“Copy that, Hawk.”
“Aye, aye, Commander.”
“Commander, Reprieve has just jumped in system.”
“Get her on the line, Igaklay.”
“Dame Desinal reporting, Commander Marston.”
“How was your flight?”
“successful and quiet, Commander.”
“No problems with the locals?”
“No, Commander. Lady Kaporine’s recommendation proved to be extremely successful. Preceptor Igaklay’s and Elder Anupi’s presence intimidated the villagers to the point that there were no incidents.”
“Master Desinal and your cub are on board?’
“That they are.”
“Headaches? Physical issues?”
“They are unconscious in their sleeping quarters.”
“Let them sleep. Then, get them down to Ballison so that Preceptor Igaklay can inject their nanites.”
“Aye, aye, Sir.”
“Igaklay, Buster, I’m sending the shuttle over. We are attacking Dorogon in two days.”
“Reprieve is ready to perform her duties, Commander.”
“Your bond-mate and cub are not vaccinated against jump sickness.”
“Reprieve has proven to be space worthy. I do not anticipate that she will require maintenance or repairs in the short term. I will double as navigator and communications. Yoni will assume the role of sensor operator.”
“If you do, Griffin will be there with Mack and Sue. Mr. Briar and Mr. Yonek, do you approve of their skill set?”
“Ollie will become an excellent pilot when he learns more discipline. Yoni is an excellent gunner, Commander. As long as Ollie listens, I have no issues with them as my crewmates.”
“For this engagement, Jewel of the Stars, Galactic Express and Cosmic Traveller are ordered to be observers. You will join them, following Captain Overman’s orders. Is that clear?”
“Very clear, Commander. Reprieve will assume an observation role, under the command of Captain Overman.”
“Good. when I get there with Griffin’s shuttle, I’ll fly your bond-mate and cub down to HEB Alliance H.Q. then bring Igaklay and Buster back here.”
“We await your arrival, Commander.”
“Out.”
An hour later, five ships jumped to the midpoint between Ballison and Dorogon.
Chapter 27
Aboard Griffin - Tolimar
Eleven jump-ships floated in Tolimar’s thermosphere. Almost thirty crewmembers prepared their ships for war. To that backdrop, five more ships popped into existence.
“Ahoy, Griffin,” Everyone heard over the speaker system.
“Ahoy, Gazelle,” Krag answered back.
“I see you brought some friends. Big boys.”
“Just to observe, Hornet. The little freighter is Reprieve, Captained by Captain Desinal. She’s the freighter I told you about, Hornet.”
“I am to be a ‘captain’, Commander Marston?”
“Under review, Dame Desinal. At Senior Captain Forsythe’s discretion. You are now transferred to the command of Senior Captain Forsythe. Do you accept Reprieve under your command, Hornet?”
“I accept the ship, Reprieve, under my command, Commander.”
“I ordered Reprieve sit this engagement out, observe only. And, for this engagement only, I placed her under the command of Captain Overman.”
“I concur. That’s one less headache to worry about. Captain Desinal, you are to maintain a position of observation unless otherwise ordered. You are to remain under the command of Captain Overman for this engagement.”
“Aye, aye, Senior Captain.”
Just then, a new voice broke into the conversation.
“Hey, Hawk. Welcome back.”
“Good to be back, Feldmarshal.”
“Sensors show that you brought Jewel of the Stars. Does that mean that she’s ready?”
“In a couple of days, Corry. I want her to watch us run the Mortek out of Dorogon.”
“My people are ready to kick some bug butt in Cencore.”
“I hear you. Give us two days.”
“Two it is, Hawk. Out.”
“Hornet, are your Stingers ready?”
“Hot to trot, Hawk.”
“Sue, send the distribution coordinates. Trucker, Rizzi, Captain Emoli, stay sharp. Captain Desinal, follow Senior Captain overman’s command, to the letter.”
“Understood, Commander. Senior Captain Overman, Reprieve is ready to jump at your command.”
