“I know that’s why you let them gather their strength here, Admiral. It’s a good strategy…although I can’t help but worry if we let them have too much time. There’s no guarantee what we can see is all they have,” said the Flag Captain.
“We’ve been surveying this system for weeks now and they haven’t caught so much as a whiff of our presence in all that time. So they might have something and they might not,” the Supreme Admiral shrugged, “but either way we’ll proceed like they do until they prove otherwise. In the meantime, we’ll continue to feel them out with our lighter units and continue to pressure them by bringing our heavier units closer to their main force and that star base until we get a reaction. If they sally their Battleships, we’ll crush them. If they don’t, we’ll stand at a range outside their own and destroy them, slowly, until they do come out of their shell or they’re all dead.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the contingency plans,” said the Captain.
“It’s a simple plan, but then most siege situations are just that simple. You enter the Star System and press them until they have something they must defend—in this case the Wolf-9 fortifications and yard production facilities—force a fight, and then grind them to pieces while they try to stop you. Whoever’s left standing at the end is the winner,” reminisced the Supreme Admiral, thinking of the myriad ‘victories’ he’d swept through en route to this particular battle.
“And if they try to run like they did last time?” Goddard asked rhetorically.
“They’re not in the outer system—they’re deep in the gravity well this time. But even if our main force can’t run them down for any reason, I still have a few aces up my sleeve just for such a situation,” Janeski glowered. “I won’t have a repeat of last time.”
“If we crush them here it doesn’t matter if a few stragglers get away. For all intents and purposes, their threat will be neutralized,” nodded Goddard.
“I don’t want neutral—I want dead. This ends here,” snapped the Admiral. “Send out the Cruiser squadrons and prepare the fighter wings. It’s time to see what the Governor thinks he can do against the full might of the Reclamation Fleet.”
“Aye aye, Admiral,” said the Flag Captain.
Chapter Thirty-one: An Imperial Push
“Looks like the Imperials have made their next move,” observed Captain Hammer as on the main screen the entire Imperial force continued to barrel deeper and deeper in the system, separating into two forces as it went. One of those groups began to accelerate faster than the other, but they were all pointed toward the Wolf-9 defenses and the assembled might of 25th Amalgamated Fleet.
“Well, that’s torn it,” I muttered under my breath as several of my contingency plans just went out the window. I mean, I hadn’t really expected them to stick together as one giant force the whole way in—well minus the Destroyer screen of course—but I had hoped for it. That hope was now dead and buried along with a number of my other farfetched dreams. Dreams like oh, say, the entire Imperial fleet—or at least their Battleships and above—suddenly and simultaneously experiencing massive internal explosions.
“It looks like the better part of thirteen squadrons of Cruisers,” Captain Hammer reported helpfully.
“Thank you, Leonora,” I said, flashing a well-practiced and totally false smile. The Reclamation Fleet’s sixty five Cruisers obviously outgunned and outnumbered my own fifty assembled Spineward Cruiser-sized warships, but that wasn’t the whole story. Yes, in a straight-up, head-to-head battle they would likely suffer the same sort of casualty rate as our Corvette and Destroyer screen, but that wasn’t the problem.
I could destroy anything sent to test our defenses around the star base so long as I could suck them in close enough. Even if I had to sacrifice half my Cruiser force to do it, it would be well worth the trade. But what I’d hoped for were Battleships—or even that Command Carrier—not a mixed force of Destroyers and Cruisers. Like a boxer with a surprisingly strong, hidden uppercut that no one else knew about the problem was that after the trick was seen the likelihood of it working again was vanishingly low. The enemy would take steps to neutralize my advantage once they knew it existed, and then we were right back to square one.
“What do you want to do, Admiral?” asked the Flag Captain.
I gritted my teeth. There was no use crying about spilt milk or cursing the enemy for not being dumb enough to fall perfectly into my plans.
“We wait until they get closer and then sally out our Cruiser force,” I said curtly and then turned to the Com-Section. “Get me Commodore LeGodat on the line please, Lisa.”
There was a pause as she made the connection to the Starbase and negotiated with her counterpart before finally bringing the Commodore on the line.
“What can I do for you, Admiral?” asked the other officer, a real Confederation reservist in the flesh.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to kick off Operation Orion sooner than we’d like—and for smaller game than we’d hoped, Commodore,” I replied, smoothing down the front of my uniform with irritation. “I know we both wanted you over there commanding the Starbase defenses personally, but I’m afraid you’ll have to temporarily turn things over to McCruise. It looks like I’m going to need you in the field.”
“You mean the Cruisers,” LeGodat said with a frown before nodding with understanding, “I assume you want me out there to take command of something important. What’s the plan?”
“The Imperials just sent out thirteen squadrons but they’re mixing them in with the Destroyers and spreading them out all over the place,” I grimaced.
“They want to test our defenses and see what we’ve got. Totally understandable,” the Commodore agreed evenly.
