First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3

by KOTCHER, MICHAEL

  “Excellent,” the bug said, rubbing his hands together. The deep purple carapace on his hands, as well as elsewhere, was streaked with white scars, testimony to a career plying his violent trade. “We had ssome fun over a month ago, but now we are growing bored. And now ssome more fun comez my way.”

  The battle had been everything Verrikoth could have hoped for. The Republic ships had been tough; the destruction of his light cruiser Kerala and the armed merchant ships Squire and Nocturne were testimony to that. One of the Republic destroyers managed to escape, but Verrikoth’s forces had disabled two cutters, one of the corvettes and even managed to catch the last corvette as it tried to escape. Everything else they destroyed. It was a good haul, he marveled. Four Republic prizes, one of which was captured relatively intact! They were lighter units, to be sure, but with the other ships he had nearing completion across the Argos Cluster, and once he got them repaired and crewed, his would be the dominant force in this part of space.

  “Well now,” he said, his antennae waggling in anticipation. “I think it’s time to show the Republic why they should fear me. Signal all warships, they are to converge on Ganges and we then we are going to advance on the enemy. Ajax and Cierre are to remain at the station. And then I might have a new heavy cruiser as my flagship.”

  “Sir!” Droven cried, whipping around. “Multiple contacts on an intercept vector.”

  “Incoming message from Ravage, sir,” the comms watch reported. “It’s Captain Tran.”

  “Put him through,” Harth ordered, turning to his display.

  Tran’s face appeared. “Captain, we’re detecting multiple ships coming our way. I’m reading two light cruisers and two corvettes. Wait, we’re also detecting two smaller ships, could be cutters out at the flanks. Six ships in total.”

  “Shit, those are Verrikoth’s cruisers.” Harth studied the upload coming from Ravage’s sensors, scowling at the implication. “And that means that the system has fallen. Considering what the local garrison had to call upon as far as forces, I doubt they captured two cruisers.” He sighed heavily. “And that means that the Byra-Kae system was taken by the marauders. But… that’s not what he came in here with,” Harth mused, rubbing his chin. Then his expression darkened. But he might have been able to capture and repair a few of the Republic ships, four of the lighter units. “Damn.”

  There was a delay in the transmission, due to the distance. “What are my orders, sir?”

  “Fall back, let Legacy catch you up. I want you on my starboard side when we go in. We’re going to hit them and hit them hard.”

  “There’s only the two of us, Captain,” Tran reminded him, after giving the order to slow. “And if some of these are Republic ships that have been captured, we’re in serious trouble, sir. They outnumber us-…”

  “I have eyes, Tran,” Harth snapped impatiently. “But Legacy’s firepower outstrips anything they’ve got there. We’re just going to have to go in together and cover each other.”

  “Everything in that flotilla coming at us is much more maneuverable than Legacy, Captain,” Tran reminded him. “You know that.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I know that. Which means we need to get in there and just hit them as hard as we can. Strip away the lighter units as quickly as we can so we can hammer the cruisers.” He eyed his former first officer, now Captain of the prize ship. “Are you with me on this Tran?”

  The other man straightened up. “I’m with you, Captain, you know that. My crew and I are good to go. But I think I need remind you that Ravage took a fair amount of damage in her capture. We’ve repaired a lot of it and jury rigged the rest, but she isn’t one hundred percent.” Before Duncan could say anything, he went on. “But I can assure you, Captain, that my crew and I are with you.”

  Harth smiled. “I never doubted you, Tran. And yes, I know this is going to be a tough scrap.” But he couldn’t help the gleam in his eye. A real fight! In the last year of this fruitless chase, his ship had seen more action than any of the ships in Second Fleet had in double that amount of time. Three engagements in just over a year, capturing a prize vessel with the potential for more here? He’d be the envy of everyone back in the Fleet, the Admiral included.

  “Sir…” he said, haltingly. “Sir, might it be better to back off? We need to report in. If the pirates have the system, and if they’ve destroyed or captured most of the mobile assets then what are we doing here?”

