The Price of Liberty (Empire Rising Book 4)

by D. J. Holmes

  By the time his gunners got a chance at their final shot, eight missiles were still tracking towards Benbow. Last ditch fire from Endeavour, Benbow and several of the smaller ships that had accelerated up to the heavy cruiser took out five of them. The remaining three dived in towards the heavy cruiser. Being far larger than Endeavour the evasive maneuvers Benbow’s navigation officer attempted to pull off had limited effect. One Indian missile was tricked into overshooting the heavy cruiser but it still exploded just ten meters away from Benbow’s hull. The explosive force washed over the ship. Yet it was almost immediately surpassed as the other two Indian missiles scored direct hits. Neither of them penetrated Benbow’s thick valstronium armor. Nevertheless, as they detonated, the explosive forces tore their way into the ship.

  “Let me know as soon as Benbow transmits a status update,” James demanded. He was watching the stricken heavy cruiser. The momentum imparted to her by the two Indian missiles had forced her into a roll and it looked like her maneuvering thrusters had failed.

  “We’re getting more orders from Admiral Cunningham,” Sub Lieutenant King reported. “Benbow and her escorts are being ordered to the rear of the fleet.”

  Before James could ask King to send the orders to his command chair she began speaking again. “Benbow has just acknowledged,” she said with a raised voice. “She must still be operational.”

  James smiled at Sub Lieutenant King and nodded. On the visual display he was watching, a number of maneuvering thrusters had come to life as Benbow’s navigation officer worked to stop the heavy cruiser’s roll and take her out of formation.

  “Stay with Benbow,” James ordered Sub Lieutenant Jennings. “Make sure you give her plenty of room, her maneuvering thrusters could fail at any moment. We still don’t know how much damage she took.”

  James cautiously oversaw Sub Lieutenant Jennings as she maneuvered Endeavour through the British fleet and to the rear where Benbow, Endeavour and the two remaining frigates escorting her took up position.

  By the time they were safely in their allotted position, the next wave of Indian missiles was upon them. Thankfully, less than five had locked onto any of the ships in Benbow’s flotilla. They were all easily destroyed. Other British ships were not so lucky. A light cruiser and a destroyer were obliterated by direct impacts. Churchill was also reporting that she had suffered two proximity hits.

  “Look,” Malik shouted above the noise of the bridge. “The Indians are changing direction.”

  James spun to look at the gravitational plot. Just as he did, the Indians opened fire and just under five hundred more markers appeared as Endeavour’s computer tried to track all the new contacts. When the sensors were able to make out what was happening it was clear Malik was right. The Indian fleet had altered course and was heading away from Haven.

  For a moment, James thought the Indians had blinked and were trying to run. Then, a whole new series of contacts appeared on the holo plot heading directly for Haven. Their troop ships, James thought. They’re still trying to land their army! As the new Indian squadron cleared their main fleet they fired fifty missiles of their own.

  Checking the updated trajectories of both Indian fleets James realized Kapoor had given Cunningham a dilemma. It was almost exactly the same dilemma Cunningham had forced upon Kapoor earlier in the day. Cunningham could reverse his course and intercept the smaller Indian fleet. Yet if he did he would be caught in a savage crossfire from the main Indian forces. On the other hand, if Cunningham decided to ignore the Indian troop transport squadron they could land tens of thousands more Indian soldiers on Haven. On top of that they could pour missiles down Cunningham’s flank.

  “New orders from the flagship,” King announced. “We are closing with the Indians.”

  On some of the other British warships James imagined some of the bridge crew may have cheered at such an order. His crew had already seen enough action to know what the order meant. Cunningham was going to roll the dice. It would be victory or death for their fleet.

  “Every ship is to target the Indian flagship and her escorts,” King added.

  James nodded. It was another gamble. Targeting so many missiles at one point in the Indian fleet would allow the rest of the Indian ships to target them without having to worry about defending themselves. Yet, if the Indian flagship could be taken out of the fight it might cause disarray in the Indian’s formation.

  “Firing,” Becket announced as three hundred and eighty missiles left the British fleet targeted on six Indian warships.

  “New orders,” King announced. “They are addressed to you personally Captain.”

  “Send them to my command chair,” James requested. “Move us onto heading 573.46,” he commanded after scanning Cunningham’s orders.

  “What’s going on Captain?” Mallory asked over the COM channel from the auxiliary bridge.

  “We’re going after the Indian’s second squadron. I’ve been ordered to harass their landings and destroy as many of those troop transport ships as we can,” James answered.

  “What about the fleet?” Mallory queried.

  “Cunningham knows what he’s doing,” James answered. “We’ve been assigned a destroyer, three frigates and two corvettes. He should be able to make do without them. We can’t have another Indian army landing on Haven. Even if our marines could defeat them all, the destruction they would do to the planet would be immense.”

  “I understand,” Mallory said.

  As Endeavour broke away from the main fleet the six ships assigned to James’ command followed suit. “Open a COM channel to our flotilla,” James ordered.

