March 22, 2141, Washington System
Rear Admiral Freya Wallace paced across her flag bridge with her eyes locked on the red icons on the plot, headed steadily inwards, towards the fortresses on Bastion. She was tall and spare, her face too intense to be considered classically beautiful, but striking in her space force blues. Now, though, her face was thunderous, and her staff went about their assignments quietly. She was well liked by her subordinates, but when she was in a mood like this, they all knew to let her work it out.
The object of her ire was the three Dregluk battleships headed in-system. By all rights it should have been up to her ships to intercept and destroy the damned Dregluk, not the bases in the inner system. For too many years humanity suffered under the bombardment of the never-to-be-sufficiently damned Dregluk, and now they finally had the capability to begin striking back and she was forced to sit here and watch! Intolerable! Her thoughts derailed as the flag ship’s AI chimed to signal a situation change, and a new red icon appeared in the Washington system, this one sitting on the jump point that the Dregluk traditionally used to enter the system. Admiral Wallace leaned over the plot and gestured at the icon and, in response, the AI brought up specifics. The new Dregluk force was composed of eight cruisers, six destroyers, and a new class of battleship! The largest force to enter Washington in years! Unnoticed, her hand slipped into one of her pockets and folded around a picture she kept there. A wide grin spread across her face! This was it. She hit the comm button on the display in front of her.
“Captain Harrison, the task force will prepare to intercept the new Dregluk force. Departure in fifteen minutes. Admiral Wallace out.” Fifteen minutes later the task force left the jump point. The 2nd Frigate Group led the way, followed by her flagship, the Assault Cruiser Yamato, with an anti-missile frigate in close escort. The flagship was followed by the twenty missile boats of the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups. They were significantly out-massed by the Dregluk force, but the Republic’s fighting crews didn’t care about that. They were on the forefront of the defense of humanity, and the Dregluk scum were going to pay.
Initially the Dregluk force set out for the inner system, but as soon as they detected Admiral Wallace’s force, they changed course to intercept the humans. The fight was on.
Three hours later, in the inner system…
Admiral Morgan Thornton and his staff had been watching the plot carefully, but now the time had come. “We’ll go with Fire Plan Alpha. Launch now!”
Fire Plan Alpha called for a staggered launch of Bludgeon III’s against the incoming battleships. In all, the fire plan called for ninety of the fortress complex’s one hundred missile launchers to be used against the incoming ships. The thirty Bludgeon III’s targeted on each battleship should be overkill, but to meet the requirements of the plan they had launched nearly every offensive missile left on the planet. They were supposed to have been resupplied, but the Munitions Ship had been on its way when the Dregluk BB’s appeared, and had been forced to turn back and shelter under the protection of the monitors at the jump point.
The fortress complex’s personnel are forced to watch the plot with apprehension for the next three hours as the human missiles made their way towards the Dregluk ships. Admiral Thornton and his staff all leaned towards the plot in the command base with expectation as the missile plots merged with the Dregluk ships and the command plot’s AI fuzzed out the area around the Dregluk ship’s due to distortion from the explosions. The distortion cleared quickly though, and cheering broke out across the command deck and throughout the entire fortress complex as the plot showed that the three Dregluk BB’s, once feared bringers of death and destruction, were now just drifting debris with a few scattered life pods drifting in their wake.
Admiral Thornton turned to his communications officer. “Send to Admiral Wallace. We’ve eliminated the threat here. Good hunting!”
Four hours later…
“Status change.” The voice of the flag bridge’s AI drew Admiral Wallace’s eyes to the central plot from the readiness report she had been studying. On the plot the Dregluk fleet’s course began to change, bending from the intercept course it had been following to one headed in-system, towards the fortress complex of Bastion.
Admiral Wallace frowned. Her ships were faster than the Dregluk force, but this change would ensure it took longer to intercept them, and would draw them farther into the system. “Communications, send the following to Admiral Thornton on Bastion: Admiral, the Dregluk have changed course towards you. I wish to intercept them in the outer system. Please deactivate your sensors as they may be drawing the Dregluk force towards you. Admiral Wallace out.” The message was on its way seconds later.
Long before Admiral Thornton could have received the message the fortresses on Bastion deactivated their sensors. Admiral Thornton had seen exactly what Admiral Wallace had, and he knew what it meant as well as she. Unfortunately, turning off the base’s sensors made no difference. The Dregluk were still doggedly headed in-system. Admiral Wallace’s force had changed course to intercept them, and would long before they got in-system, but it would put them further in-system than Wallace really wanted to be.
Thirty-four hours later…
“We are within range, Admiral.”
Admiral Wallace glared at the plot. The Dregluk had finally turned towards her task group and were trying to close with her. She checked the range. They were 375 mkm’s out and her fleet and the Dregluk closing at a combined speed of over 10,000 km/s at this point. She brought up the Yamato’s bridge on the pane in front of her. Captain Harrison, the CO of the Yamato, turned his head towards her and said, “Yes, Admiral?”
“Captain Harrison, engage the enemy. Targeting plan Bravo-1. Launch at will.” A flicker passed across Harrison’s face, but it was gone almost before she caught it and there was nothing amiss in his voice as he nodded.
