Empire in Crisis (8 page)

 Logan picked two more squadrons whose COs were
on his ‘get rid of asap’ list. After relieving them of command, he asked again
which squadrons were ready to leave orbit immediately. This time there were
seven hands. Seven out of fifteen was not great, but three of the remaining
eight were squadrons that no longer had anyone representing them in the room,
so the total could be considered ten. After checking with the other five, he
understood why their COs hadn’t raised their hands. All five had at least one
ship that did have an equipment problem with either warp drive or maneuvering
engines. That problem was easy to fix. Those problem ships were to be detached
from their squadrons, which would go into battle slightly understrength.

With all fifteen squadrons now at least
theoretically ready to go, Logan dropped the other shoe. Three more COs were
relieved of command. That took care of the seriously incompetent squadron
leaders. There would be more trimming of the command structure in the days to
come, but the rest of them would get a chance to show him they deserved to
stay. He waited until the chatter died down again.

“Now that some of the deadwood has been cleaned
out, it’s time to let everyone know what the Emperor expects of us. The 107th
wasn’t chosen for its fighting spirit and prowess. It was chosen because of its
strategic position in spite of its lack of fighting spirit and prowess. As I’m
sure you’ve heard, the enemy has overrun the Tango Delta 39 starbase and the
two cruiser squadrons tasked with defending it. TE33 is in the most probable
path of advance, and the 107th is the only fleet between TE33 and the Capital,
not including the depleted Capital Fleet, which is being held back as a
strategic reserve. That means the Emperor expects this fleet to defend the TE33
starbase and keep the alien fleet from advancing any further inward.

“I’ve reviewed the service records of this
fleet’s senior officers, and quite frankly, I’d relieve two thirds of you if I
could find more competent officers to replace you. Unfortunately, this whole
fleet is riddled with officers of below-average capability. I’m hoping that
some of you will motivate yourselves to rise to the challenge and prove that
you are capable of commanding your ships and your squadrons effectively.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why the Emperor
chose me, a SubCommander, to take command of the 107th. The reason is that I
have a natural instinct for tactical combat. I’ve also studied the advanced
fleet combat course that flag officers receive when they get their first star.
It is the Emperor’s considered opinion that in this situation, training and skill
is more important than fleet command experience.

“With that said, here is how we are going to
proceed. The 34th and 74th light cruiser squadrons will leave orbit as soon as
this meeting is over. They will engage in reconnaissance operations along the wormhole
path leading to TE33. Each wormhole will be treated as a connection to a
potentially hostile system, and each system will be reconned using the standard
procedures. Heavy cruiser and battlecruiser squadrons will leave orbit not
later than thirty minutes after the departure of the light squadrons. Their
task will be to provide backup to the light squadrons and to guard against
further penetration by the enemy in case they’ve moved a lot further inward
than we expected. The capital ship squadrons will leave orbit no later than one
hour after the light squadrons.

“When we get to the TE33 system, and assuming
that the enemy isn’t already there, the capital ship squadrons will take up a
close defensive position around the wormhole exit that the enemy is most likely
to use. The battlecruisers will be positioned far enough back from that
wormhole that they can make effective use of their missiles. The heavy cruiser
squadrons will be deployed around the starbase, and the two light cruiser
squadrons will continue to move forward in their recon role until they make
contact with the enemy fleet. Their job will then be to maintain contact with
the enemy fleet while retreating in front of it.

“If we get to TE33 and find the enemy has
beaten us there,” Logan paused to look at Corvosier who seemed to wince
slightly, “I’ll evaluate the situation and determine our course of action. I
want all of you to be aware that while our mission is to defend the TE33
starbase, it is NOT to defend that starbase at any cost. We defend it if we
can. If we can’t defend it, we evacuate it if possible, and we don’t let the
107th be caught by an overwhelming force and destroyed. My challenge will be to
make sure that we can disengage from battle if we have to. Your challenge is to
fight when I say fight and to withdraw when I say withdraw. Whatever happens,
fleet integrity has to be maintained. Withdrawing from a fight when you’ve not
been ordered to is clearly desertion in the face of the enemy. I don’t think I
need to remind any of you what the penalty is for that. Continuing to fight
when you’ve been ordered to withdraw, out of some confused sense of duty or a
desire to impress me, is equally unacceptable. If you follow my orders to the
best of your ability, your chances of survival will go up. Disregard my orders,
and all of us will be put at risk. In the interests of minimizing any further
delay, I will not be taking questions. This meeting is adjourned. I want the
34th and 74th to break out of orbit as soon as all COs are back aboard their
ships.”

