Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids

by Dale C. Musser

  “I honestly have no idea, Tibby. My gut tells me it’s a trap of some sort, but I can’t see how at the moment.”

  “I feel the same thing,” I said, “and I don’t like it one bit. Marranalis, get Stonbersa and Kophious on the screen for me.”

  “Yes, sir.” A moment later, Stonbersa appeared on the screen and seconds later Kophious appeared next to him as the screen split.

  “Admiral,” they both said, nearly in unison.

  “Gentlemen, I need your input; nothing we are seeing here is making any sense. What can you tell me? Stonbersa, you go first,” I said.

  “Admiral, we’re seeing more and more ships on our long-range sensors and a number of asteroid-ships as well. It’s looking like a full-scale invasion here. I’m sending out fighters to intercept and telling them to target the asteroid-ships first. We are nearly defenseless against those.”

  “I can have reinforcements sent in from Sector 4 if you need them,” I said.

  “We can definitely use them and more if you have them to spare. I’ve never seen the Brotherhood put this many ships into one operation before,” Stonbersa said.

  “Admiral Kophious, what about in your sector?”

  “It’s pretty much the same thing here, Tibby. We're seeing a lot more ships appearing on our long-range sensors. I've sent out fighters as well.”

  I’ll have Admiral Yoatoo in Sector 5 send half his ships over to help you out. I only hope there are no large-scale invasions planned for Sectors 4 and 5 as well. I’ll also send some of the ships from here in Sector 1 to help out both of you. Are you seeing asteroid-ships as well?” I asked.

  “There appear to be a number of them in the long-range scans,” Kophious replied.

  “Damn, how did they manage to assemble such large fleets without us getting any reports about it?” I asked as I turned to Wabussie.

  “The only thing the FSO has been picking up is news of increased ship building somewhere outside the sector, we’ve had no news or indications of a large-scale attack."

  “Well, we’ve got one now and it looks like they caught us with our pants down,” I said.

  “With our pants down?” Admiral Regeny asked with a quizzical look.

  “It’s an expression from Earth,” Slater volunteered. “It means they caught us unprepared and in the worst possible way.”

  “Ah, I see,” said Regeny, and I could tell he was visualizing the situation.

  “Admirals,” I said to Kophious and Stonbersa as a thought crossed my mind, “I need you to send out several ships to survey the inbound asteroid ships, but I don’t want them to fire on anyone. Use your best pilots flying at highest speeds. I want them to record their passes, getting as close to the asteroid-ships as they can. It is going to be a hot ride for them as the Brotherhood now can detect them, even if they are cloaked. I want them to make a quick pass through and get out of there as fast as possible. I want live feeds on those cameras as well. I want to see those asteroid-ships.”

  “Yes, sir,” both men said, as I watched them turn and give commands to their senior officers.

  “What are you thinking, Tibby?” asked Admiral Slater.

  “I’m not sure,” I answered. “It’s just a hunch.”

  “Tibby, can’t you use a nuke here the way you just did at Alle Bamma?” Regeny asked.

  “No, sir. The ships at Alle Bamma were in a tight cluster of meteors. The ships attacking in Sectors 2 and 3 are spaced further apart and there is no meteor cluster. A nuke would only affect their smaller ships, fighters and patrol ships. Their larger ships now have RMFF shielding and we’d be simply wasting our shots. Although, if their ships are like the ones at Alle Bamma, it’s possible the EMP might knock out the electronics on a lot of their ships, which might even the odds a bit and even tip the scales in our favor.

  “Marranalis, get A’Lappe on the vid for me.”

  Moments later, A’Lappe’s image appeared on the vid screen with Kophious and Stonbersa.

  “What can I do for you Tibby?”

  “A’Lappe, how long would it take for you to make up a bunch of very strong EMP devices that we could place inside our torpedoes?”

  “What do you mean by a bunch?” A’Lappe asked as he blinked his huge eyes.

  “I don’t know, say eight!”

  “I could possibly make that many in less than an hour using the computerized assembly machines in the ship's shop,” he said.

  “How long to make two?” I asked.

  “Twenty minutes, maybe a little longer,” he replied.

  “Make two. I need them ready to move through Cantolla Gates immediately. I'll get them to Stonbersa and Kophious. Once those are sent, make up six more and ship them here.”

