Empires gambit, p.12
Empire's Gambit, page 12
Becket nodded. This part of Admiral Somerville’s plan was a lot vaguer. It had to be, there had been no way of knowing exactly what the Karacknids would have tried. But if she knew James, he would crush whatever Karacknid fleet had attacked X-14. Which means he will advance into the Karacknid empire, Becket was sure. “We are going to rendezvous with Admiral Somerville. Either we will meet him at X-15 or perhaps deeper into Karacknid space. The whole point of this is to draw the attention of their High Admiral. We are not going to miss out on playing our part.”
*
IS Viper, 20th April 2485 AD, (fifteen days later).
“One minute until we exit shift space,” Lieutenant Levitt reported from his navigation console.
The nervous tension that filled Viper’s bridge suddenly sharpened. For just over two weeks, Becket had been carefully stalking the Karacknid fleet. She had never entered the same system the Karacknids had, waiting instead until her scouts reported they had jumped to shift space. As far as she could tell, they had no idea her fleet was following them. That was coming to an end, however. Viper was about to enter the X-15 system. The Karacknids would soon find out what she had been up to. The first indicator that Viper had reverted to real space was the tremor that ran under Becket’s feet and up her command chair. Seconds later, the bridge’s main holo display jumped into life as her flagship’s passive sensors began to sift through the electromagnetic energy coming into contact with them.
A number of things caught Becket’s attention almost immediately. First, the Karacknid fleet was accelerating hard into the system towards the rocky moon they had built their supply depot around. It was moving far faster than it needed to. The reason became apparent seconds later; Viper’s sensors were detecting large energy discharges from the moon. Weapons fire! Becket was sure. That meant an Allied fleet was already in the system. “Lay in a pursuit course for the Karacknid fleet. Full military power,” Becket ordered without waiting to see exactly how many Allied ships there were. It didn’t matter, she didn’t want to miss the fight.
As soon as her orders were transmitted to her ships, Becket’s fleet leapt forward. By then, Viper’s sensors had a firmer view of the battle raging within the inner system. IS Vengeance was leading a fleet of seven hundred Allied warships. They were bombarding the Karacknid supply depot. Two hundred Karacknid warships were in orbit around the depot, fighting desperately to protect their stations. For half an hour as her ships charged into the system, Becket watched the battle play out. It took just five salvos for Admiral Lightfoot to reduce the depot to debris. It caused Becket to smile. The Karacknid fleet had returned home too late. You spent too much time trying to trick us back at Delta-fort. “Reduce acceleration rate by thirty percent,” Becket requested. “They’re trapped between our two fleets now, let’s not encourage them to turn and try and engage us alone,” she added as she turned to Rogers and Wilson to offer explanation.
Just as Becket expected, as soon as the final Karacknid station was destroyed, Lightfoot’s fleet powered up their reactors and engines, and turned to face the Karacknid fleet. Her deceleration would mean Lightfoot would have to fight the Karacknids alone for ten or fifteen minutes, but she knew he would understand. If the Karacknids managed to fire off two or three salvos at her ships, she would suffer far more damage. For his part, the Karacknid fleet commander did recognize a battle would be futile. For nearly an hour, he tried several maneuvers in an attempt to slip past Lightfoot’s fleet and flee deeper into Karacknid space. Lightfoot was having none of it though. Expertly, he anticipated each of the Karacknids moves and kept his fleet squarely in its path. All Becket had to do was match the Karacknid fleet’s movements and stay right behind them.
“We just entered two-way communication range with Vengeance, Admiral Lightfoot is requesting to speak to you,” Lieutenant Rondon informed Becket.
“Put him on the main holo display,” Becket requested.
“Well met, Vice Admiral,” Lightfoot said with a smile. “Your timing is impeccable.”
“After staring at that fleet for more than a week at Delta-fort, we were eager to stay on their heels,” Becket replied.
“You will be pleased to know we dispatched the Karacknid fleet that attempted to attack through the Gamma-fort system. We destroyed over two thousand of their warships. The depot at X-14 has also been destroyed.”
