot. She didn’t have time to hit one target and then reform her fleet to take on the second. Her ships were already further away from Shraw’s fleet and the other Admirals than she liked. Tarrying too long would be asking for trouble. Especially if she tried to fight two battles in quick succession. The arrival of additional Karacknid forces would leave her in real trouble. “Open a COM channel to Commodore Fang,” Becket requested, leaning towards one option. Taking out the depot would hurt the Karacknids more in the long term. But hitting so many freighters after having already destroyed their freighter shipyard would likely do more immediate damage to their economy. And if we don’t hurt them in the short term, there may not be a long term.

  “Commodore,” Becket said as a holo image of Fang appeared in front of her. “How would you like to transfer your flag to Manticore and go on a little hunting expedition?”

  The smile on Fang’s face told Becket the Chinese commander got exactly what she was suggesting. “It would be my pleasure,” he replied.

  “I’ll draft the orders right away, but you may get moving, there isn’t much time to spare,” Becket said.

  Fang nodded. “I will inform my command staff. Do you have any other plans?”

  “Not unless the gas giant’s garrison wants to try and come to the convoy’s rescue. We can’t risk engaging those battlestations. The rest of us will follow behind you and pick off any freighters that stray into our path. Then we can jump out of here and high tail it back to Shraw and the others.”

  “Understood Admiral, I’ll get going now if that’s ok?”

  “Of course,” Becket replied and cut the COM channel. She turned to her Chief of Staff. “Put together orders for Commodore Fang to transfer to Manticore and assume command of all of our light cruisers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes. He is to hunt down that convoy.”

  “Immediately Admiral,” Wilson said as she turned and gave orders to Becket’s command staff. Within minutes all the smaller ships in Becket’s fleet lit off their engines as they charged after the convoy. The convoy was only an hour and a half away from the shift passage they were heading for so time was of the essence. The rest of Becket’s command moved into the system along the same course but much more slowly. Remaining in stealth, Becket waited and watched to see how the garrison squadron would react.

  It was the freighter convoy who responded first to the sudden acceleration of Fang’s ships. They increased their own acceleration, but only by a small fraction. As Fang’s ships accelerated to higher and higher velocities, it became clear to the convoy commander that his ships weren’t going to escape. As one, the Karacknid warships escorting the convoy turned onto an intercept trajectory with Fang’s ships. Becket nodded out of respect. It was what she would have expected any Human commander worth her salt to do. The Karacknids were going to sacrifice themselves to give the freighters a chance to escape. Which tells me whatever is in those freighters is important, Becket thought with a small smile. She had made the right choice
. Cold, was her next thought as she turned her attention to the garrison ships. They hadn’t broken orbit. They’re going to watch as their comrades die. The least they could have done was chase after Fang’s ships. After fighting the convoy escorts, the garrison squadron would have stood a good chance of engaging Fang and getting revenge.

  “Do you think they have orders to remain in orbit no matter what?” Rogers asked.

  When Becket turned to her Flag Captain, she saw he too was watching the garrison squadron. “That or their commander suspects there are more ships out here. If they have received reports about our raids, they will know we have more than just light cruisers in our fleet.”

  Rogers nodded. “Either way, it would be tough to watch the escorts fight alone.”

  “That’s assuming they think like us,” Wilson said. “Perhaps they see the escorts as going to a good death. Perhaps they are jealous.”

  Becket wasn’t too sure about that. From what she had read, the Karacknids did have a thirst for battle, but it came more from a desire for victory than death. “Whatever is keeping them in orbit, it means we are not going to get to surprise them,” she said. “There is no point remaining in stealth now. Take our ships to full acceleration. We may as well catch up with Fang as much as possible. The closer we are to him the sooner we can jump out and head back to Admiral Shraw.”

  Leaving her officers to pursue her orders, Becket focused on Fang’s progress. Whilst he outnumbered the Karacknid convoy escorts by a factor of two to one, there were two medium cruisers amongst the Karacknid ships. That didn’t make the fight even, but it did add an element of danger.

  “Missile launches,” Lieutenant Salaman exclaimed. He turned to look at Becket with his eyebrows raised. “They are still well out of standard missile range. He must have fired a salvo of multistage missiles.”

  Becket nodded as she kept her face expressionless. With the introduction of the mark IV missiles each Human warship only carried three salvos of multistage missiles for the rare occasion where they would be useful. She had been trying to conserve them but she hadn’t forbidden Fang from using them. “What are they targeting?” she asked as she considered what Fang might be up to.

  Salaman swiveled his command chair back to his console. “They’re not aimed directly at the Karacknid warships,” he said moments later. “He’s going for the freighters? At such a range?”

  “So far the Karacknids we have faced don’t seem to know much about our abilities,” Rogers suggested. “They may not know our multistage missiles would have to cruise ballistically at least half of their journey to the freighters. If they think they can power themselves all the way there…”

  “Then I’d have to engage them as they pass,” Becket said as she finished her Flag Captain’s train of thought. “That would certainly disrupt their formation.”

  “And if they think it’s just a ruse and let the missiles past,” Rogers added. “Then when they jettison their first stage and go ballistic, the Karacknids might think it was a trick. If they don’t split up their convoy, the multistage missiles could catch them with their pants down.”

  “A neat trick,” Becket said loud enough for everyone on the bridge to hear. This was exactly the kind of thinking she wanted to instill in her officers. Even if it was going to cost all of the lighter ships in her fleet one of their multistage missile salvos.