“Yes ma’am. Targeting Plan Bravo-1. They are on the way!” The pane minimized as almost immediately loud “chunks” began echoing throughout the flagship as the big Bludgeon III missiles were thrown clear of their box launchers. Admiral Wallace smiled as a speckling of light blue icons appeared on the plot as Bludgeon III’s raced away from the Yamato and the missile boats. That something that she had almost seen in Harrisons face was disappointment, she was sure of it. He had so wanted to launch on the Dregluk battleship, and had argued vociferously for one of the Alpha fire plans, as that would have allowed him to target the big Dregluk brute. In the end, though, she had opted for Bravo, which targeted the cruisers in the Dregluk force. There was only one battleship over there, but there were eight cruisers and they were obviously the heart of the force. A vicious grin spread across her face as she watched the Bludgeon III’s speed away. While she wanted to destroy the entire force, she’d settle for ripping the heart out of it. She brought up the communication’s pane to the bridge again. “Captain, once we’ve closed to 350 mkm’s maintain our separation. No sense in letting them get too close.”
Captain Harrison nodded and the pane closed, leaving her to study the plot with anticipation. Once again, her hand had slipped into her pocket unnoticed, and when she realized she was stroking the small picture located there she jerked her hand out and set it firmly on the console in front of her.
Two hours passed as the anticipation on the ships of the task group grew, and then finally the out-going missile icons merged with the Dregluk fleet. Admiral Wallace settled back in her combat cradle with satisfaction as the icons for no less than six Dregluk cruisers changed from active to destroyed. The icon for the seventh Dregluk CA was blinking to indicate that it had suffered damage during the attack but had survived. Cheers broke out across the fleet at the results of their attack, and then redoubled when five seconds later the surviving missiles from the attack acquired new targets with their onboard sensors and obliterated another cruiser and four destroyers.
An unabashed grin spread across Admiral Wallace’s face but she wrestled it down quickly, lest she appear less than professional in front of her crew. She let them cheer, though. She leaned forward and inspected the plot. The Dregluk force had been reduced to one battleship, one damaged cruiser, and two destroyers. Not bad. She keyed the communications tab for the task group commanders. In a few seconds small panes opened on her display, showing Captain Oliver Harper, CO of the 2nd Frigate Group, and Lt. Commander Robert Glover and Commander George Franklin, CO’s of the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups.
“Congratulations, gentlemen. That was, by any measure, a very successful strike. Let your crews know that I am very happy with them, and I’m sure that the Admiralty will feel the same.” She could see the stoic face of Captain Harper watching her intently, and she relented. “Yes, Oliver, we are going to close on them. Your turn is coming. But first, George and Bob, I’m detaching your task groups. You are to head home and re-arm. Once you are away, we’ll come about and close with the enemy until we are within Thunderbolt III range. Understood?”
The three CO’s nodded, and Captain Harper broke out into a big grin. They were going hunting!
For forty minutes the two groups closed on each other, and then finally they were in range of the human force’s remaining offensive missiles. Admiral Wallace gave the order, and seconds later the four Lake class Frigates in the 2nd Frigate Group launched one hundred Thunderbolt III ASM’s, all targeted on the Dregluk Battleship. The crew on the flag bridge of the Yamato watched, almost holding their breath, as the Thunderbolt icons merged with the Dregluk fleet and dissipated. There was a feeling of disappointment as the battleship’s icon remained on the board, although it was flashing, indicating it had taken some damage. It, and its escorts, had slowed to 4,327 km/s. Later analysis would show that most of the Thunderbolt III’s hit, but Dregluk BB’s were tough customers, and this one was soldiering on.
Twelve minutes later, as Admiral Wallace was going over the strike analysis with Captain Harper prior to deciding on their next course of action, alarms began ringing across the fleet. Admiral Wallace’s eyes were drawn to the plot, where a bloodred stream of missile icons had appeared, headed directly for her task force. She turned back to the open pane to Captain Harper, who had just turned back to her from his plot. “Good luck, Oliver.” He nodded at her as she closed the window on her pane. There was little for her to do now but watch as her missile defense teams went into action.
Aegis V’s began spilling into space from the six frigates leading the Yamato by 100,000 kilometers. The outcome was never in doubt, as over the years of war the Republic’s spacers had grown confident in their missile defense capabilities. By the end of the attack the number of incoming missiles had grown to one hundred and fifty, but the Aegis V’s had dealt with them easily, and none got closer than 1.5 mkm’s of the fleet.
Throughout the attack Admiral Wallace had watched the icons for the Dregluk ships with her hand in her pocket, stroking her picture, contemplating their next course of action. Her team was used to the Admiral’s absent-minded habit, and accepted it, but there was much speculation about just what exactly she kept in her pocket. Her task force had expended their offensive missiles, but she didn’t want those Dregluk ships to escape. Once the missile attack died out, she opened windows to both the commander of the Yamato and Captain Harper. “Gentlemen, I’m going to try to lure the remaining Dregluk ships into range of the monitors waiting at the jump point. The fleet is to set a course for the jump point, but we are going to reduce our speed to 4,600 km/s. Hopefully that will entice the Dregluk into pursuing us to the jump point.”
Both captains acknowledged her order, and the human ships came about and headed for the jump point to the Solar System. One hour and thirteen minutes later a second Dregluk missile attack materialized, but this attack was composed of only eleven missiles and a single wave of Aegis V’s was enough to eliminate the threat.
