by James Edward
As Olaf reached the beta point, he fired his missiles, waited for the reload, and fired again, moving immediately. Ray, with his superior speed, was making good time in coming up behind the dreadnought. The dreadnought was taking damage from Olaf’s first salvo. Ray could see the shields turning red from the impacts. Most ships depended on their point defense to prevent impact to weaken their shields, but the point defense was not preventing the missiles now. Ray saw the plate armor being blasted off the ship as the second salvo of missiles hit. Getting into position took a few more minutes, but finally Ray was in position just as the final volley from Olaf arrived. These missiles were doing terrible damage to the hull of the dreadnought. Ray ordered the Banshee to fire at the engines, and a salvo of twenty-five missiles launched. The dreadnought was hurt, bleeding water, atmosphere, and sparks. Crusaders Charge fired at Ray’s launch area, he was told that sixty missiles were on the way with impact in twenty minutes. Ray ordered a second volley and then to move to position Cappa. Ray’s first volley obliterated the engines, and the dreadnought lost power and started drifting. The second volley started blasting into the length of the ship, blasting the ship apart.
On the Crusaders Charge, the captain was in a panic as his targeting computers failed to even locate his opponent, let alone get a firing solution on him. As the first missiles appeared out of nowhere, he ordered his ship to a full burn to try to escape the missiles, but three seconds wasn’t nearly enough time to get the monstrous ship moving. There were alarms, claxons, and booms as the missiles blasted into the shields and hull. Damage control was screaming out the damage as the computers indicated hull strikes and breaches. There was panic in his voice as he announced shields were failing. Seconds later, the second wave of missiles started blowing armor plate and hull out in space.
Tactical called out that there were missiles coming in from the rear and were targeting the engines. The captain, his huge ship bucking and shuddering, ordered the helm to turn ninety degrees to the starboard at flank speed. Again it was too late as they felt the missiles hammering into the aft of the ship. Lights flickered and died, and except for emergency lighting, all consoles flickered and died. The bridge crew sat there feeling and listening as missile after missile detonated closer and closer to the bridge. The ship broke apart as the final missiles exploded deep inside the ship—parts, bodies, water, and giant chunks of ship and superstructure spinning off into space.
Ray grinned his satisfaction at the destruction. He called on coms to open an international channel to all ships in the system. His coms operator announced that the channel was open and Ray could go ahead.
“This is the CSWS ship Banshee. All PRC ships in this system are ordered to surrender their ships or face destruction,” Ray said. “Any attempt to run or hide would result in the ship’s destruction. Anyone of you who think that they can fight us should look to the destruction of both your dreadnoughts and thirteen capital ships. You have five seconds before we fire again. All PRC ships have been targeted, and I guarantee that you will not move far enough or fast enough to escape. Strike your colors, gentlemen. All engines and shields powered down, all sensors off. Since you destroyed every ship in this system, you are easily recognizable. You have five seconds.”
Ray knew that the ships were asking who in charge was and who was going to surrender. Ray also knew that he needed a demonstration. He ordered the tactical operator to target a frigate that was in orbit near the planet Rayner and told him to fire four missiles. The Banshee shook as the four missiles launched simultaneously. Ten seconds later, they slammed into the frigate, obliterating it.
“This is your final warning. Strike your colors or die,” he grated over the channel. In all, twelve ships dropped their shields and powered down. Some were undamaged, some were damaged, and some were badly damaged, but one by one they dropped their shields and powered down. The coms announced that a Captain Philips was trying to contact the Banshee. Ray told him to put him on but no video.
“Banshee! I demand that you take responsibility for the murder of twenty ships and over 10,000 men!” came the voice.
