Hero of the Republic: (The Parasite Initiative, Book 1)

by Britt Ringel

  Twist exhaled in relief.

  “And Caden.” Hayashi was smiling now. The mentor had returned. “Every junior officer will be tested. Being tested isn’t anything to be ashamed of. It’s your response to that test that will be graded.”

  Twist suspected his response would be needed shortly.

  Chapter 21

  Caden Twist watched the blue square representing BRS Overlook retreat from the Aegir tunnel point. The task groups had been keeping vigil at their distant holding positions for five hours when the picket ship from Aegir dove into Kalyke in a blurry distortion.

  There was supposed to be a second picket ship accompanying Overlook but it had failed to appear. Overlook’s first transmission in-system stated she had waited faithfully for her companion but had been forced to dive toward Kalyke when the forward elements of the Hollaran invasion fleet closed to within 21lm. Only her last sensor detection of three, distinct gravity detonations before her dive had provided any clues to the missing picket’s fate. Given the respectable sailing speed of Overlook’s sister ship and the head start she undoubtedly began with inside the Hati star system, the instrument of her likely destruction in Aegir was inescapable: Hollaran fighters.

  It was enough confirmation to close down Kalyke. The space traffic control stations orbiting at Kalyke’s six tunnel points switched their navigation beacons from green to red. The simple transformation prohibited new civilian traffic into the star system. Any arriving freighter or transport would immediately be turned around at its respective tunnel point and instructed to dive back to its system of origin taking news of the change in status with it.

  The last freighter to enter Kalyke under a green beacon had transmitted its standata, which contained a heartening message from Bree:

  Sailors and Marines of the Kalyke Defense Forces, this is Commander Garrett Heskan. The eyes of the Republic are upon you. Soon, you will engage the Hollaran war machine in a terrible contest for more of our space.

  Your task is not an easy one. The Hollaran navy possesses brutal warships led by a savage mindset. But you have been given the finest equipment and are led by the greatest tacticians of our time. Trust in your leaders. Trust in your government and protect her people from the Commonwealth’s tyranny.

  The upcoming battle will be hard. It will be costly. But my unwavering belief in the righteousness of our cause and in our General Council sustained my forces to secure our victories in Sponde and Helike. Such will be the case in Kalyke. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than total victory!

  The dispatch, read aloud by Admiral Hayes and transmitted to every human in Kalyke, reinforced a fierce pride and determination to defend the system.

  Sitting at his weapons console, Twist replayed the inspirational speech in his thoughts while watching Overlook creep closer to the Carme tunnel point. We could use Commander Heskan’s expertise today, he thought with longing. I wish he was here. On the screen, Overlook would arrive at its new station in less than an hour and await word from Admiral Hayes whether to proceed deeper inside the Republic or traverse the star system again and resume its scouting activities inside Aegir.

  Which orders Overlook received would depend on the next twelve hours and Twist believed those orders might herald the outcome of the entire war. Although the Hollarans had been stopped in the coreward sectors of the Republic, their attacks on the rimward sectors had held a reversal of fortunes. Already three minor systems, colonies of New Roma, had fallen. With the Hollarans’ advance into Kalyke, Hati and Aegir must have also suffered similar fates. Behind Kalyke lay Carme, the gatekeeper to several tunnel chains leading deep inside the Republic. New London itself was just a simple, instant dive from Carme. Kalyke was the line that the Commonwealth could not be allowed to cross. Defeat here exposed Bree’s most priceless star systems to plunder or a hellish fate delivered by Hollaran fusion missiles.

  “Tunnel disturbances!” Lieutenant Salle called out from Falcata’s SENS station. Red ship symbols flared to life on the system plot on the main bridge screen. “Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,” the sensorwoman counted. “Twenty ships. At least two dreadnaughts.”

  So much for “No more than one dreadnaught,” Twist thought sourly. We’re now expecting a carrier, too.

  Unlike watching his small tactical plot in Lochaber’s fire control station, Twist witnessed the opening battle raging at the tunnel point directly. Weis had ordered Falcata’s optical to monitor the Aegir tunnel point constantly and as the wavering images of diving Hollaran ships appeared, Twist realized they were his first, real look at the ships of his generations-old adversary.

