by Chris Hechtl
The Raven itself had a long central fuselage. Two engine pods on short thick wings were in the rear extending forward to the midships line. An additional dorsal and ventral pod had space for fuel, RCS, and the shield emitters.
The ship wasn't really designed for atmospheric work, but with her shields, she could easily get in and out of atmosphere in a pinch. A common sight under the ship were rectangular graser pods mounted to the underside of the wings. Box missile launchers, ship killer missiles, fuel and sensor pods were also common sights.
The massive grasers were one of the reasons the ship was so well remembered. She was one of the first designs to be able to take on a warship and be able to do damage as well as escape. With her energy shields, she could also stand duty in the defensive role, filling in for fleet defense platforms.
She grinned. It was going to be a long two weeks but a rewarding one. She wouldn't mind doing the same for Stellar Sea Eagles, Space Eagles, or even a Tomcat, but that would be taking a step back. She had no intention of putting any of those into production but having the parts documents and the maintenance books as open source would help with the war effort she reasoned.
~~~^~~~
Malwin shook his head as the Admiralty received word of an unexpected arrival at the jump point from Garth. Within minutes he was informed by his chief of staff that they were receiving a transmission.
“I wondered when the other shoe would drop,” he muttered as he scanned the news of the battle of Garth. His stomach sank when he got to the part about the extensive damage and losses. Admiral Einezberg's AAR didn't pull any punches. She had emphasized the enemy's losses but hadn't glossed over her losses or the damage inflicted. The severe damage, he noted. From the sound of it, everything in the inner star system was a total loss.
That was going to really suck he thought as he began to make some calls.
~~~^~~~
Emperor Pyotr tried to read the raw report, but he was lost by some of the techno babble and jargon. It had been years since he'd been in a command position. Sure, he wore the uniform, but when he began to lose his patience, he realized he needed to take a step back. At the least, get a guide. It was embarrassing to ask for help however.
“Sir, AAR stands for After Action Report,” Malwin stated. “You pointed to another term, HVT? That means High Value Target.”
“Oh.”
“What she is saying is that she thought that the yard and infrastructure were such HVT, High Value Targets, that the enemy would rather capture them and use them than risk their destruction. She pointed out she was wrong.”
“Very wrong,” the emperor growled. “What are we talking about here?” he asked.
“In effect the loss of the yard and the ships there, plus the entire supporting infrastructure is a total loss.”
“Total loss?” the prime minister asked with a wince.
“Yes.”
“Sir, we're receiving word from the jump point,” an aide stated, coming into the room.
“This is a closed ….” The news penetrated the emperor's snarl and he stopped. “What is it?” he demanded.
“A yacht has arrived from Garth with Duchess Tuckett onboard,” the aide said.
“Very well. Tell her to get here. You can go,” the emperor ordered with a dismissive wave.
The aide bowed and then left, closing the door behind him.
“She left?” Theo asked, looking at the prime minister. “Just like that?”
“She had her reasoning. We'll find out,” the prime minister said defensively. At the moment he wasn't certain if he was glad his wife was alive or not. Dead she would have been a useful martyr. Alive and in his hair and a reminder of their loss and part in the Empire's loss might be a career ender.
And the way the Emperor played, he might not be allowed to retire quietly.
“That De Gaulte. The fool did this,” the emperor snarled.
“To be fair he didn't know. We didn't know of the force, though we suspected and sent scouts to check. The only reason we didn't lose the star system completely and De Gaulte wasn't cut off was because of those scouts and their warning,” Theo stated, giving a nod to Malwin.
“We also sent him minimum support in the form of relief ships and supplies,” Countess Newberry stated.
“Oh, so this is my fault now?” the emperor demanded, rounding on her.
“By no means, sire. There is enough of that going around,” the countess stated.
“Finger pointing won't get us anywhere. We have a hole, now we need to figure a way out of it,” the prime minister stated.
“So says the man whose wife just had a shipyard torn apart on her watch,” the emperor growled, eyes turning like turrets to the prime minister.
“I don't know Glennis's part in all this. I'll be sure to find out, sire. In the meantime, we need to plan.”
“Obviously Garth is a loss. How much can they salvage? What about Dead Drop? If Garth falls, De Gaulte will be cut off,” Theo stated.
“You're asking what Cyrano will do?” Malwin asked. Theo looked at him and nodded. All eyes eventually found their way to the praetor. “I think he'll fall back once he knows, if only to assure himself of a retreat path should he need it.”
“What he should be doing is going on the offense,” the emperor growled.
“Sire, the enemy has antimatter weapons. Without sufficient fighters, fighters good enough to face the enemy, he can't afford to get into range of them. And the further he moves from Dead Drop, the less he has for supplies. He also can't rely on the forts and weapon platforms there to help him,” the countess explained patiently.
“As well as the carrier fortresses if there are any left,” Catherine murmured.
The emperor's eyes cut to his daughter. She wasn't sitting at the table; she was sitting at a seat nearby. But she was obviously listening. “What is your take on all this? You know De Gaulte. What will he do?”
