by Chris Hechtl
“Maybe, but they've got all the tools and equipment. They have kicked ass up north, so what does that say about what they've got in and around Pyrax? I have to assume they wouldn't leave it unguarded. Judging from the forces they committed to Protodon and Nuevo Madrid, they have to have the same or more in their critical systems,” Ahab said, “which means my people are out of it. There is no way in hell a singleton can go up against them.”
“And it pretty much means we'll have to write off all of your forces behind enemy lines. They might run to another sector, if they've got the legs and fuel, but they are still useless to us for some time,” Malwin replied with a nod.
“Exactly,” Ahab was forced to admit with a grudging nod.
“Will they commit to one offensive? Direct to us? Can we exploit that by sending a force south to threaten them there and force them to divide their own efforts and slow them down? Hell if I see anything else doing it at the moment,” Theo said.
“It would have to be a significant force, and we don't have much intel to go off of. There is no way we can spring that much firepower loose—not with the Feds so close at hand. And not with so many ships laid up for repair and refit,” Malwin replied.
“What about a bluff with secondary forces? Draw the pickets in plus any of my people we can scrounge up and then bluff them into diverting forces?” Ahab asked.
“I'm not sure that will work considering what had happened in B101a1 prior,” Sabina said slowly. She saw Malwin and Theo's mouths pucker ever so slightly. Malwin had been raising his glass to his lips for another sip. He set it down abruptly.
“Wait, back up. When did the invasion of Hidoshi happen again? Is this recent?” the general demanded.
“You know transit times suck the further you get from the capital. We haven't gotten the better drives and tech into play fast enough,” Malwin said.
“To answer your question, according to the news cast it happened at the same time of the Bounty mutiny,” Sabina said. “And, as Malwin pointed out, transit times was a factor.”
“But, we're just finding this out?”
“I am. Like I said, people in my command chain were backstopping reports in order to get confirmation first.”
“Or so they say,” Theo murmured.
Sabina shot him a look and then looked away.
“How far east from Pyrax have they spread I wonder?” the general asked slowly as he rubbed his jaw. The admirals around the table stiffened in alarm. “I mean, if they did all that three years ago, there is no telling how much further they got. Especially since as I understand it, they kicked Javier's ass in B101a1 with what, a single tin can and a couple of escorts?”
Theo winced. Javier Rico was currently a sore topic in his family and for good reason.
“Way to rub it in, Rob,” Malwin muttered darkly.
“No, I'm serious. That's quality. He had a battle cruiser and still got his head handed to him! Hardware … what gets me is the personnel. He won that battle with conscripted people,” the general said with a hint of admiration in his tone of voice as he shook his head.
“It wasn't just people, or at least not just organic people. According to that same report a cyber attack was performed. That lobotomized most of his task force, paralyzing it during most of the engagement,” Sabina explained.
“I'm guessing this news is also courtesy of that same report about Hidoshi's World?”
“Yes.”
“So, that explains his success there. He cheated,” Malwin growled.
“If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying hard enough,” the general murmured. “But, the invasion of Hidoshi's world. This platoon you mentioned, he drew them presumably from Bounty and her captured ships, correct?” the countess nodded. “So, they too were mostly untrained, though they had plenty of time to get some training in. But, they had no combat experience beyond the limited time they were boarded.” He shook his head emphatically no. “No way. No way Colonel Wizenbek folded. Not against that.”
“Don't discount someone holding the high ground. You know better, Rob,” Theo said firmly. “And as Sabina pointed out, this all happened years ago, so they've, undoubtedly, reinforced since then.”
“Yes. There might be a material factor too, tying in to Rob's comment about hardware quality. Irons is an engineering admiral. We've been doing some digging. We know he's a high-ranking officer, so he has engineering and other keys. According to our sources he's a fleet admiral. So, he's got a lot of keys.”
“And a lot of experience.”
“Yes, but the keys make up for a lot. With them and a replicator, he probably rebuilt Bounty. From there, the sky is the limit.”
“Which explains how they are making ships in Pyrax and Antigua, or at least partially explains it. Joy,” Theo murmured.
“Exactly,” the countess replied.
“So, we're up against someone with the full access of the military keys of the Federation. And, he can pass on those keys to others. He most likely outfitted that marine group that took on Colonel Wizenbek,” Ahab said with a nod to Rob. Rob grimaced. “And he most likely used those keys elsewhere. No wonder people are flocking to his banner.”
“So, where does that leave us?” Theo asked carefully.
“We need to reassess what we've got, what we know, while also putting as much modern hardware into play as possible as quickly as possible. We also need to set up contingency plans now,” Malwin stated. “We're each working on that.”
“I'm afraid to admit I think that the army is going to get a cut in funding,” Rob said as he downed the last of his drink. “Damn, the ice melted,” he said with a grimace.
“Reassess, we need to prevent cover-your-ass thinking with those below us in our chain of command. We also need to find ways to take into account unconfirmed reports. We also need to find a better way of getting information faster. If that means faster couriers, so be it,” Ahab stated.
