by Lee Guo
Trevor shook his head. I failed to dance properly. I was too absorbed and distracted with own thinking… That… or it was a natural inevitability that some of the enemy’s fire would hit their mark at this range. Oh well, I just have to refocus my mind back on my dancing. And…
Trevor glanced at the map display. His wing was now within 2000 kilometers of the target! Time’s up!
“Alright boys and girls,” Trevor announced on the wing net, “we’re now in bombing range of D18. Let’s hit it where it hurts… and then get the hell out!”
“Yes-sir!” yelled the remaining fighters of Alpha Wing.
“Let’s kill them!” added Hotshot.
“Yeah! Let’s make them pay for what they did to our fallen friends!” said Mace.
“That’s right! All units,” said Trevor, “FIRE!”
Flag Bridge, Federation Battlecruiser Carpathia, above the wormhole exit
Yamato watched the holomap as all 800 remaining fighters attacked position D18. So many fighters, so many bombs, whacked the armor on that star fortress. Utter devastation. New craters appeared amid the explosions. White-hot metal fragments splintered off, blown in every direction. Areas of D18 that were hit… suddenly had new areas of its internals exposed… and more hits attacked those exposed areas. Truly an incision strike. There must have been over 1500 500-megaton bombs that hit the mark!
Yamato could only imagine the enemy fleet commander wreathing in agony, and trying to figure out what to do and how to respond.
The enemy fleet commander should be panicking and trying to find a counter — some way to protect position D18! Maybe he’ll move his warships closer to D18 to shoot our fighters from getting in position for the next strike. Maybe he’ll position some of his warships in front of D18 to block our pulsar shots, but no matter — no amount of blocking with warships will prevent my pulsar guns from hitting D18.
And as for the base itself… what exactly will the enemy base commander do?
The enemy fortress commander MUST realize how much damage is being done through the concentrated pulsar strikes from my fortress as well as my pulsar-equipped battlecruisers. Since he knows there’s no chance of his fortress avoiding the bombs from my fighters, he must be trying to find some way to avoid the pulsar beam strikes.
There is only one choice, really, and that is to rotate his fortress. But he must realize that my pulsar battlecruisers can rotate along with the his fortress. In fact, my pulsar battlecruisers can maintain line of fire on position D18 no matter how the enemy fortress moves. So what does he intend to do then?
Yamato tried to think of an answer, but couldn’t come up with one.
That means that if the fortress commander starts rotating his fortress to cover his weak spot, the only things of mine that cannot maintain line of fire on position D18 are the pulsar cannons from my remaining star fortress. That’s a loss of potential damage for me, but not a terrible one.
On that thought, how much damage exactly are my pulsar beams doing relative to my fighter bombs?
Yamato opened his eyes, scanning the holographic diagram of D18 before him. At this moment, the damage done so far to that section of the enemy base looked like a huge chasm. A massive cavity had formed within all that armor.
“Computer, use recorded data on our attack on D18 and analyze it by separating the damage done by pulsar beams and fighter bombs, and then sum up the total done by each. Also separate how much damage was done between my pulsar class battlecruisers and my star fortress.”
“Analyzing,” said the computer. “Analysis complete. Displaying.”
In front of him, several numeric counters appeared. Each showed the damage done on D18… in terms of tonnage destroyed.
My pulsar beams destroyed 8 million metric tons of damage, while my fighter bombs destroyed 10 million metric tons. As for how much damage my pulsar beams from my fortress have done relative to my pulsar battlecruisers… my fortress did 3 million metric tons of damage, while my battlecruisers have done 5 million.
“Computer, how much time is needed before we damage the power cores of the enemy fortress, if we assume our current ability to fire on that fortress with of all our elements… does not change?”
“Calculating,” said the computer. “With the current status quo, it will take all combined assets another four and a half minutes to damage the enemy fortress’s power core.”
“And how much time will it take if the enemy fortress turns?”
