Chapter 1.75 Interlude
Excerpt from Cazov Destroyer Captain, by Fumenous Harna
It’s been a month since the conquest of the last Gander system, and our fleet has since moved on to the system that was on the doorstep of the bureaucratic Ahlon nation. Our relatively fast advance was mainly due in part to the use of warp-capable missile pods, though it came at the cost of the necessary massed pinnace probes to obtain the targeting data. Today was no different as my ship, the Flintlock, held station with the rest of the fleet as 100 pinnaces entered the warp point that lead to the Ledger system. Captured data showed that only colonies and outposts populated the system’s various moons and asteroids. The only planet in the rock zone was a hostile environment unfit for both Cazov and Ahlon habitation, though it held promise as it could be subjected to prolong, intense planetary engineering.
I wished the lead-lickers in charge had pushed for the development of the armed pinnace. Had they done so after seeing the obvious advantages it conferred for the Gander we wouldn’t be conducting costly mass probes, mainly in the loss of personnel, but actual raids. To support this probe a line of six troop transports had to be set up between Signpost and here, covering four systems. With the orders given to the pinnace crews I expect that only the service of one troopship would be needed afterwards. One pinnace came back one minute later, followed by another 30 seconds later, and finally 11 more returned 30 seconds after that. It would’ve been 13 but two interpenetrated and exploded violently. For losing 87% of the probe force from interpenetration and combat we learned what waited on the far side.
As a commanding officer I had permission to access to the data transmitted by the pinnaces. Again, there was no way to determine the number of mine patterns, though the buoys were an even 300. Keeping those buoys company was the combat area patrol of 27 armed pinnaces and 24 Needle anti-fighter craft. Despite being out-gunned our pinnaces did quite well, shooting down all of the former and half of the latter. There was a surprise in that the violent death of the Ahlon armed pinnaces was much greater than normal. Further analysis showed that said craft were carrying FRAMs, and that could only mean that the enemy ships and bases were equipped with antimatter ordnance as well.
No ships were detected within the pinnaces’ scanners. Instead there were 6 BS1 forts 2 LS out with 3 more 1.25 LS beyond them. At 2 LS range were 8 BS2 forts. 2.5 LS beyond them were 6 forts, each as massive as a battleship, and two more of those cruiser-sized ones. Our pinnaces witnessed the crash-launch of armed pinnaces and anti-fighter craft from four of those BS2s, and those anti-fighter craft were able to engage our pinnaces before they returned, explaining part of the losses we sustained. Unusual, all the bases were on the same heading, instead of being divided into equidistant groups.
It was clear what Admiral Felonius was going to do next, and when he got the data from the second pinnace he didn’t wait. A small wave of missile pods, 400 in all, was programmed and deployed in one minute from the Bonnie Crabappleseeds. Another minute after that the pods were through the warp point. We wouldn’t know the results for seven days, for it was at that time our assault would go in. Felonius, like most admirals, based that decision by rolling a decagon and using the resulting number. In the meantime the Lightning pilots conducted practice attack runs on our ships and mock dogfights with shuttles and the handful of pinnaces standing in for the armed Ahlon variety.
The day came, and the first wave was made of four Thunder Snows, one Neutron and Containment. Of the two Thunder Snows expected to return one minute later only one did, accompanied by those courier drones not shot down by the Ahlon CAP. The first carrier was wrecked and most certainly won’t return. However, like its partner the squadrons it carried had only standard close attack missiles, explaining why said carrier wasn’t destroyed when the first hanger bay was collapsed. In his planning Felonius took into account on how the enemy always concentrated their fire on the first pair of carriers. Thus the enemy had to continue on that first carrier one instead of switching to the second. As for the second pair of Thunder Snows their squadrons were armed with FRAMs. Now it was to the first five squadrons of F2g Lightnings to break the CAP and freshly launched Needle anti-fighter craft.
The second Thunder Snow transmitted its targeting scanner data. Like the other captains I gave my full attention to one of my repeater plots as the breakdown of the Ahlon forces was produced. At a distance of 8 LS, orbiting the warp point at 0.033c in an arbitrary counter-clockwise manner at the east-northeast orientation, were 8 DN, 9 BB, 6 CA, 9 DDLs, 4 DDE, 8 FG, 3 FGE and 12 CT. Keeping that fleet company in a discreet formation were 2 BC, 2 CA, 1 FT8 and 3 FT4. These were likely the anti-fighter craft/armed pinnace tenders. At a distance of 9 LS, spread equidistantly, were four suspected automated weapon control ships; a good thing that none of them apparently became active, for if three of them did then the first wave would’ve been destroyed. Missile fire from the BS4s proved that their warheads had antimatter as well. Losses were going to be heavier and faster as well.
