* * * *
Tzal was astounded that the humans had somehow managed to make an undetectable warship at all, but the incoming fire that was destroying his carriers so efficiently appeared to be at least as large as his biggest new weapons aboard his heavy cruisers. It was terribly frustrating for his pilots trying to locate the invisible monster that was slowly eating away at his carrier force, like a disease. They couldn’t hit what they couldn’t see. Tzal was just glad the humans didn’t appear to have a whole fleet of them.
But Tzal couldn’t worry about his carriers at the moment. He’d lost over 6,000 fighters in the five attack passes they’d taken at the monstrous asteroid weapons platforms. He’d been disappointed at their poor 20% success rate of actually hitting the great beasts with their first generation fighters and missiles… disappointed, but not surprised. If the thousand hits they’d accomplished had been targeted at much of anything besides these great armored behemoths, they’d have probably been very effective.
His 9,000 cruisers were approaching firing range, and it was time to see what his other new toys could do against these monsters. If only he was up against the kind of ships that had attacked Golgathal, he felt like he’d be doing all right. But unfortunately, he wasn’t. In every battle it seemed these humans always had something new up their sleeves — something virtually impervious to the best weapons he had at hand.
These damned humans just don’t fight fair!
* * * *
Long before Tzal’s cruisers got into firing range, Confederate Rear Admiral Stacy Irwin unleashed her squadron’s monstrous 21-gigawatt main guns on the approaching Raknii warships. Those powerful plasma blasts tore through the cat’s heavy cruiser grade armor like it was tissue paper, often destroying multiple warships before the energy finally dissipated. As the range closed still further, she opened up with her 14-gigawatt battlecruiser-sized secondaries, still more than sufficient to devastate virtually anything they hit. By the time Tzal’s 2,500 heavy cruisers could open up with their 11-gigawatt main armament, their numbers had already been reduced by about 500, with additional losses of another 1,500 smaller cruisers and destroyers. Unfortunately, by the time Tzal’s cruisers came into firing range of their heaviest weaponry, they also came into range of Irwin’s 11-gigawatt heavy cruiser grade secondaries as well.
Tzal ordered his cruisers to concentrate their fire on the lead asteroid, so on their initial volley, the cats sent 12,000, 11-gigawatt plasma balls screaming towards Irwin’s flagship, CSS Behemoth. The great asteroid was virtually too big to miss, even at extreme range, so over 10,000 of those initial blasts registered hits on the great beast. When the range closed enough to allow for Tzal’s 8-gigawatt and 6-gigwatt weapons to engage, things got really interesting.
* * * *
CSS Phantasm also jumped back to the rendezvous point and arrived in time to give Admiral Ben Stillman’s Confederate 2nd Fleet updated coordinates which allowed his cruisers to emerge almost on top of over 900 Raknii carriers. Stillman’s carriers emerged two light-minutes farther in towards the planet, along with their accompanying frigates and destroyers, and began launching Demons, followed by Raptors, until all 690 of 2nd Fleet’s fighters were space-borne and moving to the attack.
Admiral Stillman’s flagship, the battleship CSS Defiant opened up on the cat carriers with her 16-gigwatt mains immediately, as did the 14’s, the 11’s and the 8’s from her accompanying cruiser squadrons. The Rak carriers were in the process of retrieving returning fighter squadrons and re-launching others, which had just been refueled and rearmed with the single big anti-ship missiles they carried. Pandemonium reigned when the massive plasma balls began ripping through the carrier formations and many collisions ensued, as the Raknii ship-masters desperately tried to maneuver in efforts to evade the powerful incoming fire.
The crew of the stealth cruiser CSS Banshee initially cheered heartily when the 15 heavies of 2nd Fleet emerged within firing range of their big main guns and began destroying cat carriers wholesale, which Banshee had been picking off in twos and threes for hours. There followed a feeling of mild disappointment, that their part on the great turkey-shoot was over, but they’d already destroyed over 90 enemy carriers single-handedly. All in all, not a bad day’s work.
Even without specific orders, Captain Diamond knew where his primary duty now lay in this scenario, and he reluctantly ordered his undetectable cruiser to pull away from the melee to take position between the planet Slithin and Stillman’s carriers, to guard their backside against anything unexpected that might be coming out from the planet.
