Dealing with battle was easier than the dark and deadly minds of Kalu leaders.
***
The Intelligence departments commander had finally decided to tell Cheerleader what the hell she and her team had found out from Lady Fairgate's slaves.
“So what is it Quor?” Cheerleader said as the woman entered her office, waving the Intelligence commanders’ salute away.
“Well we now have access to the entire Union FTL relays. Lady Fairgate had most of them, but Resilient and War station had considerably more of it mapped out. Though they didn't have the new codes. Fairgate did, and her ex-slaves knew it. We're now connected to every system found by the Union,” the Intelligence commander said excitedly.
“All of the Union?” Cheerleader asked, the program set up by Min Hae and then agreed on by Salchar, had connected most of the known inhabited planets together. There was still a number of places still without FTL communications. There was also systems that hadn't been contacted since the fall of the Union.
“Well that and most of Kalu space. It looks like the PDF seeded a lot of relays into their systems so that the scout ships could report back, even if they didn't.” Quor's expression made it clear that most were not expected to come back from those missions.
With the Kalu's abilities of acceleration it made sense that not many ships would be able to escape once detected. Their stealth abilities made it easy for them to spring traps on spies.
Cheerleader leaned back her chair in thought, this was a great boon, though she wasn't the best person to understand the full abilities this extended reach would give the Free Fleet. A truly wicked smile crossed her lips.
“Well I think it's about time that we surprised Min Hae for once,” she said, pushing herself out of her chair, Quor looked a bit apprehensive.
“Oh come on, he doesn't bite. Much...” Cheerleader said in response to Quor's hesitation.
“Yes Commander,” Quor said, looking somewhat relieved.
Cheerleader patted her on the shoulder as she walked out onto the bridge. Onur was off shift, meaning that Penelope was on.
“Penelope, could you scan for Commander Bregend's FTL communications code,” Cheerleader said, Werv made to move out of her chair, Cheerleader waved him back into it, instead she leaned on the railing that broke the elevated positions of the commander and their second commander from the rest of the bridge.
“Yes Commander,” Penelope said slowly, clearly not understanding why her commander wanted her to look for a FTL code that was deep in Kalu space. Though she was fresh off of her communication's course; one learned that Commanders, especially those that hung around Salchar or had been part of the original twenty thousand that made up the Free Fleet, were damned crazy, in ways that usually paid off.
The familiar large form of Bregend filled the main screen, looking rather, confused. Almost as much as Penelope, he had at least more time trying to hide his thoughts. His confused look broke into his smile as he recognized the ship he was looking at, and a certain commander, looking like the proverbial cat that got the cream.
“Cheerleader, it seems that I am at a loss,” he said.
“Well you would be, being in the back end of the Kalu's yard,” Cheerleader said happily, dodging telling him just how in the hell she was connected to a FTL relay in Kalu space.
“Just part of the job, are you going to skirt the point or tell me just why I am connected to a FTL relay in Kalu space?” He asked, raising an amused eyebrow, his mouth quirking in a smile.
“If you could put the lovely Min Hae on, then I will let Quorn here explain,” Cheerleader said, as most eyes on the bridge, both Cheerleader's and Bregend's looked to the petite Sarenmenti that would have probably gone a brighter shade of red if her scales had allowed it.
She didn't recoil away, but stood straighter at the attention.
“Very well,” Bregend said, making it clear that he knew Cheerleader was making him wait, just to bug him.
“Penelope, could you send Bregend an updated file on our current situation,” Cheerleader's playful tone fading away.
“Yes Commander,” Penelope said, working on her orders.
Min Hae's visage split the main screen.
“This is a most, interesting surprise,” Min Hae said, his eyes and tone pointed. Cheerleader couldn't stop herself from grinning and winking at the two. Bregend rolled his eyes as Min Hae appeared to be rather amused.
“Penelope's getting a file on what's gone on over here ready for you. In the meantime I will let Intelligence Commander Quorn explain how communication is possible right now,” Cheerleader said.
