by Gary Caplan
Quinn replied, “It was an honor to serve with you, Captain.” Edo watched the plasma energy field move closer as the command crew evacuated. Only he and a now-groaning and injured Lars remained.
Aboard the Phoenix, the observing crew looked worried as they saw the Sculptor take damage. Lieutenant Pelori said, “I cannot establish commlink to the Sculptor.”
In the command alcove, Sherman said, “It appears that the Varlon are in two strike forces. One is heading for Treeton Three, and the other is on a probable intercept for Task Force One.”
Ares said, “Sir, sensors determine that Task Force Two is disabled, with some starcraft essentially destroyed and the rest with multiple levels of severe to critical damage. The only good news is that the single remaining main command section of the Rhyn carrier is intact and is rendering assistance to the remaining ships in Task Force Two.”
Wilder said, “Prepare to set course for Treeton Three, if necessary. They don’t seem to be striking the colony on the gas giant. We should head back for the main colony even though we have most of a task force around the planet.”
Taylor and Andor were conferring, and then Taylor said, “The Cynz were damaged, but they seemed to be powering up a good deal of energy—their ships are glowing.”
Andor added, “The infrared spectrum is providing some fascinating information.”
Sheppard heard this from within the alcove and said, “Open a communication channel to the captain of the Cynz heavy cruiser Ztherk.”
Translators responded in a female voice: “This is primary captain of the Ztherk, and we will be unavailable to assist in war operations for the next tenth interval.”
Sterling said under his breath, “Are we sure the translators are working?”
“It does take a bit to get used to the way they say things,” said Darani.
Sheppard moved to the bridge and looked at the Cynz ships being displayed on a section of the main view screen. Both were damaged. When the comm channel opened, he asked, “Do you require any assistance?”
The Cynz captain said in a vibrating voice, “Not presently, Commodore Sheppard. We are initiating repairs on the crystalline hull and modulating a new vessel from the operable parts of our ships. The process will not take long; however, I will be needed to complete my tasks soon.”
Sheppard said, “Please continue, Captain. I was just inquiring.”
The primary captain continued, “I would also inform you that the Varlon are on a vector toward your task force and will intercept shortly. The Estrians will provide you with more details.”
The communication channel ended.
Andor said, “Sir, the energy output on the Cynz ships is increasing, and the vessels are apparently adjacent to each other now.”
Wilder said, “Is there some information from the Estrians, Pelori?”
“Yes, sir. The data has just been sent to us,” said Pelori.
Wilder said, “Once you can find the data with the enemy coordinates, place it up on the bridge tactical viewer.”
The data came in, and they could see plot result vectors for the Varlon fleet.
After another minute the section of the main bridge viewer with the Cynz ships showed an intense radiating glow as the ships approached. Once that glowing stopped, several seconds later an intact ship emerged from the parts. Some crystalline debris scattered in a flashing wake as the new type of cruiser ship activated its engines. It headed in a course at first to disable one of the heavily damaged Accad cruisers that was in a regeneration and repair process and then altered course for Treeton III, after the Accad dreadnaught.
Ares said, “Sir, sensors are detecting multiple torpedo launches, and we’re getting the locations of the forward Varlon ships.”
Wilder said, “This is it, people. Let’s defend the system.”
Sheppard headed to watch the battle partly from the bridge but still able to see the information on the other task force directly defending Treeton III from high orbit. The bridge crew prepared to fire weapons and tried to lock onto a Varlon target.
He looked at Sharon and gave her a wink when she glanced back. She winked back at him. They were both worried for each other, but tried to hide it.
Sheppard heard Chief Engineer O’Brien’s voice on the comm: “Nova cannon charging. Ready the bracing engine for counter.”
The Varlon were showing up as tactical targets now that they were in the Phoenix’s weapons range. The Varlon put more mass into their plasma torpedoes than the Accads, and the Accads tended to use higher antimatter yields in their cannons and torpedoes than the Varlon. Both used particle beam weapons about equally. Antimatter collection wasn’t a priority for weapons in the Alliance after a few mishaps in the past, and it was mostly kept to power engines. Antimatter weapons were deadly, but somehow the Accad or their progenitors, the Jiyharr, must have figured out much safer collection and storage methods. Sheppard went back into the command alcove to help coordinate the defense of Treeton III.
