by T J Bryan
"The way I see this playing out Toni, is that we can't use our one weapon that gave us a chance at defeating Megra before they take out Wu. We can engage the dumbbells one on one and we will probably prevail but with heavy losses. The Great Maw and its' support ships will undoubtedly break through to Wu if we go one on one."
"And the current population at Wu Station precludes evacuation."
"Indeed," replied Silvi.
"I have only one thought," said Toni. "That booby trap with the Polis anti-matter container we built. We might place it in the path of the big ship. Perhaps hidden in the debris field. Now we don't know how powerful it might be, but we might just shake up the Great Maw and its' support ships as they pass by. A little confusion at the site of the main attack might provide an opening for us."
Silvi thought a moment. "And we still have no idea how much anti-matter is in the container?"
"None. But I doubt that the fuel station at Poly would cheat us. But you never know."
"It's worth a try," replied Silvi. But I will still pull the First Fleet back and position ourselves in a disbursed pattern at 1,500,000 kilometres from Wu itself. There we will make our stand and I suspect we will engage in a one on one fight in which the odds favor the Megra.
"Good luck Silvi Karrlson," said Toni Hamilton Area Commander of the OCN.
"The same to you Toni."
The conversation was terminated.
"Mr. Ulf, get me Krzysztof on the comm. I'll have a word with him."
Moments later the image of Krzysztof appeared on the vid screen. Toni's first thought was that Krzysztof looked much better now that he had a mission There would be time for grieving later.
"Yes Commodore," said Krzysztof.
" Krzysztof what is your location? You are so well hidden I can't find your ship on scan."
He replied, "We are just behind some hulk from the Great War. The aft section of a Unity dreadnought I think. I just sent my coordinates. Did you get them?"
Toni looked down at her inter-tab as the coordinates appeared on the display. "Krzysztof, I want you to place our booby trap at coordinates I will send to you in a few minutes. After placing the bomb, I want you to return immediately and at best speed. Please stay within the debris field for as long as possible. I would prefer that the Megra not see you until you are safely away."
"Yes Commodore."
...
Cranmore System - Girots Entry Portal - Year 3248 October 24 ET 01:12
Eirik Njall of Brynhildr did an excellent job of stalling his engines just on the edge of entering the exit portal to Girots. The five dumbbells who had left the protection of the static Megra fleet descended upon him like raving wolves on a fallen prey. But as they closed in Brynhildr returned to life and launched a series of missile and caster attacks as she started a high speed run toward the five tightly packed dumbbells. This far from the gravity well of Cranmore, Brynhildr used here GWP to great effect. From behind, Hilda began another high speed run, and she also fired casters, not so much in the hope of prematurely detonating an anti-matter torpedo, but rather to ensure that if the dumbbells had swarming mines, the mines would be destroyed as they coalesced.
The dumbbells were of the new heavily armored type and were slow to respond to either attack. They seemed to pay attention primarily to Brynhildr who lay ahead as they fired their slow missiles. The cycle time for the missiles was ninety seconds and if they were smart they would not volley fire, but adopt continuous fire based on their cycle time. Five ships might result in a new missile launch every 18 seconds and this might well keep Brynhildr busy dealing with each one. But the Megra were not smart and fired a single five shot volley which the casters and 'K's easily took out. This gave Brynhildr the opportunity to fire four 'K's every eight seconds. To the rear of the dumbbells came Hilda with volley after volley every eight seconds as well.
The dumbbell's improved armor held up well against the repeated impact of 'K's but the five ships under the heavy repetitive contact with the 'K's simply began to either blow up or simply fall to pieces. The Megra never got off a second round of missiles, and under the onslaught of 88 'K's over a ninety second interval they were doomed.
Ana watched the entire display of OCN courage and tactics in awe. But she soon turned her attention back to big mouth and his buddies. They had not moved and she doubted they would fall for the wounded SAR trick again. The Megra just stood there like a stone wall.
