Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  As encouraging as that was, the further her fleet advanced the more concerned she became. Traveling through the Upper Valley was like looking further into the future. If Earth was conquered, it would be slowly integrated into the Karacknid empire. From what Becket could tell, such a future wouldn’t be worth living in. The further up the Valley her fleet went, the more destitute and despairing the species she encountered were. The Karacknids’ policy of systematically destroying every part of a species’ culture and technological base but the one element they wished to exploit was devastating. It was now at the point that most of the species they encountered didn’t even try to ask for help. They simply accepted the destruction of their orbital stations without emotion. Becket shook her head. It was horrible. But other than feel bad, there was nothing she could do for them. You have enough problems of your own to worry about, she reminded herself. The real reason why she was reviewing her fleet’s progress and position was that reports were starting to come in of several Karacknid squadrons that had been spotted several systems to the west of her fleets. The most concerning of which was the seventy ships she had chased away two weeks ago. They had returned and were shadowing her. With her fleet split into its four elements, the Karacknids could easily catch one element out and destroy it. And if the two other smaller squadrons her scouts had spotted joined them, then they could threaten her entire force.

  “We need to move eastward,” Becket said reluctantly as she paused her pacing. Since entering the Upper Valley she had been moving east away from the fleets that her scouts reported. As her fleet continued up the Valley it slowly widened on both sides giving her more room to maneuver. Yet she didn’t like heading so close to the eastern edge of the Valley. With no shift passages through the dead zone she could find herself trapped. But being potentially trapped is better than being definitely forced into an engagement. Starting to move again, she used her hands to zoom in on the systems around her fleet. Slowly she circled them as she pictured how the next few weeks would play out. Given the position of the Karacknid fleet and their two squadrons, she imagined how she would organize their movements if she commanded them. Moving east is our only option, she concluded. Our time is limited. With more and more Karacknid ships closing in on her position the noose was tightening. By now every ship in the Valley will know where we are. Any fleets that had gone into the Lower Valley to search for her would be charging towards the Upper Valley if they weren’t in the Upper Valley already.

  A beep from her office door dragged Becket from her thoughts. With a hand gesture, she shrank the holo map to half its size. “Come in,” she said a moment later.

  “Admiral,” Commander Wilson said as she stepped into Becket’s office. “Swift has just joined us. Captain Warnock of Scharnhorst dispatched her eighteen days ago. A Karacknid fleet has passed through the eastern shift passage. They split up. The majority headed towards the Lower Valley. But eighty ships headed into the Upper Valley. Swift came straight here to inform us, but without knowing our exact location she had to spend a number of days looking for us. As she did, she came across the Karacknid fleet of eighty ships again. They are rapidly closing on our position from the south.” As she finished speaking, Wilson pulled out her datapad and tapped on it. Becket’s holo projector changed to show a sensor image of the two Karacknid fleets Scharnhorst and Swift had watched enter the Valley. Then the holo map appeared again, this time the location of the new Karacknid fleet was flashing.

  Becket stepped closer as she rapidly assessed the new situation. “If they have continued on their general trajectory, they could be only two or three systems away from Shraw’s fleet,” she realized. “Which means they have probably been updated on Shraw’s activities.” Becket’s mind went to the other Karacknid fleet and the squadrons she had been planning to avoid. With this new fleet coming up from behind, they could easily trap her in a pincer movement. Most certainly, they would be able to chase her. Even if she went more to the east, they’d be right on her heels. “If this new fleet makes contact with the Karacknids to our west, we’re going to be in a very tough spot,” she commented.

  “It is concerning Admiral,” Wilson agreed. “We had hoped any fleets from the Lower Valley would still be a week or two away. Now if we try and make our escape, they could bring us to battle.”

  “Send for Captain Rogers, and get Commodore Fang on a COM channel,” Becket requested. “We need to come up with a new plan now.” As Wilson nodded and pulled out her COM unit Becket wished she had Maleck, Shraw and Faroul nearby to consult with. They were all in different systems. It would take a week to get them all. A week we don’t have, she thought as she stared at the holo map. She needed to come up with a plan quickly. She couldn’t shake the feeling time was running out.

  By the time Rogers stepped into her office and Fang appeared on a secondary holo projector, Becket thought she had something worked out. She still had one advantage. It was unlikely the Karacknid fleet coming up from the south knew the exact whereabouts of the rest of the Karacknid forces. She could use that. She explained what she had in mind to her subordinates and listened to their feedback. After altering her idea slightly, they all agreed. “Send out two fast frigates to each of the Admirals. Our plan needs to get through to them immediately,” Becket said when they were finished. “In fact, send three to Shraw. Let’s not take any risks with this.”

  “I’ll arrange it immediately Admiral,” Wilson responded as she turned and left.

