by Wilson Harp
“Just a nickname that caught on I guess.”
“I see. I believe you had concerns at the negotiation about how small your fleet would be. Why are you bringing up these concerns again? If it is to ask for more engines…”
“I need to ask your opinion, not to bargain for more engines,” Kyle interrupted.
Smith looked a little uncomfortable. “General, I am merely a seller of goods and not well versed in military strategy. Plus, that would violate our policy of neutrality.”
“I wouldn’t want that, Mister Smith, I just need you to confirm some technical specifications,” Kyle said, pulling up a design on the projection screen. “As I understand our intelligence, the Iltia’cor have right at eighty four large cruisers and about three hundred and fifty smaller fighting craft. That leaves our twelve outgunned by a large margin. Our advantage is they have brutally subjugated eleven worlds, now that they have taken the Hedali at Kortit. That forces them to tie up a good two dozen or so cruisers and scores of smaller vessels just to keep the peace. With five planets in their own system, they need to leave a home fleet of some size to protect it. At least a dozen or so I figure.”
“I agree with your assessment so far, General, but where are the technical questions in all of this?”
“As I understand it, Mister Smith, you have determined for the size of our cruisers, we will need ten engines to create a warp field big enough to move it, and with our scooters, we will need two engines. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct, General.”
Kyle pulled up a new schematic and looked over at Smith.
“What is that? It is a tiny vessel by mass, but it looks like you have placed twelve engines on it.” Smith stared closely at the schematic. “There are no weapon ports or even a sizable crew compartment on that vessel.”
“That is correct, Mister Smith. We are hoping this design will work as we understand it. If we docked one of our cruisers to this vessel, could the twelve engines create a large enough warp field to move both vessels?”
“I would have to check the math, but I think so. But why create a separate vessel to mount the engines?”
“It’s very simple. If we mount the warp engines to our war vessels, we are stuck with twelve cruisers and thirty scooters to wage war with. If a mosar weapon strikes even one of the engines, we lose the engine and strand our vessel and its crew in whatever system it is in. With this vessel, we can tow our war ships to the system we wish to strike and have them operate with engines based on earth technology. Our sleds, that is the nickname we have given to these new vessels, can then warp out of the system as soon as we undock our war ships. Hopefully they will get out before any shooting starts, but even if they are hit in battle, they will be able to escape with even two engines intact.”
“That is brilliant, General. You can protect your most valuable resource while taking the offensive.”
Kyle tensed and turned a steady gaze at Smith. “My men are our most valuable resource.”
“I’m sorry General, I meant no offense.”
“Just remember that, Mister Smith. These men and women, and the families they fight for, is what this war is all about.”
“I was just impressed at the strategy you have developed.”
“Thank you, but it was the brain child of Williams, not mine. What moved this from a good idea to a great idea was the thought that we could strike multiple targets at once with our full power.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“The sleds are designed to ferry a single cruiser or five scooters at a time. But if we were to pre-position, let’s say thirty scooters and six cruisers a half light year from a target system, we could move all vessels in less than three hours with three sleds. Is that correct?”
“That would be five trips per sled, at approximately twenty minutes each. Yes, I would say that would be reasonable. The docking and undocking would take some time, but if you had it go smoothly, that would be about right.”
“So if we have fifteen sleds, we could pull off a simultaneous five system assault, and be done in about twelve hours tops. Right?”
“Well… yes. But that would require thirty cruisers and one hundred and fifty scooters. And you said you…”
“Could only have a fleet of twelve and thirty if we used your engines on them. We aren’t going to use your engines on them. We are going to use your engines on the sleds.”
Smith gulped heavily. “How many vessels are you looking to build?” he softly asked.
“We have four more docks being finished now. That brings us up to a total of twelve working full time. In six months we are hoping to have eighty eight cruisers and four hundred and fifty scooters,” Kyle said while looking at the screen.
He missed seeing Smith wiping sweat from his brow.
Chapter 13
22 March 2044
Kyle stood on the bridge of the Grant and looked at the crew. The low murmur and hum of activity was in sharp contrast to the intensity of the moment.
The Sophocles and the other two sleds had just dropped two cruisers, the Grant and the Sun Tzu, and five scooters. The next run would bring in the Berlin and ten more scooters. The last trip would bring in fifteen final scooters; all of them set up as giant mobile railguns. Those experimental weapons would have to run and hide after the engagement got underway, but with three massive projectiles each, it was hoped that they would pack a nice punch.
Kyle felt the bump of the Sophocles pulling away and heard the ion engines being brought online.
Captain McKendree stepped into his field of vision. “We are set, General. Looks like both cruisers engines came online as planned, and the scooters are taking up defensive position. In another few minutes we will see if we were noticed by the Iltia’cor.”
The initial insertion of the Earth forces was the most questionable moment in this whole mission. The plan was to warp in far enough out that the Iltia’cor wouldn’t pick up on the power surge and the Earth forces would have time to prepare themselves for the assault.
“Sounds like things are going well, Captain,” Kyle said looking at the data screen to his right. “How did undocking go?”
“No hitches, sir. Hopefully this will be a smooth operation.”
