by D. J. Holmes
“COM message from Rear Admiral Yarumm,” Handmaiden’s COM officer reported. “It’s a battle report.”
“Captain Maleck, Commodore Becket, will you join me in my briefing room?” Ya’sia asked as she stood. “Transfer the file there if you please,” she added as she nodded towards the COM officer. “Set course for the gas giant.”
Becket stood and followed Ya’sia out of Handmaiden’s bridge. She only paused to allow Maleck to go first. When they stepped into the briefing room, Ya’sia was already bringing up the holo recording of the battle. In silence the three of them watched things play out. Ya’sia sped up the replay until the Karacknid fleet got into range of Delta Fort. The Karacknid ships approached the gas giant without decelerating on a trajectory that allowed them to fire four missile salvos at the defenses before they moved out of range. In return, the defenders fired three of their own. The final damage reports indicated that two hundred and twenty three Karacknid ships were destroyed or abandoned while one hundred and ninety alliance ship suffered the same fate. Though the engagement had been brief, lasting just twenty minutes, Becket couldn’t help but notice how savage it was. Tens of thousands of missiles had been exchanged by both sides and just as many if not more individuals had been killed. And yet it looks like a brief skirmish compared to the Battle of Earth, Becket thought, though it was an opinion she didn’t intend to voice.
Then, rather than retreat back to the shift passage they had entered the system from, the Karacknid fleet moved towards the shift passage that led deeper into Alliance space. Instead of disappearing down the shift passage though, they came to a halt. For six days they simply sat there, goading Delta Fort’s defenders. Then, without any apparent reason, they turned around and retreated back towards their own territory.
“Well,” Ya’sia said after she and Maleck discussed the losses the fleet had suffered. “What do you make of it?” she asked as he turned to Becket.
“It was a probing attack,” Becket answered. “It has to have been. We know they have many more ships operating along your borders. They attacked your fixed defenses, then cut off the shift passage out of the system so word of the brief engagement couldn’t reach your High Command. They meant to draw more ships to this system.”
Ya’sia nodded. “My thoughts exactly. There are at least five other squadrons that have orders to rendezvous here over the next week. Squadrons that will have been pulled away from other worlds. This attack was simply meant to draw away our forces from some other sector.”
“What should we do?” Maleck asked.
“We send out fast frigates to meet those squadrons and turn them back, they may very well be needed where they were,” Ya’sia answered. “Then we assess what ships we have here. I want to send two reinforced squadrons to Gamma and Epsilon Forts. It may be that they have already come under attack and may need immediate reinforcements. Or it may be that other forts further along the line are hit, if so, our squadrons will free up other ships that could be dispatched to their aid.”
Becket brought a hand up to rub her cheek as she thought through the situation. “Is there something you wish to add Commodore?” Ya’sia asked in response to her gesture.
Becket leaned forward towards the holo projector. “May I?”
When Ya’sia nodded to give her approval, Becket rewound the recording of the battle. She then slowed it as the Karacknid squadron fired its first missile salvo and defended itself against the Alliance ships’ return fire. “Look at how they are defending their capital ships,” Becket said. “Their outer echelon of screening ships are very tightly packed together. I reckon such a formation would actually hamper the defensive weapons of the larger capital ships deeper in their formation. Many of the screening ships would get in the way of their anti-missile fire.”
“A typical problem,” Maleck responded. “We must get the right balance between the best formations where screening can defend our capital ships and yet not hamper our larger ships’ fire.”
“Of course,” Becket said as her mind went to the Karacknid fleet’s subsequent maneuvers after the engagement. “But the screening ships are more deeply packed than what we witnessed at Jaranna or Earth. It’s like they wanted to attack your fortifications, yet in such a way as to not risk their capital ships. Like they have an important mission they’re saving them for. And their behavior afterwards, they are screaming that this entire show was a probing attack. Just sitting there for six days, they are emphasizing that they never intended to actually overwhelm your defenses.”
“Isn’t that what we’ve just agreed upon?” Ya’sia said. “That’s why we should be dispatching ships to the other fortified systems.”
“Unless that is what the Karacknid commander wants you to do,” Becket suggested. “A double bluff. The fact that this was so obviously a probing attack means you are bound to send ships to the other fortified worlds. And look at what ships we’ll be sending, we’ve already pulled many ships away from the colonies immediately behind Delta Fort. If a secondary attack punches through here, there won’t be much to stop them advancing all the way to Cria.”
“If it’s not a double bluff and the real blow is going to strike elsewhere, then by holding ships here, we’ll be allowing their probing attack to accomplish its goal,” Maleck responded. “They’ll have successfully tricked us into bringing extra fleet elements here that are really needed elsewhere.”
