"To win! This is war, Commodore, and I don't plan to lose. I asked myself why we should let the fifth get away after destroying four. I carried out your plan. We hid in your wake just as planned, then we destroyed them. We destroyed them faster than even I thought possible. After all that, why let one of their ships go? The battle was over; Wolf Five was no longer in danger. Their defenses were even powered down as they fled. There was no point in letting them escape if we could catch them. I could and I did. We have retained the element of surprise. They have no idea the Void Dragon exists and will not be ready for us next time.
"If you want your conventional data you have it. The whole thing was recorded for the immersion engineers. You have my word this isn't about politics. I would never do anything to endanger the squadron out of misplaced pride. I am a naval officer, like my mother before me; I am here to fight battles and win them. I have no other concerns."
Jiang didn’t speak for a while. "And your ship? Does that concern you?" she asked finally.
"What do you mean?"
"Nima just sent me a report."
Damn him! "Commodore I couldn't have anticipated— "
"I know. We never tested the Void Dragon's greenshift drive in high light-noise environments. We should have, a grievous oversight.
That shift was dangerously inaccurate, bringing you in far too close to the last Enemy ship. You should’ve been perfectly safe. This is a serious technical flaw that needs to be brought back to the engineers right away. In a way I'm thankful we learned this now. But that was a hell of a risk you took. Those distorted space-time bubbles just before a greenshift jump are incredibly unstable if popped from the outside."
"I took the shot. That’s why I’m here. I take the shot. I'm not going to apologize for destroying an Enemy dreadnought any time I have the opportunity."
A small part of Wen's mind knew she was skating dangerously close to insubordination but knowing Nima had sent a report on her up the chain of command had dulled her rationality.
"I understand your position, Captain. However, nothing can justify disobeying the orders of a commanding officer. By rights you should be court martialed."
Wen braced herself for the inevitable.
"Even so, as you pointed out, this is war. Frankly, we need you, so I suppose I can't really punish you. Our options are limited in even in the best of circumstances. Removing you from command would harm the war effort. I can be objective enough to acknowledge that. So I will do nothing, on one condition."
Wen had enough experience with official discipline to know when she had gotten away with something. She let out a small sigh of relief.
Jiang continued, "I need your solemn assurance that you will never disobey one of my orders again. I can't plan future battles if I don't know you'll be exactly where I need you," Jiang said insistently.
"Absolutely, Commodore. I apologize for my conduct today. It won't happen again."
"That’s all I needed to hear Captain; I consider this matter closed."
Wen waited for a dismissal. Jiang didn't give it.
"I knew this was going to be my most stressful assignment yet. Understand this, Wen Guiying: you pull another stunt like this and you could very well lose the war for us. Do you understand? If this project fails we don't have any more trump cards. The war will continue on as it has for thirty years, one defeat after another, until we're all dead. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly, Ma'am."
"Glad to hear it. Well, the Kongming is damaged, no shifting out until they can make repairs. Looks like that last one you killed got in a few good hits. I'm not going to leave them exposed. The rest of Wolf Five will form a defensive perimeter. I'm off to report in and get chewed out by my superiors. Once the Kongming is fit to shift I want everyone back at the Dark Facility for a real debriefing. See you then. Jiang out."
***
They remained in system for some time after that, compiling data from the battlespace, for their own use as well as the anxious minds at the Dark Facility, who would eventually report to High Command itself. Commodore Jiang and the Liangshan shifted out to deliver their report in person. The Two Rivers, Jade Wind, and Void Dragon waited patiently at the edge of the system for the Kongming to complete repairs. They held their position for a while and Wen was about to arrange a shift change so they could get some sleep.
"I don't like this," Xinren said suddenly.
"What do you mean, Commander?" asked Wen.
"We don't know how the Enemy is going to react to all this. For us, losing a whole squadron isn't exactly common, but it's common enough. I've had friends on ships that left on patrol and never returned. That's the war. What about them?"
"They take losses," Wen said.
"But not like this. We wiped them out. I don't know about anybody else here but I've been in the fleet for almost twenty years and never seen a win like that before, not even one of Commodore Jiang's traps where she hides half her battle-group on the other side of a moon or something. Some of them always get away."
Heads nodded around the command deck.
"All I'm saying," Xinren continued, "is they're not used to losing. We don't know how they'll react. What if they're holding back? Five kills and no losses might make them get serious. I don't know if I want to see what the Enemy looks like when they get serious."
What a pleasant thought. "I'm not worried, Commander."
She was. They barely escaped. That kind of luck wouldn't hold. "They weren't ready for us and they won't be ready next time. Mr. Nima, any word from the Kongming?"
"Captain Li reports his engineering section will complete repairs in four hours, estimated."
"Keep scanning and orbiting the Kongming. We're fast enough to cover every possible approach vector. If the Enemy has any surprises for us we'll be the first to know." I wish they'd hurry up. We really are exposed out here.
"Captain, I have something, " Xinren said.
Just my luck. "Report."
"Light-noise burst in the local star's habitable zone. Could be a solar flare, could be hostile."
