Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Consequence (28 page)

              "I concur," said the Commander simply.  "It appears he has learned a lesson."

              On board
Pincer
, Tash's mind raced.  He watched the icons of ships weave through space and it reminded him of the self-illuminating insects that would come out at dusk on Callidor when he'd commanded his armies from there.  The bugs would appear as the sun went down, and at last light, when the sky turned from orange and amber to indigo and then black, they'd band together and soar through the air, swooping around in their search for smaller ground-dwelling insects to feast on.  The schooling nature gave them a measure of protection from larger predators, and their bioluminescence helped them stick together as well as startle the winged predators that would feast on them if they could. 

              They'd dance on the air currents, and Tash would watch.  It was something marvelous, especially since free roaming insects were not exactly encouraged on board the rattling old motherships his people had been cooped up in for all those years.

              He knew the reality, though.  Those little bugs dancing around in his holo field were real ships, filled with real people who were dying.  He needed to eliminate the predators and consume the prey.  Ravine's ships hovered just out of the field of battle, a blockade against any hopes of escape.  If he could eliminate her, though, he could very well absorb the ships in her element.  That would most definitely turn his forces back to the role of predator.

              "Captain, head for Representative Ravine's ship."  He pointed to an icon in the holo field.  "It is the Scythe.  If we can destroy that ship, I believe we will be able to establish communications with the misguided captains under her command and bring them back into our force where they belong."               

              Elco saw it the instant Tash's forces started their coordinated turn; they were headed right for the Commander's force, and no doubt at her ship in particular.

              "Commander," Elco said slowly over their shared comm frequency.

              "I see it, Captain Elco," the Commander arrived him.  "This is perhaps for the best.  If we can draw Tash out and identify his ship, this is acceptable.  I still cannot be positive which ship is his, though."

              "I hate to use you as bait," Elco replied, seeing Admiral Bak's face appear on screen now.

              "Just be ready when we identify him," the Commander replied.

              "Commander," Admiral Bak added, "once we've decided which ship is his, I would suggest a course reversal to bring all of you back towards our forces.  Tash's fleet is ahead of us and I hesitate to get too close if your two elements merge, but afterwards we could safely engage without too much risk to your other ships."

              "Agreed."

              Pincer held position at the center of the formation as they regrouped and headed for Ravine's ships.  It meant exposing themselves to more fire than they'd like from the Confed fleet, and Tash had to watch helplessly as a cruiser was shattered by a volley of torpedoes from a Crusader class ship.  No matter; soon enough it would all be over.

              "Captain, how long?" he asked.

              "Twenty seconds to intercept and optimum range," Captain Toron replied.  While he had his doubts about several aspects of the last few days, it was apparent that these two Priman forces needed to fight as one if they were to defeat the Confederation.  If Representative Ravine was opposed to that, then perhaps she was too far gone to save.  His only regret was losing the other worthy souls onboard her ship.

              "Fire," commanded Toron.

Fifteen

              "Short list just got cropped to one, I think, Captain," Caho announced from behind him.             

              Elco turned to look at her and she gestured to the big display on the bulkhead above her station.  She pointed to a ship in the middle of the attacking Priman formation.

              "What's the story?" Elco asked.

              "It's one of the ships on the list, and now as their elements shifted it was always the most protected.  Signals seem to come from that ship a split second before the other handful of control ships.  Not a perfect answer on a platter, but I'd say that's easily the best bet on the board."

              Elco knew enough to take her at her word, and nodded as he turned to his own display and commed the Commander and Admiral Bak.

              "Commander," Elco began, "my sensor tech thinks she's identified Tash's ship."  He tapped the offending vessel's icon and attached a tag to it which followed it around in the holo field.  "It's hiding in the middle of the formation, it was on our short list to begin with, and it seems like it has a split second lead on issuing commands.  It's our best option if we're looking to go headhunting."

              "We were leaning towards that vessel as well, Captain," the Commander assured him.

              "Leading from the middle," muttered Admiral Bak.  "How bold."

              "How would you lead as the commander of all your forces?" the Priman asked.

              "You can watch," replied Bak.  He turned off screen.  "Tell Captain Montari I'm coming forward to the bridge.  We have a target.  Grab-" he paused to look at another display "- Venture and Royal and bring them to us.  We're going after that ship as soon as I get there."

              "Admiral," Captain Elco called out before Bak could sever the connection.

              Bak stopped, momentum trying to carry him forward, but he caught himself and turned back.  "Yes, Sirian?"

              "Avenger should be there as well."

              "Avenger has always been there.  You've done your part, Elco.  Let some others take the risks for once.  You've earned yourself a break."

