"It's been just four minutes seventeen seconds since we arrived in the Forepost-4 system, and all the leaders of the five-hundred-ship enemy armada are already captured and have been brought before you, commander! I'm sure that record won't be beaten any time soon!"
Popori de Cacha appeared from invisibility and pulled the cord on the bags’ air valves one by one. The fragile- sacks immediately deflated. Two middle-aged men of athletic body type, both wearing nothing but underwear crawled out of two of them, squinting in the bright light and looking very embarrassed.
I read the information on both, which told me their names were Admiral Vajek Lavaelle and Admiral Stefan Antri-Mesfelle. They were old dogs of war, but without any especially impressive achievements. Their fame wasn't too magnificent either. Whoever was in the last bag, though, was in no rush to come out.
"What, didn't you let her get dressed after her shower? You animals!" Katerina said indignantly, walking over to the captive, removing her jacket as she went. "Svetlana, throw this on, and let's go to my cabin. I'll give you some normal clothes."
What happened next I wasn't expecting in the slightest. The naked Sector Nine Fleet Commander stood up abruptly, reached for Katerina's belt holster, removed her laser pistol and, now holding my cousin by the neck, took cover behind her hostage and backed up to the wall.
"Everyone back, or I'll shoot her through the head! Did you already think, Georg, that you had won again? Let's see how happy you'll be with the victory when your cousin is dead! Order your Chameleons to appear and not come near me, otherwise I'll blow her brains out!"
Popori de Cacha gave a modest whistle, and three more Chameleons appeared next to him. Insofar as I understood, there were another three still hiding somewhere in the room. At that time, my cousin Katerina, despite her desperate position, was doing her best to stay calm and even tried to negotiate with the woman now holding her hostage:
"Stop, Svetlana! We came to offer you a title, power and money! The greatest systems in Sector Nine could be yours!"
"I don't need any charity from you! After all the perturbations of the recent days, the line of succession to the Orange House throne has moved forward significantly. I'm already number five. And I'll become number four right after Georg renounces Crown Princess Deia's right to it. And he will do that, otherwise I'll shoot his cousin through the head! And that'd be it. The only ones remaining before me would be old guys. So, what do I need your pitiful charity for, now that I’m sure to become Head of the Orange House one day?! No, I'm not the one who lost here, Georg, you are! You will take your ships out of my zone of responsibility and do everything else I say!"
"She is not all there, Georg. She is really going to kill her hostage, if you do not agree to all of her demands. And these demands will grow with every passing minute, as she thinks herself in control of the situation."
"And could you neutralize her?" I asked Florianna mentally.
"I could, but she wouldn't die right away, so she would still be able to kill Katerina."
"Arite, take a closer look at this woman," I said, turning to an otherwise totally normal looking guard soldier. "Copy her and approach her. I want Svetlana to understand how little I care whether she lives or dies. We can issue any orders we need her to without her."
Svetlana froze in complete surprise when one of my bodyguards stepped forward and changed into a naked girl with wet hair identical to herself. But Svetlana was not able to react to the appearance of her double. Her laser pistol was flung away from Katerina's temple and flew onto the floor. Meanwhile, a bloodied, razor-sharp, Alpha Iseyek appendage poked through the front of her head, extending a whole yard out the other side.
Rosss squeamishly tossed the lifeless body of Svetlana from his upper right appendage, then becoming nearly invisible again. All that remained were the dark red contours of his terrifying pick hovering in the air.
"Why did you have to kill her?" Katerina royl Unatari objected. "Svetlana was just very worked up, which made her overreact! You bruised her ego very badly. After all, she considered herself a great warrior and the commander of a frightening fleet, and you captured her and made her a laughing stock!"
"Cousin, you are mistaken. My Truth Seeker confirmed that Svetlana was about to kill you, so we had to neutralize her. Phobos, tell your partner that he did everything right and will be rewarded for what he’s done."
