“The three front-line juggernauts have more hangars,” Leonessa said. “If four was a supply ship, wouldn’t it have more?”
Shum shrugged.
“There have been some shuttles from the other juggernauts that have attempted to land,” Walt said.
“And?” Luke asked.
“Fighters from the Cincinnatus have blocked them. The Cincinnatus has also received squadrons from the Gallant to assist,” Walt said.
Luke looked at the display. There was some distance between the last juggernaut. Perhaps it couldn’t keep up? The drive didn’t seem as powerful. Most of the war ships were clustered around the leading three. The fourth one seemed like an easy target and its lack of weaponry made it appear almost harmless. Certainly not a focus for the upcoming battle.
“The attempts to reinforce Four have been half-hearted,” Walt said.
“We have received maneuver orders,” Halsey said. “The fleet will use our superior maneuverability to attack them from the rear.”
Luke nodded. It made the most sense since it would be harder for the juggernauts to turn, preventing the use of their primary mass drivers, and the engines had been proven to be vulnerable. It meant the allied ships would also destroy that fourth juggernaut first if the fleet made an effort. The juggernaut with the Jupiter Marines trapped aboard. That would factor in to Admiral Day’s planning. Would he hit it or would he assume it wasn’t much of a threat and concentrate on the others first?
Luke looked the orders over and nodded. Analysts on Admiral Day’s staff had determined the fourth juggernaut was a supply/support ship. Additional forces would land on it to reinforce the Jupiter Marines and capture the vessel and all external weapons would be destroyed since the current forces on the juggernaut could not dislodge or overrun the Marines. It made the most sense. Luke was relieved the juggernaut would not be targeted since the Jupiter Alliance Marines would be unlikely to flee to New Alamo ships.
“Incoming link request from Admiral Day,” Halsey said.
“Send it,” Luke replied and stood so his avatar would stand for the Admiral. Leonessa stood at his side.
“Have you seen your orders?” the Admiral asked.
“Yes sir,” Luke said. The Tigress, Amazon and Knight would trail behind the task force and insure the capture of the fourth juggernaut while the rest of the Armada would concentrate on the other juggernauts. Most of the cruisers and destroyers supporting the juggernauts were clustered around the three lead juggernauts and there was only a token guarding the fourth. The course the fleet would take would take it past the fourth juggernaut but not close to it since it was trailing even further back.
“Any problems?” Day asked, as if he expected a fight.
“No sir,” Luke said. “After the fleet bypasses the forth juggernaut we will concentrate on capturing it, supporting fleet operations as needed.”
“Do you know why I gave you this mission?” Day asked.
“No sir,” Luke said.
“You seem reluctant to engage the enemy at close range,” Day said.
“Yes sir,” Luke said.
No use arguing with the Luke. Day sighed. Too bad Marke wasn’t here to handle is pet warrior.
“You are making me paranoid,” Day said. “I can’t see any reason not press the attack. It is characteristic for you to rush into the jaws of death. Are you okay?”
“Yes sir,” Luke said.
Day stared at him.
“No heroics,” Day said.
“No heroics sir,” Luke said. It meant the rest of the fleet would do most of the fighting, leaving Luke to deal with a single under powered, poorly defended juggernaut. Luke’s battleship squadron would also act as a tactical reserve if needed.
“You wont’ argue?” Day asked. “The great hero of Josaka and Naantali?”
“No sir,” Luke said. “I’m not interested in heroics.”
Day nodded. “Bring those Jupiter Marines home alive then.”
“We will sir,” Luke said, and the Admiral closed the connection A link request came in from Brita on the Amazon though. Luke accepted it and remained standing. Brita appeared.
“Have you seen our orders sir?” Brita asked.
“Yes,” Luke said.
“The four most advanced warships in the fleet are being assigned baby-sitting duties?” Brita said.
“So it appears,” Luke said.
