by D. J. Holmes
Half an hour later Johnston was on a military shuttle zipping over the North Atlantic and then the eastern and central United States. Looking out the window he watched the landscape change from the floodplains of the central states to the foothills of the Rockies. When they crossed over into Montana the shuttle descended. Though it was inconvenient to live so far from the Imperial Palace, Clare had insisted. The wild mountain ranges and extensive forests covering the foothills of the Rockies reminded her of Haven. It was a small sacrifice he had made when they had moved to Earth.
When the shuttle touched down in the field outside their remote log cabin, the front door opened and Clare stepped outside. She had no doubt seen the holo news reports. He could tell from her expression that she was worried. After thanking the pilot, Johnston descended the shuttle and slowly walked up the field towards her. Clare stepped out and pulled him into a hug. “What did she say?” Clare asked after they kissed.
Johnston had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Of course, she had guessed what had happened. Before meeting each other during the Indian invasion of Haven, she had been a spy for one of the Haven Councilors. Though she had left that life behind since coming to Earth, Johnston guessed she never really left it behind. “I’ve been demoted,” he said as his shoulders slumped. “And I’m being reassigned to New Shanghai. I’m to help train the new marines being recruited there. I’m sorry,” he said as he glanced back to take in the scenery from their cabin. “I’ll understand if you want to stay here.”
Clare slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t be stupid you big buffoon. Of course I’m going wherever you go. The Somerville Foundation has an office in New Shanghai. I’m sure I can transfer my job there. I’ll have some new responsibilities, but if that’s where you’re going, then that’s where I’m going. And…” She said slowly as a new twinkle appeared in her eyes, one Johnston knew to be scared of. “If you’re going to be a little more settled, perhaps with a little less responsibility, then maybe it’s time we started thinking about our own family…” A wide smile spread across Clare’s face. “Perhaps if young Jonathan had a friend to play with it might help you get back in James and Christine’s good books.”
Johnston found himself at a loss for words. A hundred other things had been swirling around his mind on the flight from Geneva. Chief of which had been how Clare would react to having to move to an entirely new planet. The last thing he had expected was talk of children.
“Well? What do you say?” Clare asked as she leaned in and kissed him again.
All of a sudden Johnston found his mind turned to a topic he hadn’t thought about for years. For the first time since leaving Christine’s office he smiled.
Chapter 18
No species the Empire has yet encountered has shown the technical capacity of the Rillelio. It still confounds historians that they did not discover the shift drive sooner than they did. History could have been so much different if they had.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
IS Drake, Rillelio system, 30th December 2483 AD (six weeks after leaving Earth).
“An impressive system,” James commented as he took in everything Drake’s sensors were detecting. Though the Rillelio hadn’t developed their own shift drive, they hadn’t wasted any time developing their home system. According to Commander Steele, the Rillelio impulse engines were very primitive compared to Humanity’s. Even so, they had spread themselves out to every planetary body Drake’s sensors could detect.
“Look at the gas mining stations,” Fisher said as she manipulated the holo image to zoom in on one of the system’s gas giants. “They have to be double the size they were when Mouse made first contact.”
“They are clearly eager to continue trading with us,” Miyagi surmised.
“Given Commander Steele’s report, it’s no wonder. They seemed amazed by our stories of exploration and discovery,” James replied. He almost felt guilty for lying to the Rillelio. Almost was as far as it went though. His species was in a war of survival. Some lines had to be crossed.
“It looks like they’ve added a couple of large storage stations around their homeworld as well,” Lieutenant Commander Ivanov, James’ operations officer, pointed out. “They may be able to meet our demands and then some.”
“They are hard workers,” James said as his respect for the Rillelio grew. “Signal Mouse, she may take her squadron in. As soon as they leave, start the fleet moving through the system.”
“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi replied and then dished out orders to James’ command staff.
As Mouse and three destroyers broke off from the main fleet and escorted twelve freighters into the system, James watched the Rillelio response. A small group of warships sortied out from their homeworld and settled onto an intercept trajectory. No doubt Commander Steele had already sent a COM message identifying herself. The fuel the Rillelio were unknowingly supplying his fleet with was a relatively small amount. It wouldn’t even cover the fuel his fleet had spent getting to the Rillelio system, but Steele had put in a quarterly order that would fill the tanks of the twelve freighters Mouse was escorting into the system. She was also about to ask the Rillelio to double what they had already agreed to sell her. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small amount of fuel, but given the position of the Rillelio system, it meant James could set up regular refueling convoys for his fleet as it advanced into Karacknid space. It would cut three weeks off the journey if he had to send the freighters back to New Shanghai. Once we make our first move, we can start shipments coming from Alpha-two Fort, James knew. Combined, the fuel outputs from the two systems would cover much of his fleet’s requirements. Of course, things like missiles and other munitions would still have to come from Human space. But fuel was the most important strategic resource in any multi-system campaign.
“Our laser COM array is getting flashed,” Sub Lieutenant Martinez reported. “It’s Vengeance, Admiral Lightfoot is requesting to speak to you.”
