Empire Ascendant

by Dietmar Wehr

  “What the hell?” asked Terranova as he stepped over to the tactical station to see for himself. The lieutenant moved aside to give Terranova a better look. Son of a bitch! He’s right.

  “Anyone have an idea of what the Shogunate admiral is up to?” asked Christiansen. Terranova could tell from the lieutenant’s change of expression that he did have an idea but was hesitant to offer it.

  “What’s your idea, TO?” asked Terranova. Everyone on the Bridge turned to look at the now nervous officer.

  “Well, uh, it occurred to me that those four missiles might be targeting Delta1’s first volley and not their ships. If they detonate at just the right moment…” He let the sentence dangle when he saw Terranova nod in sudden understanding.

  “Yes, of course. The Delisani admiral has kept his volley bunched together in order to put the maximum pressure on Sierra1’s anti-missile defenses, and that makes them a very tempting target. Those four missiles are anti-ship missiles being used in an anti-missile role.” Another thought occurred to Terranova. “I’m willing to bet that he’ll fire four more to take out the second volley before he fires his first anti-ship volley.” It didn’t take very long for them to find out how accurate their conjectures were.

  As soon as the four missiles reached the first Delisani volley, all gravity wakes ceased, implying that all 935 missiles were either destroyed or were too badly damaged to continue accelerating. Confirmation of the interception would have to wait until the light, heat and radiation from the explosions reached the ship. Two seconds later, Sierra1 fired four more missiles. Ten seconds after that, it fired a full volley.

  “Six hundred fifty, repeat, six five zero missiles fired!” said the tactical officer. “ETA to target is…” Terranova saw him frown. “ETA to target is two hundred thirty-three seconds.” He looked up at Terranova. “They’re only accelerating at seventy-five hundred gees!”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Lieutenant?” asked Terranova.

  “Double volley?”

  Terranova smiled. “Precisely. He’ll fire another volley and—” He and the young officer heard the Tactical Station ping for attention. Terranova could see the readout directly.

  “Sierra1 has fired again,” said the Lieutenant. “Six five zero missiles. Acceleration is…eight thousand gees.”

  Terranova suddenly had an ‘aha’ moment. That tricky bastard is going to attempt a triple volley!

  “He’ll fire again; triple volley,” said Terranova. After 15 seconds had passed from the time the second volley was fired, the console pinged again. Terranova didn’t even bother to look at the readout.

  “A third volley. Sierra1’s fired again. Six five zero missiles at”—he paused for a couple of seconds—“eight five zero zero gees.” He looked a Terranova. “You were right, Admiral. A triple volley all timed to arrive on target at the same time.”

  “And it’ll be from slightly different angles too,” offered Terranova. The tactical officer nodded his agreement as he returned his focus to his console.

  “Ah, Admiral, his first volley, the first big volley seems to be spreading out. The distance between missiles is getting larger.”

  “To make it harder for Delta1 to pull the same trick of targeting his missiles. I’m sure the other two volleys will do the same. Looks like we’re coming up to the interception of Delta1’s second volley,” said Terranova.

  The four Shogunate missiles penetrated the second 935-missile formation. All 939 gravity wakes ceased at the same time. There were now only three missile volleys reaching for targets, and all three of them belonged to the Shogunate side. Terranova realized that Delta1 hadn’t fired for several minutes, was more than enough time for them to have fired again multiple times.

  He’s trying to figure out how to get around the anti-missile defenses. Our Mark 10 warheads could do it, but Delisani doesn’t have anything like that. This’ll be interesting to watch.

  Another ping.

  ”Sierra1 AND all their missiles have shut down their L-drives!” said the Lieutenant.

  “The Delisani admiral waited too long to fire again,” said Terranova. If he fired now, it’d be the equivalent of shooting in the dark.

  The console pinged again. “Delta1 has fired twenty missiles and has shut down their L-drives too!”

  “That’s a gutsy move,” said Terranova. When he noticed the tactical officer’s puzzled expression, he elected to explain. “He only fired twenty missiles. They’re obviously intended to stop as many of the triple volley missiles as possible, but he hasn’t fired again at Sierra1. He’s keeping his high velocity to get close to the Delisani fleet as fast as possible. I’d guess he’ll try to launch a full spread of missiles when the range is very short in the hope that the Shogunate fleet won’t have time to pull the same defensive stunt again. He might even be considering going for a short-range laser duel since he outnumbers the other fleet. Either way, it’s still a gutsy move.

  “Tell TacComp to show where it estimates both ship formations and the Sierra missile volley are likely to be, Lieutenant,” ordered Terranova.

