Triumph & Defeat (Shaitan Wars Book 4)

by Sudipto Majumdar

  “By the evil machinations of Ka! Do you realize what that might imply seer Taste of Aggression?” Taste of Water asked.

  “Yes, seer Taste of Water. I have pondered over what that might imply and have put up all the possibilities in my report. In brief, the first possibility is that somehow the Ka-Baal have changed their engine technology and started using a completely new technology in the middle of a war for survival. This new engine by some supreme coincidence in this universe has the exact drive signature as that of the Ka-let. This new engine has enabled them to have bigger void vessels, which by another coincidence is almost exact mass as that of the Ka-Baal vessels with similar acceleration characteristics.

  “It would be imprudent, perhaps insane to change such a critical thing as a war vessels’ engines to an untested technology in the middle of a war. It is not just the risk involved of failure of the engines while in battle, but imagine the production challenge. One would have to throw away or re-tool the existing engine plants to manufacture a new kind of engine, which would set back the production of their war vessels significantly. The Ka-Baal may have taken a few risks during this war, but they can neither be considered imprudent, nor insane.

  “Other than this fact, the fact that even if the Ka-Baal did change their engine, it turned out to be exactly the same as that of Ka-Let is something whose statistical probability would tend to zero. I am not a believer is two coincidences happening at the same time, and hence I consider this first possibility extremely unlikely.

  “The second possibility is that those are Ka-Baal riding in Ka-Let designed vessels, made by the Ka-Let and given to the Ka-Baal, or the Ka-Let have taught the Ka-Baal to manufacture those vessels. It doesn’t matter which, for in either case it depicts the worst case scenario. The most militarily competent spawn of Ka fighting in the ships of the technologically most competent spawn of Ka that our beings have ever encountered.

  “I know there are many theories floating around in this council right now about the nature of the relation between these two spawns of Ka. How and where did the Ka-Let survive? How and where did the Ka-Let first meet the Ka-Baal? We know from the first invasion force of our beings from World #12 that had reached the 4th planet of Kalshuk, that the Ka-Let had a small colony on the 4th planet of Kalshuk, right next to the home world of the Ka-Baal on the 3rd planet. This colony had been dated to be at least as old as the time of our war with the Ka-Let, but could be possibly older. Unfortunately our forces were defeated on the 4th planet by the Ka-Baal before further investigation could be completed.

  “It is possible that the Ka-Let and the Ka-Baal have known each other for a very long time. There has been many speculations about the nature of the relationship between these two spawns of Ka. Is it a master-slave relationship? Is it a client-benefactor relationship? Or is it a partnership of equals? Frankly we do not know and it may not matter too much for the planning of this battle that is upon us. In the long term though, it may be important to know the nature of that relationship.

  “The third possibility is that those are Ka-Let warriors in Ka-Let vessels attacking our holy lands in a pre-planned move coordinated with the Ka-Baal in a game of long deception played out by the two species together, which has lasted for over fifteen thousand cycles, starting from the time when the Ka-Baal started transmitting wanton radio signals into the void, for the beings of World #12 to discover it and fall into their trap. As we all know that the poor beings of World #12 did. It would explain a lot of unexplained and weird facts, like why every time we encountered the Ka-Baal, they seem to have better technology that they did not seem to use earlier, but had to have had access to it.

  “The Ka-Baal, in this scenario has been fighting a phony war with our peripheral colonies for ten thousand cycles in order to lure us to commit what would have been their greater objective – the Grand Coalition fleet. More precisely, their objective would have been to evoke a response like the Grand Coalition fleet from our beings, which would be forced to move to the periphery of our realm, as it does now at World #11. If this goal was achieved by the spawns of Ka, then it would mean that our core worlds would be thinly defended, with little possibility of the other nearby worlds coming to any meaningful aid of the core worlds.

  “This may have been the ultimate objective of the third possibility, and once it came to pass, the spawns of Ka pounced upon this opportunity and have begun a direct attack on the core worlds and our holy lands to try and strike at the very heart of our civilization and hope to finish it at one fell swoop. Even if our beings do not give up immediately, if the core worlds fall, then our beings would be immensely weakened, which could eventually lead to our extermination.

  “There is a fourth possibility, which is nothing but the combination of the second and the third possibility. This is the one I personally favor the most, because of the strange fact about the directions from which these two squadrons of the fleet are approaching. It will explain what I mean.

  “What we knew about the Ka-Baal had led us to believe that they had only one world, the third planet of the Kalshuk system. If we consider World #12, which the Ka-Baal recently overran, then they have a second world, but from here, both those worlds are roughly in the same direction. So it didn’t initially surprise me that a squadron of the fleet was approaching from that direction. What surprised me was the squadron coming in from a completely different direction in sector six, from the rough direction of World #6.

  “Obviously these two squadrons coordinated with each other to arrive at the same time, so there must be another enemy world in the direction of sector six, either held by the Ka-Baal or the Ka-Let. Given the fact that sector six is halfway between the Kalshuk star and the triple star Kamar system, which was the original home of the Ka-Let, I suspect that there is an inhabitable world out there which our beings have not discovered yet, which is the refuge of Ka-Let who survived the extermination. The Ka-Let may have always known about this world, but never settled it before the Ka-Let and our beings came into contact and conflict. Some Ka-Let may have fled to this world and survived.