Our missile pod bombardment a week earlier was partially successful. Only one BS1 out of the nine survived, along with five out of ten BS2s. The first wave Containment fired its lasers at a BS2 confirmed to be one that launched Needles. Multiple plumes of escaping atmosphere proved that the base sustained armor damage in the bombardment. I hoped that the Needles assigned to that base were still in its bays instead of being part of the CAP. The six undersized BS4s were still there, and it was anyone’s guess on how much damage was done to them. For the CAP it was made of 21 Needles and 20 armed pinnaces with two of the latter having been shot down by CAMs from the first wave Neutron. Weapon buoys remained at 300, and the mine field was 600 patterns strong, minus 6 plus change from the passage of the pods and two more from mine clearance charges fired by the carriers.
A warning buzzer reminded me that the Flintlock and five sister ships, the fifth wave, will be transiting into Ledger in 90 seconds. As the third wave proceeded into the warp point ships from the first and second waves came back. Three Thunder Snows with heavy armor damage marched past our ships, proving that the Ahlon had fired at least 200 of their 300 laser buoys. The Neutron from the first wave stumbled and staggered, armor gone and large sections of her innards exposed to vacuum. Fresh transmissions told the loss of one CA and a BBV along with the anticipated loss of another BBV.
Enemy losses so far were low. Three of the BS2s were gone, their spinal lasers no longer a threat to our cripples. 12 of the 21 CAP Needles were shot down, along with 6 more that were crash-launched from the BS4s. Of the armed pinnaces on the CAP just seven remained, braving the minefields as they went northeast to their tenders. Only three Lightnings were lost, and no crash-launches were detected from the Ahlon fleet. This meant that either the walking logs were slow on the uptake or opting to hold their small craft until they could all be launched en-mass.
Wave four went in, six cruisers strong, and only one BBV returned. The Ahlon had fired their remaining 100 buoys to finish what the BS4s started. One CA, one BBV, and one BB were gone with another BBV about to die. The 5 BS2s that sat 2 LS out were gone, and another, sitting with the BS4s and now obviously with heavily damaged armor, was lazed at long range by the approaching first wave fighters. One laser hit a shuttle bay containing an armed pinnace equipped with FRAMs, causing the whole base to go up in a fireball. The other BS2 crash-launched its armed pinnaces, but those were brought down by massed long-range fighter lasers as well. The sole BS1 was brought down by the second wave fighters, only one of which was shot down. Six Lightnings from the first wave were bagged by the pitifully few Needles and point defense of the BS4s. There was still no sign of additional Needles and armed pinnaces, lending further credence that the Ahlon were holding them back for one big strike.
As the fifth wave, the one that included the Flintlock, entered the warp point one by one I was surprised to see the remaining second wave BBV emerge. It scarcely had life support and an engine to its name, and if wasn’t for the fact that all BBVs enter warp assaults with no antimatter ordnance in its magazine then it would’ve joined the other two carriers. A primary beam had hit said magazine, and had it struck an already damaged engine room it would’ve been sitting on the far side. Such thoughts left me as the Flintlock made transit, waves of nausea and disorientation covered me for a moment that might as well been a decade.
Once on the far side we saw what the fighters did. All the Ahlon bases were gone, and the two waves of fighters had combined en-route to the Ahlon fleet. Meanwhile the mine clearance work was excellent. Along with our six Gunships and three Saturations the selected mine patch was down to 21 patterns. Now in weapons range, the capital-missile armed Ahlon DNs and BBs opened up on the first Dynamite Fishing minesweeper. Antimatter warheads (I’m not going to call them doesn’t-matter warheads, despite the Dictate’s proclamation) crushed shields and made short work of armor already sieved by laser buoys. Due to a lack of time to come about on an exit vector the captain of the first DF, having sustained heavy internal damage, ordered his command into the rapidly depleting patch so as to hasten its clearance. This was an agreeable sacrifice as the enemy would’ve finished it off with long-range fire at any rate. As it turned out it was an important move as the DF’s long-range sensors picked up a secondary minefield, one that circled the warp point at 0.5 LS distance. The particular patch in front of the DF was 47 patterns strong, showing that it was there when our missile pods (one group went NE and the other NW) transited last week. Had there been no secondary shell then our bombardment would’ve done more damage if not eliminated more BS2s.
A portion of the enemy fleet, all of them dedicated Needle and armed pinnace tenders, launched their flight groups and turned away while the rest moved towards us, reaching 6.25 LS with 9 DDLs at an even 6 LS when they opened up again. This time it was the second Dynamite Fishing instead of the sixth wave ships, composed entirely of Reactor missile cruisers. Once the antimatter fireballs died down it was clear to see the DF was as bad off as the first one. And, like before, the captain of this ship decided on a valiant death by his own hand instead of one inflicted by the enemy. While the second DF died in the outer minefield the captain of the third DF decided that discretion was the better part of valor, orientating his ship so that it had a chance of transiting out should the need arise.
