Death Never Leaves a Calling Card (Stories From the Filaments Book 5)

by Saxon Andrew

  Tommy turned back to the monitor and said, “The Dragon’s Maw will start broadcasting a blocking static field that will prevent any messages moving toward us from their front lines from getting past it; thus preventing the Tronan Warships behind our positions from being able to communicate with the ships in front of us. You can count on them trying to close the gap our Ghosts made. The line sent to the rear of the Maw will move in the filament flow with the Maw and puncture any Tronan Vessel that moves in on them. They will not drop an Egg into those ships.”

  Netty said loudly, “Why not, Sir?”

  Tommy looked at her and said, “Because we don’t want to cause any explosions. Those warships will be moving at a much faster speed than that rear line will be moving and dropping an Egg in them will be next to impossible even if we chose to do it. What I want to happen is their stardrive fields will be disrupted or destroyed by the puncture and they will immediately leave Under Space and pop up in Normal Space. If any don’t have their stardrives disabled, a unit of scouts moving close to the Dragon will puncture them again. Some of them may explode at that point but we’re not concerned about that. Those explosions will be masked by the Tronan blaster barrages.”

  Tommy stepped in close to Netty so she would be heard over his collar-mike, “Admiral, what will the Tronan Ships behind our rear forces see on their monitors?”

  Netty thought furiously and said, “They’ll only see their ships disappearing into Normal Space, Sir.”

  “Will they be able to detect our scouts?”

  “If they’ve started firing blaster barrages, their scanners will be blind, Sir. The scouts will be too small to show up on their scanners.”

  Tommy stepped back, “That is what we believe will happen. We’re doing it this way to prevent the Tronan Forces behind us from leaning about our new technology. It would be a waste of time to prevent their communications from our space, if they simply record our scouts at the rear of our formation. The Dragon’s Maw is there to broadcast a static field that will prevent any Tronan Warships that make it through our rear lines as well as any from the warships in the communication lines in front of the Dragon from communicating with each other.

  Tommy pointed the remote and the gathering saw the rear line moving in the filament ahead of the Tronan Ships. They also saw the Dragon’s Maw maintaining a gap between it and the rear line of scouts. “There will only be five lines of sixty-seven scouts in the rear line at this phase of our assault.” Tommy turned around, “You might be wondering what makes sixty-seven a magic number; we know the Tronan Warships are three miles wide and two-miles high. That means only thirty of them can fit in the filament side-by-side and top-to-bottom. The extra lines of scouts insure that none of them can make it through without being punctured. The lines and the ships in each of them will maintain a two and three-quarter mile separation between them and will not vary their positions. The line must be straight and that is the most important order. If a line waves, a Tronan Warship could make it through a gap and we can’t allow that to happen; the Dragon is vulnerable to their blasters. I will have some scouts moving with the Dragon to prevent it from being attacked but maintaining your lines will not require us to use them.” The assembly watched the monitor as the rear line of scouts moved slightly further behind the Dragon’s Maw: then they saw images of Tronan Warships hitting the rear line and disappearing from the monitor.

  Tommy smiled, “Now, let’s talk about the front line.” The view on the monitor moved closer to the front line moving out in front of the Transport. “The Tronan Warships in front of us will try to claw their way back to remove what is preventing their communications. They will fire their boosters to hold their place in the filament as we come rushing up on them at extreme velocity. In this situation, the scouts in the front line will use their thrusters to slow as they puncture them from bow to stern and drop an Egg in them. These Tronan Ships will also leave Under Space and explode after they arrive in normal space, at least that’s what I hope happens. Even if they explode in the filament, the Dragon will be far enough away to not be harmed by the explosion and the debris will also leave Under Space before it moves very far. The front line is tasked with opening the gap between them and the Maw. They will increase the size of the break in the Tronan Communication Lines until the break is longer than the range of their communicators.” Tommy pressed the remote again and the view moved out. The assembly saw scouts in front of it moving away from the Dragon’s Maw and rear lines. He kept the recording going and then stopped it.

  “I’m sure all of you have questions but hold them. Your Commanders will answer them and cover anything that you don’t understand. Which brings us to the next item.” Tommy changed the image and they saw an overhead view of the Dragon’s Maw.

  “No one can fight indefinitely. The two lines will be relieved every four hours. The ships being relieved will land on the starboard side of the Dragon and the relieving lines will leave the portside. Once a relieved line lands, they will immediately get something to eat and then go to bed…and you will sleep for eight-hours. If you’re too wound up to sleep, put on the neural-helmets in your quarters and set an alarm. This is going to take a long time to complete the break in their lines. I need all of you fully rested and alert when you’re manning the two lines. Initially, the ships relieving the rear line will just fire their boosters and resist the filament flow until you arrive at the rear line. You will move through their ranks and continue the process. For those relieving the front lines, as the distance increases between the Dragon and the frontlines, you will go to full boosters. You will arrive at the front lines quickly and be forced to use your thrusters to slow down and not pass them. You will move through their ranks once you’re organized and they will enter the reverse flow of the filament and go back to the Dragon.”

