by Dietmar Wehr
As the tactical AI continued to deliver an update every minute, Koenig noticed that Tango1 was starting to get closer to the edge of the sun in terms of how it appeared to Excalibur. If the Tong ship slipped out past the sun’s edge, it very likely would no longer be visible, and if the other two ships did the same, then Excalibur would lose track of the Tong altogether. He knew that the astro AI was pushing Excalibur’s engines as hard as possible, but with the angles involved, there was no guarantee that the ship would be fast enough to keep the Tong ships in sight.
Over the next few minutes, Excalibur was able to pick up five more Tong ships for a total of eight, and one of them seemed to be moving more slowly than the other seven. Koenig was convinced the slower ship was the Tong fleet flagship, which was letting the rest of the fleet catch up to it.
“Lateral movement across the front of the Tau Ceti star suggests that either the Tangos are slowing down or they are veering away from the star,” said the astro AI.
That was worrisome. If the Tong ships were moving away from the star, then they were moving closer to Excalibur. At these distances, it was very hard to determine visually if a ship was coming closer or moving further away.
“Move us away from the sun by enough to keep Tango7’s position relative to Tau Ceti constant,” said Koenig. The AI acknowledged his order.
The first response from the flagship was short. Keep tracking the Tong ships and keep reporting their estimated positions and velocities. Koenig shook his head at the contents. He was already doing that as per previous discussions with Dejanus. Why she felt the need to tell him to do something that he was already doing, and that she knew he was already doing, was beyond him. What he really wanted to know, and what the message didn’t say, was what orders Dejanus had given to Durendal. If the other light cruiser could swing around the sun and pick up at least one of the Tong ships from a different angle, then the AIs could figure out the exact position and trajectory of the Tong ship and, by extension, the Tong fleet. In the meantime, Koenig had to walk the fine line between getting too close and risk being detected versus not getting close enough and losing track altogether.
The next message came less than a minute later, and Koenig was shocked when he read it. Durendal had picked up multiple ships from her position. That could only mean that the Tong were moving two fleets from both jump paths. He tried to figure out why they would do that. If they suspected that TOSF ships were lying in wait for them, they’d be radar scanning in all directions, and Excalibur would have picked up those radar emissions by now. Since she didn’t, that meant they weren’t scanning, and that implied that they thought they were unobserved. You wouldn’t need to split up your forces if you intended for both of them to attack the same target, such as the Colony on Tau Ceti 4. You might do it as a precaution against there being defensive forces in Tau Ceti. One Tong fleet would keep the TOSF ships distracted while the other fleet slipped past on its way to Earth. Koenig had a hunch that was what the Tong were really up to. He composed a message to Dejanus, hoping she would get it and that he would get her reply in time to do something useful.
Another minute went by and a third message from Dejanus arrived. Koenig groaned as he read it.
FC TO EXCALIBUR ACTUAL. TACCOMP SAYS DURENDAL’S TONG FLEET IS THE MAIN BODY. IT SEEMS TO BE HEADING FOR TAU CETI 4 AND THE COLONY. 7TH FLEET IS MOVING TO ATTACK MAIN TONG FLEET. DATA ON 7TH FLEET’S PROJECTED POSITION FOLLOWS. KEEP TRACKING YOUR SHIPS AND SEND UPDATES ON THE ETA OF THEIR ARRIVAL AT COLONY PLANET. END OF MESSAGE.
Koenig cursed out loud. “Astro, can a repeat of my last message reach 7th Fleet based on their projected trajectory?”
“Negative. The Tau Ceti star would block the comlaser signal.”
“Dammit!” said Koenig. If he was right about his Tong fleet trying to sneak past to Earth, then Dejanus had just made a huge blunder, and the fact was he couldn’t really blame her. Based on her TacComp’s assessment that Durendal’s Tong fleet was the main body, her decision to attack it was perfectly justifiable. It was the tactical computer’s assessment that was the problem.
