Imperial Command

by D. J. Holmes

  “Scarlet Squadron,” Black said without hesitation. “Captain Rodrigo is a beast with his Spitfire.”

  “All right, launch fighters and move to intercept those Karacknid ships,” James ordered. “Let’s hope they don’t have any more of them.” If they did, James was hoping they would have sent them after his ships already. But without knowing the capabilities of the enemy fighters, he had no way to know how the Karacknid commander might think to use them.

  “We’ll take them out for you Admiral,” Black promised as she cut the COM channel.

  “Beckford,” James said as he looked at his COM officer. “Signal Captain Rodrigo. His Spitfires are to ditch their plasma missiles and link up with Razor Squadron. Impress upon him the need to keep Commodore Maleck’s ships alive. If Maleck cannot hold off the Karacknid frigates and destroyers, we will not be striking their depot.”

  “Aye Admiral,” Beckford answered as she turned back to her COM station.

  *

  “All right, listen up Razors,” Black said to her pilots as they launched from Prometheus. “For all of you this is your first combat mission. I know that. You know that. But the enemy doesn’t. And we know it is their first combat mission. We may not have faced Karacknid fighters before, but our ships are designed for this and we’ve trained for this. So let’s not disappoint them shall we?” The chorus of ‘Nos!’ made Black smile. “That’s what I’m talking about,” she responded. “Form up on me and let’s move out.”

  When her final pilot slotted into formation, Black gunned her Corsair’s engines. The nose of her fighter was aimed directly at the forty Karacknid contacts that were zipping across the system. Their speed is impressive, she had to admit to herself. But we’ll see if their maneuverability matches it.

  “Razor One, this is Prometheus flight command,” a voice said to Black over one of her command channels.

  “Go-ahead Prometheus,” Black replied.

  “Scarlet Squadron is ditching their plasma missiles. They’re going to join up with you,” the flight Lieutenant explained. “Captain Rodrigo is senior to you, but Admiral Somerville has placed you in command.”

  “Affirmed and thank you Prometheus,” Black said.

  “Happy hunting Razor One,” the Flight Lieutenant responded.

  Switching COM channels Black linked in with Rodrigo. “I hear your boys are finally going to get a chance to be real fighter pilots,” she said. “It’s good to have you with us,” she added before Rodrigo could come back with a smart Alec reply of his own.

  “We have your backs Razor One. Just don’t disappoint us. I’m looking forward to seeing your fancy new toys in action,” Rodrigo responded.

  “Don’t worry, we don’t intend to,” Black said. “I’m sending you an updated flight plan. How do you fancy kicking off our little scuffle by yourselves?”

  “Forty brand-new Karacknid fighters against my twelve Spitfires, that sounds like a cakewalk,” Rodrigo replied. “But if it’s what you think will work best.”

  “We’ve simmed just such a scenario. Unless the Karacknid fighters are godlike, I have an idea that you will like,” Black said. She went on to explain it to Rodrigo. Scarlet One quickly agreed with her. Switching COM channels she spoke to her pilots. “I have some good news for you all. Scarlet Squadron is joining us. They’re going to play decoy to our slash and burn. Double check your missile guidance systems and get ready. We’ll join up with them and then it’s only twenty minutes until we will reach engagement range.

  The next twenty minutes flew by for Black as she talked Scarlet squadron’s pilots through what she had in mind and carried out her own systems check. At the same time she kept an eye on the Karacknid fighters. When they were about ten minutes out they altered course to confront her force head on. They have practiced anti-fighter tactics, she thought. Whilst Humanity’s Spitfires hadn’t had to face other fighters, the Karacknids would have designed their craft with the certain knowledge they would be going up against Human fighters.

  “Razor Squadron, stealth and break,” she ordered when the moment came. Switching off her reactor and engines, Black turned her fighter onto the prearranged heading. She watched Scarlet Squadron race ahead of her fighters. With Scarlet Squadron just two minutes away from engaging the Karacknids, Black watched the enemy fighters to see how they would react. She gave her opponent a nod of approval as ten enemy fighters slowed. They’re holding back to engage us when we make our appearance. That was not ideal, but they would have to make it work.

