by Chris Hechtl
“Sir. You better get up here. There has been a fresh arrival.”
“Which jump point? he asked, not even bothering to open his eyes.
“The DD01ns one, sir. It looks like a fleet just jumped in,” Ensign Jane Smith, his nominal second in command stated nervously.
“Of course it did,” Sri muttered. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock. “Frack it.” He wanted to turn over and just go to sleep, but his stubborn ingrain sense of duty wouldn't let him. Ever since he'd got the confirmation that Abernly's ship had gone up in smoke, he'd waited for this moment. Now that it had arrived he wasn't certain if he should feel grateful or not.
One way or another his time in the war effort was over. At best he could expect a lengthy stay in a prison or prison camp. At worst … well, let's not dwell on that, shall we, Sri? He shook his head.
He finally sighed again and threw the bed covers off. “I'll be there in a few minutes. Have the coffee brewed.”
“Yes, sir,” Ensign Smith replied in a subdued voice as Sri shut the communicator off.
~~~^~~~
Garfield watched the cruisers and Admiral Halsey fall back to the fleet train for resupply. The admiral could have pulled some of the escorts off to replace them but apparently didn't want to bother. It wasn't like they didn't have enough to do the job.
The fleet train would remain at the DD01ns jump point; safely out of reach of anything should a problem arise. But they would also be out of easy resupply distance of the flotillas, the Neocat TAO reminded himself.
“We're processing the files,” Leopold stated. “Nothing really new, sir.”
Garfield checked and then nodded. There wasn't much new in the inner star system. He almost regretted the lack of targets. Still, it would be tough to get through the defenses they did have without too many losses.
“Understood. Okay, let's see if we can talk some sense into this pigheaded Horathian. Comm, set up a transmission to the inner star system. Broadband, no encryption.”
“Broadband no encryption, aye, sir,” a rating stated. She turned from her seat and pulled a camera down and angled it to get the right shot of the admiral.
“How do I look?” Amadeus joked.
“You've got a bit of a cowlick, sir,” the rating replied. “But it’s fine,” she said hastily when he scowled.
Sheepishly Amadeus ran a hand through his hair. He grunted and gave up on trying to straighten it. “Record. This is Vice Admiral White to Lieutenant Savenan or whoever is in charge in Dead Drop. As you no doubt are aware from your long-range sensors and telescopes, Second Fleet has returned. I am going to be headed in to the inner star system momentarily. You have three days to arrange your affairs and offer an unconditional surrender.”
His brown eyes narrowed and his whole demeanor changed to a cold firmness. “I'm giving you this chance to surrender, Lieutenant. Don't screw it up and don't piss me off. Second Fleet clear,” he said, straightening.
The rating looked at the playback. She made some adjustments. “I tightened in on your eyes on the last bit, sir, to punch it up.”
“Good. Excellent. Send it.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied as she resumed her seat. She tapped at her console and then with a flourish hit the transmit key. “Message sent, sir.”
“And, now we wait,” the admiral murmured. He looked around and then shook his head. “Someone bring me a comb or a brush? Oh hell, I'll figure it out,” he said as he stalked off to the head.
Kelly snorted and shot the others a look of amusement. Garfield shook his head but then went back to his duties.
~~~^~~~
Captain Leo grimaced as he watched the fleet move inward, finishing what their force had started. He glanced over to Halsey's icon and then over to Crystal Cold's. He was fairly certain there were plenty of frustrated people on those ships as well.
He curled and then uncurled his fists, aware he had to be careful not to let his claws extend to rake the armrests. One scolding, however polite, was enough he reminded himself.
He also wanted to pace, to flick his tail, to do anything but sit and look majestic in his chair. Finally, he gave in to his impulse and rose.
“I'm going to go do some paperwork and check on the loading. Let me know if there are any problems. Ensign Redheart, you have the bridge.”
“Aye, sir, I have the bridge,” the startled ATO said, quickly rising from her chair to take the hot seat.
~~~^~~~
Lieutenant Savenan received the transmission. He reluctantly played it. When it ended, he stared at the frozen image of the Neochimp admiral. “Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” he muttered with a shake of his head.
“Well, sir, you better think of something quick or we're all screwed,” Ensign Smith stated.
The lieutenant shot him a look. He wanted to rant and rave but knew it wouldn't do anything. “Damn it. Command to all units. We're initiating the final evacuation. Prep scuttling charges. It looks like we've got a couple days before they get here. Let's make sure they don't get anything other than debris,” he ordered.
“And the weapon platforms, sir?” the ensign asked.
“We'll fire them until they’re dry and then scuttle them as well. For the honor of the Empire, we'll make it clear we're not giving up without a fight,” he said.
“And then, sir?”
“And then we'll watch them take over. What did you think, we'd have some sort of miracle?” he asked sarcastically. She winced. “That only happens in movies and bad fiction, Ensign.”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a shake of her head. “Sorry, sir.”
He smiled a crocked smile. “I know you are. It's almost over,” he said, fighting to not sigh in relief.