Returning cat fighters were low on fuel, but many tried to engage the incoming Demons making their attack runs against their carriers, as they each carried two medium-range, scanner-guided anti-fighter missiles and two short-range infrared, thermally-guided anti-fighter missiles. The Rak pilots were angered and disappointed to see the vast majority of their missiles swerving away from their intended targets, when the Confederate pilots released scanner reflective chaff, phosphorus flares and lit off their own onboard active electronic-countermeasures systems. Several hundred newly refueled and rearmed Rak fighters aborted their attack run against the asteroid ships, and doubled-back to attack the human warships that had unexpectedly emerged in the rear of their carriers.
With minimal evasive action required to avoid the cloud of cat anti-fighter missiles coming at them, the attacking Demons targeted four of their six medium-yield ship-killer missiles against each carrier, to ensure that they achieved kills with weapons not actually designed for use against such large targets. The last two, they used to finish off cripples. The Rak carriers fired off their own chaff and flares, as well as their 1st generation ECM, which were moderately successful, but in their first pass alone, Stillman’s 345 Demons left over 280 Raknii carriers behind as flaming wreckage, before they turned back to rearm.
Stillman’s cruisers weren’t carrying their normal allotment of anti-fighter missiles aboard, to make room for more medium-yield anti-ship missiles, as that was all they’d needed in every conflict with the cats prior to this one. The battleship and cruisers opened up on the incoming fighters with what 5 and 3.5-gigawatt mounts they carried, popped chaff and flares and employed active ECM to minimize their exposure to the cats’ big incoming missiles as much as possible.
On Stillman’s order, 2nd Fleet’s 345 Raptors peeled away from their attack runs on the enemy carriers to go after the cat fighters attacking Stillman’s heavies. Only about 30% of the Raknii missiles got through the deceptions and two-thirds of those that did, fell to 2nd Fleet’s ship’s potent point-defense weaponry… lasers, charged-particle beams and Hail Storm defense systems. Still, that left over 70 high-yield, anti-ship missiles having shape-charged explosive warheads impacting on Ben Stillman’s 15 heavy warships, with devastating effect.
* * * *
In spite of the incredible depth of her nickel-iron armor, Rear Admiral Stacy Irwin’s flagship, CSS Behemoth, was taking a hell of a beating. With one-third of the incoming cats’ fighter-borne heavy anti-ship missiles targeted at her and virtually all of the cat’s cruiser fire targeted solely at her single asteroid-battleship, Behemoth lost over 80% of her energy weapons turrets and experienced atmospheric breaches in three compartments. Her damage control parties were fighting dozens of internal fires, two of which were considered major, and one that was approaching the reactor rooms. Fortunately, the great ship’s thick armored drive doors hadn’t been penetrated yet, so if they could get that one worrisome fire extinguished, Behemoth would survive a while longer.
“Admiral, all of our ECM masts and most of our point-defense weaponry near the surface have been knocked out,” stated Irwin’s Flag-Captain Roger Cameron. “We’ve lost most of our exterior weapons turrets and have 53 dead and 182 wounded aboard. Don’t you think it’s time for us to throttle back and let one of our sister ships take over playing the catnip bag for a while?”
The question irritated Irwin, as she’d been cons
idering that very thing, but hadn’t yet figured out a way to pull it off. “How might you suggest we do that exactly, Captain Cameron?” Irwin asked snippily. “Do you really want to open our drive doors in the midst of this firestorm we’re in? How long do you think it would take for the cats to shove a few dozen 11-gigawatt plasma balls up our ass if we turned and lifted our tail for them with those doors open?”
Captain Cameron? Roger Cameron knew that he’d stepped in it, when the admiral became formal like that. Still, he doubted how much longer his monstrous ship could survive the ungodly pounding she’d taken over the past few hours.
“We still have a few maneuvering thrusters left, Admiral,” Cameron answered. “We can use them to slow ourselves enough to let Leviathan and Gargantuan take the lead and shield us from the worst of it, without opening our doors or exposing our tail to the cats.”
