When the work in the shipyards was finished, Heidl was promoted to captain and given command of Bergspitze. He knew why. The actions at Ulatar in the Badlands had marked the three squadron ships for pirate payback and the Imperial Navy had decided to move them to a duty station as far as possible from the Badlands. He had gotten command of Bergspitze because the Navy hierarchy did not want to stick another officer with command of that particular ship and crew and then be banished to the far edge of the Empire along the border with the Zekes. That was really the source of his unhappiness. He wanted a second chance in the Badlands and had argued that point with the Navy. He was sure moving the three ships to an out-of-the-way duty station would set a precedence the Navy would regret. Pirate Raferty Hawkins was deciding deployment schedules. Heidl and his three squadron ships were now stuck on the Aurora border far from the Badlands. They were outcasts within their own Navy. High command had thrown him a bone by putting him in charge of the three vessels. He was given another destroyer as a fourth ship to complete his division. Now his group had spent the last two months on the Aurora border. Currently, he had his force in a box formation with Regenwolke and the new comrade, Staubwolke, on the border’s edge, and his ship and the destroyer Sterenhimmel off the border in between the gap of the two frontline ships. Smugglers would often try to run between the ships on the border. If they tried that, they would run into the two ships off the border.
“Hans, we don’t have the sensor hits yet. Keep trying to contact them.” Heidl ensured all his ships heard the order.
“Roger. We’re sending you the sensor feed now.” Stapler was on top of it. He had been captain of Regenwolke in the Badlands and he knew what to do.
The few seconds delay between transmissions made the conversation stilted so both speakers limited their conversation. Besides, the three freighters would be in range soon enough and their situation would be sorted out. Their speed might indicate smugglers were chasing them for their cargo. With the drawdown of forces by the Zekes on the opposite side of the border, pirates and smugglers had begun to appear on the border in ever-increasing numbers. The freighters could have pirate ships on their tails. Regardless, this freighter situation could help alleviate the boredom.
The sensor feed came in from Regenwolke and showed the three blips coming across the border. The IFF readouts gave the ship names and the codes given to them by the Aurora customs for border passage. The ships were coming fast in a V formation.
Heidl spoke to Sterenhimmel close abeam on the port side of his ship. “Dieter, we move toward the freighters.”
Fregattenkapitan Dieter Quast acknowledged the order and the two ships moved toward the incoming traders at maximum speed. Soon the merchant formation appeared on their own long-range sensors. The V formation was moving fast right at them.
Stapler of Regenwolke spoke again. “Stormy One, we have two images in pursuit of the freighters. Gaining on them at a good pace. We are moving toward them now to intercept.”
Now the fourth Imperial ship of Heidl’s division entered the conversation. Fregattenkapitan Richard Hellman of Staubwolke reported he had the merchants and the two bogeys on sensors and was closing on the three freighters and two pursuers from the other side. Heidl acknowledged the call and went to his tactical screens. The situation was setting up well. The three freighters were headed directly at Bergspitze and Sterenhimmel with Regenwolke closing from the one side and Staubwolke closing from the other. Three sides were covered. Heidl didn’t have the two pursuing pirate ships on his screens yet but the bogeys should have Regenwolke and Staubwolke on their own sensors now. Heidl expected them to decide discretion was the better part of valor and reverse course to reenter Zeke space. Heidl and his division could claim hot pursuit and chase after them into Zeke space, but if the two bogeys reversed course as soon as they figured out there were four Imperial ships in the area, they could easily escape and the policy was not to pursue smugglers or pirates into Zeke space unless they were very close to being in missile range. Heidl knew they would not be anywhere close to weapon engagement envelopes so, he expected the two intruders to run as soon as the tactical situation became apparent to them, and that would be the end of this little adventure. He mentally shrugged. He was sure this would come to nothing, but this incident helped break the monotony for a time.
The pursuers now appeared on his own ship’s sensors. They were using fake IFF codes identifying themselves as freighters. Heidl noted the two signatures were larger than usual for the small ships used by pirates and smugglers. He was mildly surprised at the size of the sensor returns and their aggressive pursuit. Maybe the bigger ships made the pirates braver. He knew these were pirates, not smugglers. The downsizing of the Zeke military patrols on the Aurora/Goldenes Tor border had been an unspoken invitation for all sorts of scum and bottom feeders to move to the border to try their luck. The Orion/Zeke war had driven the smugglers and others off that common border and many had set up shop over here. The smugglers left normal traffic alone and were content to run their own cargos for their own profit. The other newcomers actively attacked legitimate border traffic. They had small, fast ships, and usually did not want long pursuits where their quarry could call for help as they fled. They preferred surprise and quick strikes. The Imperial ships had encountered them more frequently of late but none had offered battle.
