T’esih changed the view of the hologram and it morphed into a top down view of Saturn, its moons, the human ships, and three large blue dots representing the Hashmedai ships in the sector. She knew the limitation of human ship scanners, as they were based on Radiance technology. As such they couldn’t see what was directly behind one of the moons, a perfect place to hide a carrier that didn’t have to be directly engaged in combat. “Bring us and the Night Hunter toward Titan. Have the Shade Flare hide and wait behind this moon over here.” She sent a holographic image of the moon of Rhea to Delin. “Power all plasma cannons and have the rest of the fleet stand guard at the wormhole.”
“Yes, Captain.”
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
A proximity alarm began to beep in an annoying manner on the bridge. A sound Xavier feared hearing at time like this. His heart began to thump faster.
“Captain, two Hashmedai ships bearing two one six point four,” said Yates.
“Bloody hell, they’re back for more,” said Xavier. “Battle stations!” The proximity alert alarm turned into the blaring battle stations alarm and a call for the crew to return once again to battle stations. “How far out is the Wilfrid Laurier?” Xavier asked.
“Fifteen light minutes, sir.”
“Contact them.”
“Aye sir.”
Xavier quickly did the math in his head as to how long would it take for the Wilfrid Laurier to arrive since it traveled at half the speed of light like most ships. It would take fifteen minutes for the Wilfrid Laurier to receive their signal, but at that time, they would be twenty-two and a half light minutes away. Assuming they turned around and headed back to Titan, it would take them another forty-five minutes to arrive. A grand total of sixty minutes would have passed since they first called for help.
This left Xavier with two choices. Flee, regroup with the Wilfrid Laurier then return to the battle. Or stand their ground and take on two Hashmedai destroyers for a time all while preventing them from turning the city below into a glassy crater.
“Get a hold of command via the QEC, let them know of our situation,” Xavier said.
“Yes, sir,” said Yates.
“Helm bring us to a defensive stance by Titan.”
“You got it, Captain,” Chavez said keying in the new location
“If they plan to glass the moon they’ll have to deal with us first.”
… … …
►► Scathing Hand, on approach to Saturn
► Sol system
“It would seem we got their attention,” said Martop.
“Where is the Shade Flare?” T’esih asked.
“Behind one of the moons on the far side as you requested,” said Martop. “The humans will not be able to direct it without psionics.”
“Have you located where their fighter bases are on the surface?” A hologram appeared before her, displaying the answer to her question. “Have the Night Hunter target and destroy them when in range,” T’esih said. “Bring us to face the human ship.”
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“Anything?” Xavier asked.
“Not that I can see, but the Hashmedai are still eight light minutes out,” Bryson said.
“Maintain current position. Target the lead ship,” he said. “Are they any transports in the area?”
“Sixteen smaller ships hauling mined goods and supplies.” Bryson checked her holoscreen. “All of them are changing course, they probably know what’s about to go down.”
“Cheers, inform me when they are clear.” Xavier looked at the tactical information being projected to him from the central hologram. “I want to nuke these bastards out of these stars.”
All potential collateral damage such as stray transport ships and haulers needed to be far away from the action zone. The blast radius of the warheads would vaporize those smaller ships with one burst. Hashmedai capital ships were going to need at least two-three nukes to take down.
… … …
►► UNE Black Site, Titan
► Sol system
Chris was surprised how well the staff at the black site co-operated with Michei’s proposal. Despite the six for a nine, Miriam König ensured that his identity would be hidden in exchange for his assistance in. Chris could tell that Michei was still upset about the whole situation. König more or less revealed that the foundation for the whole project was based on equipment and research conducted by the Celestial Order, thus making everything around Michei tainted by his heretics, sacrilegious.
Chris’ headset beeped with an incoming transmission from orbit. “Winston Churchill to EDF lead be advised we have hostile forces approaching Titan. I say again, hostiles are approaching.”
Shit, the Hashmedai didn’t waste any time. Chris thought as he opened a comm link to the rest of his team. “Chambers?”
“I heard it, kinda wish I didn’t,” Gavin transmitted.
Chris began to move back toward Ella’s cell while signaling to Michei to cut his chit chat with the black site’s staff short and follow him.
“Is Ella finished?” Chris asked.
“She’s still going at it,” Sarah transmitted. “And so are we.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Chambers, take the transport back up, Winston Churchill is going to need you more than us, we’ll stay behind.”
“Copy that,” Gavin said.
“I take it we’re in for another rough ride?” Michei asked Chris.
“You know it.”
In addition to the fighter bases, Titan’s defense consisted of planetary guns, massive plasma cannons found inside the mountainous areas of the moon’s surface. These cannons were remote control operated and capable of acquiring a target in close orbit of the moon as it unleashed a nonstop salvo of plasma toward it.
