“Aye, Admiral.”
Hoshiko smiled, grimly, as Defiant transited into Apsidal. The display blurred, then cleared, revealing that the assault pods had done better than expected. Two of the enemy battlestations were gone, while the third was badly damaged. The enemy fleet had taken a beating, although - as it had been further from the gravity point - it had had more time to bring up its point defence. She was mildly surprised the ships hadn't simply dropped into FTL and put an impossible distance between themselves and the missiles. Perhaps they simply hadn't been keeping their drives at the ready.
“Station Three is disabled, Admiral,” Yolanda said. “However, she is still capable of engaging targets.”
“Deploy two hammers to take her out,” Hoshiko ordered. The black hole-tipped missiles could be countered, or simply avoided, but the station was too badly damaged to do either. “And then prepare for engagement.”
The enemy fleet was reforming rapidly. Hoshiko frowned as she watched. The Tokomak had always been good at looking good, but now they were being good. Whoever was in command on Tokomak itself - now - had forced her spacers to forget scripted exercises and work their way through problems that included a number of nasty surprises. The survivors would be just as good as their human counterparts, if they’d been cured of their superiority complex. Merely being Tokomak wasn't enough to win anymore.
“They’re preparing to engage, Admiral,” Yolanda warned. “I suspect they’re planning a missile duel.”
“Perhaps,” Hoshiko said. The Tokomak outnumbered her - twenty-five starships to eighteen - but they had to be aware that her ships outgunned them. Unless they hadn’t been warned about the hammers, or the other advanced weapons at her command. “Or they may be trying to lure us away from the gravity point.”
She nodded to herself as the enemy starships suddenly sparkled with red icons. They’d opened fire, with conventional missiles. That made sense, she supposed. As long as she was sitting on top of the gravity point, she couldn't take her ships into FTL and simply outrun the missiles. And they knew it. They could be trying to keep her pinned down while they summoned reinforcements. Recapturing the gravity point was their first priority, now. She’d read their tactical manuals.
Not that it matters, she thought. Commodore Harding has more than enough assault pods to force his way through the gravity point if they manage to recapture it.
“Contact the squadron,” she ordered, as the red icons drew closer. “The battle line will advance and engage the enemy.”
She smiled, coldly. The enemy wanted a missile duel? She saw no reason to indulge them, not when it would give them an advantage. They could simply flee at any moment, if there was a risk of her actually winning. This way, she could not only test their weapons and defences, but force them to flee or fight on her terms. She wondered, as her ships started to move, which choice they’d make. There was no way even the Tokomak could keep word of the battle from getting out. A defeat now might undermine their prestige to the point that their slave races started to rebel. Hell, some of the older races might start looking for a way to switch sides.
The Tokomak didn't show any visible reaction as her ships inched away from the gravity point, heading straight towards the wall of incoming missiles. Hoshiko’s ships deployed deception drones and ECM, but they were largely ineffective. She frowned, noting just how few missiles had been diverted from their targets. Had the Tokomak improved their systems to the point where her deception was simply laughable? Or had they merely gotten hard locks on her ships, allowing them to ignore the sensor ghosts and engage the real targets?
“Point defence is engaging now,” Yolanda said. “Captains Young and Harrington are requesting permission to return fire.”
“Let us close the range first,” Hoshiko ordered. The Tokomak still had the option of running, although she suspected they’d trade blows with their human counterparts first. They really didn’t want to be seen as cowards. “We’ll open fire when we’re within sprint-mode range.”
The Tokomak fired again. There were fewer missiles this time, Hoshiko noted. Their ships must have been equipped with external racks. That was odd. The Tokomak hadn't had the concept, as far as Solar Intelligence had been able to determine. Their ships certainly hadn't been designed to carry external racks. But there was nothing particularly difficult about the concept. A Tokomak agent must have seen a human ship with external racks, perhaps during one of the post-Battle of Earth skirmishes, and sent a warning up the chain. She wondered, wryly, if some Tokomak engineer had claimed credit for the idea. They wouldn’t want to admit that they’d stolen the concept off the despised human race.
“Entering sprint-mode range,” Yolanda said, tersely. “Admiral.”
Hoshiko nodded. “Signal the squadron,” she said. “Fire at will.”
Defiant shuddered as she unleashed her first barrage. Hoshiko leaned forward, watching the display as the missiles raced towards their targets. The Tokomak might just have enough time to spin up their drives and jump into FTL if they moved now ... her lips curved into a smile as she realised they’d reacted too late. Their point defence went to life, blowing hundreds of missiles out of space, but hundreds more made it through the defences and slammed home. One by one, the enemy ships died.
“Their point defence has improved,” Hoshiko commented. “I wonder how much further they can go.”
