by Daniel Gibbs
“Aye aye, sir!” Ruth responded crisply.
“Communications, get me Major Hume.”
“Aye aye, sir!”
David heard Hume’s voice come through on the speaker built into his chair. “Major Hume here, sir. What can I do for you?”
“What’s the overall status of the wing, Major?” David asked tersely.
“We’ve taken a beating, sir, but we’ve had good results so far with our engagements with League assets. The wing command structure is intact and fully functional after Colonel Amir’s ejection.”
David’s face betrayed his deep concern, but Hume couldn’t see it from the voice-only link. “Major, what do you feel our odds of success would be with a frontal assault on Unity Station?”
There was a pregnant pause on the line. “Sir, I wouldn’t recommend it. We’ve got the League bombers bottled up for now, but I wouldn’t want to get too close in range of Unity’s point-defense emplacements. To say they’re numerous is an understatement.”
“Understood, Major. For now, keep engaging the enemy. I’ve had a SAR bird, and fighter escort tasked to retrieve Colonel Amir. Watch after them, please.”
“Aye aye, sir!”
“Cohen out,” David said as he clicked off the communications link.
Far from any support or advice from General MacIntosh, and without Admiral Kartal to lead them, David stared at the tactical plot, trying to decide what to do next. Dear God, help me make the right choice, he prayed silently. I’m terrified of throwing these soldiers’ lives away.
“We must decide on a course of action, General,” Aibek reminded him gently. The Saurian had become adept at when to offer advice and how to do it, in a way the humans he served with could relate to.
Admiral Seville settled back into his chair on the raised platform that oversaw the command deck of the LSS Annihilator, his flagship and the most capable starship the League had in this arm of the galaxy. The Terrans had been hammering them for the past two hours. The losses were mounting and now totaled over one hundred and fifty starships; the cost in resources and lives was enormous. But the League had the resources and lives to throw into the meat grinder of attrition. The Terran Coalition did not, and this weakness would eventually do them in.
“Admiral, we have flash traffic in from the fleet that was searching for the Terrans. They can safely open artificial wormholes again and are requesting orders,” the communications officer for the ship reported.
“Show me the location of the Lion of Judah,” Seville said, addressing his tactical officer.
“Aye aye, sir!” the man quickly replied, and a 3D view of the battle appeared in the holographic projector that was present on the bridge. Seville studied it for a moment, until he was interrupted by Colonel Strappi.
“It would appear that the Lion of Judah has few escorting warships around it, Admiral.”
Seville smiled thinly; Strappi had a knack for stating the obvious. “Yes, I noticed that too, Colonel. What do you think we should do?”
“Oh, I would defer to your vastly better judgment, Admiral. My role is solely to see to our morale.”
Why do I keep this idiot around? Seville fumed mentally. Oh yes, because he doesn’t question my orders like the last political officer… and he can be of use as comic relief at times. “I think we’ll jump in seventy-five percent of our forces here,” Seville began, gesturing to a point behind the CDF and RSN fleets. “The rest, including three Alexander class battleships, will jump in here.” He pointed to a location next to the Lion of Judah. “We’ll send our best captains, and this time, we’ll have her.”
Strappi nodded approvingly. “A wise strategy, Admiral.”
You would have said that if I had suggested sending a company of Marines out to dance on their heads. “Let us begin.”
33
“Conn, TAO. Numerous new contacts, sir!” Ruth called out in alarm as her board lit up with hundreds of new League ships.
David stood up from his chair. “Transfer them to the plot, Lieutenant.” He stared at the holoprojector as the little red icons flashed into existence.
“Sir, I’m reading a Napoleon class fleet carrier, and five Alexander class battleships, along with two hundred plus escorts. They’ve jumped in directly behind our forces, sir.”