“God damn it, Roger!” Irwin thundered. “We have never lost a battle to these pussies, and I don’t intend to be the first officer in the Confederate Fleet that does!”
“I’m not saying anything about losing anything, Admiral. We still have a couple of laser comm channels that are still functional, so you can still direct the battle from a more rearward position.”
“I can’t direct what I can’t see!” Irwin screeched in exasperation. “We only have three search antennas for our scanners left, that haven’t already been blown away.”
“All the more reason to drop back and let Leviathan and Gargantuan take the brunt of this, Admiral,” replied Cameron. “If we lose those antennas, you’re effectively blind and won’t be able to direct anything!”
Stacy Irwin bit off the next retort that she had ready to explode. Stacy, quit being an ass. Roger is right, goddamnit!
Irwin sighed and said, “All right, Roger, you’re right. I don’t have to like it, but you’re right. Advise Leviathan and Gargantuan what we’re doing and why, and drop us back.”
* * * *
“Admiral, message incoming on the spook channel! It says there are approximately 20,000 cat corvettes approaching our carriers, coming out from Slithin.”
Admiral Ben Stillman reeled at this chilling news, like a sharp slap in the face.
Damn! Those little shits may be small, but they have ungodly numbers of them, and our carriers and destroyers are vulnerable to those little popguns of theirs.
“Advise our carriers and their escorts to retire back towards us at maximum speed. They should be able to outrun them.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral!”
Dorothy Fletcher-Stillman, Ben’s wife and captain of the Defiant, was below with the damage control parties. As the largest ship, Defiant had taken the lion’s share of that heavy missile attack from those cat fighters and the great gray lady was hurt, and hurt badly. Ben had lost four light cruisers and a heavy cruiser to that initial attack, but his remaining cruisers all had varying amounts of damage, with Defiant probably having incurred the worst of what was left of them. They certainly couldn’t stand up to another attack like that last one.
The Raptors hadn’t arrived in time to prevent almost 800 cat fighters from launching their missiles at his fifteen heavy warships. The last time they’d tangled with the Raknii at Kitty Litter almost three years earlier, that cats hadn’t possessed carriers, fighters, missiles or any energy weapons of sufficient size that could threaten humanity’s cruisers, except for stern-shots.
The cats are definitely learning.
Fortunately the Raptors had managed to chase down and destroy about half of those attacking fighters with short bursts from their chain-guns and with the havoc their Demons were reaping on the fleeing cat carriers, only a few rearmed cat fighters tried penetrating the Raptor screen now circling protectively around Ben’s crippled cruiser squadron.
“Have our carriers route 100 Demons to keep the pressure up on those cat carriers and then come provide top-cover for us after their release,” Stillman directed his communications officer. “That way I can release our Raptors to go make their runs and return for refueling and rearming. Tell them to send the rest of their Demons out to play tag with those cat corvettes coming out from the planet — same tactics as at Kitty Litter.”
* * * *
We’ve hurt them! Tzal marveled at the unbelievable destruction that the gigantic alien asteroid-warship had withstood, but now it was dropping back behind the other two. We finally hurt them!
It had been costly —terribly costly. Tzal already had lost virtually 60% of his new fleet… 1,100 heavy cruisers, 1,400 cruisers and 2,700 destroyers destroyed, or badly damaged. Now he’d just received word that a full enemy fleet had emerged in his rear and was threatening his vulnerable carriers. He was also told that Rak fighters had gotten one missile attack through, that had badly hurt the enemy’s fifteen heavy ships and that the 20,000 old-style ships coming out from Slithin were approaching the enemy’s remaining nine carriers and their escorts.
Tzal knew that even with his fighter attacks uninterrupted, his losses to those monstrous asteroid warships and the incredible amount of firepower they contained was unsustainable. Now with his carriers fighting for their lives, he knew the Battle of Slithin was lost. Tzal sent orders for the remnant of Blug’s fleet to attack the human carriers with all vigor, and for his own carriers to retrieve as many of their fighters as they could and to jump for Yegraia, one of Region-4’s border worlds near Region-5.
