Crowe looked at the holo, “Good thing I’m getting a pay rise, Admiral,” he remarked.
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Deimos hung dark and silent, just beyond the system’s primary asteroid field. The cruiser’s passive sensor arrays focused on the objective deeper into the system. The rest of the strike force waited behind, their own sensors covering the space surrounding them.
On the bridge of Deimos the temperature was just high enough to prevent the crew’s breath from misting and causing condensation problems. Still, if you sat for long enough, the cold seeped into you. Privilege of rank allowed Crowe to leave the bridge and walk around for a while, to get the blood moving.
With power levels low, the centrifuge was slowly spinning down and simulated gravity had now dropped to point seven Gs. He looked in on the pilots’ briefing room. They were sitting reading while the two weapons operatives were playing cards. All four of them looked up as he stepped in.”
“Sir?” Alanna said in a questioning tone.
“Nothing yet,” Crowe replied, “All ready here?”
“Yes sir we are.” Alanna paused and added: “may I ask how long we plan to hold here, sir?”
“At least another day, Lieutenant. If there’s no sign after that, we’re going to have to move on.”
Three days earlier they’d knocked out a gate orbiting the second planet of the system. The guard ship protecting it had made a brief stand when Deimos dropped into real space, but when its missiles were swatted aside, decided discretion was the better part of valour and retreated to a safe distance to shadow them. A single salvo took out the gate and Deimos climbed away from the planet and jumped out in the direction of the next gate.
Deimos had then dropped back into real space and rendezvoused with the rest of the strike group, before heading back. The gates themselves seemed to be damn near disposable as far as the Nameless were concerned, but there had to be ships tasked with replacing them. So far reconnaissance hadn’t seen them, but fleet intelligence seemed convinced they existed. Hitting support ships would put more of a crimp on the Nameless than simply destroying more gates but sitting stationary was leaving his ships vulnerable. Intelligence didn’t have much guidance to offer on when the Nameless gate-building ships would turn up.
Alanna and the two weapons controllers were still waiting patiently. Lieutenant Sinochem had returned to his reading. Sinochem was the replacement for the popular Lieutenant Deyn. Unfortunately he was more like Alanna - a grim faced survivor. Still they did their jobs.
“Respectfully, sir, are we sure they even need this gate location?” she asked politely.
“No, we aren’t,” Crowe replied. “But there are no other gates within several systems of here that we know of, so this is the best place.”
It was twenty-hours before there was any activity in the system. A Nameless scout dropped into real space close to the location of the destroyed gate. A light minute away the human ships started to prepare, only to watch with frustration as the enemy ship made several in-system jumps before disappearing completely.
“I wonder whether they go through this every time?” Commander Hockley asked out loud as another hour crept past with no activity.
“I think we might have convinced them that this system isn’t worth keeping a gate in,” said Captain Singer of the Valkyrie across the laser hook up between the three cruisers. The commander of Meili, Captain Yitzchak, nodded in agreement.
“We do know they don’t need to have a gate in every system. We don’t know how the Vicksburg group is doing,” Yitzchak added. “If they’ve done a lot of damage, the Nameless might be having to concentrate repair efforts further up their supply lines.” Crowe nodded slowly as he considered the point.
“We are burning endurance even sitting here.” Singer added, “I think the idea of sitting and trying to catch the repair ships was a good one but maybe they’ve already learned to be careful.”
His two subordinates were looking at him. He’d asked for their opinions but the decision was his. There wasn’t enough information for a true informed choice, merely a guess.
“We’ll wait another five hours. If it’s still quiet, we’ll make a move. If nothing else we’ve dropped off their radar screens for several days. That means we’ve had time to be potentially in a lot of different places by now. We might have even slipped back to Junction. So we’ll hit the next known gate, then move on to the next one quickly and hit that. That should allow us to knock an entire section of the gate system out before they can react.”
“And if we run into resistance?” Singer asked.
“Gates are our primary objective. Obviously we’ll press our advantage if we find ourselves with the upper hand over elements of their mobile force. But if come up against anything resembling a fair fight we back off and look for easier targets.”
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The intercom trilled in the dark of the cabin. Crowe woke with a snort and reached blindly for the panel.
“What is it?”
“Officer of the Watch, sir. A friendly scout ship has just dropped into the system. It is transmitting on a radio band, standard encoding.”
“How far away from us is it?”
“Two light minutes, sir. We’re decoding now.”
“I’m on my way up.”
The Officer of the Watch handed him a reading pad as he entered the bridge. Crowe quickly scanned down the through the text. He was smiling slightly by the time he reached the end.
“Are we close enough for a laser transmission to the scout?” he asked.
“Close enough to try, sir.”
As the laser probed out at the scout’s estimated position, Crowe sat down and read more carefully through the download. The scouts covering Junction’s portion of the front had been given a rough guide to Deimos’s planned itinerary for the sweep, so if they found something interesting, there was a chance of calling in an armed response quicker than if they went all the way back to Junction Station. Just like the scout had apparently now done.