“Calculating… Assuming all of our pulsar-class battlecruisers reciprocates by moving with the enemy fortress, and assuming all our fighter-bombers receive the same minimal damage from their fleet, and assuming both pulsar guns and plasma cannons from the Helvon’s Vengeance can no longer fire at position D18 — five and a half minutes.”
Yamato nodded. That’s not bad. “And what if the enemy moves all their warships in front of position D18 to provide point defense against our next wave of fighters?”
“Calculating…” said the computer. “If the enemy positions all of their warships to protect position D18, they will be able to destroy 400 human fighters before the surviving fighters are able to unleash their bombs. Since the damage done to the enemy fortress will be much lower from the recalculated second wave, we will be forced to launch a third wave of fighter-bombers, and this third wave will also lose approximately half of their numbers before the survivors launch their bombs and breach the enemy fortress’s core. Assuming a third wave is launched, and assuming the enemy fortress rotates, the time to breach the enemy fortress’s core is estimated at nine and a half minutes.”
Yamato blinked. He was stunned. “We will lose over fifty percent of our remaining fighters in the second wave?”
“Correct.”
Damn. Yamato didn’t think it’d be this bad. But it made sense. He had begun the battle with 3000 fighters. He had only 800 fighters remaining after all those sorties. It made sense that if he sent all his fighters into the maw of the enemy fleet, provided the enemy fleet did reposition in front of D18, he would lose half of that number.
Yamato sat there, thinking. Then again, what was losing 400 more fighter pilots compared to losing the 2,200 he had already lost? If he thought of it that way, it was well worth sacrificing his remaining fighter numbers to be able to destroy the enemy fortress. The existence of that enemy fortress was crippling.
He sat there, weighing all the possible outcomes of all his possible decisions. He only hoped that the enemy didn’t reposition their fleet in front of the cavity — but like a massive chess game, he knew the smartest move would be to do exactly that, and like during chess, he knew the enemy would always take the smartest move. Any tough enemy, that is.
Hmm… as things are right now, I would need only one more fighter strike.
The clock ticked. Yamato’s gaze never left the main holomap. As more seconds passed, he became more and more curious as what his enemies, both the enemy fleet commander and the enemy fortress commander, would do.
Come on… act… every second wasted is a loss for you, and better for me.
And then the enemy acted. They moved.
Human pulsar beams slashed at the cavity on the enemy star fortress, making it larger and larger. Like a wounded animal, the fortress shrieked agonizingly with every hit, as every beam that struck section D18 blasted away kilotons of armor.
No fighter bomb fell on the fortress at this stage, as most of the remaining human fighters had already returned to their respective carriers in preparation for another bombing run.
The enemy waited and waited… thinking… they knew what was coming, and decided they have had enough. They acted.
Suddenly, all the enemy objects outside the wormhole began a kaleidoscope of movement.
Several things happened at once:
First, as expected by Yamato, the enemy fortress began rotating in an effort to eliminate the line of fire between it and the human pulsar-class battlecruisers as well as the remaining human star fortre
ss…
Secondly, a great majority of enemy warships, capital and non-capital ships included, moved to surround the cavity that was designated position D18 by the humans to form an anti-fighter defense in preparation of humanity’s second wave of fighters.
But thirdly, and lastly — and this Yamato had not predicted — a contingent of enemy capital ships pushed outward towards the human pulsar-class battlecruisers in an obvious attempt to intercept the human ships before they could move into position to fire on position D18, again. This last contingent was composed of 10 enemy battlecruisers and five enemy superdreadnoughts — well more than enough to combat Yamato pulsar-class battlecruisers, at least for a significant amount of time.
Flag Bridge, Federation Battlecruiser Carpathia, above the wormhole exit
Yamato blinked. He stood up. All was quiet on the bridge, which gave an unnatural irony to the tension he felt inside him.
His stone cold gaze on the holomap contrasted with his crowded thoughts.
He blinked, again. He couldn’t believe it! Why hadn’t he thought of that?
