Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids (15 page)

When Stonbersa saw the advancing asteroid-ships, he ordered all his remaining fighters in the hangars to fly out to engage the asteroid-ships, and that was his mistake.  The Brotherhood had anticipated this action and knew that unlike carriers with synchronized shields, which flickered just long enough for an exiting fighter to get through, a starship needed to drop its shields to launch ships.  They had two small cloaked fighters, each bearing torpedoes, in advance of their asteroid-ships, close enough to get several shots into the hangar bay and to hit the gravity wave generators during the brief period when the RMFF shield was dropped.

We were still connected with the
PRIZAMET
with the vid screen and were in communication with Stonbersa at the time.  The first and only warning Stonbersa had before the torpedoes hit was a brief cry from a crewman at the sensors, “Admiral, they’ve launched torpedoes at the hangar,” and we saw the violent shaking of the ship as flames exploded from the consoles on the bridge of the
PRIZAMET. 
“Shields,” we could hear Admiral Stonbersa cry out as the screen flickered and for a moment all went dark and the image cleared again and we could see crewmen lying about while others staggered around the bridge.  “Did we get the shields back up,” Stonbersa shouted?

“No, sir,” a crew man shouted back, "shields are down and not responding to commands.  Sir, the controls are dead.”

“Send out a message to all ships in the area to….” Another explosion rocked the
PRIZAMET
as it took another hit from a torpedo.  This time the screen went black and stayed dark.  I had a painful sinking feeling in my chest when the screen went black.

“Marranalis, issue orders for all ships in range of the
PRIZAMET
immediately to go to her aid and assistance.  Tell them to look for cloaked ships in its vicinity and destroy them and also to put as many RMFF penetrating torpedoes as possible into those damned asteroid-ships.  Get me any ship in the area with a live feed camera to focus in on the
PRIZAMET;
I want to see what’s happening.”

“By the stars, Tibby,” Regeny gasped.  You don’t think the
PRIZAMET’s
gone,
do you?

“I pray not, sir, but it doesn’t look good;” I said, “they were waiting for the
PRIZAMET
to drop its shields and they nailed her hard when she did.

“Marranalis, contact Captain Nybidong and have him get his squadron of Ruwallie Rasson fighters through the closest Cantolla Gates and to Sector 2 immediately; I want them taking out every Brotherhood fighter they find.  Tell Captain Mareoparen to get us to the nearest Cantolla Gate and to Sector 2.”

“You’re not taking the
MAXETTE
to join the battle in Sector 3, are you?”  Regeny asked with a shocked look.

“You damn well better believe I am, Admiral and unless you plan on being in the middle of the battle, I advise you to head back to the
DUSTEN
where you are safe.  Things are going to be getting pretty hot and violent shortly.”  I saw Regeny’s face pale and a thin line of sweat streak down his cheek.  He stared a moment but said nothing.  He turned quickly and nodded to his bodyguard and headed for the door.  “By the stars, Tibby I hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered and quickly added. “Wabussie, are you coming or going into battle with Tibby?”  Wabussie stared at me a moment and I said, “You better go with him.  There is little you can do here and your services to the Federation are best served if you’re hunting down intelligence and not sitting here with the potential of getting killed.”  Wabussie nodded but said nothing as he rose from his seat and followed Admiral Regeny out the door.

“Sir," Marranalis began, “we are getting images from the frigate
MALPOSS
that shows the
PRIZAMET.”

“Put it on the screen."

When the image appeared, my heart sank.  I could clearly see that the area where the bridge had been had taken a direct hit and if Stonbersa survived, it was only because he was not on the bridge when the hit occurred and I doubted that was the case.

“Are we getting any messages from the
PRIZAMET
?”
I asked.

“Nothing at all, sir,” I could hear a tremble in Marranalis’s voice as he spoke, “Sir, there is another message coming in from Admiral Kophious.”