  Tommy looked at Netty and touched the mike on his collar shutting it off. He quietly said, “I know what you’re thinking; save it for later.” He removed his hand and Netty nodded. Tommy said, “For the next three months you will practice these maneuvers until you can do them in your sleep. At that point, we will start working on the next maneuvers. Those are the ones we’re going to use in the event a Tronan Warship ahead of us enters the reverse flow and tries to attack from it. You will also work on the organization we’re going to use to stop any Tronan Message Probes from getting by us.” Tommy looked at the assembly and saw many of them were nodding; many of them understood what was going on and would help the others get it later.

  He turned off the giant monitor and said, “There is one other item that I feel all of you should know before you start this new training.” Tommy looked at Netty and smiled, “I think it is important for all of you to know that Admiral Nettles and I are now an item and I’m hoping she will agree to make our relationship more than just an item.” Netty’s mouth fell open and he put his hand on the mike, “Close your mouth, it’s unbecoming of a superior officer.” She closed her mouth and Tommy moved his hand from the mike. “I think it would be an insult to attempt to hide this from you and I want to assure all of you that we will be better together than working separately. I hope all of you will accept this and know that both of us are committed to making sure we make the best decisions to keep you safe.” Tommy smiled and said, “You are dismissed.”

  Netty stared at him for a long moment and then went into his arms. Tommy hugged her as the giant landing bay erupted in cheers. She leaned back and Tommy said, “Now was that so bad?” Netty kissed him and the cheers rattled the landing bay.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sam sat at the front table in his conference room and said, “What’s taken the two of you so long to come up with a plan? Nearly all of the Tronan Crews have been trained and time is growing short. They are going to arrive quickly.”

  “Sir, there were some unknowns that had to be answered before we could even start formulating a plan; they had to be answered before we could even start to put one together,” Embree replied.

&nb
sp; “Such as?”

  “Well, we know our ships can easily puncture a Tronan Warship moving at a similar speed as our scouts or sitting still. But what happens when a Tronan Warships hits a scout holding its position when it’s traveling thirteen-hundred light years a second?”

  Sam’s eyes widened, “I haven’t considered that. You don’t seriously think they’ll be moving that fast, do you?”

  Desiree shrugged, “Probably not. The width of the filament will slow them down some but that’s not something we can know for sure. Jek gave us some of the warships he used to bring the crews to Romania and we converted them to remote control. We took them out to the 440 Filament and ran them into an unmanned scout at their maximum speed. We then did it again in the filament that leads toward Heaven’s intersection.”

  “What happened?”

  “The scouts in the 440 didn’t move and showed no damage,” Embree replied. “We also determined that a few of the warships didn’t leave Under Space.”

  “Why not?” Sam asked.

  “Sir, there’s no way a scout can maneuver to hit a ship moving that fast in a chosen location on their hulls. The Tronan Ships were punctured but their stardrives were not disabled.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “It’s not as bad as you think, Admiral,” Desiree answered. “They didn’t lose their stardrives but their speed was greatly reduced after the puncture. They were easily destroyed by scouts holding position behind the first scouts that punctured them.” Sam stared at them and Desiree continued, “We also determined that some of the warships that were knocked out of Under Space were still functional. Their stardrives were inoperative but they could possibly manage to get them repaired and get back into the fight.”

  Sam eyebrows came together and Embree shrugged, “Even puncturing a sixty-foot hole all the way through them is pretty small when hitting a ship five-miles long, three-miles wide, and two-miles high.”

  “So, what’s the plan?”

  Embree handed him a data-cube and Sam inserted it into his console. The huge wall monitor activated and he listened as Embree and Desiree narrated what he was viewing.

  • • •

  Tommy looked at his monitor in his quarters and listened to Admiral Oliver, “Tommy, I’m sending you a copy of our attack plans. I think you should know what we’re doing and how it might impact your fleet. The Tronan Fleets will be arriving shortly and you’re going to have to handle your end without assistance.”

  “Yes, Sir. We’ve built our tactics around anticipating that you would be unable to send any forces to assist us.”

  “Good-luck and Admiral Hummel tells me that I have nothing to worry about.”

  Tommy smiled, “Tell him I appreciate his vote of confidence.”

  “I’ll be sure to do that.”

  The monitor went dark and Tommy looked up, “Computer, go over the attack plan and tell me anything that we’ve not considered.”

  “Working.”

  Tommy looked at Netty sitting on the couch behind the monitor, “I’ve tried to come up with a plan that will allow us to survive. What have I missed?”

  “I don’t know of anything but if the attack starts quickly, the Ghosts are going to have to open the break in the Communication Lines before they arrive at our initial forces.”

  “They’re in position. Let’s see what Fleet anticipates will happen.” Ten minutes later, the computer began speaking over the wall speakers and they knew their chances of surviving weren’t good. Netty looked at Tommy, “Do you think the Tronan will go against their orders?”

