“Take them out,” she snapped. The human fleet was taking a battering, but ... right now, it was suddenly no longer a priority. They’d timed it well. The assault pods were well within their engagement range, but right on the edge of her engagement range. Her point defence wasn’t going to take out more than a handful of them before they opened fire. “Rotate the fleet! Reverse course!”
Alarms shrilled as the missile pods launched their deadly contents. Neola felt her ship shudder, drives screaming in protest as she struggled to reverse course. She kicked herself, mentally, for deploying the gravity well projectors. She’d locked the human ships out of FTL, but she’d locked herself out of FTL too! She snapped orders, knowing it would take far too long for the gravity shadows to fade. They didn’t have time. She glanced at the human fleet, then turned her attention to the enemy missiles as they zoomed towards her fleet. They seemed to be slower than she’d expected ... then she realized they were her missiles! Tokomak missiles! The humans had taken them from N-Gann, loaded them into makeshift assault pods and fired them at her. In hindsight ...
We know these missiles, she thought, as the missiles flew into her point defence envelope. If they weren’t human designs, with human seeker heads, the fleet might just have a chance to survive. They might even win the battle. We can stop them.
She gritted her teeth as the missiles started to strike home. They weren’t as well-coordinated as she’d come to expect from human designs, but there were so many of them it hardly mattered. She watched, numbly, as shields were blown down and starships were destroyed, a handful losing power and falling out of formation as lifepods were launched. The humans wouldn’t fire on the lifepods deliberately - she admitted that much about them - but in such a confused environment their electronic servants might have other ideas. She tried not to curse openly as hundreds of starships were damaged or destroyed, including too many of her allied ships. Their commanders were not going to be pleased. She ignored the lights on her display as her subordinates tried to call her. If they’d drilled their units better, they might just have stood a chance.
“The human fleet is holding position,” her aide informed her. “They’re targeting missiles on us.”
“Return fire.” Neola studied the display for a long moment. The range was increasing, even though the human ships were barely moving. Her fleet was a disorganised mass. “Order the fleet to form up as planned.”
She forced herself to think as the display steadily updated. It was hard to be sure, but it looked as though she’d disabled or destroyed a third of the human ships. She’d expected more ... the point defence had been better than she’d feared. The human fleet was a well-drilled mass, while her fleet ... she promised herself that she’d have the commanders punished for their failure, after she won the battle. They couldn’t afford to be complacent any longer. The humans had taught them that, time and time again. It was high time they learnt to listen.
“Detail four squadrons of destroyers to cover the gravity point,” she ordered. “And reinforce them with ECM drones.”
She nodded to herself as her aides scrambled to obey. The human ships might be more powerful, but anything that came through the gravity point would have their sensors scrambled ... just long enough, she hoped, for a destroyer to land a killer blow. The humans would need better targeting data if they wanted to throw another wave of assault pods at her, if indeed they had another wave. Her fleet was such a priority target that she couldn’t believe they would have held anything back, if they had it. They’d resorted to throwing captured missiles at her. She hoped that meant they didn’t have many of their own.
And it’s all the more important we crush that fleet, she mused, as the range started to close again. She was grimly aware of unseen eyes following the battle, of civilian ships that could carry word of the outcome well away from the system before she could stop them. This time, the entire galaxy is watching.
***
Colin toted up the results of the missile duel with a profound feeling of dissatisfaction. The Tokomak had battered the fleet, perhaps more extensively than they’d realised. It didn’t help that too many of his ships were on the wrong side of the gravity point, unable to intervene ... unable even to watch, now they’d shot off the last of their assault pods. The enemy fleet had been caught flatfooted, facing a wave of missiles even bigger than the one they’d hurled at him and yet they’d survived. They’d soaked up the losses and kept coming.
He frowned as the display continued to update. The gravity shadows were rising and falling, as if the Tokomak couldn’t make up their mind if they wanted to trap the fleet or not. It must have been maddening to them to know they’d trapped themselves, along with their human enemies. Colin wouldn’t have hesitated to break contact and drop into FTL if they’d given him the chance. He wondered, idly, if they would. They’d lose the tactical engagement, but they’d still come out ahead.
And yet, they can’t simply let us go, he thought. Who knows how much trouble we’d cause them before we ran out of supplies?
“Sir,” Commander Jalil said. “The enemy is resuming fire.”
“Deploy drones, then start randomly activating and deactivating cloaking devices,” Colin ordered. It would keep the enemy guessing, perhaps long enough to force them to expend all their missiles. They certainly weren’t sparing the firepower. Colin would have hesitated to fire so many missiles in a single barrage. It helped, he supposed, that the Tokomak had supply dumps and a fleet train a single jump away. “And continue firing.”