  As Scarlet Squadron and the thirty remaining Karacknid fighters clashed, Black held her breath. One of Rodrigo’s fighters disappeared in an explosion while two Karacknid ships did the same. Then both sets of fighters decelerated hard and turned to engage one another. Black squinted down at her sensor readout. It looked like the Karacknid fighters were armed with laser cannons. That was good. Or at least, it was better than the alternative. Some of the intelligence reports had suggested that Karacknid fighters, when they finally made an appearance on the battlefield, would be armed with antimatter cannons. One hit from even the smallest of antimatter projectiles would have wiped out a significant part of its target, there would have been no time to eject or switch to back up systems. Black grimaced moments later when another one of Scarlet Squadron’s fighters was destroyed. The battle between both sets of fighters had quickly degenerated into a series of individual duels. The problem was each Spitfire had to duel three Karacknids. Such a fight wouldn’t last long.

  “Now!” she called out to her pilots. Reigniting her reactor, Black turned her Corsair’s nose towards the ball of skirmishing fighters and gunned her engines. At once the ten Karacknid fighters that had been holding back moved to intercept. “Full power,” Black ordered. Her Corsairs had been holding back their full capabilities to keep formation with Scarlet Squadron’s Spitfires. Now the shackles were off. Black grinned when she saw the Karacknid fighters increase their acceleration rates to try and catch her. It wasn’t enough.

  Her Corsairs charged the engaged Karacknid fighters. Three turned away from Scarlet Squadron to engage her. Black ignored them. Instead she lined her fighter’s nose up on one of the other Karacknids. It had just slowed to turn sharply after Scarlet Three. As soon as her missile beeped to tell her it had a firm lock, she squeezed her trigger. The anti-fighter missile shot out of its hidden compartment. In just three seconds it covered the distance to the Karacknid fighter. As it struck its target there was a small explosion and the Karacknid fighter was no more.

  Sensing as much as seeing a Karacknid fighter turn to try and hit her as she passed, Black dove and twisted her fighter into a corkscrew. Then she was out of the melee. A quick check of her sensor read out told her she had lost one pilot. Razor Six. But there were nine Karacknid fighters gone. That should even the odds for Scarlet Squadron, she thought. Though one more Spitfire from Rodrigo’s squadron was missing. “Let’s take our pursuers now,” Black ordered as she turned her interceptor towards the ten Karacknid fighters that hadn’t been engaged yet. She didn’t want to leave Scarlet Squadron unsupported any longer than necessary, but she equally didn’t want the ten free Karacknid ships doing to her what she had just done.

  As they were still chasing her interceptors, the Karacknids were on her in seconds. Knowing the Karacknids would have the speed advantage, Black didn’t even bother to try and hit any of them as they flashed passed. Instead she concentrated on dodging their fire. Then she whipped her interceptor around and engaged them for real as they slowed and turned. The first Karacknid to come under her guns disappeared in just a couple of seconds. It had been decelerating and turning hard to come back at her. With such a low speed, its evasive maneuvers were pitiful and Black easily dispatched it.

  Warning alarms blared in Black’s ears as laser beams zipped by her canopy. Smashing her flight stick to one side, she twisted away from her pursuer. “Hang on Razor One. I’ve got you,” Razor Two, her wing man, said over the COM channel. “Bank up and right on my m
ark… mark.” Black did as she was told and out of the corner of her eye she saw an explosion as Razor Two blew the Karacknid pursuing her apart.

  “Thanks for the assist Two,” she said. “Let’s take this one next,” she added as she highlighted a Karacknid fighter on her console. It had just tried and failed to make a run on Razor Seven. Together she and Razor Two lined up on the Karacknid and opened up with their laser cannons. With beams appearing all around the Karacknid fighter, it tried but failed to dodge them. One evasive maneuver away from Razor Two’s shots brought the Karacknid fighter directly in line with Black’s cannons. Four beams tore through the Karacknid and it was no more. Getting a brief moment’s peace, Black checked her sensors. Six of the ten Karacknid fighters had been dispatched, though Razor Five was nowhere on her sensors. As she watched, the other four Karacknids broke and fled back towards the rest of their fighters. She switched COM channels. “Scarlet Squadron, we are on our way,” she informed them as she turned her interceptor and gave chase. There were only eight Spitfires left in the larger melee. Even though Black had given them strict orders to focus on their evasive maneuvers, three more Karacknid fighters had been taken out.

