by Isaac Hooke
He was never all that good at rousing battle speeches. Well, it didn’t matter. He supposed his message was succinct enough that it wouldn’t be lost on any of them.
With the meeting concluded, Jonathan split the fleet into two battle units, B1 and B2. The Callaway and other flagships remained behind with the smaller B2 while B1 proceeded toward the incoming scavengers from Earth. The Talon stayed with B2 as well, of course, ready to fire on the Elder ship when the time came. Thirty Avengers and thirty Raakarr fighters escorted the Talon, while the remaining three-hundred-plus human and alien fighters remained docked aboard B1’s vessels.
B1 advanced fifty thousand kilometers in front of Vesta, placing themselves between the incoming scavengers and the Elder ship, forming a defensive blockade. The vessels formed three vast cylindrical formations laid end to end, each a thousand kilometers in length, parallel to the path of the enemy.
The ships composing the front of each formation were all Raakarr. Their particle beams would eliminate any incoming disintegration or fragmentation bombs that penetrated the planned nuke screen. The human vessels had already launched hundreds of mortars, clustering them at the fore of each formation so the Raakarr had some protection from the gravimetric beams the scavengers would employ.
The Sino-Koreans and United Systems vessels composed the latter portions of each cylinder. The plan was to use nukes and kinetic kills to herd the scavengers down the middle of those cylindrical tunnels, and thus exposing the enemy to a continuous stream of assaults. Mortars and slugs were not to be used for herding, for fear that the scavengers would capture the rocks and use them to create shields as in the first engagement—the enemy couldn’t use nukes and missiles for that purpose, not when those weapons disintegrated upon detonation.
Shortly after the vessels of B1 deployed, the CDC alerted Jonathan that the hundred incoming scavengers had ejected some of the raw materials they had gathered to form a defensive bulwark in front of their ships anyway. Jonathan smiled grimly.
Nicely done, scavengers.
Still, the mineral shields wouldn’t help much when the enemy vessels flew down the middle of the offensive tunnels, exposing their flanks to the ships composing the walls of those formations.
Bridgette was still unable to get past the humanoid’s psi defenses, so they were unsure of any further weak spots other than those Miko and Maxwell had determined from the previous combat footage.
Lieutenant Harv Boroker had made no progress on his investigation of the artifact stolen from the Elder ship. The chief weapons engineer commented that it certainly made a good paper weight, but otherwise he hadn’t found a purpose for the device yet.
“It does look fairly bad-ass though, I have to admit,” the lieutenant said. “What with all those glowing blue lines pulsing up and down the sides. When this is all over, I’d like to make it the centerpiece of my stolen artifact collection, if you wouldn’t mind. I already have a pedestal picked out.”
“I didn’t know you had a stolen artifact collection,” Jonathan said.
“I don’t,” Harv said with a wry smile. “This will be the first entry.”
“I see.” Jonathan returned the smile, though his was forced. “Keep trying.”
An hour and half passed, and the scavengers approached the hundred thousand kilometer mark. Jonathan found himself wishing the fleet hadn’t lost all of the Raakarr laser ships—their long range would have proved useful right about then.
When the scavengers reached the sixty thousand kilometer mark, Jonathan gave the order for B1 to launch its herding ring of kinetic kills and nukes. On the tactical display, he saw several waves of the weapons go out.
“Miko, instruct B1 to deploy fighters,” Jonathan said.
Raakarr and human fighters joined the cylindrical formations, adding their numbers to the walls, and waiting to tighten the noose when the enemy arrived.
The ring of nukes and kinetic kills served its purpose: so far, the incoming enemy were on course to pass directly down the middle of the cylinder made by B1. They would so in groups of fours, it seemed: the hundred ships formed a long, strung out line.
“Miko, have B1 deploy defensive nukes,” Jonathan said.
The human-manned ships of B1 fired another round of nukes, these ones assuming positions at the front of each cylindrical formation. They would act as smart mines.
Hundreds of fresh red dots appeared on the tactical display.