“Philips, you are in no position to demand anything. You are occupying a legitimate system and have totally destroyed all their shipping. No doubt you fired on the unarmed tugs, freighters, and transports without thought, as their remains are all over this system. So now the shoe is on the other foot, and I regret nothing. As you must be the senior office in this system now, here are your surrender terms. You will order your ground forces to cease all hostiles and surrender all weapons to the resisting planetary forces. Second, you will tell your counterpart on the surface that all facilities and supplies will be turned over to the resistance. A deviation of that will result in your forces suffering the same fate as you have been doing to them, in the effect of Kews and particle beams, and I do mean all your forces. Third, you will turn over all your ships’ codes to the arriving marines. If you fail to respond, then you will be destroyed. Understand the CSWS has no compulsion in worrying about your survival. You were all butchers and murderers enjoying the power until we showed up,” Ray grated. He motioned for the channel to be cut off and told the coms operator to open a channel to ground force resistance. He also ordered both heavy cruisers to each orbit a planet and find the ground forces and the PRC ground attack.
“This is General Charles Enderby. Who is this?” came a crackly voice.
“This is the CSWS Banshee. We have destroyed the two dreadnoughts and have forced the surrender of all PRC ships in this system. I have ordered the surviving captain in charge to order all ground forces to surrender themselves, their arms, and their facilities to you or your commander. If they resist, I will either burn them out or hit them with Kews,” Ray responded.
“This is all good news, Banshee. But we are right now under heavy shelling. We like to see something positive before we get too excited though,” Enderby came back. Ray ordered the heavy to open fire with the particle beams at various fronts that the PRC was pushing into. Lady Song was only too pleased to fire on the PRC forces, as was evident with the side of her heavy cruiser coming alive with beams stabbing down into the atmosphere. As this happened, Captain Philips was screaming over the channel about the heavy firing on his troops.
“Philips, this is your responsibility, not mine. You were told to surrender your ground force; any failure or resistance will result in direct and indirect force to make them comply. You better get on the horn to your man on the ground because we will keep firing until he surrenders,” Ray stated.
“Communications in from the Sigmund. The PRC ground forces on Dosolar have stood down and are returning to their bases, sir,” the coms operator said.
“Excellent. If the Sigmund is in communications with the commander of the ground pounders, have them surrender their weapons to the locals. Once it is secure, send a team of marines down to ensure that the locals don’t go on a killing spree,” Ray said. “Has the fighting stopped on Rayner?”
“Tactical here, sir. Yes, they have stood down but are refusing to turn over their weapons. Sir, I have been going over the sensor scans and have discovered that a frigate that was at the gate jumped after the second dreadnought died,” the tactical operator said.
“Well, I expected that someone would get away. They have either gone back to report or have gone for help from the ships in the Polimolia system,” Ray said. “XO, start working on a defensive plan for the ships here. I want the marines to start, as soon as secure, to shuttle the Fleet prisoners to the surface. Find out who is in charge and turn over the Fleet ships to them. It’s the responsibility of the prisoners in the system, not us. Coms, get me Olaf on the Valkyrie.”
“Valkyrie here.”
“Valkyrie, our sensors indicate that a frigate jumped when the dreadnought died. It either ran for home or for the Polimolia system. I want you to take charge here and get the PRC off those ships and on the ground. Once on the ground, they
are no longer our responsibility. I need to jump to Polimolia to see if the dreadnoughts there start to move. Try to get a crew of locals to start manning the captured ships. Then head to the rendezvous with our resupply ships and reload for Polimolia,” Ray ordered.
“Valkyrie acknowledges and responds.”
“General Enderby, I am turning over this operation to the Valkyrie. I am sorry that we took so long to get here and support your system but better late than never. Good luck. Banshee out.”
“Thank you for what you have done. I would like to have a name if that is possible, sir.”
“Again, sorry General; all I can give you is my ship’s name, CSWS Banshee. We hope to meet again in better times.”