Our 167 Lightnings were held back, just outside of point defense range of the Ahlon, and tempted the 33 Needles, 43 Apins and 3 regular pinnaces to come out after them. No such luck as the small craft stuck to the capital ships like iron filings to a magnet. Save for the DDLs, which made a circular course so as to keep the same range, the Ahlon fleet slowed to 0.016c and employed maximum EM & ECM. This despite the fact that our ever-reinforcing fleet was still determined to blast a lane through the second tier of mines. Like the slavish adherents to procedure they showed themselves to be the Ahlon fired on the third Dynamite Fishing. Capital missiles were followed by spinal lasers from Bureaus, Supervisors and Appointees, yet the ship stubbornly held on, and it transited out as the eighth wave came in.
Felonius, having arrived in the sixth wave on his BC flagship Despicable, ordered all ships except the newcomers to advance into the first cleared mine patch in preparation for the impending break-out. Our speed was a mere 0.016c with EM and ECM at full available power. The Ahlon increased speed to 0.033c, putting them 5.25 LS from the bulk of our fleet. Our fighters went in, ready to reduce capital ships into ruined hulks when the second surprise made its presence known. From a pair of heavy cruisers came intense jamming fit to break the datalinks of our fighters. To restore them the pair had to be destroyed, but not before the enemy had put up an anti-fighter barrage fit for a barrier range storm. 89 of our Lightnings were shot down by beam, point defense, proximity-mode sprint missiles and small craft armament after all was said and done. One Reactor lost all of its passive defenses and its cargo hold. For all that we were able to neutralize the two offending cruisers and significantly damaged two Bureaus. A poor trade, but our gallant pilots had shot down nine Needles and all but three of the armed pinnaces. To preserve what was left of his current flightgroups Felonius ordered our pilots to drop whatever remained of their external ordnance and to place as much distance between themselves and the Ahlon.
The ninth wave contained six more Gunships, but we weren’t going to wait for them. Our mine clearing efforts was rewarded as a path was blasted through the second shell, freeing us to move out and maneuver. With the Reactors going their own course the rest of us went at full battleship speed towards the oncoming Ahlon, antimatter or not. Whoever was in charge on the other side had the same idea, sending all but his capital missile units forward at 0.083c. Primary beam fire from the Bureaus and the Supervisors was concentrated on our Reactors with the intent on knocking out engine rooms. Fire from both the Bureaus and Committees and sniping from the rest of their fleet destroyed one Reactor and reduced the drive strength of another. One lucky BC managed to knock out or deflected all the missiles fired at it due to superior point defense and EDMs. The one Neutron in the battle was destroyed, no thanks to the previously sustained laser buoy damage. We only accomplished in further wrecking two Bureaus and scrubbing the armor off a Supervisor. Seeing how many light units the Ahlon had once we get in range…
Just a quarter of a light second out came another surprise from those walking logs! They held back two more ships equipped with jammers. Had they been smart then their Supervisors would’ve been carrying them, but they were on a DDE and FGE. The sole Mine Swatter involved in the assault fired at both, using half of its load of antimatter sprint missiles in the process. Both small ships were crushed, and in turn the Mine Swatter was bludgeoned by a hail of counter-fire. We were practically at point-blank range and the losses on both sides proved it. A Neutron, four Containments, the Mine Swatter, three Gunships, two Laser Sweeps, and a Reactor were consigned to fiery death while we only managed a Supervisor, three frigates, and one corvette. Heavy damage had been inflicted on another Bureau, a Supervisor, a Secretary, and a DDLs. Two escort destroyers broke off from the Ahlon formation and changed course, going full speed to catch up to the receding BC-hulled pinnace tenders.
Our reinforcement continues, and as our original force moved on the crawling missile ships the regular Ahlon force came about and followed, only 0.5 LS from us and the ninth wave Gunships. Due to maneuvers on our as well as the enemy’s part we weren’t subjected to spinal lasers in this exchange. Some would chalk it up to doctrine, but I prefer to think it was the wave of pods that came with the eleventh wave Gunships, prompting them to move the way they did. 300 strong, the pods were ordered by Felonius just after he entered the system less than three minutes earlier. They were tasked with two-thirds for the BBs and the remainder for DDs. Before the Ahlon relieved that they had jammers (expensive to reverse engineer in retrospect) these pods would’ve hurried their demise. Now we had dispatch the noisome frigates and corvettes with their advanced launchers and capital force beams before they offer another surprise.
