by Tori Harris
“Captain, we took out several of the new shield emitters down the starboard side of Bravo 1’s drive section,” Lau reported. “The additional shielding is still in place, but it looks like we forced their AI to modify its configuration to compensate for the damage.”
“C-Jumping,” Ensign Fisher reported as Theseus concluded her first attack run and altered course to avoid passing directly beneath the huge battleship. As his practiced hands quickly executed the required commands, a series of unfamiliar, but urgent-sounding warning tones issued from the Helm console. “Uh, sir …”
Outside, with Theseus now at her closest approach, energy weapons fire burst forth from what looked like hundreds of locations across the entire starboard and ventral surfaces of the Baldev.
“Fisher, emergency C-Jump!” Prescott yelled, the normally controlled tone of his voice deserting him entirely. In the background, the sound of the ship’s reactors and sublight engines also rose sharply as she attempted to fend off the massive torrent of incoming fire.
“I’m trying, but I’m getting some kind of field integrity fault that I’ve never seen before … the C-Drive is offline, sir!” he replied in near panic.
With little else any of them could do at the moment, the entire bridge crew held its collective breath, each person sending nervous glances in Fisher’s direction as they silently willed their ship to complete its C-Jump. For the next several seconds, his hands moved frantically across the surface of the Helm console as he continued his vain attempts to transition the ship while simultaneously executing a series of high-speed evasive maneuvers.
“Bridge, Engineering,” Commander Logan’s voice boomed from the overhead speakers.
“Prescott. Go, Commander!”
“We are being bombarded by a focused gravitic beam with a waveform that looks a lot like what our inertial dampeners produce. It’s not enough to cause hull damage, but it’s more than sufficient to prevent our hyperdrive from creating a field that’s stable enough for a transition.”
“I need options, Logan.”
“For now, we just need to run!” his chief engineer replied in an uncharacteristically urgent tone. “We’re way too close to be able to count on our shields to protect us.”
As if to underscore Logan’s point, Theseus shook violently with multiple impacts as several of the Baldev’s bolts of focused, orange-tinted energy managed to avoid being intercepted by the destroyer’s shields, instantly vaporizing sections of her outer hull armor.
Without further prompting, Ensign Fisher selected a course indicated by the AI to minimize the potential for shield penetrations, then pushed the ship’s Cannae sublight engines to emergency power, temporarily allowing them to deliver twenty percent more thrust than their design maximum. Theseus responded without hesitation, accelerating away from the battleship in a tight arc as if it were a stationary target.
“Warning, initiate Anti-G Straining Maneuver to prevent G-induced loss of consciousness,” the ship’s AI announced.
“AI, Prescott. Discontinue G-force warnings,” he ordered impatiently. Out of habit, he had begun tensing the muscles in his legs and abdomen as soon as his helmsman had started the series of aggressive turns. “Watch the Gs, everyone,” he grunted, trying to sound more in control of the situation. “We can’t afford to have anyone passing out right now.”
“I guess we just found Admiral Naftur’s gravitic beam weapon,” Logan continued over the intercom, resuming normal breathing as the ship stabilized on its new course.
“Maybe so,” Prescott said. “Let’s hope that’s the only trick they have up their sleeve. Any idea what kind of range we’re talking about?”
“Not really, no. The Baldev has a number of heavy gravitic emitters mounted at various locations on her hull, so I can’t even tell you at the moment which ones are responsible for the beam,” he replied, sending a high resolution image of several examples to the bridge view screen. “But I will take a wild guess that they have a pretty substantial range … probably a few hundred thousand kilometers at least. If they didn’t, I can’t imagine there would be much point in mounting them on a warship in the first place. I can also tell you that she has arrays like the ones I just sent you on both her ventral and dorsal surfaces, so we’re unlikely to find much of a ‘dead zone’ where they can’t hit us.”
“Thank you, Commander. Keep the shields up and the engines running, please.”
“As if my life depended on it, Captain. Logan out.”