"Monitor it, but try to be discrete. Tighten your scanning pattern, no reason to tip them off with signals intelligence. Mr. Nima, inform the rest of the squadron of possible hostile contact."
Damn! I knew we should have burned further away from the habitable zone; it's the first place anyone checks! I don't care how slow the Kongming would limp away; it's better than being caught by a follow-up patrol in force, and the Kongming could have been towed.
"Maybe they haven't noticed us," said a junior officer in astrogation.
"Unlikely," Nima replied. "They know something's up. The Enemy wrecks are near."
"Can confirm," Xinren said. "They're spreading out in a search pattern, lowering scanning density to a level that can pass for solar radiation. Wait. Getting a strong light-noise bloom on scan."
"They missed us! They're shifting out!" the junior officer said.
The proximity alarm went off.
"Damn! Looks like they've found us. Gunnery, cancel stealth scans. I need all the intel you can give me. Mr. Nima, get me Captain Li and be quick about it!" Wen ordered.
Captain Li was quick to acknowledge. "Any luck on those repairs, Captain?" Wen asked.
"None," Li said. "Captain Wen, my gunnery officer tells me we have six hostile dreadnoughts incoming. Perhaps it would be wise for you to evacuate with the prototype."
"Not on your life! I'm not abandoning anyone."
With no time to form a more complete plan, Wen had to act quickly, "Captain Li, we are heavily outnumbered. Your ship is crippled and the Two Rivers and Jade Wind are out of position doing perimeter scans. We only have one combat-ready ship against six hostiles. I need you relay some instructions to the rest of the squadron once they come in range. There’s no point in forming a skirmish line against so many. Have the Two Rivers approach from the left and the Jade Wind from the right. We need to pressure them from multiple angles."
"And yo
ur ship, Captain Wen?"
"The Void Dragon will act as a screen. We'll use our superior speed harass them in three dimensions and give the other ships time to get in position. It's our only chance."
"I don't like it, but we don't have a lot of options here, and your ship is the only one that could even allow this plan to potentially succeed. I'll relay your instructions but I urge you retreat if it looks like the prototype is in danger. We can’t risk such a ship falling into Enemy hands. Li out."
Wen's fingers flicked a button and changed the channel on her comm. "Tian, how soon can we be ready to shift out?"
"Less than sixty seconds, Captain, closer to thirty if I focus."
"Then focus! Nima, I need an intercept course, take us off of their left. We need to hit them before they get their shields up, so I want it plugged in just as soon as engineering is ready. Xinren, I need you acquiring and firing as soon as we come out of that shift. Start calculating relative distances now. Hopefully, we can take a few of them out before they know what's happening"
"On it, Captain!" Came Xinren and Nima together, wasting no time.
Wen’s fatigue was replaced by jumpy alertness. She was used to quickly transitioning to combat-mode after long periods of boredom. Just about everyone in the fleet was. "Fifteen seconds," was the word from engineering. Tian was about to break her own record. It was a long fifteen seconds. The bridge was eerily silent, and then the tell-tale feeling of suspension as they entered a greenshift.
"Get ready people; every second counts!"
They were alongside the enemy. Xinren had one in the chamber and let it fly. The shot went a bit wide and instead of striking amidships it shaved off the forward section of the leftmost enemy dreadnought. The headless ship drifted off course for a few seconds before exploding by segments and collapsing like an accordion.
"You're rushing, Xinren. I need you quick, but careful. They're still pretty spread out. Mr. Nima, dance around them and see if you can stack them up so they can't all fire on us at once. We need to stay alive long enough for the rest of the squadron to join the party."
It was now a race against the Enemy engineers to destroy as many as possible before they could get their shields online and fall into a defensive formation. The strung-out aftermath of the greenshift counted against Wen. It took precious seconds to move from one Enemy ship to another.
"Closing in on another, Captain," Nima said.
"Very good, make this one count, no second chances."
Xinren spent a moment carefully manipulating the ship's orientation and cleared the gun to fire. It was a perfect shot that cruelly cleaved through the Enemy dreadnought and caused it to flame out and disintegrate.
"Must've struck the drive core, only free xinium particles could do that," he muttered.
"Stay focused people. If we can take down one more it'll be even odds once the cavalry arrives," Wen said. The Void Dragon was making very good time but the Enemy had a head start.
Nima's defensive maneuvers had left the Enemy stacked in a neat row and unable to return fire as a group but it left them pretty badly out of position after their second kill.
"Burn for the next one, Mr. Nima. Commander Xinren, I want you to fire at the first opportunity. We're cutting it close as is, better an imperfect shot than no shot at all."
They dashed forward in a hurry and the main gun fired once more. The shot struck with great impact but did not destroy the enemy ship.
"Damn, their shields are up! This isn't good," Xinren said.
"We're still faster. Get me a good angle, Nima!"
"They're turning," Nima said. "There's no safe path to their flank without exposing us to fire from the rest of their battle group."
"Then keep pounding them! Xinren, that last shot nearly took their shields down, just a little more!"
