by D. J. Holmes
“Their fleet is breaking up,” sensor officer reported quickly. “Looks like their smaller ships are detaching from the main fleet and making a break for the system’s mass shadow. At their current acceleration rates, they’ll be able to jump out in thirty minutes.”
Cri’tilly open his mouth to give the order to lay on an intercept course but his sensor officer brought him to a halt. “The main Flex-aor fleet is changing vectors. They’re turning onto heading four nine point seven six two.”
Cri’tilly could easily visualize what was happening. His species’ benefactors had always said that the Crian people had an impressive affinity for conceptualizing complex spatial patterns. The Flex-aor frigates were trying to leave the system, presumably to warn the rest of the species about the approaching threat. Meanwhile, the two battleships and their escorts would sacrifice themselves to buy the frigates the time they needed to escape. Cri’tilly cursed himself for slowing down. His actions had played right into the hands of the Flex-aor. Now he couldn’t intercept the frigates without coming into missile range of the battleships. I have no choice, Cri’tilly thought. Ya’sia’s orders were clear. If they didn’t prove friendly, the Flex-aor warships could not be allowed to leave the system with news of the Crian and Human fleet.
“Signal Second Squadron, inform them that we are going after the frigates. They are to engage the Flex-aor battleships as soon as possible,” Cri’tilly ordered. “Navigation, alter course to intercept those frigates. Keep us as far away from the battleships as possible, but I want to bring those frigates within missile range for at least ten minutes before they can jump out. We need to make sure we destroy every one of them.”
Moments later Cri’tilly felt small vibrations run up his command chair as his ship’s engines went to maximum. A shiver traveled down his four legs, making him stretch them out. He wanted to tell himself it was just from the vibrations, but he knew better. He, his ship and his crew were going into combat for the first time. It had been a shiver of excitement, there was no denying that. His whole body felt like it was about to spasm with nervous anticipation. Most of his adult life had been spent training for this scenario. Now it was finally going to happen. Underneath his excitement, he was acutely aware of a small pulse of fear beating away. He had always expected to have a technological and numerical advantage going into battle. Presently, he only had one of those, and he wasn’t sure if that was going to be enough.
“We’re entering missile range of the Flex-aor battleships,” an officer reported, forcing Cri’tilly to stop analyzing himself.
“Order our squadron to target all missiles at their frigates and cruisers. We’ll take out their escorts and leave the battleships for Second Squadron,” Cri’tilly ordered.
Less than thirty seconds later ninety missiles were launched by his thirty frigates. His ships fired a second salvo before the Flex-aor open fire. The Flex-aor warships had a range advantage over Human warships, but not over Crian ones.
“We’re tracking sixty-four missile carriers launched by the Flex-aor. I estimate they’re carrying a payload of over four hundred missiles,” a Lieutenant reported.
Cri’tilly didn’t reply immediately. He was imagining what four hundred missiles might do to his frigates. “Captain?” Starscape’s second-in-command queried.
Cri’tilly shook himself and turned to his second-in-command. “Take direct control of our point defenses, open up on those missile carriers before they can release their missiles. We may get lucky and take out a handful of them.”
Before the Flex-aor missiles got into range, the two salvos Cri’tilly had fired reached their targets. A number of missiles from each managed to penetrate the Flex-aor’s point defenses. Eight frigates had broken away from the initial fleet of forty ships in an effort to escape. Of the remaining thirty-two, Cri’tilly destroyed nine.
“Got one,” a weapons officer shouted drawing Cri’tilly’s mind back to his own ships. A gunner had taken out a missile carrier. Over the next thirty seconds six more were destroyed. The rest released their missiles.
Cri’tilly felt another shiver run down his legs. This time, it wasn’t one of excitement. “All point defenses open fire,” he ordered needlessly.
With sensors and tracking computers that were significantly more advanced than Human ones, the Crian point defenses shredded the Flex-aor missiles. Even so, Cri’tilly realized that quantity has a quality all of its own as twenty missiles reached attack range. As they dived among his ships Cri’tilly gave the order for evasive maneuvers. His ships scattered in every direction. A few missiles were confused, but most kept tracking their targets. Explosions erupted among his First Squadron.
“Status report?” Cri’tilly demanded as soon as it became clear no missiles were tracking his ship.
“Two frigates are gone Captain; I’ve got at least three other ships reporting that they have been hit and have suffered damage.”
Time seemed to slow down for Cri’tilly as he reached out to access the initial reports that were coming in. He needed to know what frigates had been lost. Anguish welled up inside of him as he read their names. He knew both Captains well. Now they were gone. As he looked back up at the main holo-projector, the next wave of Flex-aor missile carriers was already approaching. There were just as many of them as in the first salvo, and now his numbers were reduced. Suddenly, Cri’tilly realized all his excitement at the prospect of combat had evaporated. The real thing was very different to what he had imagined. As he watched the missile carriers grow ever closer, he stomped his feet on the deck of his command bridge. Some of those missiles were going to take the lives of his people. They may try, Cri’tilly thought as a new resolve pushed out any other thoughts. But we are not going to make it easy for them. Immediately he barked out orders as he sought to reorganize his squadron and prepare his ships to fend off another wave of missiles.