Heads turned to Catherine. She cocked her head and then slowly rose. “I think Admiral De Gaulte will fall back as Admiral Cartwright stated. He'll need to insure his supply before he can risk remaining in Dead Drop. I don't know if he'll pull all the way back or leave a force to defend Dead Drop.”
“And then?”
“He'll assess the situation. Given what I know of him and given what I know of the recent battle, I can assume he'll leave any reinforcements we sent to guard Garth when it arrives. He'll then return to Dead Drop to keep it since it is now the only yard in the area and only place he can get plenty of supplies.”
“Leave the reinforcements in Garth?” Admiral Grant asked.
Catherine shrugged. “He has to take risks somewhere. I believe he'll leave Admiral Einezberg in charge there. I believe that the enemy got its nose bloodied hard by her. They have a long line to get reinforcements. It will be months before they get them. They might try something tricky with their remaining forces.” She bit her tongue before she could admit she didn't know. She also kicked herself for making predictions without sufficient information to back it up.
“I think Princess Catherine is correct,” Admiral Post said slowly. “He's caught between a rock and a hard place.”
“But, without the reinforcements, he won't be able to move on Second Fleet. He'll be surrendering the initiative again,” the emperor growled.
“Unfortunately, yes. And they are undoubtedly working to reinforce themselves and get additional antimatter supplies to Second Fleet,” Theo said.
The emperor grimaced. “So, there is no good news in all this. None at all.”
“No, sire. I'm afraid this is nothing but a serious setback to our plans. We need to send additional reinforcements and supplies. And we need to do it soon before it is too late,” Theo said, taking the initiative.
Heads nodded around the table. The emperor surveyed them and then motioned for his daughter to resume her seat. He settled into his and then nodded once as he placed his elbows on the table and knitted his fingers together in a poise he'
d perfected. “Very well. How much are we talking about, and how soon can you do this?”
~~~^~~~
Catherine left the meeting shaken. The setback just cemented her resolve to create a fallback plan and have it ready. One thing was for certain, she needed Elvira and others onboard.
Chapter 42
DD01ns
Second Fleet went on alert when an unexpected arrival at the Dead Drop jump point announced itself with the usual burst of energy and light. Once the energy wave cleared, the ship immediately transmitted her IFF identifying her as Glorious Slasher, the heavy cruiser dispatched by Captain Jorgison to inform them with news of Dead Drop.
The excited crew transmitted a compressed log and report to Bismark. It didn't take the flag staff long to decrypt it and begin to go over it. Immediately the news that De Gaulte had indeed abandoned Dead Drop to ride to Garth hit them like a bomb exciting many.
“Holy shit!” Kyle whispered, seeing the opportunity right off.
“Oh, sir. We are gonna hurt them,” Aleck said with a grin.
“Download it all and process it. I want a thorough look at everything and dust off our plans. This is going to make things interesting,” Admiral White stated.
Personally, he wasn't certain if it was a good idea or not. Obviously taking Dead Drop as intact as possible was optimal. Moving in and forcing De Gaulte to fight for it would be nice. With Second Fleet in possession, they could resupply far easier than their current situation. Kyle had been tempting him with reorganizing the fleet train and sending an empty convoy back for a run to get additional supplies.
Tempting as that was, Dead Drop was even more so. But it could also be a trap of some sort. Until he knew more, he wanted to proceed with caution.
But hell, if TF3.2 had torn up Garth half as much as they'd reportedly done, it would really screw De Gaulte up if he lost Dead Drop as well he thought with a mental grin of anticipation.
~~~^~~~
Two days after the cruiser returned the prowler returned to DD01ns with news of the battle of Garth and raids in Dead Drop. “We thought we'd put a rush on it to catch you in case you were thinking about coming in, sir. We also have Captain Jurgison's latest reports,” Captain Fen stated when Admiral White called her.
“Good. Did the inner star system surrender yet?” he asked. He was keenly interested in that answer.
“No, sir,” she replied a few minutes later.
He frowned and then inhaled and exhaled slowly. There went that idea. For the time being, he was going to sit tight. If the inner star system had surrendered, it would have been impossible for him not to move in and take over. But, with the inner system still in enemy hands, he didn't want to waste his resources.
“Very well. I'm looking forward to reading your report and hers,” he added.
“Yes, sir. We're transmitting it by laser now. We have copies on the chip for when we meet up.”
“Very well. Pass on what supplies you need,” the admiral ordered. “You and your people have earned it.”
“Yes, sir. We're out of all of our fresh food and most of our drinks. The recycling system is hinky too. I've got a list. What we really need is a chance to air this crate out and stretch our legs, sir.”
“I'll pass that on to Berney. See you in three days, Lieutenant.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
~~~^~~~
It took three days for both ships to make their way to the fleet. While they did communications lasers transmitted a lot of the contents of their databanks for the flagship's computers to process. As the computers went through everything, the staff and A.I. began to pick up the filtered information and then process it.
It took hours of work, but Admiral White ordered a staff meeting to go over the hot wash before all of the information had been transmitted let alone processed.
