Time Commander (The First Admiral Series)

by Benning, William J.

  With weapons blazing, the Destroyers emerged, and scattered in different directions to try to confuse the Alliance pulsar-gunners. However, the Force Shielded Star Cruisers were able to deflect the Screaming Death with ease. The Alliance gunners, well experienced in combat, were unfazed by the abrupt appearance of the Destroyers. Having been allocated a Firing Solution by the Tactical Computers within moments of the emergence, the high-yield pulsar-cannon, with the pitiless precision of a machine, let loose with ten guns. Within seconds of firing, the pulsar-bolts had closed the range on the Destroyers, and in a few seconds of savage violence, had smashed all four of their hulls to oblivion. As the four Destroyers exploded in yellow and dark red flames, Olympus sent another burst of Trionic Cannon streams through the right flank of the Ganthoran line. With the prospect of another Trionic Cannon Stream from Colossus smashing through their position from the left flank, the Ganthoran ships began to signal their surrender.

  There was a spontaneous outburst of cheering in the War Room of Aquarius, and throughout Third Fleet. With the Ganthorans to their front capitulating, Third Fleet was now able to stand down. The surviving Star Cruisers of Third Fleet would be useful in extracting the surrendering Ganthorans from the debris field, but as an effective fighting force, they were almost useless. Not a single surviving vessel in Third Fleet had escaped undamaged.

  With the first blow delivered, the second and final blow fell upon the Ganthoran “Six-Cigar” Carriers. This was to be where the final part of the battle was fought, and Billy Caudwell wanted it over quickly. Too many lives had been lost in what Billy considered to be a needless and pointless battle. The quicker he brought it to a conclusion, he hoped, the fewer lives would be lost.

  The thousand Alliance Eagles from First Fleet that had attacked the “Six-Cigar” Carrier formation had been split into two groups. Five hundred Eagles had been ordered to keep the Ganthoran Axe-Blades and Destroyers; that should have been protecting the Carriers, away from the formation. In this mission, the Alliance Eagles were being entirely successful. From the first salvo, and bone-jarring impact, from the Alliance Eagles, the Ganthorans were flung onto the back foot. The first salvo from the Alliance Eagles had torn into the fragile looking Axe-Blades, sending hundreds to oblivion in a red, roaring tempest of flame and destruction. Before the Ganthorans could respond with their Screaming Death weapons, the Alliance Eagles had flown through the rough straggle that was once their proud formation.

  The Ganthorans, once again caught out of formation, and with nothing like the numerical superiority they were used to, scattered, turning the battle into the one-on-one fighter dog-fight that favoured the Alliance Eagles. With astonishing skill and cunning the Alliance Eagles were driving the Ganthoran Axe-Blades and Destroyers further and further away from the Carriers.

  The great scratching and snarling melee that made up the fighter-on-fighter dog-fight became increasingly one-sided, as the Alliance Eagles took the initiative and decimated what remained of the defensive screen that should have protected the Carriers.

  With the defensive screen being driven off, the other five hundred Eagles were still running riot throughout the Carrier formation; like angry wasps, they buzzed and darted through the massive hulls of the Ganthoran “Six-Cigar” Carriers. The Eagle pilots strafed along the entire length and breadth of the Ganthoran hulls, virtually unopposed with the six low-yield pulsar-cannon of their fighters. At point blank range, the fast, agile Alliance fighters could hardly miss the slow lumbering and vulnerable Carriers. It was what First Admiral Billy Caudwell would have described as a “turkey shoot”.

  Individually, or in groups, the Alliance Eagles flew over and around the huge Carriers, blasting away with every pulsar-cannon they had, and scoring hit after hit on the massive hulls. The pulsar-bolts peppered and pitted the hulls of the Ganthoran Carriers endlessly, sending gouts of metal and superstructure out into the cold, empty vacuum of space. The self-defence capabilities of the Ganthoran Carriers fought valiantly, and vainly, to try to stem the overwhelming tide of Alliance pulsar-bolt fire. This did not mean, however, that the Alliance Eagles had everything their own way. Of the five hundred attacking Eagles, almost fifty had been struck down by the Ganthoran defenders.

  With the Eagles still hammering pulsar-bolts into the Carriers, Billy Caudwell could see that six Carriers were badly damaged. As they started to fall out of formation, the Eagles zipped and dived amongst the huge hulls, Billy was preparing to deliver the final blow in the drama.

