Kyle didn't have long to wait as some of the Black Guard warships sped out after the regrouped enemy and then veered off suddenly, leaving them to flame each other. Kyle burst out laughing when he realized what happened. Kyle exclaimed, "Captain Smoog, you missed a great one! If I hadn't just seen the images here, I would have been hard pressed to believe it. The Malakins just destroyed some of their own ships!"
"Really, sir?" Captain Smoog replied.
"Yep! The Black Guard went at them at full speed and then veered away suddenly just as the enemy tried to perform a Dust Bunny maneuver. They had their spacing all wrong. It appears like they lost about six ships in that mess."
"Then our side is doing all right?" Captain Smoog asked.
"They're doing better than all right. They're creaming the enemy!" Kyle exclaimed.
***
Captain Gott ordered the helm to charge at the enemy formation while it was still in shock over their self-inflicted wounds. As her ship neared the enemy line, she ordered, "Helm, steer into the gap where their destroyed ships are! Then turn behind the longest part of their line to give our gunners some more T-shots!"
"Yes ma'am!"
The St. Gabrielle City charged at the enemy line, almost reaching it before the enemy reacted with return fire. The sudden change of course saved them from being sizzled in space by dozens of guns returning fire at them as the Malakins no longer assumed that the smaller destroyers were less dangerous. Then the St. Gabrielle City was suddenly inside the gap between two of the self-destroyed enemy ships. Almost as quickly, the small ship flashed out behind the enemy where the helm turned the ship sharply to race along part of the back of the enemy line. Again, more enemy ships were suddenly disabled and out of action completely as their guns fell silent. The Malakin guns were without power to feed them unlike Union ships which had separate power supplies for their guns. Even without engines, Union warships were usually still in action.
***
Kyle's squadron reached the battle some minutes after it was over. The Black Guard Squadron had taken the enemy on at odds of over six to one and defeated him with the loss of only four of their own ships.
"Admiral Kruler, I'm leaving the rest of the Malakins to you when they show up. We'll begin taking care of our wounded and making repairs," Dave said.
"Yes sir, Admiral Oden. Your squadron fought brilliantly!" Kyle communicated back.
"Well, I'll tell them though I suspect they're listening to us already. We have some real up and comers among these officers to keep the Union safe when you and I retire."
"Well, I meant what I said. The Black Guard Squadron certainly lived up to its namesake. Have a safe trip back home."
***
As Kyle left the communications console, Captain Smoog said, "Rust never sleeps. The old man certainly proved that he still has the touch."
"True," said Kyle. "He hasn't lost any of his ability in battle. Did you notice that his ship is still functioning even though it looks like Swiss cheese?"
"Yes, I did. I figure that's on account of good shipbuilding and maintenance," Captain Smoog replied.
"That and damn good tactical ability," Kyle added.
***
The second wave of Malakin warships was surprised to find modern warships facing them instead of the twelve old warships that the first wave reported encountering at the beginning of the battle they lost. Admiral Kruler's warships and fighter commands hit the second wave from two sides with only one conclusion possible. The resultant cross fire took out the heart of the second wave, including the enemy flagship within the first two minutes. From that point on it was a slaughter as the Union squadron lived up to their own squadron name as the Grim Reapers.
The third wave of Malakin warships fell for the old trick of fighters hiding among the debris of the second wave. The third wave passed it only to have the Grim Reapers suddenly appear behind them and to their flank. Close to half of them were disabled on the first volley of fire from the experienced Union warships and fighters. It was another mismatch as superior Union tactics, ships, and training each contributed to the overall Malakin loss.
***
Later, some of Kyle's more heavily damaged warships caught up with the Black Guard Squadron and returned to Beulah with them. The rest of the Grim Reaper Squadron returned to their position where they could keep an eye on the Union's defense.
Chapter 17
Captain Diane Blith was jubilant when Commodore Sorenson gave her ship the first shot with the Thunderhead-armed missiles at one of the hidden Malakin military bases on an airless planetoid. Several destroyers flanked her ship as protective escorts. They charged at high speed toward the planetoid in order to get close enough so that the enemy couldn't destroy the missile easily. The destroyers peeled away from the Dust Bunny just moments before the missile launch so that the Dust Bunny would have plenty of room to veer off to safety. Once clear, Diane gave the orders for the launching and for the helm to head for safety. Then Diane used the hologram imaging display to track the missile's progress. The missile disappeared out of tracking sight as it bored into the surface.
Diane listened to the communications channel as Commodore Sorenson notified Admiral Wund that he could deliver his ultimatum speech to the Malakin Empire. Moments later, Admiral Wund was broadcasting.
"This is Admiral Wund of the Union of Planets. A Thunderhead missile has been launched at one of your military bases. It is now burrowing beneath the surface where it will shatter the core of that planet. The Malakin Empire has two hours to decide whether to surrender without conditions or face destruction of one of its populated worlds. Two hours after that, another populated world of the Malakin Empire will be destroyed until the remaining worlds of the Malakin Empire surrender or are all destroyed. We will monitor the standard diplomatic channels for your response. We hope this demonstration will be sufficient to convince you to surrender. End of message."
