"Perhaps reputation, what with all those political games and schemes they play in Gestonia" Clovis remarked, his voice rather mellow and un-interested.
"Perhaps, they are a different breed of people Gestonian's after all" Jonah stated in a non-committal attitude as he flexed his fingers before him, loosening the stiff joint's.
Finishing his review of Jonah's notes, Clovis handed the clipboard back without a word. He then sunk in on himself as he contemplated strategies for the new battle that was fast approaching. He could not afford anything less than complete victory, as night was fast approaching and his crew needed rest badly.
Looking at the on screen radar, Clovis saw dozens of small dots, swirling around. The fighters that would now be battling Harald's pursuing forces. It was foolish in Clovis' opinion. Harald's airships were no longer on radar as they had fallen behind considerably, yet he had sent his fighters to pursue, and without the support of the large craft, the imperial fighters were suffering badly. Clovis had not known any other commander that would so waste the lives of his soldiers, and he felt a burning anger at the callousness of the Gestonian prince.
As the time passed by, Clovis noticed Harald's ships creeping closer on the radar. They were perhaps two to three kilometres away and would soon be upon Clovis and his forces.
But there was hope in sight, Clovis could see airships on the horizon, above the ocean. Clovis and his battle fleet were still flying above ground, but from the speed they were going, he was sure that the next confrontation would take place a few hundred metres out to sea. They had truly covered a vast amount of territory in the last twenty four hours, and most of it had been in the twelve hours since his engagement with Phidel.
"The Imperials are retreating Sir" one of his officers suddenly spoke out, causing Clovis to jolt out of his thoughts and turn his attention to the officer that had addressed him.
"What did you say? What are they doing?" Clovis asked as he sat up straight in his seat and looked around in surprise.
"The Imperial fighters have withdrawn and the sky fleet has broken off pursuit and is now heading south" the officer stated. Clovis looked at the radar and noticed that it was true as many of the small dots now retreated.
"Unbelievable, Harald is withdrawing. Well he must truly be as stupid as I thought then" Clovis said quietly to himself.
"Adjust our course, we will do a wide loop to the south, tell Kully to move ahead of us and attempt to intercept Harald. The prince is giving us a chance to surround him. I'll not let it go to waste" Clovis exclaimed as he sat up further and leaned forward, his hands clasped under his chin to support his head as he just stared hard at the radar on screen.
Chapter 32
* * *
"You want me to retreat?" Harald demanded of Niall over the video call, a heavy set scowl on his face.
"That is exactly what I want you to do Lord Prince" Niall stated matter of factly, trying desperately to conceal a twitch in his eye.
"If I do that, Clovis will no doubt take the opportunity to surround me. I am better off going straight after him, and engaging him in battle over the ocean where you can then reinforce me with your ship's" the Prince shot back, that scowl still on his face. He obviously did not agree one bit with Niall's point of view.
"I fully understand your view my Lord, and am aware of your current situation, but you must think of it like this. A battle over the ocean right now runs the risk of reinforcements by sea, we should pull Clovis into battle above land where he loses that chance of reinforcement, and where we can gain that advantage instead. I have had Xevec reroute the aircraft from Pagua after the success of the bombing of the blockade, so we will have a vast advantage over Clovis" Niall explained, his voice level as he tried to reason with the hot headed prince.
"Sir Belford, if we show that level of force, Clovis will simply run away and we will have to chase him yet again. It is better for us to engage him now" Harald persisted indignantly. It took a lot of control for Niall to stop himself from yelling at the prince and he just pursed his lips.
"That would be true normally, but not in this case, as all our forces will not arrive before the battle is joined" Niall continued, his expression cracking for the briefest of moments and allowing his irritation to shine through. Harald just stared dumbly at Niall, struggling to understand what he meant. Not wanting to let him stew for too long in front of his subordinates, Niall enlightened the prince.
"My ships are currently holding their position on these fields, out of view, we will only join the battle once it has started and we will hit Clovis from behind. Also, the forces from Pagua are en-route as we speak, and will be at the set location in forty minutes at their current speed. The fight will be hard at first, but as our ranks grow, we will have the advantage, and with the current state of Clovis' sky fleet, victory is all but assured" Niall spoke out, his hands clenching behind his back as he tried to maintain composure in front of the Prince.
Harald just stared at Phidel’s Knight, and after a few seconds, Niall swore he could hear the gears clicking in the boisterous man's skull. Finally the prince seemed to understand and he acknowledged Niall with a nod.
"Let it be so then, I will do as you ask, and we will see if Clovis snaps at the bait" Harald exclaimed with anger right before he turned away and cut off communications, leaving Niall to sigh in exasperation. Now that the conversation was concluded, the Captain of the airship Niall was on approached the young Knight.
"Royalty eh Sir" he stated mischievously, his eyes crinkling around the edges to show his amusement.
"Indeed Captain Danzig. Some can be very hard to deal with" Niall said to the tall thin Captain as he turned to face him.