Krag ordered Griffin and his four ships to jump. Jean ordered Gazelle and her now eleven Stingers to follow. Sixteen ships blinked from Tolimar space.
Dorogon Space
At first, Dorogon’s dark space held only Mortek ships. In a blink, sixteen human ships materialized at the star’s outskirts. With a three-minute delay between what these ships saw and what actually took place around Nyu Nippon, all crewmates of all human ships studied their monitors, attempting to guess where the Mortek ships truly were.
“Sue, what have you got?”
“These sightings are three minutes old, Captain. Same as before. One carrier, the crippled dreadnaught, two cruisers and four frigates.”
“No new ships. Good. If any are coming from Sasania, they must still be in the grey. People, same as before. Gopai, Gatlings. Igaklay, you’re on overwatch. Sue, sensors and recordings. Buster, rail gun and gravity rockets. Keiko, you activate the jump sequence. I’ll keep my hand on the panic button. Everyone clear?”
“Ya forgot me, Cap. I know. I’m on systems watch.”
“I didn’t need to remind you, Mack. Igaklay, please contact Reprieve, Jewel of the Stars, Galactic Express and Cosmic Traveller.”
Four captains displayed on Griffin’s main screen.
“Captains, we are preparing to attack the ships here, in Dorogon. Have all sensors and visual recorders running, beginning now.”
Krag received affirmatives from the ships under his command.
“Igaklay, please contact Gazelle.”
“Commander?”
“Senior Captain. How are your Stingers?”
“All present and accounted for, Commander. No issues.”
“Get them ready. I’m jumping in, getting an actual read and jumping back.”
“We are ready, now, Commander. Good hunting.”
“See you in one.”
With only eight Mortek ships to track, Griffin required only three jumps. Less than a minute later, she resumed her original position.
“Igaklay, again, use your pulsars for the random number seed. Set up the jump sequences.”
“Shall I use the same distribution as before?”
“Yes, Igaklay. Hornet, are you listening?”
“We all are, Hawk.”
“Griffin’s taking the dreadnaught. Three Stingers each on the two cruisers. Two each on three of the frigates. That leaves one frigate. Whoever finishes first, jump her. Clear?”
“Clear, Commander.”
“Igaklay?”
“Random jump sequences have been created and distributed to the Stingers, Commander. Griffin’s six jumps have also been uploaded.”
“Hornet, ready on the go button?”
“Copy, Hawk.”
“All stingers tied in?”
“Copy, Hawk.”
“Go!”
Eleven small, human ships jumped to destroy six Mortek ships of war.
Holding his hand over the large, red panic button, Krag turned to Keiko.
“Pilot, Go.”
Keiko tapped the icon which activated Igaklay’s random jump sequence. Six times, Griffin jumped around the crippled dreadnaught. Six times the Mortek behemoth ship fired all its particle cannons and laser beams. Six times, Buster used the rail gun to fire the Elonian-made gravity rockets.
With Griffin remaining in one spot for less than a quarter of a second, all the Mortek firings arrived late. Buster’s rocket launches didn’t experience the same failures. They all struck their targets.<
br />
Griffin jumped back to her original position. Moments later, eleven fast-movers returned to theirs.
“Report!” Krag sent the fleet-wide command.
“The Mortek never saw us coming, Hawk. It was almost sad. The only ship that gave off a shot was the final frigate. She got off only two.”
Jack Haley of Jack’s Flash was the first to respond. All other captains gave the same report.
“Well done, Stingers. Freighters, are you still recording?”
All four freighter captains answered in the affirmative.
“Keep recording for another ten minutes. By then, the sensor and video reading will have reached you. I want you to experience what our gravity rockets actually do. Clear?”
Again, Krag received affirmations.
“Stingers, send all your personal readings to all four freighters. Then, head back to Tolimar. Our work here is done.”
“Roger that, Hawk. Stingers, you heard The Man. Send and go! Reprieve, on my six.”
“I do not understand, Senior Captain Forsythe.”
