Exodus: Empires at War: Book 10: Search & Destroy

by Doug Dandridge

“Send out a grav pulse message to the waiting force,” said the Great Admiral. “Tell them to engage when ready.” The officer who led that force of course already knew what to do, but it didn’t hurt to make sure.

  The Great Admiral looked once again at the plot, which covered about ten hyper VI light minutes. That translated to a little under twenty percent of a light year in normal space. All of his ships were hyper VII, though some had been reduced to VI. A good percentage of the enemy ships were VII, but not all, and Mgananawan had wanted to lure as many of their ships as possible into the trap. Which meant a good number of his battleships, including his own, were simulating hyperdrive damage so the rest of the fleet would stay with them. By now they had some ships that didn’t have to simulate, and some had dropped out of hyper from damage, most probably destroyed by catastrophic translation.

  “Hyper translation ahead close,” called out the Sensor Officer. The Great Admiral smiled. The enemy didn’t know it yet, but the real battle was about to be joined.

  * * *

  “We have translations ahead,” called out the Sensor Officer, panic in his voice.

  “How many?” asked Admiral Regis Larista, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  “Hundreds. Thousands. I have missile launch. Missiles incoming from ahead.”

  Which meant they would use her own force’s velocity against them. And they were going too fast to translate away. They were trapped in a battle, and the odds had shifted against them.

  “First Monster force is firing,” called out the Tactical Officer. “Full spreads of missiles.”

  “I thought they were out of missiles,” shouted out the Com Officer.

  We all did, thought the Admiral. They hadn’t been fired on for many hours. And the last volley had been a ragged one, less than full spreads by most of the enemy ships, none at all by many others. And it was all a trick to make us think they had no long range firepower remaining.

  Now there were tens of thousands of new icons on the plot. Hundreds of thousands moments later, then millions, so many that the plot became unintelligible. Icons started to drop off quickly now, missiles targeted by counters and lasers, ships hit.

  “Orders, ma’am?” asked the Com Officer, his voice shaking, but still doing his duty.

  He doesn’t want to die any more than any of the rest of us, thought the Admiral. And the order she was about to give would sacrifice many of her own people. They wouldn’t like it. She was sure it would scare the hell out of them. But enough would obey. Or so she hoped.

  * * *

  Over twenty thousand Ca’cadasan ships translated into hyper VI within seconds of each other, every ship from the original conquest fleet, plus all the reinforcements the Great Admiral had been able to pull in from surrounding sectors. Seven thousand of them were the mighty twenty-five million battleships, the most powerful ships on this front. There were almost six thousand of the four million ton supercruisers, and almost eight thousand of the four hundred thousand ton scouts. Facing them were a total of over two hundred thousand Klavarta ships, the vast majority of them attack ships in the forty thousand ton or less range. There were about thirty thousand of the destroyer class ships, and eight thousand light cruiser class, along with the eight larger command ships. And less than a hundred human ships, with only three battleships among them.

  The leading edge of the Klavarta force only had seconds to react before the Ca’cadasan ships were among them. By chance there were nine translations that ended up with one ship coming into hyper through another. The results were spectacular, and deadly to both of the ships involved. Three Ca’cadasan supercruisers and five scouts went up in fast spreading clouds of vapor that immediately fell out of hyper. In return the Klavarta lost seven raiders and a destroyer, not a bad exchange, but still only a pinprick to the Caca force.

  Fortunately for the Ca’cadasans none of their battleships were in the lead, and so were not among the those vessels that translated within the leading edge of the enemy formation. As soon as all the Ca’cadasan ships finished translating they acquired targets and opened fire. The big aliens only used dual purpose missiles, every weapon in their magazines capable of moving through hyper. Now they launched full spreads, reloading and firing again as fast as possible.

