Counterstrike

by D. J. Holmes

  “We’re still here,” someone called out needlessly. “Multiple damage reports coming in.”

  “Decks one to three on our starboard forward section reporting massive damage, multiple hull breaches. Emergency bulkheads have all sealed,” another officer added.

  Scott barked out orders as she assigned tasks to her officers. She needed to know how badly Misfit was damaged as soon as possible. As soon as she had said everything she could think of, she turned to Misfit’s sensor officer. “The rest of our squadron?” she asked. The main holo projector turned from the Karacknid fleet to show her ships. Scott shook her head. Venus was gone. It looked like Surprise had suffered a proximity hit like Misfit. She at least was still in formation. Providence and Thunderer had joined Duke in falling back towards the Karacknid frigates. As Scott watched, Providence and Thunderer started to move closer to one another despite the massive damage both had suffered. Moments later, Duke, who appeared to have gotten her damaged impulse engine shutdown, did the same. It was clear what they intended to do. Scott almost activated her command chair’s COM unit to order the three ships to launch their shuttles and scuttle their ships but then she remembered her increased acceleration. Shuttles from the three warships wouldn’t be able to catch Misfit and the others. Though her officers kept pulling away her attention with reports and questions as they sought to get a handle on Misfit’s damage, Scott watched the progress of her three warships. Sticking as close together as they could, they charged the Karacknid frigates. They got off three salvos before antimatter missiles took them out. Ten more Karacknid frigates were destroyed. Scott ground her teeth together when her three warships disappeared from Misfit’s sensors. Ten enemy frigates was not worth the loss of her ships. Five gone, she thought as her anger built. She only had six ships left and she was still a long way from getting out of the system.

  Squaring her shoulders, Scott changed the image on the holo projector away from the small group of Karacknid frigates. She couldn’t afford to mourn her losses. She had two hours before the second squadron of Karacknids that had broken away from the battlefleet would enter missile range of her ships. Thankfully, the Karacknids wouldn’t be able to fire a full salvo. With her ships’ higher acceleration rates, her squadron would slowly curve around and in front of the second Karacknid frigate squadron. With a glance she checked on their progress. They’d have forty-five minutes to engage her ships with their forward missile tubes. That’s all we have to survive, she thought. Forty-five minutes and then we can jump out. With a deep breath she focused her mind and gave orders as she got Misfit and her remaining ships ready for the engagement.

  The two hours went by in a flash. It seemed like no time had passed when her ships finished their curving course and settled onto a straight line for the shift passage to the Karacknid HQ system. Just minutes after they did, the Karacknid frigates got close enough to open fire. Though her ships had increased their acceleration rates and maximum velocity, the Karacknid frigates were willing to risk matching her maximum velocity. With just one forward missile tube, the frigates fired ninety missiles. Instead of returning fire immediately, Scott had her ships hold. When the Karacknid missiles were three minutes out from her point defenses, she opened fire. Instead of grazer beam warheads, she had armed her mark IVs with standard nuclear detonators. The missiles exploded just in front of the Karacknid salvo. It was an old trick, but Scott nodded in satisfaction as more than ten of the Karacknid missiles veered off course. Their tracking sensors were fried by the nuclear detonations’ EMP pulses. Then her point defenses opened up. Miraculously, they managed to take out every Karacknid missile. For several minutes Scott had to fight back a smile as she started to believe they could do it. Then the second Karacknid salvo came in. Again, she fired her anti-ship missiles at the Karacknid missiles, this time they split into two groups as they dodged her fire. Two missiles punched through her ships’ point defense fire. Before Scott could shout a warning, Apache was blown apart in front of her. Scott closed her eyes. She was down to four ships. She had just lost twenty percent of her point defense fire. Vainly she glanced at the map of the system. The Karacknids would get off two more salvos.

