Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  James found himself leaning forward as he watched so many different weapon systems close with the Karacknid fleet. The entire battle hinged on the outcome of the overpowered attack Lightfoot had launched. To James’ surprise, the two Karacknid fleets charging Lightfoot didn’t try to close with one another. He had expected them to try to support each other given the weight of fire coming their way. They’re going to sacrifice one fleet to take Taitou, James realized. That or they were seriously underestimating the strength of Lightfoot’s attack. He rather doubted it was the latter. Though it was cold, James understood the calculation. The two thousand Karacknid warships closing with Taitou already had a missile salvo on its way to Lightfoot’s ships. As the minutes ticked by, a second salvo was launched. At almost the same time, Lightfoot’s ships and the mark V launchers fired again. However, without the missile pods that had been released around Taitou, the salvo was several thousand missiles weaker.

  “Mark V missile separation in ten seconds,” Anderson reported. On the holo plot, the separation was easily identifiable. Every mark V missile disappeared off of Drake’s sensors. Then, barely a second later, each was replaced by six smaller contacts as each mark V released six multistage missiles.

  “Karacknid fighters are moving to intercept Chen’s attack wing,” Ivanov announced. “It looks like Chen is detaching thirty squadrons to engage them.” On the sensor display, James watched as three hundred and sixty fighters accelerated ahead of the main body of Chen’s force. Then, from one quarter of them, smaller contacts appeared. The Corsairs had just fired their anti-fighter missiles. More than sixty explosions followed as Karacknid fighters were taken out. Then the two groups crashed into one another and a deadly dog fight broke out. Nearly a hundred Karacknid fighters tried to break out of the engagement. Twenty-five were quickly shot down. Three more squadrons broke away from Chen’s main force and intercepted the rest. James nodded at the outcome. Chen still had five hundred fighters and bombers charging the Karacknid fleet. It would have to be enough.

  As the Karacknid and Allied fighters continued to engage one another, James switched his attention to the Karacknid fleet Lightfoot had singled out. He was just in time to see them open up with their point defenses. With twenty thousand missiles barreling towards them, every ship in the Karacknid fleet was under threat. For every missile closing with them, the Karacknids released thousands of point defense munitions. The giant missile salvo turned into an ever-advancing wave of fire as hundreds and then thousands of missiles were blown up. As hard as the Karacknids tried, the advancing wave kept going until it crashed into their ships. Then far larger explosions rippled up and down the Karacknid fleet. The holo image on Drake’s bridge gained and lost focus as the battleship’s sensors struggled to make sense of all the energies it was picking up. Turning slightly, James focused on the gravimetric plot. Hundreds of Karacknid warships had disappeared as they had stopped accelerating. Then, less than thirty seconds behind the missile salvo, the five hundred contacts of Chen’s fighters hit the Karacknid fleet. Though Drake’s sensors couldn’t see what was happening, James could easily imagine the fighters twisting and weaving as they desperately tried to avoid the Karacknid defensive fire. Then the Human fighters would release their plasma missiles whilst the Alliance fighters fired their two heavy laser beams. Just as James expected, more explosions appeared in the midst of the Karacknid fleet.

  Realizing his hands were tightened into balls, James forced himself to sit back and relax. There was nothing he could do to speed up Drake’s sensors as they analyzed the Karacknid fleet. It took a whole minute for the image of the fleet to regain full resolution. When it did, devastation greeted James’ eyes. Four hundred and thirty of the Karacknid warships were gone or littered behind the fleet, crippled or severely damaged. James was sure many more had suffered minor damage. Minor damage that would hopefully turn more serious as Lightfoot fired more salvos at the fleet. A quick check of the gravimetric plot told him that Lightfoot already had two more salvos on their way towards the fleet. He was completely ignoring the second fleet closing with his position. It was what James would do himself. Taitou could never be held against two thousand Karacknid ships, but if Lightfoot could pummel one of the Karacknid fleets hard enough to take it out of the battle, it would be a worthwhile trade.