  The optical zoomed in on a Commonwealth cruiser. A heavy cruiser, Twist judged, before the stout vessel began to break apart in a burst of light and debris. Without accompanying noise, the bright flashes and slowly expanding pieces of the doomed cruiser seemed surreal.

  “Scratch one,” Weis said elatedly. “Marcy, try to give us an optical of our forts.”

  Salle acknowledged, “Aye, Captain. One is already down but the other is still active. The outpost is still firing too.”

  The battle concluded seventy-nine seconds later. Detritus of the Brevic orbitals cooled in the bitter cold of space, joined by a Hollaran dreadnaught, heavy cruiser and destroyer escort. Jagged scars from heavy laser fire ran ragged paths over the port beam of the second dreadnaught and chunks torn from a command cruiser and second heavy cruiser were a testament to the tenacity of the Brevic station defenders.

  Four light Hollaran warships, frigates, began to sail away from the main invasion force in opposite directions. The remaining thirteen warships reorganized with their damaged brethren but otherwise seemed content to loiter near the Aegir tunnel point.

  “Where are those frigates going?” Weis wondered.

  “Picking up life boats from their destroyed ships?” Hayashi suggested.

  Twist’s eyes tracked toward the top of the main wall screen. Thirty light-minutes from the tunnel point and a full fifty-two light-minutes from Falcata, Task Group 3.1’s large, consolidated symbol remained immobile. They should be launching their fighters by now for an anti-ship strike, Twist thought with a slight smile. The fierce and bloody battle at the tunnel point was already receding from his mind. It sure is nice to know the actual plan this time. He had reflected on how his utter ignorance during Sponde’s defense had caused him nearly unbearable stress. Six hours ago, he had called a section-wide meeting and explained the defense plan to his people in as much detail as possible.

  As the four frigates seemingly fled from the Hollaran task force, Twist questioned his decision to share the master plan. If things start to fall apart, will that just cause more panic than they would have had otherwise?

  Next to TG 3.1’s symbol, tiny, translucent, half-circles sprang into existence. The fighter symbols, appearing in groups of eight every twenty seconds, were semi-transparent to indicate their theoretical appearance as dictated by Hayes’ strategy. Falcata was far too distant to detect something as small as a shuttlecraft.

  Avenger was halfway through her anticipated fighter generation when Salle once again announced, “Tunnel disturbance!” She cocked her head slightly and then added, “Two of them.”

  “Lieutenant,” Hayashi commanded.

  “Searching for it, ma’am.” Salle manipulated the destroyer’s aging sensors in a standard search sweep. “Got it!” she announced triumphantly.

  On screen was the daunting image of a Hollaran carrier.

  “It’s a light carrier,” Weis noted. The captain tapped commands into his chair arm console. A side screen flickered and began to cycle through stock images of the six known carriers built by the Commonwealth. Of the six, Republic intelligence listed one fleet carrier, Onesti, destroyed and two light carriers as severely damaged and likely under repair inside the Commonwealth. The three remaining active Hollaran carriers, Kallikantzaroi, Poltergeist and Waldgeist, remained grave threat
s to the Brevic Navy. HCS Poltergeist had been a confirmed participant in the Battle of New Milan. Waldgeist had been spotted transiting toward the rimward sector inside Commonwealth space by Brevic spies. HCS Kallikantzaroi, Hollara’s sole remaining fleet carrier, had made an appearance early in the war at Anesidora and Themisto but had since disappeared.

  “Thank God it isn’t the Kalli,” Hayashi uttered with relief.

  “There!” Twist said, pointing to the side screen when the optical’s twin appeared.

  Salle quickly brought the specifications up on her sensor panel. “It a light CV for sure,” she read. “It carries a hundred and ten fighters. They actually made two of this particular class so it’s either the Waldgeist or Poltergeist. I need a better—”

  “It’s both.” Hayashi’s dread-filled voice silenced Salle. The captain and first officer exchanged looks.

  “Two carriers of the same class, two tunnel disturbances,” she explained.