Becket eyebrows rose. “Phase One is proceeding exactly as planned then. I am impressed. How do you want to fight this battle?”
“We will take their first two salvos. Then we will send our fighters in with our third. You send your fighters in with your first salvo and we’ll coordinate. After that, it should be a mopping up exercise.”
“Good luck then Admiral,” Becket said as she gave Lightfoot a nod. “Just leave some of them for us.”
Lightfoot chuckled. “I’m sure you don’t need to worry about that. There is plenty to go around.”
“We’ll talk more after then,” Becket replied. Lightfoot returned her nod and then ended the COM channel. “Okay everyone, you heard him. Prep our fighters for launch. And make sure we keep a close eye on the Karacknid fleet. I want every one of their capital ships targeted with our first salvo. Let’s make sure we do not waste any missiles on ones that Lightfoot manages to damage or destroy first.”
Trapped between the Allied fleets, the list of options the Karacknid commander had to respond with was rather short. Up until the last minute, it looked to Becket like he was simply going to try to hammer Lightfoot’s fleet as much as possible and take as many of Lightfoot’s ships with him as he could. Just before the first missile salvos were fired however, eighty ships broke away from the Karacknid fleet. Decelerating, they turned to confront Becket’s fleet. Becket grimaced. If she engaged them, it would delay her from coming to Lightfoot’s aid. That wasn’t acceptable to her. “Program our missiles to loop up and over the Karacknid squadron. Make sure Captain Hampton knows his fighters are to do the same. We’ll strike the main Karacknid fleet with our first salvo and then focus on this squadron with our second and third.”
“Acknowledged Admiral,” Wilson responded.
“Let’s hope one salvo and our fighters is enough to give Lightfoot the edge he needs,” Becket commented.
“I’m sure it will,” Captain Rogers said from his command chair. “And if not, we can cut through this Karacknid squadron and be able to come to his aid quickly enough.”
Becket nodded. She was confident that would be the case, but she didn’t want to jinx it by saying it out loud. Alerts from several consoles announced the sudden release of thousands of missiles from the Karacknids and Lightfoot’s fleet. A second salvo was launched before the first ones reached their targets. Then the Allied and Karacknid ships opened up with their point defenses. Thousands upon thousands of missiles were destroyed. Yet, neither fleet was able to take out everything aimed at it. Antimatter explosions erupted in the midst of Lightfoot’s fleet while grazer beams and then thermonuclear detonations pummeled the Karacknids. According to Viper’s sensors, at least three of Lightfoot’s ships were destroyed outright. Eight more fell out of formation, too damaged to continue in the fight. Outnumbered by nearly three hundred ships, the Karacknids fared worse. At least thirty ships were destroyed or disabled. As both fleets reformed and fired again, Becket felt Viper vibrate as her missile tubes hurled their own missiles towards the Karacknid fleet. On the holo display, she watched as the Karacknid squadron fired off its own salvo towards her ships. Fourteen hundred missiles would test her fleet’s point defenses, but she was confident they could handle that many.
Before she got to watch her missiles strike the Karacknids though, the second salvo from Lightfoot’s fleet and the main Karacknid fleet crashed home. More ships from both sides were destroyed or forced to flee from the battle. When Viper’s point defenses opened up, Becket watched her fleet tear into the small missile salvo approaching it. So many missiles were taken out in the first few seconds that she felt confident enough to switch her focus to the main Karacknid fleet. Having to split its defensive fire to take on both Lightfoot and her salvos, it was in trouble. More than a thousand missiles broke through their defenses and shredded over a hundred of the Karacknid ships. Then six squadrons of Spitfire fighters raced into the carnage and rammed plasma missiles down the throats of twenty-three more Karacknid capital ships.