“Agreed,” Malwin said with a nod. “Though I hate the idea of losing a ship to a courier let alone a group of them.”
“Group?” Rob asked.
“We need a lot of them everywhere. Right now, all along the front with this new Federation. They need to be coming and going on a regular basis so we can be kept up-to-date,” Ahab explained.
“Ah, gotcha.”
“I'll send a cruiser and a courier to scout south through Garth and another through Finagle with orders to backtrack if they see any sign of the enemy. If they run into the enemy, they are to send the courier back and retreat. That will give us a point of contact, even though it will be out-of-date by the time we get the information,” Malwin stated.
“Hopefully, they get a chance to do so,” Ahab muttered.
“Okay, so, that puts the information gathering process in motion there. What else? Do we have anything that can stop them?” Theo asked.
“They are moving fast, damn fast with the full tech base. And they have water dwellers, so they can take advantage of them,” Malwin grumbled. He had rapidly come around to accepting the mutants when their advantages had been explained to him. He had ordered Doctor Nuttell to alter their appearances so that they could be made as close to human through plastic surgery as possible though. He didn't want any complications on his ships.
“Unfortunately, true. The good news is, we finally have some fruit from the water dweller project as well. I regret our ancestors chasing them out given what we know about them. But, that should all be moot now. Fourth Fleet did its job, even though they were destroyed in the process,” Theo stated. “Question, when can we get them into service though?” he turned to Malwin but the other man shrugged.
“The sooner the better. Aboard couriers, they'd cut transit time and therefore our information lag in half,” the countess said. “The science ministry is looking into them now with my people's support.”
“Ah, good.”
“Even with them throwing a lot of resources at the project, it will still take some time to get results,” t
he countess cautioned.
“Time as in …?”
“Years. We can press some of the adults into use once they have samples. But, only when we've refitted ships so they can use them properly,” the countess warned.
“Joy.”
“We're still working on an assessment of the Federation's naval fleet size and make up. One spot of bad news, they can draw on all of their population to man their fleet, whereas we only draw on our species.”
“So?” Malwin demanded.
“So, Neos and some aliens have shorter reproductive generations than we do,” Rob said. “The bastards are like cockroaches; you can never be sure of getting rid of them all. Neocats are one of the worst; they can be everywhere.”
“Oh,” Malwin replied with a grimace. “I don't see a Neocat being much of a threat though.”
“Don't underestimate them,” the countess warned. “They also have access to A.I.”
“We need to work on that,” Theo said.
She turned to him and grimaced. Finally, she turned to Malwin.
“I'll see what my people can do but no promises,” Malwin said, clearly nettled by the idea.
“Good,” the war minister said. He turned to the countess. “Work on your reassessment. We need a top-down shake-up obviously. Don't sugarcoat anything. Make sure you explain what you've got and if you can't reveal a source, say so, Sabina,” Theo said directly to her. She nodded. “But, we need that intel and sitting on it for confirmation, which we all know can take years to get, doesn't help us. We need to move faster.”
“Agreed.”
“What about the yard?” Ahab asked.
“What about it?” Malwin asked defensively.
“Well, we're pulling in a lot of my ships to refit and integrate into battle fleet. Should we be doing that now?” Or should they be out there getting information for us?”
“Anything they run into they'll most likely get creamed by, you know that. Especially if the Feds have the full tech toolbox at their disposal. Which they do,” Rob said cheerfully as he rose to pour himself another drink.
Malwin made a puckering face as he considered the problem. Ahab's personnel were marginal at best. Oh, sure, they were good at hunting down helpless civilians and terrorizing planets, but they sucked when it came to fleet training and discipline. They were also sadistic as hell against their own fellow sailors if they didn't have an alternative outlet. Maybe letting them get killed off to slow the Feds down wouldn't be so bad, he thought as he covered himself with a sip of his drink.
Sabina however struck at the heart of the matter. “They can't operate singly. Not unless we send them out as raiders and get them behind the front. Even then, we wouldn't get anything back from them,” the countess cautioned. “If they did survive a mission, it would take years before we got information from them, if at all. And remember how this began. The Feds got their start with their fleet by capturing our own ships and refitting them to use against us.”
There were fresh grimaces and nods around the table as that shot went home.
“The light ships don't have the legs to get to the Feds or the guns to make much of a difference. Look what happened to the forces we just sent,” Malwin said with a shake of his head. “And the heavier ships we want in the fleet.”
“There are few ships larger than a battle cruiser in the Gather Fleet,” Sabina said. “I suggest you transfer them to Battle Fleet for refit and turn over some of their crews to Ahab to use to fill in any holes in his chain of command. Let him keep, say, a heavy cruiser and anything smaller up to a tin can. But, mainly the cruisers.”
Ahab grimaced but reluctantly nodded.
“Agreed,” Theo said as he surveyed the two competing admirals. Both were clearly unenthused with the idea, but they knew it was the best of a menu of bad options available to them. “So, we need to work on the details for that plan. Keeping the cruisers out there would be good to raid the enemy's shipping and slow their spread but only if they are damn careful about how they go about it. Which means, we'll have to work on orders to be careful.”