  When the third Karacknid salvo attacked her ships, Scott tried splitting her anti-ship missiles. The Karacknids had anticipated her move and their salvo split into four. The thermonuclear detonations fried a couple of missiles, but no more than that. As her ships hurled point defense fire at the Karacknids, Scott found her ships altering course. Less than five seconds before the three Karacknid missiles that were left struck her ships, they formed a tight ball around Misfit. It took Scott a second to realize what they were doing. Then she saw it. The other ships in her squadron were overlapping their gaseous shields. With seconds to spare, Scott’s fingers danced over her command console as she added Misfit’s shield to the barrier. The three Karacknid missiles all struck the shields and detonated. Their antimatter wiped out the thick ionized gases but didn’t reach her ships! “Ingenious,” Scott found herself shouting. She was jealous she hadn’t thought of it herself. “Ingenious,” she said again as she shared a smile with her First Lieutenant. “Divert everything we can to recharging our shields,” Scott ordered. “Make sure the other ships do the same. We’re going to need that trick again if we are going to get out of here!”

  With the final Karacknid salvo already on its way, there was little time to prepare. Scott estimated that they had just enough ionized gas to project shields sixty percent the strength of what they had minutes before. It will work, she thought, as much out of hope as expectation. It has to work. As the Karacknid missiles came in, she fired her own anti-ship missiles at them. Only one Karacknid missile was destroyed. Long range and short-range AM missiles, plasma bolts, flak cannon rounds and laser beams all reached out towards the enemy missiles. Though many were destroyed, it wasn’t enough. Without having to give the order, Scott’s three other ships closed with Misfit. Providing a protective bubble around the flagship, they all extended their gaseous shields. Scott’s hope rose for a few fleeting seconds. Then it turned to dread. There were five Karacknid missiles still charging her ships. They were dodging the last few point defense weapons fired at them. In a flash, four zipped in and struck the gaseous shields. So much antimatter was flung at them that the shields winked out of existence instantly. Their gas particles were wiped out as they came into contact with antimatter particles. What was left of the antimatter struck the three ships that were protecting Misfit. Every one of them suffered serious damage. Within a couple of seconds, they tumbled and spun away from Scott’s ship. The sole Karacknid missile that was left registered the hits and identified Misfit as its primary target.

  Despite the carnage, Scott saw the missile approaching. She screamed out a warning to her pilot and gunners, but it was too late. Just as Misfit crossed the system’s mass shadow, the Karacknid missile charged along Misfit’s port side and detonated at a range of just three hundred meters. With her gaseous shields depleted and much of her valstronium armor moved to protect her nose section, the deadly antimatter ate deep into Misfit’s hull. On the bridge, the shockwave from the explosion and crippling damage flung everyone about. As the inertial compensators struggled and failed to protect Misfit’s crew from the g-forces, Scott’s vision closed over. This time she felt unconsciousness reaching out and grabbing at her. The last thing she heard was internal damage alarms as her ship was ripped apart from the inside. Then everything went black.

  Chapter 23

  From our point of view, the tactics used to besiege heavily defended planets seem archaic. Hurling rocks at one another sounds more like a strategy from the stone age than modern naval warfare. Nevertheless, it was highly effective.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  IS Drake, Karacknid HQ system, 23rd March 2484 AD (three days later).

  “Now we are about to see just how resourceful our opponent is,” James said to his command staff. His second group of mining freighters had finished gat
hering and modifying the asteroids they needed several hours ago. Now they were accelerating hard towards the Karacknid orbital stations. Commodore Chen had launched his fighters and bombers. James had his fleet moving in behind the freighters as well. The Karacknid commander would have known a follow up attack was going to come sooner or later. He had had two weeks to prepare. If he had any tricks up his sleeve, James and his command staff were about to see them. But unless the Karacknids had found a way to tip the balance of force in their favor, James intended to close in after the freighters released their asteroids and finish the Karacknid fleet base. Having spent a month in the system, he had already disrupted the Karacknid supply network as much as he had hoped. Destroying their fleet base and supply hub would complete his part of Operation Counterstrike. At the first sign of a serious Karacknid fleet coming to confront them they could retreat.

