by T J Bryan
"Time to fall within M2's torpedo range Mr. Olive?"
"In 23 minutes and 34 seconds."
"Give me a count by minutes please. And Mr. Olive two casters and two 'K's please. Prepare to fire the 'K's on my mark and then calculate an intercept by casters two seconds prior to the impact of our missiles."
Mia gave M2 a fifty fifty chance of firing a torpedo. If so Mia was confident they would intercept the torpedo within the kill zone of M2. The distance was sufficient for the casters to reach 60% of SOL before releasing their deadly load of sand. However some Megra had learned of the danger of their own torpedoes and had been reluctant to fire in the face of casters. Tactically Mia knew if several Megra attacked from different direction then their torpedoes might well be effective against OCN SAR's. But here, in the Diana System they now faced a single dumbbell ship and they were closing in on it as a tremendous speed. M2 would have little time to plan or react to the Sváva attack.
"Mr Olive, if M2 does not fire a torpedo, we shall launch our 'K's at one light second distance or 1,000,000 kilometres. What will be the time to impact?"
Isabella responded, "16 minutes. We are traveling 25% SOL that will give a huge boost to the 'K's speed"
"Calculate for the casters please."
Given the speed of Sváva auto fire was engaged. Human reflexes were just too slow to effectively fire on M2.
"Mr Olive. Initiate auto fire on my mark." Mia paused a moment and took a breath. "Mark."
As the speed of Sváva brought her to the one light second mark on the vid screen the crew saw two 'K's leave the ship and streak into the darkness. The casters being so much faster and powered by small GWP engines waited in the tubes for the 'K's to close and hopefully draw defensive torpedo fire from M2.
"Count down to impact please Mr. Olive."
Olive began the count down. Mia sat in the captain's chair whishing M2 to fire a torpedo. But as the seconds passed M2 did not fire but began trying to jink and dodge the incoming 'K's. Unfortunately for M2 'K's were very smart and their seeker systems not easily fooled. Casters on the other hand were simply so fast that tracking was impossible. However their closing speed often made jinking and dodging hopeless and in the case of M2 she simply lacked the speed to effectively dodge the casters.
"Impact in eight seconds," called out Olive Gunnulf. "Casters away."
Auto fire had launched the casters and Mia looked hard to see the faint streak of two casters as they raced to M2. However she saw nothing. The casters were simply too fast.
Mia counted the seconds in her head.
"Impact of casters. Now 'K's" called out Olive.
Mia found herself disappointed. M2 had not fallen for the OCN's favourite trick. However they had been hit by two 'K's.
"Isabella damage assessment please. Olive we will pass M2 in a close in fly by in 53 seconds. At 32 seconds we are within the kill zone of their torpedoes. Another set of casters please now."
Isabella responded. "Casters fired. Damage on M2. She staggered when hit. No other signs of damage."
Two more casters left the Sváva and in three seconds impacted upon M2. Now Mia knew they were within the kill zone of both ships if M2 launched a torpedo. This was exactly the situation which had doomed Sigrún. If M2 panicked or decided on suicide and fired a torpedo at this close distance both ships would die.
As Sváva passed M2 she pumped four 'K's into the ship every eight seconds. In 30 seconds Sváva had passed M2 and Sváva's enormous speed exceeded that of Megra torpedoes. Sváva was safe. OM Marx was right; speed kills.
"Mr Olive. Damage assessment on M2."
Olive looked carefully at her scans. "She has separated. We hit the connector. Both spheres look intact but she is out of control."
Mia asked, "On her present trajectory where are the spheres headed?"
Olive responded, "She will pass by the Planet and its' orbital stations by at least 8,000,000 kilometres. She is moving at about 8% SOL and the trajectory will take them into the gas giant in 32 hours."
Mia stood and stretched. "Well done crew of Sváva. Now let us continue on to Moschus."