The Phoenix wasn’t at the forward position, but it had launched its point defense torpedoes and missiles and all the heavy starfighters it had to help defend against the Varlon starfighters.
Sheppard said to his task force tactical officer, “Remind the our task force captains that the Varlon ships are more visible when firing weapons or using a directed active sensor scan to attempt to defeat Alliance starships’ counterdefenses. That’s a good time for us to make a weapons strike.”
York said, “Sir, there are six cruisers—mixed types—and an I-class Dreadnaught and an H-class heavy dreadnaught.”
Mr. Sterling groaned a bit when he heard that.
Wilder said, “Target and fire the nova cannon against the dreadnaughts—either one that comes in range.”
Darani said, “Sir, the Varlon H-class heavy dreadnaught is heading for the Lyramenian ship, and the I-class dreadnaught toward the Estrian ship.”
York said, “That means the other six cruisers are headed for us.”
Sterling said, “Even though we have more than two-to-one times as many starships, their ships still have the advantage. We need to use the rotating multistrike attacks that Admiral Peregrine developed.”
Wilder said, “We also need to coordinate the nova cannons for optimal effect like Commodore Sheppard predicted and Commodore Helmslar verified. We have three ships here in Task Force One with nova cannons. We have a single spinal mount on the Phoenix, so we need to coordinate if we want to have any effect on those dreadnaughts.” Wilder was looking over at Sheppard, who had just moved back to the bridge area. Sheppard nodded back in agreement.
Ares said, “Sir, the battle cruisers Nautilis and Sparrow have taken damage.”
The view screen moved and showed the two ships in a battle with Varlon cruisers as other ships in Task Force One moved to aid.
Sherman called to get Sheppard’s attention, “Sir, we are now coordinating an attack with our battle carrier and our cruisers against those six Varlon cruisers.”
Sheppard moved into the alcove to oversee. He watched the reports of starfighter attacks and briefly remembered his own missions against the Varlon as starfighter wing commander, years ago.
Torpedo launches, beam-weapon damages, and casualty reports were transmitted and gathered together by the ship’s computer, and synthesized status updates kept coming forward. Sheppard hated waiting; he preferred not to dwell on the losses.
Sherman said, “There’s another Varlon force firing on Task Force Three, defending the planet Treeton. Also, one of the cruisers near the planet has finally been resolved by sensors to be a troop carrier.”
Meanwhile, separate battles waged on with the Elderships. A section of the main bridge view screen showed alternating images as things happened, but Sheppard wanted to look more closely at the battles between the Hegemony and the Varlon. He activated the immersive display in the section of the alcove used for fleet tactical observation. The area was about four feet in radius around the viewing zone, and tactica
l data streamed across one nearby view screen. The device was newer, a recent systems upgrade taking some of the connection corridor space to use properly. He watched as the Lyramenian ship was hit by plasma torpedoes. Its shields held, and the wave of energy washed around it. The Lyramenian retaliated using torpedoes similar to the Varlon’s and some particle cannons.
Sheppard watched sensor readings indicating the Lyrameninan’s weapons output was almost on par with the Varlon dreadnaught. Sheppard noticed, in the enhanced display mode, the Lyramenian ship smoothly maneuvering as it began to unlink its sections, and in less than a minute it sectioned into four starcraft with more weapons exposed than before. Then it began to fire its weapons while moving into battle formation. Now the Varlon H-class dreadnaught was being attacked on three sides.
The starship’s massive shields took a beating. Sheppard actually smiled when some damage got through the Varlon’s hull. But the dreadnaught was a class above in stature to the Lyramenian, which was more of a battle cruiser. Once in range, the Varlon heavy dreadnaught’s forward weapons arrays, including antimatter torpedoes, pummeled one of the Lyramenian’s outer deck sections. It took some severe damage. The Varlon spider ships had launched and kept on a silent assault. They tried to cling to the Lyramenian’s hull sections. Sheppard noted electrical discharges striking the spider ships that moved across the Lyramenian’s hull.
