by Chris Burton
“The main fleet has increased velocity. We are still plotting the trajectory of the other fleets.”
Shenke suddenly felt very alone. If the report was correct, he was now the headman. He needed a number two.
“What’s the status of the recovery team?”
“We have confirmation that Admiral Haines is missing, Sir.”
“Get me Commander Griffin. I want him on board the Viceroy immediately.
Tactical, what’s the PBA status?”
“Fleet wide or the Viceroy, Sir? “
“Both!”
“Viceroy on-line and charging up. Most vessels report a state of readiness, Sir.”
“Get me Admiral Collins.”
“Admiral Collins.” The rear admiral adopted a formal response to Shenke’s communication.
“Haines is missing. I need you to assume control of your half of the fleet. The main Kryl fleet is on route to you. I am stuck here for the time being.”
“Oh, my God. We have them incoming. We will hold them off until you get here.”
“See that you do John. Shenke out.”
Collins was now his number two. He was competent, but inexperienced. There weren’t enough senior officers in the fleet.
“Where’s Griffin?”
“Shuttle just boarded, Sir. Should be with you in five.”
His Fleet Tactical Officer and his team were doing a good job, but he needed someone with an instinctive insight. Hopefully Griffin was that man. A five star commander who had been around for a very long time. He saw time in more major battles than anyone and was unlucky not to secure his berth on the Admiralty bench.
“Commander Griffin. Thank you for attending so quickly. Please take a seat.”
Griffin sat on the edge of the sofa. He looked a little apprehensive. A summons to see the Admiral in the middle of a battle was not usually for a positive reason.
“I need to pull you away from your command. Is your first officer up to commanding The Sheffield?”
If Griffin was caught off-guard, he did not show it.
“He is only a two star. He has battle experience but not in a war zone. I would be reluctant to move him up without a good back up. We would need a new XO.”
“That is something for you to attend to but you will need to do so quickly. Haines is missing. I am heading up the fleet with Admiral Collins as my number two. I need you to assume the role as my Chief Tactical Advisor, here on the Viceroy and as the third Admiral.”
Griffin was a hard man, toughened by nearly ten years as an A class star ship commander. He had seen most things before and his instinct was usually pretty good but he had not seen this one coming.
“I’m surprised you chose me.”
“Why? You are the most senior commander, both in terms of age and experience. You are the natural choice.”
“You and I have had our differences in recent years. As you know I like to do things by the book and you...well, you don’t on occasion.”
“Are you refusing a field commission to Rear Admiral?”
Griffin laughed. “Of course not. I have been waiting for this for the last five years, but you have to agree that our two styles are likely to clash at times.”
“It is for that reason, you are the right man for this job. Your experience and tenacity will stop me from making rash decisions. We have to look after the interests of the fleet and I need you to keep me on my toes.”
“In which case I accept unreservedly.”
“Good. Our first priority is to provide the Jump Ships with the means to work as effectively as possible. You are a JS veteran. I need you to work with the Fleets CAG to ensure as many Jump Ships remain operational as possible. I know you will disagree with this, but if we need to, we will have to utilize our rookies. We are also planning a multi-phase PBA offensive, which I will coordinate and I want to target some of the larger ships with single warhead SRBN’S. Our objective is to persuade the Kryl to leave the system and engage us at the Organa Straights. Then we can join Admiral Collins in the main offensive.”
“The use of rookies will be counterproductive. It is better to shut down JS capability per ship and allow them to recover, rather than panic and put too much pressure on the CAG teams and the reserves. The PBA offensive is a good plan, but we need to ensure that we phase it correctly and we do not allow the firing vessels to get to close. I would use the nukes after the PBA’s as the Kryl’s shield strength will be at its lowest. Just some first thoughts...I will work with the Fleet CAG to find the best way to take things forward.”
Shenke acknowledged Griffins contribution. It was clear Griffin was relishing his newfound authority, but Shenke would need to keep it in check. He took a few moments to re-focus and returned to his tactical team.
“Status?”
“Admiral Collins reports they have engaged the Kryl.”
“Okay. I will need an update on Kryl numbers and where they are. Do we have destinations for the splinter groups yet?”
“Not as yet, Sir. Each formation is being monitored, but they don’t appear to be setting off for specific targets.”
Shenke was worried. Would they regroup later or would they target other planets? He did not have the resources to spread his fleet any further and neither option looked good right now.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Kryl Offensive
Morvalt was in his sanctuary. He was alone now for a long time; his disgraced crew respectfully keeping their distance. Respect for their own existence. Now they dared to enter.
“What do you want?” Morvalt barked out his question. He was still very angry.
“My Kronan. The Queen has summoned you...and I wanted to update you on the battle.”
“I told you I was not to be disturbed.”
“But the Queen...”
“Enough. Advise her courtiers that I will attend in due course. What is the status of our offensive?”
“We are in the ascendancy. The Alpha ships are outnumbered and we are moving towards our objectives.”
Morvalt knew he could no longer justify his extended period of reflection. It was time to take the initiative.