“On the screen, Captain,” I said and I watched at Admiral Kophious’s image appeared.

“What’s going on there, Admiral?” I asked with perhaps a bit more emotion than I should.

“Sir, our fighters you asked me to send and scout out the asteroid-ships reported back.  Sir, they’re not ships at all, just asteroids with a GW propulsion unit strapped on them and a few well-placed thrusters to keep them headed in the right direction.  They aren’t even manned as far as we can tell.  We’ve started picking off some of their ships, but most are turning and fleeing at the moment.”

“The
PRIZAMET
got hit with its shields down," I said.

“Is the ship all right?”  Kophious asked with a shocked look.

“It doesn’t look good.  It took several hits; the shields are still down, the ship’s not moving and there are explosions occurring onboard.  We’ve had no word since it took its second volley of torpedoes and that was a couple of minutes ago.  I’ve ordered more ships to the area, including the Ruwallie Rasson fighters and I’m taking the
MAXETTE
there as well.  Admiral Regeny and Admiral Wabussie have gone back to the
DUSTEN
for safety.”

“Do you need any ships from Sector 3?”  Kophious asked.  “With the enemy in retreat here, I think I can spare a few.”

“No, hold off and tighten up your ranks.  It may be a trap and as soon as your ships pull out they may turn and bring in even more ships.  I want you staying where you are for the moment.  I’m calling in ships from other sectors.  I think we will have enough to handle things here,” I replied.

“Marranalis, is anything new with the
PRIZAMET?
” I asked as I finished talking to Kophious.

“No news, there are still explosions going on; we’ve seen a few escape pods launched, but not nearly as many as there should be.”

“Damn, I hope Stonbersa made it to one,” I muttered.

“Sir, the bridge was totally destroyed.  I don’t see how anyone there could have survived,” Marranalis said in a reverent tone.

“What’s the status with the Ruwallie Rasson fighters?”  I asked.  “Have they arrived?

Years earlier, I had decided to set the Ruwallie Rasson up as a dedicated fighter group after they had shown considerable skills as fighter pilots.  They took to the challenge with great enthusiasm and became highly recognized as the best fighter pilots in the universe.

“Nybidong reports that they are on their way to the nearest Cantolla Gate; they will need to use three gates to transition here and it’s going to be close to an hour before they arrive.”

“Aren’t there any bases with gates in their area that will allow them to transfer through to carriers in the battle area?”

“I’m afraid not, sir, the nearest base is two hours away,” Marranalis replied.

Time ticked by slowly as the battle ensued.  Three of the asteroid-ships continued to close in on the
PRIZAMET;
our fighters managed to get another RMFF penetrating torpedo into one of them, but the shot missed the hangar; however, it did some damage to their GW propulsion system and the ship seemed out of control.  The other two asteroid-ships continued on toward the
PRIZAMET
; and once in range, unleashed a torrent of fire on it.  The
MAXETTE
managed to make it through a series of gates and arrived on the scene in time to see the
PRIZAMET
aglow with explosions and the heat from laser fire.  All around the area other ships, both Federation and Brotherhood, were engaged in battle.  The larger Federation ships with RMFF capability seemed to be surviving the battle. However, most of our smaller ships, though cloaked, had no such protection and the Brotherhood was slowly picking them off.  We, likewise, were picking off their ships and it seemed to pretty much be an equal contest as to who was winning that battle.  Our fighters were scoring hits on the larger RMFF protected ships of the Brotherhood with our RMFF-penetrating torpedoes, but we weren’t seeing the success we’d hoped for as many of the ships, though damaged, continued to operate and fight. 

I issued orders for Captain Mareoparen to launch our fighters; I wanted them concentrating on the larger ships and the two remaining asteroid-ships.

“Admiral,” Marranalis interrupted, “I’m getting an emergency call from First Citizen Kalana, she says your estate on Megelleon is under attack.”

“WHAT?  How the…, put her on,” I ordered.