“The Admiral is trying to punish you for opposing him in the Captain’s meeting,” Brita said.
“I’m okay with that,” Luke said.
Brita stared at Luke, her face hiding her emotions but her eyes flickered to Leonessa.
She opened her mouth as if to say something then shut it again.
“May I ask your thoughts Admiral?” Brita said, perhaps a little too stiffly.
Luke sighed, Brita appeared to be in a confrontational mood.
“I think we are flying into a trap,” Luke said. “Something about this is all wrong. It is like we are being forced to get in close and engage those juggernauts. I don’t like be told what to do., especially when it is the enemy giving orders”
Brita raised an eyebrow and her expression lost some of her fire.
“Nobody ever accused the Caliphate of being smart or excellent tacticians,” Brita said more cautiously. “They put their faith in Allah as they charge into the muzzles of guns, and their faith frequently betrays them,” Brita said. “It is who they are. They will fight hard and fanatically, but they will put too much faith in their god and not enough in their own skills and abilities.”
“I agree,” Luke said. “But the Battle Singers are involved here. They are very subtle and they are not fools.”
“The Caliphate are their slaves, their proxies, sir,” Brita said. “If the Caliphate were that important to them don’t you think they would have provided more support? Help them fight a little smarter?”
Luke nodded and remained silent.
“Have you lost your battle lust sir?” Brita asked and again her eyes flickered to Leonessa. “You are in one of the most powerful vessels in the fleet.”
Luke smiled at Brita, wondering if she was right.
“No,” Luke said. “I never had a battle lust. I feel rushing in is the wrong action right now. It is like the situation is tailor made for it and if you know anything about me, you know I don’t play by the rules of others.”
“Yes sir,” Brita said and Luke could tell unhappy she was.
When she disconnected Luke turned to Leonessa.
“Have I lost it?” Luke asked.
Leonessa slid into his arms and held him. It was calming.
“No,” she finally said, her head on his shoulder. “You are fighting smart and not playing the games of others.”
“I hope so,” Luke said. “But I’m starting to feel like a coward.”
“You aren’t,” Leonessa said holding him tightly and Luke felt better about his decisions.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Juggernaut assault
Luke watched as the majority of Caliphate cruisers, destroyers and frigates turned toward the allied fleet. With just those vessels alone it would be a hard fight and casualties would be high. Trailing behind the fleet coming in at an angle from behind the last juggernaut, Luke’s battleship squadron, with the Crusader and several frigates, were maintaining full stealth while the rest of the fleet was making their intent obvious. Luke wondered if the Caliphate had been so intent on bombarding Ceres that they hadn’t seen the Allied fleet until now. Reports from the surface of Ceres were not good. The Caliphate Janissaries had made numerous entries into the different facilities and cities. There was fighting everywhere and still the juggernauts continued to bombard the dwarf planet. Intelligence reports said every mass driver impact could be felt throughout the planet. Fighters from the allied fleet kept the space between the juggernauts and the surface a no-go zone for most shuttles but the Caliphate forces were getting closer and could sweep away the fighters soon.
> The Allied Fleet had good acceleration and was gaining on the slower juggernauts. The massive asteroids were trying to turn to face the incoming fleet, but they didn’t stand a chance at those speeds.
Luke’s squadron of battleships was coming up almost directly behind the fourth juggernaut and Luke was maintaining full stealth protocols. The rest of the fleet would sweep past the slower moving asteroid at an angle and they would savage the surface. Luke watched the protective cruisers, four of the newer model of Caliphate ships, flash into oblivion as Allied ships found their targets. The surface of the fourth juggernaut continued to flash from secondary weapon impacts but the fleet was not turning their primary weapons on the juggernaut to avoid the potential of killing the Jupe Marines.
Missiles flashed through space as frigates and fighters surged forward. Massive explosions lit the darkness as missiles, fighters and frigates died. Some missiles made it through the protective shields and larger ships took damage.
