by Yakov Merkin
“Unknown. I have already sent the Legion Navy, and every free space port in the Alliance, everything I have on the ship he took. But it was a cloak-equipped insertion craft. It’ll be hard to find.”
“And the state of things at the Scionate?” The chairman sounded as if he almost didn’t want to know.
“Secure, and we have taken steps to ensure that no traitors remain. Additionally, I have secured Gendae’s personal files, which provided information that could prove very tactically useful—the only diamond from these ashes,” Dalcon replied, starting with the good news. The brightest bit of which being the location of what appeared to be the Tyrannodons’ central base of operations. They would have to plan very carefully before attempting to strike so far into enemy territory. And now the bad news. He took a deep breath before continuing. “There are just over two thousand of us left here.” Meaning that almost half of us were likely traitors.
The chairman looked as though he’d been shot. “Two thousand?”
“That is correct.” If only it wasn’t. “It is impossible to tell how many of the dead were under the First Scion’s influence, and it’s impossible to tell who was killed by whom. In a fight like that, anyone could be the enemy. Those that remain have affirmed my ascension to the status of First Scion. I only wish that my first duty in this position was not to inform you that the Scion of Justice, as a fighting force, has been crippled.”
“Creator preserve, what am I going to tell the people?” Gasno asked as he slumped back in his chair. “Traitors within the Scions, the Scions crippled, the supreme commander of the Legion Navy dead. And the invaders still advancing. What can we do?”
With the horrible news delivered, Dalcon’s mind at last began to clear. He knew what needed to be done, which was completely unrelated to what the Tyrannodon executor had told him. “We do what we should have done all along, Chairman. We fight back.”
CHAPTER 20
Executor Darkclaw stood on the Hudecar’s command deck, arms resting on the back of his chair as he listened to the first minister of Tsarfaut, a Tehlman colony world located in the Ehran system, one of those that had been cut off from the rest of the Alliance as a result of the first phase of the war, detail the conditions for the world’s complete surrender. A number of the cut-off worlds had sued for peace almost immediately after being separated from the rest of the Alliance, but this one had been among those that had stood firm, not sending an envoy when ships did not appear in their own space. However, with the footage of the destruction of Venariss II in full circulation, there had been another, larger round of worlds willing to surrender if it meant they would be spared the destruction.
In truth, Darkclaw could have simply refused to accept terms and forced Tsarfaut to surrender unconditionally, under threat of destruction. But Darkclaw had no desire to browbeat anyone else. Showing leniency now would hopefully garner the support of these worlds once this war was over and Darkclaw and his kind found themselves being judged. It would also be explainable to the High Lord.
Simply put, they needed collaborationist governments, for the time being at any rate. With the war dragging out, and now with the traitors within the Alliance removed, Darkclaw needed every available soldier and ship, despite Selixan Station continuing to produce more at an incredible rate. And besides, compliant governments would be all the more easily toppled later.
“Your terms are acceptable, First Minister,” Darkclaw said once the Tehlman had finished speaking. “So long as your resources are made available to us, and you have no contact with the Galactic Alliance, there will be no ships in your space apart from the handful that will inspect outgoing vessels, and there will be no soldiers on your world.”
“Then we are in agreement,” the Tehlman said, nodding his head and then running a hand over his eye crest and then over his slicked-back hair. “I am glad that we were able to settle peacefully.” No doubt he was, when the other option was invasion, and the world had no space-borne defenses to speak of. And this suited Darkclaw just fine. He had achieved all of his, and the High Lord’s, goals. Another world captured, more resources for the war effort, and, most importantly for both him and the High Lord, unrestricted access to the large Reizan’Tvay facility that he had confirmed was still intact on the planet’s largest moon.
“It is very fortunate,” Darkclaw agreed, his voice completely emotionless. After the initial rush of emotions that had come after he had lost the ability to hold them back, it had scaled back a bit. Darkclaw was finding that he was becoming more acclimated, more easily able to feel normally; as opposed to being completely unfeeling or being completely overwhelmed by the emotions, so long as he kept himself busy. “It is always preferable to not have to resort to force.”