  As the Klavarta Admiral had thought, the closing speed of the two forces meant the Ca’cadasan missiles would strike at close to the speed of light, making them very difficult to engage. Even a near miss could damage a Klavarta scout terribly, if not killing it, forcing it out of hyper with a catastrophic translation that was almost always a death sentence as well. Within seconds thousands of Klavarta ships were gone. Thousands more died under the lasers of the larger Ca’cadasan ships. Their own puny batteries did little damage, and the major weakness of Klavarta strategy was now apparent to all. The small ships didn’t have the defensive batteries of their larger opponents. And they could not absorb terawatts of laser power pumped into their small hulls in a fraction of a second.

  What one could do, so could the other, and the Klavarta ships launched, those that still had missiles. They also used the closing speed of the ships to their advantage, their missiles approaching at close to light speed. The Caca ships had much better defenses, and the great majority of the incoming missiles were taken out by the interlocking laser fire of the defending vessels. The much more massive ships could not be taken out by near misses, and though they sustained casualties, they continued in and through the Klavarta formations, executing ships to all sides. Some missiles hit, and the Caca force lost several hundred ships, while at the same time the Klavarta vessels died by the tens of thousands.

  Then the Klavarta vessels executed their orders, the ones that the Admiral had not wanted to give. Now thousands of ships went into suicide attacks, trying to ram their vessels into much larger targets at velocities that would generate catastrophic impacts. A couple of hundred Ca’cadasan ships were struck and destroyed before the huge aliens reacted, turning all of their laser fire on the ships that were the biggest threats.

  And then the force of Ca’cadasans that the Klavarta had been chasing began to decelerate at their maximum rate. They were still firing missiles, though without the advantages enjoyed by the second force, their own weapons having to decelerate toward the enemy. But they were able to take the enemy that was now closing with them with well-aimed and sustained laser fire. When the battle was less than ten minutes old it was already apparent who was winning. The Klavarta had been foxed into a masterful ambush, and it seemed like the larger portion of their fleet was going to die this day.

  * * *

  “Orders, ma’am,” called out the Com Officer.

  “Suggestions, Jerry?” asked Rear Admiral Marta Guderian of her squadron adjutant, Lt. Commander Winchell Jerry Chang.

  “We could move in and support the Klavarta, Admiral,” suggested the junior officer.

  And then we could die along with them, thought the Admiral. Her force was at the rear of the Klavarta fleet, ordered there by the fleet commander to act more or less as an observer. She thought that maybe she might be able to maul a squadron of the Caca force, but no more. And she recalled the order of her Emperor, to not engage unless she could do equal or greater damage to the enemy. That looked like it wasn’t going to happen here. But she was also sure that the Emperor would not want her to stand by and watch as an ally was savaged by the enemy.

  “Order all ships to bring the Ca’cadasans under fire,” she told her Com Officer. “Full spreads, as fast as we can get them off.”

  “All of them, ma’am?” asked the surprised Com Officer.

  “All of them,” replied the Admiral. Her ships were fully loaded with dual purpose missiles, over three hundred on her battle cruiser alone. And they were capital ship missiles, much more capable than anything the Klavarta carried, their capabilities greater in some ways than those of the enemy they faced.

  The order went out, and the small human battle group started firing every tube they carried. M
oments later they picked up the return fire of the enemy, who had now noticed them and were giving them the attention they deserved.

  * * *

  “Keep killing the bastards,” yelled the Great Admiral. “I don’t want any of them getting away.”

  The Klavarta force was moving through and past his own force, losing thousands of ships every minute. Most were starting to decelerate after they penetrated, obviously trying to return to the battle. Just what the Great Admiral wanted. If they wanted to get into a slugging match, he would oblige them. He estimated that they had already destroyed almost their own mass of enemy ships, and the exchange rate had to be ten to one by mass.

  “They seem to be determined to outfight us,” said his Chief of Staff with a grin “Not going to happen.”

  “No, it isn’t. And I have to wonder what they’re thinking.”