Admiral Wallace was watching the plot when the Dregluk force split. The flag ship’s AI announced “Status change”, and the plot updated to show that the Dregluk battleship had split off of the main group. She watched as the Dregluk BB’s course curved until it was on course for its entry point. The remaining three Dregluk ships continued their pursuit of her force. Admiral Wallace watched the Dregluk BB retreat with burning eyes. She really wanted that battleship, but there was little she could do at this point. Her force had no more missiles, and there were three Dregluk ships still pursuing her. First, she had to deal with them.
Forty-four hours later…
Admiral Wallace was finally sleeping when her comm chimed and pulled her from her slumber. She was awake in seconds and palmed the ‘voice-only’ comm channel on her nightstand. “Yes?”
“Admiral, the Dregluk have turned back towards the inner system.” The disembodied voice of her chief of staff sounded grim.
Admiral Wallace glanced at the time display on the nightstand, and then closed her eyes for a second, thinking. By this time her task force would be deep within the missile envelope of the monitors on the jump point, but the Dregluk would still be approximately 50 mkm’s outside that envelope. She knew that the monitors wouldn’t be in range yet because she had set her alarm to wake her long before they’d be in range. “I’ll be on the flag bridge momentarily.”
True to her word, she was pacing on the flag bridge in front of the plot within minutes. Sure enough the Dregluk were outside the monitor’s range, and had turned back towards the inner system. She eyed the plot. The Dregluk were not headed directly away from her or the monitors. Instead, they were in a course that took them past the jump point and her force and the monitors. They would not come any closer to the jump point, but they weren’t receding either, not yet. For a few minutes she played with the plot’s navigation routines and then stepped back in thought. After a minute or so she turned to her station and brought up a comm window to the bridge on her pane. “Captain, I’m going to order the monitors on the jump point to pursue the Dregluk force. I want you to set a course to intercept the monitors. We will escort them during their interception attempt.”
“Yes Admiral.” Captain Harrison frowned in thought. “Can the monitors bring the Dregluk into engagement range?”
Admiral Wallace shook her head. “Unlikely. But, if the Dregluk see them coming out to meet them, maybe they’ll turn back towards us and come within range on their own.”
Captain Harrison had a dubious look on his face. “Maybe.” His face cleared and he grinned. “You never know what the damned Dregluk are going to do, so its worth a shot! We’ll come about shortly.”
The window closed and Admiral Wallace composed her orders for the monitors on the jump point. Technically they weren’t under her direct command, but her orders gave her jurisdiction over military assets in this system, and if she knew the commanders and crews of the monitors, they’d jump at getting a chance to blow some Dregluk away.
The message was sent to the monitors seconds later, and sure enough the monitors began moving away from the jump point with commendable alacrity and zero complaints or prevarications soon thereafter.
Three hours later two things became abundantly clear. First, the Dregluk were steadily pulling away from the monitors, and it would only get worse as the angle the human force had on them decreased. The monitors, with their top speed of 720 km/s, would never be able to force the Dregluk into range. Second, in the last hour their plot of the Dregluk ship’s course had been refined. They were not headed for Bastion in the inner system as she had thought. They were headed for Colony Transport-031, a civilian transport that had ignored her shelter in-place orders for the system and had departed Bastion bound for the jump point.
“Message to the monitors: They are to return to the jump point.” Admiral Wallace closed the comm channel without waiting for an acknowledgement and leaned over the holographic plot. Once again, her hand slipped into her pocket and began rubbing the picture she kept there as she considered the Dregluk force. She wanted those Dregluk ships. Badly. Her eyes strayed to the colony transport coming out of the inner system. Fortunately, it had dropped off its colonists, but there were still 200 crewers on that ship. Her mission, her sworn duty, was to protect those humans from Dregluk depredations.
She suddenly stopped pacing as she realized her hand was in her pocket yet again. Her mind in turmoil, she slowly pulled her hand out of her pocket, along with the picture it so obstinately clutched. She reluctantly looked down at the picture she had so assiduously avoided for so long. Her heart clutched as she saw Michael and the twins depicted so heartbreakingly clearly in the image. They had been gone for years now, but it seemed like the wound in her heart never really healed. Her heart broke all over again as she looked into Michael’s eyes. He had been so wise and caring, so different from her. And the twins, Sara and Zoe, five years old and so full of promise and energy. And unfettered joy that they managed to infect her with every time she was around them. Again, so unlike her. Her hand closed over the image, blocking it from view as her heart hardened. Once again, her gaze settled on the red icons depicting the Dregluk ships. The Dregluk had taken them from her, carelessly wiping them from the universe without a thought or care. The Dregluk missile had vaporized the entire area around her old neighborhood. Nothing was left to bury, or to say goodbye to. Nothing of her old life survived, except this one image that she had always kept with her to remind her of the good things in her life. She had sworn then that the Dregluk would pay, and pay, and pay. She wanted those Dregluk ships, but if she went in after them there would be casualties. There were reserves waiting on the far side of the jump point to the Solar System, and she could call them forward, but if she lost them, or suffered serious losses in her attack, all to assuage the emptiness inside her, then…her thoughts derailed at that point. If she ever lost her position, her ability to strike back, there would be nothing left for her. Nothing at all.
Her eyes shifted again to the colony transport coming out of the inner system. The colony transport that she was duty-bound to protect. A slow grin spread across her face. If she let the Dregluk go they would destroy that transport, as sure as she stood here looking at the plot. She stabbed the comms button on the plot table, and a window to the command ship’s communication’s officer appeared in front of her.