The first minister nodded. “Thank you for your time and consideration, Executor,” he said, then ended the transmission.
“Have an engineering team prepared,” Darkclaw ordered Commander Gadelius. He did not intend to waste any time in examining the Reizan’Tvay outpost on the desolate moon, called Moirez by the colony’s inhabitants, and he trusted the ship commander to see his orders carried out quickly and effectively. According to the information recovered on Xearin, this facility was one of the largest in what was now Alliance space, tasked with observing experiments in progress—which would include the Tyrannodons—as well as developing new forms of weaponry based on new findings. Darkclaw did not let himself hope too much, but this facility was one of the most likely to hold something useful.
Darkclaw manually opened a channel to the Felinar, which led the 300-ship Felinaris task force that had accompanied the twenty-four Tyrannodon battlegroups, 1,200 ships total, to accept the surrenders of Tsarfaut and several other nearby worlds. It was likely more than would be needed, but Darkclaw did not intend to let himself get caught off guard by a world feigning surrender. Once was enough.
“Executor,” Nayasar said icily. Since her reappearance, Nayasar had only spoken to Darkclaw when absolutely necessary, and then with as few words as possible. And she had outright ignored any inquiries regarding her disappearance. The only thing Darkclaw knew was that wherever she had been, she had not been idle. She was plainly tired; Darkclaw could tell that much despite both his inexperience in reading people and lack of understanding of body language unique to Felinaris. She also had a distant look about her, as if her mind was truly focused elsewhere. It was a dangerous combination, but Darkclaw knew that talking to her would get nowhere.
“Grand Admiral,” Darkclaw replied in kind. In their first conversations, he had attempted to make what amends he could, only to be ignored, so he decided that he may as well not bother. “Tsarfaut has surrendered to us. All of our demands have been met, and in return we will not formally occupy the world. We can now freely explore the Reizan’Tvay facility on the moon Moirez. Admiral Kharitzon expressed interest in joining the exploration team, and I would appreciate it if you did so as well. We are running out of time, and if you can learn what the Reizan’Tvay facilities are like, you can examine more of them, without my presence being required, to improve our chances of finding what is needed.” Darkclaw had to be careful with his words in the presence of other Tyrannodons. While they would likely not immediately attempt to inform the High Lord of anything suspicious, Darkclaw was certain that the High Lord had ways of finding out what they knew.
Nayasar was silent for several seconds, then finally nodded. “Very well. I’ll prepare a—” Her last words were drowned out as alarms began to blare on both the Felinar and the Hudecar.
Darkclaw quickly turned to the console built into his chair to see what was happening, and quickly learned that there were enemy ships inbound, just as both the Hudecar’s sensors operator and an officer on the Felinar shouted out the same thing. One and a half thousand Legion Navy vessels were rapidly approaching through hyperspace.
“All forces, prepare for battle,” Darkclaw ordered, voice as it should be. This was not something to be concerned about. However dif
ficult the battle might prove to be, this was what he was good at. Though it would be the first time that he did not have a numerical advantage, and it was the first time that he was on the defensive, Darkclaw knew that he could deal with the Legion Navy.
Darkclaw immediately ordered the command deck to convert to the fleet command configuration, and connected himself to it as soon as it was active. There were mere minutes until the Legion Navy fleet arrived, and Darkclaw did not intend to leave the system without what he had come for.
Within moments, everything was at his fingertips, all the ships in the fleet, the power to maneuver them as he wished. Darkclaw wondered for a moment if this was akin to the way the High Lord felt about the universe; it was simply a blank space filled with things he could control.
A contemplation for another time. Darkclaw ordered the fleet into a standard defensive position, heavier class ships in the center of the formation, lighter and faster ships on the edges, ready to close with the enemy. It was too bad the new mobile attack platforms were still being readied for use at Selixan Station. This would have been a perfect time to test their effectiveness. But for now, he would make do with what he had.
