The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series)

by Benning, William J.

  The second Cruiser was slightly more fortunate in that it was able to advance towards the hemispherical Alliance position with all weapons pods blazing.

  The Screaming Death wave that it generated managed to neutralize the wave from the Grobbeg Cruiser that was stationed nearby, and bought a few seconds of respite for its comrades who were still struggling in the mouth of the Wormhole. The first Alliance high-yield bolt struck the lower lip of the fan intake, causing the Cruiser to shudder for an instant. The crew of the gallant Cruiser, however, managed to hold their course and also keep the Screaming Death wave activated. The huge wave, slightly more focussed than that of Grobbeg’s vessels, pushed the opposition wave backwards and spent itself on the Force Shielding of an Alliance Star-Cruiser. The Star-Cruiser crew felt a slight shaking and tremor running through their vessel, whilst several Eagles were shaken from their station around the Alliance warship.

  However, whilst the Star-Cruiser was being slightly shaken, her high-yield pulsar-cannon were dealing the death blows to her attacker. In short order, a second high-yield pulsar-bolt tore a massive black, scorch-edged gouge along the entire left flank of the Cruiser, whilst another slammed mercilessly into the top of the fuselage just between the two Screaming Death weapon pod stalks. The damaged Ganthoran Cruiser then banked to the right. Two high-yield pulsar-bolts narrowly missed the stricken Cruiser, speeding on into the maelstrom of carnage and debris to find other targets. All along the great livid gash on the flank, the sparks and tiny explosions from the power cables and cells sparkled against the black scar down the flank. A third pulsar-bolt slammed brutally into the top of the fuselage, just forward of the first strike, whilst the fourth struck on almost the same place. The fourth high-yield pulsar-bolt, hitting so close to the third, broke the back of the brave warship. As if someone had grabbed the front and rear of the vessel and broken it like a dry twig, the two parts of the vessel slowly sheared away from each other, with flashes and explosions to accompany her death-throes.

  But, no sooner had the fourth bolt struck the vessel, and she had begun to break apart, than the coup de grace; the fifth pulsar-bolt had slammed mercilessly into the great open wound of the back portion of the dying vessel. Smashing through the bulkheads to shatter the electro-magnetic generators, the pulsar-bolt had finally broken into the heart of the courageous warship, which erupted in a great fountain of violence and flame, killing all those aboard her.

  The Alliance crews, however, had no time to celebrate or savour their victory. The first two Cruisers may have been dispatched to oblivion, but the three that had followed them had been joined by two more in the time it had taken for the Alliance gunners to destroy them. The Alliance was now faced with five Frontier Fleet Cruisers in the mouth of the Calyx Wormhole. Amidst the devastation and the debris, a powerful force was taking shape. The low-yield pulsar-bolts hammered into the growing force of Cruisers from the Self-Defence Turrets and the Eagles.

  But, once more, the smaller yield weapons made very little impact on the larger Frontier Fleet warships. The low-yield pulsar bolts from the Self-Defence Turrets and Eagles pattered on the hulls of the Frontier Fleet Cruisers like hailstones, and with about as much effect.

  The high-yield pulsar-cannon, with their slower turnaround times, were starting to score hits on the new targets, but could not keep up the rate of fire required.

  Targeting the existing five Ganthoran Cruisers was, unfortunately, allowing even more Cruisers and Destroyers to emerge from the Wormhole, and into the battle area. With the Cruisers came more Destroyers, adding to the growing pressure on the exhausted Alliance gunners. Billy Caudwell, watching the developments with growing unease, knew that he might have to make some hard decisions, and take some decisive action in the very near future.

  Looking at the War Table image, Billy could still take heart from the fact that the low-yield pulsar-cannon of the Self-Defence Turrets were effectively and efficiently shredding the Ganthoran Destroyers to space dust. The problem was with the high-yield guns; if he ordered the Star-Cruiser crews to engage rapid-fire on the high-yield guns, there was a very strong danger of the overheating weapons failing entirely, or damaging their Star-Cruiser platform. In a worst- case scenario, the overheated guns could completely destroy the Energy Transfer Systems for the Star-Cruiser or, worse yet, create a massive feedback all the way to the Proto-Star Reactor and destroy the entire vessel. The Star-Cruisers of First Fleet had only just completed their raid against the Combined Frontier Fleets using rapid-fire with the high-yield guns. They would barely have time to complete the full inspections and begin any repairs. As for Third Fleet, Admiral Parbe’an’s Star-Cruisers had been given time to re-fit and repair, but it was unlikely that full testing had been completed. Increasing the firing rate of the high-yield pulsar-cannon was a very risky option indeed.

