“Of course they are,” I said while our formations fractured due in part to bad communications and the enemy Battleships continued to sail past us and back into the sensor haze from which they’d come.
“Signal every ship that’s within range of our whisker lasers that they are to maneuver to avoid the Old Confederation marines and begin pursuit of the Glorious Fleet heavies,” I ordered.
In this murk any number of our Battleships might have seen the enemy heavies but missed the Marines. Even now they might be in hot pursuit of the enemy squadrons, unknowing that the rest of our Battleships were being attacked by boarders. The last thing we needed was to be defeated in detail.
Then the Furious Phoenix and a dozen lighter warship appeared and plasma balls shot through the area of space occupied by the enemy Marines.
Within seconds, the last of the Marine landers and assault shuttles had been destroyed and large swaths of the grav-board Marines were converted to plasma by the Phoenix.
Several furious bouts of communication and updates later and the majority of our Battleships, those that hadn’t taken on boarders, moved into the jamming field in search of the enemy Battleship which even now could be coming around for another pass in support of their marine forces.
Within minutes we’d caught up to a pair of Battleships that had been slowed by earlier engine damage.
Chapter 33: To Guard the Body
Opening the airlock she jumped out onto the hull with a flare of her jet pack and a clang as her magnetic boots locked onto the surface of the ship.
“Once again I’d like to advise against this course of action, my Lady,” said Sergeant Warricks.
“You worry too much, Warricks,” Akantha said waving the combined commando/life guard team out of the airlock behind her, “if it’s going to distract you in combat that’s going to get you killed. Let me know if you need an inside assignment. I can always use a man who worries too much about the safety of his principle to guard one of the children.”
“I’m not distracted and I’m not a baby sitter, with all due respect, Ma’am,” Warricks said pointedly.
“Then let’s keep the commentary to a minimum and focus on the enemy,” she said crisply.
“Yes of course, Sir,” the Sergeant sighed.
“Good,” Akantha turned and motioned toward the Captain of the Black Space Commando company that was accompanying her Life Guard, “take us out, Captain.”
“You do realize we’re out here without orders from the General, my Lady?” he asked.
“The General will just have to learn to adapt and overcome. I’m not going to miss the first chance at actual combat in years. Having children can really slow you down,” she said and then started briskly marching out onto the hull of the ship.
“Fan out by squads until the rest of the company is on the hull. Scouts to the front and by all that’s holy watch out for sniper fire!” cursed the Captain hurrying after the eager Hold Mistress.
With commandoes on point and life guards on close protective detail the Hold Mistress and escorts moved toward the external laser mounts at a deliberate pace.
Then a laser flashed.
“Contact!” one scout screamed over the network as one fell back with a hold in his helmet right through the visor guard.
“That’s too powerful a weapon to be a rifle. We’re looking at a crew served laser cannon. Find me that sniper people,” ordered the Captain.
Several people ducked for cover and three power assisted arms forcefully slammed Akantha onto the hull visor first.
“First Platoon flanking maneuver,” ordered the Captain and a minute passed as the rest of the company deployed.
Then first platoon stumbled upon an enemy contingent.
“Contact at 3 o’clock, squad level force no more than seven meters distance! Danger close. Danger Close!” shouted the Platoon commander opening fire right before the plasma grenades started going off.
The Company reacted catching the enemy squad in a crossfire. In response the enemy laser cannon opened up with suppressing fire in support of the beleaguered enemy marines.
Weight of fire took its toll and in short order the enemy squad was annihilated while the sniper crew with the laser cannon, stationed inside an external sensor array as it turned out, were taking heavy fire.
Then an enemy force more than forty strong attacked from behind.
The first thing Akantha knew of it was when two of her life guards keeled forward with smoking holes in their backs.
“My main power system is knocked out. I’m on emergency backups. Protect the Hold Mistress!” hissed one of the fallen warrior life guards before falling silent.
As one half the life guard turned to face the enemy. But a pair of plasma grenades tossed into their midst sent warriors whirling off the hull.
Seeing an enemy marine in a battlesuit that was all angles and hard rounded edges Akantha bared her teeth.
“Messene!” she screamed unsheathing Bandersnatch and charging.
The first shot took her in the right shoulder actuator, reducing her arm function but not slowing her down. The second shot hit a knee and the last one went right into her abdominal armor, and then she was in close.
“Die-die-die!” she shouted, maxing out her magnetic boots and swinging with all her might.
Her first swing cut deep into the man’s rifle, ruining the weapon while her backswing was blocked by his left arm.
Bandersnatch cut deep, but not as deep as she’d expected. Clearly these Marines had suits that were superior to ones she was used to.
Akantha smiled excitedly.
Her opponent was good; no sooner had he blocked her blow than a battle blade extended out of his right arm, point thrust straight at her head. Up and at an angle the blade thrust forward with lightning speed.
Akantha barely ducked her head below in time.
Slamming into his chest plate with her shoulder she rotated her sword around freeing it with a spray of blood that shot into the vacuum as it came free from the marine’s arm.
