Magnitude: A Space Opera Adventure (Blackstar Command Book 2)

by A. C. Hadfield

  Hominos didn’t have long to wait for his enemies to join the party.

  Off in the distance, beyond the firing range of their frontline smaller ships, a squadron of fifteen shrain destroyers, accompanied by two hundred and fifty Koldax drones, appeared out of a subspace jump.

  The light from the shrain destroyer’s thrust illuminated the chrome chassis of the drone fighters.

  “Zoom in to the Koldax,” Hominos ordered the AI running the holographic projection.

  They were the same ones that had appeared on the video feed from Agent Miles. Tentacled, deadly, and completely alien. They swarmed in and out of formation, a writhing intelligence.

  Hominos waved away the zoomed view and instructed the AI to tag the individual enemies: red for the shrain and purple for the Koldax. He pointed his finger against a squad of Arrow fighters facing the oncoming enemies, activating their comm channels. “Arrow squad Delta, prepare to engage the Koldax with red-tips. Fire when in range.”

  “Acknowledged, General,” came the voice of the squadron leader.

  Hominos then pointed to three of the Host Kane-class destroyers. They would be more than a match for the shrain if they got off their ordnance first. “Kane Squadron Beta, maneuver to flank the current vector of the incoming shrain destroyers, using full thrust if you have to. I want you in range first. Open up with a volley of ten Storm-bringer missiles, then, when shields are below fifty percent, launch your full complement of White Widows. If they survive that, they’ll be sufficiently weakened to provide no real concern to the defense array.”

  “Orders accepted, General,” came the response from the longest serving Host captain, Raison Glesta, who was now the de facto leader of the Host fleet. “We’re moving into position and preparing to open fire in eight standard minutes.”

  Gaila looked out across the projection and then up to Hominos with what looked like fear in his eyes.

  Hominos returned a stern glare to each one of his advisors. “And so it begins. Leave aside whatever you’re currently feeling and focus on one thing only: the total destruction of our enemies.”

  Chapter 29

  HOMINOS SLAMMED his fist against the war table. His first orders had not gone well; the Koldax drones easily avoided most of the red-tip missiles and subsequently swarmed the squadron of twenty-two Arrow fighters, turning the Host’s most agile combat craft into a cloud of metallic debris. Despite that loss, the AI indicated the Arrows had taken out almost one hundred of the two hundred and fifty Koldax drones with their close-combat cannons.

  “Captain Glesta, have your Arrow commander reroute the red-tip missiles to the remaining five shrain destroyers,” Hominos ordered.

  “They’re looking weak,” GTU leader Mathieson said, pointing to the fragmented formation. “The Kane squadron ordnance ripped them to shreds.”

  The holographical representation of the battle scene and its columns of metrics showed that only five of the initial fifteen shrain destroyers remained in fighting capacity. The other ten were incapacitated beyond practical use by the Host’s powerful Kane-class destroyers and their fusion-powered White Widows.

  Hominos wasn’t getting excited about this small victory, however. The battle had only just begun, and three of the eleven Kane-class destroyers were now out of their most formidable weapons.

  It was one thing having the ships, it was another having the firepower at hand. A floating hunk of metal with no weapons wasn’t much good to him. He ordered the AI to update one of the columns of data with a running total of remaining weaponry and their assigned status.

  “The Koldax drones are focusing on the starboard flank,” Officer Ukjao said. “Looks like they’re trying to burn a hole through the first layer of our defensive arc. They’re swarming a couple of the smaller GTU strike cruisers.”

  “That’ll be their mistake,” Mathieson said, sticking up for her crew. “My men and women know a few tricks.”

  Even as she said that, one of the strike cruisers exploded into a cloud of debris. Mathieson looked away and clenched her jaw, no doubt feeling the loss of her people.

  Emperor Kamala scanned through their list of resources. “We could see how the laser batteries within the battlecruisers handle the Koldax; they have fast tracking and are on that side.”

