Ambush

by G J Moses

  Stepping over next to Zeke, Hawke pointed at the battleship. “There is one exception. The battleship, if it is like the ones my ancestors fought, have a huge laser like our primaries multiplied by ten in its bow. It is a point and shoot weapon and very limited in close dogfights, but if it can get a bead on you, good luck! There are few weapons that can match it in power. You never want to be in front of one when it goes off. The Chohish use it mostly against planet defenses, but it is very effective in space too. To counter this, I recommend we reserve two of our primaries and three MK-XII tubes just to take that weapon out. I doubt they would be able to repair it without docking at a major base. Losing that weapon would be a major blow.”

  “But we have one major issue we have to get past first. Fighters! If they have the same number as Hawke suggests, we will get clobbered before we ever reach their fleet.”

  Taking a controller off the table, Jamie started adding small icons on the hologram. “We have given that some thought. With Hawke’s and Will’s help, we made some assumptions. We are counting on the Chohish not being familiar with human weapons. And finally, that they keep their fighters grouped together en route to us. An awful lot of ‘if’s’ but if they are still like Hawke talked about, a possibility.”

  “Normally, firing MK-XIIs against fighters would be a waste of missiles. They would scatter and fly around them. But in this case, maybe not. What say we fire a full volley once we identify the fighters have been launched and we know their course and makeup. Let the missiles get up to speed and then shut down the engine thrust to minimize tracking. Once the fighters are in range, deploy and see what happens. In fact, we can send some follow up missiles to try and catch any we miss. Thoughts?”

  The room was quiet while Zeke digested their plan. Pacing, Zeke walked around the room where he kept glancing at the hologram deep in thought.

  Finally, he broke the silence. “You know, it might actually work. Maybe add some ECM’s out there to disguise the missile as probes. Thoughts?”

  It was Will who responded this time. Zeke was happy to see the coordination between the three as it spoke volumes of the confidence all three had in each other.

  “You know it will only work once, right? Any other time I would say it would be a waste of missiles, but in this circumstance, it may just work, it just may. I doubt we would get them all, any suggestions for the ones we miss? We should be able to manage taking out a few, but they may cause enough damage so by the time we reach their fleet, we are degraded. Send out our fighters?”

  “Not if we can help it. I would prefer to save them for when we reach the planet. But you’re right, the first missile volley will not get them all. Let’s send multiple volleys and hope we can thin them down a bit.”

  “Ok, sounds like we have a plan. Hawke, you and Will work out your target programs and run them through the simulators to fine tune it. You will have to update the AI on how we expect the Chohish to react this time and this time only. Jamie, get with Gunner and make sure all the fighters are fueled up and ready to go. We do not have much time left, so away you go.”

  It was with surprise when Zeke realized that Khaleesi was still there when she spoke. “Anyone thought about shuttles being sent with the fighters?”

  “Shuttles?”

  “Like in boarding?”

  “Oh crap, no, I did not even think of that.” exclaimed a started Hawke. “I don’t even know if they ever used them when we fought.”

  “Well, I did. We will be ready to repulse boarders. You worry about the fighters in the sky while the Marines will take care of any other fighters.”

  Chastised, as Zeke had not brought that up, which he should have since he did have experience with that type of action, paused to look at the hologram one more time before following everyone out the conference room.

  His mind raced with images of what could go wrong. Missiles not taking out any of the enemy fighters, sending out their own fighters to lose them all to a much superior force, massive damage or it all ending before they even had a chance to push through the enemy fleet. And of course, as Khaleesi was good enough to remind him, enemy marines walking through the halls of the Lucky Strike.

  Well, they were limited in what they could do, and he could not come up with anything better. Brushing off the worries, he knew he needed to get refreshed while time permitted. Who knew when, or if, he would get another opportunity?

  Entering his room, Zeke quickly made his way to the bathroom. “Well, it sure looks like you are in one hell of a crapper this time, aren’t you? How many will die following your orders this time around? What is the total now? Well, no time to pity yourself, it is time for you to do what you do best, lead. Remember, they would have been here even if you weren’t. By you being here, you may be able to save more of them than if you weren’t!”

  With a huge sigh, Zeke stared at the man in the mirror. “Doesn’t help much, does it?’’

  After freshening up, Zeke raked his hands through his hair while glancing around his room. It was then that Zeke realized that the room was barren. It contained only a few keepsakes that he really cared about. He did not bring the important ones as he would hate to lose them. If only he could be able to do that with the crew. Keep them from becoming his friends. But he didn’t, couldn’t, just not who he was. He cared deeply for each one. Every death was so hard to take. He knew this would happen when he signed up, but it still did not make it any easier. “So, Captain, make your presence count!”

  As Zeke reentered the bridge, he asked Selena Bonilla to page Gunner to the bridge.

  “Lieutenant Gunner Morison, report to the Captain on the bridge” rang through the ship. Zeke had just sat down in his command chair when Gunner walked out of the ship elevator.

  Lieutenant Gunner Morison, the officer in charge of the six fighters on board the cruiser, must have been waiting for the page because he walked onto the bridge from the elevator immediately after the page went out.

