by Charles Lamb
“Is the center force slowing?” Brian asked as he indicated the central group of three cruisers and about thirty support vessels.
“Yes sir, they are delaying to allow those outlying groups time to get into position for a coordinate strike,” the tactical officer confirmed.
Brian gave out an audible sigh as he realized he was going to have a dog fight on his hands.
“ALICE, do the Wawobash have any other ships ready for battle?” Brian asked. He was hoping for additional firepower to confront the ships swinging wide.
“They have confirmed, there are no other battle ready vessels available at this time,” ALICE-3 replied after a pause.
“OK, I guess we are on our own,” Brian replied with another, deeper sigh.
----*----
HeBak was not feeling particularly good, having attempted to eat some of the human food supplied to him at his request. Boredom had inspired him to try something different and so he had researched the available foodstuff. The automated systems they called ALICE provided a wide variety of things for the humans to eat.
His ship’s system analysis had identified several dishes that were compatible with his physiology, in that they were not poisonous to his species. As to their appeal, that was left to him to decide.
His excitement as something new had him trying several differing options, finding some to his liking while others were exceeding bland. Unfortunately, he may have sampled too many at once as his head was aching and he was sure the food was the cause.
Reckoning that the humans must experience similar effects to their consumption of these meals, he began searching for remedies from the same source. He quickly determined that humans preferred one medication over all others for this condition and it was not toxic to the NeHaw.
With a simple request, one of the many robotic attendants, rampant in the facility, delivered the relief HeBak was craving. Opening the packet they arrived in, he dropped the wrapper on the floor while studying the contented in his hand.
Popping two of the tablets in his mouth, he swallowed the pair quickly and stood waiting for relief to come. The last thing he saw was the floor rushing up to meet him before he passed out.
Chapter 6
Jake was sitting in the lounge area of the Phantom, watching the feed from Wawobash with Ivan and Edwin. While there was an open channel to both Earth and ALICE-3, he had specifically ordered no interference with the on-site command there. There was nothing worse, in his mind, than those in the rear second guessing the commander in the field. If Brian needed anything, he would ask.
That, however, didn’t remove his own desire to intercede one little bit, and it was an urge he suppressed. As they watched the hologram depicting the 3D battlefield, there was a constant dialog between the three men aboard the Phantom and those watching from the various facilities on Earth. Jake knew the ALICEs would be exchanging updates and combat data in the background, and had to satisfy himself that they would supply all the help Brian needed. It wasn’t like he had a fleet ready to pounce anyway.
“Jake, are you watching this?” he heard Linda ask from the command center in Nevada.
“You mean the new tactics?” Jake replied as he watched the NeHaw attack group split up into three pieces.
“It is a good move, it reduces the opportunity for concentrated fire from a smaller force,” Ivan commented as they watched their own patrol ships break away from the battleship to intercept the new groups.
That comment from Ivan got Jake to thinking. Even with all their advanced technologies, the NeHaw had actually been at a disadvantage in the fight so far. It had been the discovery of the stasis shields and the birth of the ALICE systems that had given the Earth a fighting chance. The NeHaw had overwhelming numbers and a vast empire to draw from. It had only been their steadfast adherence to outdated tactics that had assisted in crippling their cause.
Now, Jake was seeing creative strategies emerging from their enemy that put the humans’ chance of overall victory in jeopardy. The FTL jammers, hit and run tactics and now this attack on their supply line. These all added up to a military commander who had thrown out the rule book, and that was a concern for Jake.
He watched as the smaller clusters of NeHaw ships went wide, avoiding the picket line of space station modules and their gun batteries. He could see how Brian had placed them as a first line of defense, with ALICE-3 between the modules and the Wawobash shipyards. Besides the defense in layers, the enveloping maneuver the NeHaw had executed was being countered with the paired combat patrol ships.
He was amazed at how the combat patrol ships, originally intended for near Earth activities like a coast guard, had developed into a fighting force of their own. While actually 40% larger than a NeHaw cruiser, they were considered supplemental craft, designed to reinforce the smaller interstellar ships rather than usurp them. Jake thought of them as a World War 2 PT boat, but a really big one.
Here, he was watching as two pair were on intercept courses, intending to block much larger forces, directed to attack the shipyard beyond. Leaning over to the console, mounted on the wall in the lounge, he tapped in some queries and nodded at the response. While the other two men watched him, neither broke the silence as they returned their attention to the holograph.
Suddenly, the display before them lit up, as the NeHaw launched their attack on the space station modules. The clustered ships attacking the modules had put some distance between themselves, giving the NeHaw an even great area to work with as the saucers returned fire.
Jake tried to stay dispassionate as he evaluated the exchange of fire. He noted that the space station batteries had an exceptional field of fire with the outer ring able to depress their guns for an overlap of coverage, top to bottom. Unfortunately, they had only been equipped with the NeHaw standard energy cannons so the effects were less than desired.