He gritted his teeth as the enemy fleet picked up speed. They weren’t quite as fast as his ships in realspace, but he doubted he’d have time to simply outrun them ... not, he supposed, that it would do much for his reputation. He’d be quite happy to have idiots singing songs about an admiral who “bravely” ran away if it preserved his fleet and crew for another day, even if it meant the entire system watched as they ran. And yet ... the enemy fleet seemed to grow faster. They’d removed the safety interlocks on their drives. That was unlike them ...
They know this is for all the marbles, he thought. If they lose here, they may lose everything.
The enemy missiles roared into engagement range. The point defence opened fire, their targeting computer well aware - now - of just what the enemy missiles could and couldn’t do. Thousands were picked off, hundreds more diverted to expend themselves uselessly against drones and translucent sensor ghosts ... the remainder slammed home, smashing into his ships like hammers wielded by an angry god. He ignored the surge of messages through the datanet, damage control teams being ordered to do what repairs they could while the fleet was underway. A cruiser fell out of formation, her drive field flickering out of existence as she lost main power. Five enemy missiles blew her to bits before she could even start launching lifepods. Colin felt his gut churn as she was lost with all hands.
A hammer struck his ship. Colin kept himself composed, knowing it was just a matter of time before the alien fleet wore his defences down and crushed him. The range was still closing, somehow ... the Tokomak had boosted their drives. He didn’t know how long their drives could take it, but it hardly mattered. They just had to last long enough to keep closing the range. Knowing them, they probably had supply dumps loaded with spare drive units as well as missiles and everything else they needed to wage war.
He frowned as a red light appeared on his display. A courier boat, coming in from the distant gravity point. The enemy-held gravity point. He felt his frown deepen, then shrugged. It didn’t matter, not now. All that mattered was staying alive long enough to give Admiral Stuart a shot at Tokomak Prime.
***
Hameeda brought her drives and weapons online, then deployed a handful of drones as she roared towards the gravity point. The enemy destroyers seemed to flinch as she raced towards them, accelerating so rapidly that they might well have mistaken her for an oversized missile, then moved to block her as she angled towards the gravity point itself. She launched her final
drone, aiming it at the gravity point, then boosted her speed as she rushed right into their defence envelope. Their point defence fire was spotty, as if they couldn’t quite believe their sensors. Hameeda had to smile. The LinkShip wasn’t a gunboat and it wasn’t a warship, but ... what was it?
She darted from side to side, flying in predictable patterns for as long as she dared - roughly two or three seconds - then dropping into randomised formations that made it look as if she was jerking at one of the alien ships before changing her mind and darting towards a different target. They were confused, unable to target her properly as her drone vanished through the gravity point. Hameeda yanked herself away, hoping that whoever was in command on the far side would be ready. Surely, they knew they had to come to Admiral Teller’s aid.
A handful of conjoined cruisers appeared on the gravity point. Hameeda opened a communications channel at once, thrusting all the targeting data they could possibly need at them. The cruisers opened fire, their weapons sweeping the gravity point. The enemy destroyers turned, but it was too late. Only one of them managed to get off a shot before they were blown out of space. The cruisers separated and glided forward, one of them launching a drone back through the gravity point. Moments later, the human fleet resumed its advance into the system.
And now you’re caught between two fires, Hameeda thought. She eyed the enemy fleet as it closed on Admiral Teller. The Tokomak had to know what had happened, now. Will you try to reclaim the gravity point? Or will you crush Admiral Teller, knowing you’ll cede the gravity point to us?
***
Neola was not used to indecision. She always knew what to do, or so she told herself. It helped that she normally had enough ships and firepower to compensate for any hasty missteps ... she stared in disbelief as the humans rapidly recaptured the gravity point, their impossibly-advanced starship fading back into cloak as she completed her mission. For a moment, Neola honestly wondered if another alien faction had intervened on humanity’s side. It was possible, she supposed. Vast sections of the galaxy remained unexplored, even after thousands of years of galactic civilisation. And yet ... she dismissed the thought as she tried to decide what to do. The rules had changed, yet again. If she didn’t retake the gravity point, she’d lose the battle, but if she let the human fleet go ...
“Your Majesty,” an aide said. “A courier boat just hit the edge of the gravity shadow. It’s broadcasting a message in clear.”
“In clear?” Neola was astonished. The couriers - they belonged to the same race, Galactics with a very high tolerance for boredom - never broke protocol. Messages were supposed to be encrypted, always. “What’s the message?”
Her aide stared at the console. “They’re saying ... they’re saying that Crux has fallen! The humans invaded the system!”
“What?” Neola couldn’t believe it. Crux was within a week of Tokomak Prime, thousands of light years from the Twins ... or N-Gann. “Crux?”
“Crux,” the aide confirmed. He sounded stunned. “The entire fleet heard the message.”
“And the humans too,” Neola said. Crux? How had the humans - or anyone - reached Crux? It was impossible. They would have had to travel thousands of light years ... she hesitated, then brought up a star chart. It might just be possible. She’d been ordered to concentrate all her efforts on saving the Twins, while the real threat crept towards Tokomak Prime. “And ...”