“Sir, we’ve got the scout on coms, response lag is four minutes.”
On Crowe’s personal screen the face of the distant scout ship’s commander appeared.
“Lieutenant Driscoll, sir, of the K7.”
“Lieutenant, we’ve received your report, good work on your discovery. What I need to know is whether you were spotted.”
The lag was just long enough to be annoying but not long enough to make conversation impossible and four minutes later the distant Lieutenant nodded.
“Unfortunately, sir, we were. We came under fire exiting and had to make an emergency jump out.”
“I see,” Crowe paused as he considered the options. The information on the pad in front of him was already seven hours old. By the time Deimos could get there it would be in the region of twenty-hours. “Lieutenant, I am hereby ordering you to abandon your sweep. We are going to make best speed to… system A, two seven seven dash, two eight three. I want your ship to make a follow up pass five hours behind us.” Crowe didn’t wait for the acknowledgement before turning to his own bridge. “Communications, download the information from the scout to a message drone and launch it to Junction. Inform the rest of the squadron to prepare for navigation data and that I will brief them once we’re in jump space. Navigation, give me calculations for a least-time jump.”
The wardroom was cramped enough at the best of times but with two big screens to allow the command staff from Valkyrie and Meili to listen in, it was standing room only.
“The following information came from the scout K7 and potentially represents a lucky break,” Crowe started. “As you all know logistics has been a big problem for the Nameless since the very start of the war. Now they can try to keep their supplies moving - that’s the safe option - but it keeps transport ships tied up for weeks at a time. While the Nameless certainly have a lot of ships, they don’t have an infinite supply. Which makes this a find.” He paused to turn on the projec
tor. “The scout sighted this: it’s an enemy supply depot, bigger than any previously sighted. We have two space gates, one in, and one out, which hasn’t been seen before. Interestingly, they’re linked by a central space station, small and fairly basic looking, probably the administrative centre. But surrounding it are these storage modules, at least forty of them. Assuming all the storage modules are full or nearly full, this would represent at least two full convoys worth of supplies. Finally there were at least a dozen transports, no jump capable vessels, just the basic transports that need gates to jump in and out. If we can take this facility out, it’s likely to leave the Nameless with supply problems that will hamstring their activities in this region far more severely than the loss of a few gates.”
“What kind of defences are we looking at?” asked Captain Singer.
“Several mobile units, but nothing heavier than cruisers, plus at least a dozen missile satellites.”
“We could take that,” said Captain Yitzchak.
“Well, that’s where the good news ends,” Crowe paused to look round the wardroom. “The scout was observed. So unfortunately the Nameless know that at the very least someone is coming.”
“But they won’t know how long,” Singer said thoughtfully. “With us off the radar, the response might be a lot quicker than they expect.”
“Well, they know that they can’t stand off an assault when they can’t dodge out of the way. We have to figure on them trying to evacuate,” Yitzchak observed. “But we have to assume that they have reinforced with mobile units to protect the depot while that is being done.”
“No, we have to assume they will reinforce,” Crowe corrected. “Whether they yet have, that is the unknown factor and we don’t have the time or resources to carry out a reconnaissance sweep.”
“So, sir, what’s the plan?” Singer asked.
“Our current jump will take us to the edge of the system, which is seven light hours out from the target. We’ll have to make a follow up jump to get close to the third planet, where the Nameless facilities are in orbit. So we are going to make a very fast translation from one jump to the next - ten minutes. We’ll use that period to observe with passive sensors and make final determination on whether to go or abort.”
The two captains were both nodding their agreement
“Sir,” Alanna raised a hand, “what fighter load out are we thinking?”
Crowe paused to consider. The fighters had the edge in acceleration over the starships: they could close the range and knock out the gates far quicker. But of the three cruisers only Deimos could do without fighters. Valkyrie had received a pair of flak guns, but Meili still had her original railguns, which were the wrong weapon system for this war. Both really needed the extra layer of protection offered by their fighters.
“The fighters from Valkyrie and Meili will maintain a defensive posture so they’ll carry a pure anti-missile load. Our two will be configured for strike, two anti-ship missiles each, the remainder of the load made up of anti-fighter missiles.”
Alanna nodded.
“On the subject of missiles, Captains, I want your launchers ready to deploy mines. If we have to make a quick exit, we need to make sure no one is following too closely.” Crowe looked round. “Any questions?” There were a few grunted negatives as heads were shaken. “Alright, we are four and a half hours out. Get some rest, we go to action stations in three and a half.”
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The five starships hurtled down the jump conduit, their engines now going full astern as they braked for real space re-entry. On the bridge of Deimos there was silence on the command net, broken only by the hiss of the carrier wave. At the rear of the bridge the pilots of the two fighters waited patiently for what would be a very quick briefing based on what was seen once they dropped back into real space.
“Re-entry time now two minutes,” announced the navigator.
“Understood. Sensors stand ready, flak guns, stand to,” Crowe replied.