  As another one of Scarlet Squadron’s fighters disappeared in an explosion, Black cursed. Then her interceptor was diving into the tumult of twisting and weaving fighters. Two Karacknids tried to line up shots on her, but she twisted away from them. Then a third appeared in front of her as it chased Scarlet Four. Even as it opened fire, Black did the same. Her aim proved better and the Karacknid fighter was blown apart as her shots hit home. One more and I’ll be an ace, Black thought as she scanned the space around her for another target. Three quickly revealed themselves. They were all charging straight for her. Gunning her engines to full, Black charged. This time, instead of twisting and weaving randomly, she carried out a well-practiced series of evasive maneuvers. The final maneuver brought her nose back to where it had been originally pointing. Just as it did, she held down her trigger. Twenty laser beams shot out to connect with one of the three Karacknid ships. Less than half a second later Black was throwing her Spitfire into another evasive turn as the remaining two Karacknid fighters flashed past her.

  “They’re falling back!” someone called out. Black didn’t recognize the voice and assumed it was a pilot from Scarlet Squadron. Checking her sensor screen, she saw it was true. The remaining sixteen Karacknid fighters were all pulling up and out of the engagement zone.

  “Shall we give chase?” Rodrigo asked over his COM channel with her.

  Black smiled. She was glad Scarlet Squadron’s Captain was still alive. She glanced down at her fuel levels. The dogfighting had burned up a lot of her fuel, but she had enough to give chase for a short period of time. “Negative,” she replied, seeing it wasn’t worth it. “Let’s get back to Prometheus and get refueled. They may need us elsewhere. Those fighters won’t be worrying Commodore Maleck any time soon.”

  “Affirmative Razor One. Scarlet Squadron will form up on you,” Rodrigo responded.

  Black switched COM channels and requested her pilots check-in. A glance at her sensors told her she had lost four Corsairs. With Scarlet Squadron’s five Spitfire losses, that meant their forces had suffered nine casualties. In return, twenty-four Karacknids had been taken out. As her pilots checked in, Black grimaced at the voices that were missing. Even so, she patted her interceptor’s command console. “You proved yourself today,” she said to her Corsair and her pilots. The question was though, were their efforts worth it? The battle for the system was far from over.

  Chapter 39

  There are over a hundred recorded battles that occurred during the War of Doom that are classed as major engagements. That usually means they involved more than a thousand warships or were decisive battles that greatly impacted the tide of the war in a certain sector. Whilst we cannot go over each battle in here in this work, a naval officer should be familiar with them all, for from each, key lessons can be learnt. Lessons that are far better learnt in the classroom than on the battlefield.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  IS Drake

  James nodded in approval as the remaining Karacknid fighters pulled away from the skirmish with his Spitfires and Corsairs. He made a mental note to congratulate Black on the performance of her pilots if he got a chance. Then he turned his attention to the Karacknid depot. Maleck would not be able to hold off the Karacknid ships coming to reinforce it for long. He had to strike hard and fast or the depot would slip out of his grasp. If the main Karacknid fleet secured it, it could take years before he had a fleet powerful enough to attempt a second attack. That left James with a dilemma. There were more than two hundred Karacknid warships protecting the Karacknid base. Added into the mix were several battlestations. He had just over a hundred warships of his own. With fighters and missile pods the odds were closer than it looked. But if he spent his missiles engaging the Karacknid defenders, the main Karacknid fleet would push through Maleck’s squadron and drive him away before he could damage the vital supply stations. On the other hand, if he focused all his fire on the depot stations themselves, without first taking out most of the defenders, thousands of his missiles would be taken out by the warships’ point defenses.

  As James thought through the problem, he glanced at Maleck’s ships. They were still accelerating hard to put themselves between the forward elements of the main Karacknid fleet and the gas giant. With two hundred Karacknid ships aiming right for his forty-four, as much as James respected Maleck’s skills, he did not expect the Alliance ships to hold out for long. That made his mind up for him. “The first salvo and fighter attack will concentrate on Karacknid capital ships and battlestations. Our second salvo will prioritize ships we damaged but didn’t cripple. Thereafter, everything will target the depot stations.”