In the meantime our fire took care of two Secretaries and a Supervisor. Further harm was visited on three Bureaus, one of which had only one-fifth of its drive field strength. The whole seventh wave was gone, now that the other four Laser Sweeps were pecked to death. Keeping them company were two Gunships of the ninth wave. The Bureaus and Committees kept to their crawl, their resulting electronic defense fit to give our fire control some trouble. A price was paid as this placed six Gunships at 0.25 LS range, including my Flintlock. We bashed in the passive defenses of a DN, letting the Reactors to finish it off. All other enemy ships were right behind us. Fire from the tenth wave Neutrons and Containments put down a DN and denuded a BB of most of its armament. One Neutron did suffer a radiation incident for one its detonation chambers and associated x-ray projectors. Once again my ship was hit in battle, just two miserable old-style lasers from the FGEs. I can’t blame them for that, seeing how their much more equipped brethren had destroyed all our Gunships around the capital missile units save mine. The Ahlon, instead of finishing us off at that point, shifted their remaining fire on a Neutron, bringing down its shields with antimatter standard missile fire.
With all of our laser and gun-missile armed ships maintaining a general course of arbitrary north-east the enemy would be allowed to close the range. Once through the open passage in the minefield the 255 pods went due north for 1 LS and then turned north-east. Moving another 0.5 LS the pods then conducted a serpentine course, the enemy well within the 2 LS designated envelope for their missiles. Perhaps already resigned to their fate the Ahlon crews didn’t bother to engage extensive engine modulation but instead chose to close on the Neutrons for one final exchange. Even the Bureaus came about to bring their spinal lasers into play, and just as well since the Neutrons and Containments were now only 0.75 LS from the missile ships. Of the 8 DDs in range five were destroyed outright, and only 2 out of 7 BBs went to pieces amid their pyres of antimatter fireballs. More pods should’ve been used to compensate for the ECM employed by the BBs for while all lost their shields only four sustained armor damage. This was enough for the Containments as they polished off the last Supervisor.
I do have to say, though, that the Ahlon have been consistent throughout this battle. The capital primary beams on their Bureaus have been plugging away at our Reactors, damaging engine rooms. This didn’t matter in the short term as the Reactors have been crawling along just like their capital-missile armed opposites, generating ECM fit enough to degrade fire control solutions. Along with what the pods killed we got two more CAs, 1 DDLs, 1 FG(Fc), and 2 CTs. One of our Neutrons was wasted, and with the destruction of the Matchstick only my Flintlock was what remained from the fifth wave.
Like water going down a drain all of our ships still in the fight, except the Reactors, were spiraling in towards the Bureaus and Committees. Blister broadsides of sprint missiles and x-ray lasers reduced what was once a formidable formation into a paltry pair of Bureaus and two Filework escort frigates. Even at this point the two big ships kept inching in the direction of the warp point, spinal lasers reaching to malevolently tickle the hides of our Reactors while missiles sought to encase them in globes of hellish antimatter fury. It was their last volley.
16 Ahlon ships, all crippled, either barely mobile or engineless, were all that was left in the immediate area when the seventeenth wave entered. On a common frequency Felonius called on the Ahlon to surrender. To a one all dropped their shields and killed their drives with four of them self-destructing immediately thereafter. The others were boarded, finding two with intact databases. While that was done six Laser Sweeps, accompanied by 20 fresh squadrons of Lightning fighters, went off to purse the retreating pinnace tenders. First to be encountered were the three FT4s and the FT8. Only two of the small ships surrendered (with one self-destructing and the other with lobotomized databanks), making the Laser Sweeps oblige the others by destroying them. Not one fighter was lost, nor was any external ordnance expended by them.
For the military-hulled tenders they were to be destroyed to the ship. With detuned engines on both sides it took 55 minutes for the DDs to enter extreme range for their HET lasers. Throttling back to 0.116c the ships fired on a DDE for one minute. Only then did the Ahlon ships stop detuning and turned to port, clearing their blindspots so as to fire their external ordnance. Even with two pitiful volleys the cruisers got two capital missile hits on a Laser Sweep. The 10 armed pinnaces, 3 regular pinnaces and 24 Needles that escaped earlier leapt from the shuttles bays of the two BC-hull tenders, barreling in at the DDs at full speed. Grossly outnumbered, this clearly was an act of desperation meant to damage us as much as possible. With only two-thirds of an external load carried each Lightning was faster than the Needles, ending up within 0.25 LS of them and 0.5 LS of the pinnaces. In the ensuing barrage of guns, lasers, and point defense 18 Needles and 6 armed pinnaces were shot down for the loss of 4 Lightnings.
Not about to evade the incoming armed pinnaces the six destroyers kept after the tenders, trusting the fighters to take care of therm. Only one got to fire, damaging the previously hit destroyer. Two engine rooms were knocked out once the damage got past the passive defenses. With all small craft blotted from space and sustaining no further fighter losses our destroyers kept closing with the fighters surging ahead. Sustained laser fire pelted the Ahlon tenders, stripping armor as well as externally mounted EDMs. Once at 3 LS range the exchange was no longer one-sided as the tenders fired their standard lasers, but ours still outnumbered theirs and did more damage. The Ahlon DDE was hit repeatedly and began to lag behind. When the fighters got close enough for the tenders to fire on them with capital point defense they still engaged the destroyer they hit earlier, scouring off more armor.