  “Admiral Tibby, in twenty minutes we’re going to be pretty much in combat. Won’t those weapons harm us as well?” Kophious asked”

  “No, our ships are shielded against electromagnetic pulses, but we learned years ago the Brotherhood doesn’t go to that extra expense to shield their ships. The pulses will kill any electronics they have aboard their ships. The only ships they have that won’t be affected are the ones they captured from the Federation and possibly their asteroid-ships where the rock is too thick to be penetrated by the pulse.

  As we watched on the holographic displays, Marranalis subdivided the battles into two groups that we could watch in separate areas of the War Room. Sector 2 battles were on the left and Sector 3 on the right. We could see the first ships beginning to engage in Sector 2; the ships in Sector 3 were still far apart.

  “How soon before reinforcements from Sector 4 arrive to assist Stonbersa?” I asked Marranalis.

  “The first ships are about to reach the Cantolla Gate and pass into Sector 2,” Marranalis said, “but they’ll have to fly to the battle area from there. It will be at least an hour before the first ships arrive.”

  “Based on your readings, how many Brotherhood ships are there in Sector 2?” I asked.

  “Nearly a thousand,” Marranalis answered.

  I heard Admiral Regeny gasp. “Nearly a thousand?! By the stars, there’s never been a battle this large!”

  “How many ships are in Stonbersa’s fleet?"

  “Four hundred and ninety-two, sir, not counting fighters.”

  “How many carriers?”

  “Three, sir.”

  “Order one of the carriers from my fleet here to respond to Stonbersa’s assistance. Also, notify all our bases on planets with fighters that they are to have them armed and ready to send through gates to the carriers. What’s the status with the fleet in Section 3?”

  “Four hundred and fifty-seven ships, not counting fighters.”

  “Send another of my carriers to Sector 3. We can swarm both sectors with fighters from those carriers.”

  “But the Brotherhood still has faster ships,” Regeny said.

  “Don’t remind me, Admiral. I still think we have the tactical advantage, though,” I replied.

  “What’s the status of those fighters we sent out to check the asteroid-ships?” I asked.

  “One of them had been destroyed by enemy fire,” Marranalis said. “Two have had minor hits but still flying. They are in range and should start transmitting any minute,” he announced as a number of screens around the room lit up with displays of the asteroid-ships as the fighters flew by.

  “That was too fast to see anything,” Regeny grumbled.

  “We can play it back slowed down,” I said. “Marranalis, play us the first one; slow it down so we can see the detail of it.”

  “Yes, sir.” Marranalis said as the first flyby started to play on the main vid screen.

  The asteroid-ship was huge, at least six times that of a starship, but in all reality it probably had less than half the area inside as a starship. There were three hangar openings in the sides and ships could be seen in the interior. The next flyby showed a smaller asteroid-ship with only one hangar area that we noticed. There were a number of laser gun emplacements on the su
rface of the asteroid-ship; and I had a feeling this ship lacked an RMFF shield.

  Asteroid-ships four and five were larger than the second asteroid-ship, but smaller than the first. Each supported two hangar areas and only a few gun emplacements were seen on the surface.

  “All right,” I said with a sigh, “get me Stonbersa on the screen,” I said. Seconds later, his image appeared.

  “Admiral, have the fighters with the RMFF piercing torpedoes target the asteroid-ships hangars. They will have to get in close to do it, there is no other way. You’re going to need to have other fighters flying protection for them. I want them going in like a swarm the way we trained them. All ships to be cloaked. Warn them that at some point, soon I hope, we’ll be detonating an EMP device that with any luck will knock out most of the Brotherhoods smaller ships. The starships and asteroid-ships will most likely be unaffected. When that happens, I want our ships to focus entirely on the asteroid-ships and the starships still operating.

  “Marranalis how soon before we get some word from the fighters checking out the asteroid-ships in Sector 3?”

  “About another 10 minutes. So far, there have not been any conflicts in Sector 3; the ships are now getting in range.”

