by D. J. Holmes
Over the next twenty minutes Becket watched as the fleeing Alliance ships lost fifteen of their number for the price of only six Karacknids. Then her fighters entered the fray. Striking the lead Karacknid ships head on they focused on the engines of enemy ships. Thirty were taken out of the chase for the price of six fighters. Then, ten minutes later, after letting their engines recharge their laser cannons, the fighters charged in again to fire another shot, taking out twelve more of the fastest Karacknid ships. With no other way of helping, the fighters fell back. The chase was far from over, however. It continued for another hour. In that time forty-four more Alliance ships were caught and destroyed. Thankfully, the rest made it to the shift passage and jumped to safety.
Only then did Becket turn her full attention to Handmaiden and her own fate. Whilst the Alliance right flank had fled, Ya’sia had kept the rest of her squadron together and slowly retreated towards the Varanni Prime shift passage, ensuring the focus of the main Karacknid fleet remained on her. When Becket checked the numbers she was appalled at the losses. Only six hundred ships remained in Ya’sia’s fleet. They had killed as many Karacknid ships as had been destroyed, but the losses were far more devastating to the Alliance fleet.
“We are beaten,” Ya’sia said to her officers moments after the right flank of her fleet jumped to safety. “We cannot hold the system. We must save what we can. Order a full retreat. The fleet will rendezvous at Varanni Prime.” When she finished speaking, Handmaiden’s officers looked away and busied themselves with their duties. Becket kept staring at the Admiral, she had nothing else to do. She was the only one who saw the look of loss and shame on Ya’sia’s face. When the Crian Admiral tilted her head her expression changed to one of sorrow. Becket followed her gaze and saw that Ya’sia was staring at the shift passage to Cria. When the Karacknids had broken their formation there had been no way for Ya’sia to fall back to Cria with her main fleet. Now the Admiral’s homeworld was at the mercy of the victorious Karacknid fleet.
And victorious they are, Becket thought as she looked back at the Karacknid fleet. Though just over one thousand eight hundred Karacknid ships had been destroyed or crippled, the Karacknid commander had more than fifty percent of his fleet intact. Whatever plans he had in mind for the next stage of his invasion, after carrying out repairs, he would be free to pursue them as he chose. Though she knew she had done her best, Becket found herself sharing Ya’sia’s guilt. They had failed and the future of the Alliance now hung in the balance.
Chapter 27
In the early years of the Empire there grew within the Imperial Fleet a spurious conception that Alien Admirals could not match the skill and ingenuity of Humanity. The War of Doom should have disabused us of such a notion, but in this regard the lessons from that devastating war were not learnt.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
Marauder, Kalesh system (eight hours later).
Over Admiral Hurlang stroked his claws along his command chair. Despite the fact that his staff officers were waiting for new orders, he was deep in thought. He had won a stupendous victory against the Alliance fleet. They had been split in two and chased out of the Kalesh system with heavy losses. It had cost him many ships, but the system was his. Yet something had been bothering him for the last several hours. The Crian colony in the system was impressive, but it wasn’t that much more impressive than the two colonies the Alliance fleet had abandoned before the battle. He had been struggling to figure out why they had chosen to stand and fight in this system in open space without any orbital battlestations to support them.
What he was looking at now though gave him the answer he had been searching for. Both halves of the Alliance fleet had retreated along shift passages he had not known about. Centuries ago Karacknid long-range scouting missions had mapped this entire sector of space. Somehow they had missed two shift passages. Hurlang had thought the omissions had cost him the chance to finish off the Alliance fleet. One moment he had thought them cornered, the next they had disappeared. Except, now he knew the missed shift passages hadn’t been omissions. He had sent scouts along both shift passages for several light years. They had just returned with some very strange news. The shift passages did not have any twists or turns within them. They were perfectly straight and uniform. That meant only one thing; the shift passages were not natural. They have the ability to create artificial shift passages, Hurlang told himself. A nifty trick, something that the Imperator will be pleased to learn about. Especially when I bring him whatever device the Alliance species use to do it. Hurlang could easily picture the impact it would have on the Empire. With so many colonies spread out hundreds and even thousands of light years from the Imperial homeworld, having artificial shift passages would dramatically decrease the time for ships and messages to reach the outer territories.
And it explains why they stood and fought here, Hurlang realized when he projected the artificial shift passages beyond where his scouts had investigated. One led directly to the Crian home system and the second towards the center of Varanni territory. That is how they got so many reinforcements here so quickly. But it will also be their undoing. The system his fleet was now in was clearly a hub system connecting Crian and Varanni space. He had unknowingly conquered what Karacknid strategists called the central position. His fleet could now choose to strike out in several different directions. The Alliance, already spread out after their defeat, would find it impossible to gather enough ships to match his numbers. Wherever he chose to strike next, he would be guaranteed to hold the numerical advantage.
