Eleven captains acknowledged as being ready.
“On my mark. Three, two, one, mark!”
Again, Jean mashed the master button. Again, twelve fast movers blinked out and blinked in.
“Mandy?”
“All’s good, Cap.”
Everyone waited the required minutes.
“Good shooting, Reprieve. Same for the rest of you. Eleven for eleven. Reprieve, I’m passing you your new target. We all jump in one minute.”
For the fourth time, twelve fast moving human attack ships jumped twelve Mortek frigates. Eleven died. One became crippled. Again, twelve Stingers returned and waited to view the results of their efforts.
“Okay, Captains. Six frigates left. A seventh damaged. Reprieve, finish your run. You have your same target. Jack’s Flash, Mariella, Moonshot, Clara’s Freedom, Vagabond and Gazelle will take out the last six. We go in three.”
Three minutes and a second later, the six designated fast movers floated at their starting points.
“Six for six. We go in one.”
Another three minutes and a second passed.
“Well done, Captains. All Mortek frigates are down. Give yourselves ‘attaboys’. Get back to Tolimar. Take a couple of days off. Get down to the planet. You deserve it.”
“You don’t need to tell us twice, Hornet.”
“Since you spoke first, Jack, you and Angela get to introduce Captain Desinal and her crew to Tolimar. Get them settled in. Captain Desinal, job well done. I am proud to have you part of the Stinger Squadron.”
“Thank you, Senior Captain. We will do everything in our power to never betray your trust.”
“I don’t doubt that for a minute. Captains, get out of here. I need to give an after-action report to the Commander. See you all back at base.”
Eleven fast movers jumped to Tolimar. Gazelle jumped to Arium.
Aboard Griffin - Bridgelen
“Sue, have you sent the packet on the Stinger attack?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Now the hard part.”
“Remember, Krag. You need to leave a door open. War needs to make an offer.”
“I really wish that you were doing this, Keiko.”
“You know that that’s not going to happen.”
“Ya, Cap. Old War would never condescend to talking with an egg-layer.”
“Ha, ha, Mack. But you’re right. Hit hard, loosen up, Krag. You know that you can do this.”
“Easy for you to say, Half-Pint. Okay. Sue, open a channel.”
“Opened, Commander.”
“Igaklay, translator?”
“Up and running.”
“War, you just saw what our small jump-ships can do. You have seen what our cruisers can do.”
“Those are not your cruisers, thief. They are Mortek cruisers which you stole.”
“Times of War. I see that the Sasania fleet has arrived. You are now at full force.”
“Yes, Food. Now you soft skins will feel Mortek might.”
“About that. we can sent our fleet to your first world, where you are building your ships. We can begin destroying your manufacturing stations within three Sasania days.”
“And we will begin destroying you, one system at a time.”
“And there we are. Two intelligent species focused on destroying each other. Why? You no longer speak of colonization, of expanding Mortek control. You speak only of destruction and death.”
“You brought this on, Food. With your jump-ships and your strange rockets.”
“We fought to protect ourselves. It was you who used nuclear weapons. It was you who changed the purpose of this conflict.”
“And now, we will finish this conflict.”
“This conflict can end in only one way. The Mortek will never be able to conquer Arium and Tolimar. You have seen what we can do with those hundreds of thousands of asteroids in Arium. You think that you can send nuclear missiles through the gate. And you can. But they will never reach our ships or our planets. Your manufacturing planet, on the other hand, is vulnerable. If you make a move on any of Humanity’s systems, we will destroy your manufacturing planet.”
“You just stated that, if I keep my armada here, in what you soft skins call ‘Bridgelen’, you will not unleash your jump ships on Home One.”
“That is my offer.”
“You said nothing about Nest One.”
“Open for negotiation. You attack any Human system, we destroy Home One. If you continue, we destroy Nest One.”
“I will think on this.”
“Two Sasanian days. Then, we will talk again.”
Aboard Ravage Maker – Bridgelen
Upon breaking the link, War sprang to his feet, and grabbed the meaty bone he had been ingesting before the soft skin contact. In rage, he threw it against the bulkhead where it moistly smacked then slid to the deck. Glaring at the offending piece of meat, War envisioned it being that abominable soft skin.
“How dare that, that Food negotiate with me. It is no more than a single meal. I will feast on its bones!”
“My Overlord, please. I humbly abase myself and beseech that we analyse our situation then logically project an outcome.”
“Intelligence, are you saying that we cannot conquer this weak race of soft skin creatures?”
“Please, My Overseer. I am just begging that we analyse the situation.”
“Fine. You are First Intelligence. Analyse our situation.”
“I will start with a question. Do we believe that we will be able to conquer and destroy what the soft skins call Arium?” Given the resistance we experienced in the first attack, how much more prepared will the soft skins be with those jump engines on asteroids. And, what about those defensive platforms? Do they have more of those? Are those platforms now equipped with those jump engines? What would be the cost?”
With rage devolving to anger, War took his stool and tapped claws on his desk.
“The cost would be high.”