  When he saw Zeke was not surprised like some on the Bridge, Gunner smiled internally. They had been through this too often for that to happen, but he loved to watch the expressions on the few that were surprised.

  “Captain, you called?”

  With a quick look to the ceiling to stop from laughing, Zeke responded in the same manner to Gunner as he had many times in the past, stoically.

  “Hi Gunner, what took you so long? Oh well, anyway, I have something for you and your boys. Jamie probably already reviewed with you our plans, but I wanted to run something by you.”

  ‘I do not see any way we can use you until we reach the main planet, but I want you to stay looped in when, if, the Chohish fighters make their move towards us. I want you, and your crew, to monitor their craft and skills as best you can. See if we can get some idea what we are going to run into when we get to the planet. Make sure everyone’s suited up and ready, just in case. Get with Lieutenant Commander Jamie Chandler and have the fighters prepped and ready for launch in fifteen minutes, change that, make it ten. I should have told you earlier.”

  “Already done Captain, Lieutenant Commander and I have already been working on making sure all the fighters are ready. Pilots are suited up and on board their fighters waiting for orders. I will have Isolde or Caspian route them any data regarding the Chohish fighters.”

  “Thanks, as usual, you were way ahead of me. Where I think we can make use of you and your crew, is if we ever reach Niflhel. Depending on what orbiting warships are over Niflhel, we may take a stab at clearing them out.” Standing up, Zeke moved to stand next to Gunner.

  “If, and it is a very big if, we get any time at Niflhel, we will need to get to the ground ASAP. Your boys and girls need to be ready for when we make it to the planet. Once we clear any opposition, I will need you to clear the way so we can get to any Chohish that have already landed on the surface. I would be surprised if they do not have ground troops on the surface with supporting aircraft. Major Khaleesi Richards and her Marines will be following
you in the shuttles and our one pinnacle. We will not have much time, so we need to get on the planet quickly. I would be surprised if we had more than a few hours before we have to move on.”

  “The pilots have been running through their system checks, again. We will be ready Captain; we will not let you down.”

  Saluting, Gunner turned on his heel, and marched stiffly to the elevator. When the elevator arrived and opened, Isolde was inside. Upon seeing Isolde, Gunner paused uncharacteristically. Watching, Zeke, saw the quick caress of Isolde’s cheek. It was obvious that Isolde enjoyed the attention based on the smile she wore.

  Life on a warship was hard, loneliness being near, if not at the top, of the list of reasons why. Having someone special can help a lot if managed properly. Knowing Gunner as well as he did, Zeke had no concerns on that issue. They had first met during the nasty Felanzie action many years ago.

  The corners of Zeke’s mouth turned up as he remembered the time Gunner had picked Zeke up on a ruined fighter bay floor after the ship had been holed by several missiles. Most of the staff were dead with the bay partially open to space losing air fast. On the way out, Gunner grabbed another body where he dragged them both to the second flight deck which was the only place left on the ship that could hold air. Only through his actions, was Zeke alive today. Unfortunately, the second person Gunner had stopped to pick up died shortly after.

  With all preparations completed, Zeke hit the communications button on his command chair, toggling it for the whole ship. “Isolde, send out the satellites. Jax, you ready? Hawke, you are free to execute Jericho using your own discretion. Do not wait for my permission. Will, same for you. I want to go through them as quickly as possible. Jamie, Gunner, Khaleesi, stay alert.”

  Standing up from his chair to his full height, Zeke lowed his head for a few seconds before slowly raising it with his eyes closed. Taking a deep breath, filling his lungs to capacity, Zeke opened his eyes to look at his crew with sorrow. “More than likely, some, or all of you, will be injured or dead in just a short while due to my commands. I wish that there was another way.”

  With a sigh, Zeke went on. “Ladies, Gentlemen, let’s get this show on the road. No one is to be outside the designated armored passageways or compartments. We are going to get pounded and many bulkheads will be opened. Once we get through, hopefully we will have a few hours or so before we reach the planets to do what repairs we can. We will need everyone to be whole and sound. No heroes, people, we need you all alive. Got it?”

  “Will, take us in.”

  “Weeeoooeee, weeeoooeee, weeeoooeee” sounded through the ship reminding everyone it was time to strap in.

  Most were seated except for the repair crew. These individuals were suited up and strapped to walls in a horizontal position in designated hardened areas scattered throughout the ship. They did not get the fame like the fighter pilots did, but they sure deserved it. Zeke shuddered thinking what that must feel like, not being able to move while the ship around you is bucking wildly or coming apart. To not give in to the impulse to push that button in your palm to release you from the wall too early. Or in a lot of cases for many, die still locked in. And for those that finally do, they bravely walk into unspeakable horror to keep the ship running.

  The Lucky Strike surged forward, gaining speed quickly, straight towards the Chohish who still had not moved.

  Everyone could feel the increased vibrations through the ship as it was being pushed to its maximum speed.

  Watching the engine gauges like they were alive, Jax also kept his ears open to his crew stationed around the ship. He knew they were going to be needed soon as he expected the damage to be severe ship wide. Between him and his staff, they had a reputation unmatched in the RGN and they were justifiably very proud of it. Hopefully they would still deserve it after Hawke ran the Jericho flight programs.