  On the three-dimensional image on his War Table, Billy could see the seven Star Cruisers, that he had detached from First Fleet to attack the Carriers. The single-file line of Star Cruisers was still in highlighted yellow, indicating that they were approaching their objectives still in stealth mode. From the left flank of the Carrier formation, the Star Cruisers were moving slowly to attack the flank and rear of the final Ganthoran position.

  In a few moments, Billy expected them to move slowly, almost majestically, behind the Ganthoran Carriers and turn their high-yield pulsar-cannon onto the vulnerable enemy ships. The Ganthorans, distracted by the swarming Eagles around their Carriers, and with scanners that were either malfunctioning or were too primitive to pick up the stealthed warships, fought on as best they could against the Eagles.

  Watching the action unfold closely on the War Table, Billy Caudwell saw the Star Cruisers begin their slow and deliberate attack run. Having positioned themselves to the rear of the Ganthoran Carriers, the Star Cruisers moved forwards to cut off the final escape avenue of the Ganthoran Carriers. Almost in unison, the Star Cruisers swung their five pulsar-cannon turrets around to face the rear of the Carriers. The Tactical Computers aboard Aquarius had sent the final Firing Solution to the Star Cruisers, outlining which of the Carriers they were to fire upon, and in which order. Billy had instructed the Senior WATO to generate a Firing Solution that would get the attack over, as quickly and bloodlessly as possible.

  The Tactical Computers had crunched the numbers and provided an Optimal Solution. Bill had looked at the figures, and although they were alarmingly high, they had to be better than having to wipe out the entire Ganthoran Carrier formation.

  Making their final approach, the Star Cruisers dropped out of stealth mode. On the War Table image, the Alliance cruisers changed from yellow highlights to light-blue, and aboard the Ganthoran Cruisers, the scanners would be registering this new threat. For the Ganthoran crews, it was already too late. The Alliance Star Cruisers were already pulsar-cannon prepared and making their attack run.

  The Alliance Star Cruisers were slowly and deliberately targeting the Ganthoran Carriers as they approached. The Ganthorans, seeing this new threat, were powering up their huge electro-magnetic drive engines, and beginning to slowly break station in their formation. But, unfortunately for the Ganthorans, it was all way too late. The electro-magnetic drives would never be able to respond in time to the demands from their commanders, and even if they did generate sufficient power to move, the Carriers would never be able to avoid the pulsar-cannon of the Star Cruisers as they passed behind the Ganthoran formation.

  As the first of the Star Cruisers drew level with the first Ganthoran Carrier, the high-yield pulsar-cannon began to fire. The Optimal Firing Solution, approved by Billy Caudwell, took account of the wheel-like formation that the Ganthorans had adopted. The first Star Cruiser opened up with the first pair of pulsar-cannon at the burning Cruiser stationed at the ten o’clock position in the formation. The Star Cruiser would then target the eleven, twelve, one, and two o’clock positions with both barrels of one of their turrets. The second Star Cruiser would target the Carriers from the nine o’clock position through the centre of the formation, to the three o’clock position on the opposite side. The third Star Cruiser would then aim for the eight, seven, six, five, and four o’clock positions. The fourth Star Cruiser would target the Carriers in the top half of the formation that had not been attacked by the first three ships. The fifth would attack thos
e, still untouched in the bottom half of the formation.

  Meanwhile, Star Cruisers six and seven would be fed the updated Optimal Firing Solution with Threat Potential Scores that would target the remaining Carriers that still had some manoeuvring capability. Billy Caudwell wanted these Carriers crippled, but not completely destroyed.

  It was an easy order for Billy Caudwell to give. However, out on the battlefield, it was sometimes difficult to fully comply with. The first Star Cruiser unleashed two high-yield pulsar-bolts at the stricken Ganthoran Carrier at the ten o’clock position. One heartbeat later, the two pulsar-bolts struck the rear of the Carrier. To any observer, it looked as if the carrier had been kicked twice in rapid succession by an enormous boot. The Carrier lurched twice, and then began to break up. The first pulsar-bolt had smashed into the huge hole at the rear of the carrier, and shattered the already-damaged fans of the electro-magnetic drive. Meanwhile, the second pulsar-bolt had sheared through the hull; exiting from the other side, and breaking the back of the stricken Carrier.