Unless, Hurlang thought as he zoomed out the holo- projection of Alliance space. Yes. If the alliance had artificial shift passages here, they likely had them all across their territory. Which means the fleets they had guarding their fortified systems would be falling back. That could actually cause him a problem. If they managed to pull their fleets back before his reinforcements arrived, they could actually put up a stiff defense if he attacked too early. Care must be taken, he said to himself. With the central position and a numerical advantage, one more decisive blow will finish them. The question was, where should the blow be struck? Retracting his claws, he prepared commands for more scout ships to be sent out. He wanted to check and see if there were any other artificial shift passages within the system and then confirm where the two he knew about led. His fleets that had carried out the various diversionary attacks would be arriving to reinforce him over the next three months. When they were in place and his fleet had finished licking its wounds, he would finish off the Alliance. He would strike them wherever they were weakest again and again until they were forced to surrender. They cannot defend all their worlds, not now, he thought as his claws extended again. He gave out a grunt of satisfaction. On the main holo display the last battlestation that orbited the Crian colony had just been destroyed. As he watched, his subordinates set about bombarding everything that looked remotely like it contributed to the planet’s heavy industries. It might just be a minor colony, but it would no longer play any role in the ongoing war.
*
Varanni Prime, Alliance High Command headquarters, 17th February 2482 AD (three weeks later).
As Becket followed Ya’sia into the large briefing room, the air felt thick with despair. News of the defeat had reached Jourm and the other Admirals of the High Command more than a week ago. Ya’sia had sent frigates ahead with the news while she had continued on at a slower pace with her damaged ships. Perhaps because they had spent the last several days dwelling on the news, none of the leading Admirals of the Alliance looked their normal selves. And now they have summoned us to hear first-hand what they already know, Becket thought as she looked up at Jourm. The Varanni Admiral did not acknowledge her.
Keeping her face impassive, Becket sat down behind Ya’sia and waited to see if she would be called upon. For a full hour she listened as the Admirals questioned Ya’sia, Maleck and the other surviving senior commanders of Ya’sia’s fleet about the battles at Delt
a Fort and Kalesh. Though the Admirals of High Command knew the details, they wanted to understand the reasoning of the various decisions that had been taken. Twice she was asked to speak about her input, though each time she kept her answers brief and that seemed to satisfy the Admirals.
“Very well, I think we have heard all we need to hear,” Jourm said after Ya’sia briefly summarized the retreat from Kalesh. He glanced at the other Admirals before turning back to Ya’sia. “It is the estimation of High Command that you all fought with honor and skill. Despite the defeat, no marks will be held against your abilities.” As she was sitting behind Ya’sia, Becket noticed the Crian Admiral’s shoulders relax slightly. Beside her, Maleck let out a breath. “However, we find ourselves in the gravest of situations. The future of our Alliance hangs in the balance. The decisions we make now will determine whether or not the Karacknid Empire fulfils their desire to conquer us.” As he spoke, Jourm brought up the holo-projection of Alliance space. The various fleets and their locations were all marked. “By now, news of the Karacknid attack at Delta Fort will have reached all of our outlying fleets. They will be falling back within our borders. I have already sent out frigates to direct our fleets to Cria or here. This is the best estimate of how our forces will accumulate.” On the holo projection the numbers of ships marked at Cria and Varanni Prime rose as the time counter progressed.
Becket struggled to keep her face impassive. In the first few weeks several hundred ships were expected to arrive at both Cria and Varanni Prime, but then it would take longer for the larger fleets to arrive. Even when they did arrive the number of ships available to defend the two Alliance homeworlds was not enough. If they could be combined, they would stand a chance against the Karacknid fleet at Kalesh. But as long as they were separated, the Alliance fleet would be defeated in detail. And those estimates don’t take into account Karacknid reinforcements, Becket thought as she stared at the unchanging estimated number of Karacknid ships at Kalesh. And the Karacknids had known where their main attack will go, they will have made plans to draw more ships to support the main thrust through Delta Fort. Their ships likely started moving weeks ago.
“We fear we have an impossible choice before us,” Jourm said when the holo projection stopped updating. “We do not have the ships to defend both Cria and Varanni Prime. If we try, both systems could be lost within the next few months. Strategically, losing one and protecting the other is the obvious choice.” Jourm lapsed into silence as everyone stared at the holo projection.
Becket wasn’t surprised, Jourm was talking about abandoning billions of people and trillions of credits worth of orbital infrastructure. There was no doubt the Karacknids would move into whichever system was left undefended and destroy everything they could. And that assumes the Karacknids will not strike a follow-up blow immediately, Becket thought. If Jourm planned to send orders to evacuate Cria and avert the fleets headed there to Varanni prime, the Karacknids could have taken the system before Jorum’s orders were received. The ships at Cria would be destroyed and any fleets falling back there would find themselves trapped. It is a disaster, Becket thought as she felt the same despair in the room seep into her own heart. She’d been so focused on the defeat at Kalesh and the losses of Ya’sia’s fleet that the full significance of the wider strategic situation was only hitting her now.
“What if we counter attack?” Maleck asked timidly. “Without artificial shift passages, some of our fleets should reach Cria and Varanni Prime before the Karacknids received reinforcements. If we launched a strike from here and Cria at the same time into the Kalesh system, we could drive the Karacknid fleet back. If we could take back Kalesh and hold it, the Karacknids could not threaten so many systems at once.”
