by R. A. Ender
She responded immediately.
“Maybe they were worried we would hit the supply fleet again. Why not group everything you have together for safety, like a school of fish. Plus, already have a run to jump calculated and your ships oriented for a quick escape. Seems like the IAE has a decent commander in charge of the Tionaga garrison.” As she clicked off, the background sound of the command deck below was replaced with absolute dead air in his right ear while at the same moment he heard Sara yell out loud on the main command deck which he heard clearly in his left ear.
“They just dropped out behind the Lochalsh moon! Almost missed them as they rounded the back side but we got them.”
Richard looked down at his display and saw a few ships appear on his display. They were running to get behind the Tionagan moon but still had a ways to go. That was lucky, he thought to himself.
“Robin, I don’t want to split the fleet in case this is a trap. But I also don’t want to run all over the system trying to catch them. Every jump we do gives them more than enough time to plot and maneuver for another micro-jump. What’s your gut saying?”
Richard left the line open this time and he heard all the background noise return to his right ear. He could hear Robin breathing. After a few breaths, he was about to speak again thinking that perhaps she didn’t hear him when she sighed and gave a less than an enthusiastic answer.
“Ahhhhhh. It can always be a trap. We need to take the opportunities we are given, don’t we? That’s what my gut says.”
“Ok, hang on.” Richard clicked his private line closed and opened his universal line. “All commanders. Recall your fighters immediately and initiate maximum burn toward the IAE fleet. Once we are all underway, we will coordinate a link up and fleet formation.” With another couple of punches on his display, he was back speaking with Robin.
“This garrison isn’t much of a force. I’d rather not bother with it. Let’s chase after them this time, it’ll waste thirty minutes or so, and regardless of their next move, we will micro jump as a fleet back to meet that supply fleet. It’ll leave an in system threat but I think it is minor. You agree?”
Robin started speaking this time before he had even finished asking if she agreed.
“A good option but I was thinking of something more permanent. Once they fall behind the moon they won’t be able to see us. At that time, send a good chunk of the fleet and all the fighters around to the other side of the moon. If we keep all the slower merchants and Royalist ships with us, the second fleet should be able to round the moon at the same time we do. Maybe they need a micro jump to surprise the IAE, but otherwise, we would come together. That should box them in, plus the fighters will be an added obstacle to them performing any prearranged run to jump. It’ll be a decisive means to neutralize that garrison force and we can all jump to meet the supply fleet in time. Better?”
Robin’s last word, toned as a question, communicated a great deal to an experienced listener of her like Richard. He knew that she was saying that her option was the best, would have the greatest support among the commanders of the fleet and was the safest option. All communicated in a word.
Richard hung up his answer for a moment visualizing the strategy and how it would play out. It was better.
“Ok Robin, I’ll initiate it as per your explanation. I need you to keep me on time for that supply fleet. If we are at risk of missing our intercept, let me know so we can readjust.” And before he let her answer, he opened a private line to Longus.
“Admiral.” Richard waited for Admiral Longus to answer him. It took no time at all.
“I hear you, Fleet Admiral,” Longus answered with a clear, crisp and calm tone.
“Longus, we are going to detach part of the fleet to run around the moon from the other side. I want to box in that garrison force, prevent them from making a second jump in the system and forcing us to chase them round the Norway maelstrom. Take only the squad with the fastest ships, your discretion. I will assign all the fighters to your fleet once the last IAE ship disappears behind the edge of the moon. Understood?”
Longus, again, answered quickly but with a much more excited tone. “Fleet Admiral, that is music to my ears. I’ll sound the eight bells, and we will be off. Thank you, Fleet Admiral.”
The line went dead in Richard’s ear. He could immediately see Longus begin to coordinate with various squad commanders on his display, as the fleet began to separate into two distinctly colored units on the strategic display.
By the time the last IAE ship fell off the sensor display as it rounded the edge of the moon, Longus had assembled his fleet in the system, and without hesitation, he moved it onto a different course. As the squads disentangled from each other, the fleets reformed. As Longus’ fleet formed, they began flying away from Richard’s remaining fleet at a tremendous speed. Trailing behind were a few fighters that had had trouble launching, and all the fighters assigned to the Caesar Augustus, as the unmanned control would not work when the fighters passed behind the moon.
I’ll have to remember to mention that to the Commanding Admirals when the war is over. Not sure if strategically it is wise to have fully automated fighters. There is a use for a mixed setup in certain circumstances.
But aside from that brief curious strategic thought, Richard watched 250 of his ships fly off on a mission under the command of an Admiral he had limited faith in. That was the only thing that worried him, which actually made him happy. He had no choice but to give Longus command, as he was the second highest ranking officer. But, he was happy that he was not worried about splitting his fleet and risking defeat for the first time during this war.
Thank you again, Heather. I am a better commander because of you. He thought happily to himself.