Diane thought that Admiral Wund's message was certainly to the point. However, she didn't think the Union had enough of the Thunderhead warheads on missiles to take out the seven populated home worlds of the empire. Then again, the Malakins certainly didn't know that, either. She monitored other messages as the Union forces subsequently concentrated on pulling out the marines from each of the Malakin worlds instead of putting more troops on the surfaces.
Soon her cruiser was ordered to provide orbiting defensive fire for marines being pulled out from one planet. Other ships went to provide orbital cover for marines being pulled from other Malakin inhabited worlds. The group being picked up below Diane's ship seemed to be concentrated in one area. Fighters were dispatched into the atmosphere to help increase the distance between Malakin robots and the marines so they could safely board the arriving transports. Only when the transports were back in space did the fighters finally break off their attacks and rejoin the force.
It was shortly after that when the Thunderhead-attacked planetoid shattered into pieces. Deep, almost non-existent, volcanic action was caused to become active again on the surface. The few Malakin warships trying to fight their way into that base for repairs or a change of ships were disengaged by Union forces and permitted to venture as close as they wanted. The Union forces left to concentrate on other active targets.
Almost as suddenly, massive communication erupted among the Malakins on board the warships nearest the shattered planetoid and the home worlds of their empire.
***
Despite the flurry of communication among the Malakins, they didn't respond to the Union demands. Left with no recourse, Admiral Wund communicated with the Union of Planets Congress to advise them he was continuing with the attack. Their response was supportive. They wanted an end to the war. If Malak had to be destroyed to insure the security of the Union, then that was the way it would be.
Two hours after the planetoid was shattered, the Dragon attacked the main Malakin home world with a Thunderhead-armed missile. At other Malakin worlds, other Union ships perform
ed feinting attacks to fool the enemy as to which world was really being attacked.
***
An hour after the second Thunderhead attack, Malak shattered as quakes and volcanic activity erupted over its entire surface as the magma deep within it was disturbed and forced to expand in the only direction it could. Communications from Malak ended shortly after its death began.
For a second time, there was more communications activity among the Malakins as they sought to re-establish leadership and reach a decision. While that was ongoing, Union forces regrouped in space again to concentrate their forces even more against the remaining planets and bases.
Almost an hour passed after the second Thunderhead attack when the Malakins finally sent a response to Admiral Wund. "Malakin Empire to Admiral Wund and the Union of Planets. Respond."
Admiral Wund switched his communications to transmit. "This is Admiral Wund speaking. Are you ready to surrender?"
"Admiral Wund, our government is half-destroyed. We are still trying to determine who is in charge. Will you consider a truce until we have leaders again? Respond."
"No! There will be no truce. The Malakin Empire will surrender and cease all fighting immediately. Otherwise, I will continue with the next scheduled attack on one of the Malakin home worlds. If any Malakin world chooses to surrender on its own, I will guarantee that it will not be our next target provided that all military action ceases among units it controls. You still have seven minutes before the next attack begins. I will continue to monitor your communications for any response. End of message."
There was another greater flurry of communications among the six remaining Malakin worlds. However, the response was still no.
***
Admiral Wund called Commodore Sorenson. "Have the next attack cut off the populated world nearest their hidden military bases. Isolate them from easy reinforcements. The farther their ships have to travel, the better it becomes for us."
"Yes sir. We'll attack in five minutes," Commodore Sorenson responded. She then signaled the Sea Eagle to make the attack.
Sea Eagle went on the offensive flanked by several destroyers. One destroyer was destroyed by a Malakin warship that spotted the attack and attempted to get through the destroyer screen. Despite the damage the Sea Eagle took, it successfully launched its Thunderhead missile. The missile landed in an ocean and disappeared from both sight and sensors as it sought out the bottom and bored into the crust of the planet.
Again, the Union forces pulled away from the now doomed world. Once more, the Union fleet further concentrated its strength against other targets now that it was no longer necessary to keep the Malakins guessing about which planet was doomed.
***
Admiral Oden monitored the fighting from his flagship which was limping back to Beulah along with other similarly damaged fighting ships. He could have told Admiral Wund that the Malakins wouldn't surrender after losing only one populated world. If anything, the Union did the Malakin Empire a favor by changing the number of populated Malakin worlds to a multiple of three. Dave strongly felt the loss of a second populated world might shake up the Malakins enough to result in their surrender. Then they would no longer have a multiple of three. For that reason, Wund's latest target selection was very good strategically as well as tactically. Benz was an excellent admiral and one whom Dave was glad to have in addition to his other fine admirals, some of whom were busy in that very same battle.
Now Dave could see the relayed information on his hologram device. He saw how the Malakin Empire was going to be in more isolated pieces and much more difficult for the enemy to defend. Admiral Oden could only hope that destroying one more world was all it would take. If this destruction didn't convince the Malakins, Dave was almost sure that they would have to wipe the Malakins out utterly and completely. It wasn't the kind of outcome he wanted to create, but he knew there was little choice when it came to a question of who would survive. It was either both or only the Union.