  As if someone had broken a biscuit in half, the Carrier began to divide along a diagonal line; left rear to right front. Slowly, the Carrier split and divided; the two halves, and moved slowly out of station in the formation. With a great tearing and shrieking rend, the Carrier broke her back. All along the line of the split in the vessel material, equipment and, worst of all, people, could be seen tumbling and cascading out into the emptiness of space.

  This was not what Billy Caudwell wanted, but there was nothing he could do about it. Damaged vessels sometimes split apart after even the slightest impact from a low-yield pulsar-bolt. Stone-faced, Billy watched the unfolding tragedy and cursed the futility of it all. He hadn’t wanted this battle, but now he was determined to finish it off as quickly as he could.

  As the first Carrier split apart and was blown from its station, one half of the vessel; carrying two of the “Cigar Tube” Landing Bays, fell slowly onto the Carrier at the nine o’clock position. With another tearing and shrieking rend, in an almost obscene slow-motion, the loose lump of debris slowly stripped away three Landing Bays from the left side of the second Carrier. The hull of the second carrier still remained intact. However, with three of the six “Cigar Tubes” being sheared away at the strut-like supports that held them to the hull, the vessel became unstable. Meanwhile, the first Star Cruiser, on its first pass, had fired upon the Carrier at the eleven o’clock position. The first bolt had grazed the left side of the hull about one third of the way along from the front of the vessel. Once again, a huge burst of superstructure, equipment, and people had been cast out into the frozen, airless vacuum. The second pulsar-bolt had hit clean and true on the rear of the hull. Once again, the great Carrier had lurched in its station as if someone had kicked it with a heavy boot.

  The Carrier at the twelve o’clock position had somehow managed to engage its engines, and was starting to move slowly forward. The first Alliance pulsar-bolt grazed the right underside of the Carrier’s hull and tore off two Cigar Tube Landing Bays from their roots against the hull. The second pulsar-bolt, the Alliance gunner overcompensating for the vessels movement, struck the Carrier on the underside of the nose. The entire nose section slowly and painfully sheared away from the main hull with a large explosion, casting thousands of pieces of debris, and hundreds of crew members into space. The two Cigar Tubes fell downwards, narrowly missing the Carrier beneath. It fell through the formation; rapidly gathering momentum, until it struck the top of the Carrier stationed above right to the Carrier at the six o’clock position.

  With the enormous energy of the impact, the Carrier had no chance of survival. For a split-second the doomed Carrier seemed to fold in the area it had been struck, and then it exploded in an enormous fireball.

  The Carrier stationed at the five o’clock position was consumed by the massive explosion and avalanche of flying debris. No one from the two Carriers would survive the holocaust of flame and destruction.

  In his silent frustration and rage, Billy Caudwell cursed the misfortune of the Ganthoran crews and silently urged their commander to capitulate. The Ganthoran General, not blessed with the gift of telepathy, was not quite ready to give up the ghost. The Carrier stationed at the one o’clock position in the formation was the most fortunate of the vessels hit thus far. The first bolt struck clean and true on the lower rear hull, tearing great shards and gouts of metal from the vessel into a huge red and orange flame, whilst the second bolt missed entirely and sped impotently off into the depths of space.

  The Carrier at the two o’clock position was hit squarely on the underside of the hull; one forward, and one to the rear. Once again, it looked like someone had kicked the vessel twice with heavy boots as it lurched forwards from its station and spewed debris and people from its underside out into space.

  It was the second Star Cruiser that was to finish the battle. Following on from the first, the second Star Cruiser opened fire on the damaged Ganthoran Carrier at the nine o’clock position. The badly damaged and flame scorched Carrier, with an already weakened structure, shuddered violently under the two direct hits. The two pulsar-bolt hits slammed mercilessly into the rear of the Carrier, starting the chain-reaction that tore the vessel apart in a massive explosion. Shattering into large fragments, the disintegrating Carrier showered the area with wreckage and flame. The Carriers in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were sufficiently distant to avoid the worst of the disaster. However, as the huge fragments began to drift away from the initial explosion, the Carrier at the eight o’clock position, moving slowly away from the Alliance Star Cruisers, found itself moving into the path of the larger falling fragments.