I ordered the Arite to get dressed, but stay in the form of the dead commander. While her body was being removed and her blood mopped up, I turned to the admirals who were still in shock at what had happened:
"So, I'll explain. For your purposes, Sector Nine Fleet Commander Svetlana ton Mesfelle is alive and, in a few minutes, she will be giving a passionate speech on the common fleet channel. She will declare to her captains that she invited us here, and ordered the warp beacon turned on for us because the Orange House is steeped in corruption, embezzlement, and dirty political struggles, leaving it totally discredited. The Sector Nine Fleet will join the Unatari State. An hour from now, there will be a swearing-in ceremony for your captains and officers. You must remain silent on the incident that happened here until the ceremony is over. I hope you understand all that."
"Indeed we do, your Majesty!" Both admirals answered in nearly perfect syncopation.
"That is great. After the speech, closer to the end of the day, it will be announced that the talented, proud and beautiful fleet commander died at the hands of an Orange House extremist. Sure, the security team missed something, but the killer has been found and neutralized, etc... Tomorrow, one of you will become Perimeter Nine Fleet Commander, and the other will be his deputy. Here is your fleet's mission: take all of Sector Nine under control as quickly as possible. All local rulers and aristocrats must join the Unatari state. We do not foresee particular resistance, as there is no force in the area capable of taking your fleet on. Sector Nine will become my cousin, Duchess Katerina royl Unatari's patrimony, and each of you will now receive the title Baron of Unatari for your service, as well as a rich star system in perpetuity. But if any of you do not like my offer, I will not detain you by force. You will be released to the four winds."
The two admirals exchanged glances, then Vajek Lavaelle answered for the both of them:
"How could we possibly refuse such a generous offer? And I would like to explain my last name, Lavaelle, right away, as I have noticed that your Majesty frowned when reading my information. My ancestors, three generations ago, were forced to leave the Green House and have not had any contact since then with any other bearers of our ancient surname."
"Very well. Great even. As you know, I have had a certain amount of unfortunate friction with the Green House, so I consider it useful to have allies of the Lavaelle name. Here is my decision: the new Sector Nine Fleet Commander shall be Stephan Antri-Mesfelle..."
The newly-appointed fleet commander immediately took a knee and kissed my hand.
"And you, Vajek, will have a more political career ahead of you. My advisor Katerina, herself an emigrant from the Green House with a decent understanding of the political situation there, will try to find a formal pretext to declare that you are the rightful heir to the Green House’s titles, star systems, and the like. The Unatari State will support your bid. Together, we can try to get revenge on the Green House for the offense they committed against your great grandfather."
"Crown Prince Georg, it's been a pleasure doing business with you," Admiral Vajek Lavaelle followed the example of his brother-in-arms, and bent down on one knee.
"An hour from now, you will both take an oath of loyalty to the Unatari State along with the other fleet officers. And you should be warned that my Truth Seeker will be checking the veracity of your words, and has a very low opinion of funny business."
Valian ton Corsa walked up, apologized for interrupting our conversation, and told me that the Swarm Queen was calling me. Nai Igir appeared on the huge screen. The Queen nodded to my greeting and said ceremoniously:
&
nbsp; "Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, I am more than impressed at your political successes and have now made my decision: The Swarm shall conclude a military alliance with the Unatari State."
* * *
"Three. Two. One. Go! I need a tactical map now!"
A huge screen unfolded before me, and I took a sigh of relief. The Behemoths hadn't gone anywhere, and were inside the tactical grid. It would have been much worse if the enemy’s most dangerous ships had changed position at the last moment, and met our ships that were arriving from other directions.
Messages started coming in from all directions:
"Group of targets. Distance: eighty miles."
"Eighty-four markers on the radar. Identification by radar signature underway."
"Two Behemoths, eleven Sledgehammers, six Chainsaws, ten Hermits, eight Ascetics, forty-seven Meteors."
"The heavy Virho fleet has begun combat in the Aysar system."
