by Ken Pence
***
“Admiral Umma. We have just gotten word from the reconnaissance ships. A large fleet is gathering at Umplus – Saiph by the human nomenclature,” said the communications officer.
“Notify the ERF and our fleet that it looks like battle plan yellow. Send them the disposition of their fleet and make sure they understand the position of those century ships – they are not just rumor and do exist,” said Admiral Umma.
***
“Admiral Kyger. Admiral Umma confirms battle plan Yellow and wants to draw your attention to three century ships that do exist and are designed for orbital, kinetic bombardment,” said the comm officer.
“Okay people. This is for all the enchiladas. Acknowledge Umma – get confirmations. Tell him the drinks are on me when we get back. Attack commences on his mark,” Brad said looking around at the tense faces around him.
“Seal up people,” said the Master Chief as the crew sealed their suits.
***
Captain Andrew Williams looked around the Junior’s bridge. It was an eclectic collection of beings. His original team was here plus LeiLei, Shiv, Lee Post and Xilatoi. Everyone thought they should be out of the battle proper but nearby to consult. That meant that they were not to take an active part in the battle with the non-combatants on board. Andrew had mixed feelings about it but he was not going to subordinate to the military if he could help it.
Andrew listened as the seconds to initiation sped by. The time arrived and the massive number of ships around Earth disappeared.
Saiph at Last
Senior Coercer Bracc had been given command of six ships after his debacle on Gralon 3 but they were not the cruisers he had before. These were three destroyers and three frigate class used in patrols on the outskirts of the system. He would not be promoted to Master Coercer rank in the near future. He now had no chance to move to the Arbitrator track where he could dictate terms to a planet. He was stuck in a do nothing post but he would find a way to redeem his reputation.
His seniors had reacted to his case in astonishing speed. They had begun to gather the largest collection of lodges ever seen in two hundred years. They were going to harvest an entire fringe planet. They would take all they wanted and then turn it into a sterile ball. Gralon 3 would also be erased. They could not afford a degradation of their reputation. Already, it was rumored that a stealth fleet under the command of councilmember Cetosme was enroute there. Bracc had heard of a new stealth system but had heard there was damage when it was being tested. Propaganda from the Council did not necessarily mean the stealth system existed though as…
“Senior!” yelled his scan tech. “Hundreds of ships have just appeared.”
“What! Is it Cetosme’s task force? Who is it? Why weren’t we notified? Call headquarters, get clarification and demand to know why we were not informed,” Bracc yelled – incensed by this unauthorized movement without his knowledge.
***
The surprise was complete. The Allung had not faced reprisals in living history and were slow to react. Their weak identify friend and Foe (IFF) delayed their responses even further. It was not until their ships began disappearing in flashes of light that they even realized they were under attack.
***
Hundreds of the new slicers hit the battleships and the planetoids. They would micro-jump through them over and over. They were massed so close together that micro-jumps would hit multiple ships with each jump. The field penetrators had been refitted with fission and fusion warheads. The lasers cut through the smaller ships as if they were butter and their return fire was ineffective as the attacked ES and ERF ships would turn and dodge with their enhanced computer control.
The lasers from one planetoid cut through an ES battleship that touched off a tremendous blast of soundless light. The collar releasing broadcasts must have helped because many of the Allung ships quit firing soon after initiation. A few Allung ships began attacking their neighbor ships. The Saiph system became a charnel house of destruction.
***
Two of the planetoid ships and most of the Allung battleship class were out of the action. The third planetoid was riddled but still putting up a fight while the smaller class ships were trying to draw attackers away from it. The Allung were not cowards and knew their whole existence was being threatened. They fought like this was the end and it was for tens of thousands of them and their slaves.
The third planetoid got hit with a field penetrator missile with a fusion warhead. It must have hit the core as the gigantic ship began to break apart in a blast of light. The ES and ERF fleets had taken about 15% and 10% casualties respectively but the Allung had been decimated. The survivors had sped out of the system using their last ditch weapons which had accounted for most of the losses.
The ES began to destroy the surface shipyards and industrial facilities on the surface using lasers and orbital debris from the battleships and planetoids. The ERF went after any remaining ships that put up a fight. They didn’t have the resources to board but made sure every attempt was made to unlock the slave collars. They had to kill the shields before it would work and there were so many ships.
***
Senior Coercer Bracc witnessed the wholesale slaughter of his fleet from his distant patrol route on the outskirts of the Saiph system. He was trying to decide whether to move in and fight or retreat to the nearest alternate base when he noticed an anomaly.
“Has that ship been there long?” he asked the scan tech.
“Yes, Senior. It has been there for the entire battle. It has done nothing,” the tech answered.
“It is familiar. I think it is one of the ships that attacked us at Gralon 3,” Bracc said filling up with frustration and rage at the beings responsible for his current predicament. Bracc called his other ships and gave them specific orders.
***
“Captain Williams, we have several ships bracketing us. They are almost in weapons range and are aligning with us,” the tactical officer said.