“Prepare my shuttle.”
“Of course my Kronan.”
The drone left, leaving Morvalt on his own again. He was very angry. The Queen took away his fleet and his own drones had left the human prisoner alone aboard his ship. Of course, Samos had escaped.
He should not have been here. He should have taken his place by his Queen’s side as supreme commander. Instead, he was summarily dismissed and told to return to his own ship. He immediately took his ship away from the fleet and commenced his period of silence without dealing with the matter that concerned him the most. Now was the time to correct this.
Morvalt summoned his chief drone. It was time for some answers.
“Why did you leave the human aboard this ship, when I attended the Queen?”
The chief drone expected the question for some time. He knew the answer would not be accepted.
“My Kronan. We did not check whether he was still on board.”
“And you powered down the ship, so that he could escape, in the full knowledge that he would present everything he knew to his people.”
“No, My Kronan. It was simply an omission. The ship was placed in a sleep condition, yes, but we did not remember that the human was still on board.”
“You are a conspirator, a spy and you have lost your right to exist!”
The drone closed his eyes. He knew this time would come. He had accepted his fate.
Morvalt stared directly at the drone. The invisible discharge of electricity held the drones’ body upright as it killed him.
* * * *
“The battle is going well Morvalt. It seems I do not need my battle commander.”
“The humans have already proven a formidable adversary. Victory will not be easy, my Queen.”
“I presume you’ve had your period of reflection and tempered out
your punishment.”
“Yes. I am ready to serve you again.”
“What about the disclosure of information that you made to this human. How much of it is sensitive.”
“I made only vague references to our capabilities and to our weaknesses. They will not be able to hurt us.”
“I hope for all our sakes, you are correct, Morvalt. Have you located Navalion’s killer yet?”
“He is close by. I will attend to his collection personally.”
“Good. Get him for me and I may just give you your fleet back.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Realizable Losses
Alpha’s losses were stacking up. Fifteen cruisers so far, with at least twice that many on the critical list, in the Tri-star System alone. But, it was the Jump Ships, which were taking the brunt of the Kryl artillery. The Kryl fighters may have lacked the flexibility and poise of Alpha’s Jump Ships, but their speed, power and number made every Alpha attack seem like a futile gesture.
There was no support from either the Sentinels or the Betanica Sect. The Sect’s presence was assured until the size of the invasion force had become apparent and the Sentinels realizing their own system was also in jeopardy elected to defend their own borders, rather than join in Alpha’s battle. Only fifty-two non-alpha vessels had joined Alpha’s task force, courtesy of the APF.
Admiral Shenke took the decision to take the Viceroy and the majority of the remaining fleet to join the main fleet and Commander Jonathan Hoskins assumed control of the remaining eighty ships in the Tri-star System. The Kryl fleet that remained numbered only five hundred, but one of them was the Mother Ship.
So far, Shenke’s tactics had showed little profit. Even with the Kryl fleet spread comparatively thinly, there were still six Kryl ships to each Alpha vessel and the losses were starting to hurt.
Hoskins was studying the aftermath of his latest PBA attack. He had sanctioned a mass simultaneous strike from twenty-seven of his front line ships. The consensus again was that the attack had failed to make any major impact.
“Priority one–comm.link. Admiral Shenke, Sir.”
“Thanks. I will take it in my ready room. Shen Knui, you have the con.”
Hoskins took a seat at his ready room desk and opened the link.
“Jonathan, how are things at your end?”
“Messy, Sir. Losses are building up and we don’t seem to be doing any damage.”
“We need to be patient, commander. We are weakening their shields. It is just we have no way to measure our success. Stay in the zone, while the Kryl continue to deploy large numbers in the system and, of course while the Mother ship remains here. Do you still have sight of her?”
“Yes, periodically, we have limited access, but we are deploying all resources in that area of the Kryl fleet.”
“Good. Keep me informed.”
Shenke is deluding himself, if he feels this is going well, thought Hoskins. In a few hours time, when twenty or thirty more ships are lost, they may have to rethink the strategy.
A series of large explosions on the port side brought Hoskins back to reality. That was too close. “Status Number One?”
“Two cruisers on the port side took more than one direct hit. One of them is the Hanover. She is listing and has requested assistance.”
“What is the status of our recovery teams?”
“Two out, one on standby. It is getting a little too dangerous out there to recover. I suggest we pull our recovery ships in. In addition, CAG reports they are close to saturation. I think we should close the deck down for clean up.”
“Inform the CAG to shut down for four hours, but deploy the standby recovery vessel to the Hanover and have Commander Jacques report to me, when he boards.”
“I presume we will accept incoming vessels and the recovery teams and then shut down the deck?”
“Yes but I want all three recovery ships back first.”
The survivors from the Hanover and the other two wrecked Alpha vessels included Commander Jean-Luc Jacques. Jacques now stood in the Halo 7’s quarterdeck observation lounge with Jonathan Hoskins.
“Tough break with the Hanover. She was a good ship.”