“So, De Gaulte ran to support Garth. It gives us a unique opportunity,” Garfield said with relish as he gleefully made handwashing motions with his paws.
“Most likely he'll be rushing back to Dead Drop to chase our people out once he gets word,” Ch'v'tt stated slowly.
“So, do we go in and do some damage? If we get there ahead of them, we can wait and hit them as they exit hyper. They could come in expecting to still be in control, and we could tear them a new one, sir,” Garfield said hopefully.
Admiral White considered it but then shook his head. “The timing is off. I want our reinforcements here before we get too adventurous.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Garfield replied, ears back.
The admiral smiled. “Don't look so dejected, Garfield; you'll get your chance.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That doesn't mean we're abandoning moving in. We need to send Admiral Halsey's task force some resupply obviously. And we need to draw up plans to move in on Dead Drop as soon as the reinforcements arrive,” the admiral rumbled.
Garfield perked up, ears up, eyes wide.
The Neochimp snorted at his kitten expression of hope and eagerness. “Don't give me the eyes. We're going to go, yes. That's a given. As I said, it's all about timing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“For the moment, go over the details from the prowler. We already have Admiral V'r'z'll's report, but I'd like to see what they saw. Have you begun transmitting the intel to the Admiralty?” he asked, turning his head to address his question to Leopold.
“Yes, sir. It might be simpler to send it by courier though since we have to prioritize what to send. There is a lot of raw data there to sort through.”
“Understood.”
“If we move when the reinforcements arrive …,” Garfield started.
“Yes?” the admiral asked as Garfield paused. It was clear the Neocat was gaming out the situation.
“Sir, we wouldn't have any time to do working-up exercises if we moved right off.”
“Ah. Well, if we get there prior to De Gaulte, we'd have time then. I'd squat on the Garth jump point and tear him a new one the moment he entered. Hit him with fighters and bombers and chase him right back the way he came,” the admiral stated.
Garfield nodded. A few others around the table nodded as well.
“Which reminds me,” Amadeus said, turning to Ch'v'tt. “Make sure the prowler and cruiser are replenished. If the crew needs some downtime, see if you can rotate them through the transport or one of the supply ships for some R&R. I know it's not much, but some time away from the same four walls is better than none.”
“Understood, sir,” Ch'v'tt said, making a note.
“Plan on sending the prowler the moment the reinforcements do arrive. I wish there was another coming,” the Neochimp sighed.
“Shifting priorities, sir. I understand the mess with Tau has put hospital ships on top at the moment,” Ch'v'tt stated.
“I thought there was intel that it was limited to Tau?” Kyle asked.
“No,” Kelly said softy. “Well, there is, but we don't know how out of date that is. We also don't know if the enemy has shifted to accelerating Project Pestilence as they call it. Better to be careful then get caught out,” she stated.
The admiral nodded. He didn't like the diversion but agreed with being prepared.
“According to TF3.2's last report New Horizon is blockaded with the Shredder task force on station. Captain Firefly is en route to extend the coverage. Additional forces will be moved in to Finagle to blockade there. Once they are blockaded and ONI is sure they haven't slipped a plague ship through, we can rest easy,” Ch'v'tt stated.
“But, until then we've got to be prepared for everything. Gotcha,” Kyle stated.
“Exactly. Which means we've got to watch the jump point here just in case something happens, unlikely as it is.”
“Can we take the Dead Drop inner star system, sir?” Ch'v'tt asked, changing the subject. The admiral turned to him in surprise. “Sorry, change of subject, sir. I was just wondering about the report about that stiff neck lieutenant. He's refusing to surrender the inner star syste
m. If he continues to refuse, will we flatten everything?”
“Sounds like it would be a job for the Marines. Send them in on glorious boarding actions,” Garfield snorted.
“All fine and dandy so long as the enemy doesn't get cute with IEDs or blow the facilities with our people onboard,” Kelly reminded him.
Garfield's expression took on a thoughtful look as he considered that. After a moment his ears went back, and he nodded once.
“Yeah, we have to take that into consideration. We need a psychological profile of this Lieutenant Savenan as well as any other players. Look into that Kelly,” the admiral ordered. She nodded. “In the meantime, we can work on another working-up exercise.”
“Sir, should we run down those two cruisers? We don't know where they ended up. I don't like how quiet they are,” Ch'v'tt stated.
“I don't either. But we're not getting regular unescorted convoys anymore. They'll just sit there watching our ships pass by and their supplies dwindling until they do something. I'm not interested in dividing my forces to run them down at the moment,” Amadeus stated.
Kelly snorted suddenly. They all looked over to her.
“Sorry,” she chuffed, shoulders shaking. She put a hand over her mouth. “It's just the idea of them sitting there watching our ships pass by and waving … the frustration they must be feeling …” she shook her head.
The admiral snorted but then a fresh thought occurred to him. “Frustrated people do stupid and dangerous things. Hopefully they get themselves killed but we can't count on that. We'll have to be careful with the carriers we send back. Any word on Kittyhawk?”
“She's not due in B-95a3 for another week sir,” Leopold stated.