Then it came time to fish or cut bait. Our gun-armed fighters slowed slightly so as to allow the laser-armed ones to move ahead. As predicted this required the Ahlon to make a decision, and in doing so they presented their backsides to us in order to bring the squadrons into their field of fire. Laser and point defense fire bagged three Lightnings, and in the process they left themselves open to the stand-off missiles carried by the gun-armed F2s. As all four ships were pegged earlier by HET lasers the unanswered missiles did internal damage that much faster. Unloaded, the gun fighters pulled away while their laser-armed brethren went in for the kill, firing only partial loads of FRAMs to save ammunition. The sole DDE was finished off by the Laser Sweeps, and aside from stoved armor the second ship of that squadron was none the worse for wear.
As for the two other DDEs and four automated weapons control ships they were pursued and destroyed by F2L squadrons, each fighter armed with a FRAM and the newly deployed life support packs. Meanwhile our cripples still in-system received attention from our repair ships and flight groups were reorganized. Felonius sent a detachment of two small carriers with an escort of one CAE and three Gunships, including my Flintlock, to the sole planet in the rock zone. Records indicated that the colony on the planet’s moon was the system’s center of economy and administration. We found the small station, roughly three times the tonnage of a battleship, still orbiting the moon and with no shields detected. The detachment commander sent in marines via cutters. Some of the participating marines came from my ship, drawn for the second wave of boarding. After a four-hour fight the station was ours. When the station commander was asked why he didn’t self-destruct his command he merely said that he had been waiting for authorization from the Extra-System Resource Management Bureau. To do so without permission would’ve been a career-ending move, he said, and being unemployed on Ahlon is the equivalent of serving prison time.
Our fleet was held at a distance of 4 LS from the warp point leading to the Ahlon home system. We wanted to be closer, but now that the Ahlon possessed antimatter warheads it wouldn’t be prudent should they decide to mount a serious counterattack. A month later those ships with light damage were available, and I wished we had more on hand. Captured data on what comprised the remaining enemy mobile forces in the home system was absent; not so for the fixed defenses. As of last month they had 720 mine patterns in the primary shell and 720 in the secondary shell. Weapon buoys stood at 480. Fortifications comprised 12 BS1s, 12 BS2s, and 12 undersized BS4s. Against this we only had five Thunder Snows on hand with one more still under repair. Our dedicated minesweeper strength remained low, meaning any mine clearance will have to rely on our Saturations and Gunships. Even our battleship squadrons were lacking. Should Felonius choose to wait another month then all the seriously damage ships will be available as well as two more fresh Thunder Snows and three Neutrons straight from the Cazova Prime. However, he wasn’t going to wait. In fact he held back just long enough to get those reinforcements he felt he needed to win.
First to arrive were two purpose-built pinnace tenders built on battleship-sized freighter hulls. Each carried 39 pinnaces, and combined with the 13 that survived previously we had a probe force of 91. Next were the remaining Bonnie Crabappleseeds. With all 20 present their combined deployment of 800 pods per minute would enable us to send a wave tailored to fit whatever waited on the far side of the warp point. Thirdly, we got a massive influx of missile pods. Practically a whole month’s budget that was slated for ship construction and then some was devoted to pods and their antimatter SBMs. Finally, there was a group of reinforcement that was the most unconventional, radical and yet logical progression of obtaining targeting data for our missile pods. 72 undersized explorer hulled vessels, equipped with tactical scanners and as much armor as possible, trundled to a spot just shy of the warp point. Without preamble the tiny ships and pinnaces moved into the contorted flaw in the fabric of space and disappeared. Felonius had the fleet come to general quarters, ready to exploit any opportunity the explorers happen to find. Assuming they survive the brief time on the other side.
Less than a minute later 32 courier drones came through, followed by a single pinnace and 20 explorers (14 interpenetrated on our side of the warp point). I had the data from the ships scrawled on my main screen, allowing my bridge crew to have a first-hand look. The number of bases was slightly lower than previously known: one fewer BS1, BS2 and BS4. Placement was similar to that of the previous battle, but with 7 of the BS2s now at 1.5 LS from the warp point. Seven of the 120 of the 480 buoys were definitely of the one-shot variety, damaging those explorers not destroyed by activated Ahlon apins and bases. As for the mines the inner shell was comprised of 720 patterns, sans 2 thanks to the BAM-Rs fired from the explorer’s external racks. The outer shell remained unknown, but hopefully it remained at 720 patterns as indicated in the captured data. As for the CAP it was bigger, made up of 42 Needles and 26 armed pinnaces. Despite transit-addled targeting our pinnaces managed to shoot down 4 Ahlon ones in the opening exchange.