“Again, with all respect, would it be worth it? We know from our information that the soft skins currently occupy eleven star systems. We occupy Nest One, which they previously occupied. Nine of those star systems do not have the defensive capabilities which this Arium possesses.”
“You are advocating that we attack and conquer the other nine systems.”
“If we move forward with our mission.”
“That is what Lord Minister commanded.”
“Then, we have two choices. We could divide our armada and attack multiple systems simultaneously or we could attack one system at a time, with our full contingent of ships.”
“To maintain our defensive grids, we could divide our armada into only two fleets.”
“I agree, My Overseer. However, what stops the soft skins from destroying Nest One?”
“We send half of our fleet back to Nest One.”
“That will take twenty-six Nest One cycles. Without a war fleet, Nest One is vulnerable. The soft skins can also destroy Home One. We no longer will be able to construct new ships, especially dreadnaughts.”
“We can function without dreadnaughts. Once we retake their Cencore, we can begin manufacturing our war ships there.”
“That will take time. Time for the soft skins to continue to convert more of our stolen fleet. More time for the soft skins to convert more of those ships they retrieved in what they call Atlantius.”
“You are saying that this becomes a race.”
“With both sides losing. What if they succeed in building a fleet large enough to destroy Nest One? What good is a war fleet with no nest and no manufacturing or resupply capabilities.”
War sagged into his stool, his anger spent, replaced by resignation.
“We can conquer but we cannot win.”
“I most humbly, with great sadness, agree, My Overlord. As long as the soft skins have their own shipyards out of reach, they will always be a threat. Total conquest is not an option.”
“Logisti
cs, your assessment?”
“Without a base, we will run out of resources. Our war fleet will run out of munitions and supplies. We will run out of nuclear missiles. Even gaining another system, it will take time to bring it up to a level sufficient to supply us with our needs. I most humbly and sadly agree with First Intelligence, My Overseer. Total conquest and control is not achievable.”
“Then, find a solution. I command this. You have two Nest One cycles.”
“At your Command, My Overseer.”
Chapter 35
Arium – Latinia Government Building
For the second time in less than a week, the board room of the Latinia Government Building held the HEB Alliance Executive Staff and the Federacy Naval Space Force senior officers. As before, the two lined up at their opposite ends, like boxers in their corners.
Having been forewarned, Lord Kaporine began the conversation.
“First, I want to extend my deepest sympathies at the loss of one of your ships and her crew, Vice-Admiral Weiskoff. Even in times of conflict, a single loss of life is a tragedy.”
“Thank you, Prime Minister,” Weiskoff tersely responded, showing as little respect as possible towards the Elonian Royal.
“Further, I wish to extend my greatest admiration at your successful campaign against the Mortek fleet berthed in Yeni Persia. From my understanding, with the support of the HEB Alliance Stinger squadron, there are no longer any Mortek war ships in that system. Is that correct?”
“That is correct,” again, Weiskoff tersely responded.
Looking over the table, Lord Kaporine continued.
“Thank you all for coming. “We have gathered at the request of Ambassador Suzume. It is her conclusion that we have reached a critical negotiation point with the leader of the Mortek invasion, this being named ‘War’. Ambassador Suzume, you have the floor. Is that correct use of that phrase?”
“That is correct, Your Lordship. Thank you all for coming. Before I begin, I would like Commander Marston to summarize where we stand. Commander?”
“Thank you, Ambassador. Vice-Admiral Weiskoff has led three attacks against the Mortek fleet holding Yeni Persia. Other than the unfortunate loss of one of the Federacy’s ships of the line, his sorties were all successes. The loss of Reprisal is a tragedy. However, the result of Vice-Admiral Weiskoff’s leadership and his fleet’s actions is the complete destruction of all the Mortek cruisers and destroyers.”
Krag paused while the congratulations reverberated around the table.
“Under the command of Senior Pilot Forsythe, thirty frigates also were destroyed by her Stinger Squadron.”
Again, congratulation and hoofs rose from the gathered leaders.
“Under Ambassador Suzume’s direction and counselling, after each attack, we opened a dialogue with War. We sent them our after-action reports of each attack and we emphasized our strengths, Humanity’s will and ability to fight. Which brings us to our current situation. Which brings us back to Ambassador Suzume.”
Keiko took a sip of water and cleared her throat.
“Without being too redundant, our last meeting concluded with the realization that the only way to stop this war from escalating was to bring the Mortek to the bargaining table. The only way to do that was to create an acceptance of the mutually assured destruction doctrine. The problem was to get the Mortek, more specifically, War, to the negotiating table.”
Keiko paused to collect her thoughts by taking another sip of water.
“As we all know, the Mortek look upon Humanity as nothing more than slaves and food. So, they, in their current frame of minds, would not lower themselves to deal with us. We needed to raise ourselves in their eyes. We have done that. Now, a little pop psychology. The five stages of grief.”
“Psycho-babble.”
