“Admiral?” Jameson asked.
“I don’t know. It’s just something you know after you’ve had command. It’s an uneasiness...I can’t explain it...”
“Multiple contacts, Sir!” Collins shouted. “Bearing 1-8-0, mark 0-5-0...distance, two kilometers!”
“Actions stations!” Jameson shouted, “Set condition one throughout the fleet!”
“How many we got, Collins?” Jed asked.
“Ten ships...fifty...still coming, Sir. Eighty now...they’re coming in by the hundreds now!”
“Recall the CAP!” Commander Jameson ordered, “Start the clock; and jump the fleet to our secondary coordinates.”
“What’s their ETA?”
“There already on top of us, Sir!” Collins replied.
“Target the closest ships and open fire!”
“Sir, our targeting systems are having trouble locking!”
“Don’t forget to send them an invitation,” Jameson winked to the comm officer.
“Aye, aye, Sir, I’ve relayed the coordinates.”
“Incoming missiles!”
“Launch countermeasures!” Jameson ordered, “And get our birds landed, NOW!”
“Countermeasures away, Sir!” Collins reported, “Point defense guns firing!”
Jed ordered with a stern shout, “Bearing drift, five degrees port!”
“Aye, Sir,” Erica acknowledged, “drifting five degrees to port!”
“Sir, the CAG is calling all clear, the CAP has landed Sir! The deck is secure; we’re ready to jump the fleet.”
“Attention all hands, brace for impact!” Jed ordered.
Three missiles struck the hull of the Rock. Some of the remaining missiles flew past. The others were destroyed by the ships’ countermeasures.
The lights on the Rock flickered, and the ship quaked from the three missiles. Alarms rang out across the CSC. Several crewmen found themselves picking themselves off the deck.
“We’ve got a class Bravo Fire on C-Deck, and a class Charlie on E-Deck,” Lieutenant Henderson shouted.
“Get the liquid fire teams dispatched to C-Deck and the electrical teams to E, A-SAP,” Commander Jameson ordered.
“We’re still jump ready, Sir!”
“Jump the fleet, NOW!” Jed ordered.
The Earth ships jumped in an instant to their secondary coordinates. Alarms continued to ring, and the crewmen darted about their duties.
Jameson looked up to Lieutenant Henderson, “Turn that damn thing off, already!”
“Aye, Sir!”
“SITREP?” Jed ordered.
“Jump complete, Sir, we’re at our secondary coordinates,” Lieutenant Foster acknowledged, “All eleven ships are with us. The Centaurian fleet is present.”
“Find out what’s wrong with our targeting systems. We need to fix that before they follow,” Jameson barked.
“You can bet they’ll be on us any minute now,” Jed added.
“All eleven ships are reporting the same issue, Sir,” Henderson reported, “We’re trying to isolate the cause.”
“Get on it man,” Commander Jameson ordered, “We can’t be caught with our pants down like that again!”
“Aye, Sir, down to the short strokes, Sir!”
“Well, you better be nearly done with it!”
“Sir,” Lieutenant Henderson interjected, “The fires are all out, Sir!”
“Good work,” Jed praised, “but we’re not out of the woods yet. How bad is our hull plating?”
“Those missiles were aimed at our engines, Sir,” Collins reported, “It’s a good thing we were able to jump or we’d have been creamed corn if we had stayed.”
“Roger that,” Jed nodded, “The armor, Lieutenant?”
“Right, we can’t take another hit on that side or we’ll breach. The repair teams are already working on strengthening that section, Sir.”
“In the meantime, put us on the far side of the Centaurian fleet, and any other ships that suffered damage. We’ll need the Centaurians to hold them off when the Warlords arrive.”
“Aye, Sir,” Collins acknowledged, “Henderson, relay those orders across the fleet.”
“I’m on it, Lieutenant. Looks like three ships suffered similar damage; the Yucatan, Majestic, and Lancaster.”