Thanks to the tactical scanners on those explorers we now know the strength of the Ahlon fleet guarding the warp point. It was comprised of 5 DN, 10 BB, 3 BC, 5 CA, 18 DD, 27 FG, and 23 CT. Also like before it was orbiting the warp point at a distance of 8 LS at a sedate speed of 0.016c and was arbitrarily west of the warp point. The suspected Needle and armed pinnace tenders (2 CAs, 3 BCs, 2 FT8s and 2 FT4s) were 7 LS out, but on a north-west bearing and tooling at the same speed as the fleet. I suspect the reason why they were closer was to allow the armed pinnaces to reach the warp point that much quicker. Scanners also picked up three DDs spaced equally, each 9 LS from the warp point. There were no detected crash-launches of Needles and armed pinnaces while the explorers were present, indicated that those bases and ships so equipped either didn’t reach action stations or were holding them back, thus conferring a level of anonymity. These Ahlon are learning, though such a countermeasure should’ve occurred to them at least four battles earlier.
Felonius’ operations officer digested the numbers quickly and sent orders to the Bonnie Crabappleseeds. When the rest of the pinnaces came back (just 14, but they did shoot down 16 more Ahlon apins) one minute later 800 pods had been deployed. When 400 more were deployed they were sent on their way, with 990 targeted on the BS4s and 70 each on the suspected automated weapons control ships.
Two minutes later a second pod wave, 1600 strong, made transit. This time the targets were the BS1s (200), BS2s (400), the FGs (540) and CTs (460). Admittedly I believed the odds were poor that any of the warships would be destroyed with the distance parameter set and EM/ECM employed. But that wasn’t the point; for the Ahlon wouldn’t know what that were the target of that particular portion of the wave. Felonius hoped that most if not all of the Needles and Apins would be dragged away from the warp point just far enough for our first two waves to make transit without interference. The enemy would be able to fire a group of BS2s at the first wave, then die along with the BS1s as those pods were ordered to fire just as their fire control circuits have stabilized.
Half a minute later the first wave went in, composed of three Thunder Snows, two Reactors, and the 20 remaining EXs (with varying degrees of damage) and 15 pinnaces. Those small ships were going to help disperse the fire of weapon buoys had the Ahlon tenders armed them all before dying in the previous pod assault. After a suspenseful pause, the second wave (two Thunder Snows, three Saturations and a Chain Reaction) marched in with courier drones from the first wave spilling out. Those drones didn’t matter as the first two Thunder Snows from the first wave came back, transmitting their tactical scanner data. One of them had been the target of a datagroup of three BS2s. This carrier, along with taking its share of hits from 100 force-beam armed weapon buoys, lost all shielding and one-third of its armor. It was a massacre for the EXs. Of the 12 that didn’t interpenetrate only one survived the initial buoy fire. None of the pinnaces perished, and their point defense was going to be need shortly.
The Needles, 171 of them, still followed the pod group heading arbitrary northwest towards the Ahlon fleet. Here was the kicker – that fleet was moving away from the warp point at max battleship speed, save the freighter-hulled small craft tenders which tried to keep up as best they could. I believe it was the intention of the Ahlon admiral to have his Needles, now atop the pods, to keep banging away with their internal guns for as long as possible. They had no idea the pods were set to fire once they were in 5 LS range of their designated targets. So, our fighters that have launched from the first three carriers, 90 in all, will be able to engage the (84) Apins without suffering heavy losses.
The third Thunder Snow from the first wave returned as the third wave went in. 16 of our 90 fighters were shot down while the Ahlon lost five times that in armed pinnaces. One second-wave carrier was destroyed when one of the four surviving apins rammed it. The other was almost gutted by energy beam fire from the weapon buoys, but at least the hanger bays remained untouched and was able launch its brood. It, too, was hit by a ramming apin, and the last two were going to be no threat in a moment. The Ahlon fleet continued to run from the slowly gaining pods. I had to wonder what possessed their admiral to practically concede the warp point rather than take the risk the pods offered. This golden opportunity led Felonius to radically alter his planned transits. Now the fifth wave will be composed of regular and small carriers, and when the Needles do come about they will be outnumbered better than two-to-one.
One Reactor from the first wave returned, its innards burnt out by hits from energy beam buoys. Reports transmitted from that ship’s tactical officer showed the second Thunder Snow from the second wave was immobilized; its remaining engine burned out by overloads caused by the energy beams. Those remaining buoys won’t have the time to recharge as the Lightnings, save one squadron heading out to take care of the sole remaining tender (left there to watch what was coming through the warp point), began to shoot them down like platinum pigeons.