“Yes, Vice-Admiral. But useful. Stage one is denial. After destroying a single Mortek cruiser, War denied that we were a threat. He threatened to destroy us all. After we destroyed the other two cruisers, he quickly moved to the second stage, anger, actually rage. He threw a tantrum. Vice-Admiral Weiskoff crushed the destroyers. War remained in a rage. Commander Marston pressed our technological advantages and presented a vision of total destruction.”
“Those bugs will never change.”
“I believe that you are wrong, Vice-Admiral. That is why I called for this conference. After Senior Pilot Forsythe cleaned out the Frigates, Commander Marston again re-emphasized our technical advantage and, this time, warned War to not leave Bridgelen. The Mortek ships which had been sailing from Yeni Persia have arrived in Bridgelen. Currently, the Mortek fleet is double in size. It is no longer a fleet. It is an armada. And, it is not moving!”
“You’re saying that the Mortek Armada is holding position in Bridgelen. It could be in preparation for a major push. We don’t know why it hasn’t set sail, yet.”
“That is true, Vice-Admiral. But, during our last dialogue, War asked a question. He asked, ‘If we remain in Bridgelen, you will not attack Nest One or Home One’. That is a critical point. That is the opening gambit on negotiating a peaceful end to the conflict.”
“You called this meeting on a question?”
“I called this meeting on a change of mindset by the Mortek, specifically, War. And, that armada hasn’t moved.”
“This is all hopeful thinking.”
“Commander Marston, after warning War, stated that he would return in two days. That would be tomorrow.”
“Why are we here, Ambassador?” Tolimar’s Governor Kaufman asked.
“What if, staying with the five stages of grief, the Mortek have come to stage four, resignation. What if they are now open to negotiations? What are we willing to give up? That is why we are here.”
“Great. Another all-nighter,” Lawrence Gregor loudly stated.
Aboard Ravage Maker – Bridgelen
Intelligence and Logistics knew that the news they were about to deliver would not be received well. With trepidation in their steps and in their minds, the two entered War’s conference room.
“My Overlord, we have conferenced with Science, Weapons and Production. The five of us have reached a consensus.”
“From your posture, you have not found a result to our current situation.”
“Not a victory, no, My Overlord. We have reached the conclusion that our best result is a standoff.”
“Explain.”
“Production is building nuclear weapons at a prestigious rate. We are building the capability to destroy whole worlds. Science has not found a way to nullify those strange rockets. However, Weapons continues to ensure us that, as long as we stay in formation, we are safe from any soft skin attacks.”
“You are saying that, as long as the armada remains stationary and continues to threaten the soft skin planets, they will not attack Nest One or Home One.”
“That is our conclusion, My Overlord.”
“What about the soft skin shipyards, where the jump-ships are constructed and maintained?”
“We have come to the conclusion that they reside on a system which we have not conquered or have done a thorough inspection.”
“That is the next requirement. Logistics, launch surveillance drones to all systems. Locate the soft skin shipyards. Do it now!”
“At your command, My Overlord.”
War’s console communicator buzzed.
“What?”
“The soft skin known as Commander Marston has returned and contacted us.”
“Put him through.”
“War?”
“No videos? What have you destroyed now?”
“Nothing, War. I gave you my word. Your armada is now complete. Have you come to a conclusion?”
“We are going to find the shipyards that build your jump-ships and destroy them.”
“No, War. You are not. As I said before, those shipyards are more than two hundred lightyears from where you are. And, there are no gates.”
“You lie.”
&nb
sp; “I have never lied, War.”
Silence held for a long moment as War and Krag thought.
“War, I will take you to our shipyards. I will show you that they are unreachable.”
“Give me the coordinates. I will send a dreadnaught.”
“It would take almost three hundred Sasanian solar cycles to reach the planet, War. We will supply a jump-ship. You may travel on that.”
“You are willing to allow Mortek on a jump-ship?”
“If it ends this war, yes.”
“We will discuss this. Contact us in a Nest One cycle.”
“Understood.”
Aboard Griffin - Bridgelen
“Krag, that is a hair-brained idea. Where did you come up with that?”
“I don’t know, Keiko. It just seemed right.”
“The entire HEB Alliance board didn’t come up with this idea. They would never approve.”
“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”
“Commander?”
“Yes, Buster?”
“Vidhee and I have been communicating. Actually, we think that it is a good idea. A very good idea.”
“Really?”
“The Mortek will be able to see the jump technology first-hand. They will see that it is alien tech. That has got to be intimidating. We explain the dark matter energy. We show them our artificial gravity. Vidhee and I have concluded that this demonstration will go a long way to pressuring them to stop their invasion.”
“Oy, Tinman. And the quant-com. We leave them with a quant-com. Then, whoever those Mortek send, they can give eyeball reports.”
“Maybe it will work. But there is no way that we use Griffin,” Keiko stated.
“Why not? It’s the perfect ship.”
“And Humanity’s symbol of victory, Krag. Buster, discuss this with Vidhee.”
“We just did. Keiko is correct, Commander. Griffin should not be used. If the Mortek decide on a suicide mission, Griffin’s loss would be devastating.”
“No Griffin. Igaklay, get me Gazelle.”
Victory in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 6) Page 41