Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  Becket nodded. “Take them out of the picture and the odds will be in our favor. Not to mention the fact that the hub will be a sitting duck.” As things were, Becket had her fleet almost directly between the main Karacknid fleet and the Hub. If the garrison fleet was taken out of the picture there would be nothing to stop her from destroying the six massive freighter supply stations.

  “As soon as they realize what you’re doing they’ll charge us,” Rogers suggested.

  “Undoubtedly,” Becket replied. “But we have them beat when it comes to acceleration. We should have enough space to trade for time. Speaking of which, the time is almost upon us. COMs, get me the other Admirals.” Though she had been in constant communication with them as their ships had matched the main Karacknid fleet’s maneuvers, she hadn’t outlined her plan yet. She wanted to wait to make sure it would be a possibility. In five minutes the Karacknid garrison fleet would cross the point of no return.

  Chapter 28

  Though the number of ships involved in the Second Karacknid War far outweighed those in the War of Doom, it is the latter where capable students can learn the most from studying the battles. For with lesser numbers our commanders were forced to win by whatever means possible.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  When Maleck, Faroul and Shraw appeared in front of her, Becket quickly outlined her plan. “…And so I’d like four of your medium cruisers,” she asked Admiral Maleck as she finished. “Your ships have the speed to keep up with mine and they have the heaviest punch. That should minimize our losses and still leave you enough ships to defend yourselves.”

  “That’s no problem Admiral, I’ll assign them to you as soon as we’re done here,” Maleck responded.

  “Very good, I’m putting you in overall command of the Combined Fleet,” Becket replied. “If you need help call and we’ll come running. But try and avoid contact if it all possible.”

  “We understand,” Maleck said on behalf of the other Admirals. “You go have fun; we’ll watch your back.”

  “And remember this for the future,” Shraw added. “Next time I’d like to be the one going on the hunt.”

  Becket smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind Admiral. Stay safe. We’ll speak again in an hour or so if not before.” After nodding to each Admiral, Becket cut the COM channel. She turned to Lieutenant Levitt. “Map out an intercept trajectory for the Hub. As soon as the Hub fleet crosses the point where they won’t be able to get back to the Hub before us, we’re going to turn and charge the Hub. COMs make sure Maleck’s four medium cruisers know what we are planning. Assign them a position in the center of our formation.” Lieutenants Levitt and Rondon acknowledged her commands together and got to work.

  “They’ve crossed it!” Levitt announced just under five minutes later.

  “Bring us about,” Becket ordered. Every Human ship and four of Maleck’s medium cruisers broke away from the Combined Fleet. Turning their noses straight towards the system’s gas giant, they re-engaged their main engines. Becket couldn’t help but smile as she imagined the Karacknid commander’s confusion. He had refused to leave the Hub twice before. Now that he had, he suddenly had an enemy fleet charging towards the stations he was supposed to be defending. Now it is your turn to face a dilemma, she thought. He could still join the main Karacknid fleet. Then the Karacknids would be able to seriously threaten Maleck and what was left of the Combined Fleet. But the Karacknid commander would be accepting the destruction of the Hub. Becket’s smile widened when the Hub fleet turned and decelerated. Of course the Karacknid commander wasn’t going to just watch so many freighters and orbital stations be destroyed. She had done it the long way around, but she had lured the Karacknid fleet out of orbit and into a position where it had to fight her. And you will lose, she thought to the Karacknid commander. It was possible the Karacknids knew her ships’ abilities. Either because these Karacknid commanders were better informed or because they had received reports from Becket’s previous battles. It didn’t matter, she outnumbered the enemy fleet nearly two to one and when the numbers involved Human and Alliance warships, that actually counted.

  “Target their capital ships,” Becket ordered ten minutes later. “Prepare to turn to engage them. We’ll close to just outside of energy weapon range.” Doing so would maximize her numbers advantage as neither side would have as much time to track enemy missiles. Whilst it would likely mean more losses for Becket’s fleet, at least in the initial salvo, Becket wanted to end the battle as fast as possible. She was nervous about leaving Maleck and the others alone. Even as her mind turned to Maleck, the main Karacknid fleet finally made a move. Turning onto a direct course for the Hub, they accelerated with their maximum thrust. Becket opened her mouth to give orders for Maleck, but the ships of the Combined Fleet reacted before she could say anything. Expertly Maleck turned his ships away from the Karacknids and matched their acceleration rates.

  On the main holo projection Lieutenant Armitage put up the Karacknid fleet’s projected route along with a timer. The Karacknids would reach missile range of Becket’s ships in one hour. That was how long she had to finish off the Hub fleet. “Let’s get started,” Becket said. “Turn us towards the Karacknids. We’ll fire as soon as we enter range, the Alliance cruisers can join us in the second volley. Order all ships that still have them to flush their missile pods.”

  “Yes Admiral,” Wilson acknowledged.