Chapter Ninety Six
Wu System - Holgata Station - Year 3248 March 2 ET 21:20
Upon the entry of Megra from the Severan portal Toni Hamilton immediately departed Wu Station on the tractor truck and returned to Holgata Station to assume command of the coming battle. While in transit the situation went from dire to worse. Six dumbbell ships had entered from Severan. Each ship seemed to enter on a 14 minute heading. However the first Megra ship in had run directly into the OCN mines and had been reduced to fragments. The following three ships moved away from the entry portal at dead slow undoubtedly fearing additional mines. Shortly thereafter two more dumbbells entered the system.
Toni knew the odds were grim, but her fleet had practiced over and over again for an attack and had fine tuned caster verses torpedo tactics. Toni reached the command con and sat in her captain's chair. Her crew were busy assessing the position of the Megra and directing her fleet toward their pre planned battle stations. Toni looked at her status board and the disposition of her ships. There was really no need to look since she knew where every OCN asset was located, but still she looked to give herself some comfort, but comfort she did not find. The odds were very bad.
The First Fleet now consisted of the Crusher the New Kára, the Destructor Ragnarök, and the SAR's Randgrid, Goll, Skuld, and Róta. The Eir was on patrol along the knot line leading to Bizon and was not scheduled to return for another six days. Toni watched as the OCN fleet ships departed from their patrol stations and headed toward the Severan portal. The tactics for defence against an entry from Severan had been worked out months ago and practiced almost every week. Even tactics designed for multiple ship entries had been developed, however five dumbbells presented a real challenge and a substantial risk.
Much of the OCN Fleet attack plan depended on the disposition of the Megra fleet. The fundamental question that drove the tactics of the OCN was would the Megra fleet separate and approach Wu from different directions and thus invite one on one combat, or would they fight as a fleet in which case the OCN would adopt a different tactic. Only time would tell.
Toni called out to her new bridge crew. "Mr. English. What is the speed of the approaching fleet?"
Terrance English, who's brother Robbie served on the Róta, sat at the defense station. Terrance responded. "I have labeled the ships M1 through M5. They are hardly moving at this time. They seem to be arranging themselves in some kind of tight battle formation."
Toni chewed the inside of her cheek. There was little for her to do but wait.
Over an hour passed and the Mega had hardly moved and the OCN fleet was speeding toward the Severan portal. Their task was simple; destroy the Megra fleet and protect Wu Station at all costs. If any dumbbell managed to break through the OCN fleet then Wu Station and Holgata Station hoped to catch them in their cross fire. If they didn't then the stations would be something the ancients called 'sitting ducks'. Toni realized she was chewing her cheek and stopped, wondering what a 'duck' was.
Terrance called out, "The Megra fleet is moving. They seem to be accelerating at their best speed and they are maintaining a tight formations."
Toni thought a moment. "And their separation Mr. English?"
Terrance responded. "They are very tight. Separation between ships is less than 60 kilometres."
Toni thought that they could not possibly keep that tight formation. One intercepted Megra torpedo would wipe out almost the entire fleet. No, Toni though they would soon separate."
Another hour passed and still the Megra fleet maintained a tight position. The OCN attack plan against a tight formation of Megra called for simultaneous attacks by the OCN from different directions. Dumbbell anti mater torpedo cycle times had been ninety seconds in past engagements and that limited their ability to respond to attacks from different directions. Also maintaining a tight formation exposed them to 'K's whi
ch if they missed their initial target but would immediately redirect and attack the closest Megra ship. A tight formation was a very real mistake.
After two more hours the OCN fleet had split up and assumed positions that would place them all around the Megra as they advanced. Toni thought clearly the Megra must see this tight formation as a great risk yet they continued on. Either the Megra had not learned their lessons from past battles or something had changed. Toni considered what might have changed to result in these tactics. The first thought to cross her mind was that the Megra had no intention of using anti-matter torpedoes. The anti-matter torpedo had been the dumbbell's only offensive weapon and OCN tactics using sand casters had demonstrated the folly of using torpedoes at close quarters. If torpedoes were not to be used then Megra had a new weapon.
"Notify the fleet Mr. English. Tell them that the Megra tactics indicate a no-go on torpedoes. They must have a new weapon. Alert all ships."