“Not the only one lost in this battle and she won’t be the last. Jonathan, I asked you once whether you would put this ship first, over Alpha and you said ‘yes’. Where do you stand on that now? I presume Obeya is still aboard the ship?”
“We are not finished yet. Not by a long way. If we can get the hanger deck reopened and keep our shields in place, we will see this one through. I am glad to have you on board Jean-Luc.”
“I am glad to be here.”
* * * *
“Commander. The fighting is intensifying. The Kryl fleet shifted position and it looks like they are moving in.”
Two further huge explosions rocked the Halo 7.
“Shields.”
“Thirty-Eight percent. The last was a direct hit to the dorsal section. Another one of those and we will lose shielding in that section.”
“Compensate.
Number One. What is the CAG status?”
“Still in shut down. The Antibes was just hit. She is going down. Shall I post a recovery team?”
“No. It will jeopardize the cleanup operation. Prioritize the hanger deck we need it up and running.”
* * * *
“CAG on comm. link, Sir.”
Hoskins had returned to his ready room and briefly allowed his mind to wonder. How were Sarah and Oliver? The irony of timing he thought, as he acknowledged and took the call.
“Obeya, How is the clean up?”
“On hold, Jonathan. Two Jump Ships have requested recovery. To be honest, we could use the ships...and the pilots.”
Hoskins pondered his answer for a few moments.
“Things have gotten pretty lively out there. Open the tubes, get them in and shut down immediately. Let me know when you have them.”
* * * *
Obeya Temsouri breathed a sigh of relief, when both Jump Ships were recovered and the gates shut down. Now she had more rolling stock and two extra pilots.
The first of the two pilots had cleared his cockpit and stepped down onto the deck.
“Lieutenant Jake Carter booking in Lieutenant.”
“Oh, my God! Enson, or should I say Lieutenant Carter. How in the hell did you end up here?”
* * * *
“Jake Carter. Why am I not surprised that you are on board, as well as, Commander Jacques? “
“I don’t understand, Sir. Should the commander not be on board?”
“Commander Jacques was in command of the Hanover. She was lost about two hours before the Antibes and he was recovered to here. I see that you have graduated. Was your first posting on the Antibes?,Rather curious that you brought yourself to us in a Sabre when you have a flight ban in place?”
“Yes Commander. It was rather short-lived. I was acting as assistant CAG, doing final pre-flight on this Sabre when the Antibes was hit. They must have taken down our shields. The bulkheads just disintegrated and it was fire up and get out or go down with the ship. It was carnage—a truly horrifying experience.”
“The real horrors of war and if we are not careful, it will happen to us too. Mister Carter, have you read Jarvis?”
Jake looked rather quizzically at the Commander.
“Sir...wasn’t he a twentieth century theorist? I have heard of his work.”
“Mid Twenty-first century actually and yes he was a renowned theorist. He played on the premise ‘to be in the right place at the right time’ and said that it should read ‘to be in the right place at the right time, with the right person’ arguing that it was the person who was the driving force behind events. Quite persuasive really. Mister Carter, I believe that you are here on this ship for a reason, just as you were in the Kryl System before and I am sure it is no coincidence that Commander Jacques is here either, although, I would suggest that your presence is the prominent issue here. If this
is fate, I want you near me. I am going to give you a sub-station on the bridge. I want you by my side.”
Jake was a little uncertain.
“I am here as a Jump Ship Pilot, Sir, although obviously I am grounded. I am happy to accept placement on the bridge. I have no live experience though.”
“It will be a non-critical role Jake. My XO will give you a crash course, once you have some rest. For now, welcome aboard and get that leg seen to, you are leaking blood all over the floor.”
Jake left Hoskins to contemplate his theory. Carter was here for a reason—which could be good, or bad. He would have to monitor the situation carefully.
“Significant incoming plasma fire, Commander. Our shields are severely depleted. I suggest we push back and recover.”
“Thank you Shen Knui. Everyone is in the same position. We have to sit it out. Get some portable shield generators to the weakest points and transfer power from non-essentials. Tactical. We need to coordinate a further PBA attack. I want to get another shot at the Mother ship.”
Hoskins returned to his command station on the bridge and studied the battle scene in front of him on the large viewing screen. The Mother ship was protected again. He needed more Jump Ships to force her into the open, but most of the vessels under his control had only limited JS resources.
“Shields are down on decks twelve through seventeen. We are taking heavy damage.”
“Protect the bulkheads. Did the hanger bay take a hit?”
“I am not sure, Sir. I cannot raise a comm. link to confirm.”
“Number One. You have the con. I’m going to the hanger bay. Keep those shields up and those bastards away from us!”
* * * *
“We are taking more incoming fire on our aft shields, Commander. Extensive damage reported to deck seventeen.”
Shen Knui had the con and she was keen to get things moving again.
“Get me full damage reports and those shields working now.
Tactical what is the state of the PBA?”
“Targeting in place for twenty-four PBA vessels, now ready and awaiting confirmation to proceed.”
“Do we have a clear shot of the Mother ship?”
“Yes, commander.”