“That’s why the positions of their screening ships gave me pause,” Becket explained. “If this was really meant to be a probing attack to draw more of your ships here, then why restrict the effectiveness of their capital ships? Why not allow the approaching fleet to dish out as much damage as possible to make this attack look more serious?”
“Perhaps the Karacknids simply find it much easier to construct new frigates and destroyers than capital ships,” Ya’sia suggested. “We know from the tactics employed against your Home Fleet that they were willing to sacrifice many screening ships to protect their capital ships.”
“That was because they feared our fighters,” Becket explained.
“Perhaps they are aware that we have developed some of our own,” Ya’sia replied.
“Perhaps,” was as far as Becket was willing to go towards agreeing.
“But it still sits uneasy with you?” Ya’sia asked
Becket nodded. “There’s no way we can prove it one way or another.”
“In that case, I must dispatch what ships I can spare to Gamma and Epsilon forts,” Ya’sia said. “At the minute there is no indication that they are needed here. However, that does not mean we can’t take extra precautions. If the Karacknids are planning to land a stronger blow against us, then we may need to rethink our strategy. The purpose of these forts is to provide fortified positions that the Karacknids have to assault if they want to push deeper into our territory. However if they are trying to pull our fleets out of position, that suggests they intend to strike one decisive blow against us. Much like what they tried against Earth. In that case, hiding behind our fortifications and allowing ourselves to be surrounded and destroyed makes no sense. We will dispatch the ships we do not need but plan for the eventuality you are correct Commodore. Now, if you will excuse me, I will write up the orders and we can meet later to work out some ideas.”
Chapter 25
The war with the Karacknids was the first war that can properly be called an interstellar war. Before the struggle for the survival of our species broke out, Humanity was used to fighting over just a handful of important colonies. Subsequent wars would dwarf even the War of Doom, but it was the first that required multiple Human fleets to fight over tens of systems thousands of light years apart.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
Handmaiden, 16th December 2481 AD (twenty-six days later).
Becket scratched her chin as she stared at a star map in Ya’sia’s briefing room. A third report of a Karacknid probing attack had just come in. Beta and Gamma forts had already been hit and
now Zeta had been added to the list. In each instance the Karacknids had struck hard and fast and then pulled back. The result of all the attacks was that confusion reigned among the Varanni High Command. Almost daily word was coming in of squadrons and fleets being moved around from system to system behind the line of fortified systems. From what sense Becket could make of all the fleet dispositions, it seemed Admiral Jourm feared Alpha Fort was going to be the Karacknids’ final target. Only it and Epsilon had not been hit. Epsilon guarded the approaches to the territory of the Hamkana, one of the smaller members of the Alliance. In contrast, if a fleet captured Alpha fort and pushed forward several systems further, it would gain a position from which to strike straight towards Varanni Prime. That seemed like the Karacknids’ ultimate goal.
Closing her eyes, Becket could picture the star map just as easily as if it was displayed in front of her. She had spent hours staring at it over the previous weeks. In essence, the border between Alliance space and the staging world the Karacknids had prepared was like a giant chess board. The six fortified worlds the Alliance had were like pawns screening the important industrial worlds of the Alliance species. Behind the forts were several large Alliance fleets that were stationed in readiness to either support the forts or repulse any attempt by the Karacknids to push past them. Each Karacknid probing attack made the back line of Alliance fleets shuffle one-way and then another. But which way are the Karacknids trying to make them move? Becket asked herself for the umpteenth time. She, Ya’sia and Maleck were all trying to discern a pattern in both the Karacknid attacks and the High Command’s responses to see if they could figure out the move the Karacknid commander was trying to trick the Alliance fleets into making. There were several areas that were becoming more and more exposed as fleets moved around but figuring out which, if any, were the Karacknids’ real target was causing a real headache. It didn’t help that there was no way to know if High Command was reacting in a way that the Karacknids wanted or was actually reacting in a way that compromised the Karacknid battle plan.
“Do you think they know about our artificial shift passages?” Maleck asked. “Perhaps that is why they are launching so many probing attacks, they are testing our response times. Maybe even using our artificial shift passages against us by causing us to move so many fleets here and there.”
“It’s a possibility,” Becket responded, “though I doubt there is a way for us to know.” Like everything else, she thought but didn’t add. The Alliance’s ability to make artificial shift passages gave them a great defensive advantage. While it would take weeks for the Karacknids to move a fleet from one of their staging planets to another, an Alliance fleet could make the same journey days quicker. What made figuring out the Karacknids harder was the fact that they were moving ships about. Ya’sia had orders to send scouting ships into the Karacknids’ systems almost every day. Most made it back, though some didn’t. Their data was patchy at best for those that did return were usually chased away by Karacknid patrols. They were also getting the scouting data from the other fortified worlds, but it was always weeks old. Just as it would be for High Command at Varanni Prime, Becket thought as she closed her eyes again. She was having a difficult time making sense of it all. She didn’t know how Jourm and the other Admirals not only tried to make sense of it, but then gave orders to so many different fleets and commanders.