“Sir, Charlie 4 is firing on us now as well,” Schmidt reported from Tactical 1, “but so far, she doesn’t appear to be giving chase.”
“Insult to injury at this point,” he replied, glancing up at the hull impacts counter below the tactical plot, which now stood at thirteen. The ship had taken six additional hits to its hull thus far since beginning its attack run against the Baldev. Fortunately, with the distance between the Theseus and the two remaining enemy ships rapidly increasing, her shields had once again become highly effective at deflecting the incoming fire. “Helm, I think it goes without saying, but get us as far away from that battleship as you can, as fast as you can, and as soon as you get a stable hyperdrive field, execute your C-Jump.”
“Aye, Captain,” Fisher replied, still rapidly entering commands at the Helm console.
Even with the Keturah now sending a sizable fraction of her considerable firepower in their direction, the intensity of the incoming energy weapons fire had lessened somewhat from what it had been just moments ago. With Theseus’ stern now facing the enemy ships, shield intercept events continued to occur at a rapid pace behind the destroyer as she streaked out of the area. Each interaction with an incoming bolt of energy produced a brief flash of light in the visible spectrum, resulting in a ghostly, white glow that seemed to ebb and flow like flashes of lightning revealing a whitecapped, following sea.
“Okay,” Reynolds said, looking up from her touchscreen, “the AI had originally misidentified the Baldev’s gravitic weapon as a problem with our own field generators. The good news is that the effects of the weapon are relatively easy for us to detect since we have an extensive network of sensors in place to monitor the various gravitic systems we use onboard. From now on, the tactical plot should display a warning indicator when we detect the beam. The Helm console’s C-Drive interface should also display the same warning and trip the flags indicating that hyperspace transitions are unavailable. You can see them now, right Ensign Fisher?”
“Yes, ma’am. Got it. Thank you.”
“Good work, Commander. Tactical, range to the Baldev, please?” Prescott asked.
“One niner zero thousand kilometers, Captain,” Schmidt replied. “Just passing .05 c and still accelerating.”
“I’m going to be optimistic and venture a guess that we’ll be able to transition to hyperspace once our range exceeds three hundred thousand kilometers.”
“I’m not so sure about that, sir,” Reynolds replied. “It apparently doesn’t take much interference to prevent the hyperdrive from doing its thing. I’m thinking more like double that. It’s a good thing Bravo 1 can’t come after us. They’re pretty much hamstrung as long as our fighters are covering their stern.”
“Dammit!” Prescott swore under his breath, realizing that he had neglected to update the fighter squadrons regarding Theseus’ status. “Badger flights, Theseus-Actual.”
“Badger 1 … Badger 2,” Zhukov and Waffer replied in their typical, businesslike tone.
“I’m not sure how much of our situation you were able to piece together over the past couple of minutes, but the purpose of the gravitic beam Admiral Naftur warned us about is to prevent a ship from transitioning to hyperspace. They’ve been hitting us with it ever since we finished our attack run. We are unable to C-Jump at the moment, but believe we should be able to do so once again after we put sufficient distance between ourselves and the Baldev. The presence of Badger 21 Flight off their stern does appear to be forcing them to keep their supplemental shields engaged — and
that, in turn, prevents their giving chase. Since I’m pretty sure coming after us is something they would very much like to do, I believe you should expect that they will focus their attention on you once we transition out of the area.”
“Badger flights copy. Be advised that we are still showing an operational status on all of our C-Drives, so they may only have the capability to target one ship at a time. What are your intentions, Captain?” Zhukov asked.
“Glad to hear it. Assuming we can clear their grav beam, we intend to C-Jump thirty light seconds downrange, take a quick look at the battle damage assessment, then set up for another attack run on Bravo 1’s stern.”
“Range to Bravo 1 now three zero zero thousand kilometers,” Schmidt updated in the background.
