by D. J. Holmes
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
IS (Imperial Ship) Earth, New Berlin shift passage, 20th March 2482 AD (sixteen days later).
“All ships report ready Admiral,” Gupta’s COM officer informed her.
“Make the jump,” she ordered. A moment later she felt a slight jolt as Earth jumped into shift space. It was quickly followed by another as her flagship reverted to real space just two seconds later. The battleship’s active sensors powered up and filled space with electromagnetic energy. As soon as the Karacknid ships were detected, Earth and every other warship in range opened up with their laser and plasma cannons. In the space of just ten seconds, all five of the Karacknid scout ships were destroyed. One human destroyer was also lost while another cruiser had to pull back, badly damaged.
“Take us into the system,” Gupta said as soon as it was clear there were no more Karacknid scout ships. “Begin transmitting our orders for Lightfoot.”
Gupta’s COM officer initiated the gravimetric COM and it sent out gravimetric wave pulses that would immediately be detected by Admiral Lightfoot’s squadron in orbit around New Berlin. The one hundred and forty ships of Gupta’s fleet accelerated straight towards New Berlin. Now it’s over to you, Gupta thought as she tried to remember the last time she had spoken with Lightfoot face to face. It had been quite a while ago, but she had no doubt he would grasp what she was up to.
*
Argyll, New Berlin orbit.
Startled awake, Lightfoot blindly groped for his COM unit as it blared at him. “What is it?” he demanded. “Another probing attack?” By his count, the Karacknids had launched five attacks in the last several months against New Berlin’s defenses. Each time they had fired a single salvo and pulled back to safety. Eventually, he was expecting to get a call that they were making a full scale push.
“No Admiral, it’s something else. There are ships accelerating in from the mass shadow. Our ships! We are getting a gravimetric COM message as we speak,” an officer informed him.
Lightfoot jumped out of bed. “I’m on my way,” he responded. “Send the fleet to battle stations,” he added as he searched for his clothes. He recalled the last force projections that Commander Scott had shared with him before he had left on his mission. They were months old, but they couldn’t have changed too much. There is no way they have enough ships to relieve us, he thought as he exited his quarters and took just six strides to reach the bridge. Unless they’ve brought Home Fleet! he realized as he gazed at the holo projection of the new contacts. They are here for a fight! “Let’s see the message,” he requested as he sat in his command chair. When it appeared on a secondary holo- projector, Lightfoot quickly read through Admiral Gupta’s words. “All right,” he said with a nod. “It’s finally time to get back into action.”
Being cooped up in New Berlin for so long had been eating away at his fleet’s morale. Yet it had given them plenty of time to drill and drill and then drill some more. Lightfoot knew everyone was more than eager for a fight. “Put the fleet onto this heading,” he ordered as he tapped in a series of coordinates onto his command chair. “Formation battle four. Then open a COM channel to our ships’ Captains.”
“All right ladies and gentlemen,” Lightfoot said a few moments later. “The cavalry has arrived. We’re still in a predicament though. If the Karacknids combine their squadrons and race after Home Fleet, they will be in an even battle with our ships. Home Fleet will take heavy losses. We need to keep at least a part of the Karacknid fleet here fighting us. So we are pushing out, we’ll engage Karacknid squadron alpha. Let’s kick some Karacknid butt.” As soon as the COM channel ended, Lightfoot looked back to the main holo projector. The Karacknids had split their fleet into four squadrons to cover the space around New Berlin. Even before he had reached the bridge, they had reacted to the appearance of Gupta’s fleet. Each squadron was on a heading to intercept Home Fleet. It looked like the Karacknid commander intended to use typical Karacknid tactics. Keeping the four squadrons spread out, they would envelop Home Fleet in a withering hail of fire. Not today you won’t, Lightfoot thought. The twenty-four Karacknid ships in alpha squadron were outnumbered almost two to one by his fleet. If they wanted to rendezvous with their comrades, they would have to pass right by his ships. So… how are you going to play this?
