by Darold Higa
In an instant the ship’s intelligence AI had summarized the massive influx of data from the battle. Admiral Mitchell had chosen to target capital ships, with devastating effect. Most of Enderby Fleet’s capital ships were destroyed or damaged. The missile volley had cost the Narthians at least 1200 combat effectives. Alicia nodded. Her own preference was to target support ships, paving the way for her own capital ships to go head to head with the enemy capital ships using beam weapons. Now her capital ships could easily dispatch the remaining capital ships and support ships with very little resistance while the Renspan ships could begin maneuvering to defeat New Schwbenland Fleet. It was a factor she had not counted on, but made a note of. The two allied forces rival doctrines made an effective combination.
Alicia decided that the attack had been effective enough to hold back on deploying fighters. After a brief consultation with the other commanders, the capital ships of Linodan Fleet and Sokolov Fleet took the lead. The battleships, battlecruisers, and cruisers formed the tip of a spear that plowed through the remaining vessels of the Enderby Fleet. With most of the capital ships sunk, the Spincoran vessels made quick work of the lighter vessels, shredding the smaller ships with beam weapon fire. Command and control in the Narthian fleet disintegrated, as ships broke rank in a desperate attempt to flee the withering fire.
New Schwabenland Fleet was not idle during this period. Taking advantage of the wholesale slaughter of its sister fleet, it began maneuvering to attack the flank of the capital ships with a volley of missile fire. At the same time, Admiral Mitchell and Commodore Cadwell were maneuvering the 10th Fleet and the 7th Fleet in preparation to attack New Schwabenland Fleet. The result was a massive tangle of fleets as each side sought to gain firing advantage. The four giant fleets wheeled towards each other in a giant ballet. Narthian missiles impacted the Spincoran fleet just as missiles from the Renspan fleet arrived at the Narthian ships. Linodan Fleet, which had kept its picket ships behind the wedge of capital ships, rapidly deployed to meet the incoming missile barrage. Explosions raked across both fleets. The weight of the missiles from the combined allied fleet was too great however, and the Narthian fleet was shattered. Linodan Fleet had borne the brunt of the missile attack, but had managed to escape with minimal casualties. The advantage of upgrading the AI cores onboard Linodan fleet was becoming increasingly apparent. Even Alicia was surprised at how few casualties they had taken. The space that once contained 10,000 Narthian ships was filled with the destroyed hulks of thousands of ships. Both Narthian Fleets had been completely routed.
It was at this moment that Alicia returned her attention to the other three Narthian Task Forces and realized what she had missed. To her dismay, she now understood what had been nagging her. The Narthians, realizing their error, were skillfully maneuvering to recover from their initial mistake. Alicia had assumed that these fleets would retain formation as they had done in the past. Now that both sides had tasted combat, neither side was sticking to doctrine. The Narthian commander had ordered all of her fast ships to break formation and rapidly position itself in front of their slower counterparts. This meant that the lead element of the Narthian forces could now pin any allied attack, buying time for the remaining ships to catch up and engage. Instead of facing 6 individual fleets, the allies were essentially faced with a single organic unit. Alicia called the other commanders to discuss their next course of action.
“It appears that the Narthian commander refuses to allow herself to be destroyed piecemeal,” stated Admiral Mitchell.
Alicia nodded. “Whoever we are facing is a capable commander, who appears to be flexible and quick to act. That makes her a tricky opponent.”
Commodore Cadwell spoke up. “Running is probably not a good idea.”
This time Admiral Mitchell nodded. “I agree. If we simply escape, chances are good that in the next encounter we will be even more outnumbered. This is a rare chance to seriously reduce the combat potential of the Narthian fleet. The tactical situation may not hold an advantage, but a frontal assault makes the most strategic sense.” Both Renspan commanders turned to Alicia. They knew she was in command of the larger force. If she decided to leave, the Renspans would have no choice but to follow her retreat.
