The Battle of Tangine

by Will Crudge

  The awkward pause was palpable, and the young ensign saw the Fleet Marshal notice. The senior officer of the UAHC was staring right at him, but Fin dared not meet his gaze. The Fleet Marshal’s crooked smile sent chills up the young man’s spine. But then out of the corner of his eyes he saw something even more frightening than either the Fleet Marshal or the wolf.

  A huge cat with jet-black fur sat on his hind legs in the corner of the CIC. How the hell did THAT thing get here without me noticing?! But the young man turned his attention back to the creature below him.

  “Perhaps you should ask him to move, Ensign?” The Fleet Marshal asserted, and then looked back over to the main tactical display on the command console. The – so-called – War Master just gave a polite nod of agreement, and looked back over to Fin.

  Ask a wolf to move? These people are insane! Fin thought to himself. But then he decided to give it a try.

  “Hey, wolf,” he whispered at first. But when the massive creature didn’t respond, he tried more volume. “Wolf! Hey, wolf! Would you please move!”

  This time the fifty-some-odd kilogram head of the wolf lifted off of the deck and gave the ensign a side-long glance. Fin didn’t understand K-9 facial expressions, but the wolf appeared to a very human expression of annoyance.

  “No.” The wolf responded, and Fin felt himself pee a little more than before. The massive head slumped back down on the duck with a thud, but now the wolf seemed to tense up and stretch his four muscular limbs outward. Its spine seemed to arch slightly, and then the wolf’s body went limp once more. Fin’s entire body quaked from the wolf’s movements.

  This thing just talked! And he pressed harder on me out of spite! What an asshole! The young ensign cursed in his mind. A feeling of utter defeat came over him, as the War Master just chuckled. The older man just adjusted his attention back to the battle on screen, and Fin felt like he’d been abandoned by the only one capable of intervening with his dilemma.

  “If I live through this battle, I’m requesting a month of leave.” Fin said to himself under his breath, and then decided to just turn his attention back to his energy scan analysis duties. He just shook his head one last time, and prayed his shots were all up to date.

  ***

  “Standby for ripple shot!” Skull sounded off.

  Ripple shot? From a KEPL? That’s impossible! Darius thought in response to Skull’s announcement. He knew the KEPL – Kinetic Energy Projectile Launcher – was a standard feature on most heavy or battlecruisers, but they were energy intensive to launch a single round. Even a thirty or sixty-ton KEPL would require half of the ship’s energy reserves with a single shot, and take several minutes to recharge and reload. But the Hailstorm had two sixties, and a ninety ton KEPL… A multiple shot would crash the ships energy reserves and leave the hull vulnerable. That kind of energy usage would cause the shields to collapse, and most certainly threaten normal life support function.

  The faces of everyone else in the CIC confirmed to Darius that his concern was shared by all… Except Jep. Jep could stare down a supernova at point-blank range without batting an eye, Darius supposed.

  A moment later, everyone’s eyes turned from utter concern to that of amazement. All three KEPL barrels unleashed in rapid succession, and the lights in the CIC didn’t so much as flicker.

  “Power status?” John asked intently. His expression betrayed anxiousness.

  “Eighty percent and climbing, boss.” Skull calmly added. John’s look of surprise distracted him from the carnage on the screen.

  The first sixty-ton round slammed into the prow of the fake refugee ship, and split its entire hull in half. The burning atmosphere and tumbling debris concealed the image of the mega-tonnage vessel being sundered completely. The second sixty ton round simply passed straight through the debris field and beyond. Plumes of disturbed gases formed a momentary smoky tunnel where the second round had entered.

  The ninety-ton round did the same a moment later, but the plumes of disturbed gases were scattered more completely due to the increased mass and velocity of the ship-killing projectile.

  The CIC went silent, and all eyes were transfixed on the image of the ruined remains of the refugee ship. The two halves of the twisted wreckage seemed to drift lazily to either side of the taxiway corridor that was essentially a tunnel of luminescent blue energy. The Crimson Fleet had gathered in a tight formation within the cylindrical energy shield, and stretched from the stern of the refugee ship, and back to the hyper gate entrance itself. Another smaller formation of ships was tucked away neatly behind another incoming taxiway nearby, but the Hailstorm stood poised to block the entrance of the main body.

