by D. J. Holmes
“We know our duty,” a Varanni Commodore responded. “We will all give our lives to hold back this evil tide.” The Varanni officers all bowed their heads to show their agreement while the Crians and others voiced their agreement with clenched fists or raised arms.
“Then let us be about our business,” Ya’sia responded. She saluted her subordinates and ended the COM channel. Without a pause, she turned to her staff officers and began to give out more commands. “Commodore Becket,” she said when she turned to Becket. “I want you to arrange a strike with the Pulsar fighters. Let’s remind the Karacknids that we still have them. Then pull them back. We’re going to hold them and the fighters from my species’ Home Fleet in reserve and use them only when necessary.”
“Yes Admiral,” Becket responded. She returned to Handmaiden’s bridge and got to work. The first thing she did was check on the Karacknid fleet. It had appeared just thirty minutes ago and was still forming up into its six taskforces. Becket’s eyes narrowed when she looked at Task Force Six. Its numbers had increased. There were six hundred ships within its formation. They have received reinforcements as well, she realized. That explained the Karacknids’ slight delay. They will have more ships following their main fleet too. Just as every Alliance ship was racing to Kalesh, she suspected the Karacknids were pulling all their forces into their main attack as well. Still, Task Force Six is the weakest they have, that will be our target, Becket decided.
*
Captain Xam’alan gripped the flight stick of her Pulsar fighter. She could feel her shoulders and arms tense up as her squadron approached the Karacknid fleet. At the battle for Delta Fort, she had tensed up as well. There it had been due to nerves. It had been her first combat experience. Now another fear gripped her. The massive Karacknid fleet in front of her was just one jump away from the last world where her species lived free. The Karacknids had nuked her homeworld of Jaranna and conquered every other Mindus colony. Only those who had been evacuated by the Varanni now lived in freedom. And they are going to remain free, she promised herself. Before the Karacknid invasion her species had never been involved in an interspecies war. Xam’alan had never contemplated becoming a warrior. Yet now she intended to kill as many of her species’ sworn enemies as possible.
“All squadrons, engines to full, turn to heading seven nine six point six,” Wing Commander Gaz’zam ordered.
Xam’alan acknowledged the order and checked to make sure her squadron of fighters complied. She had lost two fighters at Delta Fort, but the ten in her squadron were still more than enough to do some damage.
When the twenty-six fighters in Gaz’zam’s wing revealed themselves by accelerating towards the heart of Task Force Six, the Karacknids were quick to react. Eighty frigates and destroyers broke away from Task Force Six and spread out to form an outer shell around the larger Karacknid capital ships. Xam’alan smiled, it was just as the Human Commodore Becket had predicted. Moments later, Gaz’zam sent new targeting data to her squadron. Xam’alan assigned three fighters to each target and then flexed her arms and legs. The Human handbook on fighter combat she had read suggested a bit of tension was good, it kept a pilot’s focus, but too much slowed their reaction times. She worked her muscles until she felt she was ready.
“All fighters execute course change,” Gaz’zam snapped fifteen minutes later.
With her squadron, Xam’alan rolled her fighter and banked away from the center of Task Force Six. Instead, she aimed at one of the screening frigates. Then she gunned her engines to maximum. Just a handful of seconds later, the Karacknid frigates and destroyers that were in range opened up with their point defenses. Xam’alan already had her fighter twisting and weaving randomly.
She swore when a laser beam clipped one of her fighters and it disappeared from her Pulsar’s sensors. Then she forgot about it as the enemy destroyer came into range. As soon as it did she released her first laser beam at it. The three fighters around her did the same and in the blink of an eye the destroyer disappeared. Xam’alan sought out another target and sent its coordinates to the fighters with her. She continued her evasive maneuvers as she waited for her capacitors to charge the laser cannon again. As soon as it was ready to go, she turned towards her second target. Carefully she danced and weaved closer and closer until she could open fire. Only two of the three fighters with her had managed to follow her, but they both scored hits and a frigate was added to the list of her kills.