“If our timing is off, even by just an hour or two, the Karacknids would get the opportunity to engage each of our fleets one at a time. They could crush whatever ships we send in from Cria, and then turn around and crush us as well,” Admiral Ellian responded. “Then we would lose Cria, Varanni Prime and, most likely, the entire war.”
“It is risky,” Maleck agreed, “but it would mean we would not have to abandon one of our homeworlds.” From his tone it was clear which world he suspected the Varanni dominated High Command would decide to abandon.
“It’s too risky,” Ya’sia said as she turned to her Flag Captain. “We are already fighting at a numerical disadvantage. We cannot keep our forces split. We must combine them. It is our only chance of pushing back the Karacknids and liberating whatever worlds they capture.” Ya’sia held Maleck’s gaze until he slowly nodded to acknowledge her words. “At the moment, our only advantage is that we are the defenders. That means we have orbital battlestations and defense satellites that can bolster our numbers. Another fleet on fleet battle in open space will only play into the Karacknids’ hands. They have the numbers to replace the losses, we do not.”
“So you approve of our proposed strategy?” Jourm asked Ya’sia.
Ever so slightly, Ya’sia nodded. “This is a war for the freedom of all our species, not just my own. I alone am responsible for the fate that will befall my homeworld.”
Becket wanted to reach out and shake Ya’sia. At the same time she had to fight back tears, the sense of loss filling the Crian Admiral’s words was too much. It wasn’t her fault, not in the slightest. And yet Becket understood the feeling of responsibility. She still felt responsible for what had happened to Earth, as she knew every naval officer who had fought in the battle did.
“What is it?” Jourm asked in an irritated tone that made Becket look away from Ya’sia. A Varanni officer had opened one of the doors into the briefing room and poked her head through.
“I’m sorry Admiral, but we have just received an FTL communication,” the officer explained.
“Unless the Kulreans have suddenly changed their minds and are sending a battle fleet to our aid, I believe it can wait Lieutenant,” Jourm replied.
“My apologies Admiral, I should have been clearer. The tachyon particle stream did not come from Kulrea, it came from the Sol system,” the officer replied.
At once, every face in the briefing room turned to stare at Becket. She knew the question they were all thinking. “I do not understand,” she said as she raised her arms. “There was no FTL communicator under construction when I left, nor were there any plans to build one. I don’t see how we could have possibly gathered the resources given what happened to Earth.”
Jourm was the first to turn back to the Lieutenant. “Well, maybe the mystery can explain itself. What is the message?”
With a nod, the Lieutenant walked into the briefing room and altered the image on the holo- projector. Becket couldn’t help but smile when Admiral Somerville appeared in front of them. Standing beside him was a Kulrean, she thought it was superintendent Hallock, but she hadn’t encountered enough Kulreans to be confident in her guess.
“On behalf of Earth and my species, I would like to bring you greetings,” James said as he bowed.
“So would I,” the Kulrean said. “You will be pleased to learn that I was sent to Earth to bring aid and help them construct their own tachyon FTL communicator. My species will not participate in this war of yours, but we do not wish to see our friends attacked either. We hope giving Earth and Varanni Prime the ability to communicate with one another will prevent another Karacknid attack on Humanity’s homeworld.”
“Included in this first transmission is a report on what has transpired since I dispatched Commodore Becket to you,” James said. “Hopefully, the information will allow you to assess what further aid and military support you may be able to send our way. We look forward to hearing back from you.” After another bow James’ image disappeared.
For several seconds no one spoke as they all processed the new information. Admiral Dur’ack was the first to speak. “It is very generous of the Kulreans to do this for the Humans. However I fear they will not take much comfort from the first message we will have to send them. We do not have
enough ships and supplies for ourselves, let alone any to spare for them. All our fates are tied together, and I fear Earth is now at just as much risk as Cria or Varanni Prime. If the Karacknids think they are in the ascendancy they could dispatch a fleet to finish what they started at Earth at any time.”
Several Admirals nodded or made other gestures of agreement. Though there had been a ripple of excitement in response to the revelation of the new FTL communicator, it quickly faded when everyone realized it did not change the strategic situation.
“Wait,” Becket said as she stood, refusing to give into the mood in the room. Whilst others had been staring, she had accessed the report James had sent through. A brief scan had told her about the predicament Lightfoot’s fleet was in, but it also highlighted the information the Varanni scouts had collected at Holstein. “May I?” she asked as she gestured towards the holo projector. She stepped forward when Jourm signaled to give her permission. With a couple of taps she reverted the image back to the strategic map. Then she zoomed out to include Humanity’s territory. “The Karacknid fleet is here,” she said, pointing out the obvious as she gestured towards Kalesh. “They are on the verge of advancing into the heart of Alliance space. But look at how far their supply line now extends from Jaranna.” With a wave of her hand she took in the twenty-three systems that supplies, munitions and reinforcements would have to travel through to move from Jaranna to Kalesh. “The Karacknid fleets have already fought five powerful probing attacks and two outright battles. With all the moving and fighting they have to be using up missiles and fuel at extraordinarily high rates. What if we threatened Jaranna? There might be a chance we could force the Karacknids to pull back.”