  As her ships turned to meet the Hub fleet, Becket patiently watched the range steadily decrease. To their credit, the Hub fleet didn’t falter when they saw her fleet was abandoning its attack on the Hub to target the warships instead. Without having to give the order, Becket’s ships opened fire first. With twelve missile pods thrown into the mix, her ships put out a salvo of one thousand missiles. The Karacknids opened fire thirty seconds later when they entered missile range. Both groups of ships fired again before they prepared to defend themselves. As the first missile salvos from both fleets slammed into their targets Becket’s shoulders tightened. She counted six explosions of anti-matter among her ships. Officers all around her frantically worked as they sought to find the status of the ships hit and to reform the fleet after its evasive maneuvers. Leaving them to it, Becket watched as eleven Karacknid ships were blown apart or fell out of formation. One quarter down already, she thought with pleasure. Her joy increased when she saw the Karacknid fleet slow its acceleration.

  “They must have other damaged ships they are trying to keep in the fight,” Rogers concluded.

  “Let’s hope they have lost missile tubes as well as engine power,” she replied, turning to her Chief of Staff.

  Wilson was already waiting. “Three ships are gone. Two more have suffered minor damage, their gaseous shields largely protected them from proximity detonations. Though they have been depleted now.”

  “Move them to the back of the fleet,” Becket ordered. “What ships?”

  “Mountain, Ranger and Arrow,” Wilson answered.

  Becket nodded solemnly. Mountain and Ranger were small corvettes, but Arrow was a light cruiser. She only had seven of them left in her fleet.

  “Next salvo incoming in eighty seconds,” Lieutenant Salaman announced. “Firing our own salvo in thirty.”

  Becket turned to watch another salvo race away from her ships. Moments later Viper’s point defenses opened up on the Karacknids’ second salvo. As she had come to expect the two volleys of extended range AM missiles wreaked havoc among the Karacknid missiles. Hundreds more were taken out by the more conventional weapons of her fleet. Even so, as the last handful of Karacknid missiles got close, Becket felt Viper being thrown into an evasive maneuver. Her heart raced. The maneuver meant a missile was still targeting her flagship. Fighting the g-forces Viper’s inertial compensators were struggling to cope with, her head swiveled to look at a secondary display. Two missiles were closing with Viper! One would have been bad enough. Viper’s pilot would have been hard-pressed to avoid it. Two was far worse. Becket�
�s heart rate spiked. Her whole body tensed. The missiles were just seconds away.

  As Viper’s pilot increased his maneuver, Becket felt her vision narrow. Then he suddenly reversed course. The g-forces flung her back into her command chair. Bile shot up her throat and she threw up all over herself. Then a new force shunted her sideways. It hadn’t been a maneuver. They had been hit! Her instinct was confirmed moments later as alarms screamed all around her.

  We’re alive, was the first thing her mind told her as the g-forces died away. And we have power, she added. The inertial compensators were still working. If they had failed the g-forces from the tail end of Viper’s evasive maneuvers probably would have turned the bridge crew to mush.

  “Damage report,” Captain Rogers authoritative voice demanded over the din. Becket looked around and was pleased to see he appeared fully alert despite the gash running along his cheek. She gave him a quick nod when their eyes momentarily met. Then she looked away. Viper was his ship; Becket understood that her condition was Rogers’ priority.

  “One missile shot wide,” Viper’s sensor officer reported. “The second got a proximity hit. The gaseous shields didn’t contain all of the antimatter.”

  “I’ve got damage reports coming in from decks three through to nine on our nose section. It looks like the armor was burnt off and breached,” Viper’s First Lieutenant added.

  Another voice Becket didn’t immediately recognize joined in. “There’s no response from missile tubes eighteen and nineteen. I think we have to assume the point defenses in those regions are down as well.”

  “Get repair crews to those missile tubes immediately,” Rogers snapped. “They are our priority. Lieutenant Smithson, take charge of the repairs. I have a ship to fight.”

  As Rogers set about turning his ship’s damaged side away from the Karacknids, Becket returned her focus to her fleet. “Update?” she asked her Chief of Staff, confident that Wilson had had enough time to re-establish contact with the rest of her ships.

  “We lost just two ships, both destroyers: Pontiers and Claymore. Two more ships survived proximity hits. South Carolina has to pull out of formation. Lakshmi says she can stay in the fight,” Wilson informed her.

  “Very well, make sure they both get whatever assistance they need. Liaise with Lieutenant Smithson and make sure we get help here as well,” Becket responded. “Lieutenant Salaman,” she said as her tactical officer looked up from his console. “Fire the next salvo as soon as every ship is ready.”

  “Of course Admiral,” Salaman called back.

  Becket waited until he looked back down at his console before she fixed her attention on the main holo display. Her second salvo had already ripped into the Karacknids. Only twenty ships remained. As she watched, they opened fire. The number of missiles they released was less than half of what their first salvo had. It’s over. Even with the losses she had suffered, the point defenses of her fleet would handle the next two Karacknid salvos. As nine hundred and eighty missiles were hurled out into space from her fleet thirty seconds later, she was even surer.

  Over the next ten minutes things played out just how she imagined. Her point defenses swatted away both Karacknid missile salvos. Then, when her final one crashed home, only three Karacknid ships appeared out of the wall of energy the explosions gave off. Though intact, each was a spinning wreck as they left a trail of debris behind them. None showed any energy readings. They were dead in space.