By now, 7th Fleet’s projected trajectory was showing on the tactical display along with his TacComp’s assessment of the path that his Tong fleet might take if it intended to bypass the Colony and head for Earth. The damn sun would block communications long enough so that 7th Fleet could never swing around the sun in time to catch his Tong fleet before they jumped away.
“XO to the Bridge,” said Koenig. He needed to confer with Soriya, although he couldn’t see any other alternative to the one that was now in his mind and which made him shiver in fear.
When she arrived, wearing her life-support suit with her helmet under her arms, (his was under the Command Pod seat), he quickly brought her up to speed and described what he thought was the only thing Excalibur could attempt to do to stop the Tong from reaching Earth. The shocked look on her face matched the sudden drain of color from it.
“If you can think of an alternative that would stop this fleet, I’d love to hear it,” he said.
She shook her head while staring off into infinity. “No. Nothing. I’m sorry, but your idea is the only one that has a chance of working in time. What does TacComp say about it?”
“Haven’t asked yet. Might as well ask now. Tactical, have TacComp assess the odds of success of engaging our Tangos as I’ve just described to the XO.”
“Probability of crippling at least half of Tong fleet is 61.8%. Probability of crippling at least half of Tong fleet without Excalibur suffering comparable damage is 38.2%. Probability of Excalibur not suffering major damage at all is less than 20%.”
“Shit,” said Koenig under his breath. Five to one odds that his ship would suffer major damage which, in ship combat terms, typically meant becoming a lifeless, drifting wreck.
“I may have an idea,” said Soriya suddenly. “We think we know which Tango is the flagship. If I remember my briefings on the Tong, they emphasize obedience to orders over developing leadership skills. If we can eliminate the flagship, the rest of that fleet just might turn around and head home. And if they don’t turn around right away, whoever takes over may not have the same level of tactical skills and might be more likely to make a mistake.”
“It’s certainly an idea worth considering. Tactical, is there a tactical approach that has a high probability of critically damaging or destroying the Tong flagship with a low risk of incurring significant damage to Excalibur?” asked Koenig.
“Affirmative. The tactical approach now on the display has a probability of achieving both goals with a 13.4% higher probability than any other approach.”
Koenig and Soriya looked at the display and both reacted with raised eyebrows. The approach involved Excalibur making a high acceleration lunge (Koenig couldn’t think of a more appropriate word) at the Tong fleet from one side, with a pass that was close enough to ensure at least one hit on the Tong flagship from the two gravity cannons. By orienting the ship so that the Tong would not see any reflections, either visual or radar, the expectation was that Excalibur would be able to fire once with the element of complete surprise. When Excalibur passed all the Tong ships, it would flip end for end so that the less stealthy rear of the ship was facing away from the Tong fleet and also so that the two gravity cannons would have a clear field of fire for more shots. To his surprise, Koenig saw that even after the 180-degree flip, Excalibur would continue to accelerate away from the Tong fleet.
“Why continue acceleration away from the Tong fleet after the flip? Won’t that make it more difficult to engage them if they don’t give up the attempt to head for Earth?” he asked the AI.
“Accelerating away from the enemy fleet will give missile defense more time to track and destroy enemy missiles if they fire at Excalibur. It also reduces the amount of time that Excalibur would be within Tong graser-fire range, and a third reason is that Excalibur would be able to fire its own missiles, which would not be possible if the ship were accelerating toward the
enemy fleet. Missile fire would have to be done almost immediately if the missiles are to be able to neutralize their imparted backward momentum quickly enough to reach their targets before the Tong could jump away.”
“How would the missiles find their targets if the enemy ships are no longer silhouetted against this sun?” asked Soriya.
“As the ship passes by the Tong Fleet, it will be able to determine their trajectories and velocities. TacComp can then program the missiles to aim for each target’s projected position, and the missiles will use terminal guidance radar to make final course corrections. Accuracy will be lower than usual, but TacComp estimates that 55% of the missiles should hit their targets if they can be launched quickly enough.”