  “Would you?” Netty stared at him and sighed as she nodded. “We’ll cross that bridge when it gets built and maybe it won’t happen.” Tommy looked up and said, “Computer, sound the War Alert along with Battlestations.”

  They heard the klaxons start wailing as the inter-ship speakers started announcing, “Battlestations, all hands to Battlestations.”

  “We have a few minutes before we check the ship’s status. I think we should use it wisely.” Netty nodded and went into his arms.

  • • •

  The Prime Director started questioning his Senior Directors hourly as they approached the coordinates where he lost contact with the invsion fleets he sent. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He was amazed at the number of commercial ships his fleets encountered during their long flight and knew that the space they were approaching had a wealth of planets to invade. He was excited at the prospect but was nervous at what his warships would encounter. His entire Senior Staff was present as the fleets roared in on the target filament and then…the wall monitor went dark. He closed his eyes as the monitor changed to a warship still communicating. The Ship Director said, “Thousands of our warships in the communication lines just blew up. I am no longer receiving messages from the ship’s ahead of them.”

  The Prime Director opened his eyes as his Senior Military Director screamed, “REESTABLISH CONTACT!!” The Prime Director remained silent as he listened to his staff issuing orders. What nightmare existed in the space his fleets were attacking?”

  • • •

  Captain Abanee Boranee stared at her monitor and saw the leading elements of the Tronan Fleets enter the filament at the edge of her long-range scanners and said over her communicator, “Hold it together. Maintain your distance; focus on that and nothing else!”

  The original decision to have the scouts fall back from the Tronan Warships to use their Eggs had been canceled. Her squadron had to fill a filament twenty-eight miles wide and twenty-five miles high. Sixteen lines with 2,246 scouts in each line were holding position in the filament, filling it from edge-to-edge and top-to-bottom. Leonidas declared the formation a Phalanx; which was a massed formation of infantry that Alexander the Great used to conquer the known world in Earth’s ancient history. No one could argue with his position and Phalanx it was. Now it was going to be tested. Abanee’s unit was opening the war against the Tronan Empire.

  • • •

  Senior Captain Montgomery stared at his panel and watched the countdown numbers reducing quickly. He couldn’t see the Ghosts spread out over a two-thousand-light year space in the filament but he knew they were there. He had trained his command hundreds of times to attack simultaneously but even the best laid plans could fall apart. Every Ghost Scout was staring at their synchronized chronometers and began moving into the filament with one minute left. Every Tronan Warship in the two Communication Lines moving up on them was accounted for and all of them were targeted by a Ghost.

  The countdown hit five seconds and Travis activated his communicator and said, “FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…”

  • • •

  The Dragons Maw was rushing toward the filament at maximum speed and entered it in a space where there were no Tronan Warships present. They turned and accelerated into the filament’s flow as the two scout units exited the Maw and formed up. In an instant, Tronan Warships rushed toward the rear guard and opened a massive blaster barrage when they detected the Dragon’s Maw moving away from them at high speed. The mass hit the rear scout lines and began disappearing.

  Commodore Lynch sat in his command scout and watched the rear lines carefully. The six-thousand scouts he had holding position between the rear lines and the Dragon maintained their distance and twenty scouts roared out to attack twenty-Tronan Warships that made it through the rear lines. The scouts hit them and dropped an Egg before whipping around to return to formation.

  Not one of the twenty Tronan Ships remained in Under Space long enough for the Egg in them to explode. They survived one puncture and lost speed rapidly as they blew past the rear scout lines. The second puncture was more accurately placed taking out their stardrives; all twenty were hit in the bridge where the stardrive controls were located.

  • • •

  Tommy sat on the bridge of the Dragon’s Maw and muttered, “So far, so good.”

  Roger smiled, “You can fall off a ten-story building and fall e
ight floors and still say that.”

  Tommy muttered, “Cute!”

  Roger shrugged, “Just saying.”

  Commander Leb looked at Tommy, “More ships than I anticipated made it through our lines.”

  “Admiral Oliver warned me about this. Do you have the static-frequency operating?”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  “I’m going to keep an additional scout unit between your ship and the rear lines for the duration of this mission.”

  Leb nodded, “Thank you for that.” Tommy nodded and continued to stare at the monitor. The Dragon Communication Leader announced, “Admiral, I’ve received a report from the front lines that the Tronan are starting to mass warships in front of them. Hundreds of them are using their boosters to slow them down and form up in an attack formation.”

  Tommy pressed his collar button that was now programmed to go directly to Netty in the landing bay control center, “Admiral, we have massive numbers of warships forming up in front of our front lines. I want the unit assigned to relieve them to launch now and form up between the front lines and the Dragon.”

  Netty didn’t respond but the monitor inside the landing bay showed large numbers of scouts leaving the portside bay at high speed. As the lines of scouts closest to the doors disappeared out of the landing bay, the lines behind them moved forward and their crews rushed into their scouts. There were 408 lines of scouts in the landing bay with 243 scouts in each line; all 243 scouts in each line launched together. As the front lines of scouts launched, cables pulled the other lines of scouts forward.