I'm missing something Ana thought and then she realized that as the OCN sought to blockade Cranmore, perhaps this was the objective of the Megra. Or perhaps one of several objectives. As long as big mouth and his buddies remained at Cranmore the OCN could not traverse the system and provide aid to other human settlements. Maltzoff, New Horizons, and Polis as well as any other systems within the Cranmore knot lines were inaccessible. Perhaps while Ana and her flotilla sat in Cranmore waiting out the Megra, the Megra were busy eliminating human settlements.
Ana left the bridge and entered her small quarters and lay down on her bunk to think. She needed time and time to think. She now faced 26 ships including the big mouth. Of those, 12 were of the new variety, and more heavily armored, but as Brynhildr and Hilda had shown the right tactical approach could defeat them. However facing such odds she knew that her two SARs and single destructor were out numbered. If the 26 ships, with their 90 second cycle time were to fire torpedoes consecutively then she could expect to have to counter a slow missile or even a torpedo every four seconds. Ana was confident her three ships could take that kind of fire, but only if the fire was not concentrated on a single ship.
Ana felt the need to take action before the Megra were reinforced, or perhaps before the Megra eliminated the human population from at least four systems within the Cranmore knot lines. But what?
If her flotilla had more than four anti-matter torpedoes she thought she might just toss a few at big mouth to loosen things up. But with only four, and those four unknown to the Megra, such an action was unwise. Her only real advantage against a fleet the size of the Megra at Cranmore were those four torpedoes, and they might not prove the advantage needed to win.
Ana awoke six hours later. She had fallen asleep and her crew had not awakened her. She felt a moment of panic at the loss of six hours of situational awareness, but a quick look at the status boards above her bunk indicated that nothing had changed.
However Ana had decided to make some small changes to her ships disposition just to test the reaction of the Megra.
Upon entering the bridge she ordered Brynhildr and Hilda to approach the two planets and their moons and to obscure their location behind the orbiting bodies. If the Megra could not see where her ships were then that might spur them on to some action. Perhaps a few Megra would be dispatched to locate the ships and that might provide another opportunity for an ambush. But Ana doubted it, just the same there was no longer a need to stand her ships in plain sight and invite attack. The Megra seemed to have no intention of moving forward.
While Ana remained with Ragnarök behind Borneo's moon Prince, Brynhildr hid behind Borneo itself, while Hilda sought obscurity behind Borneo's second and much larger moon Sovereign. The portals and relay stations her flotilla had placed around the system allowed them to monitor the Megra even though they were out of sight.
The Megra did not move for two days. Then something odd happened. Four of the more heavily armored dumbbells began to move, but not toward the portal to Girots, but rather toward the portal to the uninhabited system of New Holland. They seemed to be followed by five of the earlier damaged dumbbells that had stationed themselves far away from the Great Maw. Ana knew there was nothing at New Holland so the eventual destination must be the equally dead Osaka portal and then on to Dong Son.
Ana was stumped. Were these four ships returning to Hitti space through Dong Son, or were they simply moving out to attack say Polis or New Horizons? But a quick look at Nomi's Book of Stars revealed that if Polis were the target or even New Horizons tha
t there was a significantly shorter route through Iceman or Malta. No, thought Ana, they were headed home. And why? She laughed a moment thinking that perhaps their enlistment period was up and they wanted to go home. But the accompanying damaged ships told here what she really needed to know. They were leaving and that was fine with Ana.
Now she faced 22 of the enemy including the ever worrisome big mouth.
She was toying with the thought of simply pulling back into Girots and inviting the Megra to follow. By doing so, and taking up a position at the portal, she might be able to deal with the 22 Megra ships one at a time as they came after her through the tunnel. But as attractive at that might seem to her bored mind, she rejected the idea. After all Spikey lived at Girots and although he seemed passive as OCN ships passed through the system everyone knew, that based on the first encounter, he was not to be disturbed as he guarded his nest. Then Ana thought, but what if, as the Megra came through someone disturbed Spikey. Perhaps a few missiles would wake him and make him angry. Would spikey know who had rattled his cage? Could Spikey differentiate between the OCN and the Megra?