Alicia paused for a moment, with a thoughtful look on her face. They had inflicted a large number of casualties on the enemy, but the remaining Narthian forces still had them outnumbered two to one. Still, she knew that there were a few factors that tipped the scales in their favor. First of all, the presence of New Boston’s defenses restricted the Narthian fleets ability to maneuver freely. Second of all, despite having destroyed two fleets, the allies had withheld deploying fighters. That combined with the reinforcements from New Boston meant that they still had a large amount of fighters at their disposal. The Narthians seemed to create fleets that were very role specific, and none of the fleets they were facing were carrier-based fleets, giving them a clear firepower advantage. The third factor was that Sokolov Fleet’s fighters carried a surprise. The weapon was experimental, but in war games against the Renspans prior to the war, they had proven to be very effective. Sokolov had already transferred a large supply of these new weapons to Linodan Fleet. She knew that the fighters on board her own carrier had already patched their Combat Operating System with the new control software. While not every carrier in her fleet had switched over to the new weapons, she suspected that they would help balance the equation even further. Still, she knew that a frontal attack against a numerically superior enemy wasn’t a decision to be taken lightly, and she really disliked the idea of an even fight. She looked at the faces of the two Renspan commanders. From the look on their faces, one thought came into her mind. They need to fight back. They need a real victory if they are going to stay in this war. Drawing in a deep breath, Alicia finally said, “I agree. We should engage the enemy now.”
Both Cadwell and Mitchell had a look of relief on their faces. Alicia continued, “To make sure that we can fight on our own terms, however, I have a plan.”
Commodore Cadwell smiled and nodded. “Of course Admiral Linodan, I knew you would.”
Amy Natalenko examined her datatank. Alongside the familiar faces of her flight was a new page of icons. Each icon represented one of her fighters new Slaved Autonomous Combat Vehicles. Each of the SACVs were bubbledrive equipped drones, complete with rather sophisticated AI cores from Newport Cybernetics. Normally true AI cores were far too expensive to put into expendable weapons like ship to ship missiles. Even fighters were limited to AI cores that could handle bubblespace navigation and not much else. This had meant that most missiles were equipped with simple computer cores that depended on a ship-based AI core to handle most of the difficult in-system bubblespace navigation calculations. When Newport Cybernetics released their new AI cores that were placed in the ships of Linodan fleet, they also drastically cut the price of smaller AI cores, a move that had sent the stock prices of their rivals plummeting. The drastic reduction in AI core price allowed the Spincorans to experiment with mass-deployed AI drones. The SACV had the processing core more advanced than a fighter, but could be built cheaply, and could even be built in the field by fleet manufacturing ships. The AIs were too small to handle any kind of independent tactical decision making, but were quite capable of executing autonomous maneuvers under the command of a human. Such weapon systems had been commonplace before the long dark night, but like many other technologies, the ability to build them had been lost for nearly a millennia. The weapon system had been a high priority of the Spincoran High Command, and the crash program had been carried out under the strictest of secrecy. Amy had only heard of the devices once the Expeditionary Fleet had arrived at Newport. She had seen her first SACV when the ship techs had updated her Combat Operating System and attached modular rails for the SACV. She still remembered the odd conversation she had with the techs as she inspected their installation work.
“Lieutenant, would you like me to go ahead and name your SACVs?”
“Pardon me?”
The tech held up a portable datatank. “Well, we just heard about these things so we don’t know much about them, but there is a whole initialization process. We can go ahead and configure their names and base personalities if you like. Otherwise, the manual suggests leaving them in default mode.”
“Name them?”
“The manual seems to say that the AI will develop faster if they have names. Otherwise they are numbered from 1 to 4.”
Amy’s thoughts returned to the present. Her attention was focused on the datatank. It looked like the formation her SACVs had taken wasn’t quite right. “Natalenko 4, take a position at 6 o’clock by 10 o’clock. Then go into standby mode.”
A very human sounding voice responded. “This is Natalenko 4. Aye, ma’am. Taking position 12 by 4, then shutting down. Order acknowledged.”
Natalenko 3 chipped in. “Ma’am, I can take the lead if you become dissatisfied with Unit 4’s performance. You can always count on me to get the job done!”