As he thought more about the Union's future, Dave knew that Bragh would soon have to be diplomatically contacted. The Ape-oids would have to be told in no uncertain terms that the Union would not tolerate a third Ape-oids' War with the Union. The next time they came out fighting would be their last since the Union Navy now possessed a weapon totally dreadful enough to wipe out Bragh and eradicate the problem entirely. Most likely the Ape-oids would still have to be monitored but not so much for ships as for the possibility that they might try to create their own version of the Thunderhead weapon.
***
The third Thunderhead went off almost precisely on schedule, shattering the planet's crust in unexpected places, releasing massive volcanic elements along the platelet edges, and causing quakes and fires. During the following hour while the rest of the Malakin Empire consulted among its remaining worlds and armed forces, the doomed planet's oceans boiled and released steam to further compound the problems of survival for anyone still alive on its surface. Soon enough it would resemble Malak from space as a planet completely encircled by dense heavy clouds of steam cutting off all light to the surface and making the planet even more uninhabitable. Communications from the second populated Malakin world to be struck with the Thunderhead lasted almost thirty seconds longer than on Malak before everything was quiet. Though there were still Malakins probably alive on the surface, their technology was useless against such a massive blow.
Admiral Wund selected his next target with great care, considering which planet was most against surrender as their communications were monitored by military intelligence specialists who knew the Malakin language. After Malak was destroyed, the civilian leaders of the surviving Malakin worlds had all but ended using codes to communicate. Only their transmissions to their military forces continued to be in code and those weren't secret anymore, either. That code was broken early in the war and had helped provide some information to Admiral Wund on what to expect. Benz decided that it was time to shake up the Malakin Empire by announcing ahead of time which planet would be attacked. Perhaps it would speed up their decision to surrender.
Admiral Wund switched on his communications and spoke. "This is Admiral Wund of the Union of Planets. If you do not surrender, our next target will be Milik. You still have forty minutes to surrender and avoid further harm to your empire. End of message."
Wund didn't know that it was the wrong thing to do for several reasons. First, it strengthened the resolve of the weaker planets that saw themselves in no danger. Second, it gave the enemy advance knowledge of his plans. He realized that only too late when his intelligence specialists soon informed him of what was happening.
***
Admiral Oden heard Admiral Wund's message to the enemy and sat down in his command chair on board the America feeling somewhat stunned. Dave knew that the Union was finally winning, but the Malakin psyche was too different from humans for Wund's propaganda trick to work. Certainty was something that Malakins seemed to prefer and easily dealt with as they strived to put everything around them into an order they considered sacred. The uncertainty of how humans defended or attacked was one of the few things that Malakins hadn't been able to deal with very well. Now they were being handed a grand plan on a silver platter complete with silver service.
Dave watched the hologram images as the story began to fit his predictions in light of Admiral Wund's message. The Malakins quickly concentrated their remaining strength near Milik to prevent its destruction.
Slowly, the hour passed as the two forces danced about each other, each trying to find and exploit another weakness. Weakness was something each side had, but that the Union was more successful in concealing and defending. The Malakin forces, despite their numeric superiority, weren't aware that their situation was desperate. Likely, they'd never faced desperation before on such a magnitude of scale.
Admiral Oden reached for his communications headset and spoke with Admiral Wund.
"I was expecting your call before now, Admiral Oden. I jerked off ro
yally, didn't I?"
"Never mind that. Have you come up with anything to counter their preparations?" Dave replied.
"No, I haven't. My balls ache because of what I have done. On my return, I will cut one off and present it to Congress to make up for my mistake."
"Uh, Benz, we don't do that in the Union when we make mistakes. Your balls are still quite safe and rightfully belong on you. In the meantime, your best option is to have several ships make runs at Milik at the same time. That's the best way for you to keep them guessing which basket has the egg in it," Admiral Oden responded.
"Egg? Are we speaking about the same thing?" Benz asked.
"Yes, we are. I'm sorry, but I was using egg as a descriptive term for the Thunderhead missile. Keep the enemy wondering which ship will launch it. You might also ask some of your ship captains for other ideas based on what they can see of the situation. They're in a unique position to advise without having to worry about whether they're right or wrong. That's still your responsibility."
"I understand, Admiral Oden. Again, I am sorry for not thinking clearly of what I was doing," Benz replied.
"Okay, Benz. Good luck to you," Dave responded.
"Admiral Oden, hold on. Admiral Nick here. I couldn't help but overhear your discussion with our brother admiral. Why not let us send a big asteroid at Milik? We can hit it with almost the same results and with less danger to our people. Judging from what I see on my hologram display, we might even force some of their warships to commit suicide trying to stop one of these babies."
"Admiral Nick, you have a wonderful idea. Can't keep you away from a good war, can we?" Dave said.
"Guess you can't, at that. Do we have permission to launch one?"
"Nicky, hold on for a moment while I confer with Benz. He'll have to deliver the new message." Dave was about to call Admiral Wund when Admiral Wund began speaking again.
Dust Bunny (Rust Bucket Universe) Page 23