First Command kb-2

by Rodney L. Smith

  She interrupted him to ask, “Which village were you born in and how were you raised?”

  “I was born in Copernicus. We were primarily an agricultural community, which I’m told was a hardscrabble existence initially. There were no horses to use as plow animals because they were all being used as breeding stock. It wasn’t until several years later that geldings became available for sale in the village markets. Of course, by the time I was born, they had developed steam tractors and harvesters to increase farm size and yield.”

  “I was the youngest of six children and not very good at farming. My father saw to it that I was accepted by a guild. None of the regular guilds were right for me, but he was determined I would learn a useful trade. He eventually got me accepted into the Assassins Guild.”

  Connie sat up and said, “The Assassins Guild? That sounds rather ominous.”

  “I guess it does sound rather ominous, but it was more of a military academy than a bunch of cutthroats. We trained on all types of weapons and martial arts. We advanced through the guild levels from novice to apprentice to master. I had just achieved my Master status when we were discovered.”

  “85 years after we landed, a survey ship looking for mineral-rich asteroids and new habitable worlds stumbled on us quite by accident. We had no electronic signature and they assumed Archimedes was an uninhabited world. When they first saw our villages, they thought they had discovered a new sentient species. They were a bit disappointed when we answered them back in our heavily accented Galactic Standard. We were quickly assimilated into the 22nd century, which caused any number of problems. Duke Carl IV filed our application to join the Galactic Republic and it caused quite a stir. We were the first second tier world.”

  “Our world grew quickly and only a little of the old settlement is still there. It was a large shift from the 19th century to the 22nd and some couldn’t or wouldn’t make the transition. They set aside some of the villages as an enclave of the 19th century for those unable to make the transition. Some people eventually left, but some people moved back in. I guess that in about 50 years the enclave will be empty. It will probably be made into a museum.”

  “That’s the college notes version of my planet’s story. Was it what you expected?”

  She rolled over in her bunk and said, “How difficult was it for you to make the transition?”

  “It wasn’t too difficult for me. The Guild training made me able to quickly adapt to new situations. I always knew the Galactic Republic was out there and that some day we would be discovered. When Fleet Intel found out about the Assassins Guild, they heavily recruited us. They taught us new modern skills and helped us to refine our old skills. The transition was made quite easy for me. I like being a reporting officer, although it does get lonely at times. Fortunately, I have Rojo, my cat, to keep me company.”

  He rolled over onto his side and said, “Now if there is nothing more, I’m going to sleep now.”

  Connie stood up and stripped out of her coveralls and undergarments before crawling into her lower bunk. Alistair rolled over onto his other side. He lay there alone and did not go to sleep quite as quickly as he thought he would.

  Fleet Commander J’Kalt called one last commander’s call before he moved into the star cluster. He looked all of his captains in the eye and told them to remember what they had just practiced. He told them to execute all orders with total commitment. If they hesitated in an ambush situation, they would surely be destroyed. It would be better to go down fighting than to suffer a hollow defeat.

  He reminded them what was at stake if the Humans broke out into K’Rang space here between these two main worlds. It could mean splitting the empire and its eventual destruction. He could see in their eyes that they understood the seriousness of their situation, and knew they would all do their duty. He ordered them back to their ships and gave them four hours to prepare their ships and crews for combat. They would enter the star cluster in six hours.

  He had requested reinforcements and had been promised at least a cruiser squadron to backstop him here at the entrance to the star cluster. If he was met by a superior force and annihilated, they would have to hold the entrance against a possible Human attack.

  He brought the captains to attention and said, ”Long live the Empire!”

  They answered in unison, “Long live the Empire!”

  Chief Johnson brought Kelly the news that the K’Rang Fleet was moving toward the star cluster from their exercise position behind the nearest main world. Kelly passed that information to the Fleet. Admiral Minacci ordered the Vigilant to move to a position to directly monitor the K’Rangs’ actions and report them to the Fleet. Kelly acknowledged the order and moved out. He gave orders to Chief Johnson to launch sensor pods to all pre-designated positions. Seven sensors left the Vigilant, speeding to overwatch, chokepoints, and decision points in the star cluster.