David forced his face to remain neutral. I can’t show any weakness or panic. If I do, it’ll infect the entire crew. “And we can’t open up Lawrence drive jump points of our own because we’re too close to the microgravity well of the station.” Damnit, Seville mousetrapped us. I was afraid of that… but at least we didn’t commit to engagement within range of the station’s defenses.
“Conn, TAO! New contacts dead ahead, sir. Three Alexander class battleships, thirty or more escorts!”
David’s mind began to race. He fought mentally to keep his OODA loop intact. “TAO, prioritize the three battleships ahead of us. Which one is closest?”
“Master Four Hundred Seventy-three, sir.”
“Firing point procedures, forward magnetic cannons, neutron beams, and the particle beam emitters, target Master Four Hundred Seventy-three.”
“Firing solutions set, sir. Twenty seconds from firing range at current speed.”
David glanced toward Hammond. “Navigation, intercept course on Master Four Hundred Seventy-three. I want us lined up perfectly.”
“Aye aye, sir,” she replied in a crisp, sure tone.
As the seconds ticked down to active weapons range, David glanced at the tactical plot. There were precious few escorts around the Lion, and only a few with any real heavy weapons capabilities; namely two Themistocles class heavy cruisers, led by the CSV Cicero. Watching the maximum range overlay, the moment the first battleship was in range, he spoke. “TAO, match bearings, shoot, all weapons.”
The Lion’s magnetic cannon turrets fired as one, sending twelve projectiles straight into the League vessel’s shields, impacting on their surface. Bright flares of energy erupted as the powerful energy screens blocked the shots, at the expense of much of their stopping power. Further strikes from the Lion’s neutron beams weakened them further before her primary energy weapons, the four forward particle beams, came alive. Massive spears of white-hot energy lashed out and drilled through the shields and hull of the unfortunate ship, cutting through what remained of its protective screens and slicing through the superstructure. The area around where the beams hit turned molten, while explosions rocked the vessel.
“Conn, TAO. Master Four Hundred Seventy-three has sustained heavy damage and is no longer combat capable,” Ruth called back as incoming plasma cannon rounds from the League battleships began to impact the Lion’s shields.
David glanced up at the tactical status monitor above his chair and noted that the shields were dropping faster than he would have expected them to, by a lot. “TAO, analysis of the enemy’s weapons fire, please.”
“Sir, those impacts have seventy-fire percent more energy than normal League battleships’ plasma cannon armament.”
Underscoring her point, David watched as the forward shield, which was already below fifty percent of its maximum protection rating, dropped liked a stone. “Navigation, hard port thrusters, emergency flank speed. Present our starboard shield to Master Four Hundred Seventy-four and Master Four Hundred Seventy-five!”
“Aye aye, sir!”
David could immediately feel the massive engines on the Lion exert additional force as the turn began to execute.
“Communications, signal the Cicero, request Colonel Meier engage Master Four Hundred Seventy-five.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Bell responded, his voice taut.
“Conn, TAO! Forward shields below ten percent effective power. Shield failure imminent!”
Not bothering to acknowledge Ruth, David addressed Hammond. “Navigation, everything you’ve got. Strip power from all systems to execute the turn!”
“Aye aye, sir!” Hammond replied, her knuckles white as she quickly worked to channel as mu
ch power into the Lion’s sub-light engines as possible without overloading them. The ship was massive, and it took time to move even in the weightless environment of space. The League ship’s weapons recharged, and another barrage of plasma cannon fire slammed into the forward shield, causing it to collapse.
David felt the enemy weapons begin to hit home against the forward hull and superstructure for several seconds before the starboard shield began to absorb the shots. “Damage report, XO.”
“Moderate hull and armor damage to the starboard front quarter. Damage control teams on site, sir,” Aibek said after quickly consulting his readout.
“TAO, firing point procedures, Master Four Hundred Seventy-five, all starboard magnetic cannons, and neutron beams.”
“Firing solutions set, sir,” Ruth said, her eyes never leaving her console.