“Yes, Admiral?”
“Dispatch my situation report to the Admiralty via the picket ship at the jump point and inform them that I am calling forward the reserves at the jump point. We will advance and engage the enemy before they can attack the colony transport. Once that is off, send off my orders for the reserve group at the jump point.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The window closed as Admiral Wallace entered her orders for the reserve group. She would have Dregluk blood, but who could say whether it was the blood she wanted, or to save the crew of the transport? Who, that is, aside from her?
The orders were sent off and Admiral Wallace settled in to wait. Admiral Rear Admiral Chan, commanding the reserve group on the Solar System side of the jump point, was junior to her, but also wasn’t technically within her remit to draw upon the military resources of the Washington system as they were in the Solar System. And, while his orders did give him some leeway, his orders were clear that his primary responsibility was to guard the jump point against any incursion. That would give him an out, if he wanted one. She knew Admiral Chan though, and she doubted he would hesitate to engage the Dregluk. The Admiralty didn’t put the faint of heart in command of its Hunter-Killers, or HuK’s as they had become known, and she was pretty sure that Chan would jump at the chance to go toe-to-toe with the Dregluk. Although it was a minor thing in the scheme of things, she was glad that the Admiralty had changed the designation of Chan’s ships from the old Federation class designation of Patrol Cruisers to the new HuK designation. Chan’s ships were designed for one thing, and that was to go in close to Dregluk ships and pick them apart, not patrolling.
Sure enough, within minutes of the picket ship jumping through to the Solar System, Admiral Chan’s Attack Group #1 jumped into the Washington System, followed by the twenty-two interceptors of the 1st and 3rd Interceptor Groups. Two and a half minutes later a comm window from Admiral Chan appeared on her pane. “Admiral Wallace! I thought you’d never let us get in on the fun. I have detached the Delhi and we are headed towards your position at maximum speed. We’ll be there in just over an hour and a half. Then we can go Dregluk hunting.” The window closed and Admiral Wallace smiled. The hunt was on. She thought briefly of ordering Chan to bring his anti-missile frigate, but then decided to let him make the decision. His HuK’s and the interceptors were almost 50% faster than the anti-missile frigate, and he clearly wanted to get into action as fast as possible. She could sympathize.
Twenty-three hours later…
The combined human task force was now 175 mkm’s from the Dregluk force, which was maneuvering to maintain its position between the human ships and the inner system. Admiral Wallace tried to lure the Dregluk into following her force back to the jump point and the monitors waiting there, but the Dregluk refused to take the bait and merely returned to their chase of the colony transport coming out of the inner system. When it became clear that the Dregluk were not going to pursue her force, Admiral Wallace ordered her task force to pursue the Dregluk at their maximum task force speed. As her flagship is the slowest ship in the force, they are limited to 5,806 km/s. That gives them an overtake speed of only 1,200 km/s, but fortunately, given the Dregluk determination to intercept the colony transport, they were able to cut across the Dregluk course and close faster than they would have otherwise. They will be able to intercept well short of the colony transport.
Seven hours later…
The flagship’s AI announced “Status change” and Admiral Wallace immediately looked at the Dregluk force. Sure enough they were coming about, closing with her task force. They were now 39 mkm’s apart, and that range would drop quickly now that the two groups of ships were heading towards each other.
Several hours later she was still standing over the plot, watching as the two groups of ships steadily moved towards each other. She and Admiral Chan had spent copious amounts of time discussing the likely armaments of the Dregluk ships ahead of them, and the poor quality of information available from Fleet Intelligence. Of course, ever since the Bludgeon ASM’s became available no one had been particularly worried about the armament of the Dregluk ships, as the Bludgeon outranged them by a significant margin. Now, though, they were charging into the teeth of a Dregluk force, and while her force both outnumbered and out-massed the enemy, the Dregluk were difficult opponents and never seemed to give up. The opposing force had obviously expended its long-range missiles, but equally obviously had something up its sleeve, or it would have withdrawn with the battleship. All of their questions and plotting was resolved when alarms began ringing in the flag bridge and a stream of red icons representing Dregluk missiles appeared on the plot. The two forces were now 33 mkm’s apart and closing, and the plot was speckled with incoming missile icons. The plot AI sifted through information being refined by the ship’s CIC and quickly put up ID tags on the incoming missiles. The Dregluk missiles were size 1, and were in groups of forty-five to forty-nine missiles approaching at 28,000 km/s. Even as Admiral Wallace watched the plot the Yamato began expelling Aegis V AMM’s along with the rest of her consorts. The Dregluk missiles were obviously AMM’s being used in offensive mode, and were much slower than the Aegis V’s rushing out to meet them, so her defensive missiles would likely perform well against the Dregluk missiles. Admiral Wallace frowned as she watched the plot. There were a lot of incoming missiles, and, as she checked the icons for her missile-defense frigates, she realized that they likely weren’t going to have enough Aegis V’s. Fortunately, they had the meson cannons of the Interceptor Groups and the lasers of the HuK’s to intercept anything that got through the AM’s, but this was likely going to get dicey.
After watching the plot for a few seconds Admiral Wallace keyed open a comms window on the plot table in front of her. The window opened to show the Yamato’s bridge and Captain Harrison. As was typical for her flagship, the bridge was calm and under control as the captain and crew dealt with the incoming missile threat. After a few seconds Captain Harrison turned to the comm pickup. “Yes, Admiral?”