Deimos lurched back into real space and the sensors section erupted into activity. As Deimos’s jump drive spun down, Meili began to edge past. The heavy cruiser’s jump drive was spinning up, ready to create the jump conduit that would take them from the edge of the system to the third planet where the depot orbited. But before they could jump, they needed to know what they were jumping into.
“Position confirmed. We are six and a quarter light hours from target,” called out the navigator. All five ships had now made communication link up, allowing them to share sensor data. The image on Deimos’s main display was little more than a few blobs of light sharpened into a clear picture as the computer married together information from the different ships. There had been changes since the scout left the system.
“We are making it one capital ship, six cruisers and a dozen scouts or escorts. No change on defensive satellites,” called out Colwell. “Seven cargo modules are gone. We also have a dozen transports, they all appear to be gate jumpers.”
“Is there anything else in the system?” Crowe asked.
“Not active, sir.”
“Commander?” Crowe glanced up at Hockley.
“Looks like they’re moving out, sir,” Hockley said after a moment. “See that. There are gate jumpers moving towards both space gates. They aren’t using them as one in one out. They’re both being used as exits. I think make it a go.”
Crowe glanced at the status board. Meili was still five minutes from jump capability. What they were seeing was six hours out of date - a lot could happen in six hours, such as a chance be allowed to slip away.
“Coms, signal to all ships: we are a go. Meili lead us in, then establish standard formation. Commander, you’d better get to Damage Control. Lieutenant Shermer?”
“Yes sir,” Alanna said from the back of the bridge.
“I want you two to target the station. That should knock out both gates. Then hit targets of opportunity until directed otherwise. Go.”
“Yes sir,” Alanna replied. She took a last look at the main holo and then she was away with Sinochem hard on her heels.
“Are we on, Skipper?” Schurenhofer called out as Alanna pulled herself through the hatch. The weapons controller had Dubious’s reactor started up. The hangar hadn’t been decompressed yet to allow the air to absorb the heat coming from the fighter’s radiators.
“We’re on,” Alanna replied as she came aboard. After months of ‘holding the line’ they were going to get a chance to hit back and she could feel an unaccustomed excitement rising within her. The hatch closed with a hiss and she started to buckle in, while her eyes scanned across the status board. All green, as well they might be after only just being refitted.
“T for Toothy. Coms check. Are you receiving me?”
“Dubious, this is Toothy,” Sinochem’s voice came back instantly. “We’re receiving. Board is green, ready for launch.
Then another voice spoke on the channel.
“Fighters, standby. We are venting hangars.”
Dubious trembled as the hatch began to open and the atmosphere roared out into the void, then the fighter started to slide sideways as the docking arm pushed out. This brought them just far enough out for Alanna to catch the flash as Meili opened the jump portal and a moment later Deimos filed through. An in-system jump would last seconds so Alanna lightly rested her gloved finger on the launch button.
___________________
Seconds later the squadron erupted into real space, laying down fire as they did so. On the bridge the main holo flickered as up to date information was processed. Four cargo modules disappeared from the scope and an extra transport appeared.
“Launching fighters,” came the report as Dubious and Toothy accelerated away. Fighters from the two heavy cruisers also launched to take up position at two and eleven o’clock. There were no enemy ships close by and the five human starships settled into the standard arrow formation, with Deimos at the point.
Jump out on target,” Colwell rep
orted. “We are sixty-five minutes from firing range. We are now inside range of their cap ship missiles.”
“Understood,” Crowe replied. “All units proceed as directed.”
“Contact separation, we have incoming… one round only.”
The missile had been launched by one of the escorts. Someone had got overexcited. The cap ship missiles could reach them at this range, but not get through the counter fire Deimos could put down. No, the Nameless would spread out and wait until they were close enough to use the small dual-purpose missiles. Then they might have a chance of saturating the defences.
“Order the fighters to let this one through. We’re going to need their missiles later,” Crowe ordered.
The flak guns swatted the single missile as soon as it entered range. After a pause of several minutes the Nameless ships began to redeploy and Crowe started to frown. The capital ship, the cruisers and half the smaller armed ships started to accelerate and bunch into three groups. All of this was as expected. To get to the depot the human ships would have to charge into the middle and in doing so be exposed to fire from three directions. But half the escorts didn’t seem to be following the script. They were moving and coalescing into a group but they weren’t moving out of Deimos’s path. Far from it, they were clustering around the station.
“Why are you doing that?” he murmured to himself as he studied the holo. Once the two heavy cruisers got into plasma cannon range they’d blow the escorts apart in a matter of minutes. By not moving they were throwing away their chance to keep the range open. Crowe’s gaze shifted to another set of blips, Dubious and Toothy, already ten thousand kilometres out in front. The Nameless had seen them too and where the two fighters were going. The gate jumper transports were starting to disengage from cargo modules, but they weren’t fast ships at the best of times. The fighters would reach firing range on the station and the gates well before most of the transports could make their escape. Those six escorts were going to be sacrificed to keep the gates open just a little longer.
The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) Page 27