Since the NeHaw ships had been designed to encounter this type of weapon, the attacking vessels were able to absorb a good deal of punishment and keep coming. The NeHaw cruisers acted as the center of each group, and were uncharacteristically leading the charge and taking the greater pounding.
All at once there was a blinding bright light as the center space station module, in the line of three, exploded from the concentrated NeHaw cruiser fire. A few smaller ships had gotten too close and were engulfed in the explosion, creating their own contribution to the sphere of light. Jake understood that without the additional shields, these modules were less prepared than their aggressors to engage in this fight.
“That’s not good,” Edwin commented in the otherwise silent room.
----*----
Remotely controlling both weapons and navigation, ALICE-3 returned fire from the three space station modules as soon as the NeHaw initiated contact. While she was tracking everything moving in nearby space, her primary responsibility was the three modules and her own ship. The manned combat patrol ships were on their own missions.
She was attempting to engage every ship in the NeHaw central clusters firing upon the modules, spreading her firepower across all antagonists. A minor number of ships immediately felt the effects of the energy cannon fire as their small size made them more vulnerable, however the bigger ships seemed to absorb the hits without effect. She could see the center saucer was taking a considerably larger amount of fire from the enemy when compared to the other two.
Before she could adjust things, the center saucer exploded in a bright ball of light, taking a few NeHaw ships with it.
“ALICE-3, concentrate your fire on the bigger ships,” she heard Brian say. While he was the human commander of the ship, they had operated as more of a team so she took the command more as advice than an order.
“Adjusting targeting to the larger ships,” she replied, confirming the suggestion.
By now the NeHaw ships had engulfed the two remaining saucers, surrounding them on all sides, but permitting ALICE-3 to bring her guns on the battleship into play for those closest to her. With the a
ddition of her railguns and energy cannon batteries, there were several explosions, obliterating several ships as the NeHaw forces encountered the additional fire.
“What are those ships doing,” she heard Brian ask. She could detect what he was referring to in the display, and noted that one cluster of NeHaw vessels had separated from the others battling the two remaining saucers, and were headed directly toward them.
“Why in the world would they do that?’ she heard Brian comment quietly.
----*----
HeBak awoke to find several humans in their environmental gear crouching over his prone form.
“Are you ok?” one of them asked, as the ship’s translation systems provided the question in NeHaw.
“Why are you here?” he asked, completely confused on what was happening. The last thing he remembered was considering human food as an alternative to his own to counter his boredom. As he attempted to rise, his head exploded in pain.
“Your ship alerted us to your condition, we hurried to assist,” the human explained as it tried to prevent him from rising.
“Did I injure my head?” he asked as he lay back down while using both hands to explore for injuries.
“Nothing visible, but you might have impacted the deck when you fell?” the human replied as it examined his head as well.
“You may leave, I am unharmed,” HeBak stated, waving them toward the airlock, dismissing them.
“What is the last thing you remember?’ the human asked, ignoring the statement, not moving from its place next to him.
Pausing to consider the question, he decided to answer honestly.
“I was considering trying your planet’s culinary options. As I am to be a resident for the foreseeable future, I thought it appropriate.”
“And you don’t remember eating that,” the human said as it pointed to the partially consumed items on the nearby platform next to his seating arrangement.
From the number of items in a partial state of being, HeBak had to assume that something had occurred, but he had no recollection of consuming any of it. Nearby he could see another human examining a wad of paper before handing it to the human examining him.
“Did you take these?” it inquired as it presented the paper for his consideration.
“What is As pir in?” he asked, confused at what had happened to him.
----*----
Jake was now moving between the 3D holograph and the display panel on the wall as he monitored the battle. He noted the change in targeting as ALICE-3 stopped diluting her firepower by attempting to target every vessel and now concentrated on the larger ships. The two smaller clusters of ships had yet to engage the patrol craft, but they were still on an intercept course.
“Jake, look at this,” Edwin commented, pulling Jake’s attention away from the wall panel and back to the holograph.
The explosion of the center space station module had created a gap in their line of defense. While the ships clustered about each module continued to pound on them, a significant number of ships, led by a NeHaw cruiser, slipped through the gap and headed directly toward ALICE-3. He could see ALICE-3 was now using her ship’s guns to assist the modules in the fight as well as to confront the new threat.
“That lead cruiser is taking a significant amount of fire, and is still coming on,” Edwin said while pointing at the display.
Jake hit a few settings on the wall panel and the holograph changed to highlight the gun fire hitting just the cruiser.
“That is railgun fire!” Ivan announced as he pointed to the streams coming from ALICE-3. Jake had separated the types of fire, red for railguns and green for energy cannons, allowing them to distinguish what guns were being used on the cruiser.
As the three men watched, an overwhelming number of direct hits were being absorbed by the cruiser. There were several flares of light, as smaller ships surrounding the cruiser went up in blinding flashes. The explosions came as they were raked with the same fire as the cruiser.
“We may be seeing something new here,” Jake said absently as he continued to focus on the cruiser facing ALICE-3. They watched as the support ships attempted to fall in behind the cruiser, using it for cover.