“All fighters pull back,” Gaz’zam ordered moments later.
Happily, Xam’alan complied. She had to continue her evasive maneuvers for a couple of minutes, but it was relatively simple to avoid the Karacknid fire. Their screening ships were so spread out that only a few could bring her into range at any one time. When she got to safety she checked on her squadron and she smiled in satisfaction. Her squadron had destroyed six enemy ships for the price of two fighters. She would mourn the pilots that had been killed, but she would not regret their sacrifice.
*
“It has begun,” Ya’sia commented as everyone on Handmaiden’s bridge watched the fighters engage the Karacknid frigates.
Becket didn’t reply, she was too focused on the small engagement. As a Captain she had fought in many battles and had many die under her command. Yet in all those battles she had put herself in harm’s way along with her crew. It was harder to watch others fight as they obeyed her orders. When the fighters finally pulled away from the Karacknid screening ships, she let out a sigh of relief. Their losses had been minimal. In the grand scheme of things destroying fourteen of the smaller Karacknid warships would count for very little but reminding the Karacknid commander that the fighters could strike at his capital ships at a moment’s notice would force him to be more cautious. And hopefully buy us a little more time, Becket thought.
Though she was responsible for making sure the fighters got back to the carrier and were rearmed and refueled, Becket was very aware that Wing Commander Gaz’zam knew what to do. As a result, she only kept one eye on the returning fighters and focused most of her attention on the battle. With no other responsibilities she found herself relegated to the position of observer.
After the brief fighter attack, a lull developed. The six Karacknid taskforces slowed their advance whilst they altered formation. Many small frigates were pushed out ahead of the fleet, their active sensors churning out megawatts of electromagnetic energy as they sought to ensure no fighters snuck up on their larger consorts. Then, when the Karacknid commander had his ships in order, they resumed their advance towards Ya’sia’s fleet. In response, Ya’sia ordered her ships to fall back slowly. She also split her fleet into fourteen squadrons and formed a pyramid formation with them. For two hours what Becket could only describe as a game of chess developed. Ya’sia expertly coordinated her squadrons as her overall formation fell back in a way that stopped the Karacknid taskforces from enveloping her fleet. At several points she reversed course and threatened to bring enough squadrons against one Karacknid task force to briefly hold a numerical advantage. Then, when the Karacknids attempted a counter maneuver to envelop Ya’sia’s fleet, she resumed her retreat. The constant maneuvering was buying more time, but there was only so much real estate within the Kalesh system for Ya’sia to fall back through.
“Reinforcements,” a sensor officer called. “A new squadron has just arrived from Varanni space. Ninety ships are accelerating to join us.”
“Inform them they are to take position on our left flank,” Ya’sia responded. “Additional orders will be sent to them forthwith.”
As the reinforcements raced across the Kalesh system, Becket focused on the Karacknid fleet. If its commander hadn’t already figured out what Ya’sia was doing, he could hardly miss it now. As if in response to her thoughts, the Karacknid fleet increased its acceleration. “They’re throwing caution to the wind,” Becket said in warning.
“We have no problem with that,” Ya’sia replied. She then began to give out a whole series of new order
s.
One half of Ya’sia’s fleet suddenly increased its rate of retreat while the other half split away and accelerated towards the task force protecting the Karacknid’s left flank. They continued until they got into extreme missile range and fired a single salvo before falling back. The Karacknid task force, wary of being outnumbered, moved back after firing its own salvo. Forty-five Karacknid ships were destroyed for the price of thirty Alliance ones. After reforming the Karacknid task force resumed its pursuit. For another hour, the game of cat and mouse turned deadly as Ya’sia ordered her ships to turn and engage several times. Each engagement occurred at extreme missile range and only lasted for one or two salvos, but the losses quickly mounted. We’re now trading ships and space for time, Becket said to herself. Sixteen more Alliance ships had appeared to join the battle, but they didn’t make up for those that had already been lost.