“Your Majesty!” Another aide, so shocked he was breaking protocol. “The Harmonies are leaving formation!”
Neola spun around. “Order them to return to formation at once!”
“And the Boksq,” the aide said. He didn’t sound as if he’d heard her. She had to suppress the urge to kick him - or worse - as he stammered through his report. “And the ...”
Neola glanced at the display. Her fleet was scattering, hundreds of ships - allied ships - breaking formation. They were leaving ... a lump of ice materialised in her chest as she realised they no longer believed the Tokomak could win the war. Tokomak Prime itself was under threat! It was impossible ... she wondered, just for a moment, if the humans had somehow faked the message, but she couldn’t convince herself to believe it. There was no way to duplicate the authorisation codes without access to the sealed files and the only way to get that would be to invade and occupy Tokomak Prime anyway.
They must have had contingency plans for our defeat, she thought, numbly. She wanted to punish them, to lash out with her missiles at ships that were still within range, but everything had changed. There were just too many threats ... no, only one of those threats was actually important. The remainder would have to be ignored, for the moment. And now they’re going back to defend their homeworlds.
She stood. “Contact the fleet,” she ordered. There was no more time. She’d deal with her shock later, when the fleet was underway. “Cease firing. Break contact with the enemy fleet. Deactivate the gravity well projectors. We will return to the gravity point at once and race back to Tokomak Prime.”
Her orders echoed through the compartment, calming nerves as they put her staffers back to work. She projected confidence, even though she knew the empire might be on the verge of defeat. The reports hadn’t been clear on how many ships had been advancing on the Twins ... she understood, now, why the humans had moved so slowly. They’d sent half their fleet to sneak up on Tokomak Prime, using sensor ghosts to keep her from noticing ...
If she’d been younger, she would have whimpered. The humans had done the impossible. They’d coordinated an assault across interstellar distances ... had they invented a form of FTL communications? Or had they simply gotten lucky? She hoped it was the latter, no matter how much it galled her to admit it. The former would have spelled certain doom, even if the Tokomak still had a vast numerical advantage.
She sat back down, forcing herself to project calm. It was bad, no point in denying it, but it wasn’t complete disaster. Not yet. They could still win. Tokomak Prime was heavily defended, with hundreds of starships and fortresses charged with protecting the system and its gravity points from harm. The humans would find themselves outmatched. She could still win.
And when we do, she promised herself as the fleet dropped into FTL, we’ll teach those false allies of ours a harsh lesson. And none of them will ever dare defy us again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Admiral,” Yolanda said. “Long-range sensors are detecting a courier boat approaching the system, on a course suggesting it’s coming from Tokomak Prime.”
Hoshiko looked up, sharply. She was grimly aware that time was in short supply, but rearming her ships and preparing for the final offensive was taking longer than she wished. The Tokomak on Tokomak Prime already knew she was here, unless she was much mistaken. She wanted to think that they’d simply refuse to believe the reports - it was something akin to submarines at Tunbridge Wells, as far as they were concerned - but she didn’t dare let herself believe it. They might just take the risk of sending their fleet to Crux.
And if they did, we’d see them coming and set off to Tokomak Prime itself, she thought, coldly. What price the jewel in the crown if the crown itself is lost?
She shrugged. “If they’re heading to Crux, warn them off when they drop out of FTL,” she ordered. “And if not ... we’ll see.”
“Aye, Admiral,” Yolanda said.
She sounded unflappable, for which Hoshiko was grateful. She felt on edge, torn between the urge to launch the fleet immediately and the awareness she had to stack the deck as much in her favour as possible when she invaded Tokomak Prime. The recon units hadn’t returned, but the files had made it clear that the system was practically impregnable. It was so heavily defended that they probably hadn’t weakened the planetary defences - much - when they’d shifted fortresses from the high orbitals to the gravity point. And they only had one to defend. She supposed that had prompted their interest in trying to find a way to travel in FTL without using the gravity points.
And if they hadn’t, Earth might n
ever have reached the stars, she mused, as she turned her attention back to the reports. Who knows what would have happened to us then?
She scowled as she read the latest message from Governor-General Ripen. The alien was either an idiot or ... simply too dumb to admit, to himself, that he no longer wielded absolute power. His last few messages had threatened legal action against the human race, a concept that would have been laughable even before the war had reached his system. She supposed it wasn’t that dumb - the Tokomak controlled the courts, allowing them to ensure that legal matters were always decided in their favour - but how would they enforce their judgement? If she won, their judgement wouldn’t matter; if she lost, the entire human race would be wiped out anyway. There was no justice when people - humans and aliens alike - didn’t have reason to believe the judges were impartial. And the Tokomak couldn’t be bothered to maintain a pretence of being even-handed.
He can worry about what happens after the war, she thought, crossly. The rest of us will fight and win the war.
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