  The option of attacking the other side of the Wormhole was attractive, but it would be time consuming. After the pounding that Colossus and Olympus had received from the Ganthoran Cruisers prior to the Wormhole trap, it would be unlikely that they could do any real damage before they were attacked, driven off, or destroyed by the large number of Cruisers on the other side. To lose two Star-Destroyers and their crews that consisted of almost two hundred and fifty thousand souls would be a devastating blow. However, compared to a possible loss of billions over decades of fighting, it was very much a lesser of two evils.

  The final option was to craft some form of response to the growing bridgehead on this side of the Wormhole. Billy once more stared at the War Table image grim faced. He had no reserve vessels here, except Olympus and Colossus, plus the two Fleet Carriers. The Fleet Carriers, Billy had to acknowledge, were in no way suitable for a large ship-on-large ship battle. They carried no high-yield pulsar-cannon, and their Eagles were all committed at the mouth of the Wormhole. This left the two Star-Destroyers, Olympus and Colossus. Once again, neither vessel carried high-yield pulsar-cannon, but could pack a massive punch with their Trionic Cannon. Billy knew that he could only use the Trionic Cannon close to the Wormhole as a very last resort, since a stream of unstable Trions would permanently damage the fabric of the Wormhole.

  “WATO

  ....” Billy’s grave tone proved that he had made his decision. “Instruct the Star-Cruisers to engage rapid-fire on their high-yield guns.”

  The War Room fell into a stunned and shocked silence. Everyone in the War Room understood just how dangerous such a move could be to the Star-Cruisers.

  “Yes, sir,” The WATO said in just as serious a manner from the darkness.

  “Rapid-fire on the high-yield guns, sir?” Marrhus Lokkrien asked.

  “We really don’t have too many options open to us, Marrhus.” Billy calmly indicated to the War Table image.

  The five Cruisers that had formed a screen at the mouth of the Wormhole had started to advance towards the Alliance position. The shimmering wave of the combined blasts of Screaming Death was visible on the three-dimensional image. The two Star-Cruisers to the left of the central sector would be bearing the brunt of the Ganthoran weapons. But, serious as it may have been, the advancing Cruisers were not the major worry in Billy Caudwell’s mind. What concerned Billy was that every second that the Ganthoran Cruisers distracted the Star-Cruisers’ high-yield gunners allowed more and more Ganthoran ships to emerge unscathed from the Wormhole. These five advancing Cruisers were already dead in Billy Caudwell’s mind; the Alliance Star-Cruisers would cut them to pieces.

  But, in throwing themselves at the Alliance guns, another ten or twenty Ganthoran Cruisers, and dozens, maybe hundreds, of Destroyers, would be able to pass through the Wormhole. Frontier General Sal’nor was sustaining huge losses on his Destroyers, but his Cruisers were scratching and clawing the beginnings of a toe-hold on the Alliance side of the Wormhole. It was something that Billy Caudwell knew that he could not allow. If Sal’nor could get his “Six-Cigar” Carriers through unmolested, he could launch the great blizzard of single-seat Axe-Blade fighter
s that Billy simply could not match with Eagles. With hundreds of thousands of Axe-Blades supported by the Cruisers, and surviving Destroyers, it would be very difficult for Billy to extract the two Alliance Fleets and Grobbeg’s forces from a potential disaster.