"The Red-Blue Fleet has arrived to the Lobj system. No enemy ships have been detected. Beginning mine removal and landing on the station."
"The Yuho and Fastel Fleets have begun combat in the Khe system."
"The Unatari heavy fleet has begun combat in the Khryo system."
And so the five-directional counterattack began. I tried to abstract myself from what was happening in other star systems and concentrate on my mission. The staff officers were giving me introductory information, and now froze, waiting for their orders. I then pondered for a second. The main mission was to get the deadly Behemoths separated from the other ships, then smash the enemy into pieces. But what could I give their little ships to peck at? Maybe, if I left one ship all alone. That meant someone would have to act as bait, and attract the enemy frigates.
"Curse-4, stay where you are and imitate a thruster failure. Attention all other ships! Accelerate toward the sun. Approach the enemy on a tangent. Both Trias, stay near the carriers. Joan the Fatty, Unatari and Fastel, check the remote shield-charging modules in the electros. Also, hold down both Trias. Be ready for drones and corvettes to be released. Fifty frigates to the first receiver, fifty to the second. Stay two hundred fifty from the Behemoths. Antisupport and Curses, stand by. Our frigates or Curse-4 might need your help."
The fleet went into action, realigning and splitting off into smaller groups. We made the first move. Now we needed to wait for a response from the enemy. I looked closely at the screen. If the Meteors wanted to intercept my frigates, my destroyers and light cruisers would go into action. But the Aliens' small ships didn't approach. Instead they... began retreating, hiding behind the backs of the cruisers and battleships! Surprising. The enemy was offering us the big prey, and the little ships would only enter the battle after that.
If Nicole Savoia were next to me, she would already be asking me why the enemy was behaving so strangely. Her replacement, Max Gregor didn't have the same experience Nicole did, though, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. And, it should be said that the enemy was clearly doing something. I could feel it in my skin.
"Main fleet, change direction! Head toward the second planet. Frigates, destroyers and light cruisers, stay behind the heavies. Surprise-5, approach the enemy and launch an electromagnetic bomb into the empty space between us and the Alien fleet."
"But, Prince, we didn't want to show our enemy the new weapon!" My assistant said in surprise, but I cut his speech off with a gesture and, after turning off my microphone, explained my decision:
"The enemy is making it obvious that they are giving us space and tempting us to jump out in front to capture the Behemoths. That looks like submission or apathy, and I don't like it one bit. I'm also on guard because their small ships are retreating and hiding behind the Behemoths' shields. From all that, I suppose that either we are being lured into a mine field, or there are some bombers ready to sneak up on us. So, I won't take the fleet forward until I'm sure the path is clear."
I turned the microphone on again, and said over the common channel:
"Attention, fleet! In one minute, we expect a very strong electromagnetic burst, so cover sensitive equipment. Pyros and Warhawks, be on maximum alert! If the EMP exposes a cloaker or hidden mines, do not wait for my order; jump out in front as fast as possible. The risk must be neutralized before the enemy restores its systems to working order."
A countdown timer came in from Surprise-5. Then, a few seconds before it hit zero, a cloaked bomber appeared on the tactical map, and a dot came out of it. And... the lighting in the room flickered. All data screens in the headquarters went out. All the computers reset at the same time. In the half-dark of the emergency lighting, I released a juicy, bombastic stream of curses words. Some superweapon that turned out to be. My own fleet suffered no less than the enemy's! Around forty seconds went by before the lighting returned to normal. Right after that, a technician's voice rang out:
"Commander, communication with the fleet has been restored. Long distance is also back in order. But there is also some bad news: I'm not sure why, but Joan the Fatty’s shield is still down, and its main tactical computers have begun another reset cycle. The system won't come back online. Two other carriers are actively recharging our shields. We're already up to seven percent. But we need time to find and solve the other glitches."
"Find the reason as quickly as possible. I need a tactical map immediately!" I bellowed, donning my headphones.