I suppressed a twitch. “We took fifty percent casualties among our light units in the outer system and, since it looks like there’s no real shot of sucking in their Battleships, I feel the urge to return the favor with regards to their Cruisers. I’d like them concentrated and responding to us for a change,” I said firmly.
“If you’ll recall, this was something I said we should consider as a highly likely response to if they broke through our screening force without much difficulty—like they did,” remarked Commodore LeGodat.
“Yes, you did,” I suppressed the urge to scowl, “and we planned for this contingency. That’s why I’m putting you in command of the Cruiser force and sending it out as a whole and not trying to spread them out to counter them on the squadron level. We’ve seen what happens when we do that with the screening elements: we get our heads handed to us. Let’s not have a repeat of that.”
“You’re giving me the whole Cruiser force and not holding anything back in reserve, Sir?” asked LeGodat professionally.
“The whole kit and caboodle,” I nodded.
“Please remember that even though the light lag will be significantly reduced as we’ll be fighting a lot closer to this position, if I’m the one going out there then I’m in command of the operation,” warned the Confederation Commodore. “I don’t need anyone jogging my elbow during the middle of a battle.”
“Hey, it’s your rodeo,” I raised my hands in surrender, “just grab them by the horns to get a hold of their attention. Keep their focus until you suck them in close enough for Orion to work and I’ll be more than satisfied. You know about Orion, are more familiar with the environs of this system around Wolf-9 than any man I know,” I said firmly. “I know better than to let anyone jog your elbow at the wrong moment. This one’s for all the marbles. There’ll be no picking up our toys and going home if we lose. I’m sending you because I trust you to get the job done and done right.”
“Then I’m your man for this operation,” LeGodat nodded.
“Good, because the last thing I need are the better part of two hundred warships hunting around this Starbase for a gap in the defenses and discovering Orion prematurely. I want them concentrated and brought into the kill bubble,” I said flatly. “Do that and at least we’ll be ab
le to pay them back for the Corvette and Destroyer screen.”
“You know that if we do this, the losses among our Cruiser force are going to be brutal. Even if I succeed in concentrating the attention of the majority of them on me, it’s almost certain that there’ll still have any number of Destroyers poking around out there. They might discover both parts of Orion despite our best efforts,” he pointed out.
“That’s why I think we need to activate Cloud Storm early. Remember, Orion is two-pronged. I think if we can get Cloud Storm up and running before they have the chance to look too closely at things, allowing us to we thin down their scouting units, there’s a good chance both portions of the operation can be salvaged. We can hit the Cruisers and save the second half for when we need it,” I said forcefully.
“You know that even if this works we’ll still have the reclamation Battleships to deal with later,” said Commodore LeGodat said, “no matter what we do.”
“We’ll burn that bridge when we have to. Twenty to twenty four and the tech disadvantage on the light side—ours—doesn’t make for the best of odds. But we’ll last a lot longer against those Battleships than we would if they still had those Cruisers and we had to go up against that Command Carrier at the same time. Heck, if we can do it while there are still fortifications to fall back on we can make a real fight of it,” I said confidently, leaning back in my chair. This was a real construction of hopes and dreams woven out of a lot of ‘ifs,’ ‘maybes’ and ‘things that had to break our way for them to work’ but it was what we had so we had to work with it. “Just remember that even if it takes fifty percent casualties or worse, so long as you can drag those Cruisers into the kill box it’ll have been worth it.”
LeGodat sucked in a deep breath. “That’s a lot of ships and men you’re asking me to sacrifice for a plan that only might work,” he said a touch shakily if I was any judge.
“If you think they’ll do a better job dealing more damage to the enemy in a conventional fight then I’m all ears. But we both know they’re destined to get mauled either way. At least this way Janeski pays for it and we have a chance at victory,” I said coldly, “not a good chance, maybe—even if it works—but a real chance.”
“I understand. I’ll have my people test the ship-to-ship and ship-to-communication-satellite laser relay system and get it in place before we activate Cloud Storm, but they can work on that while I’m on the way over to my flagship,” said the Commodore.
“Take your time. We’re in no rush at this point. Just make sure everything is in place,” I said.
“Cloud Storm will be up and running before I take the Cruisers out or, if not, then immediately after,” said the Confederation Commodore, “so unless there was something else, I’ll sign off and get to work.”
I nodded, “Take care out there, Commodore.”
“You just make sure Wolf-9 is still there to come back to when I get back, Admiral Montagne. LeGodat out,” he said gruffly and then cut the channel.
“Good enough,” I agreed, because that’s what it had to be. It had to be good enough. There was no safety net to fall back on this time. We were stuck deep in the system and the enemy was both bigger and faster. Maybe a few of the lighter units might escape to bring word of disaster if we lost but that was it. There would be no grand, last minute escape for our larger units like last time.
We had to win, and that certainty helped focus the mind immensely.
Chapter Thirty-two: Testing the Water
“The last of our Cruiser squadrons have merged with the advanced force and finished linking up with their designated counterparts among the Destroyer screen, Admiral,” reported the operations officer that was a part of Janeski’s staff on the flag bridge.