Logan quickly got up and left the room.
Corvosier and the flagship CO were right behind him. Turning to Corvosier, he
said, “I’m sure you’ll want to go to your quarters to get packed. The Commander
will show me the way to the Flag Bridge. You’ll forgive me if I don’t come to
the Hangar Bay when you’re ready to leave, Admiral. Let’s go, Commander.”

Logan and the Commander arrived at the Flag
Bridge just in time to hear the heated exchange over the loudspeakers.

“What the hell is going on?” said Logan to no
one in particular.

“There’s a dispute over whose shuttle should be
allowed to leave first,” said the Fleet Tactical Officer who didn’t seem to
realize who he was talking to.

“Dammit!” said Logan as he turned to look at
Undaunted’s CO. “Tell these people who I am, Commander.”

“Listen up, people. This officer is Fleet
Commander Tyler Logan. Admiral Corvosier has been relieved of command of this
fleet. Acting Fleet Admiral Logan is in charge now, and don’t any of you forget
it.” Logan’s opinion of Senior Commander McKeon went up a notch.

“Get me a channel to Hangar Bay Flight Ops,”
ordered Logan. Seconds later he heard a harassed voice over the loudspeakers.

“Flight Ops here. Can this wait? We have over a
hundred officers who all want to get back to their ships at the same time!”

“This is Fleet Commander Logan. Who am I
talking to?”

“Senior Lieutenant Tomanaga, sir.” The annoyed
voice was suddenly a lot more respectful.

“Listen carefully, Lieutenant. Officers from
light cruisers get first departure priority, heavy cruisers next, then
battlecruisers and so on. Super-dreadnought COs depart last. Got it?”

“Ah, light cruisers first, yessir.”

“Very good, and Lieutenant? If any officer
attempts to pull rank and jump the line, you tell them that the light cruiser
Pegasus still has room on it for more deadwood when it heads back to the
Capital. Make sure you use the word deadwood, Lieutenant. I’m willing to bet
that will get them off your back. If it doesn’t, call the Flag Bridge,
understood?”

“Yessir!”

“Fine. Carry on, Lieutenant.”

Logan spent the next half hour giving each
squadron commander specific verbal orders. When that was done, he sat back and
watched as squadron after squadron accelerated out of orbit and went to warp
speed on a heading for the first wormhole. Undaunted, as the squadron flagship
for the 99th Super-dreadnought Squadron, led the other seven
super-dreadnoughts. Because of their size, mass and therefore slower warp
speed, the 99th would reach each wormhole last. Logan was aware of the risk
that the other squadron officers might perceive that fact as indicating a lack
of courage on Logan’s part, but shifting the fleet as a single mass of ships
moving at the speed of the slowest ships, was unacceptable. Time was of the essence,
and the cruisers could get to the TE33 system half a day ahead of the heavier ships.
That half a day might make all the difference. Each cruiser squadron Leader had
very specific instructions on what to do if they got there and found the enemy
there ahead of them.

Seventy-five hours later, Undaunted emerged
from the last wormhole into the Tango Epsilon 33 system. Logan was relieved to
discover that the starbase was still intact and no sign of any alien ships had
been found. A quick exchange of FTL signals between Undaunted and the ships
guarding the most likely entry point wormhole, with the starbase acting as
relay, confirmed that all was quiet at the other wormhole. The two dreadnought
squadrons were already in their garrison positions. The two light and four
heavy cruiser squadrons were even further forward along the chain of wormhole
connections leading to TD39. The latest messages from the light cruiser
squadrons were that they were halfway to TD39 and there was still no sign of
the enemy fleet. That puzzled Logan. The aliens had had plenty of time to move
forward. Why would they bother to attack TD39 and then stop their advance? He
ordered the starbase to send a query back to the Capital regarding any recon
reports from the fleets that were further along the Rift edge. An hour later
the results came back with no sign anywhere of alien incursion other than the
original report from TD39 itself. Along with the negative scouting reports was
a message from Hood.