Ray ordered Banshee’s navigation to plot a course for Polimolia and headed to the edge of the gravity well. By the time they arrived at the edge of the gravity well, the navigation had plotted a course. Ray ordered a jump; it would take just under two days to arrive at Polimolia system. Probably before the frigate arrived or at the same time since the frigate had a head start. Ray ordered a missile count and ordered all launchers reloaded with Tigers. He then ordered all stations to stand down and get some food and rest.
Thirty-nine hours later, the Banshee emerged in the Polimolia system. They made their way around the system, hugging the edge of the gravity well. Ray started scanning the area and had tactical plot what ships were there. Tactical reported that twenty ships were in the system with two being the dreadnoughts. It appeared that the PRC Fleet had made a fast strike against the ships of the system as the Polimolia fleet was parked intact above the planet Filray. It appeared that they surrendered when the dreadnoughts appeared. It also seemed that their small shipyard was still intact, with a Fleet ship in it getting repaired.
Ray ordered the coms to start eavesdropping on the Fleet and civilian channels. The more information, the better. It took an hour of silently sliding around the system before he got a perfectly lined-up shot at the first dreadnought. Again it would be directly into its engines. Communications reported that there was only normal fleet traffic going on, but on Filray there seemed to be an automatic announcement for the citizenry to comply with the dictates that the PRC had imposed. It seemed that Filray had capitulated either before or after Centari had fallen but was now in a better condition. Maybe the PRC agitators had taken over the government and were in control.
“XO, how many missiles do we have left?” he asked.
“Counting what is in our launchers, we have sixty two-megaton Tigers and one hundred one-meg Orions and twenty of the five-megaton Dreds,” Lowell said.
“Crap, I forgot about the Dreds,” Ray said. “Have weapons load ten Dreds for the second launch. We will take their shields out then hit them with the Dreds. Target the engines to kill their power and tactical capability. The third launch will be at the second dreadnought. Same routine—Tigers then Dreds and then Orions if needed. Let me know when we are ready.”
It took five minutes to rig the auto loaders and set up a firing solution for the second dreadnought. Lowell told Ray that they were ready. Ray called for general quarters and then told the tactical operator to fire. Once again, a volley of twenty-five missiles appeared out of nowhere then disappeared again thirty seconds later. They reappeared behind the first targeted dreadnought and raced toward the engines. The dreadnought’s point defense erupted as it tried to intercept the missiles, but as with the fate of the two dreadnoughts in the Centari system, this dreadnought couldn’t protect itself either. Ray felt the second launch, this one containing the Dreds, as the first missiles started to overload the aft shields. The dreadnought tried to swing around, but with the massive explosions happening less than a thousand meters aft, the shock waves were causing the engines to surge and cycle. As the last Tiger swept the shields away, the first Dred arrived. The five-megaton Dred combined with engine failure blew the end three hundred meters of the dreadnought apart. The subsequent missiles destroyed the dreadnought. In all, ninety-two seconds had passed, and one of the mightiest ships of the line was space junk. Ray ordered a launch at the second dreadnought with the same missile setup. He knew that this time there was no time to come up behind the ship so called for targeting amidships and ordered a launch.
At the same time, he ordered the helm to move away at an angle to the dreadnought so as to keep him fixed in the firing position. He also noted that some of the ships were heading toward where he had launched his first volley. Though they couldn’t see him, they could get a glimpse of his missile launch. A couple of ships had launched missiles in that direction, probably giving the missile an open range in hopes that it would start questing for a target and get missile lock. If that happened, then every ship would fire. Happily, Ray was already clearing that area.
He ordered the helm to stand by to change course to move them to the far side of the system and then nodded to tactical to fire the second volley at the dreadnought. The reaction of the pursuit ships was instantaneous. They immediately changed course and spread out searching for Ray. The dreadnought was in a dying battle with the missiles as its portside shields were pounded down by twenty two-megaton detonations. The last few missiles actually penetrated the shields and impacted the armored hull. Chunks of ship were blow away as the 1.5 meters of armor were stripped off the ship. The dreadnought actually survived that initial onslaught. It had sustained heavy damage, and it was a tribute to the builders of the ship that it was so tough. The second wave of ten Tigers and ten Dreds appeared out of the dark and locked on. The captain tried in vain to roll his ship to bring up the undamaged side, but the missiles were already there. He died as the Dreds hammered his ship into pieces.