  “I can’t let this stand, Tran, you know that. That so called Pirate Lord thinks that he’s running his little fiefdom out here and he’s killed Republic personnel and stolen Republic property. I will not let that blood go unanswered.”

  “And what of our mission, sir?” the man asked. “Our mission wasn’t to fight pirates. It was to find that freighter, the Grania Estelle.”

  Harth nodded. “Yes, it was. And the last time we saw that ship, it was in the company of these pirates. Pirates, who I might add are now stronger than before. With more mobile units than he had before he’s stronger than ever. We cannot let him leave here thinking that the Republic is afraid of him. If we’ve seen him then it’s more than likely he’s seen us by now. If we turn away now…”

  Tran sighed. “Yes, sir. I understand. We’re ready to follow you.”

  “All right then. We’re going high and to starboard. We blow by as fast possible causing as much damage as we can then we swing around and we hit them again.”

  “Understood, sir. Just say the word and we’re moving.”

  Harth smirked. “Well, our time to intercept is just over an hour. So I’m giving you the word, Tran. Be ready.” He cut the connection. “Comms, open a channel to the incoming ships.” He waited a moment while the com-tech worked his console and then nodded. “To the approaching ships, this is Captain Duncan Harth on the Republic heavy cruiser Legacy. You are in violation of Republic space and have attacked Republic warships. Yes, I see that a few of those ships in your flotilla are Republic issue. You will stop or heave to, drop your shields and power down your weapons or I will open fire. I expect an immediate reply. Harth out.”

  “They’re not altering course, Captain,” the sensor officer reported. “The Republic ships are still continuing on a direct vector for us.”

  The pirate lord hissed. “No ssubtlety at all. Though I ssuppoze there iz only sso much one can do with two sshipss.”

  “Captain, they’re hailing us,” the comms watch specialist reported. “I have a transmission for you.”

  “Put it through, on the Commander’z dissplay,” he ordered. He leaned over to Tyler’s display and the two of them watched the Republic officer’s ultimatum. “Republic pig,” Verrikoth growled.

  “He’s going to go for our lighter units,” Tyler predicted.

  “My thoughtss az well, Commander,” Verrikoth said with a slight nod. “Order the corvettess and cutterz into formation, and have them break from the cruiserz. Hold position relative to uss at just insside their turbolazer range, to the port sside. Once we are in range of the Republicss, they are to break further from my cruiserz and attack. Hopefully thiss will confound the Republic pig who iz commanding those two sshipss. Forcing him to fight two opponents.” His mouthparts clacked in anticipation.

  “Aye, Captain,” the comms watch said, hurriedly relaying the message.

  A moment later, Homma from the sensor station spoke up. “Lighter units are formed up into modified square formation, Captain.”

  Verrikoth glanced at his display. The cutters were side by side and slightly above the two corvettes, forming a loose square formation. It would be easy to maneuver and fight in, though he admitted to himself that the amount of formation fighting that his men had trained in was pitifully small. That was something he was going to have to remedy, once this fight was over, he thought to himself. His forces had been acting like a mob of marauders because up until this very instant, they were. But if he was serious about defending his territory, about seriously ruling this parcel of space, then he was going to
have to start thinking like a lord and not like a pirate. His ships would definitely need training in a more professional style of fighting.

  “Time to intercept?”

  “Three minutes, Captain.”

  “Good,” he said, stretching as though he was going to physically engage the opponent. “This is my area of space now and the Republic needs to be taught to respect and fear me.”

  “Any hails coming from the pirates?” Harth suddenly asked. The rest of the bridge watch was busy, preparing to fight the ship, but the comms officer shook his head. “No, Captain. Not a peep.”

  He grunted. “Hmmm. That’s odd. I would have thought the Pirate Lord would want to gloat at his greater numbers or that he defeated the Republic assets in this system.”

  Kamerov nodded from his position over by the tactical station. “Yes, sir, that is strange. Maybe he’s concerned about Legacy’s greater firepower?”

  He shook his head. “I doubt it. I think the bug is busy over there counting noses and sees that he has six ships to our two, and thinks that alone will save him.”