  “My lord,” called out the Tactical Officer. “We have located the ships from the other human Empire. They are at the rear edge of the Klavarta force and have opened fired on us.”

  “Brave of them,” said the Chief of Staff.

  The Great Admiral gave a head gesture of acknowledgement, not sure if his subordinate was commenting on their hiding out toward the flank of the enemy, or their bringing attention to themselves by shooting.

  “I don’t want them getting away,” said the Great Admiral to his Com and Tactical Officers. “Make sure they are taken out.”

  The acknowledgement came back, and the Great Admiral sat back in his chair and enjoyed the battle.

  * * *

  “We’re losing, ma’am,” said the Tactical Officer, closing his eyes as he gave his commander the news he would have preferred to have kept to himself.

  “That is obvious,” said the Admiral, guilt for all of the people she had led to their deaths crushing down on her. But now the question is what am I going to do about it? She thought for a couple of moments, moments where more of her ships died.

  “Scatter,” she finally said.

  The Tactical Officer nodded, understanding her instantly. It was the tactic of the raider, when faced with an enemy they couldn’t defeat. They still outnumbered the enemy in total ships, and even if that didn’t mean anything in a close in battle, it meant everything in a chase. The Monsters didn’t have enough ships to chase even a quarter of her ships down.

  “Order the fleet to scatter,” said the Tactical Officer, looking over at the Com Officer. “Immediately.”

  “Ships are to make their way to rally points, then back to base. We lost this day, but if we can save enough of the fleet, we have a chance to win the next engagement.”

  “What about the Imperial Ships?”

  “We will escort them with part of the fleet,” said the Admiral. “But send them a request to scatter as well. All of them together are too enticing a target.”

  The Com Officer nodded, then went to work getting the orders out by grav wave code.

  * * *

  “The enemy ships seem to be changing vectors, my Lord,” shouted the Tactical Officer.

  “Heading?” asked the Great Admiral, springing from his chair.

  “They seem to be boosting on random vectors, my Lord. All away from us.”

  “Order the fleet to continue to take them under fire,” ordered the Great Admiral, looking over at his Com Officer. “Pursue them.”

  “All of them?” asked the Tactical Officer, his eyes wide.

  “All of them. We must not let any escape.”

  “My Lord. There are too many of them to chase them all. And if we send individual ships after them? Well, that might be what they want, my Lord. If they can isolate our ships, they can overwhelm them one by one. That’s what they do.”

  The Great Admiral was about to dress down his officer when he realized that the male was correct, and he was about to make an emotional decision that would come back to bite him.

  “Form battle groups,” he told his Com Officer. “Each is to pursue the nearest large concentration of the enemy, hitting them with everything they have. We may not get them all, but I want as many killed as possible before they get away.”

  “What group do you want us to target, my Lord?” asked the Tactical Officer.

  “That one,” said the Great Admiral, pointing a finger toward the plot and zooming in the view. The Imperial ships came into focus, starting to vector away as well at nowhere near the acceleration of the Klavarta ships. Other Klavarta ships were starting to form up on them, a protective detail. And a nice juicy target. “We will teach the other humans that coming to the aid of their fellows is a bad idea.” A very bad idea.

  * * *

  Admiral Larista watched the plot as her fleet began to disperse, moving in erratic evasive patterns as they changed their vectors to move away from the Monsters. Some were still taking hits, and any direct laser or close missile detonation was death, if not always instantaneously, damaging enough to ensure that the affected ship would not get away. She was sure to lose thousands of vessels before the rest broke away, and the pursuit would be sure to kill thousands more. A good number, forty or fifty thousand, would get away, and hopefully the Monsters would make some mistakes and lose some ships as well. This was the way her people had fought the Monsters for over two decades, successfully. Bring together a quickly assembled strike force, hit them hard, then scatter, much as many primitive peoples had done in the days of planetary cavalry.