  When Sub Lieutenant King motioned to let him know the COM channel was open, James spoke, “Our mission is clear. We need to stop those Indian transports landing troops on Haven, whatever the cost. That medium cruiser is going to cause us a headache but we’ll just have to deal with it. We’re going to form a tight formation and drive our way into the middle of the Indian squadron. Those troop transports will be slow, we should be able to easily get alongside them. If they won’t surrender we’ll blast them into smithereens with our plasma cannons.”

  With a hand signal James ordered King to cut the transmission. He worked out the formation he had in mind and transmitted it to the other Captains. As he sat back in his command chair he watched the other six ships take up position around Endeavour. Being so close together they would present an ideal target to the Indian warships, yet the point defenses of each ship would be able to cover the rest of the flotilla.

  As the Indian troop transport fleet had just broken away from the main Indian fleet it didn’t take Endeavour and her flotilla long to get into missile range. “Fire,” James ordered as soon as they did. Twenty-two missiles shot towards the Indian squadron. Alongside the Indian medium cruiser, three destroyers and four frigates were escorting the nine troop transports. James had targeted all his missiles at the destroyers.

  Chapter 39 – Cunningham’s Gamble

  The Battle of Fissure is studied by every cadet in every naval academy across the Empire. It is the prime example of what can go wrong when an Admiral tries to win a battle with a single risky maneuver. After the battle, the Antarian’s invasion fleet conquered twelve colonies before it could be stopped. Even so, many battles have been won by similarly risky tactics.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  10:38 pm. HMS Churchill

  As Cunningham watched Endeavour and the six ships he had assigned to Captain Somerville turn away from his fleet he wished Somerville luck. If anyone could stop the Indian squadron he knew Somerville could. Dismissing them from his mind, he turned his attention to the Indian fleet. So far the exchange of fire had proved indecisive. The Indians’ superior weight of numbers had been counteracted by the British superior point defenses. Things were about to change however. His fleet was about to have to deal with two salvos of missiles coming in from differing angles. On the other hand, the Indian flagship was about to find itself in a w
hole new world of hurt.

  Cunningham ordered a handful of smaller warships to the flank of his fleet to engage the forty missiles fired at him by the Indian troop ship squadron. With only a medium cruiser in that squadron, the missiles they had fired would be far less dangerous than the ones coming from the main Indian fleet. He made sure the rest of his warships were focused on the Indian salvo of four hundred and seventy missiles about to enter point defense range.

  Soon the space around his fleet was filled with point defense fire and explosions, though Cunningham ignored it all. Instead he watched the progress of the missile salvo he had targeted at Kapoor’s flagship. They had been spread out to mask their final target. Just before they entered point defense range of the Indian fleet more than half of the British missiles altered course and turned towards the flagship and her flotilla of escorting ships. The other half were already closing in on the battlecruiser.

  It only took Kapoor a few seconds to realize the danger he was in. On the gravimetric plot Cunningham saw more than twenty Indian ships break formation and close on the flagship. Tens of British missiles disappeared off the gravimetric plot as the Indians opened fire. Still, the extra penetrator missiles Cunningham had ordered into this salvo did their job. It looked like almost twenty-five missiles reached attack range. They disappeared so close to the Indian ships it was impossible to tell on the gravimetric plot if they had been destroyed or if they had detonated after hitting their targets.

  When one, then two and then four Indian ships disappeared Cunningham knew it was the latter. Yes, Cunningham almost shouted as he pumped his fist. He switched the display in his command chair to the visual sensors. As visuals came in from the Indian fleet he made out a series of explosions erupting from around the battlecruiser. At such a range he couldn’t tell if they had been direct hits or proximity hits but either way Kapoor’s flagship had been damaged. She is still in the fight though, Cunningham thought as the battlecruiser righted herself and held formation with the rest of the Indian fleet.

  “Quickly,” Cunningham ordered his subordinates. “Send new targeting data to our next wave of missiles. I want them all targeted at Kapoor’s flagship.

  Sending new targeting data to missiles already in transit would reduce their accuracy and likelihood of scoring a direct hit. Even so, a number of the escorting ships around Kapoor’s battlecruiser had been destroyed and his ship must have taken some heavy damage. Her point defenses would be weakened, if not crippled.

  Before Cunningham could see the effects of his latest orders, his fleet had to fend off another salvo of Indian missiles. Cunningham forced himself to ignore what was going on with his fleet. His subordinates could handle any changes to their formation that were needed. Instead he focused on the Indian fleet. “Target all of our next salvo at the lead Indian battlecruiser and the capital ships in its flotilla,” Cunningham ordered. If they could destroy Kapoor’s flagship then the forward third of the Indian fleet would be isolated and vulnerable. Many of their escorts had been pulled away to protect Kapoor’s battlecruiser.

  “The fleet is firing Admiral,” one of his subordinates reported.

  “Keep targeting the forward elements of the Indian fleet. We’re going to smash them,” Cunningham commanded.

