The sound of the ship’s six reactors quickly ramping up to maximum power in response to the Krayleck attack was clearly audible in the background — as were the unmistakable sounds of incoming ordnance occasionally making it past the shields to impact the hull.
“Tactical, report.”
“We’re taking both energy weapons and railgun fire from all three Krayleck destroyers, Captain,” Lieutenant Lee replied. “Nothing from the frigates yet, and, so far at least, none of their ships have launched any RPSVs.”
“Very well. Weapons free, gentlemen. You may execute your attacks,” Prescott said evenly.
***
On the far side of the Krayleck formation, two flights of twelve Hunter RPSVs launched two HB-7c missiles each, placing the missiles in “loiter” mode before themselves transitioning to hyperspace in twenty-four simultaneous flashes of grayish-white light. An infinitesimal period of time later, the ships reappeared in a pair of stacked, trailing formations that provided every spacecraft with a clear line of fire to engage its target — which, at the moment, happened to be the Krayleck Empire’s version of an Ingenuity-class frigate.
Based on the current data available to Theseus’ AI, the Hunters engaged at relatively close range with a point location railgun attack, each one coordinating the fire from its dorsal and ventral turrets to impact the frigate’s hull in precisely the same location as the other ships in its formation. As expected, the frigate’s energy barrier shields interacted with each kinetic energy penetration round as it approached the hull at nearly ten percent the speed of light, significantly reducing each one’s velocity prior to impact. But with thousands of rounds per second concentrated on such a small area, the frigate’s shield was quickly overwhelmed, allowing more and more impacts at ever-increasing velocities until the target’s hull itself began to suffer significant damage.
With no warning whatsoever of the imminent attack, there had also been no opportunity for the warship to place its own railgun turrets in point-defense mode. What its AI did manage to do immediately, however, was to engage its short-range equivalent to the Humans’ Close-In Weapon System. At numerous locations along both sides of the frigate, a combination of mini railgun and energy turrets emerged from small, recessed bays within the ship’s hull. With the Human ships already well within its engagement zone, the AI-controlled weapons immediately locked on to two targets each to port and starboard and opened fire. Within seconds, the space in front of the oncoming RPSVs was filled with a lethal curtain of kinetic energy rounds. At the same time, each point-defense mount also opened up with its beam weapon, lighting the area surrounding the frigate with bolts of blue-tinted energy weapons fire.
For all their versatility, the Hunters’ Achilles heel had always been their limited power-generation and storage capabilities. As was typically the case, Humanity’s newest and most advanced systems were also some of the most power-hungry — and power required physical space. Unfortunately for the Hunters, their fifteen-meter-length had offered the designers precious little of this commodity to work with. In the intervening months since the Resistance attack, however, Fleet Science and Engineering had continued their program to improve the energy densities associated with previously installed capacitor banks. While gravitic shields were still out of the question for the small, fighter-like RPSVs, one tactically significant new “trick” had been added to its repertoire that had previously been available only to Fleet’s larger ships.
As the two formations of Hunters neared their point of closest approach to the target, their controlling AIs took into account the firing pattern of the Krayleck frigate’s point-defense weapons, predicting with pinpoint accuracy where they would encounter the first of the deadly fragmentation rounds. This allowed the RPSVs to press their attack until the last possible fraction of a second before — for the first time — both formations executed a second C-Drive-assisted transition to hyperspace.
***
With Theseus in a protective hover over the Wek mining facility, only nine of her fifteen railgun mounts had been in a position to fire on Delta 3 when the Krayleck began their attack. Concentrating her fire in much the same manner as the distant Hunters, however, allowed the destroyer’s much larger, fifty-kilogram penetrator rounds to quickly achieve the desired effect.
“It’s working, Captain,” Lieutenant Lau reported excitedly from Tactical 2. “We’re causing significant hull damage on Delta 3 and we just completely took out her main ventral heat exchanger.”
“Are the beam weapons having any effect?” Prescott asked without looking up from his Command console.
