by C. R. Daems
"I hope we now have the key to quickly destroying the shuttles whether they are on the ground or shuttling back and forth from the Mother ship. And without shuttles, the colony must die."
* * *
"It's going to Eden," Terril said after having been told what to look for after the Mother ship was in the Wave. The Wave entrance on Lord’s Landing went west toward Saipha and the Darkov Sector or east back toward Port Lost. Once in the Wave to the west, the ship went to Saipha unless it took a tributary which led to Eden. Ten minutes ago the Mother ship had taken the tributary toward Eden. In two days, we would be in Eden.
"That's probably best." I said, considering the issues.
"You mean because there are Riss on Saipha?" Terril said, frowning in thought.
"No. Saipha is small, therefore the Mother ship may have left before the Riss cruisers arrived from Sparrow’s Nest and Earthol. Besides, Katlin and Da'Maass can take a route through Ruchild to Earthol and Sparrow’s Nest, which is far quicker than going from Saipha to Port Lost to Sparrow’s Nest and then Earthol."
"Sorry. This captain business is complicated. As a gunny, I was told where and when to go. That's much simpler."
"You may never have the position of captain, but better you are prepared if it does happen."
"Good. I like my current position and don't want to trade. Anake agrees."
* * *
President Trostel appeared immediately. "You led the Ecitoni here. Are you satisfied?"
"President Trostel, you are in charge of Eden, but I suggest you deploy your military into the cities. We will be attempting to destroy their troop carriers, but we can't stop them from landing a great many. If we are lucky, we will eventually stop the Ecitoni Mother ship before they have destroyed Eden, but even if we do, you will have to kill those that land on the planet." I cut the connection, tired of all the bigots and their raw hatred.
Admiral Zhu appeared. "What would you like us to do or not do?" he asked. "The Ecitoni could solve your problem with the SAS." His face looked neutral, but his eyes looked amused.
"I'm certain President Trostel and the Council believe I'm responsible for destroying the SAS fleet and for the Ecitoni finding Eden, and that I'm enjoying the destruction of their planet. The fact that we're doing nothing to stop the landing parties will reinforce their beliefs. But there is nothing we can do to stop the Ecitoni from landing troops until the Riss cruisers arrive."
Zhu nodded. "War requires leaders to make many difficult and frequently unpopular decisions, which will be analyzed by those who were never there, years after the events, and their conclusions will be based on hearsay and rumors." He paused for a sip of tea. "I concur with you. Trying to stop the Ecitoni from landing troops would result in heavy losses and accomplish little. Better to wait."
I called a staff meeting to keep everyone informed. People took their seats immediately, ignoring the sideboard.
"By now you know the Mother ship chose Eden—by design or mere accident, we may never know. I have sent Captains Da'Maass and Katlin to Sparrow’s Nest and Earthol to bring the Riss cruisers to Eden. When they arrive, I believe we and the UFN can destroy the Ecitoni Mother ship's ability to survive."
"Millions will die…" Byer said, almost to himself, "while we wait. The UFN have no vested interest in helping Eden, maybe even an advantage in waiting."
"Neither does Freeland," I said to stunned faces, and noticed Terril and my two Cobras straighten slightly as if preparing for action. "But they and we are here risking our lives for a nation that hates us and twice invaded Freeland with the intention of committing genocide. The Coalition formed to fight the Ecitoni is short three fleets because the SAS military acted irrationally. So while you have a right to be sickened over the devastation the Ecitoni are causing, be careful not to blame the Riss-humans, Riss, or the UFN for the problem."
"Here and now I can empathize with Admiral Gleason. I had that same urge to rush in and kill the Ecitoni. The hero syndrome—rush in and save the day." Byer's face was a bit flushed.
"We will defend Eden because humanity is being threatened and—contrary to what they believe—we are doing our best to minimize the destruction and aren't seeking revenge."
* * *
While we waited, I had the Irises moved to the two-light-second mark and reprogrammed to ignore the UFN and Riss ships. Seven days later, two merchant ships arrived with supplies from Freeland. Over the next couple of days, Katlin and Da'Maass arrived with the other Riss cruisers and I convened a meeting on the Mnemosyne.
"What is the status on Earthol?" I asked, looking towards Sheva.
"I think the Mother ship is dead. Several days ago, they sent out a Light and four shuttles. We destroyed them and haven't seen any activity since."
"What about Sparrow’s Nest?" I looked to Pavao.
"We have destroyed all of their shuttles and fighters. Your strategy at Earthol worked to perfection. We left two squadrons from the Yellow fleet to destroy anything they manage to produce, so I think the Mother ship is in its death throes."
"Excellent, now all we have to do is to get rid of Big Momma. The bad news is they have been landing shuttles for the past ten days. They now have over eight hundred shuttles in service: Three hundred-shuttle brigades over Eden City, and upcountry three more hundred-shuttle brigades and three eighty-shuttle brigades." I paused to let everyone come to grips with the current situation.
"The three over Eden City?" Elissa asked.
"Too close together," Da'Maass said.