  Hominos considered it for a moment. “It’s not a bad suggestion, but they’re one of our most powerful laser outfits; I’d rather we kept them for the Dominion, and on the inner arc, where we need more defense.”

  “That’s a fair point,” Kamala said. “What do you suggest, then, General?”

  “I think it’s time to see how our drones fair against the Koldax.”

  Hominos had already seen how the smaller, more maneuverable alien drone machines had avoided the red-tip missiles. He needed something as agile as the Arrows but not as costly to lose. He tapped the icon representing two Decimator-class destroyers within the starboard position of the outer arc and ordered them to unleash a Flea swarm—one hundred and twenty semiautonomous close-combat fighters.

  Within a minute, the drones appeared on the holographic display with a direct vector to the Koldax. He gave orders to five GTU strike cruisers to combine their laser fire and not use ordnance against the alien attackers, knowing they were too agile.

  The strike cruisers repositioned themselves and opened a volley of laser fire, cutting down a further twenty Koldax, reducing them to just over a hundred and thirty units.

  While the Flea swarm was en route to engage, Hominos shifted his attention to the remaining five shrain destroyers.

  The red-tips fired earlier by the Arrows had all hit home, the Kane-class ships having disabled the shrain’s antimissile defense system earlier in a volley of cannon and laser fire. Still, the shrain had managed to take out one of the Kane destroyers, leaving them with ten ships.

  The AI crossed it out on their list of resources and turned its signature, along with its icon, to white to match the other ships now out of the battle. As if to honor their fallen comrade, the remaining two Kane destroyers in that squad opened up with their remaining fission-based missiles and eliminated the final shrain destroyers.

  But that small victory was short-lived.

  A few seconds later, and seemingly for that very outcome, two subspace re-entry points opened up on the port side of the outer arc and the full remaining complement of thirty shrain destroyers entered the battle.

  Although they were still five minutes away from their range, they were clearly heading for a single point in the first defensive arc.

  From Hominos’s position on Goddenia, they were coming from the left side if looking toward the sun. By the nature of the ships at hand, that was the weakest side of the arc. Hominos ordered the two ships within the victorious Kane squad along with five others from a nearby position and one of the Host carriers to intercept the incoming shrain force. They would need all the Arrows on the carriers and probably more resources to hold such a strong opposing force at bay.

  “This could be bad,” Ukjao said. “We’ll need to shift resources from the middle ring of the arc to shore up that side if they manage to punch a hole through to the second arc.”

  As she said that, a third entry point winked open, a bright white sphere in the darkness of space. This one was located on the starboard side of the defensive arc, and from it emerged eighteen torpedo ships—fast and deadly craft once belonging to an elite Host squad, but now commandeered and in possession of the shrain entities.

  “It appears they’re receiving orders,” Gaila said, itching at his bushy gray eyebrows and looking up at Hominos. “Those entry points don’t look random to me; their coordinates suggest a symmetry not usually found with the tolerance factors of subspace re-entry.” He checked his terminal to confirm his calculations.

  “Must be Farah Hett,” Kamala said with a scowl. “He’s probably receiving battle intelligence from his Koldax drones.”

  Hominos checked with Ukjao and her team to see how far away the Dominion
was.

  “Under two hours, General,” Ukjao said. She was trying not to show her fear, which Hominos appreciated. Having control over one’s self in this kind of situation meant that correct decisions were made. They couldn’t let fear overwhelm them. They had to break the battle down into small pieces and not worry about the whole. But still, under the surface of calm, he could see the tension in her neck and the anxiety in her eyes.

  “But, General,” Ukjao added with an uplift to her words, “our reinforcements will arrive in less than an hour.”

  “Good,” Hominos said. “That’ll give us time to bolster the defensive arc.” He then turned his attention to the holographic display and took in the new situation.