Sheppard looked at the other Eldership, reported to be an Estrian cruiser of some type. It was also a lesser size class than the I-class dreadnaught that moved to attack it. The Estrian was more maneuverable than a ship of its size should be, and a few times a Varlon torpedo actually missed and was destroyed by the Estrian beam weapons or conter measures. Alliance of Worlds sensors were not very accurate in hitting the evasive and sometimes cloaked Varlon torpedoes, but somehow the Estrians were much better at that.
The Estrian cruiser continued evasive maneuvers while making tight passing strikes that penetrated the Varlon’s shields and blasted into its hull, causing multiple areas of light to moderate damage while weakening the enemy’s defense screens. As the Estrian continued evasive maneuvers, the battle with the six Varlon cruisers and Task Force One began.
Sheppard had approved the battle formation earlier, which had now just begun to start as the Varlon cruisers came into weapons range. The Varlon did have a somewhat longer range but only by a few light seconds. Task Force One’s ships were now getting hit by particle beams and energy disruptor cannons. A few antimatter torpedoes got through the point defense systems. Alliance Constellation-class nova dreadnaught carrier Craxz, about twenty kilometers to the port of the Phoenix, was hit by an antimatter torpedo that blew out a kilometer of hull. The nova cannon on that side would likely no longer function. The Craxz had just fired its nova cannons at a Varlon cruiser and had done moderate to heavy critical damage along a good length of that cruiser’s hull. The target lock wasn’t complete due to the chameleon field, and a short sliver of nova discharge flew into empty space.
Sheppard said to the tactical officer, “Shore up the port-side defenses. Send available heavy starfighters and maneuver our last two cruisers under the Varlon.”
The Phoenix’s nova cannon was ready to discharge as they sighted the I-class dreadnaught. The crew looked on as the weapon hit the Varlon dreadnaught across the mid area, and as the Estrian’s weapons had weakened the I-class dreadnaught’s screens, even a single nova-cannon strike did moderate to heavy damage across several decks of the resilient hull. There were smiles around the bridge, but that was short lived as they saw the results of multiple strikes by the remaining Varlon cruisers, which had bombarded virtually all the ships in Task Force One except the Phoenix and one Heroic-class cruiser that was maneuvering for an attack run on a different attack vector.
Damage assessments for the task forces were coming into the command alcove section now as the battle continued. Most of Task Force One was damaged heavily. The Varlon weren’t going for total destruction but severe damage or disablement, which meant they had more reinforcements on the way. The Phoenix vibrated as a Varlon plasma torpedo impacted the defense shields. A local alarm sounded on the starboard bridge area, and one of the auxiliary engineering bridge stations partly overloaded and then shut down. Lieutenant Tate rapidly moved away at the sound of the alarm, and a smell of electrical panel burning temporarily filled the area. He then began to open the main service panel to try to find the source of the smell and the likely place to repair the damage to the station. There were several hits with limited to minor effect. However, once the shields were weakened, reverberations could be felt as shaking vibrations as a result from strikes against the hull as some enemy particle cannons penetrated the Phoenix’s outer trans-titanium-alloy hull.
Weapons fire from all sides was intense, and several starships had sections blown out, including a few of the Varlon ships. The Lyramenian battle cruiser had inflicted some moderate to heavy damage on the H-class, but after its pummeling, the Varlon H seemed to win that battle. The Lyramenian used some kind of cloak as the remaining damaged sections darkened and vanished. Just before it did that, it released some kind of gravimetric device that seemed to cause a short-lived gravity field to pull the Varlon dreadnaught in a different vector as it was reorienting toward the remaining ships in Task Force One.
The damaged Varlon ships intensified their chameleon fields as some antimatter-containing torpedoes succeeded in finding their ships. To the Alliance sensors, the Varlon appeared as multiple sensor contacts, making them appear in three or more other places.