"This is Warhawk-12. I'm holding an Ascetic... Pyro-77, stoke the fire!"
"...Curse-4 here. I have three disruptors on me. I need help immediately!"
"...This is Unatari. Should I release drones?"
A battle was raging in the system, but I couldn't evaluate the position of my ships or command my fleet! Just for that, the creators of the EMP bomb deserved, at the very least, a firing squad! So, what should I do? Alright, that's enough. Curse-4, was the cruiser I had left as bait, after all. In order not to get distracted, I closed my eyes and, listening to the messages from the ships in battle, began issuing orders:
"Unatari, release all drones! Joan the Fatty and Fastel, do the same. All corvettes on the carriers, start up and warp out immediately to Curse-4. Thrushes, this is no time for napping. Get to work on the Ascetics. Groups from the receivers, hold the Behemoths. Start shooting down the drones now. Are the Sledgehammers very far?"
"All the Sledgehammers just jumped to eighteen on Curse-4."
"Damn them! Thrushes from one to thirty-five, warp to Curse-4 now! Split up into groups of three. Blind the Sledgehammers. All free Curses, follow them! Don't stand around. Take a small orbit around the Alien cruisers at full speed. Work on the Sledgehammers with a concentrated volley from all the ships, as we did in training. Curse-4 will mark targets."
"There’s one more cloaker left. Should we destroy it as well?"
What? So there were cloakers after all? Trying not to show my surprise, I ordered two frigates to hold the cloaker in webs and warp disruptors, and the Tria to send out a landing group to capture the valuable trophy.
"This is Curse-4. It's over. The last Sledgehammer has left us for good. There are just two far-off Behemoths left on the battlefield. Thanks, guys! My ship is just a skeleton, but I survived!"
"Curse-4, great job! The whole cruiser team has earned medals. Now, collect drones and jump to Fastel. Your shields will be recharged to max."
"Free frigates, help us with the Behemoths. Destroy the drones as we planned, after that, both Trias send out a landing party. We don't need to capture the battleships. As before, place charges and blow up the antimatter munitions."
I opened my eyes and noticed that it was unusually quiet in the headquarters. Only Bionica was speaking, duplicating my orders for the Iseyek ships with aplomb. The other officers, though, were staring at me in silence. The tactical map still hadn’t come on...
Clay ton Avelle, captain of Joan the Fatty, took a step forward and, lowering down on one knee, said ceremoniously:
"Crown Prince Georg, I am a grown man and
it's been some time since I believed in miracles. But today is the first time I've actually borne witness to one. Totally blind, you managed to end the battle against the Aliens in a rousing victory. Our fleet lost one Thrush and eleven Pyros. The enemy, though, lost eighty-two ships. Both of their Behemoths are already held down tight, and doomed to die."
Global fame increase. Current value +61
Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.
Present Empire Military faction opinion of you: +28 (trusting)
* * *
Just an hour and a half later, all that remained as a reminder of the recent battle was a field of wreckage. Both Trias were conducting landing operations on the surface of the planet Sobj-5. The glitches in the computer system had just been fixed, and I was trying to get to the bottom of the computer issue. The engineers and technicians I called before me all asserted that the EMP bomb launched by the Curse was not the cause of the electronic and computer network failure, as no other fleet ship was affected in the same way. Also, the sensitive equipment on board was all well shielded at the time of the blast.
"Crown Prince Georg," the senior engineer lowered his voice practically to a whisper. "This looks like the work of saboteurs working in both the server room and the electrical substation. Someone was trying very hard to make sure Joan the Fatty had no energy shield and was blind during the battle. In both cases, the attacker was working remotely by linking into control systems, and had access to the administrator privileges needed to make changes to programming code. Unfortunately, all the logs were wiped in the attack, so it is impossible to figure out where the bad code came from. It is only clear that he or she had a perfect understanding of our utility functions, as the whole code-modification operation took only a few seconds."
New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Page 29