“The enemy ships are launching their fragmentation and disintegration bombs,” Lewis said.
Jonathan nodded slowly. He tapped in Wethersfield. “Tell me we’re going to have the disintegration cannon ready soon.”
“Valor says it’s coming,” the Artificial replied. “A few more minutes.”
Jonathan watched as the nukes that acted as mines at the front of the first formation began to detonate, eliminating half of the incoming bombs. The Raakarr fired their particle beams at those that got through.
The lead scavengers utilized their gravimetric beams in turn, and Raakarr ships in the front ranks began to disintegrate.
Some of the enemy bombs penetrated into the cylindrical formation, both fragmentation and disintegration types, and more ships were lost, United Systems, Sino-Korean, and Raakarr alike.
“Order the members of B1 to fire at will when each of them in turn has a clear shot at the flanks of those scavengers,” Jonathan said. “I want them to use nukes, Vipers, particle beams, kinetic kills. Everything. And instruct the Avengers to close for strafing runs.”
The display filled up with more dots as B1 complied. The cylinder seemed to tighten as the Avengers closed in with the scavengers. The long line of enemy continued forward, forcing their way past, firing more bombs, and unleashing their gravimetric beams relentlessly.
The scavenger vessels passed through each of the three cylinders in turn, causing terrible damage. Fighters harried them the whole way. None of the enemy decelerated—it soon became obvious they intended to pass straight through and proceed to the Elder ship.
The surviving scavengers began to emerge from the final cylinder.
“Has the mothership launched any super-suits yet?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” Lewis said. “Maybe they’re waiting for the scavengers to arrive?”
Jonathan studied the display for a moment, then made up his mind.
“We’re going to have to intercept them,” Jonathan said. “I don’t want those scavengers contributing to the repairs of the Elder nanobot beam. Or at least, I want to lessen their contribution by as much as possible. Miko, send B2 forward. The flagships and fighters in the unit are to remain behind with the Talon.”
B2 moved forward to intercept the scavengers. On the tactical display, the ships and fighters that remained behind were labelled B3. As the minutes ticked past, seventy scavengers emerged in total from the final cylindrical formation of B1 and continued on toward the Elder ship.
“Ops, how many did we lose in B1?” Jonathan asked.
“Over a hundred fighters,” Lewis said. “And seventy ships. Only a few lifepods were detected.”
Jonathan shook his head. A terrible cost. “Instruct the nearest ships to collect the survivors, and as many as the Avengers as they can. Meanwhile, the remainder of B1 is to rejoin B2.” He tapped in Wethersfield. “Now would be a good time for that cannon...”
“Valor says they’ve almost got it,” the Artificial replied.
“B2 is in weapons range with the incoming scavengers,” Lewis informed the captain a moment later.
“Fire everything,” Jonathan said.
thirty-one
B2 intercepted the incoming enemy and the outcome was similar. Only fifteen more scavengers were destroyed, at a cost of thirty-three ships from B2.
Well, Jonathan thought. At least we lessened their repair contribution to the Elder. Though not by much.
On his tactical display, Jonathan watched the surviving scavengers proceed toward the Elder vessel. None of the vessels dece
lerated as they neared the mothership. Instead, it looked like they were flying directly into it. Most of them were striking near the location of the damaged nanobot beam weapon.
“The scavengers are crashing into the Elder hull,” Lewis said. “After impact, their constituent molecules are spreading across the surface. This is consistent with my theory that the Elder hull swarms with defensive nanobots of some kind, ready to disperse incoming energy.”
“Those nanobots would have to be fairly high energy themselves to do that,” Miko said.
“Maybe they are,” Lewis replied.
“None of the scavengers are approaching Vesta itself?” Jonathan asked.
“No,” Lewis replied. “But the original three scavengers on the asteroid are still mining: two on this hemisphere, one the far side.”
“All right.” Jonathan tapped his lips. “Have B1 and B2 fire nukes anyway. Probably a waste of time, but let’s see if we can disrupt the repair process. Target the nanobot beam area of the Elder ship.”