Even at the maximum burn, the travel to intercept the IAE fleet location was almost thirty minutes. During that time he coordinated with his squad commanders to ensure any technical issues were handled. The fleet had not even been fired upon, so no one had battle damage. Any battle operation stresses ships and a few always have system failures of some kind. They had actually fared well, only two ships reported an issue.
As they approached the moon, the sensor display suddenly lost sight of all their secondary fleet ships. This was expected, as the active sensors had been silenced long ago to hide that their fleet had diminished in size by 250 ships. Passive sensors were not usually that detailed, especially when large gravity generating masses were approached.
As they got closer, the moon was beginning to loom larger in the main display. Richard watched as the bottom of the moon finally connected with the bottom of the main display and began to slice the rounded shape. The moon slowly began to creep along the bottom of the screen as they approached their desired orbital course. Richard had decided on an aggressive equatorial course that would have the fleet diving into the moon at the equator as it rounded the edge. This would drive up the speed of the fleet and hopefully allow them to run at the IAE garrison fleet much faster than they expected.
Based on the progress of the secondary fleet, Richard knew that once his fleet located the garrison forces, it would require a quick micro jump for Longus to box them in. He already had Robin ready to send the exact spatial coordinates.
The moon was about to cross the middle of the display along the bottom as Richard heard Sara call out, “I see them.”
And indeed, as she spoke, the display highlighted an area with small grayish specks that sparkled slightly against the more brilliant sparkle of the stars. On his command display, Richard saw that indeed the passive sensors had located the IAE fleet. Richard waited to see Robin send the communication to Longus. Once the system registered that communication had been sent, he opened his universal line.
“All squad commanders, begin active sensor scans. Light them up.”
Within moments the display was once again showing a tremendous increase in detail. It gave the IAE fleet ship count as still 75 ships, which they had known when they exited
the first time above them, but Richard had been hoping a few had been seriously compromised during their initial engagement. Obviously, they had had full shields and had been ready for them.
The IAE fleet was facing away from Richard’s approaching fleet and pointed away from the moon allowing for a hyperspace jump exit. He hoped they would wait long enough to drag his fleet in closer, thereby giving Longus more than enough time to jump in and block their exit.
As hoped, it came true. The main display showed bright flares of light, the hyperspace exit halos of Longus’ fleet. The sensors confirmed that all his 250 ships had exited hyperspace. Immediately they also detected all those ships dropping fighters, adding hundreds of more objects sitting in front of the IAE garrison fleets run to jump line. Only a moment later came several hundred more objects, the remaining fighters from his fleet that had burned their way around the moon and were now also entering the fray.
Richard took one zoomed out look at his command displays strategic map. “You are sunk, Mark Antony! You will not be sailing home today.”
Clicking a button on his display, he opened his universal line again. “All commanders, you may engage the enemy.”
As soon as his line clicked off, he saw several squads surge forward from the rest of the fleet toward their targeted ship. Those ships drew his eye for the first time to the impressive view that was being offered on the main display. He had been so narrowly focused on the enemy fleet, he had missed it.
They had driven nearly all the way to the other side of the moon. Its presence still completely filled the right side of the view screen, and the sphere climbed onto the ceiling of the command deck. At the very edge, cast against the dark side of the moon, the IAE fleet was sparkling slightly from a light that was just hitting a few of the outer lying ships of the formation.
Longus’ fleet was clearly visible against the blue background of the planet. With the sun for the planet positioned off to the other side of the moon, its light shone directly on the planet and made its color dazzle in the heavens. Longus was positioned, inadvertently of course, against one of the major oceanic bodies, allowing his gray ships to stand out clearly against the white clouds and blue water. By another chance of luck, his ships dominant weapons color was reds and violets, allowing their guns to send colorful streams of light across the planet background, visible until they impacted against the far side of the IAE fleet, and splashed against their shields.
As Richard’s fleet grew near, he added to the beauty of the scene. His ships lashed out greens, yellows, and blues. The streams illuminated the dark moon surface below as they struck across empty space. The shadows cast by the light passing over the mountains and troughs of the moon’s surface flicked back and forth violently and repeatedly, becoming almost rhythmic.
As that weapons fire approached the IAE fleet, it again came in a torrent. The IAE fleet was bathed in colorful energy that danced and played across the shield bubbles that were protecting, for the time, the small gray ships below.
There was no jump line left. Richard’s fleet closed in and connected with Longus’ forming a large sphere formation that completely surrounded the small garrison force. The sphere came together faster than usual as the moon offered a virtual surface on which the sphere could form a dome, as no jump line was possible into the moon.
The IAE fleet was doomed.
Richard watched growing a little sadder by the second. Despite the beauty of the scene in front of him, a violent orange plum suddenly blew out of the colorful pool that had formed. That plum grew into a powerful geyser as an IAE ship exploded. The energy of the explosion escaped through a small flue shaped space between the shields of its neighboring ships. The geyser shot out with such unexpected force, that a few of the fighters in the general area suddenly showed up on the main display as heavily damaged and returning to their base ship.