James smiled. Even with Drake’s advanced sensors and the rest of his ships in his fleet, no one had detected Lightfoot’s fleet. Given how careful he had been to avoid Karacknid scouts detecting the various elements of Counterstrike as they came together, James wasn’t complaining. “Put him through to my command chair,” he responded.
“Emperor, it is good to see you again,” Lightfoot said as a holo projection of the Admiral sitting in his command chair appeared in front of James. “There were no serious delays I hope?”
“I apologize for our lateness,” James replied. “I’ll fill you in later. But we are here now.” As much as the attack on Christine and the danger she was in played on James’ mind, he had no wish to speak about it openly. “Once we have our fuel, we’ll be ready to proceed. What is the status of your fleet?”
“We are ready and raring to go Admiral,” Lightfoot answered. “Admiral Danlien has taken over command of Alpha-two Fort. His ships will be ready to join us as soon as we call for him. At the moment he has all of his ships carrying out battle maneuvers. The freighters and drones are in orbit. Unless a Karacknid scout is particularly brave, no one should notice our absence.” As he spoke, one of Vengeance’s officers sent additional data to Drake and the main holo projection on James’ flagship updated to show the location of Lightfoot’s one hundred and forty warships. Still in stealth, they were already closing with the main fleet.
“I’m happy to hear it,” James responded. “Once we are through the system and can come out of stealth, I’ll introduce you to the rest of our commanders. We have a lot of battle simulations and strategies to go over. But I’m sure you and your people will get up to speed quickly.”
“We will do our best,” Lightfoot said with a chuckle. “You know we haven’t just been sitting on our backsides the last few months.”
“I never thought otherwise,” James said as a small grin spread across his face. “We’ve been pretty busy back on Earth too you know.”
“It’s a pity we don’t h
ave Koroylov with us as well,” Lightfoot commented. “I’d hate to be the Karacknid commander that had to face the three of us.”
“The sims where I fought just the two of you still give me nightmares,” James responded. “But someone has to protect our borders. If things go south, we need someone like Koroylov watching our backs.” The first phase of Operation Counterstrike was to punch through one of the Karacknid border forts that opposed the Alpha-two Fort system. It was why Lightfoot’s fleet was joining James’. Once the Karacknid border fleet was taken care of, Alpha-two Fort would no longer be threatened with imminent attack. The other two forts that Humanity had been building up to connect with the string of Alliance forts that ran the length of the frontline still had to be manned, however. Admirals Koroylov and Allende commanded the joint Human and Alliance fleets at each Fort.
“That is true,” Lightfoot agreed, “though I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. From the ships you’ve got with you, I imagine Home Fleet has been left somewhat undermanned.”
“Nogamoro has fifty warships still in the Sol system,” James informed Lightfoot. “Vice Admiral Suarez has the rest here with us. Everything is riding on Operation Counterstrike. Both here and in Alliance space.”
“Then we better not mess it up,” Lightfoot replied.
“No, indeed not,” James said with a solemn nod.
*
IS Drake, outer edge of Karacknid fleet base system, 19th January 2484 AD (three weeks later).
“Confirmed, eight hundred and six Karacknid warships in orbit around the fleet base,” Lieutenant Anderson informed Drake’s bridge officers from his tactical console. “It doesn’t look like they’ve received any reinforcements.”
“None that they’re willing to show us anyway,” Fisher responded as she shared a glance with James.
James nodded. “Indeed.” If the Karacknids had detected his fleet’s approach to their space, they could have brought in additional ships and kept them hidden. “Launch a spread of stealth recon drones. I want a wide angle on their search pattern. Then prepare to launch a second wave of normal recon drones. Have them traveling at half the velocity of the stealth drones. We’ll have them go active as soon as we reveal our presence.”
“Aye Admiral,” Anderson responded as his fingers danced over his command terminal.
“Signal Vengeance, inform Admiral Lightfoot he can proceed,” James ordered once the first wave of drones were away. Moments later Lightfoot’s flagship and every Human warship in James’ fleet bar Drake and her escorts and the converted freighters James had brought with him broke away from the main fleet. In stealth they circumnavigated the system and two smaller groups broke away as they moved to their assigned positions. For several hours James watched their progress whilst keeping an eye on the reports coming in from the stealth drones. When he was satisfied the Karacknids didn’t have any ships hidden along his line of approach he turned to Miyagi. “Let us begin.”
Nodding, James’ Chief of Staff gave the order for the main fleet to advance. First, eighty destroyers and light cruisers carried out a micro shift jump. Winking in and out of normal space, they suddenly appeared at the edge of the system’s mass shadow. For the last hour the patrol patterns of the small squadron of Karacknid ships guarding the shift passage had been fully analyzed. The destroyers and cruisers jumped out in positions that allowed them to immediately engage the Karacknids. As expected, other Karacknid ships appeared that had been hiding in stealth. The stealth drones had detected most of them but the few that had gone unnoticed weren’t enough to tip the balance. In a series of quick missile engagements, all of the Karacknid ships were destroyed for the price of only a handful of losses. As soon as the battle was over, Drake, Unity, and all of the Alliance and Vestarian warships carried out their own micro shift jump. When they reverted to real space, they powered up their engines and charged into the system, lighting up every Karacknid gravimetric sensor. The enemy commander would know nine hundred warships were bearing down on his position.