“In the area immediately surrounding the point of impact for the railguns, yes. Otherwise, their shields are holding.”
“Concentrate your fire on the area around that heat exchanger, Lieutenant. A hull breach at that location would be a serious problem. In fact, it might even be enough to motivate them to pull back and allow us to shift our fire to Delta 2. Everyone keep in mind that our best chance of success right now is hitting singles, not home runs.”
“Aye, sir,” Lau replied.
“Can we fire a missile out of our vertical launch cells right now?”
“Negative, sir, I just checked,” Schmidt replied. “We’re too low for the ventrals — the missiles won’t quite make the turn before impacting the surface — and there’s just too much fire at the moment to risk a dorsal launch. There’s a good chance we would end up with a detonation either on the way out of the cell or as soon as the missile cleared our shield radius.”
“Sir,” the young lieutenant at the Science and Engineering console chimed in, “the Hunters have launched four eight missiles in loiter mode for their attack on Foxtrot 1. We can vector them in on Delta 3, if required.”
“That’s a good option, let’s do it. Pass control of those missiles over to Lieutenant Lau and order the Hunters to fire two four more of their own. That’s still only half their loadout, and I suspect we need the missiles more than they do at the moment. Once you’ve done that, let Lieutenant Lee worry about the RPSVs. I want you closely monitoring the recovery of our shuttles and keeping us apprised of any hull damage.”
“Aye, sir. The first shuttle is entering the flight deck as we speak. The second is in the maintenance hangar on the surface waiting for the airlock cycle to complete. We are taking some damage, but nothing serious yet.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” he said, pleased at her performance thus far under pressure while inwardly cringing at her use of the word “yet.” “The second all of our shuttles are aboard and we’re all buttoned up, sing out so we can get the hell out of here.”
“Absolutely, sir,” she replied with a nervous laugh as three ominous, metallic-sounding THUDS could be heard as well as felt through the soles of their feet.
***
Near Foxtrot 1, the two flights of twelve Hunter RPSVs immediately launched two additional HB-7c missiles each in response to Captain Prescott’s order. As they prepared to resume their attack, their battle management AI was now in possession of enough data to execute what it believed (with a ninety-two percent probability) might be a decisive strike against the first Krayleck frigate. Once again taking advantage of the Hunters’ newly acquired capability to execute multiple, consecutive hyperspace transitions, both formations engaged their C-Drives, then quickly flashed back into normal space and immediately opened fire with their railgun turrets — this time from above and to either side of their target.
The enemy frigate’s AI, while unable to predict precisely where or when the Human ships would reappear, was nonetheless fully prepared for them to do so. Less than three hundred milliseconds after their arrival, it had locked on to the two lead ships in each formation and resumed its heavy point-defense weapons fire. This time, with slightly more time available to refine its firing solution, the warship scored the first kills of the battle, destroying the lead RPSV in each formation with energy weapons fire as the marauding Human ships once again neared their point of
closest approach.
This minor Krayleck victory was short-lived, however, as the superior data handling and raw computing power at the disposal of the Human ships began to tell for the first time. During the first attack, the Hunters’ sensor suites had performed a series of exquisitely detailed scans — scans precise enough to detect the fluctuations in power output associated with the frigate’s use of its shields and point-defense weapons. These subtle cues, paired with the AI’s detailed knowledge of TFC’s own Ingenuity-class warships, allowed it to construct a real-time model of the target’s power distribution capabilities, particularly with regard to how that power was being distributed to the ship’s defensive systems.
As the remaining twenty-two RPSVs continued to hammer away at their target with concentrated fire from their railgun turrets, it was a relatively simple exercise in timing to predict the precise moment when the frigate’s shields had been weakened enough to permit the passage of an HB-7c missile — or, in this case, eight of them.
***
“Foxtrot 1 destroyed!” Lieutenant Lee reported from Tactical 1, although he need not have done so with the brilliant flash of antimatter-induced fire blooming forth in one of the large windows displayed on the bridge view screen.