“Sir, if I may,” Waffer interjected, “our AI has been chewing on the data from your attack run and it looks like it was significantly more effective than our models predicted. I believe if you execute the same type of attack against Charlie 4, you will at the very least succeed in bringing down her shields so that we can finish her off. You may even destroy her outright. That gets us back to our original plan of being able to focus everything we have left on Bravo 1.”
Prescott glanced at his XO, who nodded her emphatic agreement under raised eyebrows. “Alright, Badger flights, we’ll go with your suggestion. We won’t be gone long once we C-Jump, so be ready to back us up once we return to start our next attack run. By the same token, don’t hesitate to C-Jump away yourselves if you come under fire.”
“Will do, Theseus, Badgers out.”
“Captain, Commander Waffer is definitely right about our attack,” Lau said from Tactical 2. “I was so focused on taking down shield emitters that I didn’t really notice the results of Lieutenant Commander Schmidt’s ordnance until now. Bravo 1’s aft shields remained intact overall — other than the supplemental field reconfiguration I mentioned earlier — but our point location attack seems to have placed so much energy in one spot that some of it managed to impact her hull.”
“That’s very good news, Lieutenant. Did we do any damage?”
“C-Jumping,” Fisher interrupted from the Helm console.
“And that’s even better news,” Prescott chuckled.
The sound of the destroyer’s reactors decreased in volume as the rate of shield intercept events instantly decreased from hundreds per minute to zero. With the Resistance warships now just over nine million kilometers astern, Ensign Fisher finally decreased power to the sublight engines and began the process of decelerating in a wide arc that would ultimately head them back in the direction of the battle.
“What was our range to Bravo 1 when we finally cleared their gravitic beam?” Prescott asked, supplanting his earlier question.
“Between five and six hundred thousand kilometers, sir,” Schmidt answered.
“Well, there you go, Commander,” he said, smiling broadly.
“I would have been fine with being wrong on that one, sir,” she replied. “It just surprised me how little energy it takes to keep us from making a hyperspace transition. I have to believe there is some way we can counter it, though.”
“Let’s hope that’s the case since it essentially nullifies one of our biggest tactical advantages. Lieutenant Lee, damage report, please.”
“We’ve got some hull damage, sir,” he replied without looking up from the Science and Engineering console, “but so far it seems to be limited to our outermost layers of armor plating. It also doesn’t look like we have lost any close-in weapon system turrets or shield emitters. Engineering is still conducting their survey to confirm. Otherwise, all systems are still in the green. Once we complete our turn, we are ready to C-Jump. Range 99.3 light years and stable.”
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you that luck isn’t a real thing,” Prescott muttered. “Ensign Fisher, how long until you have us in a position to C-Jump back?”
“Three seven seconds, sir.”
“Excellent. Lieutenant Lau, please continue with your battle damage assessment … but be quick about it, please.”
“Aye, sir. You were asking if Lieutenant Commander Schmidt’s point location attack caused any damage. I’d have to say yes, but in an area that probably didn’t have too much of an effect on their sublight engine nozzles or shield emitters. The significant lesson learned is that putting enough energy in one spot at one time appears to overload their shielding to some degree. So when we go after Charlie 4, I think we should allow the AI to choose the weakest shield location again, but this time have it correspond with one of her engine nozzles.”
“So we allow the AI to open a hole with the energy weapons and then thread the needle with the railguns …”
“Yes, sir. I also think we should try mixing in some fragmentation rounds with the penetrators. I don’t have a computer model for anything like this situation, but I’m hoping we might get some kind of a rebound effect between the shields and the hull.”
“We might at that. Nice job, you two. Set it up quickly and let’s get this done. Keep in mind that Admiral Patterson warned us that they might be expecting reinforcements. If that’s the case, time is most definitely not on our side. Lieutenant Dubashi, what’s the comm delay back to our fighters from here?”
At the Communications console, Dubashi quickly executed an NRD network latency query, which, in addition to a great deal of additional information regarding the status of the network in general, provided a readout of the comm delay from Theseus’ current position to the nearest ten Fleet assets.
