Admiral's Nemesis Part II

by Luke Sky Wachter

  Not too surprisingly, none of them did.

  “Yes, Sir,” several people muttered or words to that effect.

  “Everyone in this room is here because they weren’t just willing they actively wanted to be here. We’re all here fighting against the Empire and the traitors in the Confederation government that would illegally sell us to the Empire. We’re here because we believe in something greater than ourselves; our families, our comrades in arms, our home worlds or our Sectors.”

  “Hear hear,” said Captain Rampage.

  “Too blasted right,” echoed Captain Eastwood slamming a fist on the table.

  “Let’s be honest here. We in the spine have done nothing wrong. We didn’t leave the Confederation the old Confederation left us,” I took a deep breath, “and now because they can’t find a real pretext they had to invent the flimsiest excuse I’ve ever heard of: tax evasion. Apparently they get to sell seven Sectors of the Spine to the Empire because they didn’t bother to come collect our taxes!”

  “What a crock,” Spalding couldn’t wait to put his two cents in and then looked around the room bullishly as if daring any man present to say it otherwise.

  “What? We’re supposed to go and chase down the tax man now so we can pay him?” demanded Captain Rampage.

  “Else-wise the big bad Empire will take our planets away?” Eastwood crossed his arms.

  “I say enough is more than too much. The Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet held the line when no one else cared to do so and this is how they repay us? With an Imperial suppression fleet! We stood fast against the enemies of the Rim and beyond it, fighting to keep all of humanity safe and what was our prize? Not one but two Fleets of Conquest!”

  “Let’s end this Fleet right here then,” Spalding bawled like a stuck pig, jumping out of his chair and waving his fist around, “with the Lucky Clover rebuilt to her new specifications we finally have something that can stand up to the worst the Empire can throw at us. Even an Imperial command carrier is not her match,” he bragged.

  There was a moment’s silence and then the room broke out in cheers.

  “If we can get them within range and nothing can stand for long against her main-cannon,” Far-Bright said stoutly championing his new command.

  A few captains shared uneasy looks and no one mentioned the long range strike reach of the carrier’s that was their main offensive punch.

  “We just have to be careful of their main force beam,” Spalding said excitedly, “don’t mind the fighters, if all goes well I have a plan to take care of those,” he laid a finger alongside his nose.

  I shot Spalding a cross look my lips making a thin line before I deliberately ignored him and turned back to the rest of the room.

  The seriousness of my expression must have come through because the rest of the room fell silent and over the course of several moments every pair of eyes in the room focused on me.

  “Is there something you wanted to say, Jason?” asked Akantha with a tight smile.

  I gave a grateful nod at the show of support and turned back to the group.

  “Stepping back from the larger strategic picture to the tactical, our main focus right now can’t be on the policy. It is the job of the politicians, not the military, to refute this illegal annexation attempt,” I said firmly. “Our attention has to remain focused on this combined Confederation and Imperial Fleet,” I continued taking a breath and looking around the room, “and like I said: they’ve been moving slowly but they’ve so far refused the bait we’ve been giving them to follow us to Hart’s World and they’re large enough and fast enough, at least the Imperial contingent is, that if and when they decided to beat feet they could move between us and Central before we could stop them. Essentially cutting us off from Central. That is our current situation. The question is: what do we do about it and how do we stop them? Also, should we stop them? Any thoughts?” I asked.

  Eastwood’s brow furrowed and Captain Rampage looked like he was ready to fight already.

  Commodore Laurent leaned forward. “What do you mean by 'should we stop them,' Sir?” he asked intently and several heads nodded, mostly from the new Battleship captains, the former First Officers who hadn’t had as much contact with me as their predecessors still in the room.

  “Just exactly that,” I said.

  One of the new Captains leaned forward. “Isn’t it our job to stop the enemy whenever, wherever and however we can, Admiral?” he asked in a respectful yet disagreeing tone.

  “Nay, Captain,” I said seriously, “if, say, a pirate dived into the corona of a sun and dared you to follow him in, would you?” I asked rhetorically and then rolled my eyes and answered my own question. “Of course not.”

  “I see what you’re saying, Admiral. And of course you're right but in this specific case,” the other Captain said doggedly, his face flushing slightly with embarrassment.

  “But the Admiral no 'buts' lad,” Spalding harrumphed leaning forward to thump the table, “it’s not our job to go where the enemy wants us to go and do what the other man has all planned out for us.”

  “Confusion to our enemies,” agreed Commodore Druid.

  “I prefer dead enemies to confused but I’ll take the latter,” snorted Commodore Laurent.

  Finally a large, hairy figure wedged into a corner of the room thumped the floor with his feet.

  “That’s not after being what the Admiral was asking,” said the large scar covered Sundered Captain, “Question was: should we let them have a free shot at Central or dive right into them away from our defenses just like they were after wanting?”

  “If the enemy wants you to do something, the general rule is: don’t,” snorted the old Engineer.

  “Not unless you don’t have any choice,” remarked Chief Gunner Lesner.