Natalenko 1 responded. “Hush. Follow orders Unit 3. If the Lieutenant wanted you in lead, she would have assigned you.”
“Hmph. Don’t act like you’re in charge just because your number comes before mine.”
Amy shuddered. Too human.
Alicia was once again sitting in the bridge, watching events unfold in the datatank, with little else to do. As she was discovering, the role of Fleet Commander meant that her success or failure was decided long before the action began. She pondered to herself. Even with so much power under her command, she was merely a spectator. If things went well, or if they went poorly, she could only make small adjustments. She wondered if that was the case for generations of history’s military minds. At the supposed height of her authority she felt powerless. All she could do was watch as the events unfold. It was a pattern that was becoming very familiar. As the giant fleets began their silent dance once again, Alicia could only sit back and watch. The battle for New Boston had begun.
4563 July 06
Newport Refugee Camp Block D12
Newport
Federal Republic of Renspa (Occupied)
Rachel awoke uncomfortably. Her throat was dry, and her back ached. For a moment she was completely disoriented. As the haze of waking faded, she realized where she was. Reaching into the bag next to her cot, she took out a bottle of water. When she had arrived at the refugee camp it had been light outside, but it was now pitch black. She looked at her wearable datatank on her wrist. She had been asleep for twelve hours. Looking at the row of empty cots in the tent, everyone was outside. She popped a personal hygiene pill, adjusted her hair, and went outside. As she emerged from a tent, a figure sitting on a chair near a file waved to her.
“Rachel, you’re up!”
Rachel noted that Elise’s tone had changed completely. The junior programmer sounded like her normal cheery self.
The larger surprise was who she was sitting with. Seated around the fire were other members of the Linodan Fleet contract team. Even more surprising was the man sitting in the center of the crowd. Old Man Sanchez sat in a seat, toasting a marshmallow on the fire. Dumbfounded, Rachel took a seat.
As she sat everyone stood up to shake her hand and pat her on the back. Jim was here, as were other members of her program team. As she worked her way through, Old Man Sanchez was the last one to shake her hand.
“Good to see you Rachel. Your team fought well for us. Your team is top notch, I can see why you are so proud of them.” Still stunned, Rachel nodded dully. Everyone was all smiles.
Rachel was still confused. “Excuse me, what exactly is going on? Why are we all here?”
Dale Sanchez nodded. “Well my dear, your team has done such a good job upgrading the Linodan fleet, apparently the Narthian intelligence forces have taken considerable interest in us.” The Old Man looked like he was working hard to contain a laugh.
Rachel perked up. “Does that mean Rick’s OK and the Spincorans are still fighting?”
“Rick? Your rock star senior architect is now a part of Princess Linodan’s fleet. As for the Spincorans, they are doing more than just fighting back. They are apparently kicking some serious Narthian ass!” Everyone cheered and laughed. Rachel couldn’t help but join in.
“Rick is fighting with the Spincorans? I thought he would be holed up at some posh hotel in Spincora surfing the datanets,” chimed in Rachel. Another round of laughter.
Old Man Sanchez’s voice became more serious. “Rachel, I wasn’t kidding about the Narthian intelligence forces. I for one, have no intention to hand over our hard-earned corporate secrets to these bastards. I just wish our own navy could have hurt the Narthians more, but the damn Congress held up all of Hamilton’s defense appropriation bills, so of course they could only fight with what they have. At least all of the units that managed to survive are fighting back.”
Rachel nodded.
Sanchez now turned to face the entire group. “Now that Rachel is awake, I would like to explain my intentions to you. I have no idea if our conversation is being monitored right now, but considering how many refugees there are, I think we are safe. That being said, what I’m going to suggest to everyone here might cause some trouble for the Narthians, so if you are uncomfortable with the idea, I’d like to ask you to leave right now, for your own protection.” Dale looked around and saw that nobody budged a centimeter. “Great. As most of you know, as we were fighting against those Narthian intelligence agents hacking into Newport Cybernetics, a worm ran through the entire system and erased everything. That worm was very complete, it went to all of our offplanet datacenters and wiped out all of the backups and parallel systems too.” Most of the programmers winced. That data would take a decade to replace. “Well, I am a greedy capitalist, and I’m not about to throw away all my wealth. In fact, let’s just say that I have an insurance policy that only I know about.” Dale Sanchez had a smile on his face that was so full of mischief, he looked like some undergraduate hacker that had just broken into the Space Patrol’s secure AI core. Rachel listened intently to his every word.