  The Flea swarm engaged the Koldax drones, using their pinpoint lasers and mini-nuke, short-range ballistics. The fighting was frantic, and at first, it appeared as if the Flea swarm had dominated the alien drones, but soon, as though they just needed time to gather data, the enemy adapted its strategy and turned their chaotic movements into a cohesive, cube-like formation. Presenting a block and acting almost like a ship, the Flea swarm’s advantage was lost as the larger surface area combined its firepower and fought back.

  The vicious mini-battle lasted just ten minutes.

  When all was said and done, the Flea swarm was wiped out completely, but during the fighting, they had whittled the Koldax down to just twenty-three units that split from their cube formation and returned to their individual, asymmetric shape. They appeared to be targeting a section of the defensive arc populated by ten civilian reservist assault ships—small, adapted yachts with makeshift shields and shredder cannons: inaccurate, but cheap weapons retrofitted during the great rearmament.

  “The Flea swarm did better than expected,” the old scientist Gaila Frey said with pride in his voice. He and his team were part of the program that had developed them over the years. “We still have another swarm to deploy if you want to give those civilians ships some help.”

  “We can’t use them just yet,” Hominos said, tapping a finger to his chin as he watched the battle shift and undulate on the holographic projector like a living organism.

  Gaila quirked an eyebrow in a silent question.

  “If Kamala’s intel holds out, that initial two hundred and fifty Koldax were just a quarter of what we expected to face. Which means there’s likely a great deal more ready to spring out—probably when the Dominion arrives. Given the Flea swarms’ effectiveness against them, I’d rather keep them back.”

  “What do you suggest we do to bolster those civilian assault ships?” Gaila asked.

  Hominos took the luxury of a few seconds to consider his options. He didn’t want to disrupt the formation of the three defensive arcs too much—otherwise, it’d allow a route for the enemy to reach the network array, and they needed that up and running for as long as they could get away with.

  But he also didn’t want to stand by and watch the shrain ships pierce a hole through his carefully planned defense.

  The Koldax were a problem but short in number.

  He had two other areas of interest: the shrain destroyers heading for a position on their port side, coming planet-ward from a north-to-south trajectory into the arc, and almost the opposite from their starboard approaching the south side of Capsis Prime. One could draw a line between the two forces they were so well coordinated.

  And the third point of contact: the Koldax drones.

  Within a few minutes of the civilian assault ships, which he assigned the designation Bulwark Alpha, were two of the Host carriers, each one hosting eleven Arrows. Given how well they did the first time around with the Koldax using their cannons, Hominos used the AI to take the data from the first battle and produce a likely outcome of casualties.

  Of a squad of twenty-two Arrows against the twenty Koldax, the AI predicted seven Arrows would likely survive the encounter and completely vanquish their targets.

  Although Hominos would prefer better odds, without supporting Bulwark Alpha, they would be sitting ducks. But, used as support for the Arrows, they could rid themselves of this particular menace with acceptable losses. If the AI was correct, the allied fleet would still have eighty-one Arrows across its various carriers.

  Hominos shared his plan with Kamala, knowing she would accept; she had already said she trusted his judgment as the general of the allied fleet, but he knew he had to make much tougher decisions later on, and it would be good to keep her on side and feeling as if she had some say in the fate of her people.

  “Do it,” Kamala said. “Engage a squad of Arrows.”

  Hominos nodded his acknowledgment and gave the order to the various captains. He also gave orders to one of his most trusted commanders put in charge of Bulwark Alpha.

  Although the reservists serving on them had completed their basic training and battle scenarios, having an experienced CDF commander leading them gave the group much-needed experience when the fighting started.

  That didn’t take long, however. Within minutes the Koldax drones engaged Bulwark Alpha, losing two of their number before they got within range, the shredder cannons initially surprising the aliens with their unusual firing patterns.

  A moment later, the twenty-two Arrows engaged in a furious close-combat volley.