  “It is equally possible that this inhabitable world had always been a colony of the Ka-Let, which despite our detailed scanning of their records stayed hidden from us. The inhabitants of this Ka-Let colony survive till this day. If such a world exists, the Ka-Let descendants would have had enough time to make it into a strong colony. Their thirst and motivation for revenge would be immense. Even if these Ka-Let do not fight more competently that their ancestors, we can be certain that they will fight more fiercely.

  “So it is plausible that the squadron of vessels coming from the direction of sector six is populated by the Ka-Let. As if to highlight this point, you would notice that it is this squadron that consists of the three gigantic vessels, which the other squadron does not have. We know of only the Ka-Let, who were capable of building such gigantic vessels. If the Ka-Baal and Ka-Let have had extensive coordination and cooperation for a long time, then it is possible that this squadron coming from sector six may also contain some Ka-Baal as part of the fighting force. Depending on how well these two species work together, it could be a lethal combination.

  “That brings me to the other squadron coming from the direction of the Kalshuk star, presumably carrying Ka-Baal warriors. If you notice, I had said that initially I was not surprised at the direction from which this squadron is coming. After all, you would expect the enemy to come from the direction of its home world! After a few moments of thought though, I was not just surprised, but worried at the implication. If it had been our vessels returning from the Kalshuk system, you would have not seen them approaching from the line of the Kalshuk star. This is because they would have to hop from world to world to reach here. You would have seen them approaching from the direction of World #4, which is the closest world to the core worlds in the direction of the Kalshuk system.

  “What it implies is that the Ka-Baal have the capability to reach our core world directly from their home bypas
sing all other worlds. We had always suspected that the Ka-Baal might eventually develop such capability, given the kind of speeds their void vessels have displayed, but had hoped against it. At least I had not thought that they would be capable of doing it so soon. That squadron coming in straight from the direction of the Kalshuk star has proven to us that the Ka-Baal have the capability now to do exactly that. It throws all our defense assumptions out of the airlock. We will have to come up with a completely new defense doctrine to fight this war against the Ka-Baal, and now looks increasingly likely against the Ka-Let as well.

  “Those are however things to be pondered over later. First we have to survive this challenge thrown at us by Ka. Never before has Ka thrown such a challenge at us before, where two different spawns of Ka have teamed up together to bring the best of their abilities together. They have out-thought us till now, out-maneuvered us and tricked us into thinning our defenses in this system, and then attacked with a reasonable force to outnumber us in the void. Now we have to survive this test of Ka and prove ourselves worthy of survival.” Seer Taste of Aggression finished his deposition having poured his anguish out, along with the shame at having been outmaneuvered by the spawns of Ka.

  No one spoke for a moment, then one of the seers connected from the origin world said. “You mentioned about being outnumbered Seer Aggression. I can see that technically you are correct, but if you look at it practically, the squadron coming from sector six has only six vessels, while the other squadron has eight. This compared to the twelve war vessels we have in this system right now. While technically fourteen is greater than twelve, but they do not outnumber us by much.”

  As agreed between them, Seer Taste of Domination took over the question answer session. Aggression wanted to take a break and think. “Yes, they have only two war vessels more than us, but it takes only one surviving war vessel to destroy every void based infrastructure and asset in this system. Every vessel building yard, every void elevator, every mining outpost can be destroyed by a single war vessel if it is unchallenged. It would ensure that our beings would not be able to launch into the void again. All the surviving Ka-Baal war vessel has to do is to hang around the system after that and wait for reinforcements. They would be able to bombard from the void onto the surface with impunity, and the enemy would eventually make a beachhead somewhere on the surface of the planet and start exterminating us on the surface. We would get progressively weaker and less able to resist the enemy, till eventually we would be exterminated. This is exactly how World #12 was exterminated by the Ka-Baal.

  “To answer your question another way, being outnumbered greatly or marginally does not make a difference to the eventual outcome. It does not even matter if a single war vessel of our beings is standing alive after the battle or not. The only thing that would count is whether a single war vessel of the enemy is standing after the battle. When we frame the issue that way seer, you can see that it would be imprudent to make the assumption that our fleet of twelve war vessels would be able to absolutely guarantee the destruction of the fourteen enemy warships. Especially when you consider the fact that these enemy war vessels seem to be of a completely new class, which we have not observed before. The previously observed Ka-Baal warships were almost at parity with our war vessels, but it stands to logic that if the Ka-Baal have sent a new class of ships for what must be a very important campaign for them, then the Ka-Baal have probably sent a superior class of ships for the battle. At least their mass observed would indicate that fact. In such a case our fleet of twelve war vessels could not just be out numbered, but outclassed as well.” Seer Taste of Domination finished.