“I think it's getting around that the Feds are back and dangerous. That'll make any sane skipper wary of taking on an enemy warship,” Ahab said.
“Yes, but if they've gotten their ships updated that means their tin cans can fight a cruiser. Look what Bounty did,” Malwin said. “They can't go in halfcocked against a smaller opponent. They'll get torn up if they do.”
“Agreed. So, you think they should just hit shipping?”
“And raid any infrastructure they can reach. But, information is good. Just putting in an appearance and spooking the enemy is good. That will force them to redeploy pickets to cover their territory.”
“Yeah, but then our people will run into those same pickets later,” Ahab grumbled. “And they won't come back from those meetings if they do.”
“I strongly urge you to issue orders for your people to start doubling up and moving in a division or greater strength. Wolf packs,” Malwin urged.
“Most likely they'll move away from the point of contact, unless the pickings are good. But, with the threat of enemy warships … which will they choose? Is the risk worth it?” the countess asked.
“Good question,” Ahab muttered. “I think at best they'll be a distraction or possible information source. Both for the enemy and for us.”
“But, at this point, any distraction we can offer Irons and his Federation to slow them down is a good thing,” Theo said slowly.
“And any diversion of attention and resources on their part from the front is also a good thing. Since they supposedly have multiple star systems, it means they have to protect them or the population won't side with them,” the countess suggested.
“But, all that is moot if the Retribution Fleet does its job. So, do you think Cyrano can break them?” The war minister surveyed the group. “I need honest answers,” Theo said.
Malwin frowned and drummed his fingers on the table as all eyes fell on him. He carefully considered Admiral Cyrano De Gaulte's chances of success given what they currently knew. He privately had to admit he didn't like the other man's odds of success. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. He's one of our best strategists, but I'm regretting sending him off with only his Dreadnought Division.”
“So, send more?” the countess asked.
“Any sign of that happening we'd have to run it past the emperor. And we all know that wouldn't go over well. Besides, we don't have a lot to send at the moment. What we don't have laid up in the yard undergoing refit is either working up or waiting for their turn to be refitted. I flat-out refuse to send anything that hasn't been refitted now that we know what we're up against,” Malwin said flatly.
“Agreed,” Theo sighed. “But, we can look into sending him lighter forces to help out or at the least make up for his combat losses.”
“Quantity? Over quality? You think it will make a difference or just give them more targets?” Rob asked.
“Hopefully, they won't be necessary. We'll have to find out.”
“Hopefully, soon,” Ahab muttered.
Chapter 4
Retribution Fleet
It had taken eleven weeks for the tattered remains of the Horathian offensive to retreat to the empty B-97a star system. Admiral De Gaulte had no intention of remaining in the star system long. No sooner had the Retribution Fleet exited hyper and begun licking their wounds as they lumbered across the empty solar system, two light cruisers exited hyperspace near the jump point behind them.
It was clear from their appearance that they had been sent to scout B-97a. Admiral Cyrano De Gaulte grimaced as he ordered his fleet to fall back on the jump point to B-97c at their best speed. He had no choice; the enemy was faster than him in hyperspace. His fleet had lumbered at their best speed in Beta while he was certain the enemy could hit the high octaves of Gamma band or even better. For all he knew, there was a fleet waiting in hyper for the message those two cruisers were going to deliver.
Making those repairs while underway was rough. Transferring logistic supplies from what was left of the fleet train and convoy that had lingered in the empty star system was even harder. He shook his head as the two cruisers were lost on their long-range scans. Judging from their headings, they were going to follow his force, but they were most likely smart enough to stay out of range.
“How long do you think we've got, sir?” Captain Chase Couglin, Executioner's flag captain asked carefully.
The admiral grunted. “If they are following us I don't think the enemy is ready to jump in behind us just yet. They would have popped back in and whistled them up. I think they were hurt as well. In fact, I know they were. How much remains to be seen. The same for how fast they can get their damage repaired and their ships resupplied.”
“But, they could drop out ahead of us. Or hell, they could already have passed us in hyper and those ships are chasing us into another trap,” Berney, his chief of staff, said with a shake of his head. There wasn't quite a note of panic in his voice so much as dread.
More than one person inhaled sharply at that idea as it sank in.
“He's right, sir,” Catherine murmured, turning to stare at the admiral. “If they figured out how to skip. Or they could have jumped direct to B-97c.”
“It's possible,” the admiral replied with a nod to Berney and then to his staff OPS officer. “Have the screen out as far as we can safely push them. I know Nimitz and the fleet train have been here waiting, but we can't take any chances. We'll know more when we catch up with the convoy in B-97c.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“I was going to send the worst of our damaged ships on ahead and try to hang on to the star system. I don't know if that is possible anymore. We may have reinforcements in hyperspace on the way. Then again, we may not. Or, we may not have enough. Politics and war,” the admiral mused with a shake of his head.