  A massive wrenching echoed through Churchill’s auxiliary bridge. Time seemed to stop as Cunningham recognized the sound. An Indian missile had just torn through the ship’s hull and penetrated several reinforced bulkheads. Cunningham tightened his grasp on his command chair and shut his eyes. Before he completed either action, the missile exploded and a massive shockwave wrenched Churchill. Cunningham was sure the vibrations he felt ripple under his feet and through his command chair would tear his flagship apart. Yet seconds later he took a deep breath and realized he was still alive. He opened his eyes to see everything looked in one piece.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  “We took a direct hit amidships,” Churchill’s Captain said over the COM channel from his command bridge. “We’ve lost several missile tubes but don’t worry Admiral, we’re still in the fight.”

  “We did it,” one of Cunningham’s flag officers reported before Cunningham could respond.

  “Did what?” Cunningham asked.

  “Look at the gravimetric plot,” the officer shouted as he pointed Cunningham towards the display. “Kapoor’s flagship is gone. We destroyed it.”

  Hoping his subordinate wasn’t mistaken, Cunningham’s eyes flew to the gravimetric plot. The battlecruiser in the middle of the Indian formation was gone. There was no sign of it. Either it had been destroyed outright, or its engines had been taken out and it was no longer accelerating. Switching to the visual sensors Cunningham saw the battlecruiser was still intact but it was no longer a threat. It was spinning out of control and several large holes were clearly visible. Debris and bodies were spilling out into space.

  “Keep firing,” Cunningham ordered. “We need to press our advantage.”

  *

  10:46 pm HMS Endeavour

  “We can’t take much more of this,” Mallory said over the COM channel.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” James replied. “Just keep my ship together.”

  For the last twenty minutes he had driven his flotilla straight towards the Indian troop transport squadron. They had already lost a frigate and a corvette. In return they had destroyed one of the Indian destroyers and caused a frigate to fall out of formation. Endeavour herself had taken two more proximity hits.

  “Focus half of our next salvo on the Indian troop transports and the rest on that medium cruiser,” James ordered the Captains under his command. “We need to get it out of the way before we enter plasma cannon range.”

  As the British missiles shot towards their targets, the Indian escorts reacted. The remaining destroyers and frigates moved away from the medium cruiser. As James had guessed, the Indian naval officer commanding the troop transport squadron was willing to risk his flagship rather than the troop transports. Each transport carried up to ten thousand Indian soldiers. A direct hit could destroy the entire ship.

  “More missile launches,” Malik reported.

  “Where?” James asked in alarm.

  Both his ships and the Indians had just fired, there shouldn’t have been any other ships in the vicinity. Unless the troop transport squadron had more warships coming to their aid.

  “They were fired from behind the Indian squadron,” Malik answered. “I think they are tracking in on the Indian medium cruiser. Yes, they are. But who fired them?”

  It only took James a couple of seconds to figure it out. Gupta, he thought with a smile. She must have been working her ship around behind the Indian troop transport squadron for the last several hours. She had timed her surprise attack to perfection. The ten from James’ flotilla and her eight would reach the Indian medium cruiser at exactly the same moment. As he watched, James’ smile widened. Just before they entered point defense range Gupta’s eight missiles multiplied into sixteen. She had included two penetrator missiles in her salvo.

  Each British warship carried only enough penetrator missiles for one in each of their first three or four salvos. By now Endeavour had expended all of hers’ and James suspected the rest of the British fleet had done the same. Yet Discovery was fresh and clearly jumping at the bit for a fight.

  As the eighteen missiles descended on the medium cruiser her point defenses tried valiantly to take them out. Nevertheless, with the penetrator missiles she was overwhelmed. Four missiles made it into attack range and three of them exploded near the Indian warship. In the visuals it looked like none of them obtained direct hits but even so, taking three proximity hits within a couple of seconds would have severely damaged the medium cruiser.

  “Focus all fire on those two Indian destroyers. We can leave what’s left of that medium cruiser to Discovery,” James ordered his flotilla. “Keep in formation,” he added.

  Moments later thirty Indian missiles descended on his
five remaining ships. The British flak cannons destroyed fourteen of them, point defense fire another eight. James willed his gunners to take out the last four. When two were destroyed in quick succession he thought they would prove successful. Yet the final two eluded every attempt to shoot them down. One struck a corvette and the small warship was obliterated. The second targeted Endeavour. Jennings tried to carry out a series of evasive maneuvers but with the other ships in the flotilla so close, her options were limited. The Indian missile easily compensated for her maneuvers and scored a direct hit.

  By chance the missile impacted Endeavour right on her third starboard missile tube. Though her missile port was closed and the valstronium armor was in place, the missile port wasn’t as strong as the rest of the ship’s hull. The missile’s momentum and valstronium tipped nose allowed it to burst through the missile tube and penetrate several decks of the exploration cruiser. Sensing it had struck its target, the missile detonated less than half a second later. The thermonuclear explosion blasted its way through several bulkheads, ripping apart more than fifty meters of the Endeavour’s internal structure in every direction.