by Chris Burton
She, like everyone on board, felt anxious about what the next few hours would bring. She was part Dactorian—a brave and warrior species who thrived on confrontation. She was a jump ship pilot, and the best in the fleet. She could make a Sabre turn on a flat spin in the blink of an eye, and she could outrun any Sentinel Pilot without breaking sweat. Right now, the other main string to her DNA, the Barcudian part lay dormant. This was her cognitive capacity, her ability to reason, recognize, and rationalize a situation clearly and without contradiction. Today this was a contradiction. The two contrasting elements of her cross species personality clashed and the warrior won.
Hoskins was on the Bridge. He sat in his command chair, with his first officer and his bridge officer sitting either side of him. He opened a ship-wide comm channel and started his announcement, choosing his words carefully.
“This is Commander Hoskins. The Halo 7 will form part of the front line offensive, together with the Flagship and the Defiant. I am pleased to advise that we have been given a Field Operational Upgrade to a B Class ship of the line and we are considered central to the success of this Task Force.“
“We have just crossed into the Ionian System and we are maneuvering to our new position at the front of the fleet. We are still under battle operation conditions and we will maintain our operational status until we detect Sentinel activity on our short range scanners., There will be no access to external comm links for the immediate future. You will have taken the opportunity already, I am sure, to speak to your families. Now is the time for quiet contemplation, rest and anticipation for battle. We have prepared for this battle for a long time. The ship is ready, the crew and the fleet is ready and soon the waiting will be over. “
Hoskins closed the channel and turned towards Commander Jacques.
“Well that’s done. Now we wait.”
He didn’t like motivating, cliché-filled speeches, but there was little else you could do when you must broadcast to the ship, when the whole crew were in a state of contemplation in the natural but uneasy calm before battle.
Jonathan Hoskins had already contemplated what lay ahead. He was apprehensive, but he didn’t show it. He was a leader by example and he was ready. Ready to come to the fore, when conflict commenced.
Part Two
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Battle Commences
Admiral Thomas Rose watched on as the initial skirmishes of the battle commenced. From the Central Command room on his Flagship, the Pacific. Now he could see the entire fleet and the vast and swelling numbers of the Sentinel Fleet.
Certainly General Yoshi’s Fleet outnumbered Alpha’s considerably. This was a constant, a known factor, and his battle strategy had assumed that Alpha would be outnumbered by fifteen to one. There was, though, a significant unknown factor. Rose had commanded two previous assaults against the Sentinel’s Northern Fleet and on both occasions he was successful. There was something about this Southern Fleet.
The ships were the same, the formations the same, but something was different. Something Rose could not put his finger on. Yes, some of the newer and larger ships had their new advanced Dark Shielding, which was certainly going to make their detection much more difficult and yes, the Sentinel Commanders responded to Alpha’s advances in a more accurate and calculated way. This didn’t explain the overall feeling they fought a different enemy.
Admiral Rose was fifty-five years old and was nearing the end of his ‘active’ military career. He was the most senior and most highly-decorated Admiral in active service, and certainly the most respected and the most tactically astute. There was no question, either from the Senior Bench or from the ranks, that Rose was the best man for the job.
Today, Rose knew he would have to utilize his tactical skills to gain the initiative. He was supported by a three-strong team of senior commanders, who between them had a vast array of experience, and it was this team that he turned to.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. There seems to be a coherence to the Sentinel Fleet that has been absent in previous encounters. If we are to have any success today, we must break this down. Let’s have some thoughts…”
This was Rose’s tried-and-tested method of opening a forum, and his team, all of whom was with him throughout his previous Sentinel campaigns, duly indulged.
“We need to bring their command ships into the open,” said Commander Troy.
Troy was a forty-six year old fellow American who was known for her quick thinking but methodical approach to battle tactics.
“We should concentrate our jump ship sorties in these general areas.” She pointed towards the interactive holographic battle map and dragged three Rapier and one Sabre battle group to three different areas on the map. These were identified as being Sentinel Command Centers.
“We can back these up with teutonic infiltration. This will have the effect of breaking the main Sentinel fleet into four sections, for which we can deploy separate initiatives to break them down.”
“I agree,” said Commander Schneider, a tall, thin Titan of Germanic extraction, who was Rose’s eyes and ears to the fleet. If you wanted to know who was where and what they were doing, Schneider was the person you turned to.
“We need maximum infiltration on the outer flanks of each section. Would it not be better to deploy the jump ships from below?” He stood and made references to his tactical suggestion on the holographic display.
“We have seen weaknesses in Sentinel Shield capability from below.”
“Yes, but we need to deploy a much greater number of Jump Ships. Perhaps as many as a thousand, if we are to gain an early initiative,” interjected Admiral Haines.
Haines was Rose’s Number Two. He was a burly man of Caribbean descent. His accent was strong, but he spoke slowly and purposefully having grown used to people’s lack of understanding of his accent. He neared the end of his active Alpha life and looked forward to his place on The Senior Bench.
Haines proceeded to demonstrate how best the jump ship battle groups could be deployed, assisted by Schneider and Troy who illustrated the impact of teutonic fire power on each area.