Darkclaw quickly went over in his mind everything he knew about the Legion Navy and their warships, their tactics. The Legion Navy had never truly been tested by war, and they had nearly always been the defending fleet during the few conflicts they had taken part in. Maybe it was time to put their offensive capabilities to the test.
Darkclaw ordered both his and the Felinaris ships into a tighter formation; a defensive one, arrayed to prevent the enemy from easily attacking in any direction aside from head on.
“Your plan is to sit back and let them come?” Nayasar asked over the communication link, which Darkclaw just then remembered had been left open. She clearly disapproved.
“Offensive action is not the only way to win a fight, Grand Admiral. Furthermore, it is always best to force one’s enemy into a situation where they are less capable. I plan to win this battle, handily.” Darkclaw was very glad he had ensured that he held supreme command over their allied fleets. He would almost prefer for Nayasar to go off somewhere again. Almost.
Nayasar glared, but did not object. “Very well,” she finally said. “Just be sure that this works.”
Darkclaw did not bother to respond; there was nothing constructive to add to the conversation, and she clearly did not wish to speak with him. Better to focus on commanding the fleet.
Less than five minutes later, Darkclaw watched on the display screen as the Legion Navy fleet dropped out of hyperspace, and began to close with his fleet. On Darkclaw’s tactical display, the enemy ships were represented by white circles, which advanced as one unit in a three-dimensional version of a wedge formation, designed to break through a tight defensive formation, such as the one Darkclaw’s fleet was in. But the wedge, with ships behind one another, had a weakness. There would be a small window of time where only a few of their ships could fire, and in that time they would be within range of Darkclaw’s entire fleet, which was in a smoother formation and could react more quickly. In space, there was always room to maneuver, something many commanders forgot.
Red circles emanated from the fleets in the display, marking the maximum ranges of the ships in either fleet. The Felinaris ships and the Legion Navy vessels had roughly the same maximum effective range, except for the newer Felinar, but Darkclaw’s ships all outranged the enemy by a small but significant margin. Darkclaw almost smiled.
The Legion Navy fleet continued to advance, committed to their attack. Darkclaw counted down the seconds as they slowly approached firing range. Ten, nine, eight, seven six, five. Darkclaw ordered all ships to fire at will.
Seconds later, when the tip of the Legion Navy wedge came into range, it was completely annihilated by the combined fire of the Tyrannodon warships. Then Darkclaw gave new orders: He commanded his own warships to reverse thrust, and move away from the approaching fleet while firing and staying within range, and ordered the Felinaris forces to split into two attack groups and engage the Legion Navy force from either side of their formation.
The Legion Navy fleet reacted more effectively than Darkclaw expected, however. They halted their advance, and sent attack groups to engage the incoming Felinaris ships, which were forced back. Then the Legion Navy fleet reorganized its formation into a more solid front line, and accelerated to full attack speed and spread slightly to prevent Darkclaw’s forces from clearing the planet. While Darkclaw’s fleet would still have a slight range advantage, it would be all but negated by the speed of the enemy advance. He had underestimated the enemy, and now he was trapped between their fleet and Tsarfaut.
Darkclaw ordered his forces to hold position, barely keeping himself from unnecessarily shouting the order. He could not lose, not now, with potentially vital information so close by. Even though he would likely be victorious in the battle, he could very well lose most of his forces while doing little more damage to the enemy. That could not be allowed.
As the Legion Navy fleet continued to advance and both sides began to lose ships, Darkclaw had an idea. He ordered the Tyrannodon fleet to fall back further, as close as they could to the planet.
A moment later, Nayasar contacted him again. “What do you think you’re doing?” she snarled. “Falling back, letting them press the attack? We had an opening before, but it’s gone now!”
“I am still in command, Grand Admiral,” Darkclaw replied simply. “You chose to fight at my side, so do so. I do not wish to fight you as well as the enemy. But it is fortuitous that you called,” Darkclaw continued as he hoped his voice was not betraying his concern and frustration. “If I am correct, we will have an opening again, soon. Watch for it, Grand Admiral, and seize the moment. I may be willing to fall back, but I will not do so for long.” Darkclaw ended the transmission. Hopefully Nayasar would understand. And hopefully his Darkclaw’s hunch was right. The Legion Navy had performed better than he had expected, but he was also performing worse than they had feared. There was a significant chance that the enemy commander would see a victory nearly in his grasp, and overreach. It was only a matter of waiting. But if he waited too long, this battle could go far worse than it had a right to, particularly if the enemy called for reinforcements.