It didn’t take long for the Karacknids to respond. What was designated beta squadron on his flagship’s holo display quickly decelerated and reversed course as it turned to the aid of alpha squadron. The gamma and delta squadrons also slowed, though they didn’t turn to engage. They’re holding position, Lightfoot guessed. It seemed the Karacknid commander wanted to wipe out his ships with alpha and beta squadrons while gamma and delta held off Gupta until all of the Karacknid ships could be brought against her. “Two missile salvos,” Lightfoot said to his command staff. “We’ll fire two salvos and then pull back. Target their light ships only.” Karacknid battleships and dreadnoughts could take a severe beating before they were destroyed. If Lightfoot’s guess was right, the Karacknid fleet would eventually have to flee from Gupta’s forces. When they did, the light ships his forces damaged would not be able to keep up with the rest of the fleet.
A series of beeps made Lightfoot grind his teeth together. Alpha squadron had just fired their first salvo. Though he gave the appearance of calm, inwardly his heart beat faster and faster as three minutes ticked by before his ships could return fire. Not for the first time, he wished his fleet had multistage missiles available. “Reverse course, maximum acceleration!” he ordered as soon as his ships’ missiles rushed out of their tubes.
Minutes later the Karacknids’ first missile salvo entered range of his ships’ point defenses. Despite everything that was thrown at them, four missiles made it through. One missed, the other three all destroyed their targets. A frigate, destroyer and light cruiser were all wiped out of existence by the missiles’ antimatter warheads. In reply, Argyll’s sensors detected seven hits from the bomb pumped lasers of his missiles. Though no Karacknid ships were destroyed outright. The second exchange of missiles was not quite as deadly for Lightfoot’s fleet. He lost two destroyers for the price of two Karacknid ships. Beta squadron followed Lightfoot ship’s long enough to fire a third salvo before pulling back out of range of New Berlin’s defenses. It proved ineffectual though for the point defenses of the battlestations and defense satellites shot down all of them. Now what? Lightfoot thought as alpha squadron turned to follow beta squadron and they joined the rest of their ships. The next move was the Karacknids’.
*
IS Earth
“All right let’s show our hand a little bit,” Gupta said as the Karacknid squadrons once again settled onto trajectories to rendezvous with one another. “Inform Avalon she is to launch all fighters. Our battleships are to launch theirs as well.” Avalon, the only carrier to survive the Battle of Earth, launched three squadrons of spitfire fighters and another squadron of bombers. From the three battleships in Gupta’s fleet, twelve more fighters joined the mix. They all moved away from the fleet and formed up into a wide formation.
“Lightfoot’s squadron is breaking orbit again,” a sensor officer reported. “They’re pursuing the Karacknid squadron they’ve already engaged.”
Gupta nodded. As long as Lightfoot kept nipping at the heels of alpha squadron, the Karacknids would never be able to properly join the battle. With her fleet charging straight for the rest of their ships, the Karacknids wouldn’t be able to combine their forces in time. Lightfoot’s initial skirmish against alpha squadron had already ensured that. Now he was just making a nuisance of himself. “Send targeting data to Wing Commander Forest, he is to take his wing around the main Karacknid force and strike alpha squadron. Prepare the fleet to reverse course as soon as his attack begins.”
Once again, Gupta found herself thanking the Haven inventor of the miniature inertial compensators. The spitfire fighters gave her a tactical edge that the Karacknids had been unable to match. I
f she didn’t have them, she would be at a severe disadvantage. Even though she held the numerical advantage for once, the Karacknid dreadnoughts and anti-matter missiles were just too dangerous to risk a straight up fight.
Racing well ahead of the fleet, Forest led his attack group up and over the two Karacknid squadrons that were facing off against Gupta’s ships. They swooped down behind them and closed with alpha squadron. From such a distance, it was hard for Earth’s sensors to make out exactly what was going on, but when explosions erupted amidst alpha squadron, it was clear Forest’s force got close enough to release its plasma missiles. Over the course of twelve seconds, nine Karacknid ships were destroyed.
“It looks like eight fighters didn’t make it,” the sensor officer reported.