Waves five and now wave six were made up of carriers, with the seventh composed of three Containments and three more Reactors, including Felonius’ flagship. Wave eight, the one my Flintlock was in, was comprised of six Gunship destroyers. As the sixth wave departed a sole pinnace came back and transmitted the results of the pod chase. Despite the heavy predation committed by the Needles enough pods survived to wipe out all 23 Ahlon corvettes from the continuum. As for the 27 frigates only three were destroyed outright, twelve sustained internal damage great enough to reduce drive field strength, seven took at least one hit but not enough to breach the hull (as far as we knew at that point), and five were undamaged with three of those not even expending their EDMs. One thing is for sure: with a hefty reserve of pods on hand we can thin the herd even more, especially the capital units.
Finally my ship made transit with the last of the sixth wave carriers going back into Ledger. All the weapon buoys were gone, shot down by our fighters, and a lane had been cleared in the double ring of mines. A Mine Swatter crawled forward to confirm the absence of a third mine shell. The Lightning squadron sent to pick off the observing automated weapon control ship accomplished its job, and as for the enemy fleet it was heading back to the warp point. Dreadnoughts and battleships were detuning their engines for more speed while those frigates with intact engines did the same, keeping pace with the destroyers. Even some damaged frigates were detuning, proving to this officer that they still had weapons. As for the Needle and pinnace tenders they continued to move away at best speed, most likely towards their home planet. Oddly, the Needles kept to the same spot where our pod wave fired, apparently waiting for frigates and destroyers to catch up. Felonius had the same idea, keeping the 381 Lightnings still on the warp point together. He was going to let the enemy come to him and avoid unnecessary losses for 90% of his fighter strength was present.
Thanks to the enemy’s charge the FGs and DDs came into range of our Reactors a bit earlier than the DNs and BBs. A volley of anti-matter SBMs wrecked one FG at the 10 LS mark and another at 8.25 LS. Closer in at 6.5 LS four FGs were destroyed. I was getting the distinct impression the Ahlon ships were going to ram us, a move anticipated since this was their home system. Still Felonius held back the Ligthnings, waiting up to the last moment where our jamming would break the Needles and well as the ships’ datalinks.
The last ship in the first wave transited back to Ledger along with the three fourth wave Saturations, having expended all their mine-clearance ammunition. Along with the twelfth wave ships a pod wave 400 strong entered with sub-groups targeting the DNs, BB, and CAs. Without waiting for the twelfth wave ships to form up Felonius took the fleet through the cleared path in the mine field with maximum EM/ECM. As for the DNs and BBs they stopped detuning and opened up with their CM salvos at 6.25 LS range. They targeted a Reactor from an earlier wave, its mostly restored shields taking those hits that got through point defense and EDMs. Spinal lasers from the Appointee DDs played along the hull of another Reactor, stripping its externally-mounted EDMs. For us we obliterated one FG, heavily damaged two DDs and broke the passive defenses on another.
Our thirteenth and final wave entered, kept company by 200 missile pods. With the bulk of our fleet now 0.5 LS from the warp point those enemy FGs within weapons range stopped detuning so as to open up on us. Pitiful damage, really. What they done to a pair of Reactors could’ve finished off the stranded Thunder Snow, the skeleton crew on board laboring away to restore shields just because they could. How different the battle would’ve been had the Ahlon stood their ground, and now instead were going to be mashed up like neodymium nuts. The twelfth wave pods fired, cremating the five Ahlon heavy cruisers. Heavy damage was done to the passive defenses of the DNs, as expected, and very light to no damage to the BBs. The pods that came with the last wave will take care of them.
Finally Felonius released the fighters, engaging the Needles mainly to prevent them from being used in ramming attacks. Along with the Ahlon DDs they were just 0.5 LS distant, our pair of jammers did their work without any counter interference from the enemy, so we must’ve hit the right escort ships. A trio of Neutrons, the only ones currently fit for combat in our whole navy, fired on a like number of Appointees. Angry energy ripped them open like a knife into overripe fruit. Our fabulous Lightnings took every single Needle down while only losing 11 of their number from all causes. Our ships, combined with those Lightnings designated to anti-ship work, destroyed all ships within 3 LS of the warp point save one, a crippled Appointee. For all the antimatter volleys fried by the DNs and BBs they hadn’t succeeded in destroying one ship, though a Reactor was one volley away from death. Our missile volleys, taking advantage of the spent EDMs, did their work on the Bureaus, antimatter fireballs chewing into armor and internals. It was clear that some of the DNs and BBs were new classes, having heavier capital missile armament at the expense of no spinal lasers. The three BCs were definitely new, each equipped with four capital force beams. Only a minor footnote as our fighters will finish them.
The last pod wave wasn’t meant to destroy the ten BBs (just 17 pods each), but like the previous one it was meant to force the Ahlon to expend their EDMs. An exception reared its head as three of the BBs had very heavy point defense suits. One didn’t even expend its EDMs, letting those few missiles that got through to hit its shields. Looks like a few more squadrons will have to expend their FRAMs to take care of them. In the background the distant Lightning squadron had worked its way from the debris of the automated weapons control ship to the straggling chain of crippled frigates, starting with the rearmost grouping.