  “Thank you,” Becket said to Rogers and Fang. “You may see to your duties. We’ll begin heading out of the system within the half hour to get into position.” Both officers saluted her and left. Alone once again, Becket widened the holo star map and continued to ponder the strategic situation. Though she had already come to a decision, she couldn’t help but second guess every detail. So far from friendly space even the smallest mistake could mean destruction for her entire fleet.

  *

  Talon

  Admiral Shraw watched as four of his destroyers swept into the midst of an asteroid field and fired laser beams in all directions. On Talon’s sensors a wave of explosions seemed to move through the asteroid field as the destroyers took out every mining installation. As the small engagement continued, Shraw’s claws flexed in and out of their protective hoods to scratch along the armrest of his command chair. It was a sign of nervousness way beyond the scale of the battle his destroyers were fighting. Tilting his head slightly, he glanced at a second sensor readout for perhaps the fiftieth time in the last hour. His movement betrayed his true feelings. There were still no additional gravimetric contacts in the system. He knew they were coming though.

  When he finally noticed the scratching of his claws, Shraw sheathed them. He let out a low growl and then allowed himself to continue the action. His officers already knew of his nervousness. They would have been picking up his pheromones ever since Admiral Becket’s message had arrived. There was no hiding one’s emotions from his species.

  Ten minutes later his destroyers had finished their attack run. “Recall them to the fleet,” Shraw ordered. “Show me the rest of the system.” As the holo display widened its image, Shraw flicked out his tongue several times. It was a sign of satisfaction within his species. As his tongue retracted, he tasted the same emotions from the officers around him. His fleet was split into four squadrons. Each had attacked several mining, harvesting, or processing facilities that were spread out throughout the system. One of Shraw’s officers had estimated that the system’s yearly output of refined minerals for warship production was almost a quarter of his species’ output. Shraw knew that if his species lost such capacity, they would be out of the war. Yet the Karacknids likely had a hundred more such systems. But they will feel this loss nonetheless, he assured himself. If they want to rebuild it, they will have to divert resources away from building new ships. A beep from over Shraw’s left shoulder cut his thoughts off. It had come from the gravimetric sensor. At once Shraw spun around. Just as he expecte
d, two new contacts were racing into the system. His scouts had returned.

  “Send word to our squadrons. All attacks are to cease immediately. We will rendezvous at the designated coordinates.” Patiently he waited for the scout’s report to reach Talon. As soon as it did, he pulled it up on his command chair’s view screen. It took just seconds to get to the important part. As he read, his tongue flicked in and out. This time it was a sign of anticipation. The scouts had made contact with the Karacknid fleet. It was just systems away from his ships now. They are hunting us, he concluded as he combined the Karacknid fleet’s current position with the estimated position Becket had given him. They were zeroing in on his position. “It is time to get the fleet out of here,” Shraw said to his bridge officers. “Lay in a course for the next system in Becket’s plan. Organize a frigate to head to Admiral Faroul. Include our scout’s report and tell her that it is time for us to play at being the prey.”

  *

  IS Viper, 19th February 2484 AD (seven days later).

  “They have taken the bait,” Becket said as she read through the latest report from Shraw. Both Maleck and Fang were on a holo COM call with her. The Karacknids had chased Shraw through an entire system and continued the chase even after the Gramrian joined up with Faroul. “Shraw expects to be entering the ambush system a day from now.”

  “Then it’s best we get moving,” Maleck suggested. “We don’t want to be late. I doubt Shraw and Faroul would thank us for that.”

  “Indeed not,” Becket said with a smile. She gave both officers a nod. “Very well, we will proceed immediately. Prepare your ships to jump. Becket out.” Becket waited a couple of seconds for Rogers to prepare Viper for the jump. Then she turned and gestured for him to proceed. “Take us in,” she ordered.

  For the first time in three days Human and Alliance ships all around Viper powered up their reactors and shift drives and jumped into shift space. “With luck they will think we are light years away,” Becket said to her Flag Captain as her ships journeyed along the shift passage to the system they had designated the ambush system. Just over a week ago she had dispatched two small squadrons of Human and Alliance ships to raid systems more to the west. There was a chance they might get caught by the Karacknid squadrons operating in that direction, but they had strict orders to run at even the slightest sign of danger. She was hoping reports of their attacks would reach the fleet pursuing Shraw. If the Karacknid commander thought the rest of her fleet was more to the west, he would continue pursuing Shraw with the abandon he had already shown.

  “Let’s hope so,” Rogers agreed. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

  “Indeed,” Becket responded. After seeing her fleet safely into shift space, Becket stood and stretched. “I’m going to retire to my quarters. Call me if anything comes up.”

  “We will Admiral,” Commander Wilson assured her.

  When she got to her quarters, Becket reviewed her plan one last time and then slipped into bed. For several hours sleep resisted her but eventually she drifted off. Twenty hours later she was back on Viper’s bridge.

  “Exiting shift space in thirty seconds,” Lieutenant Levitt announced.