  “Yes, sir.” After about ten seconds of working his console, three flashing red icons appeared on the main display about where Terranova thought they should be. It didn’t take long for the 20 Delisani missiles to reach where the tactical computer estimated the 1950 Shogunate triple volley was. Having detonated, the gravity wakes of all twenty Delisani missiles disappeared. There was no way for Valley Forge to know with any certainty how many Shogunate missiles had been destroyed or crippled. The red icon representing the estimated position of those missiles kept moving towards the estimated position of Delta1. When the two red icons got close, the less powerful gravity wakes of Delisani counter-missiles could be seen streaking towards the Shogunate missile wave. Terranova cursed the fact that gravity wave ripples could travel faster than light. At this range, they had to wait another eleven minutes before the external optical sensors would detect any of the explosions that must be happening now.

  Even as the main display zoomed in to give a better sense of what was happening at close range, Terranova could see the very brief bursts of missile L-drives as the Shogunate missiles that had gotten through the counter-missile gauntlet activated their terminal guidance radars and made the necessary last-minute course adjustments. It happened too fast to get an accurate count, but Terranova was left with the impression that a lot of missiles had broken through the Delisani anti-missile defenses.

  When all the gravity wakes had died out, the ships of Sierra1 turned their L-drives back on and began decelerating. Terranova held his breath to see if any Delisani ships were still able to maneuver or fire again, but nothing appeared. TacComp was still showing the estimated position of the Delisani fleet, and when it merged with the Shogunate icon, Terranova knew that all 37 Delisani ships had been destroyed or crippled, and the battle was over. Christiansen got up and came over to where Terranova was standing.

  “It looks like that Shogunate Admiral crushed a numerically superior force with no losses of his own. I wasn’t expecting to see that.”

  “Neither did I,” said Terranova. “I have to hand it to him. He played that just about as well as anyone could have. If we didn’t have the Mark 10s, I’d be worried about crossing paths with him someday.”

  “Do you think we will fight the Shogunate someday, Admiral?” asked the Lieutenant.

  Terranova hesitated. Whatever he might think personally, starting rumors to the effect that the Empire was going to go to war with the Shogunate would not be good for morale. “Well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t bet against that happening, but the Empress is determined to keep the Empire out of war if possible, without putting us in an untenable position. If Tanaka wants a war, we’ll give him one, but if he’s willing to act peacefully, so will we.” He turned to Christiansen. “Our mission here is done, Captain. Turn the ship for home, and let’s get out of here. I don’t want that Shogunate Admiral to know that we’ve been watching,
so let’s use EG-drive only until we’re beyond gravity wake detection range, then switch to L-drive.”

  “Yes, sir. The crew will be relieved to hear that we’re headed home, Admiral.”

  Terranova looked around the Bridge. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, I’m just a passenger now. I’ll be going to my quarters, and I’ll stay off your Bridge for the trip back.”

  Several hours later, Terranova heard the tone announcing that he had a visitor.

  “Come in.” He looked up and saw Christiansen and Morrison, the tactical officer, come in.

  “I hope we’re not disturbing you, Admiral,” said Christiansen.

  “Not at all, Captain. Let me guess. The Lieutenant has found something interesting.”

  “Why as a matter of fact, he has. Tell the Admiral what you’ve found, Lieutenant.”

  “Yes, sir. Well, Admiral, I was reviewing the data from the optical sensors resulting from the detonations of the Shogunate missiles, and while the data isn’t totally conclusive, TacComp’s analysis suggests that each Shogunate missile detonation released far more energy than would normally be expected. If their missiles are armed with an improved warhead, that might explain why their missile attack was so effective. The amount of damage those missiles inflicted appears to be double or even triple the usual. A single missile hit could have devastating effect.

  “Yes! That would go a long way to explaining why the Shogunate fleet only needed one massive missile volley. It would also explain why their admiral was so eager to engage a superior force. Very good, Lieutenant. I’d like you to prepare a report with all the relevant data and submit it to me by the time we reach base. Admiral Delacor will need to see it. Was there anything else?”

  “No, Admiral. Nothing else. We’ll be running along now,” said Christiansen with a smile.

  After they left, Terranova poured himself a drink and pondered the implications of what he’d just learned. Tanaka had proven that he was willing to take risks even when his position was not strong. That was how he had gotten to be the Shogun in the first place. If his Navy had a far superior missile warhead available in large numbers, then he had to be tempted to exploit that advantage while he alone had it. Terranova was now more convinced than ever that war with the Shogunate was not only inevitable but was also immanent.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tau Ceti Empire Capital (Corona):

  Terranova was surprised to see Admiral Delacor waiting for him as he stepped down from his shuttle. He saluted her, and returning the salute she said, “Don’t get used to being greeted like this, Marcus. The Empress wants to see both of us right away, and I happened to be passing by the spaceport while your shuttle was on final approach.”

  “I won’t. I take it that the Empress has already read my After-Action report?” He fell in beside Delacor as she turned to return to her air-limo.

  “She has, and so have I. How certain are you that the Shogunate ships didn’t detect Valley Forge’s exit from the system?”

  Terranova waited until both of them were inside the air-limo before responding. “About as certain as I can be. We didn’t switch to L-drive until we were over ten A.U. from Avalon, and even then, we kept acceleration and therefore our gravity wake low. Unless the Shogunate ships have far better detection systems than we do, they didn’t see us leave.”