Once angered to action would Spikey, after he had dealt with the Megra, once again become passive if the immediate threat were gone, or would he simply attack anything that entered the Girots system thus making future passage from Jamon to anywhere difficult.
Finally Ana made up her mind. She could not attack the Megra, but she would draw them into Girots and perhaps the wrath of Spikey.
Soon she informed her crew and Eirik Njall Captain of Brynhildr and Francine Peters of the Hilda of her plan. There was no objection. Francine seemed to think the idea an excellent one and the three spent considerable time planning their action. The plan they devised was simple. They would proceed at best speed to the Girots portal which was un-mined. Then they would hold there to see if the Megra followed, and if they did the OCN flotilla would advance through the portal and into Girots. From there they would travel toward the entry portal to Nelots and take a stand. If there were opportunistic kills of the Megra possible they would strike, but the plan was that when the Megra fleet was through they would send a barrage of casters into Spikey and watch what happened. They had no doubt that Spikey would react since he had clearly spent considerable time 'terraforming' the planet and was most protective of his nest. If Spikey damaged the fleet but survived they would simply duck into Nelots then on to Wu and warn Jamon to let Girots system cool off for a while. If Spikey were destroyed, which was possible, he would probably take some of the Megra with him, and in that case Ana would attack the remaining Megra. The plan was risky, but the stalemate at Cranmore worse since human space was undefended within the system and the Megra had blockaded Cranmore for some reason.
They waited a full 24 hours before beginning their retreat. The Girots portal was only eight hours from their pervious position and as they approached the portal they saw that the Megra did not move. Ana was about to give up on the idea and return to Prince when the big mouth began to abandon its' static position and move toward Girots. Ana held the flotilla in place for 14 hours as the Megra fleet, traveling only as fast as the slow big mouth approached the portal.
Then as the Megra were within more than a million kilometres Ana ordered her ships through and on to Girots. The passage was only ten hours and the Girots link to Cranmore was like the Nelots link to Wu; an unusual two way dual portal system. Ana laughed a moment thinking if she had timed it right she might go back in the return tunnel while the Megra passed through the entry tunnel, turn around and attack them from the rear. Of course this was impossible give all the variables, but it was an idea she decided to save until later.
Ten hours later Ana's flotilla entered Girots. A quick scan revealed that Spikey was in orbit on the far side of the planet. Given Spikey's position he would appear in sight of the portal from Cranmore in about six hours. Five hours later Spikey would again be able to see the entry point on his orbital path around his nest.
With best speed Ana's ships approached the portal to Nelots some 15 hours distant. After nine hours she called her fleet to halt and face Spikey as he came around the far side of Girots.
Ana ordered Ragnarök to load half a brace of casters aimed at Spikey. Then she waited. At ten hours the first of the dumbbells entered the system followed by a stream of others. As the dumbbells entered they assumed the on edge disk formation they had favored in the past but they did not venture far into the system. Soon thereafter big mouth entered and the fleet as a whole, while maintaining its' formation began to move toward Nelots. The passage would take them within 2,000,000 kilometres of Girots and Spikey. Ana simply waited until the Megra were about as close as they could get to Spikey and then she opened fire.
Ana felt the deck slightly shudder as 12 casters left the ship and sped toward Spikey and the Megra. Impact was only about 13 seconds. She found herself crossing her fingers as her weapons specialist counted down the seconds. If she was wrong she dreaded what Abel might say, but now the die was cast, or as she thought 'the caster is cast'.
Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
Wu System - Holgata Station - Year 3248 October 23 ET 09:51
The Megra fleet in two formations, one tight to protect the Great Maw, and the other loosely arranged in a sphere around the inner formation moved slowly but inexorably toward Wu. Silvi watched from her bridge as the OCN First Fleet slowly withdrew in the face of the advancing Megra. Silvi was keeping to a 2,500,000 kilometre separation between the First Fleet and the Megra. Silvi had withdrawn from the debris fields of the Wu System hours before, and doing so now revealed her fleet and their dispositions to the Megra. Revealing her ships made Silvi nervous, but she needed to keep her distance as the Megra advanced.