Rose stood and approached the Map.
“Okay. I agree that we should attempt to split the enemy into four main sections. We must not forget Admiral Shenke’s task force, who can be deployed from the rear to perform a similar function. When we have broken the fleet into sections, we can then break up our Fleet into constituent parts and launch offensives in line with the Centurion B initiative.
We should deploy ten Rapier Battle Groups and one Sabre Battle Group. That will give us a concentration of seven hundred fifty Rapiers and seventy-five Sabres. We don’t want to cause an overflow of jump ship activity. This could lead to many jump ship losses in the short term, and we can scarce afford to lose the biggest advantage we have.”
He paused briefly, before speaking directly to Haines.
“Courtney. Can you and your team make the necessary arrangements? Also, can you make contact with Admiral Shenke and confirm our discussions?”
Rose left the command team to calculate the logistical and operational changes required to implement the new battle strategy. He headed for his state room. It was time to update Admiral Koenig.
Despite the revised tactical deployment, Rose still felt uneasy. The Sentinels were not acting as they had done before. They seemed much more assured, stronger and capable. He needed to know why and soon.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Sentinel Response
In the end, the decision to attack was taken out of General Yoshi’s hands. Alpha advanced to within one thousand kilometers of the Sentinel Fleet and had launched their offensive immediately. The initial onslaught was significant and effective. Yoshi coordinated his forces, and they were winning a number of individual skirmishes.
Alpha launched their jump ship. The Southern Fleet had no single answer to the overall adaptability and maneuverability of their jump ship. They were everywhere and there must have been hu
ndreds. Each individual ship carried substantial weaponry, and they certainly made a significant impact in the early exchanges, together with the constant barrage of teutonic missiles. However, the Sentinel Fleet’s plasma weapons were proving to be effective against the smaller Alpha vessels and gradually the jump ship numbers were dwindling, although Alpha had launched a new group of jump ships to swell their numbers.
Yoshi realized early on, that Alpha intended to split the Sentinel Fleet. He bolstered the defenses surrounding his command ships to try to stop this tactic from working. Yoshi knew Alpha looked to prey on the Sentinels’ perceived weaknesses and, in particular, battle strategy. Yoshi smiled. They may have been successful against General Timona and his Northern Fleet, but they won’t out-tactic me, he thought. then sat back and sent out a sequence of reactions to Alpha battle strategies. Yoshi would take the battle to Alpha.
At the outermost flanks at both ends of the Sentinel front line, ten Dark Ships stood silently. Right now they were undetectable, and they were ready to launch their deadly offensive. General Yoshi had positioned the Dark Ships, so that they would be invisible and yet they could strike the enemy fleet within moments of Yoshi issuing the command.
He briefed them before now, Each Commander would want to carry out their own preparation before commencing their offensives, and, what with the large Betanica Sect presence in his fleet, he didn’t wish to antagonize the Sect, with the inevitable backlash that would follow. The Sect controlled the power lords, and ultimately they controlled General Yoshi. Protocol must be observed.
He was ready and his fleet would soon gain the upper hand.
He gave the attack signal to the Dark Ships’ Commanders via remote sub-space relay transmission, with the signal bouncing off strategically placed remote comm boosters which surrounded the Sentinel Fleet. The signals would not be detected, nor would the Dark Ships as they carried out their silent attack.
The Dark Ships eased forward and set a course for the Alpha Fleet. Undetected, they slowly gathered pace and brought themselves into position inside their tactical atomic weaponry range. They were too close for Alpha to destroy the missiles before they hit their targets.
The brutal destructive force of eighty low-yield atomic missiles hit the center of the Alpha Fleet. The impact was immediate, with a huge fireball rising up from the epicenter of the mass explosion, instantly obliterating everything in its range. A huge gas cloud engulfed the whole fleet and suddenly there was silence.
The Dark Ships had done their jobs for now and they returned to their posts, primed and awaiting the call from Yoshi to attack once again.
Yoshi smiled. He knew he had the upper hand, but there was not much he could do to press that advantage home. Visibility was zero, with the gas cloud having engulfed the entire battle scene and both fleets. He would be ready to strike again with equally devastating force when the time was right.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Devastation
The attack was unexpected. They were aware of the potential for a nuclear attack and that some vessels within the Sentinel Fleet possessed dark shield characteristics, which rendered them nearly invisible. What Alpha had not expected was that Yoshi would use this tactic so early on and to such ruthless effect.
Admiral Rose stood in front of his team of commanders and listened to the damage assessment. Commander Schneider was tasked with summarizing the damage and was now drawing his speech to a close.
“In summary, we have lost fifty two vessels, including twenty-eight ships of the line, with a likely death toll of ten thousand plus. In addition, thirty-five vessels have reported significant damage, with eleven likely to have to retire from the main fleet to conduct extensive repairs. Two ships are adrift and await salvage.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Rose scratched his forehead, sighed and sat down.