Min Hae talked off camera for a second as Cheerleader moved out of the way for Quorn who took her position at the railing.
“Thank you commander,” Quorn said to Cheerleader, who tried to give her the most confident look she could.
“Commanders, with the capture of Lady Fairgate...”
***
It took a few minutes for Quorn to tell both Commanders how she had discovered the information, answer any questions she was able to, before Cheerleader took over in giving both of them a summary of all she thought relevant. Penelope got her report off and sent it to the other commander's, they’d already reviewed it, each asking a flurry of questions to Cheerleader.
“Now I've finished on what's happened here, what's going on in Kalu space?” Cheerleader asked, her cheery mood fading as Bregend and Min Hae's expressions became dark.
“Min Hae I think it would be best if you explain it,” Bregend said.
“Thank you Bregend,” Min Hae said, settling into his seat, looking as if he was trying to figure out where to start.
Best to start at the beginning.
“We made the trip into Kalu controlled space without issue, mostly because of Ashota's information.” He felt his face turn hard as he remembered those first scans.
“Though it looks like even Ashota has not been the most informed on what has been going on. It seems that Orshpa, Edvasho's sub-leader is poised to take over the Kalu clans. His personal clans have taken over every inhabited system and started building ships. There are training camps on every planet for not just battle aged males. Females and even the children are being trained in the ways of war. Though children for the Kalu is an odd concept, they are younger than normal, though no less driven or adult in mind. This is something Orshpa has exploited. He has also banned fighting pits, this usually kills many of the Kalu in fights for supremacy. He has seen from Edvasho that having his people not fight and kill one another helps his numbers in battle, and their cohesion.
“He has focused on Star Destroyers, moving away from Star Warriors. He still has those ships but they are for strictly capturing and planetary fighting measures. He has trained his Kalu Fighters to not only pilot, but also fight using hand to hand.
“We left sensor platforms in every system that we looked in on. Though with our newly connected FTL relays I think that I'm going to dispatch some of my Jump fighter's to link the platforms onto the early warning systems.
“Right now we are in the peaceful Kalu system. There is no space industry, but according to our sensors, the structures on the planet support possibly billions of Kalu. Their buildings are not the caves and low dwellings of the normal Kalu, but look as if they have built true, if odd looking, sky scrapers and towers.
“There are Nine Star Destroyers and thirty-three Star Warriors watching the planet. They have turned to engage us, thankfully none have tried to run for the jump limit. They all seem intent on engaging us in battle. Since we're now linked it will mean that you can pass on these recordings to the Research and Development team and the other commanders,” Min Hae said, Gogs' fingers started tapping away at his console, directly linking the information from the other ships to Cheerleader. Though probably not the information of Min Hae's own ship.
Min Hae saw Bregend talking to his second in command.
“We're an hour from engagement,” Bregend said, his face and bo
dy tensing up in preparation for the oncoming engagement.
“Understood,” Cheerleader said, a knowing look entering his eyes.
“Keep the feed live, but clear the mainscreen please,” Min Hae said to Chrys. He tapped a pre-set comms channel, getting his second in command, Baldabuh.
“How are we looking?” Min Hae asked, Bregend had sent out his second request for readiness for battle.
“All weapons and systems are operational,” Baldabuh said in that stony voice of his.
Min Hae knew his second in command was with Cheerleader's fleet, watching the destruction of the last Syndicate holdout. At least he would now be able to see it through the Union's old network.
“Very well,” Min Hae said, reporting readiness back to Bregend. The two Battle-Carriers and one carrier launched their Fighters, the Star Destroyers were holding their forces still. They probably thought that it was best to launch them when they were at higher speeds, right amongst the enemy.
Bregend hadn't tried to hide his presence as he entered the system, he wanted the Kalu to see him. As soon as they did, they had begun their acceleration. Soon the Kalu would need to decelerate, they were straining their ships and bodies to the limit at this point.