“They’re here!” someone called out. “They’re here!” Becket along with every other bridge officer on Handmaiden swung around to look at the secondary holo plot. On it, six hundred new contacts had appeared.
“Varanni Prime’s Home Fleet,” Ya’sia said with a smile. “The fleet will pull back to their position,” she ordered.
An hour later both fleets squared off against one another again. Except the Alliance ships had nowhere to fall back to. If they wanted to avoid a full on battle, they would have to retreat into shift space. And that is not an option for us, Becket knew. So far the Karacknids had been ignoring the Kalesh colony, but if Ya’sia’s fleet left, they would no doubt turn their attention to its defenses and orbital industry. Then they would be able to head to Cria and wipe out the industrial base of the Crian civilization with ease.
“Signal the fleet,” Ya’sia ordered. “Transmit this message, ‘Now is the time to prove our honor.’”
Becket took a deep breath to compose herself as the Alliance fleet turned towards the Karacknids. She was about to witness the largest battle any Human had ever laid eyes upon. Probably the largest space battle the galaxy had ever seen. And she held little hope that she was going to survive it. Not when she knew Ya’sia intended to buy the other Alliance fleets time at the expense of her own ships.
When both fleets got into extreme missile range of one another the Karacknids released seventy-six thousand missiles towards the Alliance fleet. In reply the Alliance ships fired a volley of fifty-four thousand. Again, Ya’sia pulled her ships back to keep the Karacknids at arm’s length, yet she did not stay out of missile range. Instead, her fleet fired a second and then a third volley. As the missile salvos came crashing in all around Handmaiden, Becket watched the fleet formations as they danced around one another, jockeying for an advantage. Ya’sia had her ships split into seventeen squadrons and she was directing all of them as they maneuvered to assist one another and coordinate their missile salvos against Karacknid taskforces. As expertly as she wielded the elements of her fleet, the Karacknid commander was her equal. His six taskforces danced back-and-forth, supporting one another and seeking to envelop parts of Ya’sia’s fleet. All the while, hundreds of ships were destroyed or crippled as missile salvos washed over each fleet.
“There,” Becket shouted when the opening she had been looking for appeared. Task Force Two had just lost a significant portion of their screening ships and they were out of supporting range from Task Force One. Not expecting another Alliance missile salvo for several minutes they had ventured too far forward to get a better angle for their own salvo. “Our fighters can hit them.” Becket added as she zoomed in on the Karacknid task force on the auxiliary holo display.
Ya’sia stared at the holo-screen for a couple of seconds and then nodded. “Do it,” she ordered.
Becket’s fingers quickly got to work as she sent orders to Wing Commander Gaz’zam. Taking what was left of his two squadrons, the Varanni Wing Commander joined up with the two squadrons that had come with the Crian Home Fleet. Together the forty-six-fighters raced through the Alliance formation towards Task Force Two. The Karacknids saw them coming almost immediately and pushed out their screening ships. Gaz’zam used the fighters’ superior maneuverability to arch up and over Task Force Two’s formation and dive at the taskforce’s capital ships from above. Seven fighters were destroyed by screening ships that got off shots, but the rest closed with their primary targets. Though the wider battle still raged all around Handmaiden, Becket kept her focus on the fighters. The point defense fire from the Karacknid capital ships reached out towards the fighters as soon as they were in range. Instinctively Becket squinted to try and see what was going on, but the problem was not with her eyesight but with Handmaiden’s sensors. There was simply too much energy being released by point defense lasers and counter missile detonations for the Crian battleship to detect everything that was happening.
Becket punched a fist in the air when the first Karacknid battleship detonated. It was quickly followed by two dreadnoughts and then nine other ships. At the same time, almost as many began to fall out of formation. Come on, come on, Becket thought as she waited to see how many fighters would emerge from the hailstorm of Karacknid point defense fire. She didn’t get to see though, for thousands of missiles from several Alliance squadrons came bearing down on Task Force Two. Becket glanced over at Ya’sia, the Crian Admiral had planned her fire perfectly. Out of formation from the fighter attack and with half their point defense gunners still angrily focused on the pesky fighters, the missiles came crashing in with devastating effect. At least forty more warships were gutted.
