Chapter 14
A Singular Encounter
Admiral Terry Ozark McPatrick could feel the tension in Hausgiest’s mind. It was in direct relation to the ship. Fourteen fighters were resting in the punters under the ship, all three hangars were ready to spring open and launch three gunships each, and the Warlord rested on a main mooring point, able to spring off at a moment’s notice. The torpedo tubes were loaded, the new high energy particle weapons along the bottom of the ship were fully charged, missile turrets were loaded and ready behind their heavy hatches, and the gunnery deck along the top of the ship was prepared, patient, and silent.
They emerged from a very short trip through a wormhole, cloaked and manoeuvring away from their entrance point into the space near the drifting asteroid field. No one fired on their obvious position of arrival, and they were clear in good time, making it nearly impossible for most ships to find the Triton.
The Triton’s main engines stopped flaring, manoeuvring thrusters and inertial shifting systems took over as they maintained a smooth but irregular course near the asteroid field. “There’s something wrong here,” said one of the analysts in the sensor and signal monitoring section of the bridge to Oz’s right.
“What’s that, Henrietta?” he asked her. She wasn’t of military rank, but served on the bridge, paid for her keen eye and years of experience with two space exploration companies.
“The area around this asteroid cluster is too neat. There is no sign that this large group of high-mass bodies has drifted through something like a solar system, picking up garbage and other small bits as it goes through. That sort of thing isn’t just common, it’s inevitable, especially in a system like Rega Gain, where bits of trash and old tech are everywhere.”
“What does that tell us?” Oz asked. “Do you think this is artificial?”
“Wait, Sir, I’m checking the trajectory against charts we have on hand and a few passive scans the Warlord did on recent patrols,” she said. All the information came together in the middle of the bridge, where one of the main holographic projectors displayed an image of the solar system, the trajectory of the asteroid drift, and objects it would have passed near as it came into the system. “Sir,” Henrietta said tentatively as several red circles highlighted small outer solar system meteor clusters and a large flotilla of old wreckage that was slowly drifting away from the Rega Gain system. “There’s very little chance that this asteroid cluster made it through all that without hitting anything unless it was aimed, and that’s not something I’ve seen.”
“It’s as though someone plotted its course well in advance, knowing where all that would be,” said Ensign Pallot beside her. “But that’s not the worst. Our passive scans have enough information to confirm the Wing Commander’s readings. The composition of those asteroids doesn’t match anything for a light year along its course.”
Oz called up the navigational charts for the region and checked the history of the asteroid field. “It’s been in the navigational charts for nine years,” he muttered to himself. Hausgiest broke through all this thoughts with a realization. ‘Citadel is here!’
“Wait,” Oz said, holding a hand up to ward him off.
“Yes, Sir,” Henrietta said.
He didn’t bother correcting her assumption that he was telling her to wait. ‘How do you know?’ he asked Hausgiest.
“The Victory Machine predicted that Haven Shore would be significant in the war, that it would reveal the secret motivation behind the Order of Eden’s formation and war. I can feel that something has been sent here to stop whatever they are afraid of in the Rega Gain system.”
“We have a ship on scanners,” Agameg said from the tactical station. “It is of Sol System design.”
Hausgiest would not allow himself to be interrupted. “Ten years ago, Citadel put this assault into motion, sending this asteroid belt towards this position, at this time. They are here.”
“How do you know?” Oz asked.
“I have contacted their on board Intelligence, and it tells me that they have allied with the Order of Eden to set the future to right. They demand that we surrender the Triton.”
There was no wavering in Hausgiest’s loyalty to Oz and his crew, a concern he’d had about what would happen if they ran into another Sol Defence ship, or another of his kind. He realized that he shouldn’t have been concerned, in fact, it was sealing off seventy sections of the ship with heavy bulkhead doors and starting all their secondary power generation systems up. “Be calm, calculate the way ahead, don’t panic,” Oz said to the ship’s steward, and he could feel Hausgiest ease a little.
“Sir, I don’t see any data stream or ident contact between the Triton or the other ship,” announced a communications officer.
“Don’t worry about it, Ensign,” Oz said, aware that Hausgiest’s communication with the other ship was telepathic. He could feel a trace of the other ship’s controller, it was much younger, perhaps only a few years old.
“They are directing weapons at us,” Agameg said.
“With what kind of accuracy?” Oz asked.
“Ninety three point four percent,” Agameg replied. “Our cloaking systems are ineffective.”
“Deactivate all cloaking systems. Eject the Warlord with instructions to remain cloaked and to get some distance. Bring up our new shields, at least we have something they haven’t seen yet,” Oz said. At a glance he could see where the enemy ship was revealing itself.
It was called the Pontos. The narrow, flat face of the vessel was beginning to emerge from the far side of the asteroid field. Behind that four hundred metre tall face the hull split into two thick hull segments that extended three hundred metres behind. A forest of long antennae and long devices extended from the rear of the ship. A main hangar rested in the cleft between the two hulls, well protected by shields and thick hull plating. “Send the following to Pontos Command,” Oz took a slow breath before continuing. For most of the crew, this was their first contact with anyone from Earth. “This is our opportunity to peacefully speak about major events in the galaxy and how we can resolve numerous issues that affect the lives of billions of people. The meeting of our two ships, and our leadership could bring about a new era, regardless of your recently formed alliance with the Order of Eden.”
