Knights of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book Two)

by Lawrence P White

  “Your Raiders pulled it off again, My Lady.”

  “I know, Jim. There was never any doubt in my mind.” She went to Stevens, ran her hand along his arm, then went to Walters and did the same. “Did I ever thank you for saving my life?” she asked.

  “When?”

  “When you opened fire on that gun emplacement on Orion III. My ship was holed with the first shot. You were ready, even though we weren’t supposed to open up on it for another half hour. I wouldn’t be here today if you hadn’t been ready.”

  “I never knew,” he said in amazement. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, then turned to leave. Before stepping out the door, she turned back to Trexler. “You owe me, Ray.”

  After she’d gone, Lieutenant Stevens moaned, “How come I never get the kisses?”

  * * * * *

  Reba double-checked that her beacon was off, studied her screens for a while, then picked the biggest hole in the Rebel armada she could find and fast-shipped out of the system. When clear of the gauntlet, she turned the small fighter back and set course for the Queen’s frigate. Several short jumps brought her alongside, and she latched her fighter to its side.

  The first person she met was Mike, and he was angry. “What are you guys trying to do?” he demanded. “Attract all the Rebel forces to us?”

  “Hi, Mike. Actually, yes.” She turned to Ellie and gave her a hug. “You have a job to do for us, Your Majesty.” She greeted Otis, Jessie, Ralph, and Josh, then turned back to Ellie. “I’d forgotten how crowded it always is around you.”

  “I like being surrounded by my friends. Val is on the bridge. We didn’t know it was you coming in.”

  “Can I say hi to him before I brief you? We have two hours before you take center stage.”

  “We’ll brief on the bridge. The ships’ officers should know what’s going on if we’re going to somehow get involved.” Ellie took her arm and led her away. “It’s been many months, Reba. It’s good to see you. How are you?”

  Mike and Josh looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, then fell in behind the two women.

  Half an hour later, Reba finished delivering her message. Mike had moved to stand behind Ellie with his hands on her shoulders. The strain literally melted from her as Reba explained the battle plan.

  Ellie took one of Mike’s hands in her own and turned to him. “Help me construct the message, Michael. The Rebels are my people, too, and I would preserve as many of them as I can.”

  “They’re not all your people, Ellie.”

  “The commanders are not, most likely, though who can say? I want to reach the crewmembers.”

  “The ship’s captains will never let your message go out to the rest of the ship. I’m sure they learned their lesson at Gamma VI.”

  “The only survivors in Val’s squadron were the loyal ones, and they have joined with us. The Rebels cannot know what happened there. I want a seed of doubt in the minds of ships captains, a seed that will sprout when the battle heats up. And you know as well as I do that my words will filter through the ships over time. Once the dying starts, some will have a change of heart. I want to encourage that change of heart. I want to encourage surrender. I intend to send the message again when the Rebel reserves come in to make sure they hear it, too.”

  “Ellie,” Reba said, “I must caution you against doing anything at all without Chandrajuski’s approval. This battle is incredibly orchestrated.”

  “I won’t do anything without his approval. After my first message goes out, everyone will know where we are, and I will be free to tight beam him.”

  “If you can get through. They only have three channels, and everyone is going to be screaming. Maybe you’d better give him a heads-up now while they’re not so busy. I don’t think it will hurt to attract a little attention to yourselves at this point. If the Rebels haven’t seen you yet, you might want to get them wondering about who you are.”

  “What do you mean, they only have three channels?”

  “Our senior people are all on the same ship, Your Majesty.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know why. Admiral Trexler and Colonel Waverly are wounded and in sick bay on the same ship.”

  “Wounded! Colonel Waverly I can understand, but Ray? What happened to him?”

  “I don’t know. They’re both awake and alert and functioning, but the ship only has three tight beam channels.”

  “Have they thought about how they’re going to accept surrenders?”

  “I have no idea. I know they’re going to try to prevent retreats.”