  Confirmation of Hayashi’s fears occurred a minute later. The twin carriers of the Hollaran Commonwealth took position within the protective circle of the enemy task force and set sail for Kalyke’s sole habitable planet, Calycia.

  “Uh, that’s interesting,” Hayashi noted. “Those carriers aren’t sailing with their own escorts. They’ve fully integrated their carriers with their conventional forces.”

  “We have maneuvering orders from Admiral Salazar, Captain.” Falcata’s navigator reviewed the sailing instructions. “They’re exactly as planned, sir. Parallel course with the Hollarans while veering toward them to enter into sensor range.”

  Exactly what Hayes did in Sponde, Twist thought. He looked at the frigates that had sailed away from the Hollaran task force. They appeared to be sailing to four points of a square, 2lm from the main fleet. They’re pickets, he realized. The Hollarans don’t have early warning shuttles like Avenger so they’re using frigates as expendable assets to extend the sensor range of their main force. The answer seemed obvious now. Obvious and terrifying.

  “Captain,” Twist said while pointing to the system plot. “We’ll hit those picket ships before we break inside of twenty light-minutes with the main force.”

  Weis leaned back into his command chair. “Yeah,” he sighed. “That’s what they’re doing all right.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. “I guess it doesn’t matter so much for us. Our job is to get their attention and we’ll do that easily enough.” He brought his hand away from his face. “However, those pickets will detect our fighters earlier than what the plan calls for.”

  Hayashi interjected, “Not to mention that our carrier group is now two light-minutes closer to detection.”

  Weis sighed a second time. “Yeah,” he repeated dejectedly. “Good point, Kat.” He looked toward Twist. “Nice observation, Caden.”

  Twist turned back to his station but not before seeing the flash of a smile inside Hayashi’s helmet. He had set his main console screen to tactical mode, a task made simple after his technical training. Task Group 2.6 would break 20lm with the Hollaran pickets in four minutes, sooner than anticipated. He nervously eyed the ghost symbols of the expected Brevic fighter squadrons. An entire squadron of thirty fighters armed as interceptors were escorting one hundred fifty fighters loaded with four anti-ship missiles apiece. Anticipating a possible Hollaran carrier in the battle, Hayes had reluctantly adjusted his strategy by pulling one of the six attack squadrons away from an anti-ship role and into an anti-fighter screen for the attack.

  Twist watched the situation develop over the next twenty minutes as the enormity of space asserted itself. Despite moving at appreciable fractions of the speed of light, the sheer vastness of the battlefield kept the ancient axiom of battle a constant: you wait.

  “New activity,” Salle warned. The system plot birthed dozens of new symbols near the Hollaran carriers.

  “Give me a final fighter count, Marcy,” Weis ordered. “And prepare for our course change.” Hayes’ strategy permitted Task Group 2.6 to turn away from the expected fighter attack. The reduced closure rate would allow for a more robust missile defense.

  Twist studied the plot. I have to remember that the Hollies have been launching fighters now for—he checked the distance between the two fleets—twenty-two minutes. They’ve probably already finished with their launch and those fighters are well on their way to their targets. Already, a translucent circle grew around the new fighter symbols on the system plot. The diameter of the uncertainty zone expanded outward, indicating the possible real-time craft positions extrapolated from the lagged sensor data and speed estimates.

  Both the bridge’s system plot and Twist’s tactical plot were evolving into a byzantine mess. Without the weeks of training at Anthe, he would have found his screen incomprehensible. During that training he had realized that William Falk had simplified his ensign’s tactical plot back in Sponde. I wish I had Bill on Falcata, Twist yearned.

  Augmented with shared data from Scythe’s outstanding sensor suite, the enemy fighter count on Falcata’s tactical plot passed eighty and kept climbing. Near the top of the wall screen, Task Group 3.1’s heading began to change. The formation’s vector line remained steady at .2c but Hayes was turning his fleet away from the Hollaran invasion force.

  Twist checked the range; the carrier group was 28lm from the two nearest picket frigates. They aren’t running, he assured himself. Admiral Hayes is just giving himself more room. Nonetheless, it was disconcerting to watch half of Kalyke’s forces “retreat” while his own ship sailed toward the danger.