“Follow me. Preceptor Igaklay, could you put together some sort of nomenclature manual? I suspect we are going to run into these types of misunderstandings in the future.”
“I will review all communications between all the Humans and develop a phrase synopsis. It will be done by this evening.”
“I am really glad that you are around, Preceptor.”
“Thank you, Senior Captain.”
It didn’t take long for ten Fast-Movers to download their two-minute’s worth of data and head home. Gazelle followed with Reprieve in tow.
“Trucker?”
“Yeah, Hawk?”
“Get to Tolimar. Pick up the Defense Force and get it over to Cencore.”
“Roger that, Commander.”
“Galactic Express, Cosmic Traveller, get back to Ballison. Report in at mid-point.”
Two more ships vanished from the Dorogon dark.
“Keiko, contact your father. He needs a sit-rep.”
“Thank you, Krag. Igaklay, please contact Suichuu-Shigai.”
Keiko nervously waited while Igaklay worked to form a communication link with Nyu Nippon’s undersea city. Once connected, the Ballisonian avatar turned to Keiko.
“Ambassador, Dono Yokota, your father’s adjunct is connected.”
“Dono Yokota, Keiko Suzume. Is my father available?”
“Yes, Keiko. It is good to hear from you. I will get Taishou Suzume immediately.”
Keiko nervously waited some more.
“Keiko! Hello! All is well?”
“Hello, Father. Yes, all is well. How is Mother?”
“She is doing fine. She is worried about you of course, but she is fine. How are you? Are you safe? Are you still on Griffin?”
“Yes, Father. I am safe and still on Griffin. Commander Marston wishes to speak with you.”
“Commander?”
“Yes, Father. Commander Marston now commands a fleet of ships. That is why he wishes to speak with you.”
“Taishou Suzume?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“First, let me say that your daughter has been irreplaceable in her contributions to the war against the Mortek.”
“Mortek? Is that what the aliens are called? That is very kind of you to say, Commander.”
“No, I absolutely mean it. Without her insight and diplomatic skills, we would not have achieved the successes which we have achieved.”
“And, what would those successes be?”
“Have you received any intel on the happenings within the last three months?”
“No, Commander. We have been completely isolated through the Winter, in preparation of a counter-assault against the Aliens in the Spring.”
“In a quick summary, we have defeated the Mortek in Tolimar and Arium. We have also seized a Mortek fleet in Cencore. Currently, a troop ship is transporting approximately one hundred thousand ground forces to Olympia to rid the planet of the Mortek invasion.”
“That sounds rather unbelievable, Commander.”
“Nae, Taishou, Sir. Cap here is speaking the truth.”
“I apologize for the interruption, Taishou. Mr. McCauley can get excited sometimes. To continue, except for the Mortek carrier, there are no more Mortek ships in Dorogon space.”
“They left? We saw many of them enter the Bridgelen gate. But they had left a force behind.”
“No, Taishou. The force they left behind didn’t leave. We have defeated them. The remaining ships have been destroyed.”
“Commander?”
“Yes, Sue?”
“The Mortek carrier has left its Nyu Nippon orbit and is vectoring towards the Bridgelen gate.”
“Let it go. It doesn’t pose a threat. Taishou Suzume, with the carrier leaving, Dorogon space is completely free of Mortek ships. And no more Mortek ground troops will be landing on Nyu Nippon.”
“Then, we must immediately begin our counter-strike.”
“I would highly recommend that you hold off. We will be able to bring fifty-thousand more ground troops to Nyu Nippon shortly.”
“If what you say is true, if space is clear, now is the time to strike.”
“Father, listen to Commander Marston’s advice. I know what the Commander has said sounds unbelievable, but all of it is true. Trust me.”
“Oy, Cap. Have Iggy put together a data packet. Something that shows our Elonian and Ballisonian friends. And, maybe some battle footage from Tolimar.”
“Good idea, Mack. Igaklay, would you please do that?”