Gupta nodded to acknowledge the report. Her ships had already decelerated to stay out of range of gamma and delta squadrons. Beta was still accelerating to combine with gamma and delta while Lightfoot was closing with what was left of alpha. The initial stages of her plan were coming together nicely. Her fleet was well into the New Berlin system and the Karacknids still had not consolidated their forces. “Signal Forest, he is to keep half his force with Lightfoot and use them to engage any missiles that might come Lightfoot’s way. The rest are to return to us to rearm and refuel.” Now, if I was in your shoes, Gupta thought as she imagined the strategic situation through the eyes of the Karacknid commander, I’d be pulling back about now. With alpha squadron understrength and Lightfoot’s ships close behind, the Karacknid commander had a tough choice to make. He could engage Gupta’s ships with beta, gamma and delta squadrons, or wait for alpha to join as well. Yet if he waited, Lightfoot’s ships would be able to join the battle. In theory, the Karacknids could turn and engage Lightfoot once again. His ships had moved far enough away from New Berlin that they couldn’t retreat in time. Yet doing so would give her fighters time to rearm and launch another strike. Then, she would be able to race in from behind and catch the Karacknids in the same kind of crossfire they liked to use against their opponents. No, Gupta thought, if I were in your shoes, I would be pulling back.
As if to make a point, the three other Karacknid squadrons maintained their position until alpha joined them. For several minutes, Gupta thought they were then going to charge her fleet. But then they turned and settled onto a trajectory for the shift passage out of New Berlin towards Holstein. “Follow them,” Gupta snapped, “eighty percent maximum acceleration. Let’s give Lightfoot a chance to catch up.” Forty minutes later, when Lightfoot’s ships slotted in around hers, Gupta gave the order to go to maximum acceleration. For an hour and twenty minutes they chased the Karacknids out of the system. Five damaged Karacknids ships couldn’t stick the pace and fell back under the guns of her fleet. The rest, with their superior engines, easily reached the shift passage before she could bring them to battle. “Good work,” Gupta said as soon as the last Karacknid ship jumped out. “We’ve hurt them today, now we need to get ready to finish them off. Dispatch Minotaur to the rest of our fleet and inform them it’s safe to jump into the system. I want a full assessment of battle damage within the hour. We need to lick our wounds quickly and keep going. And get me Admiral Lightfoot on a COM channel.”
*
Argyll
“Admiral look at this, there’s something strange about Earth’s markings,” a sensor officer said to Lightfoot as she waved to get his attention. When Lightfoot glanced to her, she gestured towards the secondary holo projector.
Lightfoot’s eyes narrowed when he saw what she had focused one of Argyll’s optical sensors upon. Along the underbelly of all UN warships was an identification number and the ship’s name. Earth’s name was there but the UNS had been replaced by an IS. “Earth is hailing us Admiral, Admiral Gupta wishes to speak with you.”
“Welcome to the New Berlin system Admiral,” he said when Gupta’s face appeared on the holo projector. “Let me thank you for relieving us. I thought we were going to be stuck in orbit for months yet. I have to ask though, what is up with your ship’s name?”
Gupta smiled at him. “A lot has gone on whilst you’ve been stuck out here Admiral. Let me fill you in and then we can get your ships ready to depart. We need to continue our advance as quickly as possible.”
“Advance?” Lightfoot asked. “You do know how many ships are at Holstein? There are as many as were in this system again. And that is only if they haven’t received further reinforcements.”
“I am well aware Admiral,” Gupta replied. “Yet advance we will. The Karacknids have launched their attack against the Alliance. It’s not going well for our friends. If we can’t cause a diversion, the war may be lost in the next few months. We are to push on past Holstein, no matter the cost. We have express orders from our Empress.”
“Our Empress?” Lightfoot repeated.
Gupta shot him the same smile. “Let me explain.”
*
IS Earth, Outer Holstein system, 3rd April 2482 AD (thirteen days later).
“Janice has just returned,” the COM officer on Earth’s bridge reported. “She’s transmitting her sensor data.”