*
UNS Golden Hind.
James sat back in his command chair when he saw the forward Crian squadron begin to reorganize itself. He been holding his breath. Human history showed again and again that when inexperienced crews went into battle they were normally stunned by what they found themselves facing. It looked like something similar had happened to the Crians. James had been surprised to learn that none of the ships in Ya’sia’s fleet had been involved in combat before. All the Crian ships that had fought the Flex-aor at Monulan had been held back for a refit and repairs. Even the undamaged ones had been held back so that their battle recordings could be analyzed.
“They have reformed their formation,” Becket commented. “They should be able to ride out the next missile salvo. Things will get easier from then.”
“They’re still going to lose ships,” James replied. He had wanted to contact Ya’sia and warn her that her Captain commanding First Squadron had been making a mistake slowing down. Yet he had held himself back. Probably the Captain had done so in an effort to prolong the time he had to try and open friendly communications with the Flex-aor. Ya’sia would have approved. Sadly, James had concluded experience was the only way they were going to learn. And they are going to learn a costly lesson today.
Another two Crian frigates were destroyed by the Flex-aor battleship squadron. Others were damaged and had to fall out of formation. Despite the second Crian squadron coming into missile range of the Flex-aor battleships, they didn’t switch targets. The Flex-aor commander had his priorities correct. Allowing his frigates to escape was all that mattered. As a result, three more smaller missile salvos came crashing into First Squadron before they got past the battleships. By the time the last Flex-aor missile was shot down, seven frigates had been destroyed and as many again where limping along trying to escape from battle. In return, the missile salvos from First and Second Squadrons had crippled the Flex-aor battleships.
“Now we’ll see if their sacrifice will pay off for them,” Miyamoto said as the last Flex-aor warship was wiped out by six simultaneous missile detonations.
“
Let’s hope it doesn’t,” James replied. “If a Flex-aor frigate escapes after all the losses the Crian’s have suffered, their morale is going to take a serious hit.”
As the battle was happening nearly a light hour away, everyone on Golden Hind’s bridge was watching the gravimetric plot. It was the only source of real-time information. For ten minutes the Crian First Squadron and the fleeing Flex-aor frigates exchanged fire. Just one Crian frigate was damaged. The last salvo that closed in on the Flex-aor frigates was targeted at just two of them. James let out a sigh of relief when both were destroyed. No advanced warning would be reaching the Flex-aor homeworld.
“They did it,” Scott said happily. “It was far costlier than I think we would have guessed. But they did it. We could never have caught them. I hope it counts for something.”
“It should give their fleet a wake-up call if nothing else,” James replied. “Now they know how dangerous the Flex-aor can be. They have been bloodied.”
*
Starscape.
Cri’tilly couldn’t make sense of all the emotions that were assaulting him. He was proud of his ships. They had stopped the Flex-aor frigates. Yet it had come at great cost. Friends he had had since his days at the naval Academy were gone. Ships that had proudly served the Crian fleet were no more. Combat was far worse than he had imagined, and far deadlier. And this is only the beginning, Cri’tilly realized. Whatever was yet to come would be far worse. That sent more than a shiver down his legs.
Chapter 8
It is hard to imagine that there was a time that the fate of the Human race once rested on the survival of one or even just a handful of solar systems. To be sure, if the Sol system was conquered or destroyed the Empire would feel its loss, but one hundred worlds could be wiped out and Humanity would go on.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
UNS Golden Hind, X-62 system, 23rd July 2478 AD.
A week later the combined fleet of Human and Crian warships was waiting at the edge of the final system they had to travel through in order to reach the Flex-aor home system. James was on Golden Hind’s bridge waiting for word to come back from the stealth destroyers that had been sent into the system. As soon as the all clear was given, the fleet would advance. Given that there had been a Flex-aor war fleet in the previous system, everyone was taking a lot more precautions. Instead of all the stealth ships returning, five of them had orders to continue into the system to look for danger. In addition, Ya’sia had formed four small squadrons to scout ahead of the main fleet.
“A laser COM beam has been detected bouncing off one of our antennas,” Emilie reported. “Hold on. It’s Sparrow. She has returned.” Rather than report anything else Emilie lapsed into silence as she remained hunched over her station.
“Sub Lieutenant?” James prompted.
“I think you better have a look for yourself Admiral,” she replied. “I’m sending the report to your command chair.”
When both Captain Becket and Commander Scott looked down at their command chairs James surmised she had sent it to them as well. “This certainly wasn’t on Ya’sia’s star map,” he commented as he looked down at one of the displays on his command chair read through the destroyer’s report. “She is going to be surprised.”
