Retribution (The Federation Reborn Book 3) (34 page)

Fourteen missiles hammered
Shizouka's
shields, temporarily halting the launch of counter missiles as they were battered down. Two missiles got through the dying shields to hit her dorsal deck forward of her tower scouring away her main turrets and point defense there. A dozen gunners and techs died in the carnage.

But far worse hit was the already damaged
Jiangsu
. Her sister's abrupt stop and her own momentary inattention proved to be her undoing. Two dozen missiles hammered her recovering shields flat and then a second wave cut through unopposed to batter the ship from stem to stern.

Renee heard her sensor rating suck in a breath and then exhale it slowly. She looked as others stopped to see the fireballs fade and
Jiangsu's
drifting battered hulk slowly tumble out of it.

“Comm, do your best to raise them. DCC, get to work. Guns, pick up the slack the best you can. Flight OPS, if we get a window I want you out there to pick off anyone you can,” she said as another missile bombardment came in.

“Something tells me we're not going to get the chance,” the boat bay officer replied quietly as another missile spread appeared on their sensors.

:::{)(}:::

“Admiral,
Jiangsu
has been badly hit. She's a write-off, no way she can jump. We haven't contacted anyone on board yet. Excuse me, I mean we've tried, no one is answering. And per your orders we can't slow so …”

“So the wreckage is drifting behind us. They'll be out of shuttle range in what, a half hour?” Amadeus asked, interrupting the painful report.

“Closer to an hour, sir,” Kyle stated.

“Keep me posted. Get some cover to
Shizouka
. Rotate in
Quenor's
Division.”

“Aye sir.”

“Have them both launch SAR shuttles, volunteer only. But be quick about it,” he warned.

“Aye, sir.”

“Switch our fire from attack to defense,” the admiral ordered, looking at Garfield.

Garfield's black ears went flat, but he nodded. After a moment their missiles went out in a slower stream targeted not for the enemy, but for the incoming missiles. Then the missiles cut off altogether as the force emitters changed from acting as shields to bending space around each ship.

:::{)(}:::

“It looks like we've got one, sir!” Sedrick said triumphantly. The ratings grinned and cheered tiredly.

“Good. Now get me another and another after that,” Admiral De Gaulte ordered. “Is she a kill?”

“Yes, sir. Her division mate is chewed up. They are rotating fresh ships to cover her, sir,” Catherine stated. “And their weapon fire has changed. They fired a few more volleys, but they are targeted at our missile volleys, not our ships. They are going off in the face of the missiles and causing massive splash damage. They've created a window for at least a minute, possibly two before their remaining missiles expend themselves.”

“Damn it. Keep me posted.”

Catherine nodded, but she was dubious as to why he wasn't celebrating. Then she checked their missile status as part of her routine. The BCs had fired nearly half their missiles. The dreadnaughts were better off but for how much longer? Well, they had … she frowned when she noted the time. Less than ten minutes.

:::{)(}:::

“Fighters have been recalled. The drones have taken up some of the slack, but we can't fire counter missiles so we're taking more hits, sir,” Kyle reported. “
Quenor's
taking a pounding.”

“Damn,” the admiral said mildly. SAR?”

Kyle shook his head. “None of the ships could get a shuttle off; the pounding was too intense. The last report said that her self-destruct package went off. If anyone is alive, it won't be for long.”

“And we can't help them, and the enemy isn't going to. Damn,” Jojo said quietly.

Amadeus glanced at her then back to his OPS officer.

“Sir,
Quenor's
lost her shields. They are trying to recover them,” a rating replied.

“Time to the next volley?”

“One minute, sir,” the rating replied in an emotion-ladened voice.

“They'll never make it,” Kyle said, staring sickly at the plot. “Not in that time,” he said just as he noted a ship moving out of position. “What the hell?”

“Sir,
Taurek De Nor
has moved out of position to cover her division mate,” a rating said unnecessarily.

“Comm …,” Kyle stopped himself. “It's too late anyway,” he said after a moment as the volley came in and the ship desperately tried to stave off the inevitable. But her gallant move also cut off the view from
Quenor
, so her point defense was obstructed, too obstructive to fire around her consort.

Missiles were cut down by the dancing fire of the invisible point defense lasers and even a few KEW rounds, but near the end of the onslaught, too many missiles got to their final acquisition mode to be stopped. Ten missiles exploded against the ship's dorsal port shields, then ten more just as it began to buckle. Jojo sucked in a breath as the last four missiles tore into her drive section and ripped one of her primary nacelles off. The nacelle tumbled away in ruin.

“Sir,
Taurek De Nor
is still alive, but she's battered. They …”

“Two minutes to jump. Warning, two minutes to jump,” Captain Vargess said over the intercom. “All stations secure for jump. Comm, blackout in five …four … three … two … one.”

“Sir …,” Jojo said as their incoming data stopped. The computers switched to showing their last estimates and highlighted each entry in yellow.

Amadeus just stared at the plot. “They'll make it or they won't. We can't do anything now, Lieutenant,” he said quietly.

She too stared into the plot and then nodded ever so slowly.

:::{)(}:::

“Can we squeeze any more speed …,” the admiral stopped his question when he saw Catherine's grim shaking head. He exhaled noisily. “All right.”

“Sir, we're having a hell of a time getting through to them. The defensive drones have run out of counter missiles but …,” Berney waved a hand to the plot. “Well … look for yourself.”

The admiral turned and scowled. The space around the fleeing federation ships was a cauldron of death. Energy weapons were firing with reckless abandon from the drones. When a drone expended its charges, it maneuvered into a cluster of missiles only to explode with eye-searing brilliance that took the missiles with them.