  “One hundred and ten fighters, Captain,” Salle said. “Falcata is having a little trouble confirming the count but Scythe’s sensors are sharing data.” She grimaced as she reported further, “They’re also heading this way, sir.”

  The news was expected, even planned for, but it was difficult not to dread the impending attack. Twist felt the tension rise a level on the bridge. He was already reaching for his communications controls when Weis ordered, “Section commanders, be sure to keep your sections in the loop. We don’t want them to have to be guessing about what’s happening.”

  “Hey guys, it’s Caden,” Twist said informally over the sub-channel, addressing his three subsection leaders. “You’re undoubtedly watching the system plot and see the Hollaran fighters. Word is the final count will be one-ten and they’re headed for us. This is pretty much exactly as we’ve planned so I want you to prep your sections for a point defense action in…” Twist circled the fighter wave on his tactical plot and drew a line to his fleet while inputting commands with his other hand. “Roughly ninety-five minutes. That’s if course and speed bear out.”

  Acknowledgments filled the channel. After a brief pause, Twist heard Ensign Burns from the heavy laser section.

  “Any chance we can outdistance their fighters?”

  Holt answered the question. “We have yet to see a Hollie fighter pilot ditch his craft so we’re not sure what their endurance is. But, we’re probably well within range.”

  “We’ve planned for this,” Twist restated. He tried to fill his voice with confidence. “We might be facing a lot of missiles but they’ll have a slow closure rate. We’ve got a CortRon dedicated to our group and we’ve got some of the best gunners in the Republic manning our GP and Merkell lasers.”

  “Look what Caden did on Lochaber,” Holt added in support.

  “Yeah,” Twist said half-heartedly. He pushed the self-doubt aside. “Just tell your gunners to follow their procedures and take each missile one at a time.” He closed the channel. During the discussion, Task Group 2.6 had executed its turn away from the incoming fighters. The maneuver transformed an easy intercept for the Hollarans into a long stern chase.

  Twist spent the next forty minutes skimming over his notes from the last exercise evaluation. The bottom line was that he and his section needed more practice. Everyone was executing their duties correctly, just too slowly. He debated if and what he could cut from the steps he per
formed during point defense actions. The situation was untenable. He despondently looked at his point defense taskings guide. Humans have been firing missiles at each other for millennia. Everything that can be cut out already has been cut out.

  A sensor exchange from BRS Scythe updated TG 3.1’s new course. The heavy carrier and her escorts had opened the range to 35lm from the Hollaran task force before resuming a parallel course in-system. The Hollaran fighter wave, easily discernable by Falcata now, was bearing down on TG 2.6 at .3c from just over 15lm away. The Brevic fighter strike group was estimated to be between 14lm and 16lm from the Hollaran main body.

  “Another update from Scythe,” Salle said, breaking the silence of the bridge. During TG 2.6’s run from the approaching fighters, the distance between the enemy carrier force and Falcata’s own task group had increased to 30lm. The incredible distance made for unreliable sensor readings, especially from the elderly destroyer’s own instruments. The sensor officer worked her console and a second group of fighter symbols appeared next to the Hollaran carriers.

  “A second fighter wave?” Hayashi asked hesitantly.

  Weis’ head rocked toward the ceiling. After a moment of thought, he said, “I think we’re seeing their reaction to Avenger’s fighters.” He pointed at the system plot. “Those pickets probably caught sight of our fighters about thirty-five minutes ago. They’re two light-minutes out from the main body so two minutes to warn the carriers. Figure a few minutes to start launching your alert fighters and then it would take thirty minutes for the light of their launch to reach us.”

  “So the new fighters aren’t for us?” Lieutenant Salle asked hopefully.

  Weis smiled at her. “No, they’re going to be used for defense.”

  Hayashi’s head was down in her chair arm console. “Depending on how quickly the new fighters can launch, they’ll intercept Avenger’s fighters with anti-fighter missiles before our fighters can launch their ASMs.” She shook her head. “Those pickets gave the Hollarans just enough time to react.”