Two hours remained before the Megra would be within range of casters and 'K's. The battle would be directed by Silvi Karrlson from the Crusher New Kara and Toni had little to do, unless a ship broke through and approached Wu Station.
"Mr. English, put the New Kara Bridge on vid and speaker please."
Moments later Toni and her bridge crew could see and hear Silvi and her crew on New Kara preparing the fleet for battle.
Toni could hear Silvi directing her SARs to form a kind of rectangle around the approaching Megra. In the center of the rectangle as it advanced was the Destructor Ragnarök. Behind the square at some distance was the Crusher New Kara. Silvi had placed New Kara behind in order to be the last ship in defence of Wu should the square fail to hold the Megra fleet. However even from her distance New Kara could throw a substantial weight of missiles and casters.
Toni ran down the list of possible new weapons Megra might have developed. The first and most obvious type was missiles. Missiles required speed and efficient tracking. The faster the missile the greater the need for good tracking. The second thought Toni had was casters, but she rejected that idea because the OCN did not use anti-matter torpedoes even though they wish they could, and the real value of casters was against torpedoes. Besides casters required GWP propulsion systems and those had been kept secret for over 400 years. Plasma cannons were next on the list, but they were inherently inefficient and limited in distance. Plasma simply dissipated with distance and the largest plasma cannon in the Greayson fleet was effective only to 90 kilometres. Toni thought if the Megra had developed some new plasma cannon then at worst they might make it to 100 kilometres or even 200, but OCN ships would never venture that close in a fight. She rejected plasma. Next she thought of laser weapons. Toni only knew the theory of lasers, but in the history of the Great War neither side had used such weapons. Apparently the energy required to use lasers at any distance was simply too great for the fusion engines on warships. Rail guns, no. Rail guns were another close in weapon and their projectiles too easily destroyed by plasma defences on OCN ships. Toni sat and tried to think of other weapons configurations the Megra might have when her questions were answered.
Toni heard Silvi call out, "Missiles. Missiles inbound to Ragnarök."
Silvi continued, "All ships. Missiles fired. Scan and track the missiles please."
Toni clearly heard Silvi's bridge crew as it responded to the attack. Ana Arast was captain and it was her voice Toni heard next.
"Mr. Stefánsson, give me a count, track and speed of those missiles."
Seconds later Helly Stefánsson, who was on New Kara's defense replied. "I have one missile from each ship. The speed of the missiles is approaching 1% SOL. They are slow. Scan shows they are large with a mass at 122,000 kilos. Nuclear warheads are showing as well. Rather large warheads."
Ana replied, "Can you estimate the kill zone of those warheads?"
Helly replied, "No. Our scans are unable to give us an estimate of the fissionable material, just that they are large."
"Well," Ana said, "I guess we will just have to shoot one to find out."
Ana gave the order for the four SARs to fire single shots of 'K's at the five incoming missiles.
Moments later two of the missiles exploded and the other three continued on toward Ragnarök.
Ana called out to her defence station. "Estimate of the explosive power and range of those warheads?"
Toni heard the reply. "15 to 20 gigatons. Kill zone is about 5 kilometres."
Moments later two other missiles exploded as the SAR's continued firing 'K's. One missile seemed to get through and Toni heard Ana order two 'K's to meet it well away from Ragnarök.
About the time Ragnarök destroyed the last missile, another set of five departed the Megra fleet and again they were directed toward Ragnarök.
Ana called out, "Cycle time please? Give me a cycle time on those missiles?"
The defence specialist replied, "90 seconds cycle time."
Toni thought to herself. A ninety second cycle time and one missile per ship must mean that the dumbbells were using their anti-matter torpedo launch tubes for their new missiles."
To this point Silvi had not ordered an attack on the Megra fleet, only on its' new missiles. Toni knew Silvi was testing the new Megra weapons and probably looking for additional surprises.
Silvi's fleet began to close the rectangle and the Megra now began firing its' missiles not at Ragnarök but at the SAR's. Each missile was destroyed well away from the incoming SARs.