Luke watched it all as his squadron slipped closer to the fourth juggernaut. It had taken damage since it was not launching many missiles and all the surface turrets appeared to have been shattered. It looked helpless and nearly harmless.
The range to his target decreased. Gray and his staff were nearby. The assault shuttles ready to launch at a moment’s notice, the fighters in their bays, waiting to launch and cover the assault.
The Caliphate fleet had maneuvered well enough so that the Allied fleet would not come up their tail pipe. Then, as one, all three juggernauts cut their deceleration and using hidden maneuver thrusters spun the massive asteroids around. Luke winced. It had been a well-executed maneuver and the weapons heavy prow of the juggernauts turned on the incoming fleet. The mass drivers of the juggernauts, supporting cruisers and destroyers spewed out a wall of metal into the projected paths and possible paths of the allied fleet while missiles continued to slide into the space between the two fleets.
It would be a brutal slugging match. Conglomerate plasma weapons should give the Allied fleet an advantage but maybe not enough of one.
“Have any humans been detected aboard the fourth juggernaut?” Luke asked.
“No sir,” Walt said.
Luke scowled. A ghost ship with no humans aboard.
“Full scan of that juggernaut,” Luke said. “Every scan in the book. I want to know everything about it.”
“Aye, aye sir,” Halsey said.
“Something is blocking scans in the forward half of the asteroid,” Leonessa reported minutes later. “Not sure what it is. I’m getting suspicious about why those Jupiter Alliance Marines are still alive. It is like the drones are being manufactured or someone is playing with the Marines.”
“Get everyone off!” Luke said. “Tell everyone to evacuate. Assume that is the hull of a Battle Singer ship. Calculate how deeply it is buried in the juggernaut and what the dimensions are. All ships, concentrate fire on that projection!”
Everything took less than a second and the plasma weapons fired.
An Allied battleship exploded, the display showed it was the NAS Valorous and then the primary and secondary plasma lances slammed into the fourth juggernaut.
“Match velocity,” Luke ordered. “Everything we have, put missiles into existing holes.”
“What about the Marines?” Gray asked.
“They have to get out now or they die,” Luke said, now sure of what he was seeing. “That is a Battle Singer buried in that juggernaut. If we don’t kill it, all of us die. The Marines are being kept alive to give us a reason not to destroy that juggernaut.”
“Aye, aye admiral,” Gray said.
“That wasn’t a missile that it the Valorous,” Halsey reported. “That was something else.”
“A wormhole gun,” Suresh said seeing something on the sensors. “A Battle Singer weapon.”
Luke noticed a squadron of Jupiter Eighth fleet vessels break away and head toward Luke’s squadron. One was a battleship and three were cruisers. They were being shielded by several Caliphate frigates as well.
“Can it fire from within an asteroid?” Luke asked.
“Yes,” Suresh said.
“Dammit,” Luke said. “This is a trap to get the allied fleet in close where the Battle Singer will decimate them.”
Another allied ship exploded. The NAS Furious was now dead. The second Allied battleship. A Bronkaw battleship was next.
“Fiddle sticks,” Leonessa said. Luke heard her giving commands to get more missiles ready and prepare for the plasma lances to overheat.
“Is the wormhole gun directional?” Luke asked.
“Yes,” Suresh said. “I suspect we are behind it.”
The allied fleet began separating and Luke winced. They had no choice, they needed room to maneuver but it would reduce their effectiveness against the incoming Caliphate forces. It would be easier for the Caliphate forces to saturate and overcome the defenses because they were spread out more.
“He needs to keep the fleet together,” Luke said looking at the Allied Fleet. If they spread out, they might be harder to target by the wormhole gun but they would be easier prey for Caliphate missile volleys.
The flagship, the NAS Indomitable exploded. Luke stared at it for several seconds.
Admiral Day had been aboard that ship.
“What is the arc of the wormhole gun?” Luke asked looking at Suresh.