If he had been facing any other enemy, James would have been wondering if his opponent would stand and fight. He didn’t have to worry about that with the Karacknids. As long as the numbers were close to being even, there was no way they would pull back. Not when it would mean letting our fleet into their space, James was sure. The Karacknid commander’s pride would not let him abandon a Karacknid system. Ten minutes after James’ fleet had revealed itself, the Karacknid fleet broke orbit. James had chosen his target specifically because the Karacknid fleet base had only a handful of small battlestations. Staying in orbit and fighting alongside them would not give the Karacknids any real benefit. Being out in open space and able to maneuver was much more important.
“It looks like they have fighters,” Anderson announced as a group of very small contacts appeared on Drake’s sensors. “I’m counting twenty so far. More are being launched.”
“They’ve certainly committed to their fighters,” Fisher commented as the number rose to eighty.
“Take it as a compliment,” James said with a smile. “That’s how badly we’ve hurt them with our own.” From up and down the frontline Alliance fleets had been reporting Karacknid fighters. James had expected to see some stationed at the fleet base. The number was still pretty impressive though. If the Karacknids had as many fighters stationed at every one of their fleet bases, it meant they already had a thousand or more. “Inform Admiral Ya’sia she can launch her fighters. They are to intercept the Karacknid fighters. But make sure they don’t push out too quickly.”
“Understood,” Miyagi responded.
As both fleets continued to close, James watched the Karacknid fighters form up and race ahead of the Karacknid fleet. It looked like the Karacknid fighters were timing their attack to coincide with the first Karacknid missile salvo. That was fine by James. Ya’sia’s Pulsar fighters quickly matched the Karacknid fighters’ movements. Then, ten minutes after the Karacknid fighters charged, one hundred and sixty new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. James knew exactly what they were. Lightfoot had launched every Spitfire and Corsair he had in his fleet. They were charging the Karacknid fighters from a ninety-degree angle to their line of advance. Unless the Karacknid fighters turned from their attack run on James’ fleet, the Spitfires and Corsairs would cut through their lines. Before the Karacknid pilots had a chance to decide what to do, Ya’sia’s Pulsars gunned their engines. Now if the Karacknids did turn, they’d be cut apart by Ya’sia’s fighters instead.
In the heat of the moment the Karacknid commander chose to split his forces. Forty fighters turned to engage Lightfoot’s force while the other forty continued on their heading for Ya’sia’s Pulsars. As soon as each group of fighters met, a deadly swarm of dogfights broke out. James watched it for nearly a minute. Outnumbered and, as far as James was concerned, though he was probably biased, outclassed, the Karacknid fighters disappeared at rates far higher than his own.
“I think the Karacknid fleet commander is on to us,” Miyagi pointed out as he pulled James’ attention away from the dog fight. “Look,” he said as he altered the view on the holo projector. A small group of frigates had broken away from the Karacknid fleet. They were fanning out in the direction Lightfoot’s fighters had come from.
“It’s too late,” James said. He hadn’t seen the numbers yet, but his instincts were all he needed. Lightfoot’s fleet had traversed partially around the system’s mass shadow, then turned and used the denser shadow of one of the system’s gas giants to head deeper into the system. They had used the gas giant’s gravity to slingshot them back towards the point James had lured the Karacknid fleet to. Even though they were in stealth, James was sure they were closing in on the battle.
Whether because a frigate had detected something or the Karacknid commander had suddenly got nervous, every ship in the Karacknid fleet decelerated. James shook his head. It wasn’t going to change anything. “Fire as soon as we come into missile range. Lightfoot will be ready.”
With their momentum still carrying them towards James’ fleet, and James’ fleet accelerating at full military power, the Karacknids breaking maneuver did not work. Five minutes before they reached missile range, the thirty converted freighters that were in formation around Drake opened their cargo bay doors and rolled out missile pods. With four missiles per pod and thirty pods per freighter, they released a single salvo equivalent to a battlefleet. When Drake, Unity and the rest of James’ ships opened fire, fourteen thousand missiles shot towards the Karacknid fleet.
The Karacknids fired ten thousand of their own missiles. For a few moments, the battle looked like it was going to be even. Then another seven thousand contacts appeared, accelerating at rates even higher than the two groups of anti-ship missiles that were already in play. As soon as the missiles revealed themselves, Lightfoot’s ships went active as they came out of stealth and increased their acceleration. Whilst still out of standard missile range, they had fired a salvo of multistage missiles.
With the Karacknid fighters all destroyed, the Human and Alliance fighters could engage the Karacknid missile salvo as it passed. Between them they took out a couple of hundred missiles. Then they turned and headed back to their carriers to be refueled and rearmed. Fighters were a precious commodity. James didn’t intend to risk them when he had the numerical advantage.