Lieutenant Commander Liara Erron stared at him for a moment with a surprised expression. Oz nodded, and the she sent the message without further delay.
“We wait,” Oz said, standing and resisting the temptation to pace.
“All systems are ready for deployment,” came the voice of Chief Mendle through his command seat.
Hausgiest sent one thought to him, then fell silent. ‘You are wise to make this attempt. To avoid war is more valiant than winning one.’
“The Warlord is away,” Agameg said. “There are no indications that the Pontos is tracking it.”
Admiral McPatrick nodded and started to indulge in his urge to pace, slowly walking forwards and backwards in front of his command seat. “Good,” he said. “Good, Jake will react to this in his own way. Good, good,” he muttered to himself quietly. “How is your analysis of the Pontos coming?” he asked.
“Badly, but we can see an Order of Eden carrier hiding in the asteroid belt, they’re not moving,” replied Henrietta. “As for Pontos, the hull is reflecting most scanning signals just like the Triton’s does.”
“Older ship? Younger ship?” Oz said.
“Most likely much younger, but the weapons, from what we can see are inferior by a wide margin,” Agameg reported. “The Order of Eden carrier is beginning to move.”
“Incoming transmission,” announced Lieutenant Commander Erron. She played it without waiting for the order. “We do this as a warning. Do not interfere with the Order of Eden. Do not ponder Citadel’s purpose or act upon our people.”
The Pontos opened a wormhole and passed into it. Three destroyers and two battlecruisers appeared on scanners, revealing themselves inside the asteroid field a
s they activated their main systems. The carrier began launching fighters. “This is a distraction,” Oz said.
“Ready to launch fighters!” announced Chief Paula Mendle.
“Hold!” Oz shouted towards the Flight Deck underfoot. “Where does that wormhole go?”
“It led to Kambis Orbital Space,” Agameg announced.; “Opposite Tamber, where we have the least defences.”
“Warlord reports that they are moving in to block the incoming fighters and to fire main guns on that carrier,” communications announced.
“Activate our cloaked torpedoes. Launch a full volley at that asteroid belt, ahead of the destroyers and that carrier when ready,” Oz turned to the helm. “Navigation, send new orders to the Warlord: They are to do their best in delaying the carrier group, but to return to Kambis orbital space as soon as holding them is unreasonable.”
“Yes, Sir,” replied Liara. After scant seconds she reported; “They have acknowledged the new orders.”
The torpedoes launched. Less than three seconds later antimatter explosions filled the view in front of the Triton as hundreds of asteroids and smaller bodies were struck, some of the smaller ones spun into the interior of the field, stirring lower mass stone into a frenzy around the enemy battle group. “That should slow them down, we’ll have to come back and clean that up later. All stations, prepare for short range wormhole travel into a combat zone. Let’s show the galaxy what our Triton can do.”
Chapter 15
Delaying Tactics
The tactical display in front of Jake’s command seat did not lie. There was little he could do to further delay the remaining Order Ships while keeping the Warlord hidden. Even though they could fire cloaked, the amount of firepower they’d need would reveal their location. One enemy destroyer was caught by the colliding mass of asteroids at the rear; it was finished. Two more were leading the carrier in the small group out of the asteroid field, and the battlecruisers alongside that destroyer were working in concert with her to combine shield strength, staying close, displaying an impressive amount of fortitude for a smaller class of ship. Heavy fighters launched from the battlecruisers, staying close enough to add to the shield power of the trio of larger ships.
The carrier was not launching fighters. “Kadri, can you get a read on how well charged their wormhole generator is?” Jake asked.
“All the power in those ships is being directed to maintain their shields. Their wormhole emitter systems are cold,” Kadri replied. “It looks like they expect someone to stir up the asteroid field even more.”
“I can confirm,” Ayan added. “Several of the shield emitters on the battlecruisers are overloaded, a few on the nose of that carrier are in the same shape. The fighters running alongside the battlecruisers are making up for the dead shield emitters.”
Jake looked at the Warlord in relation to the emerging ships. No one would question his decision if he simply observed and then reported back to the fleet once the Order of Eden battle group was gone if their intention was to escape the system. If their intention was to follow the Pontos to Kambis and its moons, then he had an opportunity to do some damage to the battle group. Not enough to stop it, but he could get one shot that could make them less effective in the next phase of the engagement – a battle that could be coming to Kambis orbit.
“All batteries, all launchers,” Jake started, “Load all of our antimatter rounds. We’re only going to get one chance to make a first impression.”
“We don’t have much aboard, Sir,” Frost said. “Maybe a minute’s worth of constant firing for our guns, three shots on the railguns, and seven mines.”
“We won’t have long to fire,” Jake told him. “Ashley, get us here,” Jake said, gesturing at the tactical map he could read in his helmet. “Kadri, ship wide channel, please.” Jake ordered.
“Please stand by for a message from our Captain,” Kadri said into the open channel before nodding at Jake.