Koenig was not overjoyed with that news. Excalibur could only fire six missiles at a time. Half that meant they could hit three ships. If he allocated two missiles to the Tong flagship to make sure it was hit at least once, in addition to any gravity cannons hits, then the best he could hope for was to whittle down the enemy fleet by two more ships. Three out of the nine that had been detected so far was not a huge percentage. A TOSF fleet suffering one third casualties on its way to attack the Tong home system would not turn around and head home, but Soriya was right about the Tong emphasizing obedience at the expense of training leaders, and the sudden loss of their fleet commander when they least expected it might just be enough to make the new fleet commander play it safe and run for home.
“I don’t see any better options, so we’ll go with the attack on the Tong flagship and the secondary missile attack on the rest of the Tangos as discussed. Astro and Tactical will co-ordinate the attack. XO, you better return to your battle station. Astro can begin the attack now.”
The attack took place faster than Koenig was expecting, but in hindsight he should have adjusted his expectations. In order for Excalibur to keep the Tong fleet between it and the sun, it had to keep its velocity faster than the Tong fleet’s due to the angle at which the enemy fleet was pulling away from the sun. When keeping the distance between the two forces constant was no longer important, Excalibur began accelerating towards the Tong fleet, and the intervening distance shrank very quickly.
Koenig had little to do now. The tactical AI would be able to figure out the optimal range for firing the gravity cannons down to the split second and would do so without any further instructions from Koenig. The Mark 14 missiles were ready to launch. Except for two that were earmarked for Tango7, the Tong flagship, the other four each had a different target.
“Thirty seconds to cannon fire,” said the AI in its usual calm voice.
“Switch display to computer visual!” ordered Koenig. The display immediately showed the Tau Ceti sun but with the light intensity damped down so that Koenig would not be blinded by it. It also showed the computer-enhanced images of the Tong ships. They were still tiny but no longer just black dots.
“Ten seconds.”
Koenig eyes opened wide as the tiny black shapes suddenly seemed to grow. Within seconds, they were recognizable as Tong warships, and Koenig ducked instinctively as the images flashed past at what looked like only a few hundred meters away.
“Cannon have fired. Missiles have launched. Cannon ready to fire again in three…two…one...now.”
Koenig looked at that tactical sidebar data. The first cannon barrage looked like it had scored two hits!
“Switch to close range tactical!” he shouted. The image reassembled itself into green and red icons. Two red icons were flashing, indicating hits. A small green triangle with the number six in it was clawing its way from Excalibur to the Tong fleet. Now two more red icons began flashing, and the sidebar data showed six hits from cannon fire, even though the gravity cannons only fired twice. Koenig was so engrossed in the display that he missed the AI’s report of a third cannon barrage, but he did catch the follow-up report.
“Third cannon volley missed. Hit accuracy is dropping below 40%. Continue cannon fire?”
“Negative! Can they see us?” asked Koenig.
“Unlikely. Excalibur is not silhouetted against the sun, and hull orientation has been adjusted to minimize reflections. Now receiving radar emissions. Possibility of enemy missile attack is high. Recommend shifting cannon to anti-missile mode.”
“Do it!” Koenig realized that he didn’t really need to shout, but doing it felt good. Even as he relaxed a little in the knowledge that Excalibur’s graphene hull and design geometry made her very hard to target either visually or by radar, he knew that was not the case with her missiles. Now that the enemy was radar scanning to their rear, they would see the missiles coming. The only question was whether they could activate their defensive systems fast enough to stop his missile barrage. The missile icon was getting very close to the red triangles.
“Missile impact in four…three…two…one…now,” said the AI.