“Only about seven seconds, Captain. Our current location, as well as that of the Badger flights, are each only about one million kilometers from the nearest comm beacon.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Alright, Ensign Fisher, Charlie 4’s position as currently displayed on the tactical plot is being relayed from our fighters, so it’s delayed by about seven seconds. Keep in mind that she is not equipped with supplemental aft shields like the Baldev. As you can see, she is still maneuvering and I think we can safely assume that she will continue to do so in order to prevent another C-Drive-equipped missile attack on her stern. That means it’s up to us to either put a stop to her maneuvering or take her out completely, so I need you to C-Jump us as close as you can without putting us in danger of transitioning inside her hull. Once we arrive, close with her as quickly as possible, match her maneuvers turn for turn, and give Tactical a chance to execute their attack. Make sense?”
“Yes, sir. I think I just heard you say that you want me to dogfight that cruiser.”
“Well …” Prescott chuckled, realizing that there was quite a bit of truth in the young ensign’s statement, “yeah, I guess that’s exactly what I want you to do. Just keep in mind that she will be hammering away at us with her aft weapons banks, and most likely Bravo 1 will open up on us again as well. Do your best to avoid hits that might get past our shields — although I’m sure that’s going to be pretty tough once we’re behind the target. I’m also pretty confident that Bravo 1 will prevent us from C-Jumping again, so be prepared to make a run for it, just like last time.”
“Aye, sir. Got it.”
“Anyone else have any questions on what we’re doing?” Prescott asked. Hearing nothing, he continued, “Dubashi, send our fighters a time-indexed warning that we will be C-Jumping in two zero seconds on your mark, then give the Helm console a countdown timer.”
“Aye, sir,” she replied, entering the required commands before transmitting the message. “Mark … message transmitted. C-Jump in one eight seconds and counting.”
“Everyone take a deep breath … stay relaxed and focused. We’ve done just fine so far, but it’s up to us to finish this fight,” Prescott said as calmly as he could manage.
“First and best, sir,” Dubashi replied nervously.
“Here we go again, folks,” Fisher said. “C-Jumping in 3 … 2 … 1 …”
Chapter 6
SCS Gunov, Location Crossbow
(5.93x1011 km from L
ocation Dagger)
“Report!” Commodore Sarafi barked as he emerged from his ready room.
“A single ship has transitioned from hyperspace, Commodore,” his tactical officer responded. “Range to the target is just over six hundred thousand kilometers. She is slightly larger than the Gunov at six hundred twenty-five meters in length and appears to be heavily armed — beam emitters, kinetics, and vertical missile launch cells are all in evidence. Thus far, however, we have detected no shields in use. The fire control AI cannot identify the specific vessel type, but has classified her as ‘probable Terran’ in origin based on a number of similarities to their small scout vessels. Per the most recent rules of engagement for the secondary rally point, the battlespace defense system has not opened fire since it was unable to make a definitive hostile identification. Shall we authorize the system to engage, sir?”
Sarafi’s eyes had remained fixed on the light-amplified and thermally enhanced image of the Terran warship as he made his way to his command chair. The vessel was clearly of the same class as the one he had been observing for some time back at the original rally point, and he briefly entertained the thought that it might be the exact same ship. But no, that could not possibly be the case, could it? The data stream provided by the remote surveillance drones was delayed by less than thirty seconds before reaching the display screen in his ready room. This was clearly a different ship, but the idea of the Terrans possessing a significant number of such vessels was a troubling prospect indeed. These were powerful, advanced warships — easily more than a match for older Sajeth Collective cruisers or perhaps even a Rusalov-class battleship. How many of these did the Terrans have at their disposal? Two? Ten? Were there other, even more powerful ships that his forces had not yet encountered?
“Make no mistake, they are almost certainly equipped with shielding of some sort. Have they hailed us?” he asked his communications officer without taking his eyes off the view screen.
“No, sir.”
“Are they closing on our position?”
