Month 189, Day 1, Chruqua Nexus, Grand Alliance
Elements of the Grand Alliance’s 4th Fleet were drawn up in front of the warp point to the Torqual home system, along with the Torqual Fleet under Admiral Falson. At Admiral Falson’s orders every ship in his fleet now proudly bore the banner of the Free Torqual Fleet, and, in an emotional dedication ceremony Admiral Falson had dedicated the Fleet to gain the freedom of the Torqual People. Now, with transit imminent, Cho-sho Half-Hand and Admiral Falson were having one last meeting aboard Admiral Falson’s command cruiser.
Cho-sho Half-Hand had observed the Torqual crew of the cruiser hurrying about their business as he was led to the conference room where the Torqual Admiral awaited him, and had noted their professionalism and determination. The striking dedication ceremony and the closeness of action seemed to have given them a new energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, he was sure they were going to need every bit of that in the coming days.
The junior officer escorting the D’Bringi admiral gestured to the hatch in front of them, and Half-Hand nodded and walked through, to find Admiral Falson finishing up something on his console. “It never ends, does it?” At the other’s questioning look, Cho-sho Half-Hand shrugged. “The paperwork associated with command. Every year they tell us that they are going to reduce it, and every year it gets worse.”
“That must be a universal truth, I think.” Admiral Falson rose and bowed to the D’Bringi admiral, as was the Torqual custom with superior officers. Cho-sho Half-Hand waived that away, as he always did, and sat in front of the desk. “Everything is ready?”
“We are as ready as we will ever be. Every day that we delay now merely means that they will get stronger, I fear. And more vicious, if the latest reports are true.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand grimaced. He had seen the same reports. “These people that have seized power, they seem to love killing and death, don’t they?”
Admiral Falson shook his head in negation. “They would deny that, Cho-sho. They would claim that they are merely doing what is necessary to secure the future of our race, as they see it.”
“As they see it.” Cho-sho Half-Hand looked appalled. “I truly do not wish to understand their vision of the future, then.” They fell silent for a few seconds, then Cho-sho Half-Hand decided to broach the subject that was his true reason for meeting with the Torqual admiral. “Our intelligence sources have confirmed that the revolutionary government knows you plan to return, although they aren’t sure of the exact timing. Our sources also say that the revolutionary council seems to be confident in a plan to defeat you, should you return. Have you seen the information we have forwarded?”
The Torqual admiral’s eyes seemed to be lit with a fire deep within them that now blazed brighter. “I have seen the information, and I believe I know how they believe they can stop me.” Falson waived his hand over the control station in front of him, and a comparison of the forces available to the revolutionary council and the Free Fleet appeared over the table. If they were all assembled in the home system, the revolutionary council’s ships would outnumber and out mass the Free Fleet substantially. The Free Fleet had fifteen cruisers, while the revolutionary government could field fifteen cruisers and twelve light cruisers. “For a direct conflict, the situation is actually better than the bare numbers would indicate. While their entire fleet outnumbers my own, they cannot assemble the entire fleet in the home system without running a risk that the out-system colonies would rebel, and I believe that they are actually more worried about that possibility than the risk my fleet represents. After all, if the out-system colonies rebel, and manage to get a message to any of the Alliance embassies, what would the Council do?”
“This has been discussed. If that should happen then the Alliance will send in peacekeepers and supplies to assist any planetary government that requests such assistance.”
The Torqual admiral nodded. “So the revolutionary council believes, and they cannot risk a colony breaking away as they do not wish to break with the Alliance yet. Eventually, yes, but not yet. Right now, they need the profit from the trade with the Alliance to help secure their power base. Once they are secure, they will turn on the Alliance just as surely as the sun will rise on each of our home worlds.”
This brought them to the subject that Half-Hand wanted to make sure that the Torqual admiral understood. “The Alliance Council is aware of the plans of the Torqual Revolutionary Council. Therefore, the Council has voted unanimously to authorize a military intervention into the Torqual Home System should your fleet fail. This may cause a political crisis within the Alliance over internal interventions, but the Council feels that delaying will only make things worse. One way or another the Revolutionary Council’s depredations will come to an end.”
The Torqual Admiral nodded. “As I suspected. Even more reason for my fleet to succeed. Although it appears that the vast bulk of the people on my planet hate and fear the Revolutionary Council, Alliance intervention would appear to be yet another alien invasion, and, even when the Council was gone, troublemakers would long be able to use the intervention to justify rabble-rousing.”
Cho-sho Half Hand looked at the Torqual admiral curiously. “You understand the Revolutionary Guard’s likely strategy, right? They will not fight fair, or fight at all if they can avoid it.”
The fire in the Torqual Admiral’s eyes were like banked coals now, burning steadily. “I’ve seen the reports. They have tried to clamp down on information flows but the home planet leaks like a sieve. Too many people hate them to remain quiet. They have been scouring the Capital and the camps for anyone related to my officers and crews. Already they have sent messages to myself and many others, informing us that should we fail to surrender they will do horrible things to our loved ones.” The Torqual admiral closed his eyes for a few seconds. “One of those messages had an attached video clip of the torture and killing of my middle child at the hands of the depraved beasts of the Revolutionary Council. They threatened to do the same to rest of my family if I decline to surrender my fleet.”