“Practice makes perfect. But remember what Ike said.”
McKendree smiled as he quoted Eisenhower. “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
“I always preferred ‘Dollars and guns are no substitutes for brains and will power’,” Kyle chuckled.
“I hope our brains are better this day,” McKendree said.
“They are, and we have the planning this day as well,” Kyle stated.
Kyle ran through the day’s operation in his mind. He was with the strike team at Kortit, and if everything was going as planned, there were other cruisers and scooters being put in place at three other worlds. Two of the worlds, Terti and Fi’cala, were highly strategic, supplying many raw materials and holding manufacturing facilities. Kortit was the Hedali home world, and there were some sentimental reasons for picking it as the third target. The fourth planet, Cyrum, was chosen specifically because it was the least important.
Kyle had decided that he would throw a puzzle at the Iltia’cor. Let them try to figure out why it was chosen.
“Scouts are in position sir, no reports of enemy activity,” a young officer informed McKendree.
“I think I will go take a rest, Captain,” Kyle said as he stepped away from the data station.
“Aye, General, if it gets busy, you’ll know,” McKendree said while scanning the communications screen.
Kyle had never met McKendree before he was given this command, but he liked him instantly. McKendree not only knew the rules and procedures of military command, he also knew when to disregard them and to what level. It is a hard line to walk to be guided by the rules and not controlled by them. Some commanders never learn it and oth
ers take it too far and lose the focus of discipline.
Kyle’s resting cabin was two doors from the bridge and had a bed, a toilet and a desk with two data displays. Kyle flopped down on the bed as the door shut and closed his eyes. If Williams was right, the Iltia’cor cruisers would be ripped apart in the initial engagement. The giant railguns would work, he just knew they would.
It had sounded so stupid when Dolsen pitched the idea, but the more they thought about it, the more brilliant it became. The Earth cruisers had been designed from the start to have some powerful railguns, but projectiles of seventy five tons only had so much inertia. Plus, if the enemy had inertial shields, and Smith had hesitated before assuring them that the Iltia’cor did not, the high speed of the railguns might work against the Earth fleet.
But the scooters modified to be a giant railgun? It was such an audacious suggestion, such a primitive answer to a complicated puzzle. And yet, the simplest way to overcome all possible defenses the Iltia’cor might have. By the time they left the meeting, everyone was grinning ear to ear. At 2,000 metric tons per projectile, it would be… incredible. Williams, of course, had summed it up best with his off the cuff comment to the Chancellor.
“It will be like throwing a localized asteroid field at them,” he had said.
Kyle ran through the plan in his head. By the time the Iltia’cor cruisers reached 20,000 kilometers, the fifteen modified scooters would set up in a spray pattern. The fight would start with three volleys of projectiles fired as fast as the crews could manage. The Iltia’cor cruisers were not nimble enough to avoid the pattern completely and any shielding they had would be crushed in the first wave.
The Earth cruisers would then engage the Iltia’cor at close range and it was hoped the enemy cruisers would be destroyed with few human casualties. After that, the scooters would sweep up the remaining smaller Iltia’cor vessels in the system and provide scouting details. Any Iltia’cor bases with significant defenses would be destroyed long range by the cruisers and communication stations would be targeted by the smaller vessels.
Once communication with the Hedali on Kortit was established, they would know they were free from the Iltia’cor domination.
Four planets simultaneously liberated. Kyle hoped that would shake the confidence of this enemy and drive them to the negotiating table. War was too costly on all fronts, despite how necessary it was sometimes.
“General, to the bridge.” McKendree’s voice come through his com unit.
Kyle looked at his watch as he stood and straightened his clothes. He must have dozed a bit while thinking. He stepped quickly to the bridge and sought out the main display. The Berlin was already in position, and the status table told him the third run of the Sleds should be coming out of warp in less than five minutes.
“Trouble?” Kyle asked as he stepped beside McKendree.
McKendree pointed at a small blip on the screen right inside the rings of a gas giant near their drop point.
“We picked it up just a minute ago. It’s a small scout or relay ship we think. I’ve sent a couple of scooters over to investigate.”
Just then the blip darted towards the drop point on the screen and McKendree switched the main view to get a visual check. It was a small Iltia’cor communications relay vessel. It was flying right into the formation of the Earth ships.
“What is it doing?” McKendree asked under his breath.
“It’s trying to get our formation and count so it can report back. We need to take it down,” Kyle replied.
“Number four and number six, fire on bogey,” McKendree ordered his crew.
A sharp pulse coursed through the Grant as two shots from the railguns hurtled towards the trajectory of the small relay ship. Both struck the vessel and ripped it into three parts. Several small explosions and electrical discharges were seen before the vessel started breaking up into small pieces. Kyle nodded at the impressive accuracy of the railguns in real action.
“If they had time, they may have been able to get a message off to the rest of their fleet,” Kyle said. “We need to start moving towards the inner system now and get ready for the engagement.”
“Davidson, put us on battle alert. Helm, coordinate course with the Sun Tzu and Berlin and let’s get moving,” McKendree ordered.