The planetary guns on the side of Titan facing the action had long awoken from their rocky sub terrain slumber, taking aim at the closest Hashmedai destroyer as it approached. Complex calculations were input to account for the time it would take for the plasma to reach space, the location of the Hashmedai ships, the speed it was traveling at and its expected location after taking into account the communication delay of the gun’s scanners, one point five seconds.
And it was that delay that ultimately gave the Hashmedai a tiny advantage. The shipboard psionics aboard the Scathing Hand and Night Hunter instructed their respective ships to evade the mammoth sized green balls of energy being hurled at them from the surface. Only forty percent of the plasma fired from the planetary guns hit their targets, and those hits were just minor grazes.
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“The destroyers are splitting up! One ship is heading toward Titan,” Matsushita said from his holographic console.
The light from the central hologram painted Xavier’s face a mixture of blue, red, and yellow while his hands formed a tight hold around the side of the terminals console, slowly turning red. “Lock on and fire,” he said calmly.
The shields of the Winston Churchill iris slightly to allow the first of many volleys of weapons discharge to race out into the battlefield. Rail guns roared creating red lines from its tracers heading directly toward the Night Hunter. Plasma missiles launched, generating streams of white mists in its wake. The Night Hunter’s shields flashed and rippled as the payload from the first barrage from the Winston Churchill hit.
… … …
►► Scathing Hand, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“The human attack ship is firing on the Night Hunter! I recommend we remind them what happened two decades ago.” Martop said.
“Tell them to maintain course,” T’esih said, her voice remaining calm. “Gu
nners, target and destroy the human ship.”
Plasma crashed into the aft shields of the Winston Churchill, courtesy of the Scathing Hand. Paying no mind to it, Winston Churchill maintained its stance, and assaulted the Night Hunter as it slowly came to a stop to acquire its targets on the surface of Titan. Like the Winston Churchill harassing it from behind, it ignored them to carry out its orders of glassing the moon once in range.
Multiple squadrons of Solaris fighters broke free from the light gravitation pull of Titan surface. Every fighter launched from Titan flew in V formations hoping to get a weapons lock before the glassing began. Between the Winston Churchill’s relentless attacks, the planetary guns and the fighters, the Night Hunter’s shields might just shatter before it could get a shot off.
The thought forced T’esih to raise the volume of her voice as she bellowed to the weapons officers to maintain their firing on the Winston Churchill, hoping to peel the lone human ship from its target.
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
Xavier cursed upon carefully examining a projected simulation of the blast ratio of a nuclear warhead would be like if they were to launch one. A large red flashing sphere appeared in the holograms simulation, enveloping the Winston Churchill and its two Hashmedai destroyers and the first wave of Titan based Solaris fighters. Nukes were officially off the table until they could build a wider gap and have all the fighters cleared out of the area of action. Bollocks!
A thunderous tremor shook the bridge. The plasma barrage was growing stronger. One irresponsible crewman forgot to store their holo pad, it was sent flying around the bridge in the weightless environment. Its smooth surface cracked upon hitting the ceiling, Xavier would have to have a sit down with him and remind him the second most important thing you must do before entering combat with no gravity.
“Direct hit to our starboard shields,” Matsushita said.
“Continue firing and move us in front of the ship targeting Titan!”
Another blast hit them. It fried a few computers starting tiny fires.
… … …
►► UNE Black Site, Titan
► Sol system
“Michei, any idea what’s going on out there?” Chris asked as they entered Ella’s holding area. Michei paused while his mind entered into a deep ESP trance, scanning everything in orbit and beyond to the best of his skills.
“The fighters here have launched, planetary guns aren’t doing much since the Hashmedai ship psionics can see the blast coming,” Michei said. “I sense two, no, three Hashmedai capital ships. One of them is hiding behind Rhea.”
… … …
►► Scathing Hand, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“The humans are trying to use their ship as a shield,” Delin said.
“Good,” T’esih said as new combat data populated her holographic screen. “Tell the Shade Flare they can start.”
Out from the shadows of the Saturn moon Rhea, the Hashmedai carrier Shade Flare began to unload its fighters. They zipped around the moon then triggered the engines of their interceptors to ignite into a full burn. Green colored flares expelled from the interceptor’s rear exhaust, sending them plowing toward the surface of Titan.
The final stage of T’esih’s cunning plan was set in motion. Soon the crew of all three Hashmedai ships would experience why she should have been made admiral over Yominv. An admiral who unlike him would never leave the theater of war to meander around and waste valuable time at Taxah.
… … …
►► UNE Black Site, Titan
► Sol system
Michei`s eyes opened, his cat like ears twitching and his tail on edge and trembling. Distressed Rabuabin body language at work, Chris braced himself for more unwelcome news from the psionic.
“It’s launching fighters. It’s a carrier, the same one from before!” Michei said finally.
Chris tapped his comm headset and spoke frantically. “This is EDF lead to Winston Churchill! You have Hashmedai interceptors inbound from Rhea!”