              "But that's exactly it, Admiral.  We've been through it all, seen so much; we need to be there when you catch this man and bring the war to a stop.  I'd say we've earned
that
as well."

              Bak blew out his breath, shaking head head back and forth.  "Fine, but don't get blown up.  You've made it too far for that."

              "I promise to not get blown up."

              Tash's ships sailed right into Ravine's formation.  Her ships still hadn't fired on Tash's, but his own vessels shared no such hang-up.  They opened fire on her ship as they merged, several of her ships trying to place themselves in the line of fire in the process.  They suffered, shields collapsed and hulls opened to space, systems destroyed and crew killed, in what Tash saw as a waste of resources and Ravine as a travesty that her people were attacking each other.

              She remembered Admiral Bak's request, and as her ship shuddered from another hull breach, she had to virtually yell her commands to Captain Vol.

              "Reverse course one hundred eighty degrees.  We're going right back to the Confed fleet.  With any luck they can help peel this formation apart and disable or destroy Tash's ship!"

              The captain's response to her was drowned out by a deep groan which followed the hollow bang of another hull compromise, this time accompanied by the painful pressure changes of the air rushing out into space.  She only hoped this would end before all her people completely finished turning on each other.

              "She's doing it," Bak said softly, almost reverently.  He stood next to Captain Montari's station on the spacious bridge of Majestic.

              "Provided she lives long enough to complete the maneuver," Montari added.  "Her ship is virtually destroyed."

              Bak could only nod his agreement.  She ship was probably just coasting on momentum now, her drives having flickered and winked out a few seconds ago.  Main power seemed to be gone as well, and now as Tash's vessels continued to pummel the stricken vessel, the incoming laser blasts all dug deep into the doomed ship's guts, flashes from deep within the vessel lighting up the wreckage inside.

              The Priman formation was on a collision course with the Fourteenth Fleet now, and Admiral Bak felt his pulse quicken.  He'd been amped up all the while, of course, but again his pulse quickened at what he knew was coming; he was going to cross the Priman formation's T in one of the oldest maneuvers in naval warfare.

              With the enemy headed right for him, he called out to Captain Montari, who executed the preprogrammed shift.  The entire Confed fleet made a ninety degree turn to port, showing their starboard sides to the inbound Priman fleet.  This allowed the Confed vessels to train the maximum number of batteries on the incoming Priman ships, and in the case of the Starshaker battleships, six torpedo tubes each.  The Primans, being pointed right at them, could counter-fire only with their forward facing weapons, which were drastically fewer in number.

              The Primans all seemed to see it at the same time, and both parts of their fleet broke contact haphazardly, ships scattering in all directions.  Some went up, down, some went full reverse and simply tried to stop, others bumped into each other, such was their concentration on each other that nobody had kept very close watch on the Confed fleet.

              As the ships closed on the Fourteenth, Admiral Bak gave the command every officer dreamed of: "Fire!" he said through gritted teeth, fists clenched in anticipation.

              Tash saw it; the end of his reign.  Laser blasts reached for his ship, stabbing out through the dark and chipping away at his mighty vessel.  There were too many laser bolts to absorb, inbound torpedoes from a half dozen ships.  His own fleet tried to help, to fire back, shoot down the weapons, even put themselves in between his ship and the Confeds, but it seemed the will of the galaxy would not be denied.  It was simply too much.

              He looked at the captain, swung his gaze from crewmember to crewmember as the ship was rocked again and again.  He heard the explosions in the distance, the sound rising and then falling as bulkheads sealed off damage and were in turn blown open by the next wave of destruction.  He even felt the air heating up as the ship began to explode, time seeming to slow down, his perception catching the details of the event; crew stumbling to the ground, electrical overloads and sparks, fire, heat, violent pitching and explosions as the stricken vessel bucked beneath them.  It had never occurred to him that the humans might actually win.

              Everyone watched in fascination as Pincer was engulfed in a titanic fireball.  The oxygen quickly burned off, leaving an expanding debris cloud as parts of the vessel went sailing off in different directions.  Enough firepower had been directed at it that there wasn't much doubt as to the ship's fate; the remaining Priman ships of the attacking fleet continued to fire on the Fourteenth as they flew by on their myriad vectors, continuing to deal out their own damage in retaliation for the destruction of the man they thought was their Commander.

              From down in Avenger's C3, Loren only had two thoughts.  One, that Ravine needed to hurry up and reign in the Primans out there or he was going to have to keep trying to kill them all.  And second... Ravine...  He looked at her ship, just a mass of wreckage coasting through space.