  While that particular battle commenced, Hominos tasked Officer Ukjao to oversee it and report to him anything unusual. He then turned his attention to the group of thirty shrain destroyers approaching the northern, port side of the defensive arc.

  The seven Kane-class destroyers along with one of the Host carriers and complement of eleven Arrows had intercepted and engaged the enemy. Reverse thrusters had been applied all round, creating stripes of orange light against the dark black of space. The two sides engaged and the battle had begun in earnest. The fighting was fierce, and it wasn’t long before some of the shrain destroyers at the tip of the formation had blown apart, the debris having the positive effect of damaging nearby allies.

  The Arrows’ multipoint thrusters enabled them to avoid the damage and zero in on their targets, taking out some of the weaponry of the shrain, leaving targets for the Kane-class destroyers to focus fire upon.

  It was clear to Hominos that the shrain were suffering from a lack of battle skill. Given they were just constructs, it wasn’t entirely surprising. His commanders and captains had been studying battle patterns and strategy solidly for the last couple of weeks in preparation.

  Although the drills were often seen as boring, now that the firing had started, the knowledge they had gained had clearly given them an advantage in the fighting. The orders were given and obeyed immediately, meaning they could adapt to the changing circumstances.

  The shrain ships, however, were trying to rely on brute force. They were doing damage for sure, but their numerical advantage was working out for them against the superior planning and agility of the allied fleet.

  As the fighting continued and the metrics flowed in, Hominos assigned Mathieson to track the progress of the fight and liaise with the commanding officer.

  This left the third ongoing battle, which Hominos himself focused on.

  Eighteen torpedo ships, piloted by the shrain, had crashed into the southern starboard section of the outer defensive network. They were engaged by Bulwark Gamma, a squad made up of four Decimator-class destroyers, ten missile cruisers, and three Host battlecruisers.

  The AI’s calculation suggested the shrain ships would have the advantage in a straight exchange of fire, but he had some of his best commanders in Gamma squad and considered it an equal fight. Given the other fights going on and the defensive arcs getting moved out of position, he couldn’t add more numbers to that particular battle for quite some time, and by then he expected the war layout to have changed dramatically.

  He ordered Gamma squad to hold the shrain torpedo ships up as long as they could. According to Kamala’s intel, the torpedo ships were armed with long-range heavy nukes. As hard as it was to take, it would be better if
they were forced to use them against Decimators and the battlecruisers than the network array, which wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind of power.

  “Gamma squad, aim your lasers at the rear quarter section of the shrain torpedo ships. That’s where their targeting arrays are located. If you can’t take out the entire ship, this takes priority. Without targeting, they’re just useless floating hunks of metal.”

  “Understood, General,” the leader of Gamma squad said. “You can trust us. We won’t let these bastards get through to the network array—one way or another, it stops here.”

  The commander’s gusto filled Hominos with pride.

  It was at this point he noticed the sweat dripping from his face and stinging his eyes. His palms were damp too when he released his fists. The tension had been getting to him, but his system had blocked it out to enable him to focus and strategize.

  For now, it was all he could do.

  Three fights were under way, and small changes here and there would only have small effects. The respective squads knew their tactics and their responsibilities. Hominos made sure to let them carry that out and not micromanage. He needed to remain calm and have an overview of the entire war.

  Between him, Ukjao, Gaila, Mathieson, and Kamala, they were just about keeping the shrain and Koldax at bay, but the losses were mounting up, and the defensive arc was looking more and more dispersed.

  Hominos ordered a fifth of the ships from the inner arc to press outward and fill the gaps while providing long-range supporting fire.

  The battle was fierce and raged on for another hour before a lull descended upon the system. Kamala and Ukjao took a long pull of their energy drinks. Gaila had injected himself with a powerful stimulant. Hominos looked around his loyal team and began to see weariness threatening to damage their morale.

  “Officer Ukjao, can you give me an update on our reinforcements and the Dominion,” Hominos said.