  The Vigilant moved out to the fringe of the star cluster and hid behind a larger than normal brown dwarf. He monitored the K’Rang fleet movement into formation as it approached the entrance to the star cluster. They held off the entrance for an hour then, with the two Shadow Force destroyers in the lead, moved ahead and into the star cluster. Kelly passed this information to the reinforced 3rd ALG. Everyone was in position and as ready as they could be.

  Friedrich Debran was being briefed on third quarter profits, something he normally took high interest in, but not today. Something was nagging at the back of his mind. Irritated at not being able to focus on the subject, he threw the briefer out of his office.

  Roger Delphant came in as the sacrificial lamb to find out what or who was putting the boss in a sour mood. As he walked in, Debran was staring at a holographic display of the Pleiades. Roger thought he understood.

  “Are you worried about your investment, sir?”

  Debran looked up, about to throw Delphant out too, when he softened and motioned for him to sit down.

  “Damn right I’m worried. I’m into them for 300 million credits and stand to lose it all if the K’Rang get in there and close off the star cluster. I want my own eyes in there, Roger. Get in touch with your Hooligans and have them assist in the defense of the planet. Put them under the control of that admiral if we have to.”

  “Yes, Mr. Debran.”

  Kelly saw an opportunity to draw first blood. He watched the K’Rang fleet move further into the cluster. As the last of the trailing frigates moved into the cluster, the missile corvette moved up to the entrance. Kelly concluded he must be their communications relay back to the main worlds. Kelly couldn’t let that continue. He gave the K’Rang fleet an hour to get into the first kill box, cut off from retreat, and then he would take this guy out.

  Kelly called up the specs on this corvette and realized he had taken on a later model of this type before. In fact, it was an engagement with three of these that got him kicked out of Fighter Force and allowed him to be where he was now.

  Connie, sensing Kelly was lost in thought, asked him if something was wrong.

  Kelly slipped out of his reverie and said, “See that guy out there? I took three of them out once when I was still in fighters. It saved my carrier, but got me booted out of Fighter Force.”

  “How did that happen, sir? I mean we’ve all heard rumors, but none of us know what really happened.”

  Kelly checked his sensor feed to see where the lead destroyers were in the cluster, realized he still had about an hour before the first trap sprang, and started his tale.

  “We had a general in the Fighter Force that thought she was a modern day Marshall Ney, Napoleon’s cavalry chief. She kept looking up historical battles and drawing all the wrong conclusions. She thought she was being innovative and classical at the same time. No matter what she saw in these old battles, she always set up our operations in the most restrictive manner possible. It was as if she didn’t trust us to think on our own. She had a tendency to trust the technology more than the mind operating it. Have you ever heard of the wall
of fire tactic?”

  “Yes, sir, we covered it in tactics training in the Academy, but that was obsolete over a decade ago.”

  “Well General Bugarov thought of it as her master stroke.”

  “Oh, Bugger Off! Everyone on Antares Base has heard of her.”

  Kelly frowned, then continued, “She called for a fleet-wide fighter defense exercise and set it up to run near the K’Rang frontier, to demonstrate our capabilities. My carrier and two others were to play the blue force and two carriers were to play the red force. I was a 2nd LT and had the temerity to ask if the wall of fire didn’t make us vulnerable to an enemy that would stack forces against one sector until they overpowered the defense and punched through. I had my head handed to me. She had my squadron commander personally remind me to keep in formation in our mission briefing.”

  “Well, that was not to be my lucky day. As we moved out to our squadron defensive position on the backside of the fleet, my damage simulator went offline as if I’d been shot down. I drifted in space with my nav lights blinking and limited maneuver control. I was told to wait for the recovery team to come out and get me. That would have been an hour wait until the combat phase was competed.”