Two long minutes passed before the Legion Navy finally overcommitted, continuing to close with Darkclaw’s fleet, the Felinaris, who had fallen back after their first attack failed, all but forgotten.
Then Darkclaw ordered his forces to advance in two groups, directly toward the enemy. Before the enemy fleet could react and slow down, the Tyrannodon warships had closed to near point blank range and the Felinaris task force began to attack the Alliance ships from below.
This time, the Legion Navy reacted too slowly. Unable to effectively maneuver so close to the planet, they began to fall to the Tyrannodon warships’ superior durability and firepower, while the Felinaris attack from below simply added to the chaos. Both he and the Legion Navy commander had miscalculated, but Darkclaw’s mistake had come earlier, and he had been able to correct it.
Within minutes, the Legion Navy fleet was in full retreat, apart from already damaged vessels, which were staying behind to occupy Darkclaw’s forces and allow the others to escape.
Darkclaw did not have his forces pursue the enemy beyond Tsarfaut’s moon. There would be enough to do now before he could visit the Reizan’Tvay facility. He did allow himself a sigh of relief, however, once the enemy forces had fled the system and those that still remained surrendered. He had come too close to losing the battle, too close to losing access to a facility that could potentially prove to be his salvation.
A check of the tactical display told Darkclaw that nearly sixty percent of the enemy fleet had been captured or destroyed compared to just over a third his own number lost, the vast majority of those Tyrannodon warships. By the numbers, this was a solid victory, but Darkclaw could not see it as such. His underestimating of the enemy had n
early cost him the battle, and it had been an error in judgment on the part of the enemy that had given him the chance to correct his mistake. He had grown overconfident, and too focused on stopping the High Lord that he had all but forgotten that he was still fighting a war. That tens of thousands of people relied on him. He would not get a chance to stop the High Lord if he was captured or killed by the Alliance.
Still, there was something to be proud of. The battle had been won, and the Reizan’Tvay facility was in his hands. But I will not underestimate an enemy again.
Darkclaw had just completed a full accounting of the fleet and damage assessments, when a transmission came in from Praetor Keeneye. “Executor, our forces have come under heavy attack. I have received reports from Venariss II, Darvia, and Ilias. At each one, a sizeable Legion Navy fleet attacked, attempting to take back the conquered worlds. From what I can gather, they attacked several targets almost simultaneously. I attempted to contact you as soon as I learned of this, but could not establish a link.”
“We were attacked here as well,” Darkclaw replied. He had not even noticed that long-range communications had been cut off. Of course this had been part of a larger Legion Navy operation. Why else would so few ships have been sent to Tsarfaut when they knew he was there with only a relatively small fleet? “What is the situation in the attacked systems?”
“Our forces held the line at Darvia; the attacking fleet was completely wiped out. However, our token force at Venariss II retreated as soon as the enemy arrived; they stood no chance. And our forces were driven out of Ilias and the entire Odiress System, after heavy fighting. What are your orders?”
Darkclaw thought for a moment. Fortunately, there had not been any major losses, though the Legion Navy had undoubtedly broken the Tyrannodon Armada’s aura of invincibility. The effect of such an ideological victory could not be discounted, though the enemy had not recaptured anything of true value. There was nothing left of Venariss II, and little of value in the rest of the system, and while the loss of the Odiress System was unfortunate, it was a fairly minor star system, with no particular strategic importance. What this did mean was that this conflict had finally become a true war. This suited Darkclaw just fine, at least in one respect. The Alliance deserved a fair chance to fight for its survival, at the very least, and this could slow the war’s pace significantly, buying Darkclaw more time. Still, this made Darkclaw’s bare victory at Tsarfaut seem even more insignificant.