Xinren pushed the main gun to the limit and let loose a withering barrage, gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep it going smoothly. The third ship took a solid beating but was able to align itself bow to bow with the Void Dragon, its forward facing shield cone breaking up and deflecting Xinrin's fire with not much visible effect. Wen knew her ship wouldn't stand up for long in a direct engagement.
They felt a dull vibration, Enemy fire.
"Damage report."
"A glancing blow, shields ninety six percent integrity," Xinren said.
Still not good.
"Mr. Nima, any word on the Jade Wind or Two Rivers?"
"Still a few minutes out, Captain," he replied, his voice a little uneven.
For half a moment Wen felt a bit of sympathy for him. This is a tight spot, I'll admit. But she still had one more trick to play.
"Commander Xinren, hold your fire!"
"Hold my fire?"
"It isn't having any effect. As we are we can't get in position to do much damage. Besides, each shot throws off our course and leaves us just a little more vulnerable. We’ll direct the free power to shields.
I don't know how many shots we can take but I do know our bow can take the most. Mr. Nima, I need you to move in a lateral loop and make them chase us. We can't run forever but we can be the biggest pain-in-the-neck target of all time. If we do it right they'll be laid out nice and fresh for when our friends arrive."
A stalemate reigned for a few tense minutes as a non firing Void Dragon took several more unanswered shots from the Enemy dreadnought. The other Enemy ships spread out in an attempt to box her in and finish them off, but Wen kept dancing away and through any gaps they left.
Still, their luck didn't hold for long. The Void Dragon was raked by fire and the shields nearly buckled after a few volleys. Where are they? We can’t hold much longer! Wen thought.
As if to answer her silent plea, the Jade Wind and Two rivers made their presence known. So focused as they were on catching Wen, the Enemy had ignored the approach of Gongyue ships executing a double envelopment. The Two Rivers was closer and scored a kill for themselves, the one Xinren had bombarded unsuccessfully. The remaining Enemy ships were forced to turn and face the more immediate threat.
This proved to be a fatal mistake as Wen ordered Xinren to resume firing. They learned a sharp lesson about turning their backs on an enemy at bay, or would have if they lived longer. With heavy fire coming in from three sides the Enemy squadron did not last long. Two more were destroyed in short order, with no losses on the Gongyue side, but that was only five. The sixth Enemy ship had disengaged well before help arrived and was only briefly detected as it shifted out of the system.
Chapter 6
The Kongming's repairs were completed with all haste and they prepared to shift out.
"I have to hand it to you, Captain. I've never seen anything like that. My crew and I are in your debt. When we get back to port all the drinks are on us. See you on the other side," Li said.
"Looking forward to it, Wen out.” She closed the channel. "Mr. Nima, prepare for a greenshift jump to the Dark Facility, and let the rest of the squadron go first. I don't like this business of light-noise making our jumps less accurate, best not to take any chances until we can test it."
Wen was trying to act normally but there was nothing for it. They'd fought two battles in a day, won both, and were nearly destroyed several times. The crew was stunned and subdued, and she felt emotionally numb to everything. What a way to begin my career as a real captain.
The shift was perfunctory, and they sat there a while waiting for the signal that would guide them into safe harbor at the invisible station.
"A transmission, Captain," said her first officer.
"Then take us in, Mr. Nima."
"It's not the cynosure, Captain. It's orders. I'll forward them to you."
Wen didn't like the sound of that. Let's see here, Admiral Song sends his regards and wishes to inform us of the following:
Professor Bruzio's science team wanted to go over the data from the first engagement along with a strategic detachment from High Command.
High Command! Wen f
elt a rush of gratitude for being warned about that.
Admiral Song's message also indicated they would be at liberty for a few days while the process took its course. Though not an ideal location, after the near disaster against the Enemy relief patrol, the crew could do with some time to unwind. The second action was yet to be reported and Wen didn't expect that the bureaucrats would take it well.
She knew better than most that High Command didn't like surprises, especially considering how well the first action went. Explaining that there had been another engagement where the Void Dragon had very nearly been lost and was now known to the Enemy was not an encouraging prospect.
***
"Ah, they're here," said an eager Song. "Isn't this exciting, Mr. Wu?"
Mr. Wu of the People's Central Committee did not look particularly excited, "Let us call it cautious optimism, Admiral, one successful action does not win the war. We need more data."
"So we do. I'll have Professor Bruzio coordinate with your team and they'll have one hell of a report to send to Madam Cao. If I'm right, and I have every reason to believe that I am, the data should satisfy the clerks at the Accounting Office and the War Resources Ministry, and we'll be cleared to mass produce these Void Dragon class frigates by the end of the quarter.
"By that time our young Captain shall have all the data we need to establish a standard doctrine and a training course. You should have a little faith, Wu. The end of the war is in sight."
"I don't deal in faith, Song; faith won't get us anywhere. I want to see results,” Wu said stiffly.
"That's where you're wrong, Wu. Our entire navy operates on faith. Why do our crews and our ships who have never known a major victory in this war still go into battle? Because they believe they must. They believe they have to keep fighting because there are no alternatives. None of them really thinks we can win, not after all these years. They have determination but no hope.
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