“Okay…We are probably fortunate that the gas cloud has prevented the Sentinels from forcing home their advantage. We have lost a near-double-digit percentage of our overall capability in a blink of an eye, and a good start has turned into devastation on a major scale. You can imagine the response at home…”
He shifted in his seat and then sat forward, placing both his arms on the table, as if to encourage his team to huddle forward to hear what he must say next.
“We have no choice but to react swiftly and decisively and we can only really respond with sub-space weaponry.
A hushed silence fell over the group as realization that they were about to use a weapon which filled even the most ardent supporter of Mass Destruction weaponry with dread. Their history was the raison d’être for Alpha to seek funding from outside of ECG for the first time.
Sub Space Weaponry had first been tested some fifty years previously by a joint Alpha/ECG initiative. The Sub Space charge was composed of a small alloy sealed tube which was filled with a composite mix of negative and positive ions in a specially pressurized environment with plasma and antimatter being introduced to the mix in minute quantities—the larger the balance of antimatter, the larger the ionic yield. The tubes were then sealed, graded and then encased in ballistic missile shells.
Twenty-five years ago, Alpha was testing low yield sub-space charges in the Kuiper Belt, by examining the impact made on the belt by the detonation of the charges. The tests were fully funded and supported by ECG and were in their final assessment stages, prior to being introduced as a new addition to Alpha’s arsenal.
On that day, The SS Mauritius, a vacation cruise liner, was returning from Alpha Centauri and took a detour to the Kuiper Belt. They were ahead of schedule and had granted their fifteen hundred holiday-makers the opportunity to see the often unseen spectacle of the Belt. Unscheduled detours by Cruise Liners frequently caused Alpha problems, but not like this day. The Mauritius was destroyed by the Sub Space Charge, which had remotely detonated. All fifteen hundred passengers and some two hundred fifty crew were killed instantly, with the entire vessel vaporized. In its place a small vortex was created. The vortex then amortized, and the fabric of space in this area of the Kuiper belt became permanently distorted.
Then all hell broke loose. ECG were horrified and instantly withdrew their support for the project. This was followed by months of bad publicity with the media constantly calling for the ‘Weapon from Satan’ to be banned. Eventually ECG yielded and told Alpha that they could not develop sub-space weaponry of any kind.
Alpha accepted this in public, but not privately. This new form of weaponry could give them a huge advantage in future conflicts. The development of the weapon must continue and now, for the first time and without ECG’s knowledge, Alpha sought additional funding and began to develop the sub-space weapons secretively.
Prior to this event, all funding was provided by ECG., Now the Alpha Senior Bench had got the bug. They determined that their Articles provided that they didn’t have to keep ECG abreast of all their current endeavors, and they began to source more and more funding for more and more projects from outside of ECG’s knowledge and control.
The Sub Space Weapons remained banned by ECG, and Alpha continued to develop them in secret. Ten years ago, Alpha had released a limited batch of Sub Space Warheads to be used under strict and controlled guidelines, only as authorized by senior Alpha Commanders. In practice, this meant a limited number of charges were stored on Class A star ships under the watchful control of the ship’s commander. There was no official log of their existence in the ships inventory and they didn’t exist.
Over the years, several high ranking commanders had come close to using the weapon, but had pulled back at the last minute. Today, there could be no pulling back.
Rose continued. “We need to work quickly to select the charges and make them ready. We will need to look at the logistics, how best they are deployed, and the media, in terms of assuring them of our integrity and the need for these weapons to be used and the crew. There may well be some backlash from the more ecologically-minded individuals.
&
nbsp; “By my reckoning, we have perhaps twelve hours to cover all these issues comprehensively. Admiral Haines and Commander Troy will handle the logistics and Commander Schneider, the media and crew. Let’s thrash out how best we can use these weapons.”
Again, Commander Troy was the first to speak.
“We can’t use teutonic delivery. There is too great a risk of the missiles being destroyed prior to hitting their intended target and putting us within the charges range… I suggest we use a jump ship and short range Tigers.”
“If we go down that route, it will need to be delivered by a Sabre. The question is, how many do we deliver and what is the target?” said Haines.
“The target is the same as before.” said Rose. “We need to use three charges and target the command centers within the Sentinel Fleet. We also need to quickly determine the whereabouts of these Dark Ships and destroy them, before they attack us again.”
“Is there any call for us to use atomic weapons other than sub-space?” said Schneider. “This would be a more appropriate response and, if deployed properly, could still be effective.”
“No we need to gain the initiative here. Atomic weapons need to be delivered with pin-point accuracy for a task of this type. We would need too many warheads to make use of them here effective. If we run with the sub-space weapons, we need only use three to five charges at the most. However, we could use atomic weapons on the Dark Ships. Courtney?” Rose gestured towards his Number Two “I need you to find a way of locating the Dark Ships and removing their threat.”
“Well. If it’s okay with you I will leave Commander Troy to look at the sub-space charge logistics and I will concentrate on the Dark Ships and their destruction. One thing though, it would seem logical to utilize Admiral Shenke’s fleet. They are now well positioned but outside detection range. The Sentinels won’t be expecting an attack from behind.”