by Chris Hechtl
“Or they'd been here and gone, sir,” Bonny, one of the engineering ratings stated.
“No, if that had happened, they would have fought I think. We'd be seeing wreckage and less Horathian ships. I don't see enough here to bounce TF3.2. No, I think we got here in time,” the skipper said.
“So, now we wait, ma'am?” Gaspy, the ship's A.I. asked.
Danica nodded. “Now we get closer to the Bf994 jump point and wait.”
~~~^~~~
The unannounced arrival of a ship exiting hyperspace near the Dead Drop jump point didn't go unnoticed. Work crews working on the exterior of the command fortress noted the brief burst of light and asked about it.
It took time for their questions to be taken seriously, and more time for someone to look into the matter. By the time someone did, they had noted there had been no IFF, and the ship hadn't reported in.
It took several hours to finally dawn on someone that it was some sort of enemy scout vessel.
“Just what we didn't need. More complications,” Agnes grumbled.
“What does it mean? They are coming from Dead Drop not Bf994,” Glennis said, scowling blackly.
“More trouble,” Agnes said, clearly not happy about the prowler's arrival. “Does this mean De Gaulte's forces are lost or on their way here?”
“How did you manage that?” Glennis asked.
“Well, if they took Dead Drop, he could have retreated, and the prowler could have beaten him here since they are faster than we are in hyper.”
“Oh.” After a moment of thought, the duchess shook her head. “No, I don't think so.”
“Wishful thinking?” Agnes asked.
“No. I don't think the gods of space hate us that much.”
“I don't know about that, ma'am,” Agnes said as she wrapped up her thoughts in a report and sent them off to Admiral Einezberg. The chances of catching the scout were remote at best. Besides, the admiral had her hands busy overseeing the carrier fortresses and defenses at the Bf994 jump point.
“Wouldn't it suck if they scout, go back the way they came from, and then report what they saw to the fleet about to attack from Bf994?” she asked.
Glennis glared at her image. “So not helping,” she growled after a long moment.
~~~^~~~
The rear admiral received the notice of the prowler or other scout vessel, but she couldn't do anything about it from where she was on the far side of the star system. Based on prior reports, the enemy's stealth was too fiendishly clever to get a lock on. At best all they could do was go to EMCOM and hope the enemy didn't see everything she had available.
Which was a bit too much to hope for given that they were finishing with the carrier fortress move. The final braking maneuvers had been wrapped up the night before.
The two Clydesdale CEVs had been launched and were on site. Two more CEVs, each based on the Arboth class as well as two battle cruisers, had arrived at the H001 jump point the night before and were enroute to her position. One of the CEVs was something special in her eyes; Talwar was the first home-built escort carrier. She had a small wing, but she'd take anything at this point. Also, the Emperor's Blade was the first home-built battle cruiser.
Of course, Tanto Blade, the other CEV was old and needed a refit. She'd ordered all four ships and the two freighters with them to her jump point anyway.
In two more days, they'd be on station putting her up to six carriers and the two carrier fortresses. Not enough, not nearly enough, but getting there.
“Ma'am! Massive disturbance near the jump point!” A rating said, cutting through her thoughts like a knife. She looked up in surprise and alarm. “It's a big one! They came in just outside the zone!”
“I think time just ran out,” the admiral muttered. “Go to Defcon One. I'll be on the bridge in a moment.”
Chapter 28
Garth
TF3.2
Admiral Einezberg took a single moment to assess the situation before she ordered a bombardment of entry area. “We need to hit them while they are still recovering. Keep them moving.”
"But if it is one of our ships?" her chief of staff protested.
"That large a footprint? No. If it is, it sucks to be them. They should have called ahead. Now follow your orders."
"Aye aye, ma’am."
~~~^~~~
Prowler UFN-003P detected the arrival of TF3.2 “What sort of luck is this for us to be here when they arrive?” the ship's A.I. asked as he paged the captain to the bridge.
“I don't know. Good timing? Or someone likes us. As long as our blessings with Lady Luck hold, I'm all for it,” Darion stated.
“Agreed,” Bonny murmured.
“What's going on?” the captain asked as she arrived on the bridge.
“See for yourself, ma'am. TF3.2 just arrived,” Darion replied with a grin as he indicated the main plot.
The captain took a moment to study the readings and then pursed her lips in thought. “Comm, warm up the lasers. We need to lay a line on them. Let them know we are here.”
“We're not in any danger yet, Skipper. But that is a risk and contrary to our orders,” the A.I. replied.
“I know that. But we've got oodles of data for TF3.2 to play with. Plus, I want them to know it. Unfortunately, we don't have a tachyon set up onboard, so we have to communicate with them by laser. I'm not taking the risk of going broadband obviously,” she stated.
The A.I. nodded as he followed through with her orders. Since they didn't want to give away their position they had to sweep the laser and hope they got a response without it hitting an enemy ship or instillation in the process.
Well, they did know where most of the enemy was. He wrote a program to keep the laser confined to areas where those ships were not at or not headed into.