Becket tapped a fist on her command chair. Their numerical advantage was paying off. The Karacknid fleet had been gutted. Two explosions near her flagship pulled her attention back to her own fleet. In a secondary holo display she saw one destroyer completely engulfed in antimatter. Miraculously, it flew right through the destructive cloud. It’s gaseous shields negating enough of the antimatter to allow it to survive. As the image zoomed in though, Becket saw that the destroyer had still suffered badly. Most of its valstronium armor had been wiped out, and a number of hull sections were open to space. When the second ship that had been targeted came into view, Becket swallowed hard. It hadn’t fared quite so well. The medium cruiser had a massive hole in her rear. It looked like the antimatter had eaten away the entire engine section. As Becket watched, the cruisers maneuvering thrusters desperately tried to keep the ship from going into an uncontrolled spin. “Get rescue shuttles to that cruiser immediately,” Becket ordered. “She’ll have to be scuttled. Get her crew off as quickly as possible. Her inertial compensators could fail at any moment.”
“We’re on it Admiral,” Wilson assured her.
Becket nodded to show she trusted her Chief of Staff. “Okay Lieutenant Salamanca, let’s finish this Karacknid squadron,” she said to her tactical officer. Already, the Karacknid squadron had another salvo of fourteen hundred missiles racing towards her ships. Over the next ten minutes, Becket had to watch three more of her ships be badly damaged. Yet in reply, it took her fleet just two salvos to all but wipe out the Karacknid squadron. What was left after the second salvo blew apart forty-six ships was no longer a threat. Ignoring it, Becket ordered two more salvos fired at the Karacknid fleet. Two more was all that was needed to finish it off as well. Lightfoot’s fleet had already capitalized on the damage their combined salvo and fighter attack had done. Less than an hour after the first missiles were fired, not a single Karacknid warship was left intact.
“Plot us a course to rendezvous with Vengeance,” Becket ordered. “We’ll finish off those Karacknid hulks with energy weapons as we pass. I don’t want one of them left to be salvaged someday.” No doubt there were still Karacknid crewmembers left alive on many of the crippled ships that were now nothing more than scrap metal. Becket felt no remorse in giving her order though. Not after all the horrors she had seen the Karacknids do. Especially after the report she had read from New Shanghai. Nuking a planet from orbit was an inexcusably horrible in and of itself. Yet, there was an impersonal nature to such an action. Rounding up civilians and slaughtering them en masse was a far more intimate evil. Time and time again, the Karacknids had showed themselves unworthy of mercy.
“Admiral Lightfoot wishes to speak with you again Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon said as he turned from his COM console to catch Becket’s attention.
Becket nodded and Lightfoot’s face appeared on the bridge’s main holo display. “Your fleet fought well, though I expected nothing less.”
“As did yours,” Becket replied. “Our crews should be celebrating. It’s not often we get to win such one-sided victories.”
“Not often indeed,” Lightfoot agreed. “I will make sure my people get an extra few days’ provision of rations. No doubt it will be well spent on fun and merriment.”
Becket smiled. “I will do the same. Now, what is our next step?”
“We’ll need to pause and make sure our damaged ships can make the journey back to Delta-fort on their own. What is your fleet’s supply condition?” Lightfoot asked. “Can you accompany us deeper into Karacknid space?”
Becket smiled at Lightfoot. “We have more than enough fuel and supplies to last us a couple of months. We made sure we were well stocked before we left Delta-fort. I’ve no intention of letting you and Somerville have all the fun. Let us go and see just what kind of mayhem our esteemed Emperor has been causing.”
Lightfoot returned her smile. “That sounds like a plan to me Vice Admiral. Have your ships fall into formation and we will be on our way.”
“With pleasure,” Becket responded. With pleasure, she repeated to herself as she imagined what Somerville was up to.
Chapter 10
A Karacknid High Admiral can only attain the rank after many resounding victories in battle. None among the Karacknid fleet hold the rank today, but many aspire to. The fame of Tanaka-lan lives on undiminished over the centuries. Every Karacknid commander wishes to match his deeds. It is the duty of every Imperial naval officer to see that they fail.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising 3002 AD.
Slayer, Jaranna System, 3rd May 2485 AD, (fourteen days later).
Tanaka-lan’s claws clattered on Slayer’s deck as he rushed onto his flagship’s bridge. “What is the report?” The duty officer looked up from his console in alarm. “Well?” Tanaka-lan demanded.
