by R. A. Ender
Richard’s rational control of his emotions nearly broke, but he held it and now he needed to leave to avoid breaking down in front of Heather. His words did not match his thoughts no matter how much he wanted them to.
Taking a step down and away from the door, Richard looked back and said, “Make sure you let me know what date you guys pick. Have a good night, Heather.”
Heather, standing in the open doorway, smiled and gave a little wave. “I will. Talk to you later.” And with that, she stepped aside, closed the door and turned off the hall light, obscuring Richard’s view of her through the door window.
As Richard carefully walked down the rest of the stairs, he nearly tripped on the last step. His emotions were now rolling uncontrollably in his mind. His control had broken and everything was wildly circling in his brain. All his random thoughts, selfish wants, plans, and ideas were running wild and without any rational limits.
Walking down the street, alone, away from what he now realized was the greatest love of his life, Richard suddenly felt the greatest feeling of despair. She may be happy and content but she was wrong! Richard said to himself. What I want is her!
But Gods isn’t she happy… he thought to himself with a deep and incredibly sharp pang of loss. The feelings he had forced himself to have earlier standing on the doorstep of happiness for his dearest childhood friend and her life had all evaporated.
Now, he only felt hopeless. There was clearly no chance to come back together. All his planning and ideas from five years of lying in bed thinking about his return to New Earth had exploded. He had failed.
Richard sat on a cold street bench. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his hands holding his head. Without detecting movement, streetlights ceased and the neighborhood was plunged into darkness. No moonlight shone tonight. There was nothing but black and the faintest hope offered by the twinkling stars above. But, Richard did not even have the strength at that moment to look up at them as they blazed brighter in the new found darkness offering hope.
It is over. There is no hope. I have lost.
CHAPTER 40
An explosion of color blazed brightly!
The colors poured in through the display screen, overwhelming in their brightness. All the spectrum of the rainbow shot out illuminating the darkness of the command deck. The crew was forced to turn away and cover their eyes. Some who had been staring directly at the display were now blinking hard and holding their eyes shut trying to clear the light spots.
At the same moment, the decks of the ship began to hum and vibrate slightly. Longus knew instantly what was causing that feeling. The maneuvering thrusters were firing furiously to stabilize the ship which was suddenly being blasted from all directions by weapons fire.
Longus did not even take the time to think about what was happening. Others may have at least said to themselves, what in hades?! But Longus had trained himself and his crew more than any other commander he had ever met. He had drilled discipline. He had drilled execution. He had drilled proper action. And now that training proved itself.
Longus didn’t think extra unnecessary thoughts. He did not look at the display screen. He did not look in wonder around the command deck. He looked directly at his sensor display to learn the new tactical situation.
He learned it was overwhelmingly grim. And now he allowed himself the briefest of emotion, narrowing his eyes in anger.
But his anger was not directed at the massive IAE armada that had exited hyperspace perfectly positioned behind them, blocking their route away from the planet. It was also not directed at the supply fleet which was still plunging toward the planet surface and was almost certain to survive now that Longus’ impromptu fleet had more important things to deal with. His anger was not even directed toward Admiral Hilbornus to support his own ego and vanity as this trap was predicted by the Admiral.
No, his anger was directed at his squadron commander's. With only the briefest view of the sensor display, he could see his fleet splintering. Outlying ships were splitting off from the squad formation and getting blasted by the IAE ships. Longus had already seen a couple reimage as disabled after only a short exchange of fire. It was clear that individual captains were acting independently and trying to save their own skin.
Longus was for a moment incredulous. I’ve trained these Captains and Commanders better than this! Our fleet is falling apart!
But, Longus reflected, I never reformed the fleet after we jumped in separately. We didn’t have time. And now we will suffer some losses for that mistake!
Opening his communication links to his own squad, he knew that all the Captains of the ships in his squad could hear him clearly.
“To all Ship Captain’s, this is Fleet Admiral Longus. Immediately automate your tactical systems and maneuver to form up at the following coordinates in a tight diamond mesh formation. Action this order without delay, over!” Longus remained measured throughout his order until the last words.
Without turning, he issued his own orders directly to his command deck. Without taking his eyes off his sensor display, he pressed a button to display the tactical sensor analysis on the main display and moved his attention to follow the change.
He could already see his squad forming up perfectly as per his orders. But, the rest of the squads showed no such efficient success. He had the best ships and best squads in his fleet and they were proving as weak and undisciplined as the armed merchants in Richard’s fleet. His anger continued to grow as he saw more ships at the fringes being targeted by whole squads of IAE ships and re-imaging as disabled. Now his finger began taping loudly and angrily on his command chair, right next to the button that would open communication to all his squad commanders. He gave them another few moments to regain command.
None of them did. His fleet was chaos.
Waiting no longer, Longus opened the comm lines.
“To all squad commanders and ship Captain’s, this is Fleet Admiral Longus. Immediately automate your tactical systems and send a status report to my main fleet command tank.”