Her lips twitched. She wondered how many of the reporters, particularly the ones who’d never been stationed on a warship before, would realise that the enemy point defence had improved. Hoshiko’s ships had given the Tokomak one hell of a beating. A couple of enemy ships had managed to survive long enough to slip into FTL, but the remainder had been blown away with almost contemptuous ease. There would be no stopping the Galactics from telling and retelling the story of how an outnumbered squadron of primitive aliens from the edge of explored space slaughtered a Tokomak fleet.
And yet, if we hadn’t fired so many missiles, we wouldn't have been able to smother their defences, she thought. Something would have to be done about the improved enemy point defence. They might even have held us off long enough to get more ships out of the cauldron.
“Admiral, the remainder of the fleet is making transit,” Yolanda said. “Commodore Harding is asking for orders.”
Hoshiko smiled. “We proceed as planned,” she said. “Detail two squadrons to watch the Garza Point, then assemble the remainder of the fleet for the advance on Mokpo Point.”
She took a breath. “Launch long-range probes towards the planet,” she added. “By the time we turn our attention to Apsidal, I want to know precisely how they’re planning to welcome us.”
“Aye, Admiral,” Yolanda said. “Do you want to demand surrender?”
“Not yet,” Hoshiko said. There was no way to know if the enemy - either the forces defending the Mokpo Point or Apsidal itself - had any idea what had happened to the Garza Point, although they had to know that something had happened. It wouldn’t last. The escaped ships had raced straight to the Mokpo Point. “We need to be a little bit more intimidating first.”
She studied the display for a long moment, watching as starship after starship transited through the gravity point in a never-ending stream. Her forces were building up rapidly, yet there were far more starships waiting on the far side of the gravity point. She smiled, coldly, as she realised just how many problems the Tokomak would have getting through the gravity point, once she was sitting on top of it. They might outnumber her fifty-to-one - a conservative estimate - but their numbers would mean nothing if they could only come at her one by one.
They’ll have sent a warning up the chain by the time I get to the gravity point, she told herself. There was no way to avoid it, unless she got very lucky. The enemy CO might want to avoid blame for the disaster - the Tokomak appeared to see failure as a sign of inferior breeding, if the xenospecialists could be trusted - but surely he’d put his duty ahead of his personal future. Not that he has a future.
“They don’t know what’s happened here,” Hoshiko said. She had a feeling that they were going to be seeing that a lot, at least until word spread. Starships in transit wouldn't know that anything had happened until they dropped out of FTL. Hopefully, the civil affairs teams would be able to take advantage of their surprise to establish a few new trading links. “We’ll see less traffic once they know the truth.”
She shrugged. “Damage reports?”
“None, Admiral,” Yolanda said. Data flowed up in front of her. “The point defence datanet worked as predicted. No enemy missile made it through to strike our shields. However, we have expended our external racks.”
“Have them reloaded, once the ammunition ships come through the gravity point,” Hoshiko ordered. She wanted at least a third of her fleet on hand when she advanced on the Mokpo Point. The LinkShip would have to take a look at Mokpo once Apsidal was secure. Solar Intelligence hadn't reported any fortifications in Mokpo, but their data was months - if not years - out of date. “And then prepare the fleet to advance.”
“Aye, Admiral.”
Hoshiko leaned back in her chair, studying the system display. Apsidal was an impressive system, far more industrialised than anything she’d seen in the Martina Sector. And yet, she could see weaknesses too. The industry was concentrated around the planet itself, rather than scattered across the system. Anyone who took the planet - and she intended to take the planet - would take the industry too. Once the governors on the planet’s fabricators were removed, Apsidal would be more than capable of supporting her fleet indefinitely.
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, she reminded herself. Her grandmother had used to say that, citing the days when she’d lived on a ranch. Something could still go wrong.
“Admiral,” Yolanda said. She turned to face her commanding officer. “The fleet is ready to advance.”
“Then set course for the Mokpo Point,” Hoshiko added. “It’s time to finish this.”
Chapter Nine
Admiral Yosho, Tokomak Navy, was not having a very good day.
He’d seen the assignment to Apsidal as a blessing, at first. He was only a few hundred years old, too young for any serious posting, but the Empress had had faith in him. She’d directed him to take command of the system and its defences, then prepare it to support her fleet as it advanced towards Earth. Yosho had had some difficulty coming to accept that such an insignificant world could pose a major threat, but he knew better than to argue. Empress Neola was dangerously unpredictable.
And everything had been going well, until the humans had arrived.
They’d timed it well, he conceded ruefully. He’d assumed he’d have plenty of time to reinforce the Garza Point if a threat happened to materialise - assuming, of course, that the humans didn’t simply stare helplessly at the juggernaut bearing down on them until it was too late - but the invaders had overrun the point before he’d even known the system was under attack. Worse, if his long-range sensors were to be believed, the humans had arrived in considerable force. Retaking the Garza Point was likely to be impossible until the main fleet arrived, which wasn't going to happen for weeks. Even holding the Mokpo Point was going to be difficult.
