by Dan Worth
Haines surveyed his forces on his tactical display and noted that the vessels under his command were keeping perfect combat formation, the smaller warships forming layered, defensive boxes around the carriers. He zoomed the view outwards to encompass the entire system and noted the traces of the incoming renegade fleet under Cox’s command. Cox had an almost equal number of ships at his disposal. Haines already knew how he intended to deal with them.
He had divided his own fleet into two components. The first, led by his own vessel, the Abraham Lincoln, containing its group plus that of the Saturn class carrier Augustus Caesar and the Jupiter class Alexander, would jump in behind Cox’s fleet once it emerged from hyperspace, using the advantage of the enemy’s sensor blindness during the jump to achieve tactical surprise and attack the vulnerable aft sections of the renegade vessels, destroying or disabling as many as possible. A second component led by the Qin Shi Huangdi and containing the Richard the Lionheart and the Tamurlane groups would jump in from the opposite direction and time its arrival for a few minutes after the initial attack. Cox’s fleet would be forced to divide its attention between two separate opponents and, already closely grouped from their synchronised jump, they would find it difficult to manoeuvre to do so. Haines hoped that confusion would reign, though with the vessels under the control of the Shapers he wondered just how their non-human intelligences would react under the circumstances.
There was only one problem: it still wasn’t clear where exactly within the system the enemy fleet was headed. His sensors officer, Lieutenant Commander Hong had determined that Cox’s ships were heading for the inhabited moons around the sixth planet, but the current alignment of the moons made it difficult to determine precisely which one. Haines guessed Orinoco, since it served as the system’s capital, but he needed to be sure before he committed his forces. Cox’s fleet were still outside the system. Haines turned to his comms officer, Ensign Le Bray.
‘Ensign, get me a line to the Governor. Don’t take no for an answer.’
‘Sir.’
Vincent Green, duly elected Governor of the Achernar system had been rather dismissive of Haines’s warnings, even hostile, when, upon arriving in the system, the Admiral had attempted to warn him about the impending threat. He had declined to alert local defensive forces, instead insisting that Achernar was not going to take sides for or against Earth and that Cox’s fleet would not be unduly helped or hindered since in Green’s words they may be ‘just passing through.’
Haines had concluded then that the man was either a fool, or that the Shapers had got to him too.
Green’s carefully manicured features appeared in Haines’s HUD. He appeared irritated at the intrusion.
‘Yes Admiral, what can I do for you now?’ he said, sounding bored.
‘You can take my warnings seriously, Governor,’ said Haines, firmly. ‘I urge you to activate all ground and space based defences around Tethys immediately.’
‘Admiral, as I have already said...’
‘Goddamn it, listen to me!’ Haines growled. ‘You don’t get to sit this one out! This isn’t about politics, this is war! Cox is no longer entirely human, neither are the crews of the ships under his command. If they take this system, they’ll use it as a forward base from which to attack Earth!’
‘So you say. What proof do we have of alien involvement? This could all just be black propaganda to discredit Morgan and Cox once they made accusations against the President and yourself. Maybe they’re trying to stop a coup, not cause one? My constituents don’t wish to get involved.’
‘Rheinhold is dead and yes, he was a crook. But this isn’t about one man; this is about the future of the species. I have seen with my own eyes what the Shapers are capable of. If they take this system, your getting re-elected will hardly be an issue.’
‘Maybe if you tried talking to Morgan, perhaps you could come to some accommodation.’
‘We’ve had no transmissions from the Spica system in over a week. The system has gone dark. Don’t you get it? These people are just hosts for the Shapers now? They are not the men and women we once knew! You can’t negotiate!’
Green sighed. ‘Very well. I’ll put the system’s defences on standby and call up the Planetary Guard, but we won’t initiate any hostile actions, we won’t fire unless fired upon.’
‘Good enough,’ Haines replied. ‘Thank you, Governor. Haines out.’ He turned to Lieutenant Commander Hong. ‘Lieutenant, any update on the destination of Cox’s fleet?’