"So now we wait and hope her Majesty made the right choice in sending us here" Danzig mused as he looked out over the forest ringed fields they were currently hovering in.
"I can assure you captain, her majesty did right by sending three of her ships to aid Harald. As long as we know where Clovis is, we don't risk another attack at Kernow" Niall stated before he to, turned to look out over the forest.
"That is true, but are you sure this course of action is correct Sir, it could go badly, especially if Prince Harald ignores your orders in battle" Danzig stated, his mouth curling up in a thin smile.
"He won't. Harald knows that I speak for his sister here. I am her second in command after all, and the battle will go in our favour. Clovis and his soldiers are tired and lacking repairs and supplies. Besides he is like a child, he see's something shiny and snatches at it, not even thinking about the risks involved. Clovis will have been enticed by taking out a member of the royal family, and he no doubt see's Prince Harald as an easy target because of the man's obvious lack of experience. And we will use that to our advantage" Niall explained, not in the bit phased by his admittance that Harald was essentially bait, even if the prince did not fully realise it himself.
"My lords, the Federation vessels have appeared to the south, intercepting Prince Harald. Battle has started" a middle aged female crew member called out to notify the Captain and Niall. The Captain raised an eyebrow and looked quizzically at Niall.
"As you predicted my lord, should we get moving ourselves?" Danzig queried, his gaze and resolution set.
"By all means Captain, I leave the rest to you" Niall said and stepped aside, leaving Danzig to take his seat. Niall was after all, only notionally in charge and would leave the actual command of the ship to Danzig. It was Niall's job right now to see the bigger picture. He had been told explicitly by Phidel to command, and not to go to battle in a fighter, that those days of his were now long past. In light of recent events, Niall was inclined to agree with her and he recognised the fact that he did need to familiarise himself with command of an airship and a greater force.
As the craft took off, the airship rose past the trees surrounding the fields they were in, and Niall saw a battle appear in the distance. Harald had been engaged by six airships and another five where rapidly approac
hing from the sea. That had to be Clovis' fleet. So it would be eleven airships against another eleven, a pitched battle.
Niall's force sped up aiming to reach Harald before Clovis. But to his surprise, Clovis broke off his attempt on Harald and headed straight for Niall and his ships. So it would be three against five.
Captain Danzig did not falter, and ordered his fighters into the air. Before long they were met with the oncoming fighters of Clovis and vicious dogfighting ensued between the two groups of airships. This battlefield was now divided into two separate theatres, in one was Prince Harald, outnumbering his adversary, but in comparison, his crews where vastly less experienced then those that he faced. Whilst in the other was Niall who was outnumbered by Clovis, yet he held the advantage in the fact that his troops where fresh, and his ships relatively undamaged and well supplied, unlike that of Clovis.
Captain Danzig knew this also and ordered a relentless assault, energy cannons firing indiscriminately. The darkening dusk sky was lit up as energy beams slashed through it, coming to crash into the shields and the surrounding landscape, fighters zipping in amongst it all, engaging in complicated dog fights. The airship shook as three of Clovis own targeted it, trying to bring it down quickly and efficiently. They would have succeeded if their ships had been undamaged and supplied, which they were not, and sure enough, Niall watched as Clovis' left flank gave way.
One of his ships shields crumbled as the energy crystal running it ran dry, and imperial fire smashed into its unguarded structure, erupting into a spectacular show of fire, smoke and flying debris. The craft immediately tilted heavily as its engines ceased functioning, and Niall watched as it literally fell out of the sky, crashing into the forest below and setting it alight. The tables turned fast and the battle raged on even as the sky got darker and darker. The field of battle became quite hard to make out now as both the night set in and thick wide plumes of smoke filled the sky. Niall could see the crashed airship on fire and its flames had gained purchase in the forest below.
Convinced that the battle was in his favour, Niall looked across the field and just made out the battle Harald was engaged in, but could not make out any features. He shifted his weight and leaned down to Captain Danzig and spoke softly in the man's ear.
"Please contact Prince Harald, I need to know what is happening" Niall ordered, and as he straightened up, the Captain nodded and barked an order for a communications officer to connect them to Harald. A minute passed by with no response and Niall felt a knot form in his stomach, wondering if the Prince was even still alive. Finally an image flitted into place on screen and the prince appeared, the bridge of his ship flashing in red light. Dismayed already, Niall stepped forward.
"My lord, what is your situation, we cannot tell from here" Niall asked, holding back the desire to shout as he could see that Harald was quite busy on his own ship.
"It could be better Sir Belford, my ship is running on emergency power. We have been hit hard and relentlessly. I have lost two of my cruisers already, but taken down one of the opposing battleships. However, our reinforcements from Pagua have been arriving steadily and the tide is turning in our favour. It is only a matter of time until our numbers advantage begins to show success. What of yourself Sir Belford" Harald actually shouted so he could be heard over the various shouts and noises on his bridge. Niall scowled deeply, wondering just what type of crew he was running. It looked like a panicked mess.