4563 July 06
Royal Spincoran Navy, 221st Expeditionary Force, HMS Relentless, Fleet Combat Information Center
In Orbit Above New Boston
Free Renspa
Commodore Cadwell watched her datatank intently. For the past few hours, the allied fleet and the Narthian fleet had been engaged in an elaborate dance of feint and counterfeint as both sides maneuvered for a superior position. A few volleys had been exchanged, but casualties had been very light on both sides. The only real allied casualties had been a number of orbital weapons platforms and a few fixed position defense systems on the two moons of New Boston. The Narthian fleet had grown more bold, picking away at New Boston’s defenses and working their way closer to the allied fleet that hid in the cover of New Boston’s defenses. As the defenses were destroyed, the zone of protection offered by the planet shrank dramatically leaving the allied fleet with an ever decreasing area of maneuver.
“The Narthian commander is pretty patient. And pretty shrewd,” noted Daniel Velmont, Ellen’s Fleet Staff Executive Officer.
Ellen nodded back. “The other Narthian commanders we have encountered were pretty conventional, relying on mass and velocity to achieve their objectives. This commander appears to be far more sophisticated.”
“I am concerned that we are running out of space to maneuver. I hope that Admiral Linodan’s plan works.”
Ellen nodded again. “Admiral Linodan is a formidable woman. I have faith in her leadership.”
Alicia fought the urge to stand up and pace. She knew that if she started pacing, it would make the rest of her staff nervous. Unconsciously, she began to play with her hair.
Largo looked over and noticed her. Clearing his throat, he said “Alicia, this Narthian commander is a difficult one, isn’t she?”
Alicia stopped playing with her hair and focused her attention at Largo. “Unfortunately, she i
s doing the same things I would do. She is methodically eliminating the fixed position defenses around New Boston instead of charging in.”
“If I were her, I would be concerned as to why we were letting the odds slowly turn against us.”
Alicia nodded. “I think you are right. Even if the situation is not optimal, it looks like it is time to act. If we wait much longer, we won’t have much of a surprise left. Largo, please inform all fleets to commence the attack.”
As the signals went out to all of the allied fleets, icons changed color to acknowledge receipt of orders. Silently ships went to assault status and advanced towards the enemy fleet.
“Detecting enemy fleet approaching in attack formation! AI says that hostile fleet formation suggests heavy missile barrage.”
Admiral Yin Hu Choi looked at the datatank. General Tsai had sent her a message via unofficial channels warning about the shrewd and unorthodox tactics that Admiral Linodan had employed. So far that warning had been borne out by the way that she had managed to destroy 2 of her fleets, but her own decisive maneuvering had prevented from that becoming an even larger disaster. She had requested that she be equipped with at least 2 heavy carrier fleets, a request that had been denied. This worried her, since without adequate fighter cover, there was no guarantee that she could turn her remaining numerical superiority into a decisive battle advantage. Admiral Choi had decided that the best strategy was to reduce the fixed defenses at New Boston, to insure that no surprises came from there. Still, the fact that she had been allowed to dismantle New Boston’s defenses without much of a fight had made her suspicious. Was she being maneuvered into some kind of trap? Admiral Choi had studied the area carefully. New Boston couldn’t have more than a few hundred orbital defense submarines. It probably had a fair number of fighters, but not nearly enough to pose a credible threat. She did admire the discipline of the Spincoran forces, since they seem to be holding their fighters in tight reserve, so that they would be fresh. Still, there were no obvious traps. Perhaps they were hoping for reinforcements of some kind. In any case, that Devil’s fleet was forcing her hand. It was time for her own forces to advance. “Advance picket ships to the front of the fleet and prepare for missile barrage.”