‘Sir, I and my counterparts on the other ships are pooling our data. The hope is that we can triangulate our results for a better fix.’
‘Okay, would it help if we moved the ships further apart?’
‘Yes it would, sir.’
‘Fine. I’ll order the two groups to separate. Ensign le Bray, put me through to the other ships.’
‘Sir.’
‘All ships, this is Haines. Group One is to remain here with me, Group Two, you are to move ten thousand kilometres to port and keep scanning the enemy fleet, Haines out.’
With the two groups now separated, the differing sensor readouts gave the fleet a better fix on the eventual destination of the incoming enemy ships.
‘Sir.’
‘Mr Hong?’
‘I have the destination of Cox’s fleet,’ replied Hong, intent on his console display. ‘As we suspected, they’re headed for Orinoco. Their current trajectory will intersect with Orinoco Station’s position; I’d say they’re trying to take the orbital.’
‘Makes sense.’ Haines nodded. ‘Good work Mr Hong. Helm, lay in a course for Orinoco Station. Make sure you bring us in behind Cox’s fleet. Transmit the co-ordinates to Group Two. Ensign le Bray?’
‘Yes sir?’
‘Transmit this information to Orinoco’s planetary defence command. When you’ve done that, put me through to the entire fleet.’
‘Sir.’
‘Mr Hong, time until Cox’s fleet arrives at Orinoco Station?’
‘Twenty two minutes sir.’
‘Fine, we jump in fifteen minutes.’
Haines turned to his XO, Jane Baldwin. ‘Commander, how would you gauge morale amongst our people at the moment?’
‘A little jittery sir, most of them are still unsure about fighting our own people.’
‘That’s the thing Commander: they aren’t our own people anymore.’
‘You need to make them see that, sir.’
‘Sir, I have a channel open to the rest of the fleet,’ le Bray reported
‘Thank you, Ensign.’ Haines cleared his throat and then spoke. ‘This is Admiral Haines to all ships. In just fifteen minutes we are jump to Orinoco to defend its citizens from the Shaper threat. I don’t expect the forthcoming battle to be easy, but I know that you will all do your duty. I am proud to say that I serve with the finest men and women in the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, today we must fight against ships which we were once proud to serve alongside. Those ships, their crews, our friends and comrades have been taken over by the enemy. The people we once knew aboard them are dead, only their bodies remain in a gross parody of life. We cannot for a moment hesitate in our duty. We fight today to avenge the memories of those whom we lost to the Shapers, and to defend our worlds from tyranny and subjugation. There will be no surrender and no quarter will be given for we are to expect none from the enemy. I expect you all to fight to the last as I intend to. The only way the Shapers are taking this ship is when they blow it out from under me. Good luck everyone. Haines out.’
Cox’s fleet emerged from hyperspace outside the traffic control zone around Orinoco Station. The massive carriers were formed up in a close, diamond formation, with Cox’s flagship the Germanicus and the Marine assault carrier Marathon at the centre. Fore and aft were the Saturn class carrier Chester W. Nimitz and the Jupiter class carrier Ghenghis Khan respectively whilst the Hector and the Andre Massena held perfect station to port and starboard. Each carrier was surrounded by a further box format
ion of smaller warships.
Civilian vessels were streaming in lines from the space around the orbital station. The newly arrived fleet began to charge towards it at full power, ploughing through the myriad of smaller ships that now scattered, desperately tried to evade the onrushing, slab sided warships. Civilian craft looped and banked chaotically before the charging armoured juggernauts. Those that failed to move quickly enough were fired upon to clear the way for the warships. The traffic control channel was filled with a cacophony of screams and angry, desperate shouts. It made no difference, the warships charged onwards.
Space twenty kilometres aft of the newly arrived fleet twisted, and deposited a second, smaller fleet of three carrier groups. Haines’s forces had arrived on schedule.
Haines sat forward in his seat, his hands gripping the padded arms. He took one look at the scene laid out in front of him through the bridge windows, annotated by the display fed to him via his HUD monocle and began to issue orders.