  Kamerov’s professional mask slipped and a touch of worry covered his features. Clearly the pirate lord wasn’t the only one who was concerned about the disparity in numbers of ships. If he was honest with himself, Duncan Harth was concerned about it as well. But he wasn’t going to back off now. Like I said before, if we turn away before the engagement, all that the pirate lord will see is the Republic Navy fleeing before him. Morale on my ships will plummet and when word gets out that he chased off a heavy cruiser with lighter units, and not even that many lighter units, any respect we might still have out here in the Cluster will evaporate. No, we push on and we destroy him.

  “Entering turbolaser range,” Kamerov commented.

  “Open fire, all batteries. Target the lighter units before they break.”

  A salvo of coherent energy burst forth from the heavy cruiser in a wave. The left side cutter took three hits head on, her shields collapsed under the barrage and the front end of the ship crumpled. The ship fell away, out of position, and the other three ships raced past. The corvettes took hits on their forward shields and suddenly the nice box formation broke apart as the other three ships moved off on separate vectors. No one was running, yet, but Harth’s preemptive strike had definitely blunted their strategy.

  The corvettes pulled in close, firing their heavy lasers, pounding on Legacy’s shields. The hits weren’t concentrated, just raking along the port side of the heavy cruiser. “Port shields at 94%... 90, 87, holding at 85%, Captain,” the Shields officer reported. “Working to recharge.”

  “Helm,” Harth ordered, sitting a bit straighter in his seat. “Turn us forty degrees to port and down five degrees. Hit them as they attempt to pass.”

  The cruiser’s heavy lasers lashed out, hammering one of the corvettes, forcing it to turn away. The rest of the outgoing fire hit the second corvette, but it wasn’t as concentrated or strong and it raced by without significant damage to its shields. The light cruisers turned, heading straight for Legacy.

  “Tactical, fire off all weapons, starboard side. Hit them with everything,” Harth ordered, gripping the arm of his chair slightly, but otherwise projecting calm and control over his crew on the bridge. He watched his display as the turbolasers and missile launchers spat fire.

  “Incoming missile barrage,” the sensor officer said, a little too loudly as his nerves started to leak through his self control. Being part of Lord Verrikoth’s ever growing fleet was one thing, but standing and taking fire was quite another. It wasn’t every day that a Republic heavy cruiser hurled missiles at the ship you were sitting in. But with both Commander Tyler and Captain Verrikoth either sitting or standing tall on the bridge, no one else could ever show any weakness. People got shot that for that. After the second specialist got his brains splattered on the bulkhead for cowering in fear under his console when the Republic destroyer fired on Ganges, no one ever dared show fear on the bridge of the flagship again.

  “Point defense, shoot them down,” Tyler ordered smoothly. “Helm, roll the ship. I don’t want any one shield facing to get too low. Tactical, open fire with all weapons to assist with the point defense. Once the missiles are down, retarget the heavy cruiser and fire as they bear.”

  “Understood, Commander.”

  Verrikoth nodded in approval. “Order Meghna to sstrike at the heavy cruiser’z upper ssection, we will follow.”

  “Captain, the Republic ships are ignoring us,” the sensor operator reported. “They’re concentrating all their fire on the lighter ships.”

  “Good,” Verrikoth replied. He hissed a bit in laughter. “That means they think that we are not a threat. They think that they can disregard me because I am not a threat.” More hissing. “I destroyed their flotilla here. When I break their heavy cruiser there will be no longer any question of my power. Hit them again!” Another barrage of turbolasers and missiles streaked forth from the light cruisers, the energy bolts crashing into the shields of the Legacy. Verrikoth started to laugh, until a salvo from the heavy cruiser rocked the Ganges’ bridge, causing the zheen to stumble. That same salvo of counter fire shot down all the missiles before they reached Legacy’s shield perimeter, and her shields took only minor damage from the pirate cruiser’s weapons fire.

  “Their counter fire is much more significant than expected,” Tyler commented, his voice low.

  “Indeed, it iz,” the pirate lord agreed, his voice containing a touch of surprise. “I ssuppoze that iz to be expected in a heavy cruiser. I must admit that I am glad that this sship waz not here in the ssystem when we attacked. It would have made our fight more difficult.”