  Becket tensed as the jump out of shift space sent a jolt through her flagship. She fixed her eyes on the main holo projector as Viper’s passive sensors sifted through every stray electromagnetic energy wave that washed over her.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Lieutenant Armitage reported. “Both the passive and gravimetric sensors are clear.”

  “So far so good,” Rogers commented. Everyone knew Becket had chosen the system because the Karacknids didn’t have as much as a relay outpost in it. There were no eyes present to see the emergence of her fleet.

  “Move us towards the comet,” Becket ordered after waiting another couple of minutes to make doubly sure. Her ships moved deeper into the system. Alongside the lack of a Karacknid presence in the system, she had chosen it because of the particularly large comet that was just coming out of its inner system cycle. Thanks to its close brush with the system’s star, it was shedding copious amounts of ice and rock particles and its long tail would provide the perfect cover for her fleet to hide behind. The cover wouldn’t protect her ships from a close scan by Karacknid active sensors, but she didn’t need to hide for that long. Staying in stealth, it took three hours for the ships to creep into position. When they were several thousand kilometers behind the comet, they matched its course and speed and powered down their reactors and engines completely. Now we must be patient, Becket thought.

  She didn’t have to wait half as long as she expected. Just two hours later Viper’s gravimetric sensors lit up like a Christmas tree. Eighty-five contacts appeared as they exited shift space and accelerated into the system. The leading ship carried out a series of strange maneuvers before slotting back alongside its friends. Becket was already looking towards Lieutenant Rondon.

  “Shraw says the Karacknids are half an hour behind him,” Rondon said as he translated the ship’s strange movements. “Enemy numbers are put at one hundred and four ships.”

  “Inform the rest of our fleet,” Becket said as she turned and shared a glance with Rogers. Shraw’s fleet was meant to have a speed advantage over the Karacknids. Yet they were right on his heels. “They’ve found more ships,” she said knowing that Rogers would pick up on the rest.

  “It wasn’t unexpected. But Shraw and Faroul are going to be hard pressed. How did they get so close?” Rogers replied.

  “I’m not sure, but I suspect we are about to find out,” Becket answered. “Wilson, make sure every ship is as dark as possible.” She ordered as she turned to her Chief of Staff. With all of their supply freighters hiding well beyond the system’s mass shadow, the warships around Viper should be very difficult for the Karacknids to detect. That was one of the reasons why she had Maleck’s ships with her and not Faroul’s. Alliance stealth tech was much closer to Humanity’s.

  Right on cue, the Karacknid fleet appeared. As soon as the one hundred and four contacts accelerated, Viper’s gravimetric sensors picked them up. Becket’s officers identified each ship based on its acceleration profiles. “Four battleships,” Becket said out loud. That was what she had been expecting. In theory, Shraw should have been able to outrun such a fleet. As the battleships continued to accelerate at higher and higher rates, Becket began to understand. The Karacknids had to be redlining their reactors and engines. “The Karacknids don’t want to let Shraw get away,” Becket said to her officers. “We’ve done so much damage they’re willing to risk four battleships to put an end to our raids.” Though her words brought a few smiles to the lips of her junior officers, Becket wasn’t as happy. A desperate enemy was a dangerous one.

  “At their current acceleration rates the Karacknids will enter missile range with their forward tubes in one hour,” Lieutenant Salaman announced from his tactical console.

  “That is cutting it close,” Wilson said as she turned to Becket. “If we had planned our ambush one system further away…”

  Becket nodded. Shraw’s fleet would have been destroyed before it led the Karacknids into the trap. “But we are here,” Becket replied. “And though it may be close, we can pull it off. Shraw is going to have to weather a couple of missile salvos. But there’s nothing we can do about that.” At least, nothing if we want to actually engage the Karacknids, Becket said to herself. If she revealed herself now there was a 50-50 chance the Karacknid fleet would decelerate and avoid action. Given how eager the Karacknid commander was, perhaps he would fight anyway. But she couldn’t risk letting the Karacknid fleet get away. Not when her scouts were constantly updating her on several other squadrons to the west that were getting ever closer. She had to take the Karacknid fleet out now and that meant Shraw and Faroul had to face what was coming their way. “Let’s make the best use of our time,” Becket said to her officers to distract them from their thoughts. “Our first salvo has to do as much damage as possible. We’ve got an hour and
twenty minutes to track every single Karacknid ship. Let’s use it wisely.”

  Chapter 31

  With the Karacknids on one side of the Empire and the Antarians on the other, it is hard not to believe that the Empire is surrounded. With a number of other threats like the Flex-aor whom we must always keep a wary eye on, it is not surprising so many other species look to us for protection. To date the Imperial Navy has been up to the task, though we have been tested. If another threat were to arise, then the balance of power would swing against us. All of our enemies would smell blood in the water. That is why we must always be vigilant.