  The damned bastards gave me a target I couldn’t refuse, and suckered me into a trap, she thought, blaming herself for the destruction of so many of her people’s vessels. She just might be able to salvage the situation, which didn’t mean this wasn’t her last battle. The leadership of her nation might decide that they couldn’t afford decision making such as hers, and she wouldn’t blame them one bit.

  No time for self-pity, she thought, putting recriminations behind her for the moment. I still have to get our guests out of here in one piece, and hopefully as much of my own command as possible.

  “Enemy ships are changing vectors,” called out the Tactical Officer. “It looks like they are forming up into pursuit groups.”

  “Crap.” The Admiral was hoping they would go after her ships as singletons, planning to kill as many as possible. And giving her own commanders a chance to gang up on them some hours to days down the road. They still might be able to savage some of the pursuit groups in time, but she doubted she would get many.

  “Receiving signal from the Imperial Admiral,” said the Com Officer. “She says she will follow our lead.”

  “Make sure our ships know to stay below five hundred gravities,” commanded Larista. That was the maximum the slowest of the Imperial ships could boost at. All of her ships could make at least six hundred and fifty, most more like eight hundred. They could use that advantage to get away from the Monsters, but she refused to abandon these people who had come from twelve thousand light years away to help hers. It would not set a good precedent to run out on allies, even if they didn’t have so much to give in this fight.

  “What heading, ma’am?” asked the Helmsman.

  Larista thought for a moment as she pulled up a holo map of the region within twenty light years of their position. “This one, I think,” she said, reaching out and dragging the zoom of the map toward her. “This nebula. I think this might make a good spot to hide.”

  And we came out here to destroy the enemy, she thought as the bridge crew acted to make her wishes reality. Now we slink away like vermin disturbed by the light, hoping we can find a crevice to hide in.

  Chapter Sixteen

  In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

  Sun Tzu

  THE HEXAGON, CAPITULUM. SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1002

  “This is the last one, your Majesty,” said McCullom, pointing to the icons on the holo map.

  “What’s the butcher’s bill so far?” asked Sean, staring at the plot. Besides the vec
tor arrows of the last chase, there were also a number of blinking icons denoting where battles had already taken place.

  “Higher than I would have liked, your Majesty,” said McCullom. “Thirty-seven liners and freighters, five frontier worlds, a total of over seven hundred thousand citizens.”

  Sean winced. Compared to what they had lost against the Cacas, seven hundred thousand was nothing. But when you thought about seven hundred thousand lives, hopes and dreams, it was heartbreaking. Billions were just a statistic, beyond the comprehension of an individual.

  “And how many Fleet vessels?”

  “Destroyed? A battle cruiser, four light cruisers and thirteen destroyers. Oh, and eleven system defense frigates. Plus heavy to moderate damage to some more ships, including one battleship.”

  And we destroyed four enemy battleships, three battle cruisers and seven light cruisers, thought Sean. In terms of the exchange of military vessels, the Empire had won a complete victory. When one factored in the commercial vessels, and the fact that five inhabitable worlds had been rendered lifeless, it looked more like a Fenri victory. And we need to make sure no more of these predators get in among our sheep, thought the Emperor, not sure how they were supposed to achieve that goal.

  “And what do we have vectoring in on this raider?”

  “We have a trio of light cruisers and six destroyers following, with two more forces of cruisers and escorts which will be within range by tomorrow. And two heavy cruisers vectoring toward the front of the enemy ships which will get there about the same time, if the enemy doesn’t change course.”

  “And then?”

  “Right now we’re planning on shadowing them until we can bring up some capital units.”

  The image of another inhabited world laid to waste, another liner blown out of space with all hands and passengers, ran through his mind. He had already seen the report on how this ship had attempted to take out yet another living world. Thanks to the swift action of the captains and crews of some of those ships they had failed. But there were several other worlds within a day’s cruising time of that battle cruiser, and the promised capital ships, a pair of battle cruisers, were more than a day away.