‘All ships, this is Haines. Target the engines of the Ghenghis Khan’s group and launch the bombers. Gunnery control, target the engines of the Ghenghis Khan and fire everything we have.’
‘Sir, the renegade fleet is firing on civilian vessels!’ cried Hong. ‘In addition we are detecting multiple warheads inbound to Orinoco Station.’
‘They must be trying to take down the asteroid’s defences. They’ll be preparing to board the station. That Marine carrier has to go... all in good time.’
As he spoke, Haines felt the deck tremor beneath his feet. As he watched, a brilliant spear of plasma leapt from the Lincoln’s main gun and struck the Ghenghis Khan directly through the aft shield engine gap, striking the ship’s power plant with the force of an unleashed star. The Lincoln’s deck batteries joined in with volleys of particle beam fire. There was a series of secondary explosions amidst the slagged remains of the vessel’s power plant before a blinding flash engulfed the two kilometre ship. Still in close formation, the shock wave washed over the Ghenghis Khan’s escort destroyers, bathing them in super heated plasma and deadly radiation. They wallowed, half crippled by the blast, venting atmosphere. Haines felt a swell of grim satisfaction.
‘Gunnery, target those flak cruisers, we need a clear run for our bombers to finish them off.’
The Lincoln’s turrets switched their fire accordingly as brilliant lines of fire from the other ships cascaded across the Ghenghis Khan’s group. Meanwhile the carrier’s plasma cannon was recharging for another shot The glinting specks of the Lincoln’s bomber squadrons could be seen closing in on the stricken warships like a swarm of angry fireflies. The ships in the other groups had realised what was happening to the rear of their position and two groups were now coming about to engage Haines’s ships.
‘Sir, all four Jupiter class carriers and the Nimitz are launching fighters and bombers,’ Hong reported. ‘The Marathon and her group are still heading towards the station. Looks like the Nimitz and the Hector groups are attempting to come about engage us. The others are maintaining their heading and facing.’
‘I’d say that they’ve just detected our other ships,’ Baldwin commented.
‘Thank you Mr Hong. Commander Baldwin, I concur. They’re not stupid.’
‘Sir, Orinoco Station is reporting massive damage to their surface mounted defences,’ le Bray reported. ‘So far the interior of the station and the dock are undamaged.’
‘That asteroid should be able to withstand a fair amount of punishment,’ said Baldwin. ‘I’m assuming Cox wants to take it in one piece.’
As Haines watched, one of the Khan group’s flak cruisers, the Gibson, erupted in a ball of fire, meanwhile the other three in the group had lost power to their shields. He was pleased to see that the enemy fleet’s attempts to manoeuvre and come about to engage his vessels, were, as he had hoped, proving somewhat difficult. Haines could tell that they were trying to spread themselves out, though to do so too much would leave vessels isolated and outside the overlapping fields of fire from other ships. He sincerely hoped that they would make that mistake. Already he could see the bomber wings from his carriers taking the Khan group’s destroyers apart with deadly precision. Their hulls bloomed from the impact of multiple warheads and the return fire from their remaining anti-fighter lasers. As he watched, a brief explosion marked the demise of one of his own Azrael torpedo bombers. Haines noted its passing grimly.
The creature that had been Admiral Cox was angry. It had to admit, it had been impressed by the ambush that Admiral Haines had laid for it. His ruthlessness had to be applauded. The Ghenghis Khan and its group were lost, it knew that. It needed to stall for time until it could get its ships into position.
‘Sir, we have a communication from the Germanicus,’ said Ensign le Bray, her young face displaying concern as she studied her instruments. ‘It’s Admiral Cox. He’s requesting to speak to you.’
‘Request denied. Tell him to go to hell.’
‘Gladly, sir. Wait, something’s not right...’
Cox’s face appeared in Haines’s HUD.
‘George, I really think we ought to talk.’ The image was grainy, the sound quality scratchy at best. Haines heard le Bray’s puzzled protestations that she had denied the communication.