  “That’s reassuring. And if it’s true, we have a priceless advantage beyond knowing what happened in the Avalonn system. We know about their more powerful missile warheads, and they don’t know that we know.”

  Terranova laughed “Well, I’m not sure how priceless that knowledge is. Having the Mark 10 warheads should—at least in theory—be able to neutralize their new missiles but until we’ve actually tested that hypothesis in battle, we can’t know for sure who has the technological advantage.”

  Delacor nodded. “You’re right, of course. What I meant was more along the lines of our knowledge allowing us the opportunity to test out new tactics in the simulators while the Shogunate Admirals continue to overestimate their own combat capabilities.”

  “Ah, I understand.” He paused for a couple of seconds before continuing. “How do you think the Empress will react to my recommendation to strike at Tanaka first?”

  Delacor sighed. “I understand your logic. I could even see myself agreeing with your recommendation, but I doubt if the Empress will take it. You know her about as well as I do—maybe even better—so you know that she doesn’t like to make decisions impulsively if she can avoid it. What she may be willing to agree to is a redeployment of the Fleet so that a strike against Tanaka could be executed with minimal additional preparation.”

  Terranova shrugged. “I just can’t get away from the feeling that we’ll be missing a decisive opportunity if we don’t strike Tanaka fast. His admiral just wiped out a larger Delisani fleet with zero losses as far as my ship’s sensors could tell. If you were Tanaka, wouldn’t you want to move against Delisani with everything you had as fast as possible given that result?”

  “I have to admit I’d be very tempted, yes,” said Delacor.

  Terranova nodded. “Damn right you would; so would I. And I’d count on the Empire learning about the massive strike too late to mobilize against me before my fleet got back to my home system. But if we position our task forces appropriately ahead of time, we could lunge at him, annihilate whatever defensive assets his capital system might have and pounce on his fleet when it returns.”

  “You know, there’s another scenario. What if Tanaka is thinking the following: Delisani’s been given a black eye. The battle at Avalon proves that a Shogunate fleet can win against a numerically superior Delisani fleet. Therefore, Delisani is no longer a credible threat. That just leaves the Empire to worry about. If he retains enough ships to guarantee a victory against anything that Delisani might throw his way, he might then try to decapitate the Empire by sending the rest of his fleet straight to Corona, maybe even try to make it look like Delisani was attacking us. If we position our forces for a strike against New Mount Fuji, and Corona is attacked while we’re out of position…”

  “Which is why we should attack him as soon as we possibly can,” said Terranova. “That’s how we eliminate that scenario from happening.”

  “You don’t have to convince me, Marcus. It’s Contessa you need to convince. Anyway, we’re just about to land at the Palace. Time to put on our masks of supreme confidence for the benefit of the troops.”

  It took another ten minutes for them to make their way through the initial security perimeter at the base of the massive Imperial tower, up the elevator to the level that was three levels below the first of seven levels devoted exclusively to Empress Brandenburg’s personal use, and then up a very slow-moving escalator that carried them to that first level, all the while being subjected to every imaginable type of scanner while they passed dozens of remotely-controlled weapon turrets that tracked them all the way. To say that the process was intimidating would be an understatement, and Delacor still hadn’t gotten used to it even after the hundreds of times she’d gone through it.

  Terranova’s heart rate had slowed back down to normal by the time they were shown into Brandenburg’s private office. It was comfortable and elegant without being lavish or in any way ostentatious, much like the woman herself. Both Delacor and Terranova saluted. Brandenburg smiled and gave a slight shake of her head as she gave them a half salute in return.

  “How many times have I told you two that when we’re alone, we dispense with that ritual?”

  “I’m sorry, Empress, ah…Contessa. Just habit I guess,” said Delacor a bit sheepishly.

  “I see,” Brandenburg shifted her gaze to Terranova. “What’s your excuse, Marcus.”

  “I just followed Elona’s lead.” He kept his expression serious while he said it, then let a smile sneak out.

  Brandenburg rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Okay, okay. Let’s sit over here. I’m getting tired of the view from behind my desk.” The three of th
em moved over to the very comfortable chairs situated around a holographic open fireplace. When they were seated, and the robotic waiter had taken their drink orders, Brandenburg looked at Marcus as she began speaking.

  “I have to ask this first. How certain are you that your ship was able to leave the Atlantia system without being detected?” She was surprised when both Terranova and Delacor laughed.

  “Did I say something funny?”

  Delacor explained about her having asked the exact same question.

  Brandenburg gave a perfunctory chuckle. “Yes, I can see the humor. And your answer to Elona’s question was…?”

  “I’m about as certain as anyone could be,” said Terranova.

  “Oh, very good. Now, as for your report and its recommendation, I’m not entirely convinced that we should lunge at Tanaka so quickly, but I’m not dismissing the idea out of hand. What’s the minimum force structure that you would want to have if we were to strike at New Mount Fuji, Marcus?”