“TAO, confirm firing solutions with the Cicero and Pericles. Concentrate all fire on the same shield arc.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Ruth said as she tried to quickly line up a shot between the three ships in the tactical network. “Confirmed, sir.”
“TAO, shoot, all weapons!” David practically shouted.
Magnetic cannon rounds raced out from the Lion and her two heavy cruiser consorts, slamming into the shields of the League battleship. Coupled with neutron beam fire from all three ships, the force shields of the enemy ship were battered down, and multiple hits scored against the hull. However, without the immense firepower of the Lion’s particle beams, they were unable to disable the battleship in one volley.
“TAO, firing point procedures, Master Four Hundred Seventy-five, all starboard magnetic cannons, and neutron beams. Load armor-piercing shells into the magnetic cannons.”
“Aye aye, sir! Firing solutions set, coordinating with Cicero and Pericles,” Ruth responded, her voice tight and stressed.
David glanced up at the tactical plot, wondering why they weren’t absorbing more enemy fire, as the League ships had ample time to recharge their plasma cannons.
Ruth’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Conn, TAO. Aspect change, Masters Four Hundred Seventy-four and Four Hundred Seventy-five. They’re targeting the Pericles and Cicero.”
David’s eyes went straight back to the tactical plot, which showed the shields of both heavy cruisers dropping quickly; the Pericles’ forward shields failed, and the readout showed both League battleships bracketing it with sustained fire. Helpless, David watched as a lucky hit ignited a magazine or fuel bunkerage, and the Pericles exploded.
“Conn, TAO! CSV Pericles destroyed, sir! Cicero is showing significant damage, and I’m detecting life pod launches!” Ruth’s voice teetered on panic, watching the only two heavy capital ships in range get worked over by what appeared to be newly upgraded League vessels.
“Did anyone make it off the Pericles?” David asked, fearing he already knew the answer.
“Not that I can read, sir.”
“Navigation, bring us about, hard left, put the Lion in between the enemy vessels and the Cicero,” David commanded. “TAO, status of our forward and aft VRLS?”
“We only have one missile cell reloaded in the aft VRLS, sir; 40 Starbolts. Forward VRLS is still being reloaded.”
“That’ll have to do. TAO, firing point procedures, Master Four Hundred Seventy-five, all Starbolt missiles in the aft VRLS. Make available tubes ready in all respects. Open outer missile doors.”
“Firing solutions set, sir, tubes one hundred sixty through two hundred ready in all respects.”
“Match bearings, shoot, all weapons.”
Dozens of Starbolt missiles roared out of the Lion of Judah’s aft missile cell, while her magnetic cannons and neutron beams spoke as one, hammering the League battleship once again. Her shots, while on target, didn’t cause knockout damage; the League ship was still in the fight. Almost as soon as the Lion passed in front of the Cicero, both League battleships opened up again with the full force of their weapons. David could feel the hits all the way up on the bridge, as dozens of plasma cannon blasts impacted first on the barely recharged forward shields, which quickly failed, then on the armor and superstructure of the ship.
The ship buckled and shook the crew in their harnesses while the lights dimmed. Fuses in consoles overloaded and shorted out before a particularly violent hit was directly followed by a loss of electrical power to the bridge. David brought the communicator on his wrist up to his lips. “Engineering, this is the bridge. Report! We’ve lost power on the bridge!”
“General, this is Hanson. The anti-matter containment cooling system failed. We’ve had to SCRAM the reactor and are switching over to the backup fusion reactors. Wait one, sir.”
A couple of seconds later, the consoles on the bridge snapped back online, and the tactical plot was restored to the monitor above David’s chair. The first thing David noticed was that both League battleships were still there, and intact. “TAO, scan Master Four Hundred Seventy-five…is it still combat capable?”
Ruth moved to comply but noticed something first. “Conn, TAO! Aspect change, Cicero. She’s lighting off her engines, sir… I’m showing flank speed thrust. She’s on an intercept course with Master Four Hundred Seventy-four!”
