Resilience (Warner's World Book 6)

by Dave O'Connor

  Dave nodded. “So if we have to go under it, come in at night, over the poles and spend the minimum time under it.” Dave activated a route he had already programmed that highlighted his point.

  “Will we be escorting them on the insertion” asked Toyah.

  “Again that depends. As a general rule the larger the insertion the greater risk of detection and hence the more likely we will escort. But that just increases the risk of detection further. It depends on other tasking. Our intent at this stage is to go with plan A where we focus on destroying the enemy ships first. A lot will then depend on the amount of fighters we have available, how many are on CAP or other strike missions.”

  “Under our plan B that we discussed this morning” continued Dave “we may instead opt to warp in cloaked, not engage the enemy ships and insert cloaked. Under that plan we will provide a sizeable escort. The Flag (Rihan) and I have agreed on maintaining two lima squadrons for CAP. That means we’ll have up to six squadrons for either escort or strike. Bear in mind, that once those fighters strike, they are detected and hence vulnerable. So we may not support a cloaked insertion with initial strikes. You’ll have to develop contingency plans for that Gordon.”

  “Understood” affirmed Gordon. “Actually my biggest concern is not the insertion but how we combat those walkers of theirs once where down on the surface.” Gordon looked around at the others and then continued. “As I see it our Republican friends have some of those beamer AFVs but from all accounts from Slidwon they couldn’t compete with the walkers. So it will be up to us to do the heavy lifting.”

  Dave looked to Aubrey and Chase briefly but then focused back on Gordon. “You’re right on all points. They are a real threat. At this stage we just don’t know whether or not our armour is going to be effective against them. If worst comes to worst you may have to rely on your fire support droids or fighter strikes.”

  “But you’re ruling out providing fighter strikes on the insertion” challenged Gordon.

  “Yep and for good reasons. We will endeavour to insert you at a location where there are no walkers, but I can’t rule out that possibility.”

  “I realise that. So can we insert with a greater quantity of support missiles?”

  “Only at the expense of inserting armour or heavy vehicles. They will need to be ferried down in the hippos” said Chase.

  “But we can give priority to a resup for any follow up runs” added Aubrey.

  “But that will again be at the expense of bringing in more heavy kit” commented Gordon.

  “You’re going to have juggle with the priorities Gordon” said Dave. “Game out the options over the coming days and come up with what you think is the best mix.”

  Gordon knew he had pushed this point about as far as it could go. He realised the constraints imposed by the number of hippos they had and accepted the fact that it was up to him to sort this one out. Besides he did not want to aggravate his new relationship with Dave. “Fair enough” he said “I’ll get onto it.”

  Chapter 52. Kiev over Q2 1630, 8 October

  It had been another long meeting for Dave. They had been at it all day nutting out how to fight the coming battle. There was now a series of contingency plans in outline form. Individual issues were still coming up. Some sparked debate; others were immediately assigned to someone to deal with by Phil.

  Dave was conscious of the need to get back to the Audacity. He gave Phil the eye prompting Phil to say “I think that’s it for today. We’ve done well. I want those contingency plans fleshed out and we meet back here on the 11th. Thanks for participating everyone.”

  Dave stood up, console in hand and reminded Phil “don’t forget 1800.”

  “It would be a very brave man indeed to forget your wife’s birthday party” said Phil. “So what have you got her?”

  “You’ll see.”

  It wasn’t until 1700 that Dave got back on board the Audacity. He went straight to the dining area on B deck to check in on the arrangements. “Everything good to go Cranky?” asked Dave.

  “Well it will be if I’m left alone long enough” said Cranky. “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure she’s here on time.”

  “Has she been snooping around?”

  “Nah, not at all. She had sandwiches delivered to the briefing room at lunch.”

  “Good. I’m off to change. I’ll be back with her at 1800.”

  “Right oh then” said Cranky.