“Get our CAP off the deck. I want superior air power out there when they do arrive,” Jed ordered, “coordinate the squadrons to start using the magna weapons.”
“Aye, Sir,” Collins answered, “Open a comm link to the flight deck.”
“Channel open, Lieutenant. Chief Kelly is on the line.”
“Chief, change out our ammo on half the squadrons. Get the tracker and manga-gel rounds loaded.”
“Aye, Sir. My Deck Apes are working on it now. We’ll be ready to launch in ten minutes or less.”
“Make it less, Chief!”
“You got it, Lieutenant,” Chief Kelly answered, and then cut the channel, “You squids move it now, you’ve got your orders! Major Phillips; your squad is up next. Get your men in your birds; we’re ready in two minutes!”
CHAPTER THIRTY
________________________
Tertiary Jump Coordinates
The Empress’ Flagship
________________________
“My Empress,” Darnash reported, “They jumped away.”
“Stand down from battle stations,” Danielle ordered. “Did you catch their trajectory? Can we pursue?”
“I was able to intercept their sync coordinates,” Ker, her navigation officer reported.
Ma’har looked up from his console, “My Empress, our second fleet has arrived.”
“Good. Ker, plot a course and prepare to jump the fleet. We’re going after them.”
“My Empress,” Darnash said, leaning over to her ear, “It could be a trap. I suggest sending a scout to check that system. They could be leading us to a larger fleet.”
Danielle nodded, “You’re right, Darnash. Ma’har, coordinate a scout ship to have a look.”
Ma’har studied his astrometric screen and then looked over to Danielle, “My Empress, there may not be a need to send a scout to that sector.”
“Explain, Ma’har.”
“It would be easier to show you, my Empress.”
Danielle climbed from her perch and stood next to her tactical officer.
Ma’har began pointing with his oversized finger, “This is Antares, and this is where we are right now.”
“I fail to understand.”
Then Ma’har pointed to another position, “This is where their fleet jumped. If you draw a straight line, this is Betelgeuse.”
“Are you saying they came from the wormhole?”
“Yes, my Empress, according to my charts, that is the only explanation.”
“If the wormhole has stabilized, my Empress,” Darnash added, “We could jump to the event horizon and be at Earth very soon.”
“Can we jump that far and bypass their fleet?”
“Yes, my Empress,” Ker nodded, “We can jump clear and have our two fleets ready to attack Earth.”
“They wouldn’t have a chance, my Empress,” Darnash smiled.
“It appears we shall have our blood lust fulfilled after all,” Danielle smiled in return.
“Nonetheless, my Empress,” Ma’har said, “I do believe sending a scout to Betelgeuse would be the most prudent move.”
“Send the scout to analyze the wormhole,” Danielle ordered.
“The Earth ships aren’t going anywhere for now. That was their third jump; they’ll risk burning out their negative density generator if they jump before running a cooldown cycle.”
“Have Captain Revkon command the scout and report back. Darnash, prepare the two fleets to jump to Betelgeuse.”
Darnash snarled with pleasure, “The fleet will be ready, my Empress.”
________________________
Secondary Jump Coordinates
The Rock
__________________
______
“Come on, men,” Jameson barked, “Move it, the Antarians will be on us any moment now!”
“Why aren’t they following?” Jed asked.
“It could be they didn’t get our jump coordinates.”
“They got them, Sirs,” Lieutenant Henderson assured.
“What’s our engine status?” Jed ordered.
“Sir, we’re running our cooldown cycle. We can’t jump for a few more hours.”
“In the meantime,” Jameson added, “the second Centaurian fleet will be meeting us here in a few minutes.”
“Can we get word to them to hold their position?” Jed asked.
“We could send an ACE support, Sir.”
“How many jumps is it for one of those ships?”
“Two jumps, Sir.”
“Okay, dispatch an ACE support and relay the message. Instruct the pilot to trade out his ship for a fresh one and head back to report.”
“Aye, Sir,” Lieutenant Henderson acknowledged.