  “Incoming hail request, Sir?” One of the staff officers shouted over his shoulder at the Admiral.

  “On screen,” John replied.

  The display on the command console filled with the image of a very rattled Fleet Admiral Cornelia. The man’s image was eclipsed by stray sparks and flickering lights. If only I could see what it looks like on the other side of that wreckage. Darius thought to himself.

  “Go ahead, Admiral.” Major General Gordon responded on John’s behalf.

  “Now you’ve just killed thousands of civilians!” Cornelia spat. But it was a feeble attempt to deter a follow up attack, to what Darius thought may be, a devastating first strike.

  “Listen here, fucker!” Skull said. Darius supposed the NAV considered himself to be in command at the moment, and was embracing the opportunity. Technically, having been granted TACON, didn’t constitute a full assumption of command authority, but Darius was more curious as to what the insane NAV was going to say next. So he shot John a look, as if to say it was alright to let him speak.

  “Who are you?” The Crimson Admiral scowled.

  “I’m the digital entity that will either end you, or send you to be charged with war crimes, dickhead!” Skull responded with a very irreverent tone.

  “Who the hell…” Cornelia couldn’t finish.

  “Shut up! Listen.” Skull spouted. Cornelia seemed to flinch in surprise. “You’ve got two fleets converging behind the other side of that gate back at Forge Station. By now they’re picking the bones of off the battle carriers, and troop transports, that you so idiotically left unprotected… Plus, I’ve already gotten data bursts from our Air Force Squadrons that have been forward deployed to defend Jupiter, Mars, and Luna… Seems like your fighters and frigates that managed to launch from the HAL’s didn’t have their beloved support ships in tow… Those ships that didn’t get smeared across the system, surrendered without a shot fired.”

  “You’re talking nonsense!” Cornelia huffed and exasperated a laugh. The uncertainty was beginning to shine through his faced of confidence.

  “You and I both know that you’re fucked if you stay in that little blue hole of yours!” Skull sneered. “Why don’t you grow a spine and see what your dumbass capital ships can do against a battleship?”

  Battleship? Darius asked himself. The UAHC hasn’t used battleships in ages… What the hell is Skull playing at? But it seemed apparent from the confused look on the Crimson Admiral’s face that he was also taken back by Skull’s assertion.

  “Show yourselves, and I might just do that!” Cornelia scoffed. “Only a coward would talk big, but yet remain hidden!”

  “Well, Admiral…” Skull switched to a cooler tone. “You’re the idiot who didn’t think to return fire on the point of origin… KEPL’s can alter trajectory this close in, after all!” The image was cut. Darius didn’t know who had severed the exchange but decided that it didn’t matter.

  “What’s this about a battleship, Skull?” Darius asked. Val broke his silence in a deep laugh. Darius almost forgot that the ancient monk was even there. Then he could see him in his periphery as he was casually leaning against the bulkhead in the corner, and stroking Sheba’s glossy fur.

  “Crusher made a few alterations. Nothing huge… well, kinda huge maybe.” Skull replied.

  “Well
, whatever.” Darius shook his head. “Just lure these rabbits out of this hole.”

  “Sir?” John looked at the Fleet Marshal with a perplexed expression. “We have them right where we want them! We can pin them in the taxiway, and then let – whatever these allied forces are – hit them from the other side!”

  Darius shook his head. “No. The Crimson will fight like scarred animals in a corner. The likelihood that we could maintain any attack for a sustained period of time is slim. Plus the chances of high collateral damage to the station is too great to risk. Without Tangine Station, it would hamper our strategic capabilities in the long-game.”

  “But, Sir.” John seemed to pause, and then take stock in his surroundings. He knew he had to set an example for his crew, and not overtly appear to be questioning his superiors. “Respectfully… Regardless of how capable this ship is now, they still have at least ninety percent of their fleet intact! If we don’t try and crush them now, then there will be no long-game!”