“The Pontos has just taken a wormhole in the direction of our home planet. The Triton has followed it, and our orders are to delay a small Order of Eden battle group that is about to leave the asteroid field here. The Warlord is small, but he’s a scrapper, with more armour and weaponry than anything in his class. We’re going to bloody their noses and bug out to Kambis Orbital space. For one minute I need your best as we bash these bastards with all our antimatter ammo, then I need everyone to do their best as we get to Kambis orbit, where we can get some backup. Let’s take the fight to ‘em. Seal all hatches and vacsuits.”
Jake could see the enemy’s aggressive scans on his tactical display, they knew there was something else out there with them, but they didn’t seem to know what it was.
Ashley was moving the Warlord into position carefully, avoiding the strongest scanning signals. “Moving at stealth thrust,” Ashley replied as they Warlord lowered itself into position right above the carrier. They were beside a large asteroid that was rolling through space alongside them that kept the sweeping scanners on an entire side of the carrier group from testing their stealth systems. The carrier itself was close enough to block most of the rest of the scans.
Jake could hear a distant clang under foot as the new rounds were loaded into the railguns. “Sir,” Stephanie said over a private channel. “We are massively outmatched here, we could stand by and bug out when we know where they’re going.”
“Our orders are to delay these ships. We will have only seconds to do anything effective,” Jake said.
“Why aren’t we getting reinforcements from Kambis orbit?” she asked.
“Because, aside from the Triton, we are the heaviest class ship with a working cloaking system. Anyone else would be torn to shreds in minutes,” Jake replied. They closed on the position he’d indicated, right beside a large asteroid, and only nine hundred metres above the carrier. Ashley pointed the Warlord’s nose at the lead destroyer, less than three kilometres ahead. Those antimatter railgun rounds would land in exactly the right place.
“All stations, prepare to fire on my mark,” Jake said. “Ashley, once all our mines are off, break off at full thrust and get us here, behind this cluster. Frost, fire all three railguns, then drop our mines. Gun emplacements will unload throughout this volley.”
“Aye,” Frost said. “All stations report ready.”
Jake took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the Warlord had settled into the perfect position, the destroyers in the lead were almost completely clear of the asteroids, one was beginning to turn to the right. He watched one of the nearby asteroids approach from the carrier group’s port side. One of the lead destroyers launched five rockets at it. They buried themselves in the surface of the asteroid and continued to thrust, slowing it down so it just grazed their shields. Even though it was only a light touch to the group’s shields, it was enough to strain them. “Three, two, one, mark.”
The deck plate under his feet rattled as all three of the Warlord’s main railguns fired. Their shields reported a massive strike as soon as they impacted and detonated against the lead destroyer. The Warlord’s shields were down to twenty three percent charge. Jake saw that extra power was being routed to the shield batteries. The Warlord’s emitters had taken no damage, so they recharged their shields at a rate of three percent per second.
“Main sensors are overloaded,” Kadri announced. “Switching.”
The Warlord’s gunners were so close to the carrier that they didn’t need the sensor suite to score hits on the enemy ship. Their antimatter mines dropped, and Jake shifted to the edge of his seat. “Go, Ashley, get us out of here!” Their shields were only up to forty three percent, if they were too close to their antimatter mines when they went off, there would be nothing left of the Warlord.
All their thrusters fired at maximum burn, a glance at the exterior view on the bridge’s main monitor revealed that the Warlord looked like a fireball from the middle back. He watched as they gained distance from their position above the carrier, skimming across the asteroid drif
t towards the upper edge of a cluster on the far side. They were only half way there when the carriers point defence guns fired at the mines, setting one off within a kilometre of the enemy’s hull. The one set the other six off immediately and the blast struck the Warlord’s hull hard enough for him to hear the thunderous blow through his helmet. They were far too close to the detonation. Jake hoped they’d have enough ship left to fly away from a fight he knew they’d lose.
The Warlord went dark, and emergency systems started coming online. They had inertial dampers, and most of their manoeuvring thrusters.
“Main communications systems are down,” Kadri said. “Backups are taking over.”
“All main thrusters are down, resetting,” Finn said. “One through three are coming back on line, but four is disconnected.”
“Secondary navigation array is coming back online,” Ayan said. “The primary nav is reading dead.”
“Targetting systems are offline,” Frost said. “It is drawing no power.”
The tactical display appeared on his helmet, signalling to Jake that they had a sensor and navigational system working. “Brace for impact!” he announced as he saw that they had been blasted off course just enough for the down-tilted nose of the Warlord to catch the edge of a large asteroid.
The inertial dampers saved them from most of the jostling, but Jake was still nearly pitched out of the command seat. “Shields?” he asked.
“Our aft shield emitters are slagged,” Finn announced.
“We’ve lost all our port emitters from frame twenty three back, we can give you sixty percent coverage, about eleven percent power,” Ayan added.
“Really?” Finn said. “Show me, quick.”
“Give me whatever you can,” Jake replied. “Weapons?”
“We have three guns left,” Frost said. “Lost five crewmen in their turrets, one to an antimatter ammunition explosion, emplacement three is open to space.”
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