  Dave rushed back to his cabin. Rihan wasn’t there yet, which is what he hoped. He ferreted out the package he had picked up while on leave. It was already gift wrapped in the rogan style, which he thought was far too gaudy. He would have preferred elegance but ‘beggars can’t be choosy’ he said to himself. He stuffed the package in the top draw of his desk. But then he realised he had no gift card. “Damm” he said out loud as Rihan walked in.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing. I’m just going to take a shower. Busy day?”

  “All my days of late are busy” she said putting her console down on her desk. “I think I might go for a swim” she said.

  “Nah, you don’t want to do that darling. Let’s grab an early meal and have a quiet night back in our cabin. What do you reckon?”

  She looked at him a little warily.

  “I can give you a massage. That’ll relax you.”

  “You’re a smooth talker. OK. I’ll hop in the shower after you then.” Dave gave her a big smile and disappeared into the ensuite. They passed each other ten minutes later. Dave went straight to his terminal to work up a gift card that he would export to ePaper. But then he thought she could catch him in the process and that would ruin the surprise. So he dressed, poked his head in the door of the ensuite to tell Rihan he would be back in a minute and then raced back up to his office.

  He returned ten minutes later with the ePaper tucked under his shirt. Rihan was still in the ensuite. He managed to get his package out, place it on the small coffee table and placed the ePaper next to it. He sat back in one of the two lounge chairs a contented man.

  Five minutes later he was less content when Rihan had still not emerged from the ensuite. Now he was at risk of being late. He opened the door to find her asleep in the bath. His face softened as he admired her beautiful form in all its nakedness. ‘How I love you’ he thought to himself. He was now reluctant to wake her. But he knew he must.

  “Darling” he said softly. She did not wake up. “Darling” he said louder and this startled her.

  “Oh…oh” she muttered. She smiled at him. “Sorry, dozed off.”

  He bent over and kissed her on the forehead. “Come on - dinner time.”

  “Why don’t we order-in? I’m sure Cranky’d look after us.”

  “Nah, let’s not cause a fuss.”

  “It won’t be any fuss. Cranky likes you.”

  Dave smiled. But he stretched his hand out to her. She eyed it like poison. “Come on. Up you come.”

  Dave saw the smile begin to appear on her face and realised her intent. He withdrew his hand just a fraction before she could grab it. “Oh you’re no fun” she said.

  “Are you going to come nicely now?” said Dave as he warily extended his hand.

  “If you insist” she said and she took his hand and let him assist her out of the bath. With her hand still holding his she turned towards him and pressed her wet body up against him, soaking his shirt front.

  He knew he should have seen that coming but he also knew he couldn’t be annoyed with her. He grabbed her buttocks with both hands and kissed her on the lips. They parted and she said “Gotcha!”

  “Yes you did and now we both need to change.”

  Ten minutes later they approached the dining area. “Why are the doors closed?” asked Rihan.

  “Have no idea” said Dave.

  Rihan pushed through with an intrigued look on her face, only to have it instantly change to one of delight. “Surprise!” erupted the chorus of voices. Dave too was del
ighted to marvel at her face. It was glowing.

  After the dinner Dave brought out his gift. Rihan opened it with fervour, tearing the gaudy wrapping and then marvelling at the carved wooden case. “Oh it’s lovely” said Rihan.

  “I’m glad you like the case” said Dave and he rolled his hand over to beckon her to open it. She did and her eyes lit up at the dazzling green pendant on a golden chain.

  “You got it!” she stated rather than asked. Turning to Phil and the others she launched into an explanation of how she had spotted this on their holiday. She even quipped that the most remarkable thing was that Dave had taken the hint.

  Dave didn’t mind being the butt of her story. “Well go on, put it on” he said. He helped her. A minute later the green stone sparkled under the light to the admiration of all.

  Rihan looked tickled pink. She gave Dave a peck on the cheek and then whispered in his ear “I love you!”