Kala’s face appeared on the screen and her eyes were wide with fear, “Tibby, thank the stars I got through to you.  The estate is under attack from the air and from the ground.  Thank the stars A’Lappe and Cantolla figured out some way to make an RMFF shield that protects the buildings here, or we’d all be dead now.  However, Tibby, Reidecor and Rory aren’t here… they're out there somewhere and there are enemy Brotherhood on the ground.  Our security here is fighting them off and they can’t get inside the estate buildings.  Tibby, what should I do?”

“Does Reidecor have his com link with him?”

“I don’t think so, I tell him all the time to wear it, but he never does,” Kala said nervously.

“Were there any bodyguards with them?”  I asked.

“Yes, four of Jenira’s Women with Swords were monitoring them.”

“Have you been able to reach any of them?”

“No, I haven’t thought to try.  Jenira would need to do it.  I don’t know who they are, or have the codes to reach them.”

“Where is Jenira now?”

“She’s with Lunnie in the next room.”

“Go ask her to contact the women watching the boys and report back on their condition.”

“A moment passed before Kala reported back, “Tib, Jenira says the women reported that they have taken refuge with the boys in a cave near the treehouse.  It’s starting to rain and a strong storm appears to be moving into the area.”

“Good, that should hamper the enemy some.  Are there any casualties that you know of?”

“A few, maybe a dozen people who were outside the shield area.  I contacted Padaran on the
NEW ORLEANS
and he’s sent some of our security teams from there to assist us, but he says they are still fighting the Brotherhood at Alle Bamma.  So it will be a while before he can send more help.  How soon can you get here, Tib?”

“Kala, I may not be able to make it any time soon.  The Brotherhood has amassed a full-scale attack and we are in heavy battle now in Sectors 2 and 3.  The
PRIZAMET
has been destroyed and it’s unlikely that Stonbersa has survived.  I’ve needed to call in ships from other sectors to assist in the fight and I’m here in the
MAXETTE
now at the scene in Sector 2 trying to bring an end to the carnage. You’re going to need to rely on Padaran’s and Jenira’s security people to protect the estate.  The local military units on the surface should be arriving soon to assist you and drive the enemy away.  Until then, stay safe.”

“Oh no, Tib, not Stonbersa!” Kala burst into tears.  “Tib, I love you.  Please end this quickly, we need you.”

“I love you, too, Kala.  I need to go; the Ruwallie Rasson fighters are starting to arrive on the scene and I need to give them their orders.”

With the arrival of the Ruwallie Rasson fighters, the battle began to slowly change and things started going in our favor.  After two hours of battling with two more of our starships taking heavy damage while launching ships and thousands of our fighters having been destroyed, we managed to knock out all the asteroid-ships and the remaining Brotherhood ships turned and ran.  In Sector 3, Admiral Kophious reported that the enemy ships had appeared to have left the sector and only a few were still detectable on long range sensors.  I was hoping that we might be able to pick up some of the disabled Brotherhood ships from the conflict, so we might learn something about their faster engines and their sensors that now could reveal cloaked ships; but the Brotherhood had placed explosive devices on all their ships and as they fled the scene, the remotely detonated all the inactive ships, leaving us with nothing but trillions of tiny pieces of debris floating like a fog at the battle scene.

“What’s the situation at Alle Bamma?” I asked, once all the combat has ceased in Sectors 2 and 3.

“Captain Kerabac said that after the nuke detonation, the surviving Brotherhood ships turned and fled,” Marranalis.

“I don’t suppose that there might be one partially intact Brotherhood ship that we might get our hands on and look at?”

“Let me ask them,” Marranalis said.  After contacting me, he said, “Neither Kerabac nor Captain Felenna is aware of any, but they are sending out scout ships to survey the area, in case there is one there.”

“Great.  Can you connect me to Kala?”

“Right away, sir,” he replied.

“Kala, what's the status there?” I asked as soon as her image appeared on the screen.