  Already, on the War Table image, Billy could see the first of the five Cruisers falling to the high-yield pulsar-cannon. On the three-dimensional image, the Ganthoran Cruiser simply disappeared. The second Cruiser of the five now; the rapid-fire of the high-yield guns of the Star-Cruisers were starting to have an effect. But, already, Billy could see another three Cruisers emerging from the Wormhole amidst another swarm of Destroyers. The Destroyer images were also starting to accumulate at the mouth of the Wormhole, despite the attentions of the Eagle pilots and Self-Defence Turret gunners. The wreckage of other Destroyers, and Cruisers, was providing good cover for them to draw breath and plan their moves.

  Billy Caudwell, watching the third of the Ganthoran Cruisers vanish, was starting to feel as if the control of the battle was slowly slipping away from his grasp. The part of his mind that was the long-dead Garmaurian First Admiral Teg Portan confirmed the uneasy feeling, which was coupled with the sensation of a heavy “knot” in the pit of his stomach. It was a feeling of unease and discomfort which deepened when one of the Star-Cruisers in front of the surviving advancing Ganthoran Cruisers began to drop out of the Alliance formation.

  “Sir, Ardent reports damage to her Stabilisation Controls!” the Communications Technician called out.

  The Star-Cruiser “Ardent” had just sustained a direct hit from the Screaming Death waves of the three Ganthoran Cruisers in the instant before the third one was destroyed.

  “WATO, get that gap plugged!” Marrhus Lokkrien watched as the Ardent slowly retreated from the formation.

  The Chief of Staff also realised that this was most likely the start of the unravelling of Parbe’an’s carefully crafted formation. It was also the first real Alliance casualty of the battle. Although the vessel had not been destroyed, and had, as yet, not reported any casualties, her loss would weaken the formation considerably. However, as the Ardent dropped out of formation, another Star-Cruiser, the “Antares”, was dropping down from a position on the periphery of the formation to fill the gap left by the Ardent.

  It would take several seconds for Antares to reach her new station, which would put even greater pressure on the other Star-Cruisers that were defending around Ardent’s sector. But, they did seem to be holding their own. The fourth advancing Ganthoran Cruiser vanished from the War Table image as the Antares broke her station on the periphery of the Alliance position. And, a few seconds later, the fifth, and final Ganthoran Cruiser was destroyed. The Alliance position was holding, but only for the moment. Greater numbers of Combined Frontier Fleet vessels were emerging from the Wormhole, and would exert further pressure on the Alliance position.

  Already, more and more Frontier Fleet vessels had emerged from the Wormhole.

  The numerals on the margins of the War Table image indicated twelve Cruisers and over two hundred Destroyers. The low-yield pulsar-cannon were taking a savage toll on the Destroyers. However, Frontier General Sal’nor seemed to have a limitless supply of the small and agile craft.

  Billy knew that the situation was deteriorating rapidly. The high-yield pulsar gunners just simply could not keep pace with the demands being placed upon them. He knew that the time for decisive action would be soon.

  “Sir, Ajax reporting all of her high-yield turrets malfunctioning!” a Communications Technician reported from the darkness of the War Room.

  “Star-Cruiser Aggressor also reports two of her high-yield-cannon are malfunctioning, sir!” Another Communications Technician added her voice to the litany of bad news.

  This is where it all starts to fall apart, Billy thought.

  The order to commence rapid-fire with the high-yield pulsar cannon was now starting to backfire. The overheating pulsar-cannon would now start to malfunction.

  “Sir, Appomattox reporting, high-yield guns inoperable, structure critically damaged, crew abandoning ship!” one of the Communications Technicians announced.

  The Star-Cruiser Appomattox, having been in the thick of the fighting at the centre of the Alliance formation, had sustained severe and extensive damage from the constant blasts of Screaming Death that had hammered onto her Force Shielding, The Ship’s Commander knew that saving the crew to fight another day was more important than a pointless and needless sacrifice. With none of the high-yield pulsar-cannons able to fire; for fear of tearing the ship apart, the Appomattox could contribute nothing more to the battle, and the correct protocol was to abandon the position

  And, as Billy watched the Appomattox image move away from the defensive formation, a plan began to form in his mind. It was one of those desperate plans that Teg Portan had been famed for dreaming up when all appeared to be lost. But, the situation at the Calyx Wormhole was far from lost. The Alliance defensive formation was still holding, but the pressure on the Star-Cruisers was beginning to tell.

