The threat board display, repeated in a corner of her own monitor from the Combat Information Center (CIC), had surprisingly shown more than a hundred Clanships already in orbit at three hundred miles, well below the fleet. All of the Clanships clustered close to various battleship positions. More hundreds were climbing out of atmosphere. These ships were above the “engage” envelope selected for the network of smart missiles, because the missiles expected their targets to be on the ground. The three volleys just fired would pass by these Clanships, including the single ships they were spewing into space around them. However, they could reprogram the fourth and final one hundred-missile volley, and that would finish loading in five to six minutes.
A shocker was radar returns that had revealed dozens of small missiles already inside the optimum range of their point defense system as they performed the White Out. The CIC officer had quickly released fire control to the AI in her division. Belatedly, laser fire was picking off some of the evasive little missiles still inbound.
It was a much greater shock when Caruthers’ command AI, “Joe,” informed her one missile had already hit them before radar even detected it inbound. It couldn’t have covered the distance from the nearest Clanship in the time since the Gauntlet emerged. Caruthers assumed the missiles were part of a protective screen. Except, that seemed too bizarre to consider. They would have fired at empty space, before the fleet emerged.
“Joe, what was the damage from that hit?” She hadn’t felt any shock or vibration from an explosion. These weapons looked no larger than aircraft launched air-to-air missiles. They couldn’t have much of a warhead. Why use a peashooter on a battleship?
“Mam, the weapon did not explode on contact, and it has passed completely through the ship and out the opposite side. I det…” Caruthers interrupted the JO model AI.
“How can a missile that small pass through us? It should have crumpled on our armor if it didn’t explode.”
Joe answered in a bland voice that was sometimes irritating to hear on a stress-filled warship. “That was also my initial assessment, Mam. However, we are venting atmosphere on both sides, and have compartment damage in a straight line with the projected path…” The bland voice suddenly changed, sounding more emphatic, perhaps more like Caruthers might have wished, but not in a reassuring way.
“Emergency! Fusion bottle number two has vented plasma to space. Power to weapons in sections…”
“Stop.” Caruthers cut it off. She knew what the power loss from that bottle meant.
She could hear her First Officer was already Linked and speaking with Damage Control.
The Captain Linked and confirmed with her CIC officer that power had manually been rerouted to the center laser pods, and that the effected plasma beam chambers received enough power to cool slowly, so as not to crack the ceramic tubes inside the now dead magnetic focus coils.
Joe Linked with more bad news. “Mam, there is another atmospheric hull breach, near where the previous missile made its exit. I believe a second missile may have penetrated and is passing through internal compartments. There have been several casualties.”
“Why didn’t the auto sealers prevent decompression?”
“Mam, the auto seal system is working. The casualties were caused when the missile passed through crew members, not from pressure loss.”
“Damn! Joe, how are they penetrating the hull and bulkheads?”
“The method is unknown, but the results are four point two inch diameter holes left in the wake of the missiles. The second missile is considerably slower than was the previous penetrator, and is slowing even more. It will probably reach fusion bottle one in thirteen seconds, causing a….”
“Link to Drive Room audio.” Without waiting, Caruthers shouted. “Get out of the Drive Room, another missile is boring towards bottle one. Evacuate before it blows. Five seconds. Move! Move! Move!”
She knew her Engineering Officer, the Chief Petty Officer, and several Drive Rats would now be physically close to bottle one, checking on the damage delivered to adjacent bottle two. Even with the failsafe venting fusion plasma to save the ship and Drive Room equipment from catastrophe, it still might not be survivable for humans.
The hot com set mike picked up shouting and the Chief’s voice screaming at his Rats to get through the hatch. A swishing or hissing sound, followed instantly by screams and the start of a loud roar cut off as the com set died.
“Emergency! Fusion bottle number two has vented plasma to space. Power to weapons in sections…”
Captain Caruthers wasn’t listening. Her Drive Room crew was possibly all dead, and bottle three powered only the stern defensive lasers. Without the crew to switch power feeds manually, Gauntlet was nearly defenseless as she was presently oriented, bow on to the enemy. The Captain ordered her ship rapidly rotated to face away from K1, to offer defense against the additional small inbound missiles. If the third bottle were lost, any failure of their Traps and they’d lose Normal Space drive and be a sitting duck, unable to run, Jump, or shoot back.
She coordinated with Castle, her First Officer. “Bo, the Drive Room crew may be gone. We have only aft point defense. I plan to launch the stern tube missiles as we move away. These Goddamned Krall missiles are like worms. They bore right through us as if we were a rotten apple, apparently seeking the fusion bottles. We may have to request permission to Jump.”
Bo nodded his understanding. “Mam, Joe filled me in as you spoke to Nav and CIC. The first missiles clearly came from the Clanships, but the new entry is on the opposite side, with no enemy in sight there. Joe says the first missile pass slowed as it penetrated, and this entry is very much slower. I think it may be the same missile having turned back. Worm’s a good description. We can’t risk another hit from one of them.”
Caruthers looked grim. “We’ll stay as long as we can fight. The whole fleet’s being hit hard.”