  “Understood Admiral,” Miyagi responded. “We’ll transmit the orders now.”

  “Begin flushing multistage missiles as soon as we can,” James followed up. The main part of his plan called for one devastating attack to turn the odds as much in his favor as possible. If it didn’t work, James knew he would only have two options. Fall back and admit defeat, or charge into energy weapon range. If it came to the latter, he did not expect any of his ships to survive. Not with the lead elements of the Karacknid fleet racing towards the depot. That was why he found himself tapping vigorously on his command chair as the first salvo of multistage missiles was launched from Drake and her consorts. Instead of going active, the missiles continued on the ballistic course Drake’s launch tubes had catapulted them out on. Four minutes later the second salvo of multistage missiles was released. Then a third followed.

  “Switching to mark IVs now Admiral,” Anderson reported. “All missile pods have been released.”

  James nodded. He could see the missile pods on his secondary display. Trailing behind Drake, the other battleships and battlecruisers in his fleet and the ten converted freighters specially designed to carry them, were almost three hundred missile pods. Each pod carried four mark IVs.

  “Firing,” Anderson announced.

  This time, when James’ fleet flushed its missiles, two thousand four hundred new contacts appeared on every gravimetric display in the system. The Karacknid fleet returned fire almost instantly as they entered range with their missiles. They managed to put out one thousand five hundred. James watched them for a couple of minutes then turned back to his own missiles. They were just passing the point where they caught up with the last salvo of multistage missiles Drake had fired. As the two groups coalesced, the multistage missiles fired off their engines. With a higher base velocity, the mark IVs quickly passed them. However, the multistage missiles could burn their impulse engines at a much higher acceleration rate, albeit for a short duration. In just thirty seconds, the multistage missiles caught up with their larger comrades. Then their first stage engines were jettisoned and their second stage kicked in as they kept pace with the mark IVs. As the enlarged missile
salvo reached the next set of multistage missiles the process was repeated a second time, and then a third time. By the time the salvo was three minutes out from the Karacknids’ point defenses, there were over six thousand missiles locking onto Karacknid warships. At that moment Chen’s fighters boosted their engines to full. Coming in from above the gas giant, they dove towards the Karacknid capital ships.

  For a moment James tracked the progress of the Karacknid missiles. They would hit his ships just after his missiles struck home. Fifteen hundred was a lot. His fleet was going to take losses. But that would be the only full-sized missile salvo the Karacknids would fire.

  “They’re engaging our attack,” one of Drake’s sensor officers reported.

  James’ eyes flicked back to the Karacknid depot. He squinted as he tried to figure out how they were splitting their point defense fire. It was too hard for Drake’s sensors to tell for sure. But when Spitfires and Lancasters began to blink out of existence, James could tell the Karacknids had made Chen’s fighters a priority. They probably think they’re tasked with targeting their orbital supply stations, James figured. Of course, it wasn’t just fighters that were being taken out. Missiles in their hundreds were being destroyed. But not nearly enough, James hoped as much as thought. As he watched the engagement, his hope turned to certainty. Intently, he watched the count of his missiles go down. Though it was dropping rapidly, his missiles were only seconds away from reaching their attack range. As soon as they did, the count went from four hundred and forty to zero as every missile detonated. With no way tell how many mark IVs or multistage missiles there had been left, James didn’t know how many lasers would be ripping into the Karacknid ships. Whatever it was, it was a lot. Devastation washed over the Karacknid warships. Too many ships for him to count erupted as laser beams destroyed and crippled ship after ship. Secondary explosions from reactor overloads or missile storage detonations blew a handful more ships into debris. Others fell out of formation as their damage took a toll. Some were even sucked down into the gas giant’s atmosphere. Then Chen’s fighters released their plasma missiles. As twenty of them got close enough to detonate, Drake’s sensors were momentarily lit up by the massive balls of plasma. Most disappeared as they made contact with Karacknid capital ships, causing more explosions. James saw at least two dreadnoughts be engulfed by plasma and then ripped in two as the plasma burnt right through the ships.