“Captain, these are obviously anti-missile missiles, and may have limited range. Bring the fleet about and set a course directly away from the incoming missile stream. Let’s see if we can run them out of fuel.”
Captain Harrison gave a brief smile. “Yes, ma’am. Its worth a shot.”
She waved the window closed and returned her attention to the plot. The Aegis V’s had begun their interceptions, and were achieving a 73% kill ratio, but even more incoming missile salvoes had appeared. She could see the munitions status indicators for her frigates dropping as she watched. Tension began to grow on the flag bridge and across the fleet.
The first AMM frigate to run out of missiles was the Seoul, the Yamato’s escort, fifty seconds into the engagement. Eighty-five seconds later the two AMM frigates of the 2nd Frigate Group ran out of missiles as well, leaving only the four Lake class ASM frigate with AMM’s left. Many Dregluk missiles had been destroyed during this time, and there had been no leakers, but Admiral Wallace knew that that was about to change. She opened a channel to the entire task force. “This is Admiral Wallace. In a few minutes we will run out of defensive missiles. It appears that the Dregluk have more missiles than we do.” She paused, letting that sink in. “That is something that we are used to. We’re Human! The Dregluk have been firing missiles at us for years and here we are! Taking the war to them. We’ve already destroyed most their fleet here in the Washington system. Now there are just a few ships left, and they are desperately trying to prevent us from getting to them. It isn’t going to work! We’ve lived through every bombardment the Dregluk have thrown at us, and they can’t stop us. We will weather this storm, and then we will bring the storm to them. Then it will be their turn, and they will regret ever starting this war, because we will make them pay. They tried to kill us, but they failed. When we bring the war home to them, we will not fail! First, we survive, then we destroy them! Forever!” She closed the channel, but before she did, she could hear cheering coming from every ship in the task force.
Less than two minutes later the AMM’s ran out. Even before the last AMM left its launcher some Dregluk missiles had been getting through to the fleet, but so far, every one had been destroyed by massed meson and laser fire.
The last AMM was launched from the frigate Huron, and after that missile defense was going to be in the hands of the lasers of the HuK’s and the meson cannons of the interceptors. There were still twenty Aegis V AMM’s in flight towards the approaching Dregluk missiles, but there were four hundred and forty incoming Dregluk missiles on the plot, and almost surely more beyond them that had yet to appear.
The first few salvoes of Dregluk missiles that approached the task force were small, composed of leakers that had avoided the Aegis V’s launched earlier. The numbers soon grew, though, and the human ships began taking hits. The Yamato was the first, suffering several hits to her shields, but she was far from the last. Soon after full salvoes each composed of forty-nine Dregluk AMM’s were approaching the task force, unreduced by defensive AMM fire. To oppose these salvoes the human task force had forty-two meson cannons, three 250mm spinal lasers, six 200 mm lasers, and three gauss cannon turrets.
Admiral Wallace and her flag bridge crew watched as the first full salvo of Dregluk missiles approached. As the icons merged with the fleet there was a flurry of defensive fire, but before they could evaluate the effectiveness of the fire the Dregluk missiles hit the Huron, one of the AMM frigates. The defensive fire destroyed about one third of the incoming missiles, an interception ratio that would remain consistent throughout the battle. The Dregluk missile salvoes were arriving every ten seconds or so, and for the next several minutes the entire battle turned into a blur of defensive fire, missile impacts, and the wailing of alarms from damaged ships.
Admiral Wallace frowned as the next three salvoes savaged the AMM frigate Chongqing’s armor, with the last salvo penetrating her armor and causing interior damage, including knocking out an engine. As the damaged frigate began falling behind the main force, Admiral Wallace opened her mouth to order the fleet to match the speed of the damaged frigate, but then closed her mouth and settled back in her chair. She had to consider what was best for the entire task force, and for maintaining as much of her offensive power as possible. The Chongqing was on its own.
The HuK Assistance was next, but the Dregluk AMM’s merely managed to reduce her shielding. The HuK’s had the strongest shielding in her task force, and Wallace felt at least a little relief that the missiles were targeting her ships that were best able to deal with it. That relief was short-lived, though, as the next missile salvoes continued to target the HuK and knocked down her shields. The three HuK’s were her strongest offensive ships at this point, and if they were damaged, or destroyed, her offensive strength would be severely curtailed. She would be dependent on the Interceptors, and the thin-skinned small ships were very vulnerable to this kind of bombardment. Her attention returned to the plot, to see that the bombardment of the Assistance continued. The HuK’s armor was thinner than the other ships, and her armor was soon penetrated in several places. Fortunately, Dregluk targeting shifted before any further damage was done to the Assistance. After targeting one of the ASM frigates, the Dregluk targeting returned to the Assistance, and this time she suffered internal damage that included the loss of an engine. Fortunately, the HuK’s were fast enough that even with an engine out she could still keep up with the rest of the task force.
Dregluk targeting then shifted to the Yamato. Captain Harrison’s voice came across the intercom system: “All crew brace. Damage control teams prepare for breaches!” The first salvo knocked down the Yamato’s shields with a crash, and then, as the next several salvoes hit the big ship, the crew could hear an increasing patter as the small missiles ate away at her defensive armor.