[Hood to Logan. Suggest you be aware of the
possibility that the alien fleet has taken a less direct path to TE33. If they
have detailed information on Empire starbase and fleet deployments from a
captured ship, they may try to flank you and cut off any possibility of
retreat. The CSFO wants at least one squadron to move all the way to TD39 to
ascertain if the enemy is still there. I’ve advised against it. The Emperor
says it’s your call and to proceed as you see fit. End of message.]

Logan shook his head in dismay. On the one
hand, he was expected to recon the TD39 system, and if they did it properly
that would mean weakening the defenses around the starbase here. At the same
time, he was being urged to take precautions against the alien fleet coming
into this system from one or more of the other wormholes. Garrisoning them
meant the defenses would be spread even thinner. If he did both, and the aliens
attacked in both areas, he could potentially lose most of the fleet. Basic
military doctrine drilled into Academy cadets in their first year was the
principle of concentration of force. A fleet commander had to have a damn good
reason for dividing up his forces. Logan did have a good reason for doing
exactly that in getting here as fast as possible, but there was no urgency to
recon the TD39 system. Sending the entire fleet there was also out of the
question because it would leave the TE33 starbase completely undefended again.
He opened a private video channel with KcKeon to ask for his advice. The
Commander had some ready.

“You have four heavy and two light cruiser
squadrons to conduct recon operations. They only represent eight point five
percent of the fleet’s total combat strength, so even if all six squadrons were
destroyed, you’d still have over ninety percent of the fleet’s combat strength
left. My recommendation is to recall the heavies and re-deploy them in the
scouting role to the other side of the other wormholes in this system. If the
enemy comes at us from one of those directions, we’ll at least get some warning.
I would also recommend sending the 34th and 74th all the way forward to TD39,
with one backing up the other. Regardless of what they find there, they can get
word back to you in roughly nine days.”

Logan thanked him for the advice and cut the
channel. He had to make this decision alone.

DeChastelaine nodded as
the video replay of the interrogation finished. Hood’s suggestion about how to
trap the verifier had worked. The man seemed willing to co-operate in exchange
for a guarantee that the death penalty would not be sought, but so far he
hadn’t been able to identify anyone higher up in the conspiracy. The traitorous
Guard officer who had actually poisoned his clone-father was not offered that
choice. With his conviction a virtual certainty, the penalty would be death.
DeChastelaine stepped away from the display, and an Aide reminded him that
Lieutenant Jordania and Major Ryan were waiting in his private office. As he
walked through the door, both officers jumped to attention and saluted.
DeChastelaine returned their salutes and motioned for them to take a seat. As
protocol demanded, they waited for him to sit first. He was pleased that they
knew and followed the accepted rules of conduct, unlike some arrogant flag
officers he could name. When he was comfortable, he looked at Major Ryan. 

“When did Lieutenant
Jordania here tell you that you were on your way to a meeting with the Emperor,
Major Ryan?” 

“Well, ah…when our limo
was passing through the Palace gates?” All three of them chuckled. 

“I can understand your
confusion, Major. I’ll tell you why I asked the Lieutenant to bring you here.
You’re in command of the 9077th Marine Combat Battalion currently stationed in
orbit with Capital Fleet. Lieutenant Jordania has learned that the Head of the
Imperial Marine Corps, General Agustine, took the unusual step of personally
travelling up to your troop transport where he had a one-on-one chat with just
one of ten battalion commanders, and that one was you.” DeChastelaine took note
of the fact that Ryan suddenly seemed to be very tense. “I’m going to take a
guess that the topic of that conversation was a possible assault by your
battalion on the Palace. Is that correct, Major?” After hesitating, Ryan
nodded. 

“I told the General
that I would not obey any orders to assault the Palace. He then told me that I
would carry out any and all orders from Fleet Ops or my sister and her family
would have a fatal accident.” 

DeChastelaine looked
over at Jordania whose expression was one of anger but not at Ryan. Turning
back to the marine major, DeChastelaine saw that his expression was now one of
despair, and it was obvious why. He had just admitted to being part of a
conspiracy to engage in violence against his Emperor, and that met the criteria
for treason. 

“So you found yourself
in an impossible situation where you had to choose between your oath and your
family. I can tell that you take your oath to the Empire and to the Emperor, to
me, seriously, and I’m glad to see that. I’m now going to let you in on a
secret, Major Ryan, but before I do, I will give you a direct order to keep it
a secret from everyone, and that means no exceptions. Understand?” 