Before she could launch another attack a pair of arms dropped down around her torso and squeezed tight, pinning her arms and elbows against her side.
Akantha surged forward trying to muscle out of the lock but the marine’s armor proved more powerful than hers and all her straining did was cause him to squeeze tighter.
Viciously she slammed her head back into the other man’s helmet.
The marine rocked with the blow and then angled his right arm blade up until it was pointed straight up under her chin.
Akantha bucked and strained before going for her maiden’s dagger. With the flick of a finger she activated her small vibro-blade.
“Worm fed filth!” she shouted jamming her blade into his arm. The daggers skittered over the duralloy armor of her foe until it stuck on the temporary patch on the right arm that had been struck by her dark sword of power and then self sealed. Catching on the large gash in the arm her vibro-blade stuck and dug in.
In a flash the blade was in and her foe jerked allowing her to divert the arm blade just to the side of her head instead of right up through her chin and into the brain.
Twisting she jerked around stabbing her blade into the marine’s side. However his armor proved tougher than expected and once again her maiden’s dagger skittered across the surface.
Then he was back with his arm blade and with a sudden chest bump her magnetic boots broke free from the hull and she was floating in cold space.
Pulling out a blaster pistol she shot him repeatedly in the face plate, sending her into a spin. Blinded by the shots, unlike most other foes he didn’t backpedal, instead he charged. A glancing shoulder contact sent her smashing into a communications array.
Dropping her maiden’s dagger and grabbing hold Akantha twisted until her feet were once again in contact with the hull. With a clang she returned to her feet in time to see the marine take a plasma rifle blast in the back. Then another marine rounded the commu
nications array she was holding onto and Akantha smiled.
Raising Bandersnatch high she shouted, “Messene!” before charging back into combat. One blade stroke was enough to cleave through her new foe’s helmet, causing blood and brain matter to escape her enemy’s suit due to rapid decompression. She bared her teeth savagely. Motherhood was great and securing the line of succession vital, but this was what she had been missing for quite some time.
Then she rejoined her guards and threw herself back into battle.
Chapter 34: Sacrifices and a Well Planned Operation
“Any sign of pursuit?” the Front Admiral asked for what had to be at least the dozenth time in the past two hours.
“The jamming field continues to move in our general direction, but other than over a hundred lighter warships there is no sign the enemy have spotted our jammer drones,” reported Weathers.
“Any sign of the New Rigellian, Defiant, or any of our other Battleships?” asked Featherby tensely as the three other Battleships still accompanying his flagship continued to burn for the hyper limit.
“No, Sir,” Flag Captain Weathers replied crisply.
The Front Admiral stared at the screen dourly and then sighed.
“If I may be so bold, that was as an adroit maneuver as any I’ve seen, Sir,” Commodore Fritters finally interjected himself into the mix after seeing how melancholy his Admiral was becoming.
“I entered this system with more than one hundred warships, twenty of them Battleships,” Featherby sighed, “and I’ll be leaving with less than fifty warships and only twelve Battleships. New Rigellian and Defiant are all but certainly lost and as for our lighter warships…,” he trailed off shaking his head, “you realize I’ll probably lose my command over this.”
“We succeeded in carrying out our orders. Our mission was to raid in force and only to capture this star system if possible, with supplementary objectives to destroy its industry, capture or disrupt the Sector and regional governments, and by any reasonable measure we succeeded in every objective,” Fritters said loyally, “we conquered the system. Yes it was temporary I’ll admit. Local, Sector and regional officials were captured, even if the majority of them successfully fled, and we destroyed a significant portion of this system’s orbital and space based industries along the majority of the local SDF. It will be the work of years before Central Star System will recover. This raid was a rousing success by any measure, except in our ability to garrison and hold it. Besides...the Imperial detachment survived almost unscathed,” Fritters added with a sneer.
“Somehow I doubt Senator Cornwallis will look on our losses as favorably as you, and even if he by some miracles does…” the Front Admiral sighed wearily, “the review board back home won’t be nearly as understanding. Warships were lost under my command. Thousands dead, thousands more dead or captured, and we haven’t lost a Battleship, let alone two squadrons of them, in a police action for decades. Heads will roll over this, mark my words—and that includes mine. The public will not tolerate these kinds of losses and the politicians certainly will be more than willing to serve them up a fine meal of sacrificial goat.”
“You can never tell with the Public, Sir,” Fritters replied stoutly, “it all depends on what the media tells them. As for the men and women in your fleet, sacrifices were necessary and because you made the hard call the rest of us live to fight another day.”
The Front Admiral shook his head but before he could speak there was a flash and part of the screen cleared before fuzzing again.
“Report!” he snapped, looking back at the screen.
“Jamming field density has just reduced. Best estimate…we just lost one of the drone jammers,” reported the Electronic Warfare Officer.
“Could it be an equipment failure or…?” he cocked his head meaningfully.
The main-screen flashed again and this time the jammer field was noticeably less dense.
“That’s the second drone we’ve lost, Front Admiral. This looks like enemy action,” reported the EW Officer.
The Front Admiral scowled at the screen before turning back to the EW Officer.