“The Starbase is almost surrounded and the envelopment nearly complete. Time to test the waters, Captain,” Admiral Janeski agreed, looking at the plot where his forces, from still well outside enemy range, had already covered the two-thirds of the Starbase closest to the direction the main fleet had entered the star system.
The Officer in charge of the department stood up and walked over.
“Problem, Commander?” Janeski asked.
“We’ve just identified three new contacts in the outer system. It looks like a Battleship, a Medium Cruiser, and a sensor contact we’re tentatively identifying as some sort of troop transport, Admiral,” reported the Commander.
“Troop transport? That’s a pretty light escort unless we caught them by surprise and they went dark on us until now,” Janeski mused. “Are you sure of that designation?”
“No, Sir, we are not. However it’s the best designation we have based on its size and sensor return,” the Sensor Commander said helplessly.
“Give me the data,” he looked at it and then shook his head. “You’re right,” he finally decided, “it’d too big to be anything other than a non-combatant pressed into service.”
“What do you want to do, Sir?” asked Goddard while the Operations Officer looked on with interest.
“This is a diversion, either planned by the Governor for this exact moment to distract us or, less likely given when we discovered them, a group of reinforcements that somehow slipped through our sensor net until now. No, we won’t fall into their trap; we continue as planned, Sensors. Thank you for the update,” the Admiral said calculatingly.
“Thank you, Sir.”
“So, back to where we were,” Janeski gave himself a shake. “If we wait until the Starbase if fully en-globed we’ll have to slow the down the main force just to make sure the screen has time to search for any other little hidden surprises cooked up for our arrival by the Governor and his group of provincials. I think we send them in now,” the Admiral continued calculatingly. “Three squadrons: one of Cruisers and two of Destroyers ought to do it. Let’s up the tempo and find out what they have along the arc of our advance sooner rather than later.”
“Designating an advance force from among the screen now, Admiral,” said the Operations Officer, “did you want to issue any new orders for the rest of the screen, Sir?”
Janeski paused and then shook his head. “Have the rest of the screening force continue with their previous orders for now. We’re just starting to get a clearer picture of what they have in there with the en-globement. I don’t want to disrupt that. If the advanced element needs to fall back they can call upon the squadrons nearest them for support,” said the Supreme Admiral.
“And about those three ships in the outer system?” asked Goddard. “Hmmm,” thought the Admiral, “it’s too small a group to threaten the main force but if they’re allowed to act…I think it’s time to activate the reserve force. Tell them to get behind those contacts and close the barn door shut behind them. No more surprises. I want to make a clean sweep of this star system.”
“We’ll pass the order, Sir,” said Goddard.
“And Goddard,” Janeski added, “tell them to come in nice and slow, at half speed; I want to flush out anything else lingering in the outer system if possible.”
“Aye-aye, Sir.”
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“Looks like the Imperials are making their move, Admiral,” LeGodat reported over the com-link, “I’ll be taking Task Force Retribution out immediately after this transmission and we’ll activate Cloud Screen before they have the chance to get a good look at us.”
“They’re already starting to hit us with powerful, highly focused scans, Commodore,” Admiral Montagne replied shortly, “make it snappy.”
“Will do, Sir. LeGodat over and out,” he replied, cutting the transmission before turning to his bridge. “Navigation, plot a least-time course toward those three squadrons and Helm I’m going to want your best speed. The Imps were kind enough to stick their head out on our watch so let’s do them the courtesy of chopping it off for them.”
“Aye-aye, Sir,” acknowledged the Nav and Helm team.
“Com’s, relay the course instructions from Navigatio
n to the rest of the Task Force and pass along the order: it’s time to roll out,” LeGodat ordered, “it’s full speed ahead and we don’t stop until we hit something hard enough to bounce.”
“Yes, Sir,” the Comm. Officer said opening a general hail to the rest of the Cruisers, “Task Force Retribution. To all ships of Task Force Retribution: maintain position on the Flagship and prepare to move out engage the enemy, course and speed files to are to follow this transmission. I say again: the operation is about to commence!”
“May the space gods have mercy on their souls, because I surely won’t,” LeGodat said, stepping up from his chair and hands clasped firmly together behind his back he advanced until he was right beneath the main-screen. It was time to grab this bull by the horns and start kicking it—and to keep kicking it in the head until it was so enraged it pushed and trampled him all the way back into the kill zone. There were going to be no fancy capes or tricky moves to lure it with, and the only red he had to offer to get its dander up and distracted with was the life blood of his various crews. The hulls of Task Force Retribution were going to weep crimson before this was all over, but it was perhaps the most worthy battle he had ever engaged in—and certainly it was the most consequential.
“This had better be worth it, Admiral,” he muttered under his breath before turning back to face the bridge. He pointed a finger at the helmsman, “The order is given. Engage the engines. It’s time to get this party started.”
Turning back he glared up at the holo-screen above him.
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Admiral's War Part Two (A Spineward Sectors Novel: Book 10) Page 17