  “Remember, Admiral… Not long ago, you had no clue that the Air Force would send fighters to save what’s left of your squadron in open space. Not to mention, you had no clue that a coordinated counter-attack was being organized back behind them from Forge.” Darius paused to take a breath, and then he changed his tone to a more empathetic one. “If I didn’t want the Crimson to unleash their fleet, then I would have stopped Skull from taunting them!”

  “Were you aware of this, Steve?” John asked, as if he were trying to catch his own child in an obvious lie.

  “Oh, hell no! My plan was to lure them out, thin their heard, and then drop tactical nukes on the HAL’s… We probably wouldn’t survive, of course, but at least I could use the Hailstorm’s newly found maneuvering superiority to do more damage than just hanging around as a stationary target!”

  Major General Gordon just nodded in admiration. John shot his peer a scornful look. “What?” Gordon replied. “Skull’s plan makes sense! Besides…” He looked up at Darius. “The Fleet Marshal has done nothing but bring the pain to the Crimson fuck-heads since he arrived… I have no choice but to concur.”

  John just slumped down into his console and nodded. “Skull… Let’s do as the Fleet Admiral says.”

  “Aye, buddy,” Skull said.

  “Don’t you buddy me,” John retorted.

  “News flash! I’m not a UAHC AI, genius! I’m just the best weapon you have right now. Cut me some slack!”

  John just turned beet red and gave a reluctant nod. Darius was smiling on the inside.

  ***

  The mighty battleship burned out into open space. Once the hull had reached one hundred and fifty kilometers out from the station, it rotated its attitude one hundred and eighty degrees, and then rapidly decelerated. The maneuver would have overloaded most inertial dampening systems with the rapid shift in velocity, however the newly upgraded grav systems barely noticed.

  Even the four UAHC cruisers nearby, had no clue that their mothership was within ten clicks of their position. But when the massive vessel removed its cloak, the hail requests began to pour in.

  “Sir?” The still petrified Ensign Fin said over his shoulder.

  John and acknowledged the ensign with a slight nod.

  “We’re receiving berthing requests from several damaged cruisers.” Fin reported.

  “Skull? Do we have time to tuck our people in?” John asked.

  “Yes. The Crimson fleet is trying to blast away wreckage from the station side of the taxiway. It will take them at least another thirty minutes to transition to open space.”

  John nodded, and then passed a glance to the Fleet Marshal. Darius nodded. “Our boys and girls have taken a more severe beating than we should have allowed. The least we can do is get them home!”

  “You heard the Marshal, Ensign. Grant any request that we can realistically fulfill before the Crimson Fleet converges on us.” John replied to Fin.

  “Aye, sir.” He began working feverishly on his console once more.

  Darius decided he would take full advantage in the lull, and go check on Kara. He had missed her more than he ever would have guessed. Their short time together had been intense, but wondrous. Val had always told him that as his own DNA evolved into its true potential, that forging deep and meaningful relationships would become second nature. His rapidly evolved attachment to Kara had out-grown mere lust. Even amidst their physical separation since they’d parted ways at Unum, their love seemed to grow even more.

  She is the hammer to my anvil. He started to walk out of the CIC, and Shadow was already on the move down the corridor. It donned on him in a flash. He had no need in informing Jep, or Val of his intent… They could feel it without question. But the rest of the command crew would just be confused as to why their Fleet Marshal was leaving the CIC on the precipice of a major engagement.

  “Admiral/” Darius looked towards John. John took his eyes off of the screen on the command console, and then locked eyes with Darius.

  “Yes, sir?” John responded.

  “I’m going to check on some of our wounded, and then make sure the crew of the Foehammer and Aegis are being taken care of,” Darius spoke.

  “The Foehammer, Sir?” John asked with a single raised eyebrow. Then Darius realized the Admiral didn’t know the full extent of what the two smaller vessels had been through. He also must not have known that the Aegis’ crew had braved the vacuum of space to set charges on the HAL launchers… The same batch of charges that Darius himself, had set on the HAL power generators.