              "Flight Ops," he called out to a console near him.  "Get Search and Rescue out to the Commander's ship right now.  The Primans might be doing the same, but we can't let her die or this might all just be for nothing.  Bring every Priman you find back here and we'll set up triage in the landing bays."

              Loren turned to Mastruk.  "If they start bringing these guys in, I'm going down to the hangars to confirm Ravine's there.  Let's have some Marines, too, just in case somebody gets ornery."

              Loren tuned to Velk, who had been standing very patiently behind him on the command platform the entire battle.  "Representative," he began, "I assume you'd like to go with?"

              "Absolutely."

              The hangar was a mess, a combination of hastily parked fighters as well as small groups of personnel connected to the ongoing search and rescue operations.  There were roped-off areas where hovering gurneys bobbed gently, medical personnel racing back and forth between them with all manner of diagnostic and healing machinery.  The Priman physiology was close enough to a Confed human's that triage was comparable; a small number of walking wounded Primans accompanied the Confed medical officers, offering advice and assistance where needed.

              Loren searched the chaotic mass, looking for any sign of the Commander.  Finally, Velk called out and left his side, peeling off to head towards a small knot of Primans.  Loren followed closely, bumping into both Confed and Priman officers along the way.

              Loren stepped up to the gurney Velk was attending and recognized Ravine, the Commander.  She had suffered some burns on her left side, some cuts as well showing through a few small rips in her uniform.  The diagnostic monitor showing her vital signs seemed to be within the stable range, though.

              "Commander," Velk said simply as she raised the gurney's back to a sitting position.  A medical tech stopped by to check her monitor, then quickly hurried off.

              "Representative Velk, it is good to see you."

              "Likewise.  We are attempting to rescue as many of your crew as possible."

              "Thank you," the Commander said distractedly, "but right now we must end this battle.  What is the status of Tash's ship?"

              "Rapidly expanding gas cloud," Loren stated simply, feeling less joy than he should have in the statement.

              "Then I need to address my ships immediately and command a cease-fire."

              Loren nodded and pointed to the hangar command station that straddled the blast doors which separated the hangar from the briefing rooms and interior of the ship.  "If we can get you to that station, we'll have all the equipment you need."

              The Commander swung her legs off the gurney, much to the annoyance of the medical tech who came darting back.  Velk gently waved the woman off, who simply looked at Loren for direction.  One of the Marines nearby also perked up at the movement, but Loren smiled and nodded at both, and they went about their business.

              Loren and Velk helped Ravine walk through the hangar, the noise of engines and people yelling over each other an assault on the senses.  They finally made it to the command station and carefully stepped up onto the platform.  Ravine took a seat in the chair Loren pointed out and turned to face the monitors.  Loren simply set up the broadcast on the shared frequency all the fleet units were using, and Ravine added in several more Priman bands to the buffer.  Loren knew he really should have told Captain Elco what was going on, but there simply wasn't time.  He'd accept blame later.

              Ravine looked at Loren for confirmation, and he replied with a thumbs up and withdrew from the camera's field of vision.

              "Elements of the Priman Fleet," Ravine said in a strong voice, "this is the Commander.  I address both the fleet I arrived with as well as the forces attacking Delos, formerly under the command of Representative Tash."  She held up the totem she'd received from the Council chair woman for everyone to see.   "This was given to me by the Council to verify my mandate from them; I am now in charge of all Priman forces.  Representative Tash has been removed as Commander for actions against the Council and contrary to our own orders and beliefs.  I call upon all Priman ships to break contact and reform peacefully.  Confederation and allied units assure us they will do the same."  She turned to Loren, inclining her head to indicate it was his turn.  Loren stepped into the field of view. 

              "Confederation ships, allies, everyone under the command of Admiral Bak.  Follow the orders given out before the battle.  The Commander is an ally, and is a guest aboard our ship while she coordinates her own fleet movements.  The Admiral will contact all of you as well."

              Loren saw the message buffer light up with comm chatter, and noted a master channel from Admiral Bak.  Loren quickly scanned the transcript and saw orders to stand down as well.  He nodded to Ravine and left the camera's field once again.

              "Priman forces, we have so much to discuss, I cannot possibly hope to give you a clear picture in the short time I will be aboard this vessel, Avenger.  The takeaway is this: we will coexist with these people, find a way to live together without mutual annihilation, because destruction is the only outcome possible if we continue down this path.  There is an old humanoid saying: gaze too long into the abyss, and it will gaze back into you. Representative Tash wanted to destroy everything and everyone, and I believe we would have fallen in that process as well.  Today, we will enforce a new truce, a cease fire as our governments begin talks on a real negotiated, long term solution.  I will contact you again from my flagship."