  Over the next ten minutes we watched as the fighters in Sector 2 attacked the asteroid-ships. As our ships approached, the enemy launched hundreds of fighters and our own fighters faced a vast gauntlet of fire. Nearly 65% of our attacking ships were lost on the first offensive, but they did manage to get two RMFF penetrating torpedoes through into the largest asteroid-ship; the explosion that took place was impressive and then the ship came to a halt and went dark. However, the other three asteroid-ships continued on with their defensive fighters flying about them like a swarm of insects. For every one of our fighters that the enemy destroyed, we sent twenty more into action arriving through the Cantolla Gates on the carriers. Where at the start of the battle, the Brotherhood had a numerical advantage, now we held the advantage, but the Brotherhood ships still had the benefit of speed and destroying an asteroid-ship was difficult.

  Abruptly, the three large asteroid-ships remaining in Sector 2 broke off from the rest of the attacking ships and began moving toward the PRIZAMET, Admiral Stonbersa’s Flagship.

  The PRIZAMET was the last starship built by the Federation, since the advent of the Cantolla Gates and the production of carriers. The giant starships were no longer practical, but Stonbersa was old-fashioned and wanted the ship as his flagship and I saw no reason to deny it to him. As a starship of the fleet, it could carry hundreds of fighters and numerous other ships in its hangar and a large complement of troopers; but unlike the carriers, it was unable to launch or retrieve ships quickly and required a large crew to maintain and operate. The ship did have heavy armament and an RMFF field, making it immune to laser fire and torpedoes.

  When Stonbersa saw the advancing asteroid-ships, he ordered all his remaining fighters in the hangars to fly out to engage the asteroid-ships, and that was his mistake. The Brotherhood had anticipated this action and knew that unlike carriers with synchronized shields, which flickered just long enough for an exiting fighter to get through, a starship needed to drop its shields to launch ships. They had two small cloaked fighters, each bearing torpedoes, in advance of their asteroid-ships, close enough to get several shots into the hangar bay and to hit the gravity wave generators during the brief period when the RMFF shield was dropped.

  We were still connected with the PRIZAMET with the vid screen and were in communication with Stonbersa at the time. The first and only warning Stonbersa had before the torpedoes hit was a brief cry from a crewman at the sensors, “Admiral, they’ve launched torpedoes at the hangar,” and we saw the violent shaking of the ship as flames exploded from the consoles on the bridge of the PRIZAMET. “Shields,” we could hear Admiral Stonbersa cry out as the screen flickered and for a moment all went dark and the image cleared again and we could see crewmen lying about while others staggered around the bridge. “Did we get the shields back up,” Stonbersa shouted?

  “No, sir,” a crew man shouted back, "shields are down and not responding to commands. Sir, the controls are dead.”

  “Send out a message to all ships in the area to….” Another explosion rocked the PRIZAMET as it took another hit from a torpedo. This time the screen went black and stayed dark. I had a painful sinking feeling in my chest when the screen went black.

  “Marranalis, issue orders for all ships in range of the PRIZAMET immediately to go to her aid and assistance. Tell them to look for cloaked ships in its vicinity and destroy them and also to put as many RMFF penetrating torpedoes as possible into those damned asteroid-ships. Get me any ship in the area with a live feed camera to focus in on the PRIZAMET; I want to see what’s happening.”

  “By the stars, Tibby,” Regeny gasped. You don’t think the PRIZAMET’s gone, do you?

  “I pray not, sir, but it doesn’t look good;” I said, “they were waiting for the PRIZAMET to drop its shields and they nailed her hard when she did.

  “Marranalis, contact Captain Nybidong and have him get his squadron of Ruwallie Rasson fighters through the closest Cantolla Gates and to Sector 2 immediately; I want them taking out every Brotherhood fighter they find. Tell Captain Mareoparen to get us to the nearest Cantolla Gate and to Sector 2.”

  “You’re not taking the MAXETTE to join the battle in Sector 3, are you?” Regeny asked with a shocked look.

  “You damn well better believe I am, Admiral and unless you plan on being in the middle of the battle, I advise you to head back to the DUSTEN where you are safe. Things are going to be getting pretty hot and violent shortly.” I saw Regeny’s face pale and a thin line of sweat streak down his cheek. He stared a moment but said nothing. He turned quickly and nodded to his bodyguard and headed for the door. “By the stars, Tibby I hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered and quickly added. “Wabussie, are you coming or going into battle with Tibby?” Wabussie stared at me a moment and I said, “You better go with him. There is little you can do here and your services to the Federation are best served if you’re hunting down intelligence and not sitting here with the potential of getting killed.” Wabussie nodded but said nothing as he rose from his seat and followed Admiral Regeny out the door.