  “Did we get enough of them?” Anderson asked as he studied the Karacknid fleet.

  “I hope so,” James replied, he didn’t know what else to say. A total of twenty percent of the forces charging Lightfoot had been taken out by one salvo. But the rest were still approaching, apparently undaunted. “Only time will tell,” he added.

  “We must have,” Fisher said, sounding more confident. “That fleet was just devastated. They must be in shock. It will give Lightfoot an opening to finish them.”

  James hoped Fisher was right. Almost in defiance of her words, just as she finished speaking, the remaining six hundred Karacknid warships in the fleet Lightfoot had targeted fired their third salvo. It was significantly reduced compared to the first but would still prove deadly to Lightfoot’s ships.

  Movement just behind the Karacknid fleet caught James’ attention. Chen’s attack force was reforming. Once again James was shocked by the losses fighters took in their attacks. Of the five hundred that had charged the Karacknid fleet, two hundred and ninety were turning on a wide arc to return to their carriers and hangers. “Ivanov, make it a priority to get those fighters refueled and rearmed. We are going to need them to launch another sortie as soon as they are ready. I’m afraid they’ll have no time to lick their wounds or mourn their losses.”

  “Understood Admiral,” Ivanov replied. “I will inform Chen that anything he needs he can have.”

  James nodded to his operations officer. As tough as he was sure it was for the fighter pilots to lose so many of their number, he couldn’t think about that. The fighters were one of his key tactical advantages, he had to keep using them.

  With the first attack on the Karacknid fleet over, James switched his attention to Lightfoot’s forces. The first Karacknid missile salvo was just seconds away. The holographic display showed that thousands of their missiles had been taken out. Yet there were nine hundred still being tracked. In the space of five seconds that number was halved. But then they began to detonate. Alongside the nine hundred warships Lightfoot had under his command, there were nearly twelve hundred freighters. As Karacknid antimatter missiles detonated, the freighters moved forward to attract the Karacknid fire. Hundreds of ships were obliterated as antimatter washed over them and wiped them out of existence. Alongside the freighters, James saw warships, defense stations and satellites disappearing in clouds of antimatter. For several minutes, confusion reigned as the warships and freighters tried to reform themselves. Then, altogether they turned their missile tubes towards the Karacknid ships charging them and fired their fourth volley of missiles. They are fully engaged now, James thought. The battle had truly begun.

  Chapter 45

  A second is divide and conquer, yet it comes with more risks, for often in order to get your enemy to divide his forces, you must divide your own. In doing so you may find your own strategy used against you.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  Turning his attention to Sanji and Koroylov’s forces, James saw that they too were heavily engaged. The first Karacknid salvo had struck home against Koroylov’s ships. With less warships and freighters, their losses were significantly higher than Lightfoot’s. Even so, multiple missile salvos were racing towards the two thousand Karacknid ships closing with Sanji. Like the two fleets attacking Taitou, the Karacknids opposing Koroylov were keeping a good distance between each other. It was allowing Koroylov to focus his fire on one of them. Yet, at the same time, with their salvos coming in from two different angles, Koroylov was having to split his defensive fire and was suffering losses at an even quicker rate.

  As the battle raged on, James struggled to keep track of what was happening at both Sanji
and Taitou. So many salvos were racing between all of the combatants that every few minutes a new salvo was striking its targets. Though James wanted to focus on the fleet Lightfoot was trying to take out of the battle, he felt guilty for not watching Koroylov’s progress. He was the one who had decided Koroylov would face such difficult odds. As Koroylov’s force was slowly beaten into debris, his guilt grew. He found himself eyeing the Karacknid fleet of one thousand eight hundred warships that was hovering just out of missile range of New Shanghai. If it wasn’t for those ships, he could dispatch Nogamoro or Ya’sia’s battle squadrons to help Koroylov. Yet he couldn’t move them, not when New Shanghai was so seriously threatened. Each time he looked at the largest Karacknid fleet, he focused on the large Command Dreadnought. He knew that things were playing out just as the enemy commander wanted. James and his battle squadrons were stuck watching their comrades fight and die without them.