That ship had a crew filled with people that wanted to go home to their loved ones as much as I want to go home to Heather. Richard thought to himself. Juno save them.
He was distracted from his sad thoughts by a chime in his ear. “Richard, the supply fleet should be exiting now. We are initiating the sensor satellite.” It was Robin, keeping him on task.
With a quick review of the battle, he saw that they had destroyed several ships and the rest were getting quite weak. This battle would likely not last more than another ten minutes. Clicking the line to Longus, Richard called for the Admirals attention again.
“Admiral.”
He waited for a little longer this time. Before speaking again, he looked at his display and saw that Longus’ ship was taking direct fire from a number of IAE ships. Clicking a few buttons, he silently ordered a couple of squads to begin taking those ships under fire.
Within moments of those squads retraining their guns, Longus spoke. “Thank you for the relief, Fleet Admiral. What can I do for you?”
“Admiral, the supply fleet should be arriving now.” With a quick look down, he could see that it had yet to, though. “Once it does, I want to reconsolidate our fleet and immediately jump to intercept. Understood?”
Longus answered immediately and clicked the line closed afterward. “Confirmed, Fleet Admiral. It will be done.”
With that, Richard resumed his look at the space lane exit point. The sensor information was being displayed by a sensor satellite that a few ships had been tasked to drop as soon as combat ended in that area. Richard had expected that would have been after the garrison fleet was destroyed, but in any case, the squad commanders had followed their training and orders regardless.
He was certain that that fleet should have arrived by now. Mato had precisely calculated their exit time, and that was almost a minute ago. This was one of those few times that seconds made a big difference.
“Did he mess up the calculations?” Richard asked without preface through his private line to Robin. Earlier in his command career, Richard had had a habit of asking questions without enough context. After some self-reflection, he realized he was doing it to place himself in a dominant position to others. He knew the topic and the context, but it forced the other person to ask him for information, making them subordinate.
It was a habit he had largely managed to put in his past, as it was not very mature and had a negative impact on the respect he earned from those under him, never a good thing. Robin was so often on the same page as he was, the habit had remained with her but for efficiency sake.
“No. I’ve had those calculations tested twenty ways. That fleet is late because they aren’t coming. Damn us all to hades! Well, at least that garrison fleet won’t be around much longer. Maybe we should go free Tionaga!”
But as Robin joked, Richard saw new contacts appearing on the strategic display. The supply fleet had arrived, a little late.
The line to Robin was still open and he heard her curse again. “Little Punici scum! Those ships are exiting in near orbit. Oh, my Juno! They are taking one hell of a risk.”
Richard was about to respond when his comm line toned an incoming call. Without looking to see who it was, Richard opened the line. His ear piece filled with a screaming voice he was too familiar with.
“Fleet Admiral, do you see that supply fleet!” Longus screamed.
“Admiral, moderate your tone. I see it. Let’s assemble and we will jump to intercept.” Richard answered as he began keying in commands to reorder the fleet to permit a united jump.
“Fleet Admiral, with respect, there is no time! That supply fleet will be in the atmosphere within five minutes. We don’t have time. My squads can immediately perform separate run to jumps. Your superior force can handle the garrison and join us. The supply fleet is not a risk, we can arrive one squad at a time. Fleet movement will take too long.”
Richard stopped sending orders and looked closely at the strategic display. He saw a text note pop up from Robin, as he had closed her commline, indicating that what Longus said was true. They wouldn’t be able to catch that supply fleet if t
hey reformed and jumped together.
Richard thought about what to do for a moment. He didn’t have long to make a choice, as was often the case during a battle. His decision was based on his instincts and his general approach when time was not a luxury. This time was no different.
“No, Admiral. We need to stay together. We already risked splitting the fleet once, I won’t do it again. We will reform while continuing to engage the garrison fleet. If we lose our chance to destroy the supply fleet, then that is that.”
Richard didn’t have to wait long for a response. “That is th… ARE YOU INSANE? That supply fleet will give those Imp bastards a full resupply. They will be able to come at us harder and stronger than before. We will lose the war unless we take that fleet out. You must act! We agreed to take that supply fleet down no matter what. We have let them go too many times already. I’m sick of it! My men are sick of it! We must act! Act, damn you, act or you’ll damn us all to Hades!” Longus yelled at an incredible level.
“Admiral, with respect,” Richard began through barred teeth, as the volume of the Admiral had been loud enough to make Jen turn in her chair. The whole command deck probably heard him yelling!
But Richard never got a chance to continue his response, Longus was speaking again, this time not yelling. He had a firm, measured and solid statement.
“Fleet Admiral, you do not have my respect, nor the respect of this fleet. If you will not act to defend the Confederacy, I will. And I will be vindicated.”
The line clicked dead. In both his right and left ear, Richard heard nothing but silence. It was as though the battle around him had ceased and the whole world had come to a halt. He saw communication signals being sent from Longus’ ship.