Sheva and Zhang nodded agreement.
"That's my assessment," I said. "We could take out twenty lights—two of the hundred-shuttle brigades—but not three. If we only destroy some of the Lights, those remaining may be able to direct all three hundred shuttles. I'd prefer to work on the shuttle brigades upcountry." Ironically, everyone was worried about Eden City as if those people were more important than the ones upcountry.
Over the next hour, we identified the location of the three hundred-shuttle brigades and tagged them Sb1, Sb2, and Sb3.
"Admiral Zhu, if you could move several squadrons about one light-second from each of those positions, we will get into position beginning at Sb1."
"Yes, Red Admiral Yang, you will move three squadrons to cover Sb1 and three to cover Sb2. Green Admiral Kishi, you will move three squadrons to cover Sb3."
"Yes, Fleet Admiral Zhu," they said in unison. The two admirals stood, gave Zhu a low bow, and left.
"Da'Maass, E1. Zhang, E2. Sheva, E3. Bradshaw, E4. Elissa, E5. Jaelle, E6. Ja'Sai, E7. Katlin, E8. Pavao, E9. And I'll take E10," I said, looking to each person in turn. "Use a full load. I want to save the red-Wraiths for emergencies."
"It's unfortunate we didn’t arrive earlier, when their shuttles were all on the ground," Zhu said. "But fortunate that you discovered it’s possible to attack them while they are active. That will save many lives."
"I wonder what I would have done if I were Leader," said Terril. "Hundreds of thousands of people died as we waited for the other Riss cruisers, and hundreds of thousands will die as we take the careful approach, and even after we destroy the Mother ship, tens of thousands will die because of the Ecitoni left stranded on Eden." It didn't sound like criticism, just someone trying to understand.
"Gleason will be considered a hero and the Riss, cowards in the history books, because they think in terms of heroes and cowards," I said.
"But I have a Riss position. What am I if I fail to do my position?"
"Someone who tried but didn't succeed."
"But what if I ran, deserted?"
"The Riss would consider you someone who was put in the wrong position and would give you a new position if you wanted. Gleason thought it heroic to attack the Ecitoni in an all-or-nothing gambit and lost two fleets. The captains that killed Plimson thought the Riss cowards because we wouldn't join Gleason, and they lost their only other fleet. To the Riss, they weren't heroes or cowards, they were men in the wrong positions."
"Well, I'm not ready for the Leader position, and Anake agrees." She laughed.
I was interrupted as Ready signals began coming in from the Riss cruisers.
I waited as the seconds passed. R-Maia fired when the ten seconds were up. All but three went red on the first salvo.
"On to Sb2," I said into the tight beam connection as the last three Ecitoni cruisers went red thirty seconds later.
* * *
Admiral Zhu nodded to Admiral Yang.
"Fleet Admiral Zhu, we’ve destroyed eighty-five percent of the Ecitoni shuttles going and coming from the Mother ship, including the six that were on the ground at Sb1. The result was the same at Sb2. Hard to understand why they ignore us when they have missiles."
"Cultural, I would think," Zhu said after a long pause. "What do you think, Leader Reese, you who can speak for the Riss?"
"I think it's similar. When I speak for the Riss, it's because I believe it is in the Riss' best interest, so they follow because it is my position to lead. I conjecture that the workers in the shuttles listen to those in the Ecitoni cruisers because they have the position of speaking for the Queen and the wellbeing of the Ecitoni. Without orders from the Light cruisers, they follow their last order." I looked around the room for comments but saw only nodding heads.
Zhu sat with his eyes closed before speaking. "I have been surprised that the Mother ship didn't issue new orders or send replacements. Because they must have known the Lights had been destroyed."
"That has troubled me as well. Maybe it's like a caste system and only the people on the Light cruisers can give orders to the people on the shuttles. And it's the reason I have been avoiding the three shuttle-brigades attacking Eden. The shuttle-brigades we've attacked to date were not close to each other, so the other Lights might not have been able to take over, because they were out of communication range. What happens if we only destroy some of the Lights within range? Can or will those that remain take control? If they do, we could have over six hundred missiles directed at the UFN ships."
"That would be interesting, wouldn't it Admiral Kishi?" Zhu said with a slight twitch of his lip.
"Not for you on the Dynasty, Honorable Admiral Zhu, but far more interesting for the Green Fleet than our encounter at Sb3, which was much like Red Fleet's results." He smiled and bowed.
"I conclude you would like to take out the two remaining shuttle-brigades of eighty before attempting the ones at Eden?" Zhu said, sounding more like he was asking than making a statement.
"Correct. Not only are they close to each other, but also the Mother ship has positioned itself closer to them. That could mean they are expecting us to attack them."
We spent the next several hours planning the raid on the last two groups currently operating away from Eden, only to find that the Mother ship had sent out two more parties of sixty each, judging by the number of Lights accompanying them.
It took another three hours to reprioritize our targets and assignments.