  “I tried everything I could think of to get the damage sim to recycle, but nothing worked. I even had Wanda reason with it. That didn’t work, either. That’s when I saw the K’Rang. There were three missile corvettes like our friend over there. All I saw was a star blink on and off as one moved in front of it.”

  “Wanda was able to resolve what they were and how far off. We convinced the damage sim to release the ship back to me if they crossed the border, which they did. I took out the three corvettes, and my reward when I got back on board the Bolivar was to be read court martial charges by the General. The Fleet Commander put a stop to that and awarded me the Space Medal for saving his flagship.”

  “General Bugarov expelled me from Fighter Force and sent me to Antares in exile. I ran into Captain Hasslerode, and he convinced me that Scout Force might be the place for me. The rest is history.”

  “Thank you, sir, that answers a lot of questions.”

  The K’Rang fleet moved beyond the distance where they could turn back and support the corvette. Kelly had the navigator make some calculations on what it would take to make an FTL run at the corvette and stop just amidships. The navigator made some quick calculations and announced it could be done at FTL power 1. Kelly instructed him to pass the course, speed and braking point to the helm. The helm acknowledged. Kelly told the gunner to get ready with all guns. The gunner locked all guns forward and said he was ready.

  “Helm, execute.”

  The K’Rang corvette sensor operators had no warning. One moment their sensors were clear, the next there was a Human Scout ship off their starboard side. Nine guns opened fire at once and blasted a hole clean through the corvette. Kelly could see stars through the gaping hole. They were doomed. No airtight doors could save them. Explosive decompression boiled the blood of the K’Rang crew and killed them almost instantaneously, if not painlessly. As the K’Rang ship was wracked with secondary explosions, Kelly ordered the helm to their next hide position.

  Kelly walked back to the galley for fresh coffee and to check with sensors on the status of any other combatants in the vicinity. Chief Johnson reported no contacts other than the K’Rang fleet in the cluster. Kelly had Chief Johnson inform him the second the 3rd ALG sprang the first trap.

  Kelly didn’t have long to wait, as the K’Rang fleet was moving faster than expected. The first trap in the cluster was a web of stealth mines across the most direct and widest path. When the leading destroyer lost part of its bow to a mine, the autonomous mines behind the rear of the formation moved out to block off their escape. Torpedo ships swarmed out from behind a brown dwarf on the starboard side of the fleet and let loose with all torpedoes. 56 torpedoes spread out and locked in on the major combatants. As the fleet launched defensive missiles to ward off the torpedoes, an A-76 squadron left the cover of a brown dwarf on the port side of the fleet and launched 144 medium missiles at the penned in K’Rang. Further defensive missiles left the ships and sped out to intercept the incoming missiles. The torpedo ships and A-76s pulled away and flew to land on the Golden Eagle to reload.

  Only ten torpedoes and twelve missiles made it through the K’Rang defensive fire to a target. One frigate took two torpedoes amidships and was ripped in two by the combined explosions. A second frigate lost all gun and missile mounts forward of the bridge. A light cruiser lost its stern and drifted in space venting gases, a total loss. Secondary explosions ripped large chunks off the ship and sent them off through the cluster. The immobile lead destroyer received three medium missiles and ceased to exist. The antimatter warheads tore the ship into small pieces. One support ship lost its stern to a medium missile. Four and a half ships destroyed or damaged was not a bad result.

  Kelly watched as the destroyer and three remaining cruisers methodically blasted the space in front of them to open a path through the minefield. Slowly and by twos, the K’Rang fleet passed out of the kill zone.

  Fleet Commander J’Kalt called for damage reports. Four ships were total losses and one partially damaged, but still underway. He would have to move slower now and fire on every possible hide location. He couldn’t let the Humans dictate his maneuvers. He had to find a way to get out of this tunnel they were leaving open for him and find a clear path. The Shadow Destroyer was picking up terrestrial comms ahead, so there must be a base out there.