Ray was moving quietly as all eyes and sensors scanned the area of the last launch. He listened to their fleet-wide conversation, of the horror of seeing two mighty dreadnoughts reduced to rubble in less than five minutes. There were questions being passed back and forth whether anyone saw who or what it was that killed the dreads. Ray knew that there were eighteen ships still out there, and he would need to show another demonstration before they would surrender. He looked at his coms operator, who opened a Fleet channel to all ships.
“This is the CSWS Banshee. You are ordered to surrender your ships and stand down. You will shut down your drives, drop your shields, shut down your sensors, and standby for further orders. Noncompliance will be dealt with destruction. This will be your only warning. The destruction of your dreadnought was an example of what can be done. You have one minute to comply.”
“Who the hell is the Banshee? Why don’t you show yourself? We will not comply with pirates, as this system is under the formal protection of the PRC,” came a voice. Ray told tactical to target a light cruiser and prepare to fire. He told the helm to move them up toward the edge of the gravity well. As soon as the course was plotted, Ray told tactical to fire and the helm to engage. There was pandemonium when the light cruiser started taking hits and then exploded. Some saw the launch and gave the coordinates as they went to flank speed. The Banshee of course wasn’t there when they arrived.
“PRC warships, you have five minutes to comply and power down or another ship will die. I can do this all day, just as we did in Centari with the total destruction of your thirty-two ships there. Four minutes.”
“Banshee, wait! Did you say that the ships in the Centari system have been destroyed?”
“All but twelve that were either too badly damaged to continue the fight or were smart enough to surrender. I will also add that all your ground forces have also surrendered there, as they will here too. Three minutes.”
“What are your terms?”
“Power down your weapons, shut down your engines, shut down you scanners and sensors, disable your self-destruct system, and prepare to be boarded or directed to parking and safe conduct down to the planet for the authorities there to deal with. I expect that if you haven’t committed any atrocities, you will be affo
rded some sort of accommodations. Two minutes.”
“We will agree to your terms.”
Ray watched as the ship started to power down and shut down the weapons system. He had tactical move the ships to a holding orbit beside the Filray ships and wait. Ray opened a channel to the ground forces of the PRC and asked for their superior officer. General Sil Shavak responded.
“This is commander of ground forces General Shavak. Who are you and what do you want?”
“This is the CSWS Banshee, General. We have just accepted the surrender of the surviving ships of your fleet here. Unfortunately, both your dreadnoughts were destroyed,” Ray said. “You are therefore commanded to return to your base and surrender all arms, weapons, supplies, and equipment to the legitimate forces of Filray.”
“Banshee, is it? Well, son, I have never surrendered in my life, and I am too old to start now. We have this planet under control, and it will be fairly hard to dislodge us,” General Shavak stated. “So I guess the answer is no, I won’t surrender.”
“General, I don’t know you, and I have no idea what your political bent is, but we can do this clean or we can do this with a fairly high loss of life. You will lose all your supplies, equipment, and bases to start. Now you seem to be fairly level headed and a longtime officer, so I am hoping you are like Jud Hammerton and value the life of your men more than your own ego.”
“Hammer! I thought he was dead! I served with Hammer in my time with the AGW, but they threw me out. No matter, I know that you can make life difficult, but we have had little resistance here, so it will be a little harder than mere threats to dislodge me. Most people don’t mind us.”
“Well, sir, that does make it difficult. You see we have swept the system clean of the PRC, and the Fleet personnel will be going planet side soon. I cannot allow you to be in control of the planet. Perhaps a compromise is in order then, General.”
“I’m all ears, son,” came the reply. “What do you have in mind?”