  Ellie looked troubled, but she nodded her head. “Will you convey my concerns to Chandrajuski for me? I’m going to the conference room.”

  * * * * *

  The clock ticked down. At the precise moment, Ellie nodded to the communications officer, and the general broadcast channel opened. She was dressed in rugged pants and a tight blouse, with a blaster strapped to her hip and a delicate crown resting in her hair. Mike stood by her side, his First Knight medallion prominent on his chest.

  She spoke. “I am Ellandra of the Chosen. The line of Chosen continues, through me. I am Queen of your Empire, and I am here leading my loyal Empire forces.

  “Hear my call, for I am the only legitimate ruler of Empire, and I have been chosen by you.

  “To you Rebel sailors, I say to each and every one of you personally, I have not forsaken you. Rise up against your cruel and cowardly leaders. They will fail you today, and they will fail you always. I will accept the surrender of any ship that asks. Once the battle starts, you will have but two choices, surrender or die. Retreat will not be permitted.

  “To you loyal Empire officers and sailors, I say thank you. You have chosen rightly and well, and you will come away with honor.”

  She leaned into the pick-up, watching the monitor until her face completely filled the display. “Struthers, I believe you are within the sound of my voice. Hear me well. You have thrust your will upon our Empire in the most cowardly way. You know which ship I am in. Come for me if you dare. I will not run from you. I will stay and fight. Your grand plan has failed. You have lost Orion Sector, you will lose Aldebaran Sector today, and that is but the beginning of the end for you. You’re a coward, and I call you out.”

  * * * * *

  “So that’s the Queen, huh?” Waverly said. “There’s a bit of iron in her backbone.”

  “More like steel, I’d say,” Trexler responded. “She’s also one of the warmest women you will ever meet. Did it do the job you intended?”

  “I believe it did. If I was a Rebel, and if I was sitting on the fence, I’d know which side to get off.”

  “How about you, Stevens?”

  “Bring it on, man!”

  “Walters?”

  “If I was Struthers, I’d be really, really embarrassed right now, and I’d be angry. I wonder if he’ll send out a rebuttal?”

  “Hmm. Good question. If he does, he’ll sound weak. She showed leadership, whereas a rebuttal puts you in second place no matter how well it’s done. We have more waiting to do. I think I’ll get some sleep.”

  * * * * *

  The Rebel reserves appeared two hours later, 105 squadrons, all chasing the Queen’s frigate. Chandrajuski believed from the numbers that they would form into 8 wings, each with a separate command squadron and one overall commander. Not that he cared: it wouldn’t matter. He called for 200 more of Seeton’s reserves, and they appeared two hours later in hard pursuit of the Rebel reserves. With the addition of Seeton’s reserves, and for the first time, Empire ships held the advantage over the Rebels. The Queen’s frigate raced ahead of the Rebels, leading them further into the system and making it very difficult for them to escape the trap.

  Chandrajuski unleashed his forces, and the battle was joined. Trexler, along with Waverly, Stevens, and Walters, observed from the net. He was not needed as a fleet commander: Chandrajuski, M’Coda, Sam Taylor, and to some extent Seeton, had the conn for
this battle.

  Instead of looking at the big picture, Trexler chose to look at the small picture now. He had the net section off his display into attacks against three Rebel wings. Two attacks were by groups of 6 slow cruisers, and one was an attack by two fast ship squadrons.

  The fast ships hit first, and they took the Rebels by surprise. Trexler couldn’t tell at the start if they were up against Chessori or Rebels, but within minutes, someone had tagged the enemy as Chessori. One Chessori cruiser went dead in the first two minutes as both Terran cruisers opened up on an unprepared target. Clearly, it had taken the Chessori too long to get their act together. The second cruiser they picked lasted twenty minutes, mainly because the Terrans had to keep breaking off the attack as other Chessori squadrons came to assist the squadron under attack. But the Terrans kept coming back at the same Chessori squadron until its cruiser ceased to exist. Then, in a complete surprise to the Chessori, they went after the command squadron. It, too, fell. Someone tagged the two Terran cruisers’ battle readiness at 96% and 94%, so they must not have taken too much damage. They picked another Chessori squadron and went after it.