  Tyler nodded. “Yes, Captain. Better to take them one at a time.” He watched as the corvettes made another strafing run on the Legacy, and then saw the heavy cruiser tear into them with her own energy weapons. The lead corvette managed to evade some of the fire, receiving only glancing blows on the shields, which collapsed, scoring a few minor hits on the hull. The other corvette took a heavy series of hits on the shields, which punched through, damaging the superstructure. The ship veered off, shooting wildly.

  “We’re wearing them down, sir,” Tyler said, brimming with excitement and triumph.

  Verrikoth’s mouthparts clacked irritably. “But they are wearing us down quicker.”

  “Their shields are weakening, sir,” the sensor operator reported. “But no signs of spotting yet.

  “Damage to Korokat?” the Captain asked, referring to the more damaged corvette.

  “Their shields have collapsed,” the com-tech replied. “Moderate damage to the starboard side, but the ship is still combat capable, Captain. They’re working to rebuild shields, and will be circling back around for another attack.” He pressed a hand to his earbud. “Sessilan is moving to cover Korokat.”

  “And where iz Toroj?” he asked. “Where iz my other cutter?”

  “Toroj is moving to attack Ravage, Captain,” the sensor operator reported. “Toroj appears to be trying to keep the Republic corvette between her and the heavy cruiser.”

  The pirate lord nodded slightly. “Good. Make ssure Toroj sstayz away from the heavy cruiser. I would like to avoid lozing more sshipss.” He gripped his scarred carapaced hands on the console before him.

  “Yes, my lord,” the com-tech replied, speaking into his microphone.

  “Bring us around,” Tyler ordered, gesturing with one hand. “We will make another run on the heavy cruiser.”

  Verrikoth stayed silent, watching the displays.

  “Cruisers are coming back around for another pass,” Droven reported.

  “Turn starboard ten degrees, up ten,” Harth ordered, leaning hard on one elbow. “Engage them as soon as they come into range, try and get them on the same shield facing.”

  “Should we split our fire, Captain?” Kamerov asked.

  He shook his head. “No, concentrate on light cruiser Alpha, the one on the port side.”

 
“Understood, Captain. Locking on.” Kamerov said from the tactical station. He sent orders to the gunnery section, who were manning their weapons and were readying themselves down on the gun decks.

  The battle was moving at a fast pace, not surprising considering that Verrikoth’s forces were all light, fast units and they were facing off against Harth’s slower, more seriously armed and armored heavy cruiser. The ships were essentially looping around and around each other, exchanging shots, but never staying close enough to really slug it out. This was smart on the pirate lord’s part, as his ships couldn’t stand toe to toe with Legacy and exchange body blows, not for long anyway. The only hope they might have would be to do what they were doing; keep moving and nibble away at Legacy, make fast, sharp strikes and don’t sit still long enough for Harth to hit a knockout punch on any of the pirate assets.

  “Ravage is taking fire from the pirate cutter,” Droven called out. “They’re maneuvering out of our engagement envelope.”

  “No,” Harth snapped. “Comms, tell Tran to get back here where we can cover him. If he goes off on his own they’ll swarm him and take him out.”

  “Sending the message now, Captain,” the zheen comms technician, Khovik said.

  Another series of hits struck Legacy’s shields. “Shields at 54%, 52… 47% on starboard facing.” The shields officer was looking a bit pale, but he was keeping it together.

  “Roll the ship,” Harth ordered. “Helm, bring us to port fifty degrees, stay on this plane.”

  “Why haven’t they fired missiles at us?” Kamerov demanded. “Ravage did when we fought her at Ulla-tran. And these are Republic ships they’re using. Those are Tigorus class corvettes, they have launchers, they don’t appear to be terribly damaged, except for what we’ve done to them.”

  Harth shrugged, not looking up from his displays in his command seat. “No idea. They should be. If they could saturate our missile defense they might actually stand a chance of defeating us with only a few of their ships lost. Right now the only ones shooting missiles are the cruisers. Maybe they expended them all during their fight with local forces and hadn’t gotten a chance to replenish their magazines.”