“Sir, the second shuttle is on the way up,” the lieutenant at Science and Engineering reported. “The third, empty shuttle is right behind them and will come aboard at the same time. ETA: four zero seconds.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Prescott replied. And not a moment too soon, he thought, as another rapid series of impacts sent vibrations throughout the whole of the ship.
Beneath the massive destroyer, the view from the approaching Gurkha assault shuttle was like nothing any Human had ever witnessed. With the destruction of Foxtrot 1, the remaining three Krayleck frigates were rapidly closing on the Wek station, already beginning to add their own railgun and beam weapons fire to that of the three destroyers. As a result, the barrage of incoming ordnance had become so intense that it was difficult for the shuttle’s occupants to comprehend how the Theseus was managing to remain aloft.
Although Lieutenant Lau was doggedly maintaining Theseus’ own attack against Delta 3, hundreds of blue-tinted streaks — punctuated by the occasional plasma torpedo — continually rained down on the ship from above. Upon reaching the outermost limit of the destroyer’s gravitic shield, each individual energy bolt, kinetic energy round, or plasma torpedo was tracked and classified by the ship’s AI before being “lensed” away from the hull by an intense gravitational disturbance placed directly in its path. In addition to the light associated with the incoming fire, each individual “shield intercept event” also produced a flash of light in the visible spectrum — often resulting in the deflected ordnance continuing on to strike the surface of Herrera a short distance away. The overall visual effect was both frightening and awe-inspiring at the same time, giving an impression not unlike a tremendous downpour striking an old-fashioned, domed umbrella before falling harmlessly to the ground around the feet of its wielder.
“Sir …” Lieutenant Commander Schmidt began before being interrupted by a low, menacing vibration that quickly grew in intensity to a dull roar as Theseus’ environmental conditioning systems struggled to keep the noise at a manageable level. “I think their AI may have figured out our shield’s low angle of incidence vulnerability!” he continued, now shouting to be heard by the captain barely a meter away. As if to reinforce the acting XO’s assertion, a flurry of urgent-sounding warning tones issued from the Helm console, followed immediately by the voice of the chief engineer over the bridge intercom.
“Captain … Logan here!” he called, also yelling to make himself heard over the warning klaxons sounding throughout the ship’s engineering spaces. “We just lost a critical number of grav emitters on our aft starboard wing section. The AI automatically engaged the auxiliary ventral thrusters to keep us from slamming into the surface, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to maintain altitude for long.”
“Lieutenant, where’s our shuttle?” Prescott bellowed.
“Ten seconds, sir!”
“Kip, I need ten seconds. Whatever you have to do, hold here for ten seconds while we recover our shuttle.”
“I’ll try, Captain, but we’re going to have to set down. It’s just a question of how hard we’re going to hit at this point … yeah, actually, the AI just extended the landing struts and began a forced landing sequence. Gotta go, sir. Logan out.”
On Theseus’ bridge, the eerie red lighting associated with combat operations was immediately mixed with a blue hue to indicate the ship’s imminent and wholly unintentional landing.
“Sir, I’m showing twelve green landing strut indications. Our gear is down and locked, and we are rigged for a surface landing. Touchdown in two four seconds,” Fisher reported from the Helm console, adding a vaguely routine air to the rather surreal situation on the bridge.
“The shuttles are aboard, Captain, main aft airlock secure!”
“Helm, can we C-Jump?”
“Negative, Captain, not with the gear down and this close to the surface. Sorry sir, there just isn’t enough time,” Fisher reported plaintively.
“All hands, brace for impact!” Prescott announced. His voice was immediately repeated at maximum volume by the AI throughout the ship, but the sound of incoming ordnance slamming into the ship’s armored hull had once again become so intense that very few of the crew were able to hear it.
“Tactical, what’s the status of Delta 3’s shield?”