Through this Admiral Wallace sat silently, a confident smile on her face. Inside she was concerned, wondering if her drive for vengeance had led her to destruction, instead, but outwardly she appeared as if everything was proceeding according to her plan. The ship shuddered once, and then again, as breaches appeared in her armor, but then then the patter of missiles hitting her armor fell away as the Dregluk targeting shifted. The Yamato had survived. Throughout the attack Admiral Wallace had appeared supremely confident, and word spread throughout the fleet of the Admiral’s fearlessness and obvious belief that they would weather the attack.
Having weathered the storm, Admiral Wallace checked the status indicators for the task force ships. Her flagship’ shields were down and her armor was greatly reduced and holed in several places. Of the three HuK’s, the Assistance and the Intrepid both have had their shields reduced to around 16%, and the Assistance has taken serious armor damage and some internal damage. Of the three anti-missile frigates, the Chongqing has taken heavy internal damage and fallen behind, while the Cairo and the Seoul have both taken heavy armor damage. The four anti-ship frigates are in a better position, so far, with only the Huron taking moderate armor damage. None of the Interceptors have been targeted, so far.
In the meantime, the Dregluk missiles continued to pelt the human force. As Admiral Wallace was determining the task force’s status, the HuK Intrepid came under fire, penetrating her shields and then taking out a lot of her armor. After several armor breaches the HuK lost a crew quarters, but she was still in the fight. The next several minutes became a blur for most of the task force’s personnel as the Dregluk missiles seemingly randomly shifted between ships, sometimes breaching armor only to shift away for one salvo only to suddenly shift back when the crew thought they were safe.
The last several salvoes were focused on Interceptors, which had relatively thin armor. The very last salvo savages an interceptor, leaving it drifting in space and barely functional. Admiral Wallace looked at the time on her display. The last salvo hit at 2000 hours on the 27th. They had survived.
Before speaking with her commanders, Admiral Wallace called up a display showing the status of her task force:
Yamato (Assault Cruiser) – Heavy armor damage, two breaches.
Assistance (HuK) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, significant internal damage including loss of an engine.
Endeavour (HuK) - Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, significant internal damage including loss of three engines (50%).
Intrepid (HuK) - Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, internal damage.
Cairo (AM frigate) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, light internal damage.
Chongqing (AM frigate) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, moderate internal damage, including an engine.
Seoul (AM Frigate) – – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, light internal damage.
Eire (ASM Frigate) – No damage
Huron (ASM Frigate) – Minor armor damage.
Michigan (ASM Frigate) – No damage.
Ontario (ASM Frigate) – Heavy armor damage.
Falcon-002 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 16%.
Falcon-003 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 50%.
Falcon-006 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 50%
Falcon-008 (Interceptor) – Heavy damage, speed reduced by 16%.
Falcon-033 (Interceptor) – Heavy damage, speed reduced to 0. Engineering destroyed, no chance to repair.
17xInterceptors – Undamaged
Next, she focused on the icons for the Dregluk force, expecting to see them heading away now that they had expended the last of their AMM’s. She frowned when she realized that they were still heading towards her task force. After considering her options, she made her decision. Punching in the codes, she called up a conference of her ship commanders.
“We’ve survived. But, some of our ships are damaged and slowed, and the enemy is still approaching, indicating that there is likely at least one more missile attack on the way. Therefore, this is what we are going to do. I’m dividing the task force into three groups. The main group will be under my command, and will consist of the Yamato, the Assistance, and the Intrepid, escorted by the seventeen undamaged Interceptors. I’m putting the second group under you, Alfie. You will have your ship, the Endeavor, along with the Chongqing and the two most heavily damaged interceptors. You will set out at your best speed, which should be around 4,000 km/s, for the jump point. The third group will consist of all of the ASM frigates, the two least damaged AM frigates - the Cairo and the Seoul, and the three damaged Interceptors capable of 6,000 km/s speed. This force will be under Commander Green aboard the Cairo. You also will head for the jump point at your best speed. Meanwhile, the main force will move in between your forces and the Dregluk ships and attempt to intercept any missiles headed for your groups. Interceptor-033, there is nothing we can do for you right now. I’ve already sent a message for a fleet tug to come assist with your recovery, but you have my permission to abandon ship if any Dregluk missiles are detected headed towards you. Any questions?” Admiral Wallace settled back into her chair. This was a desperation move, and they all knew it. She would try, but given the limited range of their meson cannons it was unlikely that her force would be able to intercept any of the missiles headed for the other groups. What she had left unsaid was that their only real hope of avoiding the next attack was for the two groups of damaged ships to outrun the suspected incoming missiles and force them to expend their fuel. Given that the Dregluk were attacking with AMM’s there was at least a chance that they could do it, but it hadn’t worked so far. What Admiral Wallace had also left unsaid was her hope that her flagship, as the largest ship in the task force, would draw Dregluk missile fire away from the other ships.
The Captains and Commanders on the conference all looked at each other and shook their heads, remaining silent. Admiral Wallace’s heart swelled with pride. Her officers were the result of nearly a decade of war against a brutal enemy that had almost destroyed their home. They would not waiver. “Very good. Let’s get to it.” She waived the comm window closed, but immediately opened a window to Captain Harrison. “Captain, get the other ships in our group organized. We’ll continue heading away from the Dregluk, but will fall back to interpose ourselves between the Dregluk and the other groups. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll do it.” She waived the window closed and turned back to the plot. Her task force had shaken itself out, and separated into four groups. Two of the groups, containing the most damaged ships and the missile ships with empty magazines, were headed away at 4,000 and 6,000 km/s respectively. One group, composed of the lone Interceptor-033, sat dead in space as the other groups moved away. The last group, her force, fell behind the other two as it moved at 3,750 km/s to interpose itself between the two other groups and the Dregluk.