This might be changing. The two pursuers were larger ships and were not backing off. Heidl noted the two bogeys had not altered course even though it was reasonable to assume they had the four Imperial ships on their own sensors now. He did a quick calculation. The two chasers could be in missile range of the three freighters before his force could intercept them so they could shoot at the merchants, still reverse course, and beat it back to the border without shooting it out with the combat ships. No way was there enough time for the intruders to board the freighters to get the cargo or to commandeer the ships and try to escape with them. Even as he stared at the screen, the two raiders continued to close on the trio of traders. Heidl thought it might be possible the pursuers wanted to shoot at the freighters as revenge for their escaping, or to set the example as to what happens to freighters that try to run away. The continued pursuit could mean anything and Heidl didn’t much care. If the two bogeys were stupid enough to want a shootout with four Imperial Navy combatants, he would be more than happy to accommodate them. He ordered all four ships to battle stations. He told the two flanking destroyers to adjust speed and closing vectors to ensure all four ships arrived at missile range of the bogeys at the same time. If the two attackers altered course to shoot at one of the destroyers on the flanks, their two-to-one advantage against that lone ship would be short lived, as the other three ships would be in supporting range shortly.
The next thirty minutes saw the scenario continue to play out along the script already established. The three merchants closed on the light cruiser and destroyer that had been off the border. The two bogeys continued to chase them. The other two destroyers continued to press in from each side. The distance shortened between the participants as none of the ships changed course or speed. Heidl scanned the numbers on his tactical readout. Assuming constant speeds by all players, the intruders would be in missile range of the freighters in five minutes. The intruders would be in range of his ships seven minutes after that.
Communication was established with one of the freighter captains, a man named James Milton of Summer Breeze. The name checked out as master of the ship, but comm was by voice only so positive identification was not done. The Captain reported a routine trip for the three ships until the two unknown ships started to pursue them. The intruders had demanded the freighters heaved to so as to be boarded but there was no way that was going to happen, so the chase was on.
The two chasers now slowed up. They seemed to have finally, if belatedly, done the math and figured out it was a losing proposition all around. They were just on the edge of missile range for their attack on the freighters but did not fire. T
hey did not reverse course either but continued to close. Heidl imagined them arguing among themselves as the prizes were so close but the danger equally nearby. He shook his head. Lack of a solid chain of command was about to get them killed. He was not letting this opportunity get away.
“Shove the engines to the stops,” he ordered all ships. “We’re going to get these guys. We will go all offensive.”
The four Goths now closed on the two raiders from three directions at a fast rate. The three freighters were coming up on the port side of Bergspitze and Sterenhimmel and would pass port to port. Heidl had stopped paying attention to them several minutes prior. He was focused on the hoped-for fight. He could taste the victory. Two pirate trophies were not much in the Badlands, but here it would be quite an achievement. The three outcast ships needed a victory. He had to admit he did also. Any redemption was good, no matter how small. If the raiders dithered for a few moments longer…
Suddenly, the sensors seemed to go haywire. The two enemy bogeys fanned into a spread of four ships each. The two groups turned toward the flanking destroyers and closed rapidly. Heidl was momentarily dumbfounded. Those four ships in each group had to fly within meters of each other to create the single sensor return that had established. They couldn’t even use shields to protect against collision because the shields would have forced them to spread out more and create a larger sensor footprint. Even with computer assisted course control, that was a stunning feat of airmanship to fly in a formation that tight and for that long.
“Go defensive! Close on me!” Heidl shouted to all ships.
In a heartbeat of time, his force had gone from hunter to hunted. Without quick action and some luck, they would soon be scrap metal. Suddenly, a woman with a wolf’s head hallie on the right side of her face appeared on all frequencies. She stared out from the screen. “Die, you Goth bastards, DIE!”
Killian O’Hare was well known by all of naval officers who had served in the Badlands. Her fame, or rather her notoriety, had begun to grow rapidly outside the Badlands as well. But what the hell was she doing here? Heidl knew the answer even as he asked the question. She was here because they were here. He knew no matter how the battle went, it would be useless to run to the escape pods.
The eight pirate ships began to fire on the two flanking destroyers even as those two ships altered course to join him as ordered. Heidl saw they would not make it. The two destroyers under assault fired out defensive missiles in response. He was about to order his two ships to join in their defense when a bridge sensor operator shouted. “Incoming!” Heidl saw the eight pirate ships had not shot at his ship so was surprised at the call. He glanced to his left at his tactical screens. A barrage of over two hundred missiles were coming from the direction of the three freighters. Even as he watched, four sensor signatures broke away from the larger ships and formed a line between the merchants and his two ships. The two pursuers of the freighters weren’t the only ones flying a close formation. The four smaller vessels must have been tight on the merchant ships the whole time. The merchants had gotten in close and fired. Now the four escort ships were protecting the freighters from return fire. It would not be necessary. His two ships would have to go full defensive if they were to have a wisp of a chance at survival.
“Go defensive! Shoot when ready!” His voice was steady but Heidl knew it was a losing effort. The close range and high number of incoming projectiles ensured his two ships would take several hits. His mind flashed back to the Battle of the Nomad asteroid belt and the deaths of Admiral Kaufmann and his own captain along with the entire bridge crew. The past was about to repeat itself here.