“If only we knew where they were going to strike!” Ya’sia complained. “We could face them head on and give them a straight up fight. If we lost, I would accept it. But these cat and mouse tactics are infuriating.”
“Just as they are intended to be I’m sure,” Becket commented.
“Perhaps there is one comfort we can take in all this,” Maleck suggested. He continued when both Ya’sia and Becket looked at him with questioning faces. “If the Karacknids had an overwhelming number of warships, then wouldn’t they just attack us and get it over with? The fact they feel they need to employ such strategies suggests the match between our fleet and theirs is more even than we thought.”
“Maybe,” Becket said as she thought through the suggestion. “Maybe. If it was the Flex-aor we were fighting, I’d tend to agree with you. But the Karacknids have shown they are not simply bloodthirsty opponents. They are strategists and tacticians. I fear that even if they had an overwhelming force, they would still seek to outsmart us and defeat us with skill as well as numbers.”
“Hhmmm, I fear you may be right,” Maleck responded.
“The question remains, where are they planning to hit us?” Ya’sia asked in frustration.
*
Marauder, Alliance border world (six days later).
The time has finally come, Hurlang said to himself as saliva dripped down his razor sharp teeth. He lent forward in his command chair as Marauder jumped out of shift space. As the displays around him filled with sensor data, his lips widened to show more of his teeth. The enemy fleet was right where he expected them to be. And they are no match for my forces. For the last month, Operation Counter Claw had been playing out exactly as he had planned. Thousands of his ships had attacked and raided the fortified systems the Alliance species had set up. He had even sent several smaller fleets behind enemy lines to sow more confusion. Now, his main strike was about to fall and the Alliance ships were badly out of place.
Patiently, he waited until all of his ships reverted to normal space and formed up around Marauder. Then, with a nod, he gave his approval for the fleet to advance. Seconds later, with just five percent thrust, four thousand of the Karacknid Empire’s most experienced and battle-hardened warships silently cruised into the Alliance system. By the time they were detected it would be too late for the defenders to run. They would be crushed and then his fleet would advance. We’ll take their key industrial worlds and reduce them to ashes. Then they will be forced to surrender. Hurlang had no doubt about the coming success. He had pulled the Alliance fleets out of position and while they were still trying to figure out his tactics, almost all of his fleets were now moving to coalesce at this system. His current fleet would achieve the first thrust deep into Alliance territory, then, when the rest of his ships joined him, they would finish the war by taking the two largest capital systems of the Alliance.
*
Handmaiden, Delta Fort system, 22nd December 2481 AD.
Becket was sitting in her quarters reading a scouting report when the flash alert ran through Handmaiden. In seconds she was sprinting towards the battleship’s bridge. When she got there, Ya’sia and Maleck were already at their stations. “Our stealth surveillance drones picked up multiple anomalies passing them,” Maleck explained as she took her seat. He nodded towards the secondary holo display.
Becket watched as thousands of contacts slowly moved past the surveillance drones. They’re trying to sneak up to us, Becket realized. Given the numbers, it made perfect sense. The count was currently at three thousand, but it was still rising. If they just announced themselves, their quarry would likely just run away. She looked over to Ya’sia to gauge the Admiral’s mood. With the advanced warning she could pull her fleet out and fall back to join forces with the fleets stationed deeper into Alliance territory. No, Becket realized as she saw Ya’sia tense her shoulders. We’ll not be falling back today, at least not yet. The battlestations in orbit around Delta Fort had the firepower of more than one hundred Crian battleships. Ya’sia would not abandon them without putting up a fight. At least we’re prepared, she thought as she played out how she hoped the coming battle would go in her mind.
“Dispatch two frigates to carry news of this attack to high command,” Ya’sia ordered. “Send them out with five freighters. They’re to escort the freighters to the shift passage and then leave them behind. Make sure their Captains have the battle plan we intend to employ with them. High Command will need to know what is likely to transpire.”
Becket nodded. If a frigate suddenly broke orbit and raced for the shift passage the Karacknids would know they had been discovered. A c
onvoy breaking orbit would not raise the same suspicions.
“Signal our Pulsar fighters, they are to launch and proceed to their jumping off positions. We will update their initiation times when we can,” Ya’sia added.
Four thousand, Becket thought as the number of ships passing the recon drones stopped climbing. This is no mere probing attack. This is it. Though she didn’t want to, she calculated the total number of Karacknid ships that had been seen operating against Alliance forces. Over twelve thousand. It made her swallow hard. She didn’t know exactly, but she reckoned the Varanni Alliance had somewhere in the region of ten thousand warships. But they were spread out all across their territories. It will take weeks for them to hear of this push and counter it.