  As the freighters continued towards the fleet base picking up speed, the tension in James’ shoulders eased. A month in one system was a long time. Though his scouts hadn’t detected any large Karacknid fleets coming from the east or north, James’ nerves were becoming increasingly frayed. He knew it was only a matter of time before Karacknid border fleets found a way through the shift passages the gravity well cruisers had blocked off. As good as the gravity well cruisers were, the Karacknids would eventually give up trying to catch them and go around. It might take a month or more, but sooner or later they would. Therefore, the longer he stayed in one place, the more likely it was that a fleet would appear to trap him. In just a few hours we can leave, he assured himself. The battle would be fierce, even if the Karacknids didn’t have any tricks, but he had numbers on his side.

  “Karacknid fighters are launching!” Anderson reported. “They’re going to make a run on our freighters.”

  That much James had expected. “Order Commodore Chen to counter them,” he ordered.

  From Chen’s formation of small attack craft, forty Corsair interceptors raced forward. They quickly caught up with the freighters and moved to engage the Karacknid fighters. Their anti-fighter missiles took out twenty-two of the Karacknid fighters. Then both groups of ships clashed. Three Karacknid fighters managed to burst out of the ball and close on a freighter. Their particle beams blew the freighter apart easily. Before they could switch to a new target, two Corsairs dispatched them.

  The destroyed freighter’s momentum meant its shattered hull and asteroid chunks continued towards the Karacknid fleet base. “Have those interceptors check for survivors,” James requested. “If there are none, instruct them to break the freighter apart more with their laser cannons. They may as well release all the asteroids. They will not reach the planet orbitals with the other freighters, but they will add to the confusion.”

  “I’ll pass the orders onto Commodore Chen,” Martinez responded.

  What is next? James asked his counterpart. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Half of the frigates and destroyers in the Karacknid fleet broke orbit. They raced away from the planet towards the freighters. James nodded. His command staff had anticipated this move as well. He would have to detonate the freighters early or risk them being destroyed before they could release their payloads. Worse, as soon as the small Karacknid ships got into weapons range of the asteroids, they could decelerate. They could keep the asteroids in range of their point defenses for more than enough time to blow most of them to smithereens. Yet detonating the freighters early wasn’t the only thing James could do to counter such a move. It wasn’t ideal, but his hand had been forced. “Take them out,” he ordered.

  The rest of Chen’s two hundred fighters and bombers gunned their engines. Ordinarily, the small attack craft were used to take out Karacknid battlestations and battleships. Wiping out the smaller ships was a waste of their plasma missiles, but it would put a large dent in the Karacknid’s point defenses. We can always pull back and let them refuel and rearm if needed, James assured himself. If the fighting wasn’t going his way, there was nothing stopping him from pulling out of range.

  As the wave of nearly two hundred fighters passed by the remnants of the Karacknid fighters still fighting with the Corsairs, a handful of Karacknids tried to break away. A Spitfire squadron turned and engaged them, taking them out before they could reach any Lancaster bombers. “It’s a good thing they don’t have more fighters,” James commented as he glanced at Fisher. If the Karacknids had another hundred fighters to back up their small warships, Chen’s attack would be in trouble. Even without them, the point defense fire from the Karacknid destroyers and frigates knocked Spitfires and Lancasters off of Drake’s sensor display. Chen’s forces fired their plasma missiles. Accelerating under their own power for just thirty seconds, the missiles detonated to release a ball of superheated plasma. Under their own momentum, nearly three hundred and forty plasma balls rushed towards the Karacknid ships. Being smaller and more maneuverable than capital ships, the Karacknids tried to dodge the incoming fire. With more than one ball targeting each ship, it was a difficult feat to accomplish. Multiple explosions erupted in front of Drake as plasma burnt its way into the critical systems of tens of Karacknid warships. As James’ forces peeled away from what was left of the enemy destroyers and frigates, his hands tightened into fists. At least eight enemy warships had survived and they rippled off a salvo of missiles towards the freighters. “Inform Commodore Davies his ships may go active,” James snapped.