Time seemed to crawl down until there was ten minutes before the fleets crossed one another.
“Launch missiles.” Bregend's order was broadcasted to the Free Fleet, they were formed up in an angled horseshoe, the leading edge below the triangular Kalu formation, the rear edge spread up and back from the forward Kalu ships.
The lower rank and mid-rank launched a half-barrage of missiles. They swarmed out towards the Kalu. The Kalu's seemed to flush all of their missiles, hundreds filled the space between fleets. Inter-linked Free Fleet PDS system tracers created lines of destruction as millions of rounds tracked down missiles.
The Kalu's lasers raked shields, they had no fire plan. With enough lasers on one target they could have taken a shield down, hell with enough time they could have taken the shields down. Bregend's Commanders were not going to give them the chance as they rotated their ships, spreading the damage over a larger area.
The Free Fleet missiles reached their set second stage. The casing dropped away as independent missiles lurched free. A swarm comparable to the Kalu's missiles, but with smaller warheads rushed towards their targets. Kalu Fighters started rushing out into space but it was too late. The Kalu leader had been too confident in his own ships. There must have been a rough three hundred Fighters that had cleared their Star Destroyers as the missiles struck. Their smaller profile made them harder to hit, not all of them needed to ram a ship to inflict massive damage.
The laser modified missiles seemed to disintegrate, not in an explosion, but invisible power. Their nuclear power was converted and focused, driving damned incredible amounts of power into their targets. They smashed through Kalu armor for the few seconds of power the missiles were capable of. Tens of these invisible beams struck Kalu ships. Then the true missiles hit.
These weren't experimental. Felix, Silly and LaRe had gone over recordings and information from across the fleet. They had talked to tactical commanders, ship commanders, and gunners. Then they had talked to helms people and navigators.
Missiles hit the engines and one side. Fourteen ships were taken out by the explosive forces that rippled through their forces.
A further six were ripped apart as supports failed from the excessive forces they had been submitted to. They tumbled and careened off in pieces, atmosphere, Fighters, and Kalu were thrown free of their ships.
The Kalu's extreme speed was one hell of a weakness if it could be exploited. At the Kalu's limit they could exert three gravities on themselves. Their ships were under much more stress. If enough force was applied to say the sides, then that tilt, could rip the ship apart since beams not used to handling that kind of direct force, the strain grew to be too much for them to handle.
The Kalu missile barrage had been whittled down by the massed and effective PDS fire. Still there was just under a hundred missiles bearing down on the fleet when they struck. Shields were hammered and then depleted. Reactive armor exploded, sending high velocity shards and debris at incoming missiles, pre-emptively detonating them, and directing their force away from the Free Fleet ships. One Destroyer caught a missile in the teeth, armor buckled and systems went down. Still the Destroyer held its position. Thirty seven people had died in that minor explosion, seventeen were wounded.
Still better than most of our engagements, Min Hae thought, trying to quantify the loss, knowing that he would hate himself for that statement later. For now he had to divert his attention as a corvette moved out of position, it didn't have the armor of the Destroyer and seemed to have been hit in its forward guns, that made it effectively useless and with a crew as small as a corvette's, they were combat ineffective dealing with their dead and injured.
Min Hae's eyes were stuck to the main screen as the five hundred Kalu Fighters, in three swarms that ranged across the Free Fleet formation, entered into the MEF fighter's range.
The Kalu fighter's lasers had caught a few MEF's but the casualties had been minimal.
Rail cannons left tracer trails as they smashed into the Kalu formations. Missiles were fired as fast as it took for them to rotate out of the MEF's internal storage, there was no shortage of targets. The Kalu Fighters seemed to meet a wall of destruction. They were thrown into disarray by the massive firepower of coordinated enemy fighter wings.
Then the Fighters were through one another, wing commanders pulled their formations back together with the practised speed and efficiency that the MEF's had become famous for.