The bridge started humming like a swarm of bees as each member of the crew worked in unison; a well-oiled machine where every cog knew when and where to help turn the gear. A squad of ground pounders worked much the same way, but to watch a ship’s crew in action was a sight that never failed to impress Kyle.
“Sir, we have two Iltia’cor cruisers coming our way,” an Ensign to Kyle’s left said. “It looks like they are going to meet up about 22.4 out, between the fourth Planet and the asteroid belt.”
Kyle checked the long range sensors and looked at the location the Ensign indicated. There were plenty of better locations to set up an attack and bringing both heavy ships into the same zone indicated that they were not expecting a concentrated force to be brought against them. Their smaller vessels were milling about with no structure or formation.
“What do you make of that?” Kyle asked McKendree as he saw the Captain looking at the same screen.
“They are not sure who we are or if we are even a danger,” said McKendree barely above a whisper.
Kyle smiled. This was going better than he hoped. With the Iltia’cor still not responding to them as a threat, he was sure they would be able to take them by surprise.
“Sir, the sleds are coming through,” Davidson informed McKendree.
Kyle started looking for the best place to engage the enemy. If they were to slip behind the gas giant, it would interfere with the sensors of the Iltia’cor and they would have to swing wide to get a good view of the Earth ships. If they pulled them far enough around the planet, it would cut off communication with Kortit.
Kyle pointed at a position on the screen. “There, if we can get there and then turn on the Iltia’cor, we will be able to close with them and engage them while their communications are disrupted.”
McKendree nodded and sent the coordinates to his XO and Helm. “Look good to you, Davidson? Cornwall?”
Both men nodded their approval as they studied the plan.
McKendree pressed a switch on his console. “Sun Tzu, Berlin, we have a target engagement zone, set course for received coordinates, engage ion engines and God speed.”
McKendree looked at Kyle for a second and then said, “Helm, engage engines.”
Kyle did a quick calculation in his head. The engagement zone was a little over 18 million kilometers away. That would take about twelve and a half minutes. Once there, they would turn to engage the Iltia’cor as they rounded the curvature of the gas giant.
Kyle quickly scanned the fire control console on the Grant. Eight railguns were the heavy weapons. Six quad laser arrays would handle any smaller, faster ships or missiles coming within twenty kilometers of the Grant. The Cruiser also had three dozen missiles with miniature ion engines and small fusion warheads. Those were online, but were only to be used if the railguns failed to live up to their promise.
Kyle looked over and saw that McKendree was methodically going through each system. A steady hand at the wheel and a cool head in the battle.
Kyle nodded and smiled. Earth’s best were in charge and he knew today would be successful.
“Sir, approaching Delta point, disengaging engines on your mark,” the young helmsman announced.
“Disengage on three, two, one, mark,” said McKendree. “I need com up ASAP.”
“Com on, sir.”
“This is the Grant, report in.”
“Sun Tzu reporting.”
“Berlin reporting.”
“Alpha Wing reporting.”
“Gold Group reporting.”
“Let’s get these ladies turned around, the music is starting and it’s time to dance,” said McKendree to his fleet.
The sensors were picking up the
first Iltia’cor scout vessels as the Earth cruisers started engaging the pulse engines that would move them into battle. Alpha Wing had set up in a screening position about 10,000 kilometers in front of the cruisers. Gold Group, those scooters that were modified to be the giant railguns, took up positions a mere 100 kilometers in front of the large Earth vessels.
Kyle looked at the display and saw all ships were in position. At 20,000 kilometers away the Iltia’cor scout vessels turned towards the Earth fleet and started accelerating. Another 50,000 kilometers out, just clearing the interference of the gas giant, were the two enemy cruisers.
“Sir, we are receiving transmissions from one of the Iltia’cor cruisers,” an aging Korean man said from one of the stations behind Kyle.
“Can you translate, Commander Kim?” McKendree asked.
“Kiltao Gor’dal wants identification. He also issues a warning that the Kortit system is sovereign territory of the Iltia’cor.”
Kyle looked back at the communications officer. “Tell them we are from Earth, Commander. No other message.”
Kyle looked back at McKendree who nodded.
“Fleet, forward at sixty percent pulse. Keep in formation. Coordinate fire control through the Grant and prepare for engagement,” McKendree said.
Kyle watched the main display as the Earth fleet moved slowly forward. A full minute passed and Alpha Wing was a mere 8,000 kilometers from the closest Iltia’cor scout vessels.
“Enemy cruisers charging weapons.” Kyle heard as he watched the display pull up a schematic of the two cruisers. Four points on the front of the ships started pulsing, indicating that massive power buildups were taking place.
“Incoming fire.”
“Pull up visual on two,” McKendree barked.
The secondary screen showed eight tight blue beams of energy skate across several of the scooters and the edge of the Grant’s front hull.
“Any damage?” McKendree asked.
“Engineering is reporting no damage.”
Kyle heard McKendree release his breath at the same time he did.
The enemy cruisers were now within 20,000 kilometers and the small Iltia’cor scout vessels were within 2,000 kilometers. The enemy scouts started forming up into small groups and positioning for flanking attacks.