Before a second Alliance salvo could come in and build on the sudden disarray, two other Karacknid taskforces closed to cover Task Force Two. Two then fell back and reformed under the protection of its comrades. When Handmaiden’s sensors finally made sense of the area of intense fighting, Becket saw that thirty fighters were returning. She had lost nearly a third of her force, but it had been worth it.
As the fighters returned to the carriers to refuel and rearm, Becket surveyed the rest of the battle. Despite the successful attack on Task Force Two, it was not going well. With equal numbers, Alliance ships outfitted with Varanni weapons technologies stood about an even chance in one-on-one battles. Slightly outnumbered they could still hold their own, but Ya’sia’s fleet was outnumbered more than two to one. No amount of dancing around with fancy tactics could negate such numbers. Though Ya’sia’s fleet was giving a good account of itself, already more than four hundred ships had been destroyed or severely damaged compared to the Karacknids five hundred and thirty.
For almost another hour Becket watched as both fleets traded blow after blow. Alliance losses mounted to eight hundred ships. Though the Karacknids’ losses were nearing a thousand, their numerical advantage was increasing rather than decreasing. Another one hundred Alliance ships had jumped into the system to join the battle, but they weren’t nearly enough to turn the tide. Then Becket saw the very thing she had feared from the beginning of the battle. Two Karacknid taskforces had managed to isolate one of Ya’sia’s smaller squadrons on the Alliance fleet’s right flank. She turned to the Crian Admiral to shout a warning, but Ya’sia was already barking orders. Becket spun back around to watch if the new orders would work. It was already too late though, both Karacknid taskforces had unleashed missile salvos at the Alliance squadron. Though three other squadrons moved in to fire their own salvos in return, the Karacknid taskforces ignored them and fired another salvo at the isolated squadron. Then, behind the two Karacknid taskforces, more ships appeared to attack the flanks of the additional squadrons Ya’sia had ordered in.
In the space of ten minutes the two Karacknid salvos decimated the Alliance squadron. It was reduced from one hundred and thirty-two, to just fifty-five ships. Most of those that remained look like they had suffered some damage and whoever the senior surviving commander was, they were pulling their ships back. The squadrons Ya’sia had ordered in were also being beaten back as the two Karacknid taskforces turned their fire upon them.
We are b
eaten, Becket thought as she looked to Ya’sia to see if the Crian Admiral saw it. It was clear from the look on her face that she did. If they had been fighting a lesser opponent, there might have been a chance to salvage the situation, but the Karacknids had already proven their capabilities more than once. Even as she watched more Karacknid ships maneuvered towards the gap that had opened up in the Alliance fleet’s formation. If Ya’sia didn’t react quickly, the entire right flank of the fleet would be enveloped by Karacknid ships. Their numerical superiority meant they could drive a wedge between the Alliance fleet and its right flank whilst fighting off any squadrons Ya’sia tried to send to plug the gap.
“Signal the squadrons of our right flank,” Ya’sia ordered. “They are to fall back to Cria immediately. All damaged ships are to be evacuated. The retreat must be at maximum speed. Then send orders to the rest of our ships. We are combining into one formation; Bulwark Alpha.”
Becket nodded, Bulwark Alpha provided the strongest field of overlapping defensive fire. Ya’sia was giving the Karacknids juicy targets to go for. The Admiral looked over at Becket. “Get your fighters over there. Buy them time to escape.”
“Aye Admiral,” Becket responded. Sending orders for the fighters to launch immediately, Becket watched the Karacknids pursue what was left of the Alliance’s right flank. Three hundred Alliance ships were racing towards the Cria shift passage. Behind them, the screening ships of Task Forces Two and Three were in hot pursuit. Nearly a thousand frigates, destroyers and light cruisers were gaining on the Alliance ships. Selecting the fastest thirty, Becket designated them as targets.