Longus left the line open but watched as the tactical display began to show ships with a glowing “A” indicating automated weapons. It was a rare step to take, as automated weapon systems were not designed to act tactically, only to fire at a target that was firing at you. It was a purely defensive program. But, in this case, it reduced the command concerns and allowed all ships to focus on tactical navigation which was more important early in the battle. The IAE had yet to even form up their fleet around their three Dreadnaught class ships. They were still scattered after their hyperspace exit.
The rapid change in tactical status started to make Longus a little happier, proud his command orders were answered so quickly. He had thought he would have to call out individual commanders, but within moments every ship showed “A” status. Now, a more complicated order!
“Perfect performance, Captains! All squad commanders, move your squad to the following coordinates and join my squadron in a tight diamond mesh formation. Execute immediately!”
Longus’ mood continued to buoy higher as he saw several squads immediately begin to reform themselves while traveling to the designated coordinates. That was a difficult task in deep space. Near a planet, while under fire from an enemy armada, it was incredible. Touching his display he marked those commanders as deserving special post battle honors.
A few squads were struggling to change position as a group, and Longus saw more than a few stragglers get picked off by the ever more organized and well-formed IAE fleet. He was now watching their fleet with great concern.
Six to one and facing off against three dreadnaughts! Where is the opportunity, where, where?! Longus thought to himself. Despite the odds, he was focused on a single goal, finding the weakest point and exploiting it.
And there it is! He thought and his eyes flared with excitement. As the IAE fleets formed, he saw that two of the Dreadnaughts were forming up their fleets further away from the planet.
&n
bsp; The fleet commander is probably planning to send them to act against Richard’s fleet, as he has twice the ships we do. Moving his attention over to Richard’s fleet he saw that none of the garrison force remained and they were already chewing through the 300 weaker IAE ships that had exited hyperspace closer to his fleet. Those IAE ships seemed even more chaotic than his own fleet had been.
Oddly, though, Longus noted, the ships closing in on his fleet’s position were somewhat disorganized. Looking closely, he watched as the IAE armada pulled apart into Dreadnaught fleets. The two furthest away were a clean 600 ships strong, compact and orderly. The closest Dreadnaught fleet, the one pouring weapons fire down on his ships was still not fully formed and only numbered about half what the other fleets did.
Ahhhh! And Longus clapped his hands together in excitement! This fleet is split! Its other half is getting destroyed by Richard. And their fleet commander has decided to leave the runt fleet to deal with our runt fleet while he takes overwhelming strength against the main Confederate threat. Well, let’s see if we can change his mind!
Looking briefly at the tactical display, Longus was satisfied with his fleets assembly and began to issue his orders to all squad commanders and ship Captain’s to avoid any issues. This battle was too important to have miscommunication.
“To all squad Commanders and ship Captains, our battle plan is as follows. Maintain tight formation and transfer all power to shields and weapons. All ships must focus on maintaining shields at maximum strength as our highest priority. All main weapons are to be directed at that Dreadnaught and fired at maximum strength and frequency. All physical weapons are to be reserved and not used until my express order. All fighters are to concentrate their attacks on a single ship and disable it before retargeting. Secondary weapons are to attempt to disable any in range IAE ship.”
That should give us the best chance. Close formation and strong shields should turn us into a giant star base capable of taking down that Dreadnaught. Hopefully, the fighters and secondary’s can reduce the number of ships pouring weapons fire on us. Longus thought to himself as he issued the orders.
“And, finally, all ships are to continue contributing offensive support until rendered unable to do so. We cannot withdraw, we cannot surrender. We fight or we die! To battle!”
And with that, Longus closed the comm line and watched as his fleet shifted ever so slightly and began deluging the IAE Dreadnaught with weapons fire. Longus had to resist the urge to flip the main display and watch the spectacle with his own eyes. He could picture the massive double sided triangular wedged hull of the Dreadnaught surrounded on all sides by a tempestuous waterfall of colors. The fire was so intense that it would likely appear as a massive white beam hitting the shields and spreading around the energy sphere of protection. Despite that intensity, Longus knew the Dreadnaught could withstand the assault for a long time. And with each passing minute, his fleet would diminish in strength as his ships exploded and his crews died. Longus had an opportunity but he was wise enough to know that he did not have a hope.
Even worse, as he watched his squads stand strongly together, he also saw that the other two IAE Dreadnaught fleets had stopped moving away and had begun to close in on his fleet. Thankfully it would take them time to move back and maneuver around the smaller Dreadnaught fleet to bring any heavy weapons to bear.
That was not the case for the Dreadnaught in front of them, though. With all its energy going to maintain its shields, its rate of fire was reduced and it appeared they were only employing one turret. But, one turret was more than enough.
The tactical display showed the Dreadnaught fire. At first, the beam was too weak to register as it targeted and locked onto one of Longus’ ships. But as soon as it did, the beam surged to full strength. A powerful bright yellow beam cut across space connecting directly against the shields of its victim. Within moments the ship was simply washed away by the beam of energy. Its shields overheated and collapsed. The hull heated within seconds and vaporized. As the beam dissipated and ceased, all that remained of the ship was parts that were outside of the beams direct path, which in the case of the first small ship was virtually nothing. A Dreadnaught turret beam is large enough to completely cover every ship in Longus’ fleet except maybe the Kordont Executives, but none could survive a direct hit.