Tzal also issued orders for his remaining cruisers to break off their attack against those gigantic asteroid warships and to follow him back to the coordinates of those damaged human cruisers on the other side of the asteroid belt. Tzal intended to withdraw his remaining forces to Yegraia as well, but first he wanted to take his frustrations out on those damaged human cruisers.
* * * *
Defiant and her remaining escorting cruisers kept up as good a rate of fire as they could at the fleeing cat carriers, but battle damage from the earlier fighter-launched heavy-missile attack had badly degraded their available speed and the cat carriers were pulling out of range. When 100 Demons formed up around them to provide fighter cover, after having destroyed yet another 90 cat carriers with their medium-yield, ship-killer missiles, Stillman released the Raptors that had providing them with cover to go make their attack runs on the kitty carriers before returning to their own carriers for refueling and rearmament.
When even Defiant’s big guns could no longer reach their targets, Stillman ordered his heavies to turn back to conduct search and rescue operations for his five cruisers that had been crippled in the cats’ initial missile attack.
* * * *
“Admiral! The cat cruisers are turning away… looks like they’re heading back towards the asteroid belt.”
Rear Admiral Stacy Irwin toggled a switch on her command chair and said, “Squadron from Flag… all ships open drive doors and pursue those cat cruisers at best speed. Maintain fire as long as they’re in range.”
* * * *
“Admiral, incoming message on the spook channel. It says just under 4,000 cat cruisers and destroyers have broken off their attack on our asteroid-battleships and are headed our way!”
Admiral Benjamin Stillman was stunned by this news. 4,000 cruisers… My god! Right now, Ben wasn’t sure if his remaining ten ships could survive four undamaged cruisers in a stand-up fight, much less 4,000 of them. They’d managed to pick up several hundred crewmen from the five destroyed cruisers, who managed to make it into life-pods after their captains had sounded abandon ship earlier. He’d intended to send in boarding parties to search for crewmen trapped below-decks, but those cat cruisers heading towards them had just doomed whoever might still be trapped in there.
Stillman knew that he had to get his remaining fleet away from those cat cruisers, or they’d all be just as dead. But with their drastically reduced speed, he doubted that they could outrun them and several, including Defiant, couldn’t even get up to jump speed anymore, to escape into hyperspace.
The rocks.We can hide in th
e rocks!
Ben Stillman toggled a switch on his command chair and over an encrypted channel, he ordered, “Flag to squadron. We’ve got way too much company coming for us to feed and we can’t outrun them, so everyone head back to the asteroid belt and find yourselves a nice big rock to set down on and lie doggo to make repairs. Let’s just hope that those cat cruisers don’t see us hiding in there until after Stacy Irwin’s cavalry arrives on those big, slow-assed mules of hers.
“Comm, signal our Demons to head home and then to our carriers. Advise them of those incoming cruisers and to change course perpendicular towards the cat carriers to avoid getting caught between the hammer and anvil. Concentrate on driving those carriers out of the system and when that’s accomplished, take out all those damned corvettes that are behind them!”
“Aye, aye, Admiral!”
* * * *
Tzal was disappointed when his fleet finally cleared the asteroid belt. There was a lot of wreckage floating about, but there was no sign of those crippled human cruisers that he’d been told about. His scanners told him that his carriers had already jumped out of the system, and there were still some large returns off at an oblique angle, which Tzal assumed were the human carriers. He knew he’d never catch them if they kept running, and there was no reason that they shouldn’t. His scanners also showed several hundred small blips, which he took to be human fighters, harassing what had to be the remnants of Blug’s fleet.
We can’t stay here with those monstrous asteroid warships coming in behind us, and there’s no sense in allowing those human fighters to destroy all of those Rak warriors crewing those antique warships of Blug’s.
Tzal sent orders for the remnants of Blug’s fleet to break off and rendezvous with his fleet at Yegraia.
* * * *
“Looks like the cats are bugging out, Admiral!”
“Very well,” said Confederate Vice Admiral Martin Davidson, commanding 2nd Fleet’s nine carriers and their escorts from his flagship, CSS Independence. “Comm, signal the fleet. Have them follow us back to assist what’s left of Admiral Stillman’s ships.”
Wrath of an Angry God: A Military Space Opera Page 22