This is going to destroy my career, he thought, morbidly. The irony would have made him laugh, if it had happened to anyone else. Under the old system, even a tactical ignoramus was assured of promotion ... eventually. But now, with merit being considered instead of age, he’d be lucky if he wasn’t summarily sacked. His family would disown him rather than admit they had a failure in their midst. What do I do?
“Admiral,” his tactical officer said. “The human fleet will enter engagement range in fifty minutes.”
“Send an alert up the chain, then move as many freighters through the gravity point as possible before the humans arrive,” Yosho ordered, curtly. There was no point in leaving more ships to be captured or destroyed. The freighters waiting on the far side would have to be told to flee. “And then put our defences on full alert.”
He scowled. The human commander was being kind enough to give him time to concentrate his forces, but it didn’t matter. His fleet simply wasn't strong enough to do more than bleed the enemy before it was pushed aside. He briefly considered ordering his warships through the gravity point and making a stand on the far side, before dismissing the idea. The battlestations couldn’t make the jump and he couldn't abandon them, not without being branded a coward as well as a failure. His only hope of saving his reputation - and his family’s reputation - lay in making a stand and dying bravely.
And they can't replace their losses anything like as fast as we can, he thought. The Empress was bringing more and more ships out of storage and preparing them for war. There was no way the humans could hope to produce enough ships to match the sheer size of the Tokomak fleet. Every ship I kill now will weaken them for the later battle.
He allowed himself a flicker of dull admiration for the humans, although it wasn't something he would ever admit aloud. They hadn’t been in space for a century and yet they’d already developed more advanced weapons than anyone else, although they’d had help. If they’d had to invent everything from scratch, the Empress had pointed out more than once, they’d have taken far longer. And yet ... the fleet advancing steadily towards him was impressive. The humans seemed to have solved the command and control problems that plagued any fleet larger than a few hundred ships. He wondered, vaguely, how they did it.
They probably gave their commanders more authority, he thought. He’d served long enough under the gerontocrats to know that questioning orders was a career-ending blunder. The senior officer gave the orders and everyone else did what they were told. But if they subdivided their fleet into smaller sections, they might ...
“Admiral, the fleet is ready to engage the enemy,” the tactical officer said. “All weapons and defences are online.”
“Good,” Yosho said. The distraction was almost a relief. “Order all stations to open fire the moment the enemy comes within range.”
***
“The situation on the planet itself is confused,” Yolanda said, “but a number of asteroids are signalling us. They’re asking if they can join the Galactic Alliance.”
Hoshiko frowned. The intelligence staff had tracked everything from riots to outright revolutions, spreading across the system in the wake of their arrival, but there was no way to be entirely sure what was going on. She’d known that Apsidal was unstable - a relatively small ruling class lording it over a giant underclass - yet the revolutions might be put down before she could take control of the high orbitals. Or, if they succeeded, destroy installations and industries she needed to preserve.
“We have to secure the system first,” she said, studying the display. The Mokpo Point was growing larger on the display, surrounded by a small galaxy of red icons. It looked as though the Tokomak were preparing to make a stand. And, on the other side ... who knew what was on the other side? The Tokomak could funnel an endless stream of reinforcements into the system if their main fleet had arrived in Mokpo. “Tell them ... tell them to wait.”
She sighed, inwardly. She didn't blame the locals for wanting to revolt, or taking advantage of the fleet’s arrival to rise up, but it was a nuisance. If they slaughtered their overlords, the Tokomak would turn it into propaganda; if they were slaughtered themselves, the Tokomak would probably also turn it into propaganda. They’d want to make it clear to their allies that they were fighting for their lives, while suggesting to their enemies that the human race couldn't protect them. The fact that the human race hadn't encouraged the uprisings would be left unmentioned.
And they’re not even tactically advantageous, unless they manage to capture the high orbitals for us, she thought. But the Tokomak would be fools to allow
a sizable number of potential rebels onto their battlestations.
“Admiral, the enemy are locking weapons on us,” Yolanda said. “They’re preparing to fire.”
“Target the battlestations with hammers, then target the starships with conventional missiles,” Hoshiko ordered. The Tokomak had clearly learnt something from the previous engagements. Their starships were altering position constantly, seemingly at random. There was little hope of hitting one of them with a hammer missile. “And deploy enhanced countermeasures.”
“Aye, Admiral,” Yolanda said. “Should we deploy the Storm Shadows?”
Hoshiko hesitated. The new weapons would help her win the engagement, quickly and decisively. It was a tempting thought. She didn’t have time for a long engagement. But the Tokomak would have observers watching the battle, lurking near the gravity point. Anything she deployed now would be carefully noted and reported up the chain for analysis. The advantage might be lost by the time she encountered the main fleet.
“No,” she said. “We’ll hold them in reserve.”
The Long-Range War Page 9