  “The Karacknid fleet Lightfoot is attacking is down to four hundred and eighty warships,” Anderson announced excitedly as another missile salvo struck home, “he’s doing it, he’s going to take them out!”

  Turning from the Karacknid Command Dreadnought, James thought Anderson was correct. But at what cost? he asked himself. Lightfoot’s losses were mounting. Nearly half of his freighters were gone and many of the defense stations and satellites in orbit around Taitou had been taken out as well. And that second Karacknid fleet is still completely intact, James knew. It was keeping up a constant rate of fire that was eating away at Lightfoot’s strength.

  “Sanji is in trouble,” Fisher called out. “The Karacknids are targeting the moon’s surface.”

  James spun to the display of Sanji. The Karacknid warships had got close enough to send one thousand missiles curving around Koroylov’s fleet towards the moon. Their target was obvious, they were going to take out the mark V launchers. As everyone on Drake’s bridge watched anxiously, Koroylov dispatched what ships he could to intercept the missiles. James almost ordered the fighters he had kept in reserve to rush to Sanji, but there was no way they could get there in time to try and engage the missiles. More than one officer groaned as the combination of Koroylov’s ships and the orbital defense stations around Sanji failed to take out all the missiles. Twenty-six punched through the moon’s thin atmosphere. A last-ditch volley from the few ground-based point defense weapons took out fourteen. Then the rest struck the moon’s surface and detonated. For a second, James stared in confusion. The customary antimatter detonations weren’t appearing. Then shockwaves raced across Sanji’s surface. They were quickly joined by mushroom clouds that shot high into the moon’s atmosphere and actually released dust and debris into space.

  “They used nuclear warheads?” Miyagi said, giving voice to the same confusion James had been feeling moments ago.

  It only took him a second to figure out what it meant. “They want New Shanghai intact,” he said. “At least as intact as they can keep it.” One or two antimatter warheads detonating on the moon’s surface wouldn’t destabilize its orbit too much. But twenty certainly would. They are so confident of victory, they are willing to use inferior weapons, James concluded. “How many mark V launchers did we lose?” He got his answer when just four missiles took off from the moon’s surface twenty seconds later. James shared a glance with his Flag Captain. Lightfoot had just lost a significant portion of his backup. “Make sure Admiral Lightfoot is informed of what just happened at Sanji,” he said as he turned to Martinez. Amidst all the fighting, he didn’t want Lightfoot expecting more missiles coming to aid him than were going to. “Transfer the remaining launchers on Sanji to Admiral Koroylov’s battle squadron. Order him to pull back immediately. There’s nothing left for him to defend. The launchers can help cover his retreat.”

  In his command chair, James activated his secondary holo display. Then, side-by-side, he projected the battles going on around Sanji and Taitou, zoomed in as far as he could. The strategic situation had changed dramatically. His next steps were critical. Koroylov’s ships were falling back. Yet the two Karacknid fleets that had hit Sanji were already on the move. Having hit the moon, they wanted to crush what was left of Koroylov’s two battle squadrons before they could reach New Shanghai. James could switch the mark V salvos from the battlestations in orbit around New Shanghai to help cover Koroylov, but then Lightfoot would be seriously short of firepower. For a couple of seconds James watched the progress of Koroylov’s ships. He is not going to make it, James decided. Koroylov had lost nearly two hundred warships. With the Karacknid fire now focused entirely on his ships, he would lose that many again in the next two enemy salvos. If James wanted to save them, he would have to pull forces from Lightfoot. Turning his attention to Taitou, James ground his teeth together. Lightfoot was achieving the goal he had given him. He was still hammering one of the Karacknid fleets. It had lost more than sixty percent of its original strength. You need to conserve your warships, James told himself. That was the only way he could prevent New Shanghai from falling. Sanji and Taitou could be lost if it meant the Karacknids hesitated in taking New Shanghai. “We have to cover Koroylov’s ships,” James said to his officers as he came to a decision. “Send orders to Admiral Ya’sia, she is to aid Koroylov’s retreat. Order Commodore Chen to commit our fighter reserves against the Karacknid fleet Koroylov has weakened. Coordinate our next missile salvo from our battlestations with Koroylov as well, they are to target that fleet too. I want Chen’s fighters hitting them right after that salvo strikes home. And get me a COM channel with Admiral Lightfoot.”