It was then the cruiser stopped in space, apparently choosing not to close the distance any further, lest the concentrated fire from the battleship rip it to shreds. Even at that distance, Jake could see the vessel almost glow as the combined firepower of ALICE-3 raked its exposed hull.
----*----
Gregor was in command of the combat patrol ship P5, and as senior officer, he was leading its sister ship, P8, toward one of the two clusters of NeHaw vessels attempting to evade the battleship. The enemy attempted to circle around the defenses and attack the shipyards from an exposed angle. Like many of his fellow Russians, he found duty on the heavily armed vessels to his personal liking.
Designed to fight, the combat patrol craft were wondrous ships to the Russians. As a crew of 8 to 10 could fight the ship quite easily, only half that number were required for day to day operations. The roomy interior, intended as cargo areas on the transport version, permitted for individual quarters and lounging space. Duty aboard P5 had been a joy so far.
Gergor had been in command of P5, protecting the edge of the solar system, the last time the NeHaw had attacked Earth. There was a glorious battle and the NeHaw had learned a lesson that day. So long as the enemy stayed in the envelope of the sun's gravity, the patrol ships were more than a match for anything the NeHaw had to throw at them.
He was watching his tactical display from the command chair as they closed on the seven ships that was to be their prey this day. P8 was on his right, mimicking their every move as they prepared their attack. Just as they closed within weapons range, his tactical officer gave a warning.
“Sir, all ships have just launched missiles,” the man announced.
“Shields up,” Gregor ordered.
“No sir, they didn’t launch at us, they are targeting the shipyard,” the man corrected.
Checking his display, Gregor could see the projected trajectory of the forty plus missiles heading into the heart of the construction area. Just as he was about to order their destruction, the ship shook from the impact of multiple hits. He could see the NeHaw vessels had now turned and were directly confronting the two patrol craft in an attempt to prevent them from intercepting the missiles.
“Return fire,” Gregor announced as he checks his display. The NeHaw had planned this maneuver well. From the angle of attack and the distance to ALICE-3, there was no way to prevent the missiles from striking their targets without exposing their rear to the enemy.
“Order Alexi to take P8 and pursue the missiles, we will entertain our guests,” Gregor ordered. He watched in his display as P8 diverted course in pursuit of the missile launch while he positioned P5 to protect P8’s rear. He just hoped they could catch the bombs in time.
----*----
Linda had the battle projected in the command center of the Nevada ALICE facility. The room was packed with staff and observers, as everyone was interested in the latest NeHaw attack. So far, the loss of the space station module was offset by close to fifteen NeHaw vessels destroyed.
There were several disturbing elements of this attack that had her itching to get at the data. The central NeHaw cruiser was taking a considerable pounding from ALICE-3 but was still in play, returning fire and otherwise tying up the battleship from other issues.
The second thing that caught Linda’s eye was the coordinated multipronged attack. In the past the NeHaw had simply tried the brute force method of overwhelming their opponent. This attack was well thought out and properly timed to tie up all the Earth forces on site. The fact that the space station modules and ALICE-3 for that matter were new additions meant that the NeHaw had likely needed to modify their attack plans to changing conditions.
Checking her IFF indicator display, she could see that P5 and P8 had done a good job of covering their area of responsibility.
P8 had engaged and destroyed almost half of the missiles launched at the shipyard, while P5 had engaged the enemy directly. However, their counterparts P10 and P13, had been completely duped. As both vessels sat engaged with the enemy ships, and almost fifty missiles charged unchallenged toward the construction zone.
She only hoped that the damage about to be done to the shipyard was not debilitating.
----*----
“Sir, our hull is showing signs of weakness in several areas, we cannot safely continue this engagement,” the tactical officer reported to GeSec. Just then, he noted several explosions in the shipyard as a host of missiles found their targets. As if to balance the victory, the cruiser engaging two of those devil ships exploded in a plume of white.
“Order a full retreat, all ships to return home,” GeSec commanded as he watched several more detonations in the Wawobash shipyard. He verified that the damage was being recorded for High Command to analyze. He then ran over the data from the ship’s engineer, estimating his own hull damage. As the first of its kind, this cruiser was designed specifically to battle the Earth weapons that had been so devastatingly effective.
The NeHaw had been working with several races, scouring the empire for technology and materials capable of withstanding the impact of those projectiles. This ship had been the result of that research, and this was its trial by fire.
“All ships acknowledging, setting course for home,” the navigation officer replied. As he continued to watch the ships around him explode, GeSec had a sense of accomplishment. His mission goals had been met, and while he hadn’t inflicted the damaged he had hoped on the Wawobash, they had made their presence known.
GeSec checked his display, confirming all surviving vessels had disengaged from the enemy and were heading to the edge of the system with all haste. He noted the loss of two cruisers and more than twenty assorted supporting craft. He suspected that the new High Commander would confirm this as a success.