The Pral was pale as he watched the allied fleet dying. As the formation shattered, they would die more quickly.
“Eighty degrees,” Suresh said and Luke’s InnerBuddy did the math. Few if any of the Allied ships could escape the arc in time and even if they did, they would be easy prey for the Caliphate or Eighth fleet ships pursuing them.
“Message to all vessels,” Luke said looking at the plot. “This is Admiral Kishi. Maintain a tight formation, do NOT break formation. I say again do not break formation. There is a Battle Singer warship inside the fourth juggernaut. You cannot escape the arc. I will deal with it. Maintain formation and continue mission.”
Luke broke the link as he watched the Tigress, Amazon, Knight and Crusader pour everything they had into where the Battle Singer was. How could anything survive that concentrated firepower?
“Suraf is buried deep,” Suresh said.
A Bronkaw battleship exploded but Luke noted all the Bronkaw and Caleet were moving back into formation. The New Alamo and Athenian ships were not.
Another Bronkaw ship exploded and then Luke saw the human ships moving into formation, just before another wave of Caliphate missiles entered range.
Caliphate cruisers were taking massive casualties as well and Luke saw countless missiles slamming into the juggernauts and their defenders.
Another Bronkaw battleship exploded and Luke slammed his fist into his arm rest.
Missile explosions speckled the space around the allied fleet. A pair of Bronkaw destroyers died and numerous other ships suffered damage but Luke knew it could have been worse. The fleet was pulling together again, meshing their defenses and weapons.
The Amazon and Knight slid closer to the Tigress all weapons trying to fire at the same location. Plasma lances fired as fast as they could cycle and Leonessa was already talking about overheating.
“What is the rate of fire for the wormhole gun?” Luke asked.
“It should have fired again by now,” Halsey said, answering Luke’s unasked next question. He was probably working directly with Shum.
“Or it missed,” Luke said.
“It would not have missed,” Suresh said.
Under the concentrated fire of the fleet, the first juggernaut exploded.
“We are doing it,” Leonessa said, but another Bronkaw exploded.
“Missile,” Halsey said and Luke grimaced, relieved it hadn’t been that wormhole gun.
“Keep firing,” Luke said. “But keep distance.”
“The NAS Cincinnatus requesting permission to join formation,” Halsey reported. “I have granted it.”
“Thank the Captain,” Luke said as the plasma lances continued to slam into the juggernaut. They were not coming out the other side, nor had there been a major explosion showing any kind of dramatic system failure. “Keep firing.”
Luke worried about the Marines that had been aboard the ship. Were they all dead now? He couldn’t stop the barrage for them though. Too many other lives would be lost if he did and he knew the decision would haunt him.
“Run dammit!” Sarah screamed as she stared at her displays. She watched one Jupiter Marine that wasn’t running fast enough get scooped up by a pair of the New Alamo warbots. Other Namo warbots grabbed Marines. Everything that could move sprinted back to the hangar like the gates of hell were opening.
“Everybody run for a shuttle. Now!”
Major Porter assigned people to shuttles, sending them a blinking arrow directing them to the nearest shuttle.
Something slammed into the juggernaut and everything shook. It felt like an earthquake.
“I have the shuttles prepping,” Major Porter said. He could see the same displays as Sarah’s. “Get on a shuttle Lieutenant. You won’t do any good from here.”
Sarah brought up an overlay, a ghostly image that displayed the path her Marines had to take through the corridors to get back to the shuttle bay. They had two kilometers to cover.
The rumbling came back and didn’t stop. The impacts shaking the juggernaut were more intense than when the Namo fleet had flown by. These were deep strikes.
Staff Sergeant Berry was bringing up the rear, making sure that nobody was being left behind.
Gravity went off as something damaged the artificial gravity generator, but that only allowed the warbots carrying her Marines to move faster.
New Empires: Conglomerate Series Book 3 Page 30