Wilder said, “Fire weapons within the areas of their last positions and course trajectories. Use every weapon we have left if necessary. Ares, send that as an order to the task force.”
Andor said, “Sir, they are using nanocorrupting torpedoes, and the Phoenix was just hit with one. It’s releasing the contents of the nanomachines into the inner hull along decks ten and eleven. Sir, sensors also detect their red field system as well. I have sent navigation the dangerous patches of space to avoid.”
York said, “Now they want to compromise and confuse our own weapons systems to finish us off. Ares, seal the bulkheads near the impact area and apply slowing countermeasures.”
Ares said, “Yes, sir. I’ll send a message out to our other task force ships to scan and hopefully avoid any red field zone. Fields of directed nanomachines can, over time, corrupt or co-opt ship systems.”
Lieutenant Pelori added, “And we need our life support, shields, and engines.”
Wilder was looking at his systems reports and said, “Good thinking, Ares. I’m hopeful one of our Hegemony allies can provide some of their anti-Varlon-nanomachine-units to aid us before any of our major systems are co-opted.”
Taylor said, “I think we still have a large canister that Admiral Garfield left us from last time.”
Sterling said, “I’ll go oversee that, sir, with your permission.”
Wilder nodded and then continued to use his interlink to oversee any other situations as they occurred.
The other Hegemony starship, the Estrian heavy cruiser, was aided by the fire from an Alliance nova cannon on a battle cruiser, and from the battle carrier. The weapons fire was intense on both sides. That resulted in an implosion of a section of the large I-class Varlon dreadnaught, leaving it severely damaged, with at least one critical system down. Unfortunately only the Phoenix and two other starships in Task Force One were battle operable, having essentially moderate damage and no critical systems failures. The remaining nine other starships had taken at least severe to heavy levels of damage with various critical systems failures. The Varlon plasma torpedoes, energy disruptor cannons, plasma cannons, and particle-beam weapons had effectively destroyed two ships, and five would need to be evacuated.
Even the Estrian ship was moderately damaged, with some engine system destruction. It took a hit meant for one of the other ships as it moved by in a blocking pass. Overall the starfighters hadn’t faired that much better. As fo
r the Varlon, four of the six cruisers were moderately damaged, and two had severe damage from nova cannons. The Varlon’s resilient defense fields and hulls, and their ability to regenerate hull matter, were an advantage.
Wilder said, “Damage control teams to contain the Varlon nanomachine threat.”
Ares said, “Aye, sir.” A small bead of perspiration formed on her brow. “Sir, the H-class is turning back toward this battle area.
Andor said, “I have detected the Lyramenian battle cruiser. It must have made a short hyperspace jump. Sensors have just detected it several light minutes away. According to sensors it’s undergoing some sort of regenerative process.”
Wilder had an anxious appearance and glanced several times toward the command alcove. Sheppard noticed and sent to his link: “Don’t disengage. Not yet. Use the auxiliary batteries to shore up the shields if you have to. Help is on the way.”
At Treeton III’s main colony, Task Force Three was ready with a full complement of twelve capitol starships, along with one planetary patrol cruiser and three patrol frigates defending the colony. There was an armored class-two orbital defense base station at a Lagrange point. The orbital base effectively had the firepower of a Legendary-class battle cruiser. And a lone Karratin defense ship sat in high orbit.
The locations of the Varlon were sent to the defending forces by the Zeloc with enough time before the enemy began to fire weapons. It eliminated any surprise from those Varlon.
Five of the task force ships under Commodore Helmslar on the dreadnaught carrier Pisces immediately began to concentrate on the single H-class that was attacking, and three others on the nearby Varlon J-class heavy battle cruiser. The other four Alliance starships originally part of her task force were in orbits between the planet and the starbase to defend against the smaller Varlon starfighters and spider ships, or any larger transport starship that might send landing craft.
One Varlon cruiser appeared, heading for the starbase guarding the planet. Some Varlon cruisers supported the H-class dreadnaught, and four others headed for the Zeloc.