  Chapter 53. Audacity over Q2 0815, 9 October

  Dave sat down at his desk in his office on A deck, scanned the messages in his in box and stopped at the one from Charles Chen. It took him a good five minutes to read the message and another five minutes to ponder it. His first reaction was to share this with Rihan. But then he thought better of it. It would be a big distraction at a time when focus on the upcoming battle was paramount.

  He drafted a reply to Charles thanking him for his message and saying that he would ponder it but that for the coming months he had to stay focussed on the war. He promised to give him a reply later, without specifying exactly when.

  He sat back in his chair and pondered some more. ‘What am I doing?’ he asked himself. ‘It’s such a fanciful proposition.’ “Maybe I should just ignore it” he said out loud to himself, just as Rihan walked in.

  “Ignore what darling?” she asked as she sat down opposite him.

  “Nothing” said Dave. “Are we ready?”

  “Almost. Just waiting on Julian to give me the go ahead.”

  “Well he better come through. We need this ALS to work. It will give an edge in flight ops.”

  “If it works” said Rihan but thinking better of it she added “I’m sure Julian will come though.”

  As if on cue, Julian hailed Rihan to let her know they had a green light. “We’re good to go” said Rihan as she stood.

  They walked out into corridor and headed towards the command centre.

  “Have you given any thought as to what you want to do after this war is over” asked Dave.

  “Make babies. Isn’t that still our plan?”

  Dave smiled “That does sound appealing.”

  Part 6

  Back into the Fray

  Repaired, reformed, recharged

  With steadied nerves all focussed

  Aware, alive and alert

  Now bent to a new locus

  What hasn’t killed you

  Has made you stronger

  Fear’s dreaded hold

  Binds you no longer

  Into the light

  On a brand new day

  You venture forth

  Back into the fray!

  Chapter 1. Slidwon 1530, 9 October

  “Offensive action” exclaimed Hazon to the senior officers gathered around the conference table, “yes that is the rogan way. But we are not going to commit our forces piecemeal anymore.” He stared into the older eyes looking at him. They were all older eyes but only Nestor’s were senior. It pleased Hazon. It pleased him a lot to finally have the upper hand at these planning conferences. So often he had been ignored and so often he had been right. “The enemy has proved more than capable of defeating a single fleet” continued Hazon.

  “But the humans defeated our combined fleet over Polaris” interrupted Vice Admiral Daeon Pugernon “and that debacle has put us in this precarious situation.”

  “And who’s to blame for that?” countered Hazon “Sallusam, who was too arrogant to heed good counsel. Well that is not going to happen again. Sallusam rots in a Republican jail and good riddance I say.”

  “The first change we are going to implement is to the way we exercise command. From here on fleet commanders will consult with their XO and operations staff about key planning decisions. There will be no more flying solo. It is too prone to making disastrous decisions and we cannot afford another.”

  “That’s an insult” spat out Vice Admiral Cientum Figlis. “How dare you try and force this indignity on us.” Cientum looked around for support but then realised he had made a mistake. None was forthcoming. The nod from Nestor to Hazon sealed his fate.

  “Hum” said Hazon. “That was your last outburst Figlis. Your days of command are over. You’re dismissed.”

  Cientum again looked around for support and again got none. He dared not press again. He was now afraid for his family. His shame would be hard to bear but their loss he could not. He stood up, collected his things and left without saying another word.

  The other faces were casting looks around the room but no one spoke. They waited for Hazon. He enjoyed the moment of silence it highlighted the power shift that had just taken place. Finally he spoke in a normal voice as if nothing had just happened.

  “The second change is that we will not send our fleets to an enemy system without sufficient ground troops to occupy and secure the system.” Hazon looked around to ensure there was no dissent. “Third” he said holding up three fingers “We will not go off chasing enemy stealth ships. That is sheer folly. We must lure them to us, detect them and defeat them with superior firepower.”