He watched the nukes release.
“And Miko, have the rest of us move in as well,” Jonathan said. “We’re all going to contribute to this.”
The flagships, fighters, and the Talon proceeded forward, heading toward a rendezvous point with B1 and B2.
“Super-suits are swarming,” Lewis said.
On the display, Jonathan saw the mass of red emerge from the Elder ship.
I was wondering when the enemy would bring them into play.
“Send half our modified fighters in to escort the nukes,” Jonathan said. “Pull them back before impact.”
The minutes ticked past. Soon, he watched the yellow and blue dots representing the nukes and fighters contact the red dots of the super-suits. Several dots winked out on both sides, but many of the nukes got through.
The weapons impacted the mothership a few moments later. “Anything?” Jonathan asked.
“No good,” Lewis said. “The damage has been redirected once again. We’ve caused barely a dent. The remaining super-suits are continuing toward the fleet. Fighters are pursuing.”
“B1 and B2 are in effective Viper range of the mothership,” Miko said.
“Fire a concentrated burst,” Jonathan said. “Target the same spot area on the Elder hull.”
The survivors of B1 and B2 opened fire.
“No good,” Lewis said.
“Can we tell how close they are to repairing that nanobot beam?” Jonathan asked.
The ensign shook her head. “Given the rapid progression of repairs to the regions, the CDC thinks we have only a few minutes. Maybe seconds.”
“Damn it,” Jonathan said.
He sat back helplessly.
This isn’t quite going as planned.
He was about to tap in Wethersfield for another update when Lazur spoke.
“Wethersfield says the disintegration cannon is fully armed and ready to fire,” the comm officer said.
Jonathan sat up straight. “Fire two bombs at the Elder mothership.”
Two new dots appeared on the display, sourced from the Talon and headed directly for the Elder vessel. The tracking of the weapons seemed unaffected by the psi-stun devices attached to them, at least so far. Whether or not the devices affected the payload was another story.
“The two scavengers on this hemisphere of the asteroid are breaking away to intercept the weapons,” Lewis said. “As are most of the super-suits.”
“Send twenty Avengers and Raakarr fighters to escort the bombs,” Jonathan said.
He watched the swarm of red dots representing the super-suits break away from their current targets and move to intercept the bombs and their fighter escort. As the super-suits closed, many of those red dots winked out. Several passed by, seemingly on erratic courses.
“The psi-stun devices on the bombs are wreaking havoc in the super-suit ranks,” Lewis said. “And the Avengers and Raakarr fighters are picking off the rest.”
Jonathan nodded.
Finally things are going our way.
On the display, the bombs and their escorts continued to close with the Elder ship as more of the red dots gave way. He stiffened as the two scavengers made to intercept the weapons.
“The scavengers are launching their gravimetric beams at the bombs,” Lewis said. “It appears to be having no effect. They’re also firing their own disintegration and fragmentation warheads. So far, our disintegration bombs have outmaneuvered them all. We’re losing several fighters to exploding fragments, however.”
She was right: many of the blue dots repressing the escorting Avengers and Raakarr fighters vanished. Those fighters also still had to contend with the super-suits, which continued to come in from all sides.
“It looks like the lead vessel is on a direct collision course with the bombs,” Lewis said.
In moments that vessel touched the pair of dots representing the bombs, but nothing seemed to transpire: all the indicators remained active, simply passing right through one another.
“What happened?” Jonathan said.
“The two bombs swerved around the scavenger at the last moment,” Lewis said.
Jonathan exhaled in relief.
“The second scavenger is approaching... it’s not bothering to fire on the bombs, but instead is concentrating its weaponry on the fighter escort.”
Jonathan watched as several more blue dots vanished.
When the scavenger reached the bombs, the two dots representing the weapons winked out.
“Looks like the scavenger anticipated the directional change this time,” Lewis said. “And dove right into the bombs. We lost both of them. The scavenger ship is disintegrating.”