  As J’Kalt analyzed his current situation, the Shadow Destroyer reported they had come to a dead end. Gravity was increasing and they must turn around. As J’Kalt gave the order to reverse course three assault landing carriers appeared from behind a series of four brown dwarves and opened fire on the four rear guard frigates and support ships. Their plasma guns, designed to send plasma bubbles at hyper velocity speed through a planet’s atmosphere and destroy defensive positions, burned through the hulls of three support ships and a frigate. The burnt husks of the four ships floated off into the gravity well of a brown dwarf and were sent into a slow spiraling orbit. The Human assault landing carriers turned and disappeared into the cluster.

  J’Kalt ordered the three remaining rear guard frigates to pursue the carriers, but a squadron of A-76s was waiting for that. They killed two of the frigates and chased the third away. J’Kalt ordered his remaining fleet to move out of the dead end and form up in an all around defense.

  The three assault landing carrier commanders were elated. They had just done what tacticians will tell you shouldn’t be done. They had intentionally put their ships into harms way. Normally carriers of any kind never see the enemy directly. Oh, they may see fighters or attack ships, but never main combatants. CDR Milton was the most elated of all. His idea had borne fruit. Not only did they take out four ships on their own, the accompanying attack ships had taken out another two. Mark down four for the gators.

  CDR Milton saw an opportunity to take out the two remaining light cruisers. If they could sneak their carriers behind a pair of brown dwarves to one side of the formation, they could get clear shots at the two remaining light cruisers and slip away to their next hide location. He briefed his plan to the other two captains and they were for it.

  They would pull back out of sensor range and line up behind the twin brown dwarves and moved forward slowly. Unfortunately, they failed to account for the final rear guard frigate being slow to rejoin the formation. His sensors picked up the Bee as it slipped in behind the dwarves. The frigate lay in wait for the carrier to pop up, relaying this information to the Fleet Commander. Many guns swiveled in that direction.

  The Bee dropped down below the dwarf. The Yellow Jacket went high. The Wasp went right. All three carriers fired at the two light cruisers and moved to slip back behind the dwarves. The Yellow Jacket had to pull up to be able to loop back behind the dwarves and presented a perfect target to the K’Rang fleet. A broadside from seven ship
s hit the Yellow Jacket in the port side AS-500 docks and folded the ship in half. CDR Milton and 700 crewmen died in an instant, as secondary explosions cascaded through the hull. The light cruiser N’Gal exploded five seconds behind it, as six sun-hot plasma balls burned through her hull. The light cruiser G’Bid evaded two plasma balls, but took one on the bow, causing minor structural damage. A fourth plasma ball hit the main deck and burned out an entire missile pod. G’Bid was still combat effective, but at a reduced level.

  Admiral Minacci was shocked to hear of the loss of the Yellow Jacket and all its crew. He had never lost anyone under his command before. Now he had lost 700. He considered pulling the two remaining carriers back to his location, but the losses they were inflicting seemed to be worth the risk. He signaled the captains to continue, but not to put their ships in danger unnecessarily.

  He pushed the loss of the Yellow Jacket into the back of his mind. He would mourn them later. For now, he had several hundred K’Rang memorials to arrange.

  Connie watched the death of the Yellow Jacket and it all hit her at once. This was real. This wasn’t some simulator back on Antares Base, but real combat where real people died. She pushed her feelings back somewhere deep inside to be pulled out and mourned over later. She had just seen 700 crewmen die. Rather then cry over them, she would have to find out what went wrong so that it didn’t happen to others or to the Vigilant.

  She asked Kelly, “Sir, what did they do wrong?”

  Kelly thought for a moment, then replied, “The K’Rang must have seen their approach, probably that frigate lagging behind the fleet. They were waiting for them to pop out from behind those dwarves. Look how the guns were already swiveled in that direction. The Yellow Jacket went high and had to loop up and over to get back behind cover. If they had gone left, right, or down, they probably would have made it back under cover. The assault landing carriers have thrusters only on the bottom and sides. That loop, and the fact the K’Rang were waiting for them, killed them.”