  “We owe the crews of those ships more than they may ever be recognized for. The least I can do is give them my personal thanks.” Darius stated as a matter of fact, and then disappeared through the bulkhead door and beyond.

  “Admiral?” Skull spoke up.

  “Yes, what is it?” John let out a tense breath.

  “The Crimson support frigates and a small squadron of light destroyers just arrived in position at the station HAL’s.”

  “And just what can I do about that?” John answered in a growing tone of frustration.

  “Grant me the authority to detonate the charges,” Skull said.

  “What the hell are you talking about now, Skull?” John’s ever-growing frustration was on the verge of anger.

  “Well, the TACON you granted me, doesn’t give me the expressed authority to unilaterally take any adverse action on Tangine’s infrastructure unless it’s either a part of a command approved operations order, or unless you grant me verbal authorization directly.”

  “I know that, Skull,” John lost his nerve and was now over the precipice of raw rage. “What charges?”

  “You know the same charges that the crew of the Aegis, with an assist from the Fleet Marshal, managed to rig on the HAL’s power systems, and launchers.” Skull spoke as if it were common knowledge. But he realized that humans don’t grasp things that aren’t directly in front of them. He had gotten all the details from Steve, and Lisa before the Foehammer ever docked. Stupid meat-sack!

  John just let in a deep breath and exhaled. He threw his hands up in a gesture of compliance, and then just nodded towards the icon that served as Skull’s avatar.

  “I’ll need verbal permission, Admiral.” Skull clarified with as much empathy as he could muster.

  “Do it! Blow the charges! Fucking kill as many Crimson fuck-sticks as you can, Skull!” John just shook his head and then buried his palms into his hands.

  “I knew I was starting to like you for a reason!” Skull sent a winking icon to the console display.

  John shrugged and shook his head. The eyes of the entire command staff were fixed on the Admiral since his outburst. He just scanned the room with a scowl. “Am I here to amuse you, people? Get back to work!”

  Lovers Reunite

  Location: UAHC Battleship, Hailstorm, Med Bay

  Date Time: Post Interstellar 08/04/4201 2235HRS UAHC Standard Zulu

  System: Sol, Mid Region

  “Hello, beautifu
l!” The manly voice pierced Kara’s awareness. It was a strong, deep voice. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, she opened her eyes.

  Pain coursed through her entire body, but then she could feel a stream of comfort follow the radiating discomfort. She realized she was staring at a white ceiling, and that med Nano were being sent to block her nerve endings.

  She lifted her head slightly, but new angle of light from the fixtures made her wince. She batted her eyelids, and her natural vision began to adjust. She immediately noticed that her optical implants were in a standby mode, or else she wouldn’t have been ambushed by the glare so easily.

  Then she noticed the hulking outline of a man in full UAHC battle armor sitting beside her bed. Darius! All she could do was squeal and labor to reach out to him with her arms stretched widely. She didn’t even bother trying to focus her vision and confirm who she was hugging. She could feel his presence as easily as she could feel herself breath.

  The metallic fixtures of his armored plating obstructed most of the exchange of physical contact, but the warm sensation of her cheek against his made up for it. His musk was just as she remembered, and it filled her body with gentle tingles… or she hoped it was his musk, and not just the Nano screwing with her. But she didn’t care either way.

  She pulled back from her embrace slightly, and stared deeply into the man’s deep blue eyes. She was all smiles and tears when she gave him a long tender kiss. They both seemed to be taking in the intense sensation of two souls becoming one. Their lips separated, and they shared another long glance. No words were spoken. Neither of them needed to speak. Their indestructible bond made mere words seem pointless.

  Kara ran her fingers through Darius’ short dark hair, and just hummed a light sigh.

  “I see you’re doing well,” Darius said with a large smile.

  “I guess so. I don’t have clue what happened.” She said. Deep down she really had only fleeting glimpses of the events that led up to this point. All she knew, was something had changed within her. Something both wondrous and terrifying… but something she decided she was at total peace with.