Then Toni heard Captain Jason Mills of the Róta call out. "What is that streaming from the rear of the dumbbell in the middle of that pack? Give me a scan."
Toni suddenly became concerned. There was a second weapon unleashed by one of the Megra Ships.
At this point Toni heard Silvi command all her SAR's to engage the enemy and soon the battle space was filled with 'K's The dumbbells continued to fire their slow and ineffective missiles but whatever the central dumbbell was streaming behind it was continuing.
Toni ordered her defence specialist to catch a relay of the scan on the streaming objects. She stood as she looked at the split vid screen. One panel showed hundreds if not thousands of round objects about the size of a soccer ball. The other panel streamed scan data on size, direction, composition and dozens of other metrics. Most of the metrics contained null fields. The scans seemed unable to determine much about the balls but their stationary position and their mass. To Toni's relief their balls had no anti-matter signature.
Toni wondered if they might be mines of some sort, but her attention was broken as one of the dumbbells simply blew apart hit by 'K's from both Skuld, and Róta.
Toni heard Helly Stefánsson on New Kara call out, "M2 destroyed."
Not more than two minutes passed and another Megra ship was broken in two and sent drifting in space to join all the other debris that littered the Wu system.
Toni was beginning to breath easier when it happened. The mysterious balls which had been laid out in a stream behind the middle dumbbell began to coalesce. They were moving and moving at a significant speed. The SAR's were moving as well and were speeding into the tight formation of the three remaining dumbbells. Then the balls formed two distinct formations and one formation moved toward the nearest SAR which was Róta. The coalesced balls were moving with some speed, but at this point Róta was traveling very fast to close in on one of the dumbbells. The balls were heading to intercept the rushing Róta.
Toni watched in horror as the balls simply swarmed Róta. In moments perhaps two hundred of the small round weapons surrounded Róta and moments later they detonated. Each ball had a small nuclear warhead and any SAR could withstand a single explosion. But Róta was simply torn to shreds having been surrounded by a swarm attack from the new weapon.
The second swarm was headed toward Skuld and Toni watched as Skuld turned hard and tried to out manoeuvre the swarm, but her momentum continued to carry her toward the middle dumbbell. Toni watched as Skuld continued firing 'K's at the dumbbell even th
ough she could not avoid the swarm. Moments later both Skuld and the dumbbell ceased to exist.
Toni had lost two ships Skuld and Róta along with their entire crews. Seconds later the last of the dumbbells was destroyed by Randgrid. The Megra fleet had been defeated and destroyed but at a cost the OCN could ill afford. Toni was beginning to realize that the Megra might well be willing to trade their ships for that of the OCN knowing that the OCN simply could not keep up with the number of dumbbells Megra were producing and willing to sacrifice.
Once again a strategy of defence was proving to be the worst possible strategy.
Toni sat in her office with Silvi and composed a message to both Abel and Farn. The battle had revealed two new weapons system used by the Mega and it was critical to get that information to both Abel in the Commonwealth and Farn on her voyage to New Horizons. While the new missiles were slow and easily interdicted, the swarming mines made the favored high speed head on attack by the OCN on a dumbbell impossible. The swarming mines now forced the OCN to adopt a new set of battle tactics rather than one that had proven powerful. High speed head on attacks preceded by casters and followed up with a flyby and barrage of 'K's would no longer be advised.
Constructing a message capable of being transmitted in less than a week by Q Ball was a challenge. Finally Toni and Silvi agreed.
'Attack Wu. Megra destroyed. New Seeker Mines, and missiles Don't Marx attack. Skuld Róta all lost.'
Toni keyed in the message to the actuator unit that manipulated the Q Ball. She looked at the bulkhead clock. It would take almost two days for the message to be sent and in two days much could happen.
Toni shook her head. "I should have seen this coming. The Megra had to change in the face of our success against them. Why didn't I see this?"
Silvi sat across from Toni. "Toni don't be so hard on yourself. No one could see this coming, in fact the very idea that Megra learned from their mistakes was in question right up to the point of the attack. And that they could innovate was even in doubt. Now we know and we are better off for it."