“Yes, My
Emperor.” 

“Lieutenant Jordania
may be wearing the uniform of a Space Force officer, but she is actually a
member of a very special unit of the Imperial Guard. She joined Space Force so
that I would have someone I trust in a position to keep an eye out within
Capital Fleet. She noticed your chat with the General and passed that information
to the Guard who informed me. I made arrangements for her to bring you here
covertly so that the traitors at Space Force HQ wouldn’t notice it. As far as
your dilemma is concerned, I can fix that too. I will have the Guard put a
24-hour protection team around your sister and her family at a discrete
distance. Your sister and her family won’t even notice that they’re there, but
they’ll be able to stop any threat. That should eliminate any pressure on you
to commit treason by obeying illegal orders. Do you agree with what I’ve said
so far?” 

“Yes, absolutely, My
Emperor! Thank you—“ He stopped when he saw DeChastelaine hold a hand up. 

“No thanks are
necessary, Major. My duty as Emperor is to protect all citizens of the Empire,
and that includes your sister and her family. Did the General say when you
would get those assault orders?” 

“No, My Emperor. I will
of course ignore them when they come.” 

DeChastelaine smiled.
“If you did that, they would just pass on the orders to another battalion. No,
what I want you to do instead is mobilize your battalion exactly as you would
if you were obeying the order, but instead of assaulting the Palace, I want
your battalion to take control of Space Force HQ and detain all personnel
within it until Guard units can arrive to take that responsibility off your
hands. And before your battalion actually drops down from orbit, I want you to
notify Lieutenant Jordania here of the situation. Do you have any questions,
Major? If so, then now is the time to ask them.” 

“One question, My
Emperor. If Space Force personnel at HQ should actively resist my marines, what
rules of engagement should my people follow? After all, they do have some
weapons stockpiled there.” 

“A good question,
Major. I doubt if generals and admirals will be so courageous as to fire
weapons themselves, but they might order the administrative staff in the
building to take up arms and resist. Those people are probably not active
conspirators, and if there is a way to overpower them without injuring or
killing them, I’d like your people to do that. However, I don’t want my marines
to suffer heavy casualties as a result of trying to walk on eggshells. If you
have to break some eggs to pacify the building, then you’re authorized to do
so. Have I made myself clear on that, Major?” 

“Very clear, My
Emperor.” 

“Very good, Major.
Lieutenant, do you have any questions or comments?” 

“No, My Emperor.” 

“In that case, I
believe we are done here. Enjoy your weekend leave, Major Ryan and Lieutenant
Jordania. When this crisis is over, I’d like to meet with both of you again.
I’m going to leave the room now, and the guard outside will let you know when
you can leave.” DeChastelaine stood up and walked out of the room before either
of the other two could jump to attention and salute him again. As he walked
down the corridor on his way to his private quarters, he smiled with
satisfaction.
Okay, Hiakawa, I’m ready for you now. You want a showdown to
test your power versus mine, well bring it on!
 

Hiakawa couldn’t help
noticing that the Emperor had a more confident demeanor when his holographic
image appeared in the Space Force HQ conference room. Hiakawa looked over at
the seven members of the Strategy Board and the fourteen members of the
Strategic Working Group sitting behind the Board members. None of them appeared
to have made a similar observation.

“I see that we’re all
here for this ad hoc meeting to discuss proposals for the conduct of the war.” 

Was it his
imagination, or did the Emperor sound more confident, too?  
Hiakawa
wasn’t sure and dismissed the notion. General Agustine’s assurance that the
9077th was ready to act meant that Hiakawa could put his foot down any time he
wanted to. The trouble was that he wasn’t so sure anymore that he really did
want to step into the Emperor’s shoes, at least not while there was a war going
on. He looked around the table at the members of the Strategy Board. None of
them had less than five stars on their collars. All of them had monumental
egos, and all of them were just as capable of turning on Emperor Hiakawa as
Hiakawa was of turning on Emperor DeChastelaine. It even occurred to him that
his subordinates might not consider him to be as good of a leader as
DeChastelaine was turning out to be. He had risen to his present position at
the top of the Space Force chain of command not because of exceptional skill in
strategy, but rather because of his exceptional skill in political tactics. But
the last time the Empire as a whole was at war was fifty-five years ago with
the two-faced Fabrinni, and while the Empire won eventually, the first year and
a half was a series of military disasters generally acknowledged by military
historians to be due to incompetent leaders and a command structure too rigid
to adapt quickly. 