“Still up, but substantially weakened where we’ve been hitting her, sir,” Lieutenant Lau replied.
“Target that location with all two four of the missiles we borrowed from the Hunters.”
“With pleasure, sir.”
Three seconds later, TFS Theseus, still under extremely heavy fire from above, impacted the surface of the planet Herrera.
***
A mere fifty thousand kilometers aft of the three Krayleck destroyers, the starfield distorted momentarily, followed by ten simultaneous flashes of grayish-white light heralding the arrival of Admiral Kevin Patterson’s task force. Centered on the unmistakable forms of four Navajo-class cruisers — Cossack, Shoshone, Chickasaw, and the admiral’s flagship, TFS Navajo herself — the Terran line of battle wasted no time opening fire. Within seconds of their arrival, eight massive four-hundred-and-twenty-five-kilogram projectiles from the cruisers’ main railgun batteries slammed into the sterns of all three Krayleck destroyers, immediately collapsing their aft shields and silencing their relentless attack on the severely wounded Theseus.
The remaining cruiser, TFS Shoshone, its main batteries also pre-aimed before its arrival at Herrera, quickly added to the destruction of the Krayleck task force by scoring four hits each on two of the remaining three frigates. Even with fully functioning barrier shields, the relatively small warships were simply not equipped to absorb the nearly nine hundred petajoules of energy delivered by each of the cruiser’s huge shells traveling at ten percent c. Both of the frigates suffered instantaneous and complete structural failure, breaking briefly into several large pieces before both containment units within each of the two ships’ reactors failed within seconds of one another. With Shoshone’s ever-present AI watching impassively, the remains of both ships exploded in brilliant flashes of white light as several kilograms of antimatter came into contact with the sides of what had previously been Pelaran-designed reactor vessels.
Although Delta 3 had suffered tremendous damage from Theseus’ railgun fire as well as main battery hits from the Navajo, she was somehow still generating sufficient power to engage her hyperdrive. Her captain — the same Krayleck officer who had earlier spoken to both Gara and Prescott — delayed long enough to order a general retreat for the surviving ships in his task force, then gave the order for his own ship to depart. Unfortunately for the three hundred and twenty-one members of his ship’s crew, his momentary delay would prove fatal.
&nb
sp; After completing a sweeping turn to align their flight paths with their new target, the twenty-four HB-7c missiles vectored in by the Theseus accelerated to optimum attack velocity and executed their C-Jumps. As the crews of every Fleet vessel in the area watched, the missiles transitioned back into normal space, penetrated the destroyer’s already weakened shields, and detonated in such rapid succession that their impacts gave the impression of a single, massive explosion. Once the initial blinding flash and numerous secondary explosions had receded, what remained no longer bore any resemblance to a Theseus-class destroyer. Although the sturdy Krayleck warship remained more or less in a single piece, a huge section of her dorsal hull was simply gone. In its place was a gaping wound reminiscent of one of the huge impact craters that pockmarked the surface of the nearby planet Herrera. Exposing nearly half the ship’s length to the vacuum of space, the explosion had penetrated the hull to such a depth that it had very nearly penetrated through to the opposite side.
Of the three remaining Krayleck warships, only one — the sole remaining “KE” version of an Ingenuity-class frigate — was able to heed the order to retreat and successfully transition to hyperspace.
Having monitored the entire engagement from Damara — including the unprovoked attacks both inside the Herrera Mining Facility and in space — Admiral Patterson had already made the decision that no quarter would be offered the Krayleck ships. With his four cruisers firing a total of thirty-two main battery shells roughly once every seven seconds, the remaining two enemy destroyers were reduced to lifeless hulks in short order.
When the admiral at last gave the order to cease fire, the entire engagement since his arrival at Herrera had lasted just fifty-three seconds. Perhaps even more telling was the fact that his attack had been executed with such violence and speed that not a single enemy weapon had been fired in the direction of any ship in his task force.
Terran Fleet Command Saga 4: TFS Fugitive Page 22