"We are winning for now my Lord. I fear we had the easiest of the foes. Clovis' ships are simply too damaged to offer much resistance, we shall rout them soon I am sure. Once we have, we will rush to your aid" Niall stated as he clenched his fists behind his back, a motion that Captain Danzig caught.
"That is good to hear, I will keep you updated Sir Belford, may victory grace us both" Harald shouted and then looked to the side as a member of his crew called out to him.
"Indeed my Lord, give no quarter" Niall murmured as he motioned for communications to be cut off. The screen shut down and Niall caught sight of another of Clovis' ships sinking in the darkness. This one managed to land itself clear of the forest fires below and Niall smiled grimly. That crew was fortunate in a way. Looking out over the remaining airships he sucked in a breath and realised he was still tense from seeing Harald.
Shaking his head, he observed the remaining forces before him. It was now three on three and it seemed as though Clovis was trying to turn his force about. Niall watched as a stream of energy beams came from the ship he was on and ripped through the shield of the ship on Clovis' right. The energy beams tore into the flank of the ship and Niall watched as a massive explosion blew out the side of the ship. He guessed a power crystal had ruptured and then exploded under the cannon fire.
As this ship fell from the sky, it crashed hard into the forest below, right into a section that was already a raging inferno of flames. Niall pitied the men and women on board that craft. There were better ways to go then to be burned to death. As the battle became one sided, Clovis stopped attempting to turn his remaining ships about for retreat and instead raced forwards, attempting to tear through Niall's formation. Danzig showed no reaction as the guns kept firing and the Moset's shield was crushed.
As the streams of energy beams ripped into the front of the Moset, Niall saw the enemy’s bridge and swore he could see Clovis walking out of his command with subordinates in tow. The ship sunk and disappeared underneath Danzig's ship as it collided with the ground upwind of the fires. Niall scowled and turned his attention to the third ship that had faltered in its charge and was now attempting to turn away. The three Imperial ships blasted it with everything they had and Niall watched the last Federation ship get blown clean out of the air. It erupted into a brilliant show of fire as it outright exploded, spewing fiery debris across the landscape. The main body of the ship crashed straight down, smashing into the hard ground and spreading flames all around it.
Niall shook his head as he thought about those that had lost their lives in this battle even as Captain Danzig ordered an advance to aid Harald. As they emerged from the smoke laden sky however, they saw the remaining federation ships fleeing westwards with two less their number and Harald's forces coming to Niall's aid. Harald had been reduced to five ships, one of which was smoking badly and appeared to be struggling to stay airborne.
But they had attained an astounding victory indeed and Niall couldn’t help but smile grimly. Danzig seemed to take over and barked an order for communications to be made to all other airships, and barked another order for all fighters to hunt down any surviving enemy fighters and to then return to respective runways or bays.
Niall stood silently as the orders were given and the other captains of the sky fleet came onto video link, seemingly all congratulating each other on the victory. Niall could hear cheering from a number of the crews on board and he scowled and stepped forward, creating a hush.
"We haven't won yet. Land your ships and form search parties. We must take Clovis into custody. Once we have done so, this victory will be complete. Find survivors, if they resist, kill them" he ordered, his voice hard. The Captains nodded their assent and one by one, shut down their video links as they made to follow out the Knight's commands.
* * *
"Damn it all to hell, who were we up against?" Clovis demanded as he and the survivors of his crew crashed through the forest underbrush. They were aiming for the north of the country where they could expect to find friendly forces.
"Before we were cut off from Captain Kully, Princess Sarah had said that she believed the commander was Sir Niall Belford. It is quite possible she was right. As it was not a strategy used by Phidel in the past" Jonah answered the commander as they all jogged up a slight slope in the forest.
"Well whatever, it doesn't matter who was in charge, now I know why Harald retreated, the bastards where waiting for us. They got me good, and now we need to get out of here before they find us" Clovis stated angrily as he stopped moving momentarily to catch his b
reath. He turned and looked down the slope into the red glow of the night and forest fires. He took in the sight of many flashlights ripping through the darkness, as Imperials searched the forest's outer rim for survivors, every now and then a scream could be heard as someone was discovered and shot. Clovis winced at the screams, imagining that many of his people would be surrendering, rather than be burnt to death in the raging fire.
He shook his head sadly and on impulse took a single step downhill. Instantly he felt a hand grip his left forearm and turning around he looked Jonah in the eyes.
"Sir, I know what you are thinking, but sometimes the life of a single individual is worth more than a thousand. We need to keep moving. Kully will no doubt send men to find us, but for them to find us, we can’t have been caught by the imperials already" Jonah said, his voice strained. All eyes were on Clovis now, and he could feel the low morale of the few dozen of his crew that had abandoned ship with him.
"Shut up. I know that you fool, now stop talking and start walking" Clovis snarled as he wrenched his arm from Jonah's grip and pushed past him to storm uphill, a deep anger gripping his heart.
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