… … …
►► Scathing Hand, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
T’esih’s subtle laughter echoed throughout the bridge as she watched everything unfold. The humans, according to Martop’s ESP, launched every single fighter they had on the surface of Titan. Winston Churchill couldn’t fire its nukes not while it was focusing their efforts on the Night Hunter, which wasn’t the real threat to the moon at all. The incoming interceptors had more than enough fire power to lay waste to what little the humans had on the surface.
“One minute until the human ship is expected to scan the interceptors,” Martop said.
“It will be too late by then, have the interceptors focus on the surface as per my previous instructions. Have us and Night Hunter come about to deal with the human ship.”
“I recommend we keep our distance, the further away we are, the longer it will take for the humans to figure out our next move.”
“The further away we are the more likely they would use atomic weapons,” T’esih said. “Close quarters combat tactics is the key to our victory.”
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“Any sign of those fighters?” Xavier asked.
Matsushita eyed his holo screen up and down, then nodded and said, “Negative, Captain.”
Incoming enemy fighters that can’t be seen due to communications delay, not a good position to be in. There was no telling where they would be heading. The Winston Churchill? The Titan fighters? The surface? He resisted for a good while over launching the Gladius squadron, the main argument at the time was to clear the battlefield of friendly forces to use nukes. Sure, nukes hadn’t been an option for the last few minutes, but a part of him still wanted to hold on to that ace up his sleeve, a part of him hoped that there would be a chance to put some distance between them and the two alien ships. Reality check, even with the fighters from the surface, they were still outnumbered, Gladius would at least make them, less outnumbered.
“Have Gladius launch and take a defensive stance around us,” Xavier said reluctantly. “How long until Titan’s fighters arrive?”
“Thirty seconds, give or take, sir,” Matsushita said. “Looks like they’re going to attack the Hashmedai capital ships.”
… … …
►► Hyperion Squadron, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
Colonel Meifeng “Red Louts” Lin received the final confirmation from the Hyperion Squadron wing leaders as her Solaris fighter along with the rest closed in toward the Night Hunter, the Hashmedai destroyer with its glowing forward plasma cannons ready to glass the moon.
Her targeting scanner locked onto the massive ship, and eagerly waited for those final seconds to pass so that she would officially be in weapons range. Her Solaris fighter along with the rest from Titan was outfitted with plasma cannons as opposed to rail guns more typically seen. It resulted in them having more fire power at the expense of shield strength. But given the number of fighters she had on her side, combined with the fact that they were up against two destroyers and nothing more, maximum shield strength was not necessary. One direct shot from a destroyer’s plasma cannon would vaporize a fighter even with max shields. The smaller weaponry from a Hashmedai destroyer could be evaded with ease as long as you weren’t stupid enough to get too close.
While Hashmedai interceptors weren’t in play, they were safe.
“Squadrons one through four, break and attack the destroyer attacking the Winston Churchill,” Red Louts said. “Five through niner, break and attack the closest destroyer to us.”
All nine squadrons of fighters carried out their leader’s orders. Forty-eight fighters armed with plasma cannons ignited a full burn toward the Scathing Hand while the remaining sixty swarmed t
he Night Hunter like angry wasps.
Adding to the chaos, Winston Churchill launched ten of its fighters only and they didn’t jump into the fire fight. They were on a patrol, looking for someone, or something.
“This is Winston Churchill to Hyperion Squadron, be advised we have reports of Hashmedai interceptors coming into the AO.”
“Say again, Winston Churchill,” Red Louts transmitted back, hoping she misheard the transmission. Enemy fighters would force her to change tactics right away.
“Hashmedai interceptors are inbound, watch your flanks.”
“Shit!” she shouted as she pulled up and away from her assault on the destroyer. She turned her fighter toward the Gladius squadron, there was nothing to be seen.
Just then an uncountable number of Hashmedai interceptors decelerated from a sub light burn and swooped down from the dark abyss at high speeds, ignoring everything, except the surface of Titan.
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Titan orbit around Saturn
► Sol system
“Contact with interceptors,” EVE said.
Xavier grimaced while EVE updated the central hologram with new and more reliable battle data. “Ready anti fighter rail guns.”
“The interceptors are not targeting us, Captain,” said EVE. “They are bombing the surface.”
Two back to back explosions caused every section of the Winston Churchill to rumble. Xavier’s magnetic boots held him in place as he shouted. “Move to intercept!”
“Trying sir!” Chavez shouted out the sound of exploding computers. “Those two destroyers are focusing on us now!”
The Night Hunter was no longer interested in targeting Titan. The Winston Churchill became its new focus. It wasn’t a hard task since the Winston Churchill moved itself in front of it. The Scathing Hand powered its engines and entered a circular assault along with the Night Hunter. The twin Hashmedai destroyers began to circle the Winston Churchill like starving vultures as they took turns blasting away it’s shields with every shot of hot plasma.
Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1 (Splintered Galaxy Book 3) Page 35