~~~^~~~
TF3.2 had traveled at the speed of their slowest ship, which had happened to be the two ansible transports. Now in Garth space the admiral ordered the fleet train to be separated and fall back, waiting near their entry point for further orders.
They couldn't set up the platform in Garth until they secured the star system.
Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when CIC frantically warned of a mass cloud approaching. “Incoming fire!”
The Veraxin looked at the plot and then began to bark orders. "Incoming rail gun bombardment! Maneuvering, get us clear!"
~~~^~~~
Captain Liota Chavez swore as every ship began a frantic burn to try to get clear of the incoming fire. Some of the ships went high; others went low or to the sides. Only their A.I. helped to keep them from colliding she assumed.
Since her ship was in the middle of the fleet near the flagship she had more time to maneuver than the ships closest to the incoming swarm. As she watched her ship and others claw for the safety of deep space she saw the sparkle of the rounds hitting the shields of some of the slower ships in the fleet. A few of the escorts deliberately tried to cover the other ships against the C fractional bombardment.
~~~^~~~
Commodore Zachery Binks didn't have time to curse as his ships did as they were instructed; burn a swarth through the incoming fire, shielding the carriers and fleet train with their own shields in order to give their shipmates a chance to get clear.
He glanced at the repeater video feed of the bridge as Enterprise took a glancing hit. The skipper had been knocked about, but Commander Silverfish was on top of the situation.
His momentary inattention seemed to be the undoing of half of his force. Defiant, Enterprise's division mate reeled, her shields down. They couldn't spare any attention to her at the moment.
Just like that the hail was over. But the cruiser Kerela, two light cruisers, two Nelsons, two Shield Maidens, three Fletcher, and one Arboth class destroyer were destroyed or beaten into crumpled hulks.
And those were just his losses. His eyes turned to the fleet train, and he groaned softly, ears flat.
~~~^~~~
Lieutenant JG Amhelia L
ately was trying to get a handle on the situation as the fleet scattered. It looked like the fleet train and screen had taken the brunt of the hits; none of the carriers had been hit.
The fleet train though had been battered. Some of the smaller ships were crippled or destroyed. It looked like one of the Doras, no, two of them. No, make that three. She winced. one oiler, several of the Liberty class freighters … she understood that; they were heavily laden and slow on the helm.
She looked over to the admiral. The Veraxin stood there, stock still as if she was frozen. The lieutenant grimaced silently but then began to issue soft orders to refine her tally.
~~~^~~~
Rear Admiral V'r'z'll was shocked by the carnage. As she tried to recover, her staff got a tally on the damage. It was her first taste of actual combat, and she realized she hated it. It was one thing to experience such things in a SIM or an all-up exercise. You tried to prepare for it, but seeing ships actually destroyed, knowing they couldn't come back with a reset, hit her with an intensity she hadn't expected. Mothers, daughters—they'd lost their children.
And the hell of it was that she couldn't see her doing anything different. That thought forced her to accept it. That and the realization that she couldn't allow herself to grieve at the moment. The living required her attention if she wanted them to stay that way for long.
She noted Lieutenant Lately as the woman silently sent her a file. She was afraid to open it but did a quick look. One of the ansible transports had been destroyed, but that was no surprise. They were slow to the helm. The loss of the hospital ship was a bitter pill to swallow as were the losses in her freighters and munition ships. Apparently one of the munition ships had cooked off sending ordinance off into another ship and causing a chain reaction that had destroyed that ship and crippled another.
“More incoming fire. ECM is up,” her staff TAO reported.
“Very well. Have Commodore Binks get the screen sorted out. Get the fleet train well back. Set a shepherd on them if we have to. Keep all ships jinking on random evasive courses. Guns, find me those platforms and take them out!”
“On it,” the TAO stated flatly.
“Ma'am, we're receiving a signal from above the ecliptic. It has a Second Fleet IFF. She's a prowler,” the communications tech reported.
“Set up the link. We need to know more about what we're up against obviously,” the Veraxin stated. She wanted to rip an arm off for not scouting Garth ahead of time. She was going to pay dearly for that oversight.
She couldn't focus on that though. She had to focus on getting her people clear and then getting some payback.
~~~^~~~
"I like what I see," Admiral Einezberg stated with a feral smile. The bombardment hadn't hit any of the carriers, but it had thrown a massive monkey wrench into the enemy's nice order and any plans they had. It had also put them on notice that she wasn't going to go down quietly.
They were using tactics gleaned from the battle of Dead Drop. If they couldn't use quantity to combat the enemy's superior quality, well, there were crude alternatives to level the playing field.
The enemy was out of range of her small craft, though she was tempted to launch them early and have them refuel in flight. Only the reminder that many of the pilots were green made her hesitate. Instead, she ordered tactical to keep firing shots into knots of the enemy ships and get ready for another mass fire.
“Recharging the platforms now, ma'am. We've got enough energy in reserve for another shot.”
“Very well,” she stated, checking the status board. She still didn't like the odds, but she liked the way things were going. “Focus on the enemy fleet train and slow units. Don't go for the carriers, that will be a waste. Let's see if they'll cover the fleet train with their escorts or force them further apart.