Gupta nodded and waited patiently while her tactical officers analyzed it. “It looks like there are about twenty ships patrolling the exit of the shift passage,” an officer informed her moments later as an image appeared on the holo-projector. “The rest of the Karacknid fleet is in orbit around Holstein.”
The rest that we can see, she thought but didn’t add. Everyone was all too aware of what had happened last time a Human Fleet had jumped into the Holstein system to confront the Karacknids. There was no point in her worrying about it though, if the Karacknids had enough ships to launch their invasion of Alliance space and plan a second ambush here, the war would be lost no matter what she did. “Jump us in three light minutes from the mouth of the shift passage, then the fleet will accelerate towards Holstein with ninety percent thrust,” she ordered. There was no point trying to hide, the Karacknids knew she was coming, and they had more than enough ships on patrol to make sure she couldn’t sneak past them.
Ten minutes later her fleet was cruising into the Holstein system. The twenty Karacknid scout ships boosting ahead of her fleet were keeping contact with her ships but staying out of weapons range. If she tried anything sneaky, they would detect it. Now we will see, Gupta thought. Her entire strategy hinged on the decision the Karacknid commander was about to make. If he made the wrong one, she would have to fall back and any attempt to retake Holstein would have to be abandoned. She had one advantage in the coming battle, for the first time the Karacknids were on the defensive. They hadn’t faced a Human fleet while trying to defend a planet before and they didn’t know just what capabilities she had. But those capabilities could only be brought into play if the Karacknid fleet stayed put.
“What are we detecting in system?” she asked to distract herself from wondering what the Karacknids would do.
“It doesn’t look like they have received any reinforcements,” her Chief of Staff replied as the holo projection of Holstein zoomed in. “There’s one hundred and eighty warships ships in orbit. We reckon these forty here are supply freighters. This repair yard looks like it is now complete and there is a second one under construction. There are six other orbital stations, but it’s hard to know if they are defense stations or supply depots.”
One hundred and eighty, Gupta thought as she imagined a battle against such a fleet. It was a minuscule number compared to the fleet that had attacked Earth, or the one the Karacknids had operating against the Alliance, yet against her current forces, they were a real threat. With Lightfoot’s fleet added to her own, she had two hundred and twenty warships. Another forty freighters were with her fleet, but in a straight up fight, their use would be limited. Stay put, she thought to the Karacknid commander. Stay put and protect your supplies. When an idea occurred to her, Gupta cursed herself. She should have thought of it sooner. “Launch Forest’s fighter wing from Avalon. Have them move away
from the fleet but continue towards Holstein. Let’s remind the Karacknids that we can strike their orbital facilities even if their ships come out to engage us.”
That’s right, Gupta thought a minute later when the Karacknid ships still hadn’t moved. If you come out against us, I’m going to take out your orbital stations. “Karacknid ships are moving,” Gupta’s Chief of Staff called, breaking her thoughts. “Wait, they’re just reforming. It looks like they’re moving to cover the repair station.”
Gupta nodded with satisfaction. They were staying put. She waited another twenty minutes to be sure. “Okay ladies and gentlemen, it looks like plan Devastating Force is a go,” she said as relief washed through her. Their entire plan hinged on the success of this stage of the mission. “Signal the fleet, we are to begin preparations for Devastating Force.”
Just as they had practiced, the fleet continued towards Holstein for an hour while the ships readied themselves. Then they decelerated and came to a halt relative to the German colony. The forty freighters that were part of the fleet and the many converted freighters that still had sizeable cargo holds all opened their cargo bay doors. From about a quarter, spitfire fighters were released into space one by one from the racks they had been installed upon. Every fighter that had survived the Battle of Earth or been constructed since was packed into the freighters. From the rest of the civilian ships, hundreds of missile pods were unloaded. In the six months since the Battle of Earth, few new ships had been constructed, but the many orbital factories throughout the Human colonies that had been tooled to produce missile pods and fighters had not ceased production. For half an hour fighters and missile pods were unloaded. Then the fighters slowly moved to join Forest’s wing, while the missile pods were maneuvered into position.