  Not satisfied with the answer, the questioner from the origin world persisted. “I understand the gravity of the situation, seer. What I was alluding to though, was slightly different. When I mentioned that we might not be that badly outnumbered, I meant that the approaching fleet is split into two, with one squadron having just six vessels. We know from the physics of the motion of the two fleets that they cannot bleed off their velocities any faster than they are already doing. Which means that they cannot meet up any sooner. To a great extent the position the two squadrons would meet up is also predictable. So why not send our fleet of twelve to tackle the split up squadrons one by one. Maybe take the smaller squadron of six enemy vessels first. We would outnumber this squadron two to one. If anything we should have a better odds than the enemy in that battle. In fact, if we prosecute the battle well our losses may be minimal due to our two to one numerical advantage. Then the defense fleet can turn around and chase the other squadron. If our losses have been minimal, then our defense fleet should still have a numerical advantage and be able to finish off that squadron as well.”

  Seer Taste of Domination took the Shaitan equivalent of a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm before replying. “Have you considered the possibility seer that this may be exactly what the enemy wants us to do? I know it might sound confusing as to why the enemy would wish its own destruction. All one needs to do is to keep the first principles of Warcraft in mind, and one would have an answer. The first principle of Warcraft is to assess the objective of the enemy, then assess the intent of the enemy, then assess the resolve of the enemy, and then and only then make an attempt to guess the strategy of the enemy. What do we think is the objective of the enemy?” Domination asked the rhetorical question, and then quickly continued to ensure that no curious caste who may fancy himself as a strategist butted in with some harebrained metaphysical conjecture.

  “The enemy has clearly demonstrated its objective. By playing such an elaborate game of deception for so long, we know that the ultimate aim of the enemy was to thin out the defenses in our core worlds. The enemy was never interested in our peripheral worlds like World #11 or World #12. Those were merely distractions and consolation prize. The real prize was to strike at the heart of our civilization. Having successfully thinned out our defenses here on this system, the enemy has sent its fleet here. What could be the mission objectives of the Warmaster of that enemy fleet?

  “Having played such an elaborate, patient and expensive game for so long to reach here, do you think the enemy Warmaster would have been given instructions to play safe? No. The enemy Warmaster would have been given a simple objective, destruction of as much of the assets and lives of beings on this system as possible, even if it meant destruction of every warship of the enemy in that fleet of theirs.

  “I am sure that the enemy perhaps had logistical issues due to which they could not send more than those fourteen warships for this attack. Perhaps more of this type of long range war vessels that can travel directly to this system from their home system were not ready, but under construction, so only this fourteen were sent. The enemy had a choice between waiting longer to attack with a larger fleet, or to send an advance attack with just enough war vessels as to get past our thinned out defense fleet and ensure that our void based assets were destroyed. That would ensure that no more war vessels could be manufactured in this system and our beings would be stuck on the surface of our worlds.

  “The enemy chose the latter option, which as a warrior I can appreciate because I would have chosen the same option if I had been in the enemy’s position. If the enemy had waited longer to build up a larger force, we would also have had to build up our defense forces. As you are aware, in a few hundred cycles, we would add six more war vessels that are currently in production in our void building stations. If the enemy had waited longer, then it was possible that the splinter fleet which is heading back to the core worlds, which I suspect the enemy noticed and hastened its plans, would have been able to come to our defense.

  “So the enemy has sent a fleet just good enough they hope, to get past our twelve warships defense fleet. How would the enemy have known the exact size of our fleet to come to such an accurate estimation? My guess is that just like the spy drones we uncovered in World #11 and World #8, the enemy has infiltrated this system with a spy drone, which gives a fairly acc
urate and real time intelligence about our system.

  “If I were to be making the objective for the Warmaster of such an enemy fleet, my instructions would be fairly simple. I would instruct the Warmaster to ensure that every building station in the void, every mining operation, every infrastructure that this system has in the void be destroyed on top priority, even if some of our warships were left untouched and all the warships of the approaching enemy fleet were to be destroyed. The sacrifice of the enemy fleet would be good enough to doom this system because there would be no additions to our defense fleet for tens of thousands of cycles.

  “Our beings would have a hard time just getting onto the void from the surface. A follow-up fleet, which I am sure is coming, just as it did on World #12 after the initial attack with just four warships, will simply finish the job. The enemy followed the same tactics in World #12, and there is no reason to change the winning tactic. I wouldn’t have changed it, and neither do I think the enemy has.

  “So if the enemy Warmaster has been instructed to destroy the void infrastructure of this system at any cost, what do you think would be the most sure shot way of achieving that objective? It would be throw a bait at the defense fleet. This is what our warriors would also have done. Split up your fleet and approach from two different directions in such a way that the physics of your motion ensures that the defense fleet can predict the approach fairly accurately, and it is impossible for the two parts of your fleet to meet up before the defense fleet can pounce on one of them with their combined fleet.

  “This provides the defense fleet, with a juicy target that that the enemy finds too good to resist. The defense fleet of twelve vessels rushes out to meet one of the squadrons of the split fleet. It does not matter how that battle progresses. Even if the defense fleet manages to destroy all the vessels of one squadron, without taking a single loss, which is unlikely, the objective of the Warmaster of the enemy is met. The other squadron would have a free run for many cycles on a defenseless system, being able to destroy each and every space based infrastructure on this system without meeting any resistance.