Were no longer that rag-tag bunch a slaves anymore, are we? Min Hae thought with more than a little triumph in his chest.
The wing of Jump fighter's now made their appearance, made to shock and confuse the Kalu, hopefully buying their fellow fighter pilots the time to close with the Kalu formation.
Their dual plasma cannons fired charged shots into the Kalu ships, missiles poured out, pounding the ships, the Destroyers were their main targets. Two of the remaining five Destroyers went dead. The Jump fighter's fired their cannons, firing normal rounds instead of the super-charged plasma rounds they had opened up with.
“Ready spinal cannons,” Bregend said. The Spinal cannons were the biggest cannons on a Free Fleet ship, they ranged from small planetary cannons, to full on planetary cannons that Rosho and Parnmal sprouted like hedgehogs. Some that saw the way that Min Hae looked at his screen would undoubtedly draw more than one connection to the spymaster's nickname as the poisonous and patient Merchertevak bird.
The Jump fighter's jumped out, their victim's hulls streaming fire, offering those that had expected their ships to protect them from space. They were now being offered by that ship, to the endless maw of the black.
The fighter's hit quick and fast, they raked ships with fire, with missiles, and then they were through the formation.
Of the Forty-two ships that had rose to attack the Free Fleet, Seventeen remained. Now a hundred and fifty Fighters came to grips with the Free Fleet's PDS and concentrated barrage of missiles.
The Kalu fighter's lasers raked shields and armor. Their numbers dropped as they came along the sides of the Free Fleet ships. Rail cannons shook as rounds spat from them. A handful of Kalu Fighters were left when they cleared the passing barrage of the Fleets armada.
The Spinal cannons had opened up. They sent massive rounds crashing through the Kalu ships. Broadsides came into range, cannons fired as fast as they could, the firepower that piled into the Kalu forces was incredible.
Ships were turned to ruin and explosive motes on sensor readings. Gunners wasted no time as their chiefs pulled more from their crews. They responded by creating a mural of destruction that would have made an observe look in awe and fear.
The Kalu didn't just take it. Their own lasers had been hitting the Free Fleet at range. Their missiles, Fighters and near constant fi
re had taken down shields. A Battle-carrier sent out alerts, ships used their new propulsion system to close on the battle carrier and provide support as the Battle-carrier deployed its own bombs, using them to break without having to turn around.
Kalu ships were ripped apart by the sheer force of the spinal cannons as they entered the Free Fleet horse shoe. Broadsides expanded on the spinal cannons initial damage. Power plants gave way, rounds, caused horrific damage as they turned the ship's armor into shrapnel. Engines and life support died.
The Free Fleet ships didn't stop, there was an anger within them. They weren't just fighting this battle, it was clear that they were getting their own back for how the Kalu had smashed the Free Fleet in their first engagement. It was from the videos they'd seen of Rosho just hours ago.
The Kalu scared these men and women.
“Ceasefire,” Bregend's voice rolled out over the Fleet-wide comms channel as rail cannons went silent.
The Kalu drifted in their dead hulls.
“Gogs, send a recording of the battle to every ship in the Free Fleet.”
“Commander,” he said, confirming his orders but there was also a note of question in his voice.
“The Kalu are like any enemy, they can be destroyed. Something that our people need to be reminded of,” Min Hae said.
Gogs made a noise of agreement, understanding where Min Hae was going with this. He had been the one to process the information before it got to his commander's screens.
“Min Hae, I think it's time we had that Kalu of yours take a look around. My sensors are confirming that there doesn't seem to be any weapons on the planet's surface. I'm going to wait a bit before I order our people into orbit however,” Bregend drawled, making it clear that he hated the idea of being a stationary target. At least with the new drive upgrades, courtesy of Felix copying the Kalu, getting moving again wouldn't be that hard. That concept was still hard to digest when speed means surviving, or closing with the enemy, not having it was nearly negligent to most commanders.
Free Fleet Box Set 2 Page 63