  It was a worrying situation for Billy Caudwell, but not as worrying as the constant emergence of more and more Ganthoran vessels from the mouth of the Calyx Wormhole. A cluster of Cruisers was starting to gather in the centre of the Ganthoran position, and with every passing minute, more and more vessels joined this group. After the initial stunned shock of flying directly into an Alliance trap, the Ganthoran commanders independent of their Frontier Generals were piecing together an effective defensive strategy. The Ganthoran Frontier Fleet commanders were learning to use the vast fields of wreckage and debris as cover for their vessels as protection from the low and high-yield pulsar bolts of the Alliance Star-Cruisers. And, with this tactical advantage, the Ganthorans were starting to accumulate Cruisers in the centre of their position.

  With a screen of Destroyers in front of them to return fire to the Alliance ships, and also to absorb the hail of pulsar-bolts, the Cruiser formation was starting to concern Billy Caudwell.

  As he studied the War Table image, once more, Billy could see that the group of Cruisers in the centre had swollen to fifteen in total. Their Destroyer screen now numbered more than two hundred and seventy. However, the Ganthoran commander was sending fresh Destroyers into what was effectively a meat-grinder in the centre of his position. As Destroyers emerged from the Wormhole and moved to the centre of the position, the commander sent them straight into the screen, where they faced the full onslaught of the Alliance guns. But, for every Destroyer the Alliance guns smashed to oblivion, more and more appeared to take their places. The low-yield pulsar-cannon from the Eagles and the high-yield guns from the Star-Cruisers still kept up their rapid-fire rate, but many of their pulsar-bolts struck lumps of debris and wreckage as they struggled to hunt down the Destroyers.

  On the periphery of the battle, the Alliance ships were faring slightly better. With the Ganthorans concentrating on their tactical advantage in the centre, the periphery of the battle was still very much what Billy would have referred to as a “turkey shoot”. It was still a closely contested battle; which could still swing towards either side. But, Billy Caudwell knew that the Ganthoran numerical superiority was eventually going to tell against the Alliance.

  “Sir, we’ve just lost the Arthur,” a Communications Technician muttered, “she just blew up, sir, she just blew up!”

  This was the first total-loss casualty of the battle, and Billy Caudwell realised that there was going to be more of them. That was the nature of warfare and battle that Billy Caudwell understood.

  One thousand lives were lost in the blink of an eye as the Star-Cruiser “Arthur” exploded in a huge burst of yellowish-orange flame. The two already hard-pressed Star-Cruisers in the vicinity of the Arthur would take over her duties, but it was one more nail in the Alliance position.

  With a quiet sigh, Billy Caudwell gritted his teeth and continued to monitor the progress of the battle. There would be time for remembering the lost, and mourning af
ter the battle had been won. But, from where he was standing, Billy was starting to see that the victorious outcome was not going to be as simple and straight-forward as he had once believed. The Ganthorans were starting to emerge from the Wormhole in greater and greater numbers, especially their Cruiser forces. This was probably the bulk of the Cruiser formations starting to push through now. Yet, there did seem to be an almost inexhaustible supply of Destroyers. And, still, the Cruiser formation in the centre just kept on building. Looking at the numerals that danced and altered every second in the margins of the War Table image, Billy could see that the cluster of Cruisers in the centre had reached twenty-one.

  “Sir,” the WATO said, “the Arctos has been destroyed.”

  On the three-dimensional War Table image, there was now an open space where the Star-Cruiser Arctos had held her station against the spearhead of the Ganthoran Destroyer screen. The three Star-Cruisers close to where the Arctos had been moved slightly closer together to help fill the gap in the defensive formation.

  “Sir, Aquarius, Achilles, Ajax, and Aggressor are all requesting permission to step down from rapid-fire,” the WATO said.

  Things were now moving from bad to worse in the mind of Billy Caudwell. The Star-Cruisers that were already hard-pressed were now requesting permission to drop their rate of fire. It was the next step on the slippery slope to losing the battle.

  With a decrease in Alliance firepower, more Frontier Fleet vessels would be able to emerge safely from the Wormhole, and, increase far more rapidly the number of warships facing Billy’s forces.