  “Sir," Marranalis began, “we are getting images from the frigate MALPOSS that shows the PRIZAMET.”

  “Put it on the screen."

  When the image appeared, my heart sank. I could clearly see that the area where the bridge had been had taken a direct hit and if Stonbersa survived, it was only because he was not on the bridge when the hit occurred and I doubted that was the case.

  “Are we getting any messages from the PRIZAMET?” I asked.

  “Nothing at all, sir,” I could hear a tremble in Marranalis’s voice as he spoke, “Sir, there is another message coming in from Admiral Kophious.”

  “On the screen, Captain,” I said and I watched at Admiral Kophious’s image appeared.

  “What’s going on there, Admiral?” I asked with perhaps a bit more emotion than I should.

  “Sir, our fighters you asked me to send and scout out the asteroid-ships reported back. Sir, they’re not ships at all, just asteroids with a GW propulsion unit strapped on them and a few well-placed thrusters to keep them headed in the right direction. They aren’t even manned as far as we can tell. We’ve started picking off some of their ships, but most are turning and fleeing at the moment.”

  “The PRIZAMET got hit with its shields down," I said.

  “Is the ship all right?” Kophious asked with a shocked look.

  “It doesn’t look good. It took several hits; the shields are still down, the ship’s not moving and there are explosions occurring onboard. We’ve had no word since it took its second volley of torpedoes and that was a couple of minutes ago. I’ve ordered more ships to the area, including the Ruwallie Rasson fighters and I’m taking the MAXETTE there as well. Admiral Regeny and Admiral Wabussie have
gone back to the DUSTEN for safety.”

  “Do you need any ships from Sector 3?” Kophious asked. “With the enemy in retreat here, I think I can spare a few.”

  “No, hold off and tighten up your ranks. It may be a trap and as soon as your ships pull out they may turn and bring in even more ships. I want you staying where you are for the moment. I’m calling in ships from other sectors. I think we will have enough to handle things here,” I replied.

  “Marranalis, is anything new with the PRIZAMET?” I asked as I finished talking to Kophious.

  “No news, there are still explosions going on; we’ve seen a few escape pods launched, but not nearly as many as there should be.”

  “Damn, I hope Stonbersa made it to one,” I muttered.

  “Sir, the bridge was totally destroyed. I don’t see how anyone there could have survived,” Marranalis said in a reverent tone.

  “What’s the status with the Ruwallie Rasson fighters?” I asked. “Have they arrived?

  Years earlier, I had decided to set the Ruwallie Rasson up as a dedicated fighter group after they had shown considerable skills as fighter pilots. They took to the challenge with great enthusiasm and became highly recognized as the best fighter pilots in the universe.

  “Nybidong reports that they are on their way to the nearest Cantolla Gate; they will need to use three gates to transition here and it’s going to be close to an hour before they arrive.”

  “Aren’t there any bases with gates in their area that will allow them to transfer through to carriers in the battle area?”

  “I’m afraid not, sir, the nearest base is two hours away,” Marranalis replied.

  Time ticked by slowly as the battle ensued. Three of the asteroid-ships continued to close in on the PRIZAMET; our fighters managed to get another RMFF penetrating torpedo into one of them, but the shot missed the hangar; however, it did some damage to their GW propulsion system and the ship seemed out of control. The other two asteroid-ships continued on toward the PRIZAMET; and once in range, unleashed a torrent of fire on it. The MAXETTE managed to make it through a series of gates and arrived on the scene in time to see the PRIZAMET aglow with explosions and the heat from laser fire. All around the area other ships, both Federation and Brotherhood, were engaged in battle. The larger Federation ships with RMFF capability seemed to be surviving the battle. However, most of our smaller ships, though cloaked, had no such protection and the Brotherhood was slowly picking them off. We, likewise, were picking off their ships and it seemed to pretty much be an equal contest as to who was winning that battle. Our fighters were scoring hits on the larger RMFF protected ships of the Brotherhood with our RMFF-penetrating torpedoes, but we weren’t seeing the success we’d hoped for as many of the ships, though damaged, continued to operate and fight.