* * *
"It's almost like the Ecitoni are cooperating," Pavao said when everyone had settled down and given their reports. We had destroyed the twelve Lights guarding the shuttles at the two new sites, and squadrons from the Red fleet had destroyed all the shuttles on the ground. Then we had destroyed the sixteen Lights guarding the two eighty-shuttle brigades upcountry from Eden, and squadrons from Green fleet had destroyed ninety percent of the shuttles.
"Let's not forget what the Mother ship at Port Lost did to Admiral Gleason's two fleets," Sheva said with a hint of caution. "And that it's the same Mother ship we’re playing with."
"True, and that brings us back to our previous discussion," Zhu said. "My admirals estimate we have destroyed five hundred shuttles, leaving the Mother ship with somewhere around five hundred, which is probably sufficient to sustain them for a long time. However, if we destroy the three hundred attacking Eden, that leaves them with less than two hundred. If that is correct, it could spell the death of the Mother ship and leave fewer ships to fight. Leader Reese?"
"I'd like to prepare for the worst scenario and hope the Ecitoni make it easy." I paused for a sip of kaffa and a moment to think. "One option is for ten Riss to take out the ten Lights that manage the closest hundred-shuttle brigade and see what happens. A second option is for five Riss cruisers each to take out ten Lights that guard two of the hundred-shuttle brigades and see what happens."
"It seems to me that the second scenario is best, twenty Lights and two hundred shuttles," Admiral Kishi said.
"Under the first option, if the second ten Lights notice and can take control of the first shuttle-brigade, you have two hundred shuttles firing at you. That could be as many as eight hundred missiles per minute. Plus, firing on a shuttle this close to the Mother ship may cause it to think it is under attack and to launch its one thousand fighters. Under option two, you could face one thousand two hundred missiles per minute and one thousand fighters."
"Leader Reese is correct. If we do not see the future, we may not have a future." Zhu said, stroking his long white tail of a beard. What would you suggest?"
"I think the Mother ship is going to send out its fighters under either option, even if the shuttle-brigade doesn't react, because the missile attack on the shuttles may appear like an attack on the Mother ship. This isn't a bad thing if we’re ready for them. I'd like to try option one. If you agree, you can assign two or three squadrons to take up positions a light-second from the closest hundred-shuttle brigade, designated Sb1." I looked to Zhu.
"Red Fleet," he said, looking toward Red Admiral Yang, who acknowledged Zhu with a nod.
"When the Riss cruisers destroy the ten Lights guarding Sb1, we will skip past the two adjacent shuttle-brigades, Sb2 and Sb3. That will be the Red squadron’s signal to fire on the shuttles. If the Mother ship releases its fighters or the shuttle-brigade shuttles turn on you, I'd suggest you skip back to the UFN fleet positioned at the two light-second mark," I said, not sure what the reaction was going to be when the Lights were destroyed but sure the Red squadrons would be destroyed if they stayed to fight.
"Shouldn't we stay until we finish the shuttles?" Yang asked, obviously reluctant to retreat.
"That will be up to you, based on what the shuttle-brigades and the Mother ship do, but I don't think we want a fair fight with the Ecitoni. Admiral Gleason proved that was a bad idea. Hit-and-run proved very successful at Earthol and Sparrow’s Nest again
st the Mother ships."
"Leader Reese is correct. We have wounded the Mother ship, but it’s far from defeated," Zhu said. Yang bowed in his direction, acknowledging it was an order.
"When the UFN fleet has repositioned to the two and one-half light-second mark—a half light-second behind the Irises, which we moved to the three light-second mark—you will be in a good position to safely fire on the shuttles when the red squadrons are clear. This should provoke the Mother ship into releasing its fighters if it hasn't already. The Ecitoni fighters will have to negotiate your missiles, the Irises, and then your Ghost fighters before they can reach the fleet. With the Ecitoni fighters destroyed, the Mother ship will be defenseless and unable to support its shuttles."
It took several hours to establish the UFN squadron positions and consider various what-if scenarios and another two hours for everyone to get in position. While Zhu organized his fleets, we established a rendezvous point designated Rz1,which was located one light-second from Sb3—well away from the three shuttle-brigades. We agreed to maintain a tight-beam connection to the Mnemosyne in order to respond quickly to any developing scenario. Once in place, each ship would send Ready, and then the Mnemosyne would give the Fire command. The jump to Rz1 would be automatic after each ship's assigned Light went red.
It took two hours at stealth speed to get in position. The first Ready signal came from the Minerva. Five minutes later I had all nine signals.
"Byer, release a red-Wraith." I had ordered red-Wraiths dispatched, not wanting to give an injured Ecitoni Light a chance to give an attack order to the Sb1 shuttles.
A minute later Byer replied. "Fighters away."
Ten seconds later r-Maia fired on E10.
As I watched the VTH, six of the ten Lights went red instantly and shortly afterward six Riss cruisers skipped. Two more Lights went from yellow to red seconds later as explosions erupted, and another two Riss cruisers skipped. I waited until the last two Lights were destroyed seconds later with red-Wraiths and the fighters recovered and the remaining Riss cruiser disappeared.