  With the battle over, Becket checked on Maleck’s fleet. The main Karacknid fleet was still charging straight for her ships. She breathed a sigh of relief, Maleck had been able to stay ahead of them. Her eyes narrowed as she judged the distances involved. Just enough time, she thought. Clearly Lieutenant Salaman had been thinking the same thing for new projected courses appeared beside Maleck’s and the Karacknid fleets. It showed just how long Becket’s ships had before Maleck would catch up to her and then Becket had to decide if she was going to fight or run. “Course change,” she called out. “Put us back onto an intercept trajectory for the gas giant. Lieutenant Salaman, I want one full salvo at those six orbital supply stations and the freighters attached to them. Navigation, as soon as we fire, reverse course and prepare to rendezvous with Admiral Maleck.”

  “Aye Admiral,” Salaman and Levitt replied one after the other.

  As her ships raced towards the gas giant, the response from the hundreds of freighters attached to the orbital stations was not surprising. Almost as if one mind controlled them, they disengaged from the stations and broke orbit, fleeing in all directions. It was too late for them; Salaman would be able to target each with a missile and still have more than enough in the salvo he was going to fire to finish the supply stations. A few lucky ones might get away, but that would be it. Certain of the outcome of the engagement, Becket turned to the main Karacknid fleet. Given how previous Karacknid commanders had reacted to her raiding fleets, it was quite possible he would continue his charge towards Maleck’s ships. If she wanted, she could use her fleet’s superior speed to dodge the Karacknids. But then she would be forced onto the defensive. The Karacknid fleet could chase her for days and tie her up whilst other Karacknid fleets circled in to surround her. We have to fight him, she decided. There was no way she could raid other systems or slip out of Karacknid space without dealing with the Karacknid fleet. As she ran through various tactics she could use, Salaman fired his salvo at the Karacknid orbital stations. Becket plotted out several ideas and only looked up when the missiles struck home. More than three hundred freighters were destroyed. Each of the six orbital stations, despite the point defenses they were equipped with, were taken out. “Good shooting,” she said to Salaman after the last missile turned a freighter into a ball of molten slag.

  “Admiral,” Wilson called out as she pointed to a secondary holo display.

  Becket spun to see what her Chief of Staff was concerned about. “They’re pulling back,” another officer said as Becket saw what was happening.

  Almost in disbelief she stared at the enemy fleet. The Karacknid warships were indeed decelerating and turning. It looked like they would settle onto a course back towards the shift passage they had entered the system through. Becket shook her head. She could hardly believe her eyes. It was almost unheard of for a Karacknid fleet to shy away from battle. Only one explanation made sense to her, but even then she wasn’t sure. “They were sent here to protect the supply hub,” she said to her officers. “Now there’s nothing left for them to protect. I guess the Karacknid commander doesn’t want to throw his ships away.”

  “We will not be fighting them today then,” Rogers said. “At least we have time to carry out some more repairs.”

  Though Becket agreed with Rogers’ sentiment, she had more than her flagship to think about. If they had fought the Karacknids, her fleet would have taken losses for sure, but at least she would have stood a good chance of removing the Karacknid fleet from her list of concerns. If the Karacknid commander wasn’t prepared to throw his fleet away to damage her, that meant he had some wits about him. Which meant he would be dangerous. He could keep his fleet nearby and shadow her ships. We will not be able to split up and raid systems independently, she thought with a curse.

  “Admiral Becket,” Lieutenant Rondon called out. “The other Admirals are requesting to speak with you.”

  “Put them through,” Becket responded. “Admirals,” she said as Maleck, Shraw and Faroul appeared in front of her. “It appears things have worked out in our favor, at least as far as destroying our primary target.”

  “It has,” Maleck replied in a tone that conveyed he had come to the same concerning conclusions Becket had about the Karacknid fleet.

  “We have a proposal,” Shraw said eagerly before Maleck could add anything else. “We cannot let this Karacknid fleet leave. It will be a thorn in our claw for weeks if we do. We have the speed advantage; we must give chase and bring them to battle.”

  “I’m in agreement with your general sentimen
t, but if the Karacknids will not fight, we would be forced into a long stern chase. With their antimatter missiles, it could prove as deadly for us as them,” Becket responded. In a stern chase her fleet would only be able to fire their forward missile tubes and could only defend themselves with their forward-facing point defenses. The Karacknids could only use their stern weapons, but in a prolonged duel where the number of missiles fighting each salvo was small, the Karacknids antimatter missiles held a real advantage. One hit from one of her missiles might damage a Karacknid warship. One hit from a Karacknid missile would take out its target.

  “You are correct Admiral, but I have an idea,” Shraw said as he peeled his lips back over his upper and lower teeth.

  As he explained, Becket found herself nodding. “That could work,” she said when Shraw was done. We’ll set course to pursue the Karacknids immediately. We can try your tactic and test it whilst our ships that need to carry out repairs do so. Then we can close with them and see how much damage we can do. We’ll have to chase after them for days if not longer, but if we can cripple enough of their ships then we can resume raiding more systems.”