The minutes passed stressfully, as the four groups of ships became separated by more and more space. Everyone on board all of the ships were on the edges of their seats waiting for more missiles to appear on their sensors, and finally it happened, nine minutes after they separated. It soon became clear, though, that this attack would be lighter than the previous attack. The first incoming salvo was composed of forty-nine missiles, just like the previous attack, but all of the subsequent salvoes were smaller, and as more salvoes appeared on the sensors it became clear that this was the last gasp of the Dregluk ships as they emptied their magazines. The lead salvoes, to Admiral Wallace’s relief, were targeted on her main group, which had the most anti-missile defenses.
The first salvo reached Admiral Wallace’s group at 2011 hours, and by then several salvoes had been detected headed towards the two groups of damaged ships as well. The first, and largest salvo, targeted an Interceptor in Admiral Wallace’s group and severely damaged it. The second salvo, composed of twenty-one missiles, also targeted an interceptor, but the task force’s meson and laser cannons reduced the salvo by half and the interceptor merely suffered armor damage. The even smaller salvoes following after either failed to penetrate the defensive fire or did minimal damage if they did penetrate.
The missile salvoes closing on the damaged group did better. Although they were small, the damaged group had little in the way of defenses. The leading salvoes were targeted on the ASM frigate Michigan, and her armor was steadily worn away. The Dregluk had it in for the ASM frigate as wave after wave of missiles swept in on the Michigan, wearing away her armor, then causing hull breaches, then finally internal damage. As the rest of the task force watches the unfortunate ship is hit again and again. The only thing that saves her is the fact that each successive salvo of missiles is smaller and smaller. Finally, as the ship is reduced in speed and limping along with heavy internal damage, the last several salvoes capriciously shift targets and hit the Eire, slightly damaging her armor. The attack is over.
Admiral Wallace sagged in relief as the last incoming missile hit the Eire, sparing the poor Michigan. She gambled and lost by dividing her force. Her most damaged units had been left defenseless, while her least damaged units also had the best protection. That could have been disastrous, but fortunately, due to the last gasp nature of the recent Dregluk attack, they had weathered it with only a little more damage.
Looking up from her self-recriminations, Admiral Wallace saw that the Dregluk ships were now retreating away from her force, towards their jump point. Based on all previous behavior, that meant that they had expended all of their missiles and were retiring. After checking the status indicators again, she came to a decision. She opened the conference window to all of the commanders again, and once they were all present, she smiled at them.
“It’s our turn, ladies and gentlemen! The Dregluk are retreating and I believe that they have expended their missiles. I’m going to detach the fourteen undamaged interceptors, along with the Intrepid, to make an attack on those Dregluk ships before they can retreat. Captain Tyler, is your ship up to it?”
Commander Tyler smiled, the expression spreading across her face slowly. “We are ready, Admiral. We have minor internal damage only, and five casualties. All weapons are fully functional, as are the engines. We’ll take care of them for you.”
“Very good. Set out at your best speed immediately.” Fifteen of the inset windows for Commander Tyler and the commanders of the intact Interceptors winked out, and Admiral Wallace turned to the next matter. “Captain Gould, what is the status of the Michigan?”
Commander Gould, the CO of the Michigan, was normally combative and had a well-deserved reputation for rudeness. In addition to that she was an aggressive combat commander who had been awarded the Victory Medal, and her ship was directly responsible for the destruction of several large Dregluk warships. Now, though, she had a large gash down one side of her face, and her bridge behind her was obviously damaged. “We’ve suffered serious internal damage, and most of my armor is gone. Speed is reduced by 50%, and we’ve lost several launchers, not that that matters given my empty magazines.” She paused and looked down at her displays for a second and she seemed to sag a bit, before straightening and looking back at the pickup. “We have twenty-four casualties, eighteen of them fatal.”
The other commanders winced. That was about 20% of her crew, dead or seriously wounded. Admiral Wallace’s face hardened. “Very well. All other ships will fall in around the Michigan, and we’ll set our course for the jump point at our best speed. The task force will remain together.” The conference window closed as the various ship commanders moved to comply, and to deal with the damage that their ships had suffered.
As the damaged ships began limping back towards the jump point, Admiral Wallace ordered the AM frigate Delhi, sitting at the jump point where it had been waiting since it had been detached from the 1st Attack Group as it made its high-speed run to join her force, to move forward and join her group. Although it was unlikely that the three Dregluk ships had any more missiles, and there were no other Dregluk ships in the system, Admiral Wallace was disinclined to take any more risks with her damaged ships. The Delhi had a full load of Aegis V’s, and would provide at least some coverage once she joined the task force.
The detached attack force roared towards the fleeing Dregluk ships at the Intrepid’s maximum speed of 8,181 km/s, nearly twice the speed of the retreating Dregluk force. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, with the damaged ships far astern and limping back to the jump point, the pursuit force had closed to laser range of the three Dregluk ships. The Dregluk ships, two destroyers and a lone cruiser, are separated into two groups, with the destroyers positioned in between the human ships and the cruiser, with 1.4 mkm’s separating them. Commander Tyler ordered the interceptors to pursue the cruiser, while his Hunter-Killer concentrated on the destroyers. Laser fire from the Intrepid began scoring one of the DD’s armor as the Interceptors raced ahead, eager to come to grips with the big Dregluk cruiser. The Dregluk ships stolidly continued on towards the jump point, ignoring the human ships as they bored in.