  “I’m not going to cry a river over a bunch of blasted politicians finally forced to see the elephant instead of safely pulling everyone’s strings from the safety of their palaces,” Spalding shot back.

  Lesner opened his mouth for an angry retort, but I hastily cut in before the meeting could derail once more. “Let’s not be hasty here. I won’t be crying any rivers for them either, not after the way they’ve bungled things up to this point but that’s just it,” I said sharply, “it’s not just the elected officials putting on airs that are in danger over at Central, there are more than a billion citizens in the line of fire.”

  “Plus of course,” Laurent observed slowly, “there’s rumors going around that the new Assembly spent their first round of tax money on a mobile pleasure palace big enough for the whole lot of them, should the current seat of government be attacked.” He looked over at me with a searching look. “Any truth to those rumors, Sir?”

  I swallowed a few choice words and gave him back a flinty look.

  In the end I could either lie and cover for the politicos or keep faith with my men. Of course I chose to keep faith with my officers.

  I slowly nodded.

  “That’s what they told me. Except it’s not a pleasure palace, it’s an old monitor that used to serve as an unused emergency mobile governmental headquarters for some heartland sector before it was turned into a slave transport. Last I heard it’s still being converted back to its previous status, only this time not for some Sector Assembly but our Spineward Sectors Grand Assembly,” I said finally.

  A number of officers exchanged significant looks while others shook their heads in disgust.

  “They can’t even pretend to share the same risks as the rest of us can they, Sir?” asked the former captain of the Metal Titan mouth twisting.

  I bestowed the other man a quelling glance. “You mean having the option to fly around in a relatively unarmed giant space wagon as compared to being surrounded by the hull of one of the finest Battleships or in this case super Battleships in the Spine?” I asked, thumping the wall behind me for emphasis.

  Captain Rampage colored momentarily, ducking his head before looking back up. “You know what I mean,
Sir. We’re here to fight and die for the citizens, we’ve got skin in the game. What about them?” he asked after a moment. “Are they just planning to run away once the going gets tough?”

  I pursed my lips grimly. “This war will be a test, Captain,” I said making sure to look all around the room to emphasis my next point, “for all of us.”

  “You mean those greasy politicians in central too, Sir?” asked Rampage, sitting back looking surprised.

  “Each and every man and woman in this fleet and yes in the Spineward Assembly as well will have their chance to rise or fall to the occasion. Our job isn’t to force anyone outside of this fleet to do their jobs, to…perform their sworn duty,” I said with a wintery expression.

  “You cannot force your allies to honor their oaths, merely thank them if they do and take appropriate measures if they don’t,” said Akantha.

  “Too bloody right, my Lady,” Spalding said in a rousing voice, “we’ll be here to hold them accountable afterwards. Isn’t that right, lads?”

  “Aye!” said a few hot blooded younger captains finally looking satisfied.

  I ran a hand over my face. This wasn’t at all where I’d meant to go with this conversation but I wasn’t about to court-martial any of them over simply saying what most of us in this room were already thinking.

  On the other hand.

  “Let’s not get beyond ourselves or draw any arbitrary lines in the sand. Situations change as do battlefields. That said a man recognizes cowardice or treason when he sees it and responds accordingly as both his conscience and oaths require,” I said firmly, “in the meantime I’ll hear nothing more against the only unifying government the Spine has at this time of war and conquest. We must all endeavor to hang together, if we turn to infighting and recriminations before we’ve even come to grips with the enemy…”

  “Then we’re sunk,” chimed in Laurent looking pissed.

  “We’re not sunk,” I said lips thinning, “it would just make things much-much harder than they would otherwise need to be.”

  “Aye-aye, Sir,” muttered a much subdued crowd in support.

  I gave myself a shake.

  “Please let me remind everyone that while the Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet will as usual be in the front during battle and in the middle of any action that we’re not alone here. The survivors of the Amalgamated Fleet, 25th Sector Guard Units as well as additional warships from the rest of the sector have been pouring into the new 1st Fleet of the Spine,” I said firmly, “so while its true they will be under their own Admiral’s, Captains and Commanders, it’s not like we are going this alone and,” I smiled wryly, “as usual I will remain the overall commander.”

  There were satisfied nods among those of recent lower rank and dark mutterings from those more in the know about the real situation surrounding my new tenure as Military Commandant and Fleet Grand Admiral.

  Commodore Laurent gave me a level look and leaned forward to pin me down with his gaze.

  “Speaking of the new situation, Sir. What are we supposed to do if there are any…mix-ups in the chain of command going into the future,” he asked picking his words carefully.

  The room stilled.

  “I’m not sure I follow you, Commodore,” I said coolly. This meeting was turning into a festival of question-filled lines of thinking I had hoped to avoid entirely.

  “Say if there are communications difficulties that cause, let’s call them 'conflicting orders' to be received by MSP units from 1st Fleet Admirals that contravene previous instructions from the flag. Or even orders recalling you to the Grand Assembly for ‘consultation’ immediately before, during a lull in combat, or after the battle is won, placing another person in ‘temporary’ command of the Patrol Fleet and the rest of the new fleet too of course,” posited the Commodore lifting a brow.