  “So you are opting for the defence?” Daeon asked.

  “Yes and no” said Hazon. “Here, let me explain.”

  It was a good half hour later when Daeon, the only one of the Admirals daring to engage Hazon in debate, spoke. “You really think they will attack us here?”

  “I do and we need to be ready for them.”

  “Even so, your strategy means that the Resistance in the other systems will go unchecked.”

  “Till the 13th RIF arrives at the end of the month. Then we will use it and the 14th to retake Cheklin. We will commit three divisions to that operation. That should be enough ground forces to prevail. It will still leave three fleets here to secure Istridium.”

  “But we’ll lose the sleth home worlds if we do not commit at least one fleet there” piped up Vice Admiral Simion Seglitus. He nervously looked around for support.

  “Simion is right” said Daeon. Simion breathed a sigh of relief at being supported.

  “Maybe” responded Hazon “but I would rather lose the sleth systems than Istridium. This is the seat of our power. It accounts for 25% of all military production.”

  “And if we do, the sleth will come back at us” added Simion. “We have not treated them kindly and we cannot expect less from them.”

  “But they do not have a fleet anymore” said Hazon.

  “Yet they field… what is it… over 50,000 troops.”

  “Spread out over eight systems” countered Hazon. “They lack the transports to concentrate. The 33rd Flotilla will suffice to prevent them doing so.”

  “That assumes the humans won’t intervene. The Sleth systems are closer to Qwantum than Istridium.”

  “True. But even if they do turn in that direction it will mean our operation to retake Cheklin will definitely succeed and we will have retaken our home world. We need to focus on the essentials. We no longer have the luxury to focus on multiple fronts.”

  Simion looked to Daeon but could see he was not going to press the matter any further. So he nodded to Hazon.

  “Thank you” said Hazon “this has been a good debate. We need more of this. We need to test our strategies before committing to them. We become stronger doing so. It is not a sign of weakness. Use your subordinates. They have wisdom. Draw on it. In doing so, you become a better commander not a weaker one.”

  After the others had departed Nestor stood up and placed his hand on Hazon’s shoulder. “Well done my friend.
You have your job cut out for you but you have made a good start.”

  Chapter 2. Kiev over Q2 1000, 10 October

  Phil was in the command centre observing the holo at the start of the exercise that would see a ground assault by the Federation Army’s First Division, commonly referred to as the ‘Big Red 1’, onto Q2. It would then link up with the two republican brigades and advance to Rollinium. All was going well so far. The Big Red 1 was now on the surface. Phil had a content look on his face. It was not to last long.

  Alex came in and asked Phil to come back to his office. Phil knew that meant trouble. They walked in silence till they entered his office, where Gret, the sleth political liaison, was waiting. Phil cast him a wary eye as he gave him a “Good morning” and ushered Gret to take a seat.

  “So what’s so urgent?” asked Phil.

  “I have received a signal from my father requesting your urgent intervention to secure our home worlds” said Gret. His tone was calm and he had an expression on his reptilian face that was slightly more favourable than neutral.

  “I thought we had been through all this” said Phil.

  “Yes, but there have been developments. The resistance on three of our home worlds have succeeded in overthrowing the imperialists. We need your urgent commitment of transports and a modest number of warships to enable us to concentrate our force and recapture Slenthsl. We have three brigades of troopers ready now. They just need to be transported there and supported during the initial landings. We have a further two brigades on Slenthsl already engaging the imperialists. It is ready to fall. Slenthsl has ship production capabilities. Once we control those we can build our own fleet.”

  Phil’s expression betrayed his feelings and these were not favourable. Gret, ever astute, picked up on these and so he skipped part of his spiel and went straight to the part that he thought would clinch the deal he was after. “In exchange for your support in this regard, we are prepared to offer you three brigades of sleth troopers once Slenthsl is secure. Your warships can escort them back here.” Gret even managed a soft smile as he cocked his head towards Phil.