The two Imperial ships put up a good defense. Interceptor missiles, gunfire, lasers, and decoys destroyed or fooled dozens of incoming pirate missiles. Dozens more got through. The initial hits on the ships were absorbed by their shields. After many hits, several shield sections collapsed on each ship. Now missiles poured in against the bare hulls. Holes were blown into several compartments. Jagged sections of titanium blew out into space, followed by people, equipment, and atmosphere. Both ships blew up as engines and ready ordnance erupted. The overwhelming attack and rapid destruction of the targets ensured not a single escape pod got off of either ship.
At the same time, Raferty Hawkins’ Alpha Squadron and Killian O’Hare’s Wolfpack continued their separate attacks on each of the destroyers that had been on the flanks. It was as one-sided a battle as the destruction of the division flagship and her companion. The flood of pirate missiles battered through the Goth defenses. It was a longer process, and both Goth ships had time to launch several escape pods before succumbing to the inevitable. Soon dozens of escape pods drifted around the two wrecked destroyers. In other fights with ships involved in the Ulatar incident, Flot 1 ships had lasered the escape pods holding Goth survivors. Surprisingly, the pirates left these pods alone.
The pods did not leave them alone. Someone spoke from the pods over the international distress channel. “This is Fregattenkapitan Richard Hellman of the Imperial Ship Staubwolke. You have attacked ships of the Goldenes Tor Imperial Navy and you will be held accountable. Your ships will be hunted-.”
Hawkins sat calmly in his captain’s chair but did not wait long to override the threat. He spoke over the same distress frequency to ensure he was heard by all the pods. “Yeah, yeah. Quack, quack, quack. You would be amazed how many times I have heard that. It’s a useless threat. You tell your Government this attack was done by Pirate Flotilla One. They know why. The lesson is, you got to follow the rules, and, if you do not, you will be held to account. I know you’re not of the Badlands and had no part in the events there, so you don’t understand why this attack happened. Your three companions cannot make the same claim to such innocence. They helped in the killing of women and children, and now they have paid for their part in that affair.”
Hawkins was not in a mood to debate with this Goth. At the final battle briefing eight hours ago, a faction of his captains, led by Killian O’Hare, had wanted to laser the escape pods of the three ships that had been at Ulatar. There had been a running argument that only ended when Hawkins had outlined his view of the future and everyone realized the lasing of pods would have a negative impact on what Hawkins hoped to achieve in the Aurora Empire. The Goth officer had no idea how much worse the current situation could have been.
Captain Hellman knew what Hawkins was talking about regarding payback. The Ulatar incident had never been officially acknowledged by the Navy or the Government, but rumors and gossip had been circulating in Navy circles for months. Then the pirates had released an image stream of the Ulatar attack along with images of an attack on Agra 2 in the Badlands, and images of a Brie light cruiser destroying a small, unarmed vessel named Redemption. Now the Ulatar attack was common knowledge outside of Navy circles. Despite this, Hellman was not about to let it go. “Regardless of what may or may not have happened, you are not judge and jury, and you cannot pronounce sentence and then carry it out as you see fit.”
Hawkins smiled at the voice. “If not us, then who? Who will give us justice? You surely do not believe your Navy or Government will take an interest. Hell, they are the ones who ordered it.”
Hellman’s voice came back instantly. “I hope you and your crews are in your own escape pods soon. We’ll see you then.”
Hellman was surprised at the laughter his remark generated. Not only from Hawkins but there were several other people laughing over the distress channel. Hawkins spoke with a light voice. “You clearly have never been in the Badlands. Our ships do not carry escape pods. We die with our ships.”
“I look forward to that.” Hellman would not be intimidated.
Hawkins replied in a steady voice signaling the end of the conversation. “Maybe someday. But not today and not by you. Pirate Flotilla One out.”
Hawkins had just turned to a different frequency when another voice spoke. This was not over the comm nets but came from behind him at the rear of the bridge. He
and every other member of his bridge crew spun in their seats and stared at the back hatch. Mason Reed, the new XO, was standing there.
He remarked to everyone in general. “A very good job. This flotilla is fantastic. Four ships destroyed and no damage in return.” He turned to Hawkins. “Captain, thank you for letting me join the ship. I am honored to be in this crew.”
Hawkins did not acknowledge the remarks in any way. He stared at Reed. The entire bridge crew, with one exception, also stared at Reed.
Hawkins spoke but not to Reed. “I don’t recall securing the ship from general quarters.”
“That’s because you didn’t.” Baby Doll answered the observation. Neither of them took their eyes off Reed.
Reed quickly grew uncomfortable under the close, silent scrutiny. “Well, just wanted to tell you all how impressive you all are.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll just be headed back to aft steerage to my station.” He backed toward the hatch. “Good job. Yes, sir. Really, really, good job. Really.” He vanished out the hatch and closed it behind him. The bridge crew returned to their duties while scrupulously avoiding looking at Tactical. Of course, this meant everyone was thinking about Tactical and her relationship with Reed. Tactical had never even looked in Reed’s direction, working diligently at her station throughout the entire episode.
Echoes from Yesterday: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 4 Page 9