The Intrepid spat laser fire at the destroyers as it closed, and by the time it had closed to point blank range the HuK’s big spinal laser had punched through one of the DD’s armor, causing a spurt of atmosphere and debris. After another round of laser fire, the DD fell out of formation with its sister ship and began falling behind. The Interceptor group, which had fallen behind while it got itself organized for the pursuit, roared past the Dregluk destroyer group as the Intrepid’s spinal laser punched a hole all the way through the faltering Dregluk ship and it exploded. The Intrepid then turned her attentions on the last DD, which came apart in a flash of fire after a minute of punishment from the HuK’s lasers.
Five minutes after the destruction of the destroyers, the Interceptors caught up with the Dregluk cruiser, which had been damaged earlier in the missile battle. The interceptors closed to point blank range and began cycling their meson cannons, pumping a salvo into the cruiser every five seconds. The crews of the interceptors, tense after being first forced to watch helpless as the bigger ships exchanged missile salvoes, and then even more helplessly watch as their fellow ships staggered under the Dregluk AMM barrage, now howled with glee as the big Dregluk cruiser staggered as their meson fire ate the enemy ship from the inside. After only fifteen seconds of fire the Dregluk ship came apart in a massive internal explosion. The last Dregluk ship was gone.
On March 29, 2141, at 1700 hours Admiral Wallace’s task force was reassembled on the jump point to the Solar System. Extensive repairs had been carried out by the engineers aboard most of the ships of the force, but significant damage remained. After resupplying from the Fleet Support ship standing by at the jump point, the force jumped back home.
Assault Cruiser Yamato: armor damage
HuK – Assistance: armor damage, 7 casualties
HuK Endeavor: armor damage, serious internal damage, 55 casualties
HuK Intrepid: armor damage, 5 casualties
Frigate (AM) Chongqing: armor damage, internal damage, 14 casualties
Frigate (AM) Cairo: armor damage, 1 casualty
Frigate (AM) Seoul: armor damage, internal damage, 4 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Michigan: armor damage, serious internal damage, 24 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Eire: armor damage
Frigate (ASM) Huron: armor damage
Frigate (ASM) Michigan: armor damage, serious internal damage, 24 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Ontario: armor damage
7xInterceptors: armor damage, varying amounts of internal damage, 52 casualties
1xInterceptor: crippled, awaiting tow, 12 casualties
Total casualties: 198
The first group of damaged ships arrives over Earth on the 30th, and most of them immediately move into the yards for repairs.
The Fleet is welcomed home as heroes, to massive celebrations across the planet. Opinion is sharply divided, although that is not apparent at first. The general public on Earth, Mars, and Ganymede are exuberant in their celebrations and there are large scale outpourings of support and sympathy for the families of the fallen heroes. On the Lunar Colony the reaction is muted. There, the general population finds Admiral Wallace’s bloodthirstiness and single-minded focus on destroying the Dregluk force at any cost distasteful and disturbing, and their representatives in the Senate view the Admiral’s actions as a threat to their Peace Initiative. For over a year the Lunar Senators have been putting together a coalition to oppose the War Faction and pushing for a mission to talk to the Dregluk, instead of shooting at them. They have faced a steep uphill battle, though, and dramatic battles such as Admiral Wallace’s desperate fight in Washington are not helping their cause.
In the Senate, the dominant War Faction wholeheartedly supports Admiral Wallace and their propaganda machine is already turning her into a hero. Behind closed doors the faction welcomes the battle and even the casualties as proof that they are right and that war with the Dregluk is inevitable and will continue to the bitter end. The Fiscal Responsibility Faction, meanwhile, is uncomfortable with the damage done to the fleet, and the fact that Admiral Wallace almost lost numerous ships that were paid for with blood, sweat, and tears by the tireless workers of Mars and Earth. They also fear the War Faction gaining even more power. Neither the War Faction or the Fiscal Responsibility Faction care or understand about Admiral Wallace’s strategies, tactics, or reasons for doing what she did, they merely care about how this event will affect their positions and how they can use it. The Conservative Faction, as usual, is divided in its reaction to this battle, with some backing the War Faction and their adulation of Admiral Wallace and her crews, and others calling Admiral Wallace’s judgement into question, albeit quietly given the public’s nearly unanimous support of the admiral.
The Admiralty is divided as well. The more aggressive officers, almost uniformly young up-and-comers, almost unanimously support the Admiral’s aggressive action. This is not surprising as they typically support the most aggressive response to the Dregluk possible. Many of those in the senior ranks are less supportive of the Admiral, and question the risks that she took in the recent engagement. Admiral Law and Consul Foster are publicly supportive of Admiral Wallace, but privately are concerned about her aggressive tendencies. The public’s adulation and the support of the War Faction in the Senate will make it difficult for them to do anything about it at this time. Both Law and Foster support a more moderate and reasoned approach to the Dregluk, and support finding an eventual path to peace with the aliens, and oppose feeding the public’s apparent need for aggression is making it increasingly difficult to find a path to that end.
Perhaps the most significant result of the aftermath of the battle is the founding of the Lunar Separatist Movement days after the fleet returns.