“Micro jump to…” Andrew started to say but the aft section of the Junior was sheared off and the ship was rotating without power or shields.
Chaos reigned within the Junior as the crew forced their way to the flight bay. The Junior was finished and they would have to cram whoever they could into the two shuttles – if they were even flightworthy.
The shuttles were filling up fast and it looked like everyone forward of engineering would make it. Williams ordered them to head to the nearest friendly ship. It was standing room only as the shuttles left the Junior.
***
“Senior, two shuttles have left the damaged ship,” said the scan tech.
“Do not let them escape. Disable those shuttles if you can – destroy them if you cannot disable them,” Senior Coercer Bracc said seeing the chance to redeem some of his honor.
***
“Captain, they are coming after us,” the pilot said.
“Try to lose them. We don’t have any weapons on these things that would harm them,” Andrew said. “Split up…Head for that ES destroyer.”
The two shuttles leapt to speed. They couldn’t be hit easily when moving but they would have to stop to disembark and that is when they’d be vulnerable. The shuttle Albert surged for the ES destroyer while the other headed for a group of ERF ships. The idea had been that the other ships should curtail pursuit by the Allung ships. The Junior crew didn’t realize the level of animosity felt by Senior Coercer Bracc.
“Captain, the Allung followed us,” the tactical officer said as a laser clipped the front of the shuttle.
The shuttle spun away from the destroyer as the Allung lasers penetrated the bow and the atmosphere jetted out. The ES destroyer did not stand idly by but was firing everything it had at the Allung ships. The unexpected concentration of fire from the two Allung destroyers and a frigate finally disabled the lone ES destroyer.
Captain Williams had the crew abandon the shuttle and drift off into space. They were computer linked
together using suit controls but kept fields at minimum to be less visible. They put the spinning hull of the shuttle between themselves and the Allung ships as they floated through the intermittent flashes from the battle. They had just gotten a good distance away from the shuttle when it vaporized. The Allung ships stayed around long enough to finish off the ES destroyer and then they disappeared. The other shuttle had led their pursuers into a squadron of ERF ships who had finished off any pursuit and rescued that half of the Junior’s crew. The rescued personnel gave the last known location and heading of the Albert shuttle and the search got close enough to pick up the suit radios of the drifting personnel. They were soon recovered without injury.
The orbital bombardment of the facility lasted until the lasers were overheating and they ran out of the small asteroids. The surface facilities were devastated and they didn’t have time to do more than a cursory check of some of the facilities that had stopped fighting early in the conflict. Several bands of freed slaves were found but few could be transported from the surface.
Some of the Allung ships had stopped fighting and were still in orbit. Those were boarded. The ES personnel did what they could briefing the surviving slaves on board as to the secret areas of the ships they would have to secure and how the Allung secreted weapons on their persons. Allung who were found hiding were given no chance. The ES and ERF forces took several of the less damaged Allung ships to replace damaged or destroyed ships. Surviving crews were moved to other ships. The non-jump capable ships were left to guard the system. There were a number of ships remaining and Captain Andrew Williams was to get one.
***
Brad turned to Andrew and his crew that had been brought to the flight deck on Admiral Kyger’s flagship.
“Congratulations, Andrew…you’ve had your first ship shot out from under you. I am glad you made it but I’m sorry for the loss of four of your crew. It could have been any of us – heaven knows we lost a lot of good people but we’ve got to get to those next three bases before these creatures can recover and then we have to systematically destroy them whenever we find them,” Admiral Kyger said.
“What do you have in mind for us, Admiral?” Andrew asked.
“You’re welcome to come with us – your advice could be critical but we need a strong force here too. I will leave a token force with you but if what Rett tells me is true – we missed a large force of stealth ships either bound for Bellatrix or Earth. Those ships that hit you got away clean also – they aren’t big but they can pack a punch. What do you want to do?” Brad asked.
“I’ve seen a list of a few of the non-jump ships we control. They are fast and powerful and we’ll need a decent force here to control Allung ships that come back into the system. We need some jump capable courier ships, several field penetrators and slicers. We’ll need extra power supplies, food and supplies plus a company of ERF Marines. I’d like some suits too if you have them,” Andrew said.
“Andrew. I love you as a friend but I can’t give you all that…we are going to attack three more bases in succession. What would I get with that?” Kyger said.
“I’ll get you some backup for your last fight if nothing else. I think we can get several of these Allung ships converted to jump capable if we build an Enclosure. We’d use the troops to systematically clean out these ships. LeiLei, Steve, and Joel could make training cylinders for the freed slaves that would get them up-to-speed quickly,” Andrew said.
“There isn’t any safe place on the surface for an Enclosure. We haven’t vetted any of those slaves and the system isn’t secure. Besides – I can’t leave intelligence sources like you people behind enemy lines,” the admiral said.
