On the propulsion front, the enemy vessel most probably had chemical rockets, which while primitive may not be a problem in a short fight. It might actually be an advantage.
Our migration ship is built for long range travel and long range fights. The amount of propulsion fuel required for doing this makes it impossible to have chemical rockets, so we run on ion plasma rockets. Ion plasma rockets are super-efficient and can enable to cross over to the next star with a practical amount of reaction mass. Ion propulsion however has one drawback.
It has a slower rate of acceleration compared to a chemical rocket. Chemical rockets have just the reverse advantage. They are inefficient and consume a lot of fuel and propulsion to go a miniscule distance, but in a short close battle, if you have the fuel they have faster acceleration and hence better maneuverability.
So if I could have drawn the enemy out to an inter-planetary battle, I would have the advantage, but I cannot, due to the tactical situation. The enemy is over my habitat threatening it, and I have to protect it. Even the most stupid enemy Warmaster would know that tactical advantage and refuse to get drawn out. I berated myself again for not taking precautions and getting into this horrible tactical situation.
So I had to attack here. I had one small tactical advantage over the enemy vessels though. I was in a higher orbit further away from the gravity well. This would help my maneuverability and missiles, while the enemy will have to struggle harder to get out of the gravity well to my position, as would the enemy’s missiles have to fight gravity to reach my ship.
My most important decision was whether to attack the enemy ground habitat first or the enemy vessel first. This should not have been a vexing question with the puny enemy void vessels in front of me. I should have been confident in destroying the vessels first and then proceeding to bombard their habitat. I had however vowed not to underestimate them again. So I considered the scenario if my vessel was defeated with my first attack.
If I attacked the enemy habitat first, I might be able to damage or even destroy it, but with my concentration of fire on the surface, it would almost certainly lead to the enemy vessels having an advantage on me and almost certainly destroying my vessel, assuming we were even on firepower. This would doom our habitat below, with no backup in the void, and the enemy having one.
If I attacked the vessels first, then I had an even chance with all of the vessels fighting together. If the enemy prevailed, then all of us on the vessel as well as on ground were doomed, but if we prevailed then the enemy ground forces were doomed. The second option at least gave us a fighting chance.
With my vessel’s attack strategy decided, I now needed to devise a strategy for my ground forces, which would maximize the damage to the enemy on the ground while minimizing our losses. If my vessel won the battle in the void with the enemy vessel, then options were easy. I had to plan for the eventuality that my vessel would lose the battle.
The elder warrior had already started a plan in motion in my absence, as the leader of the warriors. The enemy had destroyed one out of the four habitats that housed the growing tubes. The rest three had been put on an accelerated growth schedule with premature but earliest safe incubation.
This batch had been modified by builders and curious caste not just for accelerated growth, which was a common attribute built into the warrior gene, but also introduced new attributes to make these warriors more resistant to cold. This moon’s cold would still kill them, but a bit slower than our beings would die normally. The thinking being that it gives the warriors a better chance at survival in case of injury or rip in their suits.
The only down side of accelerated growth of the warriors was that it affected only their body but not the mind. An accelerated growth warrior emerged from the tube with an underdeveloped mind, which still took the same amount of time to mature. This made these warriors work more on instincts with very little tactical thinking or intelligence. That is the reason accelerated growth is used only in times of emergency, but this was an emergency if there ever was one.
The growing tubes’ parameters had been modified accordingly, and the incubation was underway. The warriors were expected to hatch out in another 3 to 4 cycles, and would be combat ready within another additional 3 to 4 cycles depending on how much training their simple minds can absorb.
This was a good plan which I would have myself authorized, there was no need to change the plan. The issue was timing. The plan could take as many as 8 cycles to execute and at the earliest would take 6 cycles.
I had no idea what the enemy Warmaster was thinking after he had seen my migration vessel. I had to assume that he was intelligent and prudent. He is obviously acutely conscious of the small size of his ships compared to mine and would consider to be weaker in space.
If I were in the enemy Warmaster’s position, then I would assume to lose my ships at any moment with a single strike. I would want to maximize the damage caused by my ships by quickly destroying our habitat below and then taking chances with the large ship.
That way the small ships have at least caused some guaranteed damage even if they lose to the large ship. I had to assume that the enemy Warmaster would think the same way. So I made my attack plan for the battle in space.
I decided to make my first move hidden from the enemy vessels in synchronous orbit, as I crossed over to the other side of the globe in my own orbit. I expected to surprise the enemies and seize the advantage that way. The enemy was equally cunning and when I emerged back on the enemy’s side of the globe, I was surprised to see that they had also waited to make their own move hidden from me.
I have attached the full space battle report for the record, because what followed after that is too painful and shameful for me to narrate. I am out of time anyway as I reach the optimal orbital point for my last act as Warmaster.
I and my crew cry out loud across the void to you all my beings… Avenge us!
Table of Contents
An ode to the fallen
How did we come to this?
A whisper across the void
A mystery and a friendship discovered
Petty politics
The Spy
A double date
Sedna – 1
Expression of Love
The Sentinel and the Curious
The Scout
Houston, we have a problem!
Surprise! Surprise!
Aggressive Tackle
Thou shalt not pass
Shaitan
Declaration of war
Prometheus
An early winter
The opening move
Approaching Titan
The landing
First Contact
Second Contact
The battle over Titan
The Nest
Fight to the death
Will we be together?
The calm before the storm
Battle of Stirling Bridge
Battle of Thermopylae
For Humanity
Battle of Shiroyama
The Aftermath
Preemptive strike
Survival of the fittest
Warmaster’s report
The Battle of Titan Page 58