Her fresh reinforcements were out of position but still coming on strong. Now that her people knew the enemy could be hurt they'd be more willing to engage she knew.
~~~^~~~
The prowler received the return signal nearly at the same time as the initial movements in the battle were detected. As Gaspy set up the download, the crew watched in silent horror as TF3.2 was seemingly torn apart. Only after a third replay did they realize that the carriers hadn't been hit. Still, seeing some of their ships getting torn apart was sobering.
“Get them everything we've got. Damn I wish this ship had something! A pop gun, something! Hell, all we can do is throw virtual spitballs right now!” the captain grumbled.
“We can set up a cyber-attack, ma'am,” the A.I. replied.
“You mean Second Fleet hasn't?” she asked.
“Not yet. None detected,” the A.I. replied.
“Set it up. And find out why they haven't. Let's be smart about this and coordinate our efforts,” the captain growled.
~~~^~~~
“We're receiving the download from the prowler now, ma'am. It looks like this is all the enemy forces they've got, nothing in stealth or hidden elsewhere that they know of,” the TAO stated, signaling first-degree relief.
“Good.”
“They are asking about a cyber-attack,” Commander Pizey asked.
“Cyber-attack?”
“They want to know if we are going to launch one and if they should coordinate with us. By attacking they'll be exposing themselves, ma'am,” her chief of staff warned.
“You are saying it will make a difference?” the Veraxin rear admiral demanded. At the moment, she'd take anything. “Do it,” she ordered before he could reply.
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
“They are firing shots at knots of ships. Most of it is centered on the fleet train, ma'am,” CIC reported.
“Order the fleet train to get some distance and head for deep space. Guns, keep feeding them tachyon bursts on incoming fire so they can dodge.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
“How are we on counterfire?” she asked.
“We've fired with the cruisers, ma'am. We will have to wait another ninety seconds to see what hits. I targeted their capital ships and fortresses as well.”
“Next time let me know, T'rll,” she replied. “I'd prefer to hit one target at a time with our maximum weight of fire, take it down, and then move on.”
“Yes, ma’am. I'll make the correction on the follow-up volley.”
“Good. Focus on the platforms for the moment.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
“Order the wings to launch. Target the enemy carriers and fortresses. Let's give them something else to think about,” she ordered.
~~~^~~~
Rita noted the enemy launching fighters and bombers. She nodded. They had longer legs than her craft did. It was also a smart move in theory. They could divert her attention and force her to launch her own fighters which would force her to stop firing volleys of rail guns or at least be a bit more careful in the direction of her fire.
Well, not quite, she thought with a grimace as the return fire sparkled nearby. Her ships were mobile platforms; they moved out of the way as quickly as they could. But the platforms were in the middle of a firing sequence, half were taken out by the incoming fire.
One of the carrier fortresses took a hit on a solar receiver, sending her into a spin as the truss arm wrapped around her main body. The tugs near her immediately tried to set her right, but that would take time she knew. The crew onboard could also be injured or dead.
“Half of the platforms have been taken out, ma'am. We're using RCS to shift the others in a random evasive pattern but it's not perfect. It is also making targeting a problem,” her TAO reported.
“Figure it out. We're going with flyswatter next.”
He nodded. “I'll set up the shredder rounds, ma'am.”
“Good.”
~~~^~~~
Things finally looked like she'd planned, but she realized that it was only on the surface. The remaining platforms and the ships with rail guns fired rounds. She'd expected them to go after her ships, but they'd
shifted focus and targets, momentarily taking her and her staff by surprise.
When she realized their intent, she swore in her own language. “They are going for the bombers and fighters,” CIC reported.
“And we can't warn them,” commander T'rll said bitterly.
“Send the warning anyway. Order the ships with rail guns to keep firing on the platforms and the fortresses,” the admiral ordered. The hit on one of the forts had been unexpected. CIC had reported it had no shields. They needed more like that.
~~~^~~~
Commander Ferani saw the incoming fire and barked orders for his craft to jink. “Artoo, plot a course through this shitstorm. Make sure everyone coordinates so we're not trying to occupy the same space at the same time. That's what I'd call a bad thing,” he said as he jinked the fighter sharply from the left to the right and then up.
As they closed more clouds of lethal rain were put in their paths. The course spray was rough enough for the small craft to maneuver around if they were given enough warning or even through it if they had no other alternative. But any hits were lethal. Their energy shields offered little protection at those speeds.
“Yeah, this is gonna suck,” he muttered, trying to focus on the fire while a small corner of his mind wondered about the butcher bill and if there would be a barn to come back to when all was said and done.
~~~^~~~
“Launch the intercept fighters and stand-down flyswatter. They've been more or less broken up,” Rita ordered. She had noted the separation between the carrier force and the fleet train. The enemy's screen was trying to split between the two, but they just didn't have enough ships to do the job. She also noted each of the carriers had a couple tin cans as escorts. What was that saying about a feline and playing, she thought.