  Silence descended on the bridge as everyone waited to see how the Karacknids would react. Becket had to fight back a grin as she noticed several officers leaning forward in their command chairs out of the corner of her eye. Though everyone saw it for themselves, Salaman still felt the need to announce. “The Karacknid squadron is breaking formation!”

  On the holo projector the fourteen Karacknid ships were breaking apart. In groups of four or five they maneuvered to intercept as many of Fang’s multistage missiles as possible. The missiles, detecting the movement of the Karacknid ships split further apart. Clearly Fang had programmed them to do so. As a result, the Karacknid ships had to spread out even further. Then the Karacknid point defenses opened up on them. Fang’s ships had fired four hundred multistage missiles. Half of them were taken out by the Karacknid warships. Not long after passing out of weapons range of the Karacknids, the multistage missiles jettisoned their first stage and disappeared from the gravimetric plot as they went ballistic.

  Becket shifted her focus to the freighter convoy. The ships were still in a tight ball as they accelerated hard towards the system’s mass shadow. They don’t suspect a thing, she concluded. That was going to hurt them. In the meantime, more beeps indicated that Fang’s ships had come close enough to fire their mark IV missiles. The Karacknids returned fire seconds later. However, the battle was even more one-sided than the number suggested. Fang had targeted all of his missiles on one group of five Karacknid ships. The Karacknids were desperately maneuvering to rendezvous with one another. But the data on Viper’s main holo projector indicated they wouldn’t be able to join up in time to fully overlap their point defense fire. Additionally, with the ships so spread out, their missiles weren’t going to reach Fang’s ships at exactly the same time. He would be able to spread out his point defense fire.

  Despite Fang’s impressive tactics, Becket winced when a destroyer suffered a direct hit from a Karacknid missile. Two more warheads detonated amongst his ships as the nearby frigates and destroyers threw themselves into evasive maneuvers. One frigate was unable to get out of the blast radius and antimatter washed over it. By the time Viper’s sensors were able to clear the interference from the detonations, the frigate was a drifting wreck. Half of it had been eaten away by the antimatter. As Fang worked to re-form his ships, Becket watched his missiles crash into the Karacknids. All five of the Karacknid ships, including one medium cruiser, were wiped out. “Now the odds are definitely in his favor,” Becket said with a nod.

  It took just two more salvos to finish the remaining Karacknids. With more than a third of their ships already destroyed, the second and third Karacknid salvos didn’t penetrate Fang’s point defense fire. With the short battle over, everyone’s attention switched to the freighter convoy. Fang’s ships were still catching the freighters. But the Karacknid warships had delayed them slightly. Some of the freighters stood a good chance of escaping. Then Fang’s multistage missiles kicked in their second stages. Suddenly one hundred and eighty missiles appeared dead astern of the Karacknid freighters. With their miniature inertial compensators, the second stage of the missiles were able to achieve extremely high rates of acceleration. The Karacknid freighters panicked and scattered in every direction.

  Rogers shook his head. “They’re not getting away now,” he commented.

  “I’m afraid not,” Becket agreed. If the leading freighters had kept on their course, they might have made it to the shift passage. Now that they were turning away from the shortest route to the system’s mass shadow, their demise was certain. Of Fang’s one hundred and eighty missiles, one hundred and forty found targets. Quite a few of them ended up targeting the same freighter. After the explosions ended, only fifty-four Karacknid freighters remained. Some of them realized their mistake and altered course onto their original heading whilst others continued to scatter. In the end, it didn’t matter. Over the next forty-five minutes Fang’s ships split up and hunted down every single freighter. Heavy plasma cannon bolts ripped into those Fang’s ships could get close enough to and mark IV missiles finished off the rest.

  “Call Fang’s ships back,” Becket ordered. “Set course for our shift passage out of here.” Though she was tempted to engage the Karacknid supply depot deeper in the system, it would delay her by more than half a day. She was already late for the rendezvous with Shraw. We have accomplished enough in this system, Becket thought as she watched Fang’s ships decelerate. There was no need for any more risks. Not at the moment anyway.

  *

  IS Viper, 16th November 2483 AD (two days later).

  “Peacock has just returned Admiral
,” Lieutenant Armitage informed Becket.

  Becket nodded to acknowledge her sensor officer. She had her fleet sitting just beyond the mass shadow of the system she had agreed to meet Shraw in. As usual, she had sent a scout in to check out the system before jumping her fleet in.

  “Peacock is transmitting sensor data to us now,” Lieutenant Rondon said quickly, urgency filling his voice. “It’s coming across on a priority one channel.”

  “Put it up on the main holo projector,” Becket ordered. Peacock’s Captain wouldn’t have sent the sensor data like that unless there was a problem. Seconds later, Becket saw exactly what it was. She ground her teeth together as she fought to keep dismay off her face. Shraw was in trouble. “Jump us in immediately,” she snapped. “As soon as we revert to real space have an intercept course for Shraw’s fleet ready. The fleet is to go to full military power.” We wasted too much time, Becket said to herself as guilt welled up. Her fleet had taken out the Karacknid convoy. But at what cost? On the holo projector in front of her Shraw’s fleet was fleeing across the system. Fifty Karacknid warships were chasing them. The sensor data showed a salvo of missiles closing with Shraw’s ships. And there are already ships missing, Becket knew just by looking at Shraw’s fleet. Before she could say anything more to herself, Viper jumped into shift space and exited just two seconds later. The ship vibrated slightly as her engines powered up to full. “Launch fighters,” Becket ordered. “Have them run interference on the Karacknid missile salvos for Shraw. What is our ETA on reaching them?”