“We're getting some shots in, but not enough to stop them, sir,” Catherine reported. Her eyes flicked to the countdown clock. “Five seconds to jump. Sir, we need to get clear,” she warned.

“Helm, execute break away. Guns, fire every … never mind,” the admiral said as he noticed the energy discharge from the nearest enemy ship. Nothing was going to get through the wave of gravitational energy now. “Abort missile fire,” he ordered, turning to the tactical section.

“Aye aye, sir,” Lieutenant Myron Chekov his staff tactical officer said hoarsely.

“Damn it, they are going … going … gone,” Berney said just as the Fed fleet jumped. The admiral's eyes turned in time to catch the pulse as the ships leapt into hyperspace.

“Damn,” Sedrick said, shaking his head.

“Damage report,” the admiral ordered mildly.

“None sustained on
Executioner
or
Star Mauler
, sir. We've been getting reports of sustained damage on
Musashi
and the other ships however. Their last sprint volley did some damage to almost every ship, sir.”

“Understood. Get me a time estimate on when we can jump. In the meantime,” he said turning to Catherine, “get logistics off and running. I want the fleet resupplied
now
. If that means draining the munitions ships dry, so be it.”

“Aye, sir. And the ships too damaged to keep up?” Catherine asked, impressed that the admiral was thinking and planning ahead.

“Order the fleet train to do an assessment. If they can't, we'll pull everyone but a prize crew, pack them with our wounded, and then send them to Dead Drop,” he ordered.

Catherine nodded, making a note. “Aye, sir. And next?”

“Fuel. Then sleep,” he said with a grimace. “That includes you too, Commander.”

“Aye, sir. SAR duties?”

“If we get any beacons and can arrange it, by all means pick them up,” he said expansively. If you pick up any enemy beacons, let INTEL know,” he said nodding to Sedrick. “I'm sure they'll have questions for them.”

“Yes, sir. But if they follow the federation guidelines, then they'll have suicide packages,” Sedrick warned.

“To avoid rigorous interrogation methods or being turned into a changeling. If they were desperate enough to jump ship, then we can use that to our advantage. But you've got to find some first,” the admiral said, waving a dismissive hand. “In the meantime,” he paused and then yawned. A second yawn made him grimace. “Damn it.”

“Sir, you can get some rest. We've got this covered,” Catherine said. Sedrick and Berney nodded in support.

“Passing orders now?” the admiral asked.

“Just … respectfully requesting,” Catherine replied.

“No matter. I know. I'll bed down in a moment. Get me that SITREP so I won't worry about it,” he said. “We'll work on what we learned and how to plug any gaps when we jump,” he said.

She nodded as he walked out. It took her a moment to realize he was still intent on the hunt. She grimaced then nodded.

“No rest for the weary, eh?” Berney asked. Her grimace deepened before she nodded.

“I suppose we should get this done so he can bed down. The sooner he's tucked in, the sooner we can do so as well,” the princess replied.

“Now that's an incentive to bust our ass a little more if ever I heard it,” Berney replied, rubbing the small of his back before he made a show of cracking his knuckles and getting back to work.

Chapter 14

“Sir … we're still getting reports in. The fleet train is clear, all accounted for,” Kyle stated.

The admiral nodded. There was no way they could resupply while in hyperspace, but it was nice to know the unarmed ships had survived. They'd need them the moment they exited hyperspace. In the meantime the ship's crews would have to do their best to make what repairs they could while underway in hyperspace.

“Sir …
Taurek De Nor
… She didn't make it,” Jojo said in a strangled voice.

That announcement turned to a sad silence on the flag bridge. After a long moment, Admiral White cleared his throat. “They didn't jump?” he asked.

“No, sir,” she shook her head. “They did.
Quenor
just reported that they broke up on transition. Apparently the damage was too extensive,” she reported in a neutral tone.

He could tell she was fighting tears. She knew the bridge crew; she knew they'd been beaten. Hell, they all knew that part. Amadeus sighed. “Very well. The other ships?”

“All are accounted for, sir. It may take some time before they signal they are ready to translate up to a higher octave though,” Kyle reported.

“Very well. But I have one ship in mind to do so right away,” the admiral stated.

“Sir?” Kyle asked, blinking at him.

“We need everything we've got—logs, raw data, any reports generated, everything. I want it transmitted to the nearest courier. While you are doing that, I'm going to write my hot wash and send that as well.”

“Aye, sir,” Kyle replied with a dutiful nod. He turned after a moment and got to work. The admiral studied the man's back for a moment then went to work as well. They were down but not out he thought as he settled himself.

:::{)(}:::

Once they were clear of pursuit, Admiral White ordered the logs of the battle and his report to be transmitted to
UFDV-010S
, one of his couriers. He then ordered her to translate up through the higher bands and get to B-95a3 faster than the fleet could.

“We'll follow as fast as we can,” he finished.

The order puzzled the courier crew but they followed it. After a moment the courier translated up the octaves.

“Sir?” Jojo asked, concerned. She was fighting the fatigue and exhaustion but determined not to stand down until relieved.

“We need to get the warning out as fast as possible,” the admiral said with his back still to his flag Lieutenant. “Every moment is precious now. John is going to need to pull out all the stops to get as much hardware to us as he can if we're going to stop them short of Protodon,” he stated. “Meanwhile, we need to backstop every ship in transit. Stop them in Protodon where we can draw on them if B-95a3 is safe. I don't want to lose small groups in transit if I can help it. And heaven help us if we lose an entire convoy!” he shuddered and shook his head.