~~~^~~~
Commodore Renee Mayweather detailed their orders and then sat back as her crew executed them. Her ship was a part of the screen that would be detached to block any ships that might try to run from the inner star system. The chance of there being a ship was remote, most likely anyone who could have run had tried to do so already. According to Sam's report, they had, and they'd even gotten a good piece of them.
But, an order was an order. She listened idly as her crew moved smoothly into action to execute her will.
~~~^~~~
Trajan received the orders and then nodded. It made sense for his ships to take the jump point and hold it. They'd have to do it at a distance though, no sense getting too close and letting any arriving enemy ships get in potshots at his carriers. The last thing he wanted was for a large enemy force to arrive practically on top of him and cut down his time to react and maneuver to get clear or launch his birds.
His command was more or less intact. Dwight's on the other hand had been cut up. Renee was headed off to pincer the inner star system while Dwight was running ahead of Anvil. They'd get there ahead of him and secure the jump point zone.
It was a pity they didn't have some weapon platforms of their own or mines he thought. But, they could do something about that later if they sat in the star system long enough.
Something told him though that sitting for a long period was going to be over soon. They had enough forces to beat De Gaulte in a straight-up game. Actually, Anvil alone could probably do the job quite easily, which made him wonder if De Gaulte would engage at all.
The man had to know they had antimatter. He frowned and then pulled up some of the battle plans Admiral White and the flag officers had generated. There had to be some way to suck De Gaulte in. Something to make the man commit and not just run home to the Empire.
They might not get a chance to use it in Dead Drop, but in Garth, well, that was a different story. According to TF3.2's reports, they'd trashed the star system and carrier fortresses so De Gaulte would only have the carriers there plus any fresh reinforcements to draw on.
He glanced at the status board and then idly flicked his fingers through the lists of plans, scanning the thumbnails to see if he could find one to dust off and try his hand wi
th while they waited.
~~~^~~~
“Talk about overkill,” Commodore Dwight Harris muttered as he looked at the star system plot. His screening force was really all that was needed to secure the star system and force the reticent lieutenant to surrender.
It was a good real-world exercise though, a live fire exercise. “Keep an eye out for mass clouds or reports of sightings of the same. We don't want to walk into one. I understand the enemy likes to fire them off from time to time in the general direction of a ship.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“In fact, let's institute a random course chance. Three-dimensional zig zag along our base course. Keep our helm people busy. And let's see how long it takes for the other ships to play catch-up.”
“Aye aye, sir,” his chief of staff said with a shake of her head.
~~~^~~~
As the fleet split up and began to go its separate ways, Amadeus began to go over his plan and wonder what he'd missed.
The Hammer Flotilla plus two carriers borrowed from Trajan were headed in to take the inner star system. He might need the extra small craft to get in through the defenses. Commodores Vargess and Harris were headed out to secure the Garth jump zone. A detachment of battle cruisers led by Renee raced ahead to cut off any ships that tried to run from the inner star system to the Garth jump point.
He finally realized what was bothering him, what he was missing. He snapped his fingers, and heads turned to look at him expectantly.
“Kyle, order a courier to fetch the rest of the fleet train,” he stated.
Kyle nodded but then frowned. “You don't want to secure the inner star system first, sir?”
“No. We'll get there. A couple days might mean the difference if something shows up though. I want those ships. I shouldn't have left them all behind,” Amadeus admitted.
“To be fair, they would have slowed us down, sir,” Aleck stated.
“Agreed. But I want the security of having those ships, especially the munitions ships on hand,” Amadeus stated. “Get it done.
“Agreed, sir. I mean, aye aye,” Kyle said as he turned and began to murmur the necessary instructions.
Amadeus sat back. That pretty much covered it he thought. He couldn't help but be a little nervous though. A little anxiety was good for the soul; he needed to be wary of any surprises.
“Sir, the screen has initiated random evasive maneuvers,” Aleck reported.
Amadeus frowned in confusion.
“No doubt he's trying to make sure nothing can nail his force down with a rail gun cloud,” Garfield stated.
Amadeus's face cleared, and he nodded. “Aleck, institute the same for us and the rest of the fleet. There is no sense walking right into a cloud and make it easy for them.”
“Aye aye, sir. It will draw out our time to the inner star system though,” Aleck warned.
“We can't help it. Just don't get too cute about it. A day off I don't mind.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“It's not like they are going anywhere. They have no place to run except the planet,” Garfield muttered.
Amadeus nodded curtly in acknowledgment of that statement.
Chapter 53
Jane Darling felt herself relax as she piloted her Cobra in a slow weave ahead of the ship. She had insisted on taking her turn as one of the Alert 5 fighters moving ahead of the flotilla. It was that or sit there biting her nails wondering if a shoe was going to drop. Not that anyone expected one to do so. So far, they had been in the star system a full day and no boogeyman had jumped out at them.
But, it paid to pay attention and be ready.
~~~^~~~
Nate Haskins couldn't help but feel nervous and excited like many of the crew. He was so nervous he stumbled on another knee knocker earning a razzing from some of the crew who had been near to witness it.
