Carinae Sector: 02 - Admiral's Fury - Part 3 - Fleet Action (2 page)

‘Admiral, the Jerecab armada are attacking a hidden Sspol colony on Neptune. We ourselves were unaware of the existence of this colony as we are forbidden to use active scanning systems in haven star systems such as your solar system. The Sspol have several ships present and they are powerful cruisers. I recommend that you go to the aid of the Sspol, as they will not be easy for the Jerecab to defeat and a combined defence will work for your advantage.’

Mary was very surprised at this development for humanity had certainly not known of the existence of the Sspol either in their home system. Her confused reply did little to reassure Gindane.

‘A whole alien colony in our home system, I can understand why the Barus forbade us the active scanning technology so long ago. Our authorities will be enraged by this development and I risk being removed from command of our forces…’

Gindane was only light minutes away in her own ship, but she seemed to take ages before she offered her further opinions.

‘Your authorities will always be a concern and I have experienced their lack of vision directly in my first mission to your planet. Now also note that it is highly unlikely for any other races to be hidden in your home system. As for helping the Sspol, trust me admiral; you must keep the Jerecab away from your home world for as long as possible. I am taking my own research fleet to Neptune as well and we have to act quickly.’

Mary had reached her decision at this point and now issued a series of orders.

‘The ten destroyers near the moon are to remain in defensive positions with the old missile frigates. The destroyers with the Exeter will alter course and head directly for Neptune at full speed. Broadcast non aggression clauses directly at the Sspol as we detect them; also broadcast hostile clauses directly at the Jerecab armada. Finally I want Gindane’s latest observations forwarded to the council on Earth.’

The supply ships with her fleet continued onwards towards the moon as the thirty destroyers rapidly altered course towards their new destination. Mary sat back for two hours to go through a series of options to attack the Jerecab. She already knew that they would be making a high speed attack so as preserve velocity for the return to Earth. Based on her calculations the Jerecab would arrive at Neptune three hours before her own fleet arrived with the Barus ships a further hour behind her destroyers.

Mary was just finishing her plans when the view screen lit up with the stern features of Chancellor Schmidt. He looked across with evident distaste as he spoke, even if he would not see her reply for another two hours.

‘The council just obtained your latest orders and you are advised to stand down until we can evaluate the significance of this new race at Neptune. We have delayed the vote for your replacement in the interim but you must remain under the control of the council. Also we are having further problems on Earth with hysteria, unrest and rioting relating to the presence of all these alien ships.’

Mary could well understand the concerns of humanity, as she stood up and gave a terse and measured reply she knew would infuriate the chancellor.

‘Chancellor I well understand the problems you are experiencing with the civilians, but you need to reassure them all that can be done will be done to protect them. We are now committed to attack the Jerecab ships at Neptune as we can do so with acceptable risks as long as we do so quickly. Note that all alien ships present in the solar system are fighting ships, and so I claim precedence of command under the emergency martial laws the council itself created many years ago.’

Mary broke the video connection and looked confidently around the bridge to reassure her crew. John Griggs looked at her from his console and gave her a nod of both respect and agreement as he considered her words.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus watched the rapidly increasing complexity of the coming battle with unease. He could accomplish only one of his objectives before the humans followed by the Barus arrived at his location near Neptune. Something about the approach of the two fleets of ships caught his eye and he sent an urgent order to Captain Neanres.

‘Captain, we will divide your task force and I will take fifty ships from your command. You will take forty frigates and the two lifters and use Neptune to swing across at speed towards Earth. Your new orders will force the human admiral to make an early choice while we occupy both the humans and the Barus. Also this course change will keep you and those lifters away from the Sspol cruisers near Neptune.’

Neanres altered course with his allocated ships, and the fifty requested ships from the taskforce had soon formed up closer to the rest of the armada. Admiral Baunrus noted the peaceful overtures of the approaching Sspol cruisers, but he responded by snarling a response across the bridge to his junior officers.

‘The Sspol think they can attack isolated Jerecab ships in secret but when I corner them at one of their own colonies they do not want to fight. Well today we drive the Sspol from our section of space for good.’

The admiral turned his attention back to the imminent battle, as the targeting computers chimed to advise the crew that they would shortly be in missile range. The lead frigates had released several more active scans and the admiral knew his next orders would spell death to many Sspol.

‘All ships are to launch three missiles each according to section number, with sections one and two targeting the cruiser that appears to be weakest. The other sections are to engage the remaining cruisers to prevent them interfering in our attack.’

A storm of missiles erupted from the Jerecab armada and raced towards the fleeing Sspol cruisers. Baunrus considered that he would neutralise at least one Sspol cruiser with very little risk to his armada in about thirty minutes.

                                                                     ***

The Maveen probe was quietly monitoring the communications between the humans as the first reports of the Jerecab arrived. For an advanced mechanical life form, the simple nature of human encryption systems hardly delayed his monitoring efforts. Probe three, still masquerading as scout probe eleven, now made an urgent call to Robert Seville.

‘Robert, your civilian authorities jeopardise the response of your admiral to the Jerecab armada. I concur with both Captain Gindane and Admiral Neilson in their battle strategy and I suggest you forward this information to your council. Also advise your authorities that I will act as a last line of defence for the Earth itself against Jerecab missiles.

The Maveen probe wasted no time in heading back towards Earth from Luna orbit. In the southern ocean near Antarctica the ancients huddled under their suppression field and evaluated the coming battle. Queen Angwene was considering ordering just Seliandre and Altarebe to flee, but she knew that the rest of them would surely die later as a result. The queen fought to remain calm as she watched the first parts of the battle begin between the Sspol and Jerecab, and she knew that with the delay in observing the distant battle it was already either won or lost.