“I’m sure she will be, but it makes sense,” Scott suggested. “We should have seen this coming. Remember how surprised she was that the Flex-aor were able to build such large war fleets? They clearly have far more industrial capacity than the Crian thought. It makes sense that they would be spread out across more than one system.”
James nodded. “You’re right. This changes our plans somewhat. Emilie, transmit the report to Ya’sia’s flagship and to our own fleet. Then call a holo conference with my senior commanders. Let’s go everyone, conference room. Captain Becket you may come as well.”
James led his staff off Golden Hind’s bridge and into the adjacent conference room. By the time his staff had found their seats, holographic representations of his commanders began to appear around them.
“Captains, Commodores, and Admirals,” James said once the last face appeared. “You’ve all been sent Sparrow’s report. It is brief and to the point. There is a Flex-aor colony in this system. It looks like they have a decent sized orbital industrial complex and at least two hundred warships defending the planet. I sent Sparrow’s report on to Ya’sia but before I speak to her I want to get your input. What are your thoughts?”
“Even if there are double the number of Flex-aor warships in the system than Sparrow detected, we could easily take them out and destroy the planet’s orbital and surface infrastructure,” Rear Admiral Sato answered. “I know our goals and those of the Crians might be slightly different in this endeavor, but if we can cripple this system’s industries it would certainly give us a strong bargaining position when we reach their homeworld. If we show the Flex-aor what we can do to their planets, they’ll be much more likely to want to negotiate. Ya’sia has to see the benefit of that. Plus, it would be a small recompense for what they have done to us.”
“We would be perfectly justified,” James agreed. “I can’t see Ya’sia being too warm to the idea though.”
“She’ll probably want to try and open negotiations with the senior government or military officials in the system,” Becket said. “Unless they have a Queen in the system though, we’d just be wasting our time. And even then…”
“And even then, can we trust whatever a Queen tells us?” James said as he finished Becket’s thought. James’s senior commanders knew about Becket and Scott’s experience with the Flex-aor Queen on X-38. She had sought to deceive them from the outset and had nearly succeeded in killing them. As far as James was concerned, there was no reason to trust any Flex-aor, especially their Queens.
“If there are only two hundred Flex-aor warships, we could strike the planet without Crian support,” Gupta suggested. She held James’ gaze, showing she understood the gravity of her suggestion. “Ya’sia would be unhappy, but we are not under her authority. We have to think about our own people first. If we can strike a blow against a heavily industrialized Flex-aor system, it would be a big step in guaranteeing they could not launch another invasion against us in the immediate future. Sato is right. Our reasons for being out here are slightly different than the Crian’s, we can’t let them sway us from the course of action that is in our people’s best interest.”
James nodded. “You are right. Our mission is to see off any Flex-aor threat. Destroying their shipyards would certainly accomplish that. Yet taking out any Flex-aor fleets that remain is our first priority. Second has to be striking their homeworld. Whatever industries they have here, they no doubt have significantly more in their home system. However if we lose the support of the Crian now, we may not have it when the opportunity arises to strike at their fleet or homeworld.”
Gupta opened her mouth, clearly intending to defend what she had said. James raised both his hands to appease her. “I’m not saying we’re not going to take this opportunity. Only that we need to consider all our options.”
“Launching a strike now would at least have one negative outcome,” Rear Admiral Ramirez commented. Ramirez commanded the Outer Defense Fleet’s second battlecruiser squadron, she had previously been a Commodore in the Spanish Navy. “We would be warning whatever forces are in the Flex-aor home system about our presence. If we are considering launching a pre-emptive strike, perhaps we should circumvent the system and strike their homeworld first. We can come back and take out this system any time we want.”
Sato shook his head. “We don’t know what awaits us in the Flex-aor home system. I’d be nervous about leaving a force in our rear. Even two hundred warships could cause a headache if things go badly in the Flex-aor home system.”
“What do we do if Ya’sia wants to negotiate? Which seems highly likely,” Gupta asked. “If we reveal our presence we’ll be giving away the element of surprise. Worse, we’ll be giving the Flex-aor ample time to bols
ter their homeworld’s defenses. They could keep us in this system for days or weeks pretending to negotiate with us, and, all the while, they could be amassing their forces. Isn’t that exactly what the Flex-aor Queen on X-38 did to you Commander Scott?”
James shot Gupta a weary smile. He knew what she was doing. He counted her and Scott as his closest advisers. Gupta was trying to get Scott on her side.
“It is,” Scott answered. “She kept telling us what we wanted to hear until she got close enough to strike at us. I’ll confess, I would be very nervous about opening negotiations with the Flex-aor in this system. At least if we did so in their home system, we could strike at their fleet and industries if there was any sign of duplicity. If we wait in this system, who knows what they could be up to? However, there is a wider situation to consider. We know there are several more advanced alien species who are our neighbors. They also seem much more willing to share technologies than the Kulreans. Forming strong relations with the Crians, and, perhaps even more importantly, with their benefactors, may provide more strategic protection to our colonies than a military victory today. Or even one in the Flex-aor home system.”