One of the flashing triangles disappeared altogether. Three more began flashing very quickly and started dropping behind the others. Those were critical hits that had rendered their targets unable to maneuver. The sidebar showed that Tango7, the Tong flagship, had broken up. Koenig held his breath. Excalibur had done as much as she could do and now they had to find out if it had been enough. Of the nine Tong ships, five were still accelerating, three were coasting and one was gone. After what seemed like a long time but was actually only a few seconds, the five that were still accelerating began changing their trajectory. They were swinging around, and Koenig could already tell that they were no longer pointed in the direction they needed to aim at in order to head for Earth. That didn’t necessarily mean they were heading home. They could still try to link up with the other Tong fleet and maybe try for Earth again, but Koenig could warn Dejanus in plenty of time if it looked like that’s what they were up to. The thought of Dejanus made Koenig wonder if Excalibur had line-of-sight to 7th Fleet now.
“Are we in position to get a message to 7th Fleet now?” he asked.
“Negative. 7th Fleet’s projected position will not permit a comlaser signal for another 377 seconds.”
“Can we tell where this Tong fleet is headed yet?”
“TacComp estimates an attempt to link up with the other Tong fleet at 83.5%.”
“Any sign of missiles?”
“Neg—missile detected. Cannon have fired. Missile destroyed. Recommend full radar scanning now.”
“YES!”
“Two missiles detected. Cannon firing…now. Both missiles destroyed. No other missiles detected, but enemy fleet will have picked up our radar emissions.”
“Go back to stealthy mode! Astro, change our trajectory. I want to be able to keep pace with the enemy fleet without being silhouetted against the sun. Can do?”
“Can do,” said the AI.
After a few seconds of thinking, Koenig said, “Com, at the earliest opportunity to get a message to 7th Fleet, send all our tactical data, combat report and Excalibur’s status.” The AI acknowledged the order.
By the time Excalibur and 7th Fleet were in the right positions to communicate, it was clear that the five undamaged Tong ships were indeed trying to link up with the other fleet. Dejanus’s ambush should have happened by now, and Koenig had no way of knowing how successful it was and wouldn’t know until 7th Fleet had received his message and sent one back. Excalibur knew where 7th Fleet was likely to be, but Dejanus had no idea where Excalibur was now.
Nothing major changed for the next 21 minutes. Whereas Excalibur had started the engagement with the Tong fleet between it and the sun, now she was closer to the sun than the Tong fleet and was able to track the fleet from the intermittent sunlight reflections coming from individual ships in the Fleet back to Excalibur. Finally, a fourth message arrived from Dejanus.
FC TO EXCALIBUR ACTUAL. AMBUSH ENTIRELY SUCCESSFUL. ALL TONG SHIPS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED OR CRIPPLED. YOUR ACTIONS REGARDING 2ND TONG FLEET ARE TO BE COMMENDED. KEEP SENDING TRAJECTORY UPDATES SO THAT 7TH FLEET CAN INTERCEPT YOUR GROUP. END OF MESSAGE.
&n
bsp; That made Koenig feel better, but only a little. 7th Fleet now consisted of one super-heavy and five heavy cruisers, along with three light cruisers. Koenig had no real idea of what kind of ships the five surviving Tong ships were. At least one of them had taken a gravity cannon hit with no apparent damage to its ability to maneuver. This suggested that they were probably at least heavy cruiser class. TOSF Intelligence suspected that the Tong had built super-heavies that were larger than Corregidor. If the five Tong ships were all at least heavy cruisers, Dejanus would not have an overwhelming superiority in firepower, and since 7th Fleet was coming from ahead of the Tong fleet, getting behind them for another ambush was not going to be easy. If they had to fight the Tong fleet in a high-speed battle coming from opposite directions, 7th Fleet was likely to take a lot of damage. So would the Tong fleet, but since 7th Fleet represented a significant portion of what the TOSF had left, any tactical victory by Dejanus could still end up be a strategic defeat if 7th Fleet ended up being decimated. He decided to add a message to the next data stream sent to Dejanus.