So the psi-stun devices attached to the hulls of the bombs didn’t affect the payloads after all then. Well that was good to know, at least.
“Meanwhile,” Lewis continued. “The remaining scavenger is decelerating. The super-suits are swarming around it. I think they intend to act as a shield when we attack again.”
“We have to take that scavenger out,” Jonathan said. “Miko, instruct B1 to intercept and destroy it. And have the Talon fire three more bombs at the Elder ship. Target the nanobot beam region. We don’t have time to wait, not when that beam could be repaired at anytime. Get the rest of our fighters to escort the bombs in.”
“The three bombs are away,” Lewis said. “Meanwhile, B1 is closing with the scavenger. They’ve launched nukes.”
On the tactical overlay, yellow dots appeared from the vessels in B1. Fresh red dots emerged from the scavenger at nearly the same time.
“The scavenger just fired disintegration and fragmentation bombs,” Lewis said. “Some of the nukes from B1 are changing course to intercept.”
Jonathan saw two disintegration bombs vanish thanks to the nukes. The Raakarr ships with B1 used their particle beams to sweep away the next two bombs, and some of the fragmentation varieties.
“B1 just fired Vipers at the scavenger,” Lewis said. “It’s launching its gravimetric beam in return.”
There was a flash on the external camera feed Jonathan had piped in to the upper right of his display.
“The nukes struck the scavenger,” Lewis said. “It’s gone. But we lost two ships in B1: the Warthog and the Swordsman. The former fell to the gravimetric beam, the latter to a fragmentation bomb.”
Jonathan nodded absently. He had kept his gaze on the three bombs the whole time, and watched them make their way toward the Elder ship. With B1 occupying the scavenger, the super-suits were left to face the bombs alone. The profusion of psi-stun devices coating the surfaces of those weapons sowed turmoil among the enemy ranks, and the fighters seemed to be having a field day out there, clearing large swathes of the units.
“The bombs are making good progress,” Lewis said. “Super-suits are falling to the stun devices, and both the Raakarr fighters and Avengers are picking them off. We should have impact in ten seconds. Wait... Captain, the Elder ship has started moving away from the asteroid!”
Jonathan watched via an external forward camera as the mothership accelerated across the surface of Vesta. “Will the bombs reach it in time?”
“I’m not sure...” Lewis said. “The bombs are changing course to match the new trajectory and... I think they’re accelerating.”
Johnathan observed the three dots on the tactical overlay swerve toward the Elder ship, close in, and...
“All three bombs scored a direct hit on the beam area,” Lewis said rather breathlessly. “Human and Raakarr fighters are retreating.”
Jonathan enlarged his external feed and watched with a mixture of awe and relief as a large rent slowly formed in the Möbius strip, expanding outward as if the hull were being eaten away. In moments the entire section that once contained the nanobot beam was completely gone, and the mothership had dissolved all the way through so that it looked more like a giant, bent out of shape earring than anything else.
The corrosive action continued for another forty seconds and then slowed until it ceased outright. Roughly thirty percent of the Elder vessel was gone, by volume.
“Their engines appear to be disabled,” Lewis said. “They’re drifting in place... and the surviving super-suits are returning to the mothership.”
“They’ve realized how ineffective they really are without those scavengers to back them up,” Robert said.
“Their masters are hurt,” Jonathan said. “Could be they’re returning to aid them.”
“You think the Elder recalled them?” Robert asked. “To help with repairs?”
“I don’t know,” Jonathan said. “Either way, I’m guessing now they’ll be more amenable to communications. Lazur, tell the Raptor to initiate contact. Have them ask the Elder if they’re ready to discuss the terms of their surrender.”
Jonathan watched the super-suits slowly vanish inside the mothership. Thirty seconds passed. He tapped his foot impatiently.
“Lewis,” Jonathan said. “Have you detected a gamma ray transmission from the Raptor yet?”
“Negative,” Lewis replied.