“We haven’t received a communication from the new contact yet,” the duty officer said hesitantly. “We’re not expecting one for several minutes.”
Tanaka-lan wanted to growl. Instead, he restrained himself. In a more leisurely pace, he moved over to his command chair and sat down. Immediately, the claws in his hands appeared and sunk into the cushioning of his armrest. The destroyer had come from one of the shift passages that led towards Human space. More specifically, the shift passage that led towards the two supply depots of Varanthon and Gilama. Under Admiral Rigula, the commander of the fleet based at Varanthon had sent him a communication three weeks ago, reporting that he believed the Humans were removing warships from one of their fortified systems. Rigula had hatched a plan with Under Admiral Kipre from Gilama to combine their fleets and strike at the Human Fort. Rigula had promised that he would be the one to destroy the first Kulrean worldship since the Kulreans had joined the war. At once Tanaka-lan had sent a fast frigate to Varanthon to forbid Rigula from attempting any such thing. He had given express orders to all his fleet commanders months ago not to engage in any offensive activities. Not until he had gathered up all the forces he needed did he intend to return to offensive operations. The Kulrean worldships were simply too powerful. One more month, Tanaka-lan thought to himself as his claws pierced deeper into his armrest. One more month and another fifteen hundred warships would join him in the Jaranna system. Then he would have the strength to begin overwhelming the Allied fortified systems, one by one. The Kulrean worldships couldn’t be everywhere at once. Slowly but surely he intended to grind away at the Allied Fleet numbers until the war was finally over. Yet, Rigula’s actions could jeopardize everything. There was no way the Humans would be weakening one of their fortified systems, not unless it was a ruse. Rigula was a fool if he thought otherwise. A fool who would not have waited for confirmation, Tanaka-lan feared. That was why he was so agitated. The new contact had likely come from Varanthon or Gilama. He was desperate for news.
“We’re receiving a message now, High Admiral,” the duty officer eventually informed Tanaka-lan. “I’m sending it to your command chair.”
As soon as it appeared on one of his displays, Tanaka-lan typed in a code that would decrypt the report. As he began to read, his claws ripped deep gashes into his command chair. Sparks flew from it as he dug past the protective padding. The officers all around him looked up from their command consoles. Tanaka-lan didn’t even notice. The report was from Varanthon. A sizeable Allied Fleet had raided the system. Everything had been destroyed. The destroyer that had brought the message was the only ship to escape. Letting out a growl, Tanaka-lan closed his eyes. He could easily picture what had happened. The Humans hadn’t been weakening their fortified system, it had been a trap all along! And somehow they have gathered additional ships, he was certain. For whilst he had put a halt to offensive operations for the last six months, he had doubled the amount of scout ships he had been deploying behind enemy lines. For the first time in the war, he had been certain he had an exact count on the enemy’s fleet numbers. That had been why he had been so confident he finally had the numbers to grind down the resistance and win the war. Yet, as if from nowhere, the Allies had put together a fleet of two thousand ships. And they have used them expertly, Tanaka-lan had to admit. Though there was no word from Rigula, Tanaka-lan was sure his fleet had been destroyed. And he was just as sure that the Allied fleet wouldn’t stop at Varanthon. Gilama would be wiped out. Then the enemy fleet would push on into the other systems that had been taken from the Mindus.
He let out another growl. It was an unmitigated disaster. Even if the Human fleet pulled back without advancing further, the balance of forces in the war had just shifted. He had lost two thousand ships while the Allies had gained the same number. That meant his plan to overcome their systems one by one would be delayed. Worse, he had already used his authority to pull every fleet and squadron within five hundred light years to his banner. In order to get more ships, he’d have to wait for reinforcements from the Imperator. By now, the report Tanaka-lan had sent about his retreat from Earth in the face of the Kulrean worldships would have reached the Imperial homeworld. A reply was likely only a month or so away. It was as likely to come with news that Tanaka-lan had been relieved of command than to give the go-ahead for his proposed plan to overwhelm every Allied system with massive numbers. Tanaka-lan ground his razor-sharp teeth together. That blasted Allied Fleet.