  The Jericho programs were extremely hard on the engines and had been outlawed due to the number of engines that had blown or failed when attempted during trial runs. But Jax was the one that designed it and successfully executed it in the battle of Jericho before it was banned. Hence the name. That execution allowed the battle-cruiser he was on, to get inside the fixed enemy defenses at close quarters. Because of that action, the war of the Newton Systems ended several years sooner than expected.

  Shortly, with guidance from Isolde, the probes were away and ready to transmit.

  Upon a nod from Zeke, Isolde had the probes start transmitting the pre-planned false ship communication signals.

  It was no more than five minutes before Caspian jerked. “We have additional contacts” an excited Caspian announced.

  “Put them up on the screen, if you please, Mr. Raske” ordered Zeke.

  In short order, the positions of the new contacts were added to the main screen. Several looked over at Zeke in admiration, because when the new positions overlaid Zeke’s guess tracks, the difference was negligible.

  But what bothered Zeke was why did they not see them earlier. They should have seen them when they started their intercept course.

  Signaling to Caspian, he asked. “Caspian, we see the new ships now, why? Why not earlier?”

  Standing, Caspian moved over to look at another screen. “Captain, I do not believe the ships have used their propulsion systems until now.”

  “Hmm… now that I am looking at their positions, I think you are right. They were going to stay in their positions to make sure no other ships arrived and left to give warning while they were chasing us. Seeing as we are only one ship, they expected the current fleet to handle us. But with Isoldes fake ship communications signals, that was no longer true and forced them to make their move. Good call there Isolde.”

  “Thanks Captain, Caspian please return to your station and buckle up.”

  Meanwhile, Isolde, plying the controls on her consoles furiously, used the pair of probes to try and mislead the two enemy fleets away from the Jackal and the Lucky Strike.

  The Lucky Strike continued on its way in silence. No idle chatter, no wasted motion. It was a quiet thirty minutes before Caspian announced. “Fighter launch.”

  Even though he wanted to ask, Zeke knew to let Caspian do his work without interruption. But finally, he heard what he wanted to know. “There looks to be a total of twenty-three fighters. They are heading towards us and gaining speed.”

  “How are they dispersed?” asked an anxious Will.

  “They are in multiple groups… the makeup of the groups looks to be based on what ship they launched from… ten here, four there, two more there and so on… except for the damaged ship which only launched one fighter… one second… ok, it looks like they merged into two groups, one of twelve and one of eleven. One leading the other with a separation of about fifty thousand miles. The first group has twelve fighters.”

  “Gentlemen? Will, Hawke, will that be an issue?”

  “No, actually, that may work out better for us. Hopefully, we can time this right. It will be tricky. We will let the first volley of MK-XIIs fly past the first fighter group while timing our second volley to reach the first fighter group at the same time as the first volley reaches the second fighter group. Not as easy as it sounds, a lot of variables. The AI is working on it now.” responded Will.

  Again, silence descended onto the bridge while everyone waited for Will and Hawke to complete their plans. It was a tense few minutes before the ship rocked from a missile launch.

  Most eyes, that were not needed elsewhere, panned back and forth between Will and Hawke anxiously waiting for them to initiate the second launch. Will glanced up at Hawke, who was staring at his screen intensely before he whispered to his workstation just before the ship rocked again from the highly anticipated missile launch.

  It took a few by surprise when a third, then a fourth missile volley followed shortly afterward.

  “On the screen gentlemen, if you please.” ordered Zeke, who was unable to keep his concern totally out of his voice. So much was riding on
this.

  Gripping the arm rests tightly, Zeke watched as the lead fighter group and the first missile volley slowly head towards each other. Minutes passed, the two pairs of icons slowly merged, more minutes passed, they slowly separated.

  Slowly letting his held breath out, Will, looked at his hands to see they were bloodless white from being clenched so hard. Glancing at Zeke, he saw his actions were mirrored there.

  The fighters were still coming on and had taken no action against the missiles that had passed by. Turning, he was about to ask Hawke a question on the second missile volley, but stopped when he saw Hawke. The feathers on Hawke’s skin were puffed out and fluttering along with his wings. Maybe now was not the time to ask his question.

  The icons on the screen showed the second missile volley closing in on the first fighter group. Unbuckling, Hawke stood up and flexed his wings wide, against all safety regulations, but Zeke knew what was driving him. He was watching the first action against an enemy that had devastated his race. This was personal.

  Then, against all odds, the two fighter groups and missile volleys merged at the same time. Suddenly, without a sound, the screen went dark for a few seconds before relighting with an updated status from probes further away. No icons of the two missile volleys existed. Contrarily, the two fighter groups still had icons, although they were numerically much smaller. The first group now showed only four fighters and the second group two.

  Watching Hawke, Zeke saw his friend clench his fists tightly and grimace as if in pain. He could only imagine what was going through his mind. But he could not afford for Hawke to get hurt due to carelessness. “Hawke, strap into your seat, now!”