Everything the enemy had done had been predicted by him… except for that.
He had predicted that the fortress would start rotating. He had predicted that the enemy would gather their ships around position D18 to intercept his second wave of fighters. But… he had not predicted the enemy would push with a portion of their ships directly at Yamato’s pulsar-class battlecruisers.
Of course! They can push my pulsar-classes away!
It was so simple that it was insane! And it was so obvious. And so well done.
Damn. He had been so certain that he could keep his pulsar battlecruisers out of range from the enemy guns that he had forgotten that the enemy could still push his pulsar-classes away from having weapon’s range on the enemy’s fortress. All they needed to do was use some of their capital ships and threaten to engage his pulsars in ship-to-ship combat if he didn’t move them out of the way. And as much as he believed his pulsars were the latest and best in terms of maximum offensive power and defensive capability, he couldn’t risk them fighting a war against an enemy force that outnumbered them three to one. The pulsar-classes’ strength was in their ability to fire from a distance outside the range of the enemy’s main cannons, and once that distance was closed, their other advantage was that they could retreat faster than the enemy ships could give chase.
But once he retreated his pulsar-classes, he and his pulsars would be out of firing range of that enemy fortress and position D18.
So what the hell should I do???
If he maintained position, he risked losing all his pulsars. If he retreated his pulsars, he would no longer be able to add fire at position D18 on the enemy fortress.
Is it time… to test how well my pulsar-classes’ shields fare against Argonan ship-to-ship weapons?
If he wanted to go that route, he would have to time his pulsar classes’ retreat perfectly while maximizing damage to position D18. And retreat he must eventually. Or else, they would be destroyed.
He twisted his gaze at the timer. Time ticked. I must decide soon… before that big contingent of ships reach me and my pulsars.
Yamato took a seat. He tried to cool down his senses. He had to think. Quickly and efficiently.
As he sat there, another question hit him. Did he need his pulsars at all? Could he take down the enemy fortress without his pulsars? He wondered and wondered, and finally came to a conclusion that he would need help. “Computer,” said Yamato, “recalculate the amount of time required to destroy the enemy fortress if our pulsar-class battlecruisers are not part of the equation.”
“Calculating,” said the computer. “Calculation complete. It will take infinite time to drill through enough armor to damage the enemy fortress’s power core if the pulsar-class battlecruisers do not continue firing on the enemy fortress.”
“Infinite time?” said Yamato, stunned. “Why?”
“If our pulsar-class battlecruisers do not continue firing on position D18,” said the computer, “there will not be enough total damage dealt by our fighters in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th wave, since our fighters’ numbers will diminish significantly in each additional wave. By the time an opportunity for the 6th wave occurs, we will have negligible fighters. The incision to the enemy fortress’s power core through position D18 will be forever incomplete.”
Yamato closed his eyes. “I see…” He opened them. “What if we keep our pulsar battlecruisers in position to fire at position D18 and let them soak up the damage by the incoming enemy capital ships then retreat our pulsars at the last minute before their shields collapse? Can you calculate if that will work in destroying the enemy fortress?”
“Calculating,” said the computer. “Calculation is inconclusive. It is unknown how well our pulsar-class battlecruisers’ shields can soak up enemy ship-to-ship main cannon fire before their shields deplete.”
“I see.” Yamato gazed at the holomap. Should I risk losing my pulsar-class battlecruisers so they can continue firing on D18? He massaged his recently grown beard.
I have to, he concluded.
I must try to take the fortress down. If I don’t try, I won’t be able to destroy the enemy fortress at all, and all our work on D18 will be for nothing.
It’s the only way. “All pulsar-class battlecruisers,” said Yamato on the command net, “maneuver yourself so you rotate along with the rotating enemy star fortress so you can continue shooting at position D18. Ignore the enemy fire that is about to come from the group of enemy capital ships that is trying to intercept you. Maintain fire on position D18 and let your shields soak up the damage from the enemy ships.”