Hiakawa was loath to
admit it, but DeChastelaine was correct in pointing out that the chain of
command was riddled with incompetent, egotistical fools. They were useful
assets during peacetime but a terrible liability during wartime. His problem
was that while they might be incompetent as admirals commanding ships, they
weren’t stupid, and they wouldn’t take a wholesale house cleaning of deadwood
lying down. The prospect of a full-blown civil war within the Empire at the
same time as alien fleets were threatening to strike deep into the Empire’s
heart was so terrifying that his stomach threatened to heave. Throwing his full
support behind the Emperor’s plans would be just the kind of act that could
trigger the civil war, while calling the 9077th down and deposing DeChastelaine
had its own set of dangers. If he were the new Emperor, he would still have a
war to fight, and he would still be faced with the same problems of endemic
incompetence and a bloated bureaucracy. And if he took steps to fix that
problem, he might still end up with a civil war. For now, he had to find the
fine line that kept both sides satisfied enough to avoid acting rashly. That
meant compromise, not capitulation, but he couldn’t afford to compromise too
much. 

“I’m happy to report
that the Strategy Board has some preliminary comments on Commander Hood’s Phase
One plan, My Emperor.” 

DeChastelaine’s
expression gave the barest hint of a smile. “Preliminary comments in less than
a week? I don’t think I can remember the SB ever acting so quickly.” Hiakawa
saw the Board members’ expressions react to the oh-so-subtle sarcasm. A couple
of them turned to look at him. He kept his expression poker-faced
neutral. 

“Would My Emperor like
to hear what the Strategy Board’s thinking is at this point in time?” 

DeChastelaine nodded
and waved his hand. “Yes, by all means. Let’s hear the preliminary comments,
Admiral.” 

“Thank you, My Emperor.
I’ll begin in the area of research and development initiatives. A majority of
the Board has endorsed the entire portfolio of R&D initiatives recommended
by Commander Hood, along with the priorities assigned to those individual
projects. A faster warp drive is unanimously considered to be our highest
R&D priority right now, with smaller warp-capable missiles having the next
highest priority. The consensus of the Board with regards to new classes of
ships differs only slightly from Commander Hood’s recommendations. While the
Board agrees that high priority design studies should commence for a missile
cruiser and a high warp capital ship, the general feeling is that the missile
cruiser should be even heavier than our standard battlecruiser in order to cram
as much missile capacity into the hull as possible. This new class of
battlecruiser would be designated as a heavy battlecruiser. The Board is aware
that a heavier class will take longer to build but considers the added
offensive capability to be worth the tradeoff in time.” Hiakawa made the
mistake of pausing too long. DeChastelaine took advantage of the lull. 

“Before you go on,
Admiral, I’d like to explore this heavy battlecruiser concept further. I was
intrigued by Commander Hood’s idea of using assembly line and modular
construction techniques, similar to what we’re already doing for light
cruisers, to build the maximum number of missile cruisers in the shortest
possible time. We know that technique works because light cruiser construction
times are less than half of what they used to be. The hollowed out asteroid
containing the Cyclone Enterprises shipyard complex was originally designed to
handle heavy cruisers as well. Commander Hood has determined that the shipyard
has sufficient room to assemble a missile cruiser that utilizes the engineering
and drive sections of the Valkyrie-class battlecruiser. We can get a head start
on the missile cruiser concept by beginning work immediately on the engineering
and drive sections, which will be mated with the rest of the missile cruiser
design later on when the design work has been finalized. However, that missile
cruiser concept is ten percent smaller than the original Valkyrie battlecruiser
design, and from what I’m hearing, the heavy battlecruiser concept is even
larger than the Valkyrie. That means it can’t be built using modular
construction techniques and will be too big to fit inside the Cyclone complex.
Wouldn’t it be better to have more missile cruisers sooner rather than fewer
heavier battlecruisers later?” 

Hiakawa mentally cursed
the Strategy Board for leaving that important detail out of their Executive
Summary to him. That oversight now left him with an indefensible position that
not only made him look stupid but would also require him to back
down.