                                                                     ***

The first Sspol cruisers had just cleared the atmosphere of Neptune when the missile warning alerts sounded. Greppun was controlling one of the point defence arrays as the first Jerecab missiles raced towards the flagship. Captain Hallime calmly altered course towards the armada and the other three leading ships quickly followed. The captain watched critically as his cruiser’s point defences acquired the nuclear missiles and began to swat them down.

‘Good shooting Cadet Greppun and remember to allow both adequate lead ups for targeting and a sphere of avoidance for the other cruisers.’

Greppun was too busy to reply and watched as the bulk of the hundreds of missiles launched at them were quickly destroyed. Several missiles survived though and the massive cruisers of the Sspol rang with a series of large explosions as their shields were struck repeatedly. The cadet felt desolation as the cruisers broke out into clear space, for a great many other missiles were heading for cruiser four some distance behind them.

‘Captain Hallime, the remaining missiles are beyond the range of our point defences and are heading towards cruiser four…’

The captain took on a colour change that signified both sadness and desolation as he softly replied.

‘Courage and strength are needed now; for the crew and engineers on board cruiser four will shortly die.’

The Sspol on the leading four cruisers went into the mental training expected of them with this news, and all watched what happened next with a mixture of grief and anger.

Cruiser four made a decent attempt to destroy the incoming missiles, but Greppun noted that a third of the point defence arrays were not firing and the ship was struggling with her power levels.

A series of explosions tore across the ship as over a dozen missiles detonated, and the other Sspol watched in horror as cruiser four’s shields failed and the ship itself exploded. A brilliant flash lit the upper atmosphere of Neptune as the cruiser vaporised instantly. Immediately a howling storm of mental pain struck out at both the surviving Sspol and the more distant Jerecab in their armada.

‘Father, Father…’

Greppun’s voice trailed off in grief that all the other Sspol were also experiencing over the deaths of so many of their race nearby. He knew at a basic level that his training was working as he sought to fight the mental anguish inside his mind. The cadet weakly updated the bridge crew on the status of the remaining missiles and got a brief call of both sympathy and gratitude from his nearby captain.

‘Captain the remaining missiles are now too distant to reach us, and are instead attacking the colony platform.’

The bridge crew noted the subdued skin colour of their captain as he gave a soft acoustic reply.

‘Cadet, thank you and my deepest sympathies for the loss of your father.’

The surviving Sspol cruisers accelerated out into space as their shields slowly recovered and Greppun now moved across to the primary weapons of the cruiser. He knew that they would be in laser weapons range in only a few moments, and the cadet forced his grief and anger down as he brought his assigned laser weapon online. The Sspol felt that the later destruction of their vacant colony platform by the remaining Jerecab missiles was almost an after thought. They watched in renewed anger as the massive platform exploded and the fragments plunged into the depths of Neptune’s atmosphere.

                                                                     ***

Admiral Baunrus picked himself up off the deck and noted the shaken condition of his crew. The mental anguish of the dying Sspol had raced across and severely affected the crew of his armada for several minutes. But he would have none of that as his next orders indicated.

‘Pick yourselves up and return to your duties immediately for we have to fight the remaining Sspol. I want those cruisers enveloped and destroyed.’

The wing sections of the armada moved to separate sides as the ships attempted to comply with his order. However the frigates had to leave an open approach cone vacant so they would not run into the planet. The Sspol quickly identified this weakness and they then tore through the vacant space to one side of the armada. Powerful beams of light raced out from the lead cruiser and tore into the first Jerecab ships.

Admiral Baunrus knew that the Sspol’s rapid approach speed was already causing the armada problems, for their cruisers were approaching at over five gravities in acceleration. He knew that he could slow the onrush of his own ships further but then that would mean less flexibility in his later attacks on the humans.

The cruisers continued to attack even as the weaker beam weapons of the Jerecab frigates now responded to the Sspol. A storm of laser fire raced out and would assault a cruiser for several minutes before switching across to another cruiser. The admiral watched in anger as the combined firepower of the cruisers caused another of his frigates to explode. He immediately berated his commanders over their fighting choices.

‘There are only four cruisers and I want each of them disabled in turn before going on to the next one. Do not only fire on the cruiser attacking your ship, also I want to see better covering fire support between all of you.’

The firestorm between the four large ships and the masses of Jerecab ships now increased again before the Sspol cruisers turned away. The admiral tore at his whiskers in anxiety as he realised what the Sspol were attempting to do. The Sspol had lost one cruiser but he had already lost four frigates. Perhaps unnecessarily the Jerecab tactical officer called out his report across the bridge.

‘Admiral the Sspol have altered course to brush past the starboard wing section of the armada. They will only be in range for another eight minutes at their increasing speed. Also the other races will be in range in little over two hours.’

Admiral Baunrus choked back his frustration as he took in the news, for the wily Sspol were proving elusive to corner and destroy. He was tempted to alter course and keep the Sspol in battle, but he voiced his main concern across the bridge as the view screen showed the rapidly increasing range of the Sspol cruisers. The admiral instead satisfied himself by organising the armada for the imminent arrival of the Barus and the humans. A lieutenant across the bridge coughed nervously and the admiral gave him leave to speak.

‘Admiral, the Sspol cruisers will return as they are now orbiting back around the planet Neptune. They appear to be slowing down as they left weapons range and they will be able to attack the armada about the same time the other races arrive.’

Baunrus was no fool and he gave further orders as he looked over his navigation console.

‘The other races attempt to pin us here at this planet. All ships are to close up and turn towards the oncoming ships as this is also an excellent chance to get closer to Earth.’