The stumble had immediately brought him down to Earth. He ducked his head, feeling like crap as he tried to avoid the looks and crap. Just when he thought he was a part of the team something like that brought him back to reality. He wanted to kick himself for being so clumsy.
~~~^~~~
Chief Sinclair heard about the trip and the razzing and shook her head. She couldn't always bail the kid out. He needed to pay more attention. Maybe he'd figure that out with enough negative attention. She hoped so at any rate; she had too much on her mind at the moment to wipe his damn nose.
~~~^~~~
Trajan took the problem of how to draw an inferior force into attacking to his staff and then to Commodore Dawning Hunger. The frocked flag officer's mandibles and antenna wiggled but his body was still on his saddle as Trajan laid out his proposal.
“I think I've got an idea to draw him in if he does make an appearance, sir,” the T'clock said, showing signs of uncertainty. “I saw it once in an exercise in Bek when I was a lieutenant.”
“Oh?”
“It was years ago. Unfortunately, I don't have the records. But, from memory I know we won. That's the good news. The bad news is it's highly risky and invites defeat in detail. In fact, that is the enticement to draw the enemy force into the trap.”
“Send me what you've got. I'll take a look,” Trajan ordered.
“Give me a couple of minutes or so to write it up.”
“No hurry,” Trajan replied with a shrug. “It's not like he's around to worry about at the moment.”
~~~^~~~
Hurranna shook her head as she watched Commander Bleakly put the wing through its paces in the SIM complex. Half of the squadrons were there for the all-up exercise. The rest were either off shift, watching in the ready room, or out of the ship. She wasn't certain which group she envied.
“Okay, Hurranna, your jarheads are up next. Let's see what you've got,” the bald Chimera said, jerking a thumb to a set of simulators that were opening up with sheepish pilots.
“Roger that,” she murmured. One of the interesting things the CAG was doing was cycling the pilots in the simulated furball. It kept the battle going. That made them work on their endurance. It wasn't exactly realistic, but she wasn't going to complain. She'd gotten toasted by a missile in the last engagement and wanted a little payback this time around.
~~~^~~~
Ian McGuyver surveyed his bridge and then looked on outward, to the plot and to the star system at large. It was nice to be able to do so with his implants.
He still had a few qualms about the ship, but he couldn't fault her enough to make her sit the mission out. Far from it. She had settled in nicely over the past two months. But there was that lingering dread, that feeling like they were missing something, possibly something important—even life threatening.
He couldn't shake the feeling completely, but he did his best to put it out of his mind. Dead Drop didn't look like a good place to test Sky Titan but that could change he reminded himself.
“CIC to bridge. We're receiving pings from tracking radar from the inner star system. They are trying to get another lock,” the rating reported.
“Helm, expect another jink,” the XO said as the captain turned his attention to the ping. He saw it on the virtual plot, like wavy lines emanating from a source they couldn't quite make out. When he zoomed in, he noted the file was from previous intelligence and therefore old.
“Guns, launch some recon drones ahead of us. Let's see what we're up against and give us a little extra warning if they get a little too cute,” the captain ordered.
He heard the ATO acknowledge the order and then after a moment a volley of recon drones were fired off out of Sky Titan's bow tubes. He glanced over to the other ships. After a moment, a couple came out of Sun Tzu and then each of the other capital ships.
“CIC, Comm, tie the feed into the other ships,” the captain stated.
“Aye, sir. Tying the recon feeds into the fleet network,” the rating replied smoothly.
Ian grunted but went back to the VR field. Technically, he should have run all that past the admiral before launching the
drones, but he wanted to show a little initiative. Besides, he knew Amadeus; he was pretty sure the Neochimp was kicking himself for not issuing the order.
~~~^~~~
Commander Ch'v'tt noted the launch of recon drones. They weren't authorized but in hindsight they made sense.
That was an odd turn of phrase for his species, one they had picked up from the ocular challenged. He received confirmation of the launches along with requests from other ships. He checked on the admiral and noted he was down for a nap.
“Com, order the ships that have asked but haven't launched to hold their recon drones in reserve. We'll cycle them. Pass on an order to pick up the expended drones when we get near. But we're not slowing down to do so.” He wrote a quick email to Captain McGuyver suggesting he run things past the admiral first next time before initiating a plan.
~~~^~~~
Ian noted the email as he was logging out. He paused and then snorted as he read the sender's tag. So, the admiral hadn't said anything, but the chief of staff had his proboscis out of joint. So be it. He had to admit though, he hadn't considered the recovery operation or cycling the drones to maintain continuous coverage. No doubt, now that he thought of it, they'd lose a few drones along the way since they were randomly changing course. And he'd have to write the paperwork up. Plus, the engineers would have to go over each drone before certifying it for reuse. That meant even more paperwork.
“Sometimes I wonder why I stick my foot in my mouth like I do. I just made a whole lot more work for myself. I must be bored,” he muttered.
~~~^~~~
Lieutenant Savenan watched the juggernaut approaching on his plot. It was sorely tempting to just put a bullet in his mouth and get it over with, but he didn't want to. It wasn't his fault! He shook his head and checked on Ensign Smith's progress.