  The slow squadrons had a much different challenge. They could not easily jump away, and the odds against them were two-to-one, but since they were operating as two-cruiser groups, they could only attack three targets, leaving many Rebel ships free to gang up on them. Four Empire cruisers went after the first unit of four Rebel cruisers they came to. The remaining two-ship split up into individual units whose purpose was to harass and delay the remaining Rebel units from assisting. That wing was soon colored as Chessori. The first Chessori ship to be attacked was, again, slow to shift from Rebel to Chessori control, and it didn’t last long. The second didn’t last long either, but then the Chessori got their act together and started fighting back. The battle quickly turned into a melee, and the Terrans all reverted to two-ship operations, hitting one Chessori hard, then shifting to another when too severely threatened. Two Terran ships fell, and when readiness numbers of the remaining Terrans appeared in the display, Trexler was dismayed. After the first 30 minutes, the Terran ships were down to 50% shields and 80% weapons, and those numbers would continue falling, probably at an accelerating rate as the damaged ships became less effective. There were not enough Terrans to make repairs. He knew the same thing was being repeated many times over throughout the Aldebaran system, and it was disturbing. Should the two-ship concept be scrapped for the slow ships? In retrospect, they should have sent 12 slow ships against each wing.

  Then he remembered the feeling he’d gotten during the engagement at Orion III. It had seemed to him that they had not so much taken out the cruisers’ weapons as they had overloaded its shields, then quickly punched through to vital internal parts of the target.

  He called Chandrajuski. “I see that the slow ships are having some difficulty.”

  “They are.”

  “Look, they’re doing their best to each take a different side of the target.”

  “That was their instructions.”

  “Try having them both focus all their guns on the same side of the target. They’re more likely to overload the target’s shields, and they’ll have plenty of guns facing outward to ward off reprisal.”

  “Difficult flying, Ray. Very difficult.”

  “I know.”

  Chandrajuski cut the connection. What more could be said?

  The other group of slow ships had encountered a purely Rebel wing. It was not slow to respond, but it sent its smaller ships in ahead of the cruisers, as was standard Empire practice. The Empire attackers ignored them and immediately focused on the cruisers. At two against one, it didn’t last long. Surprisingly, the Rebel ships that were not targeted did not come to the assistance of those under attack. Either they had orders to bull their way through to the planet at all costs, or they simply stayed with standard doctrine, which stipulated that squadrons operated independently. After the first two Rebel squadrons fell, all six Empire ships focused on the two remaining squadrons of that unit, then moved on to the next unit. The second unit fell, but so, too, did two Empire ships, and the remaining Empire ships were so badly damaged that they could no longer fight. They had to pull back for repairs.

  Waverly couldn’t believe his eyes. “Don’t they know how to retreat, Ray?”

  “Who? Our guys or theirs?”

  “Well, both, but I only care about our guys. Look at those readiness numbers. They’ve been walking wounded for a long time. I’m surprised more didn’t fall. They’re staying in there far too long, and it’s not necessary. The Rebels still have a long, long way to go to reach the planet. There’s plenty of time for our guys to pull back and make repairs, then reengage.”

  “It’s pretty hard to pull back with ships, Jim. When they’re evenly matched, the bad guys can keep up. We generally hang in there and plan for support.”

  “What support? Everyone’s committed.”

  “Maybe we should uncommit some of the fast ships, is that what you’re saying?”

  “No, but it’s not a bad idea. In the infantry, retreat is a real ballet, but if properly executed, it’s highly effective. A couple of guys lay down maximum firepower while everyone else pulls back. When everyone has gone back a ways, two more guys lay down heavy fire, and the first two guys run back and join the main group. They keep leapfrogging like that until they’re clear. I don’t see anything like that happening here. You have no exit strategy, Ray, and your guys are staying in there too long.”