****
Mauss was trying to absorb the rapidly evolving battle. The good news was the entire fleet had launched their three volleys of missiles, the bad news was they were targeted on many ships that were either already airborne or would be soon.
Mauss checked with Captain Codry, commanding and fighting her flagship, and was satisfied with her quick response. She had ordered weapons control to retarget Invincible’s hundreds of missiles to seek Clanships in or out of atmosphere. Mauss passed that recommendation to the full fleet.
The point defenses of the large ships had so far kept most of the single ships at bay, and several dozen were drifting and dead. The Clanships were standing off one or two hundred miles, avoiding close combat. They had apparently released approximately ten small missiles apiece towards the battleships. However, looking at the separation from the Clanships compared to how close the missiles already were to her ships when identified, Mauss realized with a shock that the launches were made even before the fleet made it’s coordinated White Outs!
How did they know where the hell we would be?
Many of the speeding missiles were inside the optimum defense range of all six battleships, though several dozen flashed and vanished from laser or plasma beam hits.
Mauss was actually concerned that the Krall had launched so few of them, and they were small, no more than four or five feet long, per her sensor readings. It implied they had considerably more capability than their numbers and sizes implied. The early damage to Gauntlet and Mace might be possible examples if these missiles had caused that. Damage control teams reported four-inch holes that went completely through the fusion bottle casings, and only the new failsafe’s had vented the plasma to space without catastrophic explosions. Automatic blowout sealers had controlled the minor air venting, which was also through four-inch diameter holes.
Suddenly a heavy cruiser flared in a searing flash of brilliant white light, about a third of the way around the planet from Invincible. It was simply gone in an immense ball of gas. A radio report from the other side of the planet relayed the news that two light
cruisers had been destroyed, one killed in a bright flash like that of the heavy cruiser. The other appeared to have exploded internally when a fusion bottle ruptured. The older ships didn’t have failsafe plasma vents, but bottle ruptures were extremely rare. Before a fusion bottle was exposed to direct enemy fire, you would expect massive hull damage.
Two Clanships, close to one of the damaged battleships, flashed brightly as missiles destroyed them. However, the Clanships revealed they had effective laser defenses, which used much more energetic beams than a human made fusion bottle should be able to power.
Clanships lasers were even delivering damage to the point defenses of the battleships and scouring their thickly armored hulls with extremely accurate fire. On the heels of hits that eliminated multiple laser defense pods on sections of hulls, one of the small missiles would bore in for what appeared to be an anticlimactic impact. There would be outgassing, but no explosion.
The true nature of the damage these missiles caused required several more strikes, and subsequent losses of fusion bottles, before the fleet suspected and shared the information. Somehow, the four-foot long three-inch diameter missiles were passing entirely through their targets. They were also homing in on the fusion bottles. When ships already struck experienced additional penetrations without the ship detecting new inbound missiles, it was apparent that the little horrors could make repeated passes through the same ship. They left a perfectly round four-inch hole through virtually anything they encountered on their way, including crew.
The older light cruisers were particularly vulnerable. Rising Clanships, many surviving the gauntlet of fleet missiles by virtue of their highly effective laser defenses and sheer numbers, were launching more of the small penetrating missiles. A light cruiser would flare every few minutes, when a fatal fusion bottle penetration happened.
The destroyers were also on the defensive from swarms of single ships that were flashing by them in nearly suicidal close passes, somehow opening their Trap fields and releasing their tachyons. Then other single ships would use lasers to knock out some of the field emitters for their Traps while the Normal Space drive was down. If they could still generate a Trap field they could reclose them and quickly capture another particle. However, each time the Traps were opened, they briefly lost their Normal Space drive, leaving them vulnerable to other single ships to hit their emitters. The Krall had effectively knocked fifteen destroyers out of the fight. Not killed, and they could still shoot, but they couldn’t escape by Jumping or powering their Normal Space drives with tachyon energy.
Five of the battleships were down to one fusion bottle, and a sixth, the Gauntlet, had all three knocked out and resembled Swiss cheese. Mauss had to order the Gauntlet’s Captain to Jump away before she lost her ship. That first departure apparently triggered greater urgency on part of the Krall to exact a greater toll from the humans. Although Mauss couldn’t see how they did it, the result was devastating.
Three of the struggling battleships instantly vaporized in searing blue-white flashes of expanding gas. As did five heavy cruisers in rapid succession. There was a corresponding loss of Clanships, but there was no way Operation Deep Lance could trade ships for ships. They had lost over thirty-five percent of the task force in thirty minutes, nine of them capital ships.
Thankfully, the lone carrier and ten patrol ships stayed well away from the planet, their involvement predicated on a successful elimination of Clanships and single ships, so that atmospheric surface attacks could commence. Over optimism had brought them along, caution had spared those resources any damage.
Mauss issued the general recall, and the battered fleet started a ragged series of Jumps to the rendezvous point, a tenth light year away. Invincible was the last to leave. In its polar position, selected for improved observation of the mainly Northern hemisphere attack on the two largest continents, she had to helplessly watch as six of the scattered surviving disabled destroyers valiantly tried to fight off the hoard of single ships swarming around them. It made her sick at heart, but over a hundred Clanships were closing with the flagship. Invincible Jumped, leaving the doomed destroyers to their fate.