“Leave us a jump capable destroyer and we’ll be able to evacuate critical personnel and we’ll build the Enclosure in space – we will make it so no personnel or intelligence will survive an attack. Brad – no system is safe from these creatures – nowhere. They will enslave and kill wherever they are unless they are stopped. We’ve shoved a stick in their eye and we have to follow up. I think we can do it,” Andrew said.
“I’ll leave you what I can. I have to update Umma’s people – they may object. What about the rest of you?” Brad said querying the personnel who overheard this rare exchange.
The assembled crew looked around at each other. They had never heard strategy planning like this that wasn’t behind closed doors and were damn happy to be alive. If Andrew thought they could do it – well they were happy to do it. They nodded assent and Brad shrugged and sighed. He turned to his Master Chief and said, “Chief. Find them a rowdy company that is good at independent action and as much of those items as we can spare…I must be crazy. Have everyone get eight hours accelerated sleep and we’ll aim to jump in six hours. Have navigation plot the possible designations of any escaping ships and relay those to the ES.
Survivors
The fleet was there one minute and the next they were gone to their next Allung target at Sheliak and then Mintaka. Admiral Kyger had done better than leaving the Junior’s crew a destroyer – he had left one of the new class of troop carrier, the York, that would house 1,000. It almost had as much firepower as a cruiser but had the time acceleration features of the rest of the fleet. Kyger left two companies of troops mainly because reports had come in from the reconnaissance ships. The next Allung bases had little ground support unlike here at Saiph and they would be more useful here. He had also left eight ships that had been too damaged to continue in the hopes they could be repaired to some level of service.
Andrew met with the captain of the York and the company commanders so they could finalize their plans.
“We have a lot to do and little time to do it,” Andrew said talking to the infantry captains and the captain of the York.
“We are going to sit right here until I get further orders Mister Williams,” said Captain Frank Wright with obvious derision – captain of the York. “You are under my care and will be treated as a civilian. I intend to defend this base but we won’t be taking any offensive actions. Do I make myself clear?”
Andrew let him run down realizing why he had gotten the privilege of getting the York – thanks Brad, he thought. The two infantry captains knew better than to get in the middle of this and didn’t say a word.
Andrew wasn’t one to thunder at people so he just handed Captain Wright a small envelope.
“What is this?” he demanded and jerked the note from Andrew’s hand.
“Admiral Kyger left this note for you to…clarify any issues that might come up,” Andrew said quietly.
Captain Wright read the note and turned beet red. He looked like he would pop. “Have you read this?” he demanded of Andrew.
“No. Admiral Kyger said I didn’t need to though he left an electronic file on my MemDex if I needed it, he said. Do you want me to read it?” Andrew said reaching out.
Wright jerked back the note possessively and said, “No, no – no need. What do you need us to do? Captain?”
Andrew paused before leaping in and the two infantry captains raised eyebrows but looked on with amused interest at the little byplay.
“We have to make use of our time so we need to construct a large Enclosure here in space. We can adjust the gravity, atmosphere, and the humidity. We need to retrofit the larger ships first – starting with the battleship and then the smaller ships. We need one set of troops to scan for hidden compartments. We need the majority of the troops to search the base for additional Allung, secret compartments, and slaves. We need the resources to complete our conversions. The York has a small supply of lamlee to help you with conversions. That’s all I have gentlemen. Do you have anything for me?”
The captains discussed issues for a few more minutes before the meeting broke up. The infantry captains had good ideas and Captain Wright sulked – there wasn’t any other way to describe it. He was pathetic but he would do what Captain Williams ordered. Whatever was in the note left an indelible mark.
***
&
nbsp; The rest of the crew appeared uncomfortable when Andrew got back to them.
“How did it go?” Susan asked.
“About what I expected,” Andrew replied. “We have our work cut out for us. It’s like we thought. Let’s review the assignments. Tod. You, Lee Post and Joel have to finalize the Enclosure and get it working. Rett, I need you to make sure the design for the step through gate works. Can you show Xilatoi where the information vaults were? Anything you can show him would be useful. Desiree. I need you to accompany the ground troops to search through any of the seized records with Xilatoi. Susan. I need you to coordinate getting the freed slaves situated and into training programs, so they will know who we are and how they can help. Ling. You and LeiLei work on improving that collar release device and the actual training program.
Lee, I want you in charge of the conversion of the ships to jump capable. We need those ships jump capable as soon as possible. We need more lamlee. We lost our spare supply when we lost the Junior and there will still be Allung hiding in-system and transporting into the system so go suited up and armed with fields on. Fran, I need you to certify all the environmental systems and monitor the medical treatment of the injured here. Shiv, I want you to plan the defense of the system and enhancing the armament on the seized ships. I am relying on you and any ideas you have. I will make up any loss in lamlee from the Junior. Contact me with problems and I’ll see you tomorrow this time,” Andrew said ending his diatribe.
***
Rett and Xilatoi were scouting the remains of the large administrative complex where Rett had been held captive. They had over a company of ERF troops and were scanning the buildings to see if they contained hidden rooms.