‘We have nothing to talk about,’ Haines replied. ‘The man I knew as Admiral Charles Cox is dead. You are nothing but an abomination wearing his face as a mask.’
‘I’d like to ask for your surrender,’ said Cox. ‘I promise we will be merciful towards prisoners.’
‘What, do I get a special brain parasite all of my own? Over my dead body.’
‘So be it.’
‘In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re winning.’
One of the Khan group’s destroyers exploded as the fire in its reactor chamber finally touched off an uncontrollable chain reaction.
‘For now, I agree. I always wanted to test myself against you George... they say you can’t be beaten. I intend to test that theory.’
The bombers from Haines’s carrier group were fleeing the battle. Fighters from the Nimitz and the Hector were diving onto the squadrons of Azraels as bat-winged Daemon class escort fighters rushed to their defence. A vast, swirling dog fight began to develop around the wrecks of the Khan group as beam fire from Haines’s ships took down the remaining Titan class destroyer, the Crassus. Weak defensive fire was coming from Khan group’s two frigates, but their lighter weapons were having little effect and they were now badly outgunned.
‘We’ll see about that.’ Haines turned to le Bray. ‘Lieutenant, shut down all passive receiving equipment, we’ll communicate with our ships using tight beam only. I don’t know how they managed to get that through, but I’m concerned that they could attempt an electronic warfare attack against our systems.’
The second group had arrived, right on schedule. As Haines watched, he saw space behind Cox’s fleet distort the background stars as the three other carrier groups emerged from their jump and immediately began to fire on Cox’s ships. A punishing storm of fire began to batter the outermost defensive ships of the Massena and Tamurlane groups who returned fire at once.
‘Time’s up Admiral Cox, see you in hell,’ snarled Haines before the transmission was broken off.
‘Sir, Group Two report that they are launching bombers against the Massena group. Flak cruisers have been taken down,’ le Bray reported. As she did so the searing blast of the Qin Shi Huangdi’s plasma cannon struck the Massena amidships, collapsing the carrier’s dorsal shields and striking the bridge section. The carrier began to drift out of control, trailing debris and atmosphere from the molten ruin of the bridge superstructure.
‘Damn good shooting!’ Haines pounded the arms of his chair as the Massena began to slide towards one of her escort destroyers. ‘Helm, move us forwards towards the Khan group, or what’s left of it, let’s see if we can’t extricate our bomber force from that dog fight.
They were coming. Admiral Cox could feel them as they swam throug
h the void. Not long now.
The Nimitz fired. Haines saw the flash from its up-rated plasma cannon as it vomited a torrent of supercharged particles towards his fleet, striking the forward shields of the Alexander. Even though the two vessels were beyond the range of their less deadly particle beam cannons, the effect of the plasma bolt was still devastating. Arcing energies coiled from the carrier as its shields collapsed catastrophically and boiling plasma tore into the Alexander’s sloping bow section and forward flight deck. The Augustus Caesar returned fire with its own cannon, striking the Nimitz in the bell; collapsing its shields and knocking out the deadly plasma weapon before it could recharge.
On the other side of the battle, a shot from the Lionheart skewered the Patton, a Titan class destroyer defending the Germanicus. A huge, swirling battle was now developing between the second group and the renegade fleet as fighter squadrons from both sides battled for supremacy.
Haines’s ships now had the Nimitz and Hector groups in range of their particle beam cannons. Haines gave the order and over a hundred guns fired in unison on the enemy vessels. They were met by a counter volley of fire from two dozen ships. Shields buckled and failed, hull plating collapsed and shattered.
The enemy was going after the Alexander and her group. The carrier was still struggling to get her forward shield back on line and control the fires that raged on her forward decks. The enemy was now concentrating their fire on the Scipio Africanus and the Thomas Cochrane, two Titan class destroyers that had moved ahead of the Alexander to block attacks on its forward section with their own shields. A withering barrage of fire was steadily whittling down their shields as the destroyers furiously returned fire against their attackers.