“Yes, sir,” said the captains of the pulsars on the command net.
“Us, too,” said Yamato. “Captain Rogers, please began moving the Carpathia, so we can continue firing on position D18.”
“Yes, sir,” said Rogers, who stood while commanding his bridge a couple of meters ahead of Yamato.
The war raged above the wormhole exit.
The duel between the two opposing star fortresses continued — as uneven as it was, the sole remaining human star fortress was able to withstand the beating from the whole enemy fleet at least for some time. Its shields, however, kept dropping, reaching as low as 50%.
The enemy star fortress, on the other hand, continued rotating, eventually making it impossible for the human star fortress to fire its pulsar guns or its plasma cannons at the enemy star fortress’s weakest point — position D18.
Upon Yamato’s orders, the human star fortress switched targets. It fired its pulsar guns and plasma cannons on the enemy ships instead, concentrating its blows on a particular enemy superdreadnought. The superdreadnought took the beating right onto its forward armor. It was soon apparent that it would soon succumb to the blows from the fortress-sized pulsar guns.
At the same time, the enemy fleet finished maneuvering most of its ships towards the weak spot on their star fortress ‒ position D18. Soon, a very apparent shield-wall formed around position D18, and it was soon obvious to any fighter force that bombing D18 would result in suffering catastrophic losses.
As for the human fighters, most were finished rearming themselves for the second bombing strike and were assembling outside their carriers in preparation for that strike.
Meanwhile, somewhere, out there, another plasma-armed Artemis-class human battlecruiser explodes while attempting to intercept the force of enemy capitals that were themselves, attempting to intercept the human pulsar-class battlecruisers. This force of enemy ships were simply too big, too strong, and they annihilated any human ships that got in the way.
Moments later, the first of many enemy capital ships reached weapon’s range on the human pulsar-class battlecruisers, and the enemy ship fired.
Flag Bridge, Federation Battlecruiser Carpathia, maneuvering above the wormhole exit
Yamato felt the ground rumble as what must have been hundreds of enemy laser beams crashed i
nto the Carpathia’s shields. Disconcerting, he thought, because he had never expected his flagship would come under direct attack. That’s not what it was made for.
He caressed the hairs on his chin. Well, then. Let’s see how much punishment this brand new flagship can take!
He eyed the holomap and watched as more and more enemy ships came within main weapon’s range of his five pulsar-class battlecruisers. The enemy fired and his pulsar-classes absorbed the blows but not once did any of his pulsars fire back. Instead, his pulsars continued blasting away at D18 on the enemy fortress, while moving in concert with the enemy fortress’s rotation.
As the ground shook again, his eyes fell on his flagship’s shield display.
96%… not bad. Plenty of time to deal damage to D18 before he had to retreat.
The ground shook once more. On the holomap, the shields of his pulsar-classes flared crimson and yellow as their molecular-matrix intercepted the path of the enemy lasers. As much as this was how it was supposed to be, Yamato knew a better alternative still existed. He pressed a button on his armrest, opening up the command net. “All pulsar-classes,” said Yamato, “begin evasive sliding! Remember, each one of our capital ships can slide at .2c! Dodge those beams as long as you can! Every missed beam means more seconds for our shields to last… so we can continue firing on D18 and increase our chances are of taking down that fortress!”
“Yes, sir!” the responses came back.
Yamato closed the channel to the fleet. “You, too, Captain,” said Yamato to Rogers. “Begin evasive sliding of the flagship.”
Captain Rogers, standing in front of Yamato, nodded back and barked orders to his bridge crew.
Immediately on the holomap, he could see his pulsar-classes zigzagging, and the enemy laser beams missing. Not bad, at all! Tough, nimble little ships!
Yamato then looked at D18. Pulsar beams crashed into it, splintering armor fragments and creating craters within craters. Multi-megaton explosions burst and burst on D18’s armor, and Yamato couldn’t help but anticipate the fruits of all his labors. Come on… come on… break open!