  “I’ve got him,” Martinez replied thirty seconds later.

  James gestured towards his COM officer and a moment later Lightfoot’s face appeared on one of his command chair’s holo projectors. “Admiral,” James began quickly, “we have to abandon our strategy. Koroylov’s ships are in real danger. Admiral Ya’sia and our reserve fighters are going to cover them. But that will leave New Shanghai unprotected. You need to pull back at once.”

  Lightfoot didn’t reply right away. It was clear he wanted to keep fighting. Finally, he nodded. “We’ll begin pulling back right away,” he responded.

  “Thank you,” James said, “here’s what I was thinking.” He sent a file to Lightfoot. “I want you to pull back along this course. I’ll move my ships out to meet you. We need to discourage the unengaged Karacknid fleet from pressing us. If they attack before we can get everyone pulled back behind the battlestations, we could lose the planet.”

  Lightfoot glanced at the file James had sent him. He nodded. “I understand, we’ll do what needs to be done.”

  James flashed Lightfoot a quick smile and ended the COM channel. Then he sent the course he wanted Lightfoot’s ships to take to Miyagi. “Inform Nogamoro and our battle squadron that we will be breaking orbit. We are going to cover Lightfoot’s retreat.” From the looks Miyagi and Fisher gave James, it was clear they were surprised. Lightfoot’s ships were still hitting the Karacknids hard. “I want to break orbit immediately,” he said more forcefully, he didn’t have time to explain himself.

  “Aye Admiral,” Miyagi snapped. He began to give out orders to the rest of James’ staff officers. Within moments, Drake began to move. As she did, the battlestations all around New Shanghai released another salvo, this time the mark V missiles raced towards Sanji and Koroylov’s retreating ships. Ya’sia’s battle squadron and the reserve fighter force was already rushing that direction. James watched them go, hoping that they would be enough to save Koroylov’s command. Then he focused on the largest Karacknid fleet and the Command Dreadnought at the center of it. If that fleet advanced now the battle would be lost. He was betting everything on bluffing the Karacknid commander that he was willing to go toe to toe with his force. On paper at least, it seemed plausible. The defense stations, orbital satellites, and mark V launchers on Taitou were still engaging the two Karacknid fleets that were closing with it. With James’ and Lightfoot’s fleets attacking the largest Karacknid fleet together, they stood a
chance of doing some damage. The course James had sent Lightfoot made it look like Lightfoot intended to charge into energy weapon range of the Karacknid Command Dreadnought. If they managed that, they could do a lot of damage.

  As his ships charged their enemy, James watched the Karacknid Command Dreadnought for the smallest sign of movement. It took nearly thirty seconds for it to come, but when it did, James’ heart began to beat faster. He couldn’t tell what the Karacknids were doing. The ships all around the Command Dreadnought were reforming. But it wasn’t clear whether they were preparing to accelerate or fall back. As the battle hinged on a knife edge, James took a deep breath. Seconds ticked by. Still he couldn’t be sure what was happening. But then the frigates and destroyers along the leading edge of the Karacknid fleet began to flip end over end. They are turning! James shouted to himself. He let out a deep breath and gulped air in. He hadn’t realized how long he’d been holding his breath for. “We’ll fire one salvo,” he called to his officers. “One salvo and then I want us in full reverse.”

  “Understood Admiral,” Miyagi replied.