The Megra approaching the debris field and fearing perhaps hidden mines or collisions with long dead ships and wrecked stations, split their spherical distribution into two halves. One half proceeded above the debris field by about 40,000 kilometres and the other half, with the Great Maw, went below. The Megra were taking no chances.
Toni found herself standing on the bridge of Holgata Station hardly breathing.
"Mr. Ulf. Put Commodore Karrlson and Captain Smilot on the bridge vid please and open the comm."
As the vid screen began to display the bridge of New Kara, Toni could see Silvi standing and watching the status boards with intensity. Captain Smilot soon came into view on a split screen and she was standing at the weapons command post of the monitor section of Wu Station.
"How far, Silvi. How far from the center of that spherical alignment is the fleet from our 'flash bang' distraction?" The three had started calling their booby trap a 'flash bang' trap, and their hope was that it would distract from the onrush of munitions aimed at the Great Maw long enough for the torpedoes to get through.
Silvi turned toward the comms. "About twenty minutes. I have dispersed my fleet even more and the moment that thing goes off, and hopefully causes confusion among the Megra, we will strike. They wont be expecting an anti-matter explosion no matter how small. We will target that Great Maw first. If we can knock it out then we will go after the remaining ships. I hope we can enter the debris field while they are still there. That will allow us to use the debris as a blocking agent. Our maps of the field are quite precise and I am certain the Megra will find it confusing to their scanners.
Silvi paused a moment and then continued. "We are going to fire our anti-matter torpedoes preceded by casters. I have decided to lace some 'K's into the mix as well. If the Megra are surprised, and hopefully a bit confused or momentarily blinded, by mixing up our munitions we might confuse them further. They certainly will not expect functioning anti-matter torpedoes. Then perhaps with luck the torpedoes might get through."
Toni hoped Silvi was right, but then again it was the only real hope they had.
"Are you ready on your side, Toni?" Silvi asked.
Toni replied, "Yes, as we arranged earlier, when you give the countdown we will fire casters as wel
l from our position. We will withhold our two torpedoes for a last ditch stand."
Silvi turned a bit to face the comms linked to Captain Smilot.
Smilot replied, "We are ready Commodore Karrlson. Casters it will be. And I am glad we can keep the torpedoes in case some of those Megra make it past your initial attack."
Silvi nodded, but all three knew that the likelihood of Megra surviving and then passing through Silvi's attack was a certainty. There were simply too many Megra and then there was the Great Maw which would take almost all of Silvi's and the First Fleet's attention.
Now there was nothing for Toni to do but wait. She decided to sit in her Captain's seat, and as she reached for the arm rest with her prosthetic arm, she realized that her arm was in no pain. Funny she thought, when you are in pain you can't miss it, but when you are free of pain you are not really aware that the pain is gone. Toni pulled hard on the seat restraints and then pulled again.
The bulkhead clock indicated about 17 minutes wait time for the countdown to begin. Silvi's fleet, Wu Station, and Holgata were all using auto fire given the precise need for casters to clear the way for the mix of torpedoes and a few 'K's. The countdown, while not exactly a formality, was unnecessary but comforting.
While waiting Toni recalled her conversation with Emershan Abara from late that evening. Emershan had cleverly convinced Herbert the AI that his work on Diana was done and that a new assignment on a new system was his if he desired. Herbert asked only a few questions. Emershan thought that Herbert realized that without Diana he had no purpose, and with no purpose he could not satisfy his ambitions, desires or passions. Toni was still puzzled by the idea of AI passions but she was pleased with the result. Herbert had readily agreed, and then shut down whatever control systems he had that remained operational. Now Toni only needed to find a system that needed Herbert's talents.