  “You’re right. Let me think about this.”

  He called Chandrajuski again. “Sir, the slow ships are hanging in there too long. I haven’t been following the fast ships, but they might be, too.”

  “The fast ships are fine. We’re pulling some of them back to support the slow ships.”

  “Look, our guys don’t need to hang in there until the bitter end. It’s many days before the first Rebel ships reach the planet. We have plenty of time for our guys to fall back, make repairs, then go back at it.”

  “The Rebels will also be making repairs.”

  “So what? We’ll out last them if we keep our resources in good enough shape. We’re throwing lives away as it is, to no purpose.”

  “What is your suggestion?”

  “Issue an order requiring disengagement for any ship that falls below some safe number. Set the number high, maybe 50%. Let them get out while they can still protect themselves.”

  “That will completely throw off the dynamics of the two-ship, Ray. If one ship leaves, the other must leave with it or be exposed.”

  “Then have both of them pull back. Better yet, put your group commanders to work reassigning. They can keep healthy ships together. The whole group might eventually fall back, but it’s better than losing them.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  “Think fast, then get back to me. I have another thought.”

  Chandrajuski was back in a couple of minutes. “M’Coda agrees. The order is going out. We’ll study the results.”

  “Okay. The other item isn’t as easy. Waverly noticed that we don’t have a good retreat mechanism, and he’s right. In the infantry, they leap-frog. A unit provides heavy firepower against the enemy while everyone else pulls back. Then another unit does the same while the main unit pulls back. The process keeps repeating. I’m not sure how that would work here, but I’d like the guys to have something they can try. What do you think?”

  “I think we don’t have time for training, and this would require training, but let me think about it. This sort of thing is M’Coda’s specialty. Anything else?”

  “Maybe. The slow ships might have an easier time pulling back if you send fast ships to their rescue. The fast ships can keep the enemy squadrons from following.”

  “That’s a major realignment of our attacking forces. We’ll look at it. It’ll slow down the battle, but it’s a good idea. Anything else?”

  “No. I haven’t spent much time on the big picture.
How are we doing?”

  “Our fast ships are superb. No losses among them yet. The slow ships are suffering. Overall, the Rebels are losing six to our one.” He cut the connection.

  Trexler wondered about the remainder of Seeton’s reserves. Where were they? At this point, they would be so far out of position when they came in that they wouldn’t be of much use.

  Suddenly, the Queen was back on the air, her First Knight beside her.

  “I am Ellandra of the Chosen. The line of Chosen continues, through me. I am Queen of your Empire. I am here leading the battle at Aldebaran I.

  “For you reserves new to the battle, hear my call, for I am the only legitimate ruler of Empire, and I have been chosen by you, all of you, Rebels and loyal Empire forces alike.

  “To those of you on Rebel ships, I say to each and every one of you personally, I have not forsaken you. Rise up against your cruel and cowardly leaders. They have failed you today, and they will fail you always. I will accept the surrender of any ship that asks, but I will not permit retreat.

  “To you loyal Empire officers and sailors, I say stay the course. You have chosen rightly and well. Though it might not seem so, my commanders tell me the battle is won.”

  She leaned into the pick-up, just as she had earlier, until her face completely filled the display. “I see you Struthers. I know where you are. Your men have fought bravely, though they fail, just as your grand plan is failing. Come to me, you coward. I dare you in front of all your men. I am in a small frigate. Choose any single ship, even a cruiser, and come to me. I will guarantee your safe passage through my forces, and I will fight you one on one, with no quarter asked and none given. A leader would accept the challenge. A coward will flee. Show your men what you’re made of.”

  She backed away. “Rebels, surrender or die. I beg you to surrender.”

  Trexler and Waverly looked at each other in amazement. “Is she foolish?” Waverly asked.

  “She’s calculating and, I think, brave. Did you know the Chosen cannot lie?”