“Multiple contacts, Sir!” Lieutenant Collins shouted.
Jameson’s eyes grew to the size of silver dollars and shouted, “Identify!”
“Stand by, Sir...they’re ours, Sir!”
“Confirm!”
“Confirmed, Sir, the Centaurian fleet just jumped in, and we’re being hailed.”
“Put it on the overhead,” Jed motioned.
“Aye, Sir,” Henderson said, flipping switches.
The radio crackled with Captain Zetaal’s hissing voice, “Admiral Fitzzz, where isss the attacking fleet?”
“That’s an excellent question, Captain.”
“It appearsss your plansss of attack are flawed. Might the Centauriansss offer an alternative strategy?”
“If the Warlords don’t show up in the next few minutes, I’ll entertain your ideas, Captain.”
“The Cssentaurian fleet ssshould jump back to the wormhole to protect the event horizzzon. If they enter, your home world will faccce the sssame demissse asss oursss.”
“We have to wait at least twelve hours before we attempt to join you.”
“Yesss, I am familiar with the jump drive cooldown. Admiral, do you have ssspare partsss?”
“Yes, we have spare parts.”
“Do you have extra energy densssity generatorsss?”
Jed looked over to his XO. Jameson nodded his answer, “Yes, Captain. We do.”
“Switch out your EDG’s on your ships. You can jump without risssking burning out the mechanism.”
“And then use our current generators as spares,” Jed finished, “Captain, I do like your idea. Commander, how long will it take to do that swap on our eleven ships?”
“We could be ready in an hour, Sir.”
“Alright, Captain. Jump your fleet back to Betelgeuse. We’ll join you shortly. If you run into any trouble, send word and we’ll send every ship that’s ready.”
“We will sssee you in an hour, Admiral. Captain Zzzetaal out.”
“Alright men!” Jameson barked, “You’ve got your orders! Now move it. We’ve got an appointment in twenty minutes!”
“I thought you said an hour, Commander?”
“I did...it’s the ‘Scotty’ principle; never reveal how long something will really take, Sir.”
“Very well, prep the fleet for jumping. We’ll surprise the hell out the Centaurians.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t surprise them too much, Sir. We don’t need more repairs than what we already have.”
“Understood, Sir.”
“Prep the fleet,” Jameson ordered, “We’re jumping in twenty!”
“Sir,” Henderson reported, “the Centaurian ships are jumping away.”
“Keep a sharp eye out for any hostiles, though I think Captain Zetaal is right; they’re not coming here.”
________________________
Tertiary Jump Coordinates
The Empress’ Flagship
________________________
“My Empress,” Ma’har reported, “our scout has returned.”
“What is Captain Revkon’s report?”
“Captain Revkon reports the Betelgeuse sector is clear. The wormhole is stable, my Empress.”
“Darnash, what do you think?”
Darnash stroked his chin, “It does seem too easy, my Empress. We should use caution.”
“Agreed. I will lead the charge with the first fleet. Have the second fleet wait five minutes and then join us.”
“Yes, my Empress. We can be ready to jump in two minutes.”
“Activate shielding on all ships and stay ready for battle stations.”
“All weapons will be online, my Empress.”
“Let us take the spoils of our blood lust, Darnash!”
“Morgesh, my Empress,” Darnash smiled.
“Bea’goth,” Danielle replied.
“You are learning our ways, my Empress.”
“All systems are ready, my Empress,” Getera, the flagship’s comm officer reported.
“The coordinates have been set throughout the fleet, my Empress,” Ker nodded.
“Prepare to jump on my mark.”
The Empress’s flagship crew came to full alert, and then the Empress shouted her command, “JUMP!”
One by one, the first fleet of five-hundred ships jumped across the galaxy to the Betelgeuse sector.
“Status report!” Darnash demanded.
Ma’har shouted is report, “Picking up multiple targets...all Centaurian!”
“Battle stations!” Danielle shouted, “Target all enemy ships and fire!”
“There are two hundred and fifty ships, my Empress,” Ma’har added.