In most battles with the IAE in the past, the smaller Confederate ships could maneuver to avoid the turrets, as they did in the Battle of New Earth. Only the Agamemnon-class Battlecruisers were large enough and slow enough to stand toe to toe with an IAE Dreadnaught and take a hit. That was why every planet in the Confederacy had to support at least one Battlecruiser as part of their planetary defense. Unfortunately, only the Old Colony region Defense Force Fleet maintained Agamemnon-class ships and not a single one of those ships was part of their fleet.
Even so, Longus thought to himself, I’ve seen videos of a Dreadnaught carving a huge beam hole straight through an Agamemnon. It wasn’t too fit for battle after that hit!
As he watched, he saw the Dreadnaught fire again. The interval had only been about 15 seconds. That meant at a minimum, his fleet, as of this moment, could survive for another 45 minutes or so against that Dreadnaught alone.
Well, that is good, I guess. It could be worse! Longus thought to himself, just as his tactical display changed his fleet status to yellow. A warning that half the fleet had now been destroyed. 125 ships left, Longus said to himself.
He pulled his attention away from the fleet in general. He was now satisfied that his fleet was following his express orders perfectly. Now it was time to watch that Dreadnaught. He knew when his tactical moment came he would need to act immediately. When that Dreadnaught lost shields, they would have only a few minutes before they could put those shields back up again, even if only briefly and weakly. They needed to strike at that moment or his whole strategy would fail.
I may not survive my tactical mistake of jumping after that supply fleet in a disorganized way, Longus thought. But I’ll be damned if we don’t help the Confederacy survive by taking down that behemoth!
He was now fixated on two numbers. Longus watched as his ship number continued to drop, now passing below 100. It wasn’t dropping as fast as he had first thought. His commanders were doing an excellent job engaging the smaller ships in the IAE fleet. The current number was that they had destroyed two IAE ships for every one of his ships lost, an incredible number given the odds. His Captains were also hanging in the fight much longer forcing the IAE to continue to engage the ships until they were completely broken up, which takes a lot longer to accomplish than a quick disable. Already one IAE squad had been surprised by an apparently crippled ship that had launched its full physical weapon stores and wiped out half of the enemy before being obliterated. Though he had ordered physical weapons to be held, he could understand using them before your ship is lost as a proper understanding of his intent.
The other number he was watching was the computers estimate of the shield strength of the Dreadnaught. At the moment, it showed the heat level to be critically high. The shields could fail anytime. And when they did, he hoped he had enough ships to fulfill his tactical surprise!
91…90…89… Longus was counting down his ship total. The number was starting to get too low, he knew, but there was nothing he could do but watch and hope.
Suddenly, his ship lurched to one side and all the crew on the command deck were thrown to the side. Some managed to remain in their seats due to their safety harnesses, but many collided hard with consoles, displays, and walls. Longus briefly checked to see why his ship had been shaken so violently. He saw that his neighboring ship had just exploded, sending a shockwave hard into their port side.
He also saw that the squad that had been targeting his neighbor was now targeting his ship, and the ship began to rock violently as the maneuvering thrusters tried in vain to keep the ship steady.
Not much time left now. Longus looked over, 67…66..65…
And now the tactical display showed that the two other Dreadnaught fleets were starting to fire on his fleet. The effect was instantaneous. The ship numbers began to fall even faster.
55…54…52...49…
Longus stared at the number. My mistake has cost me 200 ships. That is over 10,000 souls I have sent to death in space. My dear Jupiter! Longus’ eyes softened at the realization and a few tears began to trace tracks down his cheeks.
His watering eyes made him miss the moment that the tactical display changed. The moment that the Dreadnaughts shields collapsed.
But the cheer that rose from the crew brought Longus back instantly. With a quick wipe, he saw the sensors update the status of their target. Its shields had collapsed and its hull was fractured and broken all along the side facing his fleet. It was weakened, limping and dying. It was prey, perfect for the kill.
And now was the time for Longus’ fleet to pounce like a lion and kill that which they have been stalking. Keying open the comm line, Longus issued what he knew would be his last order.
“All ships, fire all of your physical weapons and begin to destroy any IAE ship you can target. To you, all, fight to the death and defend the Confederacy!”
And with that, Longus keyed the display off tactical to a real-time space image. He wanted to see his prey die before his eyes. Nothing else mattered anymore. The image it displayed was the side of the Dreadnaught. The scorched hull from the energy weapons blasting it after the shields had dropped left it blackened. The blackened hulk almost blended in the background of space. What made it visible was the fires burning across its surface. Flames leaped out from holes with escaping gasses. Some of the flames shot out as geysers into space. Others followed flowing paths of gas leaping from open compartments to arc up and fall back toward the hull, splashing fire and hot gasses across the surface. Some open compartments were still lighted, blazing a deep red of warning and alert into space. To this tortured figure in space, Longus now added his claws and fangs he had saved for the kill.