  Twelve destroyers that had been cruising towards the Karacknid fleet base in stealth appeared. James had timed their approach to coincide with the freighters. Though without knowing exactly when the Karacknids might send out their light ships, the timing wasn’t perfect. Going to full power, Davies’ ships did everything they could to catch up with the freighters. As soon as the Karacknid missiles reached the range of their point defenses, they opened up on them. What was left of the Corsair squadrons that had engaged the Karacknid fighters slipped in to take out some of the Karacknid missiles. Despite the best efforts of the ships’ gunners and Corsairs’ pilots, four missiles raced through their fire. Three struck freighters directly amid ships. The expanding balls of antimatter wiped out most of the freighters’ superstructure and the asteroids within. One freighter Captain, sensing the danger, detonated his ship, releasing its asteroids seconds before being hit. The anti-matter missile targeting his ship detonated and took about half of the freighter’s asteroids with it. The rest spread out as they tumbled towards the Karacknid fleet base.

  “One fifth of our asteroids gone,” James commented to his command staff. “It could have gone better. But they spent all their fighters and half their light ships doing so. Let’s finish this. Set the fleet on its final attack course.”

  As his nine hundred ships prepared for their final approach to the Karacknid fleet base, the remaining freighters continued their high-powered acceleration. For five more minutes they charged towards the Karacknid orbital stations. Then their crews abandoned ship and detonated the freighters. Hundreds of asteroids spilled out on ballistic courses for the Karacknid battlestations. A minute later James’ fleet opened fire. His nine hundred ships released twelve thousand missiles. Once again, the Karacknids were faced with a dilemma. They could fire a full missile salvo at the asteroids or James’ ships, but they couldn’t do both. Whatever they did, James was confident the Karacknid commander wouldn’t try and split his salvo this time. That had failed spectacularly two weeks ago.

  “We’ve got movement from orbit,” Lieutenant Ivanov announced. “Almost every freighter is breaking orbit! They’re accelerating straight towards the asteroids.” She turned to face James. “They must be going to ram them!”

  James grasped what she was saying immediately. For the last two weeks they had watched the Karacknids loading up the freighters. Everyone had believed the Karacknids were loading up supplies from their orbital stations in preparation for trying to escape. That hadn’t been it at all!

  “Karacknid warships and battlestations are opening fire,” Anderson re
ported seconds later. “They’re targeting us!” he added hastily. “They’re ignoring the asteroids.”

  James shared a glance with Fisher and Miyagi. Things were not going as they had hoped. He could do nothing about it now though. “Make sure our point defense gunners are prepared and fire a second salvo as soon as possible,” James ordered as he squared his jaw and resolutely faced the Karacknid forces. His ships were committed now, it was time to see how much destruction they could do. He still had the numerical advantage even without the asteroids being quite as deadly.

  Before each side started to inflict damage on one another, James’ ships and the Karacknids released a second salvo. Then, moments later, the Karacknid freighters closed with the wave of asteroids. As one, the freighters detonated releasing tens of thousands of tons of unwanted supplies and spare materials. The two giant waves of debris crashed into each other. Thousands of strikes were recorded by Drake’s sensors. Asteroids were split apart into hundreds of smaller chunks, many of which were deflected off course. Yet not all were hit, and even amongst those that were, most of their smaller chunks continued towards the Karacknid fleet base. As the first salvo from James’ ships and the Karacknids passed through the expanding cloud of debris, there were a handful of explosions as missiles struck chunks of asteroids or freighters. Then the Karacknid defenses opened up on the remaining asteroid chunks and James’ missiles. There were far too many targets for the Karacknid gunners to hit them all. Within a minute of opening fire, mark IVs started to detonate, sending hundreds of grazer beams into the Karacknid warships and stations. Then Alliance missiles rushed in and added thermonuclear detonations to the carnage. Finally, whatever asteroid chunks hadn’t been blown apart by defensive fire smashed into the Karacknids’ orbitals or struck the planet’s atmosphere.