“So, they did have a trap planned.”
Darnash sprang into action “Divide the fleet into five sub-fleets. Spread out and attack the closest ships first.”
“They have fighters launching, Lord Darnash.”
“Counter with ours!”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“How long before our second fleet arrives?” Danielle asked.
“Three minutes, my Empress.”
“Very well, we have them outnumbered two to one until then.”
“We’re taking out multiple ships, my Empress,” Ma’har reported, “But I’m now picking up Eridonian ships coming in on each flank.”
“How many?”
“Fifty total.”
“We still outnumber them,” Danielle smiled, sitting back in her chair, “Helm, as soon as you have a clear shot at the wormhole, set a course and take us in.”
Tira nodded, “Yes, my Empress. I have plotted the course. Once our second fleet arrives that’s when I’ll make our move toward the event horizon.”
“Make sure my five destroyers and first fleet follow us through.”
“Yes, my Empress, they have their instructions.”
“One minute until the second fleet arrives, my Empress,” Ma’har counted. “The Eridonian ships are running interference with our attack fleet. Our fighters have engaged the Centaurians. We are punching through their defenses. However, we’re taking some losses on our side. Sixteen Antarian ships lost. Thirty Centaurian are destroyed, my Empress.”
“Keep firing!”
“Yes, Lord Darnash,” Ma’har acknowledged.
“Move away from the main campaign,” Darnash ordered, “We must protect the flagship.”
“Our second fleet is now arriving, my Empress.”
“Good. Tira, do we have a clear path to the event horizon yet?”
“Almost, my Empress.”
“Focus your fire on these ships here,” Darnash pointed on Ma’har’s screen. “There is a weakness in this side of their line. We can punch through there.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Now, get the second fleet engaged. Have them draw some of these ships to aid them here,” Darnash drew on Ma’har’s screen.
“The Eridonians are filling in for that weakness in their line. It’s like they’re anticipating our n
ext move,” Ma’har said.
“With that many Eridonians in the sector, they might be able to counter our telepathic inhibitors,” Darnash warned.
“No, that’s not it,” Danielle answered.
“My Empress?”
“They had these Eridonians hiding to protect the entrance. They saw a weakness in their net and covered. Move fifty of our fleet ships to that position and focus all our firepower until we’re through.”
“Yes, my Empress,” Getera communicated the orders to the fleet.
Ma’har focused on his firing teams and the scanner when he looked over to Danielle, “My Empress, there are Earth ships arriving in sector...behind them are more Centaurian ships.”
“How many?”
“Eleven Earth vessels and two hundred and counting Centaurian.”
“They’re going to try to surround us, my Empress,” Darnash said, and then he turned to their helm, “Tira, if you don’t get us to that event horizon, we’ll not make it.”
“Yes, Lord Darnash, we have opened a clear section,” Tira turned the flagship, the five destroyers moved with them.
“Full power to engines!”
“ETA to event horizon?”
“Two minutes, my Empress.”
“Battle status?” Danielle demanded.
“The arriving fleet has not engaged yet. We’ve lost sixty ships, they’ve lost one hundred and fifty.”
“One minute to the event horizon,” Tira counted.
“The arriving Earth ships are now pursuing us.”
“I’m picking up some unusual readings from the event horizon,” the ship’s NAV officer reported.
“Ker; full report!”
“It’s a ship exiting the wormhole, my Empress!”
“A ship?! What ship?”
“It’s another Earth ship, my Empress... we’re on a collision course,” Ma’har exclaimed.
Darnash raised his hand motioning to the helm, “Evasive!”
Two of the five surrounding destroyers veered off course to miss the oncoming ship. Tira turned the flagship and rotated just in time to avoid the collision. The oncoming ship opened fire on them, hitting the flagship at point blank range with hundreds of shells.
Several systems on the flagship burst in to flames as they took damage from the barrage.
“We’re going in!” Tira warned. “In three, two, one.”
Warlords Saga Page 49