“I already have, Commander. I started as soon as Mack voiced his thought. I also have included the sensor and video footage of this battle in Dorogon.”
“Excellent. Please send it. Taishou, Preceptor Igaklay is sending you a data packet. Please review it before you decide to begin your counterattack. I guarantee that we have highly advanced weaponry and personnel which will increase your odds of success.”
“We will review your information, Commander. But I will not commit to the altering of our plans.”
“That is all I ask, Taishou. One more thing. Just a moment.”
“I will wait.”
“Igaklay, do you have the coordinates of the origination of Taishou Suzume’s signal?”
“Yes, Commander. It was not difficult to work backwards through the many levels of encryption and redirections.”
“What? You broke our transmission security?”
“We have a rather brilliant individual onboard, Taishou. Igaklay, if you place a quant-com in one of our com drones, could you guide it to the General?”
“Just a moment, Commander.”
Everyone paused.
“I have reviewed the specifications of the com drone, and it will not survive the water pressure. I would suggest that we modify a gravity rocket, remove its payload. It is capable of diving to those depths.”
“Mack?”
“On it, Cap.”
“Taishou Suzume, I apologize for the interruption. We are going to send down a small rocket. It will contain a very special communication device. You will be able to communicate with us, regardless of our location.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The easiest way to explain is to give the device to one of your scientists. Then, Preceptor Igaklay will be able to explain its workings.”
“This is very confusing.”
“Please, Father. Study the information which Preceptor Igaklay has sent. You will need your science team to be present to understand. Also, please accept the communication device. With it, you and Mother will be able to contact me whenever you wish.”
“If you have broken our encryption, then I suspect that you have located. Suichuu-Shigai.”
“That is correct, Taishou Suzume,” Igaklay responded. “From your maps and plans, it is a very beautiful undersea city.”
“I fear that we must upgrade our security.”
“There is no security or e
ncryption in all of the Federacy which Preceptor Igaklay cannot breach, Taishou.”
”That may be true, Commander, but we must try. Leave the rocket one kilometer east of Suichuu-Shigai. Once we deem that it is safe, we will retrieve it.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“That is all for now, Taishou Suzume. We just wanted to give you an update on the current situation.”
“I do not know if I should thank you, Commander. I do thank you for protecting our daughter. Safe journey.”
“Stay safe, Taishou. Signing off.”
Krag nodded to Igaklay.
“The link is broken, Commander.”
“Mack?”
“Easy-peasy, Cap. The gravity bomb is out and the quant-com is in. Ready to launch.”
“Make sure all other ordinance is removed from the belly rail gun, Mack. I don’t want to fire a live round in error.”
“Will do, Cap. Give me five minutes.”
Five minutes later, Mack announced, “Fire when ready, Tinman.”
“Firing, Wrenchy.”
The small rocked left Griffin, crossed Dorogon’s space and splashed into Nyu Nippon’s ocean.
“It is on course, Commander. It is reaching its target, now.”
“Thank you, Igaklay. Keiko, Let’s go home.”
Aboard Griffin – Ballison
A day later, Griffin, Galactic Express and Cosmic Traveller jumped into Ballison space. Krag Intentionally took up a position on the opposite side of the planet as the three Federacy ships. Sitting in the dark, the three active HEBA ships floated over the forty-six remaining Atlantean hulls.
Watching, the HEB Alliance crewmates of the three ships saw Ballisonian robots swarming over two freighters, one large and one medium. They also witnessed large transports connected to two more hulls, unloading equipment and machinery, getting two more ships in the production pipeline.
Krag and the rest of Griffin’s crew sat and watched the activities for a few minutes, relaxing in the luxury of peace and quiet.
“Looks like two more ships are about ready, Cap. Those robots are adding the shield sensors. That means the innards are done and the coating is on.”
“Igaklay, is Mack right? Are those two freighter almost ready?”
“Yes, Commander. By tomorrow morning, you may begin your test runs.”
Victory in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 6) Page 32