  Glue pursed his lips.

  Spalding looked at me expectantly a gleam in his eye even as the rest of the room was so quiet you could have literally heard a pin drop while they waited, breath’s held, for my answer.

  “That first won’t be an issue,” I said dismissively, “first off, I’ll be temporarily frocking both Commodores Druid and Laurent to Grand Admiral, with seniority back dated to the inception of the Spineward Confederation. Literally no one will have seniority over them, not even my supposed Vice-Commandants. However, their temporary commissions will be in sealed orders that temporarily appoint them to command of the entire Confederation fleet and ground forces should I be unavailable for any reason.”

  I paused for emphasis.

  “Of course, these orders are only to be opened upon the sudden appearance of some sort of, as was said before, 'confusion' in the chain of command,” I continued grimly. “Second, and finally, the Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet is still and will remain an at will organization; the Spineward Assembly has recognized that right for all of our warships as a precondition to us helping them. So in anything less than a combat situation each captain will be free to remove ships from the Confederation’s Multi-Sector Patrol Fleet where upon they will immediately revert to the SDF of their world of origin,” I unveiled a tight smile, “and that world’s chain of command. Right now the majority of our warships are Tracto or Border Alliance registrations, by tomorrow a number of you will find your registrations updated to Gambit or Harpoon registrations. But be it Tracto, Gambit or Harpoon, the current commander of each of those systems or world’s SDF is still me.”

  Several heads nodded in sudden understanding.

  Then Spalding cleared his throat. “You can change the files and update the parchments, but when a politician sees a chance at power he takes it and when a government has the power to extend its authority, in my experience it does. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing here, Admiral, and make no mistake,” Spalding warned.

  “Is that concern I hear in your voice, Commander?” I quipped, throttling the urge to strangle him by reminding myself that of all people Spalding might be wrong and he might be uncouth but he was loyal as the day is long. I would have never survived long enough to get where I was now if not for him backing me up at every step along the way.

  I wondered what I was going to do when he finally got too old and passed away. I silently decided to to send the old man over to Gambit Medical as soon as our current campaign was over. There was no point in losing him before his time.

  “Concern, Sir? Of those wily snake in the grass government officials and backstabbing politicians? Never,” he said stoutly, “I’m with you till the end. You know that,” he finished loyally.

  “Ah, Spalding,” I grumbled shaking my head.

  Grabbing a slate, I rotated the view of the local starscape until four different stars on the screen started flashing. Hart’s World, Central Star System, our current location, and the best guess as to the location of the Imperial Suppression Fleet.

  As no one seemed to have any great ideas on just how we were going to get the Empire to take their fleet right where we wanted it, the briefing turned into a general bull session as various officers put forth different ideas.

  We were still going at it when my Chief of Staff walked up to my elbow and leaned down to whisper.

  “Sir, fresh reports from the screening force. The Empire is on the move and the Grand Fleet of Liberation missing more than one hundred ships, we don’t know where they are, Sir,” she muttered.

  “Blast it all,” I said under my breath and then stood up, “as fascinating as this discussion has been, we need to bring it to a close. Apparently the Empire is starting to make its move.”

  As soon as I finished speaking looks of frustration and oddly relief that things were finally moving showed in the officers around me. Something was starting to happen.

  Shortly after the captains were dismissed back to their commands and several new squadrons of Destroyers were sent out to find those missing warships.

  Now I had a choice to make. Did I stick with the strategy of shadowing the enemy fleet or did I risk it all in one mad g
amble?

  When put like that the answer was obvious. The only question could we catch the enemy fleet in time.

  I activated a com-channel.

  “This is Lieutenant Commander Steiner,” replied the Chief of Staff.

  “New movement orders,” I instructed, “we’re moving the whole Grand Fleet of the Spine, minus the screen elements left behind to continue monitoring Cornwallis.”

  “Alright. Where are we going now, Admiral,” she asked.

  “Set course for Central and pray we’re not too late,” I said.

  Chapter 30: An Imperial Attack

  More than one hundred warships, most of them Confederation—and a large number of those Battleships—jumped rapidly away from the main body of the Glorious Fleet of Liberation.

  Being a majority Confederation Fleet the task force took its name from its nominal commander, Front Admiral Featherby’s flagship, the Battleship Puma. He was a former and reserve officer in the Confederations fleet before it was downsized, and he was forced to return home to take up service in his homeworld’s SDF, Admiral Featherby was one of the few service members in the Confederation fleet with actual combat experience, albeit that experience was almost sixty years ago.

  As such he knew how to keep his task force as together as modern technology allowed and more importantly moving at top speed; which was why it took Task Force Puma a mere four days to reach their target, the Sector Capitol.

  Unfortunately for Central Star System the Grand Fleet of the Spine, even moving at top speed, was a full day behind.

  Battle of Central

  Order of Battle -

  Orbital Defenses around Central Prime

  3 Battlestations

  150 Gun Turrets

  300 Orbital Missile Launchers