****
Early in the After Action Briefing, Admiral Hawthorne made an introduction. “Madam President, I am pleased to present Vice Admiral Mauss. She has specifically requested to speak here today, to personally answer your questions concerning the actions at K1, and to describe our losses as well as our accomplishments.” Hawthorne turned to face the tall, almost lanky Vice Admiral, climbing the three steps to the low stage.
Mauss looked resolved, perfectly willing to accept the blame for their defeat, and she intended to offer no excuses. She would be brutally honest about her failure to react sooner to changes in the battle. She wanted to offer her first hand observations and opinions, so that in future Krall confrontations, by different Naval commanders of course, they could learn from her mistakes.
Hawthorne extended her right hand and Mauss reciprocated. A handshake being offered rather than a salute while indoors. The Chairfem moved to the edge of the stage and sat at the end of a row, joining the other Joint Chiefs.
Mauss, left alone, faced her Commander in Chief. “Madam President, I am at your disposal. Where would you wish me to start?”
“Admiral, when the Chairfem contacted my office two hours ago, it was the middle of the night on the east coast. The fleet had just made its collective White Outs near our Lunar repair facilities. At that time, the Chairfem only knew we had lost thirty-five percent of our forces in Operation Deep Lance.
“Vice Admiral Mauss, could you detail our losses for me, and then I’ll allow you to describe what we faced at K1, and how the events unfolded. I’m sure this is difficult for you, and I apologize that this debriefing is happening so quickly after your arrival.
“However, the Fleet’s return is the top news topic in the solar system, and the damaged ships and those that are apparently missing are topics of hot discussion and speculation. I have no idea how the number of ships comprising Operation Deep Lance was leaked.” She shot a look at the Joint Chiefs, letting them know that more than Mauss’ ass was swinging in the wind.
“This was a secret military operation, but the press even knows the types and names of the ships we sent. We’ll find out if they also knew where it was going and when. I need to have a statement prepared for a press conference in a few hours. Admiral, please proceed at your own pace, and I’ll ask questions as they arise.”
“Yes Mam.” Mauss mentally girded herself for this. The week spent returning from K1 had given her time to prepare, and analyze. The Flagship’s AI, Jacqui, the newest JQ model available, had been linked to every ship in Deep Lance, and had also monitored Krall transmissions and movements.
“Our losses amounted to thirty-seven percent of the fighting ships we Jumped with. I exclude the fighters and patrol ships, which did not engage the enemy.
“We lost three battleships…,” She hesitated. “Uh, Excuse me Madam President, do you wish the names of the ships lost?”
“Not at this time Admiral. I’m sure I’ll receive those later. I only wish to hear the number and types, to gain a perspective for your following analysis.”
“Yes Mam. As I said, we lost three battleships, six heavy cruisers, ten light cruisers, and twenty-two destroyers. Out of the one hundred ten ships of Deep Lance.
“Of those ships that successfully Jumped from K1, there was severe damage to the other three battleships, lesser damage to two battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers, and severe to light damage to thirty-two destroyers. We lost nine thousand eight hundred thirty one Navy personnel, and a hundred twelve civilian scientist and technicians. There are injuries that are still life threatening to more than two hundred of the two thousand three hundred twenty six wounded.”
Stanford interjected a few questions. “The fatalities are much higher than the number of wounded. I thought that was reversed in combat, more wounded than dead.”
“Perhaps tha
t’s true for ground combat, Mam. When we lost a ship to the Krall, it either exploded in a ball of gas, or was taken by boarders in single ships. The Krall take no prisoners and don’t trade wounded with us. Our only wounded returned with the surviving ships.”
“Of course, I wasn’t thinking when I asked that. You listed civilians lost. Who were they Admiral?”
“Our ships operate with new and copied technology, never used in combat by us. It’s still under development. We had science and technical observers with us, some placed on each class of ship, to learn what went wrong and what worked right. Many of them were as unlucky as the naval personnel.”
“I understand, Admiral. I was comparing the losses by class of ships, and I see that the largest, our battleships, aside from the undamaged dreadnaught Invincible, experienced high losses and damage, as did virtually all of the light cruisers. Why were our strongest, and our oldest, the two most vulnerable categories?”
“Mam, that is part of the analysis I have prepared, but let me first address an anomaly in that study, the light cruisers. These were retrofitted older cruisers, with less effective point defense protection. The Krall Worm missiles reached them all, and none of them had failsafe fusion bottles as part of their original design. When one or the other of their bottles ruptured, the plasma that released internally blew them apart.”
“Excuse me Admiral…, Worm missiles?”
“Sorry Mam. I was ahead of myself. The Krall used a weapon we have named the Worm missile, which we had never seen, probably because we have not had a significant naval engagement with them prior to K1. These are fiendishly effective weapons, and deceptively small.
Koban: The Mark of Koban Page 23