  Struggling desperately to change the direction of the massive Ganthoran Carrier, the crew watched, helplessly, as their vessel failed to respond quickly enough, and the large fragment of the destroyed Carrier began to slowly move towards them. Of the tens of thousands aboard the Ganthoran Carrier, only a few hundred very lucky ones managed to make it to the Life Pods after the Captain’s order to abandon ship. For the rest of the crew, there was the agonizing wait for oblivion, as the huge chunk of warship ploughed slowly into the top of the Carrier as it tried to evade the collision. Like a ragged blade slowly striking into the flesh of its victim, the shattered edges of the chunk of warship pierced the top of the hull of Carrier. Stripping back and shearing through bulkheads, decks, and equipment, the leading edge ploughed deeper into the doomed Carrier. With the forward momentum of the Carrier, the collision scraped and sheared even greater damage from the dying vessel.

  With agonising slowness, the leading edge of the chunk gouged deep into the Carrier and ploughed remorselessly into the power plant. With the power plant ruptured, the entire vessel disappeared in a great, cataclysmic explosion. In the space of only a few minutes, five of the Ganthoran Carriers had been completely destroyed. A further three were so damaged that they could not move from their stations, whilst another three Carriers were being consumed with flames as their gallant crews struggled bravely to save their ships- and their lives.

  With over half of his Carriers destroyed or out of commission, and the rest of his fleet all but wiped out, the Ganthoran General signalled for a cease fire. The battle was over, Third Fleet had been rescued, the invasion had been routed, and the Tergus System was safe in Alliance hands once more. First Admiral Billy Caudwell had won another battle.

  Looking at the image on the War Table, the victorious First Admiral surveyed the wreckage of his latest victory. Third Fleet had lost over ninety percent of its Eagles, with over three thousand five hundred pilots dead. Five of fourteen Star Cruisers had been lost; another ten thousand lives. First Fleet had lost eighty-six Eagles, with twenty-four pilots killed. The numerals on the War Table image indicated that the Alliance had also suffered over twelve thousand injured; some of whom might also die. The Ganthoran invasion fleet was now scattered, as space debris over thousands of square kilometres. The loss of lives would number in the hundreds
of thousands. The Ganthoran injured would number in the tens of thousands. First Admiral Billy Caudwell turned away from the three-dimensional image, and with his arms folded across his chest, he covered his eyes with his left hand.

  For Billy Caudwell, there would always be that very human emotion of guilt and regret. The adrenaline that had coursed through his veins and sharpened his perceptions and clarity of thought through the Personal Environment Suit now abated. The intensity of the experience faded rapidly when the danger and stress were past. Like a drug user coming down from a particularly good high, Billy now felt the crashing despair of the low. The PES magnified adrenaline that had kept his mind sharp and focussed, now receded, leaving him able to see the consequences of the battle. The ringing cheers of the War Room, and the messages of congratulations, pronounced yet another brilliant Caudwell victory.

  Once again, to Billy Caudwell it felt horribly like a defeat.

  Chapter 9: The Imperial Palace, Ganthus City

  In Ganthus City, the news of the defeat of the Frontier Fleet was received with an angry silence by a stone-faced Grand Adjudicator Bellor.

  Bellor had smiled, politely, and had courteously dismissed the shame-faced Frontier Fleet messenger who had informed him of General Grobbeg’s disastrous defeat. However, in his mind, Grand Adjudicator Bellor was blazing with anger. The fool, Grobbeg, Bellor had raged in the quiet seclusion of his private apartments in the Imperial Palace. The stern faces of long-dead Emperors stared down at him from the wall; like the parents of a particularly stupid child, scolding him with their rigid, silent expressions.

  As if things weren’t difficult enough, the idiot Grobbeg, looking for his chance to claim a Candidacy for the Time Warrior ritual, had taken on this new Universal Alliance, and had lost almost three-quarters of his Frontier Fleet in the process. The Terganian Frontier was now virtually undefended, and Bellor knew that he would have to order elements of the other Frontier Fleets to plug the gap left by Grobbeg’s stupidity. But, worst of all, Grobbeg’s attack had implemented a clause in the Ganthoran Empire’s Imperial Decrees; the closest thing that the Empire had to a Constitution, that created a state of war between the Empire and this Universal Alliance. At this moment in time, the Ganthoran Empire did not need a major war. The Imperial Decree required that the other Frontier Fleets should avenge Grobbeg’s defeat. That would mean pulling resources away from the other Frontiers, and, more than likely, sustaining even greater losses than those caused by Grobbeg. If this Universal Alliance had shattered Grobbeg’s Fleet, then they would certainly do the same to any other force that the Ganthorans sent against them.