Once again the Ahlon showed they had surprises left. The new BC class had datalink jammers, activating them just as the fighter strike was 1 LS away. It didn’t matter now, not with so many Lightnings about to fall upon them. Only five fighters fell to long-range point defense and laser fire from the minesweeping battleships. For that, and despite the ECM of their targets, our laser-armed fighters took out one BB, joining two DNs finished by our ships, and further harmed a second. A crippled escort frigate, just a scant 1.25 LS out from our fleet, activated its jammer just as the Lightnings were upon the capital ships, giving two Ahlon datagroups a massed volley each before the pesky little runt was put out of its misery. We lost three Reactors that were already badly damaged. With the BCs take out, and datalinks restored, the remaining squadrons quickly vaporized the opposition. What few ships remained in range of our weapons were taken out as well, a clean sweep if there ever was one.
Felonius was of no mind to demand the surrender of the retreating pinnace tenders, so he sent my division of destroyers to take out the freighter-hulled ones while those laser-armed Lightnings still armed with external ordnance were sent against the CA and BC-hulled units. Our Admiral did send a message to the Ahlon homeworld, informing them that he would not interfere with any rescue efforts of life pods around the warp point so long as only shuttles were used. He also gave them the time it would take his fleet to reach the planet to make up their minds if they want to surrender and thereby spare their space station from destruction. Along the way we encountered a train of shuttles, each keeping one light-minute of separation. Clearly the Ahlon wanted to show that they were no threat, and to keep them honest a single corvette scout sat on the warp point, its two embarked pinnaces ready for launch should the shuttles interfere with our SAR operations.
We knew from captured data that Ahlon Prime was a hospitable world, yet photos didn’t do it justice. It had 30% more surface water than Cazova, resulting in much larger, deeper oceans of dark blue. I could easily see how it would become a nice liberty port for our fleet, once the population submits to our rule. In orbit sat what remained of the Ahlon’s mobile forces, all of them auxiliaries of one stripe or another. The space station was two-thirds as massive as the one back home, and keeping it company were three BS4s. When the Ahlon replied that the request for surrender was still ‘in committee’ Felonius simply stated that he would hear their answer in person. To test the defenses he sent in fourteen corvette scouts, prompting the station and BS4s to fire on them at 7.5 LS range. One scout was promptly destroyed, and another damaged. That it wasn’t finished off while in SBM range proved in my mind that the enemy didn’t possess the weapon.
With an abundance of pods still on hand Felonius had the Bonnie Crabappleseeds come within 11 LS of the planet and began deploying a wave fit to destroy that station, the bases, and the ships in one go. Protecting the Bonnies were all of our fighters, each loaded with two FRAMs, and once the pods moved they were covered by the fighters in turn. It took the pods 150 seconds to reach the assigned firing point, ample time for the enemy to transmit their surrender and for use to remote-detonate the pods. Instead our foes pulled another trick from their satchels. From the station came 36 fighters, 12 of them having the energy signatures of prototype fighters with the rest expensive reversed-engineered copies of our F1s. With them came every pinnace and assault shuttle our foe could muster. Our fighters engaged them short of the pods, space filled with leprous boils of light and frantic radio messages. Eight Lightnings were lost, the price for erasing 36 of their Ahlon opposites, along with 64 assault shuttles and 14 pinnaces.
In what appeared to be a futile bid of resistance but later discovered as simple bureaucratic procedure the auxiliaries charged while the fighters and small craft engaged. All this did was to allow those pods assigned to them to fire earlier, obliterating them and with nothing to show for the effort. As for the station and bases they were simple swamped and erupted in cascades of explosions that reached a crescendo, their hulls utterly disincorporated. Good to his word Felonius, with the backing by an initial force of 8 Army divisions, landed at the spaceport and went to the capital city. Once there no less than the Senior Bureau President greeted him, holding what was the shortest official meeting in the history of the planet, fifteen minutes, and then signed the Articles of Associated Peoples (a document that was transmitted along with the demand for surrender). Felonius had the pen used in the ceremony sent back to Cazova Prime for the Dictate Mondo to have. Later I learned the pen was lost in the ventilation system of the Dictatorial Palace, used as part of a scavenger hunt. Some leaders have no proper respect of historical artifacts.
My Flintlock stayed in the Ahlon system for three months, inspecting resource barges that plied the routes between the asteroid belt and the planet. Then the orders came to return home for rest and refit. New equipment and upgrades were to be applied to my ship. Some welcomed, some arbitrary, but resulted in me having three uninterrupted months with the family. The homeworld space station was upgraded as well, no less than 24 new construction slips were added and each filled with new construction. Exploration along the two warp chains available to us recommenced. If we should end up going to war with a new race we’ll be all the more prepared this time.
End