The undamaged battleship? What’s Meier trying to do? David turned his head to the backup communications officer, Lieutenant Bell. “Communications, get me the Cicero on my viewer.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Bell replied crisply.
While David waited for the link with Colonel Meier, he returned his attention to Hanson. “Mr. Hanson, we’ve got lights. I need shields and weapons back online,” he said through the wrist communicator.
“Sir, I can give you shields and engines, or weapons and engines, but not all three.”
Damnit. Shields are more important right now, or the ship will take even more damage, and God only knows how much more of a pounding she can take. “Shields and engines, Major. Get that anti-matter reactor back online. We’re sitting ducks without weapons.”
“Aye aye, sir, we’re on it, sir!” Hanson answered, his voice somehow cheery despite the pandemonium around him.
David switched off the channel and sat back in his chair, pondering the situation. There weren’t many friendly ships around, and most were involved in their own battles; it was up to Hanson to get weapons back online so they could continue to prosecute the enemy.
A moment later, David heard Colonel Meier’s voice through the speaker on his chair; the viewer was blank. “I apologize, General, video communications are down. Not much working on this tub except my engines, life support, and basic communications. What can I do for you?”
“Colonel, if that’s all you’ve got working, why are you flying toward a highly lethal enemy battleship?”
“My crew’s off the ship, except for a couple of bridge officers who stayed behind to help. We’re going to even up the odds, sir.”
“Colonel, I’m ordering you to abandon ship. We’ll handle it,” David commanded, unwilling to allow Meier to sacrifice himself.
“With respect, sir, that’s an order I’m going to have to decline. The Lion’s taken significant damage. Your forward superstructure is a wreck, and one of your landing bays is too damaged to take in fighters. As I said, we’ll even up the odds.”
David said nothing, staring straight ahead.
Meier continued, “The last year or so, I haven’t believed there was anything else to this life, or anything beyond death, after seeing all the destruction around us on a daily basis. Right about now, I pray I’m wrong.”
“That makes two of us, Colonel,” David said, watching the icon for the Cicero rapidly close in on the icon for the League battleship. “Godspeed, Colonel. See you again someday, I hope.”
“Godspeed, General Cohen. Make it count,” Meier said before static overtook his message, as, at the same time, the icon for the Cicero merged into that of the undamaged League ship.
David flipped the tactical plot to show in real time, the Cicero impacting into the Al
exander class battleship amidships and enormous explosions breaking out. It seemed only to take seconds for both ships to violently explode into debris the size of two-foot chunks.
David stared forward, his mind lost at the destruction of another ship, and the loss of another friend.
Aibek’s insistent tone interrupted his thoughts. “General, your orders, sir?”
“TAO, status of Master Four Hundred Seventy-five?” David said after a long pause.
“Master Four Hundred Seventy-five is still minimally combat capable, sir,” Ruth replied, her voice betraying emotion. “Aspect change, Master Four Hundred Seventy-five! Contact is powering her Lawrence drive!”
Thanking God the enemy was bugging out, David watched as the last League battleship jumped out. They’d have to wait until the anti-matter reactor was restored to reenter combat, and he prayed Hanson would accomplish the task in record time. Being unable to affect the fight was something he couldn’t abide.
34
Following the capture of the station’s auxiliary control rooms, Taylor had led the rest of the civilian contractors and volunteers who were with him toward the rendezvous point for the final assault on Unity’s control center.
Kenneth stayed near the back, shamed more than anything by his poor performance in the previous combat. I can’t believe how hard I froze up.
As if reading his mind, Billings spoke quietly to him. “You weren’t trained for this, sir. You can’t think anything less of yourself.”
Kenneth glanced at him. “Master Chief, I feel like I let the LT down.”
“You realize how many firefights I was in before I could engage the enemy, cool as glass? Let me tell you… a lot.”
“Trying to make me feel better?”
“Is it working?”
“Not really,” Kenneth confessed.