“An equipment failure was too much to hope for I guess. Thank you for the update. Carry on, EW,” instructed the Front Admiral.
“Sir,” said the other officer, returning to his console and immediately getting back to work.
“Found another one, Sir,” reported Tactical moments before gunnery opened fire destroying yet another drone.
“Keep after it,” I ordered glaring at the screen.
“The jammer field is clearing. We’re still getting some obstruction so there’s at least one more drone out there but from the field strength and lack of overlap it looks like just one more, Sir,” he reported.
“Good. Send a Destroyer out to clear it,” I said shortly as our powerful sensors started to cut through the confusion, only to reveal the remnants of the enemy fleet far too close to the hyper limit for comfort.
“There she goes,” said Tactical several minutes later and this time when the main-screen started to clear it cleared all the way; incidentally confirming our earlier scans.
“General Wainwright reports they’ve just finished a full sweep of the ship. No sign of any stowaways; it looks like we got the last of those boarders. He also says your wife is fine and has been returned to the ship safe and sound,” reported Damage Control.
“My wife? What was she doing…” I trailed off going pale at the realization that she’d been out there for the hairy business when our Lancer force had stormed onto the hull to protect our turbo-lasers. Then I could feel my face redden with anger as my heart, which had seemed to halt, suddenly kick-started back to life.
“Sir, are you okay?” asked Steiner.
“Does she intend to make me a single father...argh!” I shouted with fury before regaining control of myself. Everything had been going so well that I hadn’t even considered she’d go and do a fool thing like this. She’d lulled me into a false sense of security and then struck like the viper she was, intent only on her own pleasure and entirely uncaring about me or her kids.
I found I was gnashing my teeth and then came back to myself with a lurch.
“I’m sure she had her reasons, Admiral Montagne,” Steiner said hesitantly, but I could see on her face that she disapproved of Akantha’s wild, self-risking activities.
“Of course she does,” I said, taking a calming breath. First the Admiral in charge of the Glorious Fleet beat us to Central, destroyed the place and then when I set off in hot pursuit he out fought and out maneuvered me. I mean sure, as far as I could tell, thanks in no small part to Commodore Laurent and the Furious Phoenix’s speedy arrival, we only had one ship with major damage thanks to the boarding actions. But instead of a clean sweep where we caught and defeated the enemy, I was left with an unsatisfying victory where the majority of the enemy, or at least most of his combat power, managed to escape the star system. That’s what I was really worked up about –if I was being totally and brutally honest.
I ran a hand over my face.
“I’m sure once she understands in her heart that she risks not only herself but her children unnecessarily, she’ll… moderate her ways,” Lieutenant Commander Snyder tried to sound upbeat.
I snorted. “Somehow I don’t think she’ll stop until she gets herself killed—and maybe not even then!” I grumbled and then shot the petite officer a look. “But thank you for the attempt at cheering me up. It’s much appreciated.”
“I’m your Chief of Staff; it’s in my job description,” she said loyally.
“Regardless we need to focus on the situation at hand,” I said firmly.
“Of course, Sir,” she replied professionally.
“The fact is we came into this star system with superior numbers and firepower; across the board we had every advantage and yet, here we are,” I said.
Steiner’s eyes tensed and then she shrugged. “We won, Sir. That’s the most important thing at the end of t
he day. We’re alive and we won. Can’t ask more than that,” she said.
“But that’s just the thing, Lisa,” I said honestly, “if we’re going to win this war we’re going to need to do more than that. We’re going to need to do better.”
“There are several areas where I believe we can improve ourselves in preparation for this new enemy, but let’s not pretend that we had every advantage,” she replied swiftly, “for one they had the clear technical advantage and for the other…well, they did get here first. Combine those factors with the way they surprised us and, frankly, we did very well considering.”
“We can’t do anything about the tech edge; we’re still assimilating all the Imperial technology we’ve got our hands on over the years. It would be much better if we had a full research team instead of a part-time engineer like Spalding pulling out what he can in between looking after his pride and joy,” I said, taking a deep breath. “However there’s no excuse for letting them pull a fast one like they did. No excuse. I should have caught it. I should have been better.”
“So fix it.” My Chief of Staff said bluntly, no longer sounding like she was trying to reassure me.
I gave her a surprised look.
“You’re the Admiral—now the Grand Admiral, Sir. If you need something like another research team, then I suggest get one. It might be a little late but late is better than not at all. The Border Alliance has tech heads, as does the Sector, and I’m sure the new Confederation of the Spine would be more than willing to send out scientists to look into all our secrets and tech exploits. That said, honestly, to my mind the team we already have working on ‘upgrading’ our ships in the Yard hasn’t been standing around idle for the past couple years, but instead cracking files and upgrading our factories to handle all the new Imperial style tech. However, if as the Admiral you judge the pace is too slow then it’s entirely within your power to switch things around,” She said, her voice strict and bordering on a lecturing one, “as for the rest? While people can always ask for more, all we can ever get is your best. Are we getting your best?” she asked pointedly, her eyes drilling into me.
Admiral's Nemesis Part II Page 37