Half-Hand could see the pain in the eyes of the other admiral. “As I understand it, that was their preferred way of dealing with officials from your former government during their uprising.”
“Yes, and of course it works more often than not, because who among us doesn’t love their family?”
“How did your officers and crews react to these messages?”
“They haven’t seen them. When I first realized what was going on, and that we couldn’t return home, I had my intel officer divert all messages from home to a hidden buffer system, where they will remain until this campaign is over. Then I explained my reasoning to the crews and officers, and showed them the video of my middle child’s death. I wanted them to understand exactly what they were facing. For our return, I have had my tech people deploy a jamming system on board all of our ships, to prevent the animals that control my home from contacting any of the crews. There will be only one open channel, and I will be the only one that has access to that channel.”
“And if they tell you they have your wife, or your other children?”
“They will try it. I will not believe them, though. We have sources of information from within the Capital, and they have told me that my middle child was the only one taken by the Revolutionary Guard. The rest of my family is either dead or has disappeared into the chaos that has seized much of my home world outside of the capital city.”
Half-Hand stared at the Torqual Admiral for a few seconds, not envying him the days to come. He wanted to ask what he’d do if the Council actually had any of his family, and confronted him with new videos, but he could see in the other admiral’s eyes that it wouldn’t make any difference to the man. He would not be deterred from removing the monsters from their seat of power. Finally, he stood and saluted Falson, wishing him good luck. For now, that was all he could do.
The Torqual Home System
Six Alliance battle cruisers burst through the warp point, in close order combat formation. A courier drone had preceded their entry, informing the Torqual government that the Alliance was planning on entering the system as part of a naval patrol moving across Alliance systems. The attached information made it clear the patrol would enter the system and then depart after a short period of time.
The Torqual government had not believed the message, but was not ready to tangle with the Alliance, so there was nothing at the warp point to meet the Alliance ships when they entered the system except for a sensor and comm buoy pair set to watch the warp point.
A few minutes passed, during which time the battlecruisers confirmed that the area around the warp point was clear, and then they dispatched a CD back through the warp point. Soon thereafter, the cruisers of the Free Torqual Fleet began transiting into the system, followed by transports. The Free Fleet had returned. With little fanfare the entire force set out for the inner system. The Alliance battlecruisers remained on the warp point, in contact with the Free Fleet as it moved in-system.
Month 189, Day 7
For six days the Free Torqual Fleet had sailed through empty space, approaching their home. For that entire time their home had ignored them. Admiral Falson had monitored the home world’s communications networks and there hadn’t been a single mention of the approaching fleet, nor had there been any alerts or warnings. It was almost as if they didn’t exist. Almost. There had been several attempts to open communications with the fleet from the home world, but Admiral Falson had ignored the attempts. Falson knew what the butchers now controlling his planet were capable of, and he knew that no good would come of opening communications with them, now or ever. The Free Fleet made its own attempts to contact the home planet’s people, to warn them of their approach, but it was clear that the Revolutionary Council was jamming all frequencies.
Instead of news about the attacking fleet, the home planet’s airwaves were filled with patriotic revolutionary propaganda, extolling the virtues of service to the state in the name of the people. These broadcasts were accompanied by videos documenting the torture and killing of anti-revolutionary forces, who, to Admiral Falson, mostly appeared to be defenseless men, women, and children. After the intel staff examined the videos to ensure they were clean of subversion attempts, Admiral Falson approved the videos for broadcast throughout the fleet, so that the crews could see the monsters that they had come to stop. Eventually Admiral Falson had to restrict access to the transmissions, as the anger of the crews had grown so much that the officers feared they would lose control once they were within range of the enemy.
And then, as they broke the seventy-two light minute detection barrier around the home planet, their sensors detected drive fields activating near the planet, and whatever it was left the home planet, headed out to intercept them. Admiral Falson didn’t believe that the revolutionary government didn’t know that he was here, so they had waited for his approach before moving out to intercept his fleet. For some reason.
In any case, the motivations of the revolutionary government, no matter how strange or convoluted, wouldn’t matter soon. Either he and his fleet would sweep aside the revolutionary guard, as the defense forces had taken to calling themselves, or the defenders would defeat them, and he and his officers would all be beyond caring. Either way it would end soon.
Month 189, Day 8
The two fleets closed on each other, neither interested in evading or trickery. This was to be a battle for the future of the Torqual race, and both sides wanted the battle done with. There had been too much killing and brutality already for there to be any talk of peace, surrender, or quarter. Every crewer on the ships of the Free Fleet had had friends or relatives on the ships that now faced them, and they all knew that those friends or relatives were gone now, replaced by reliable crews of true believers. They knew this because the transmissions from the planet told them so, detailing with great glee the fates that had befallen the recidivist militarists of the old fleet. Every crewer felt nothing but hate for the minions of the bloody council that now ruled their world, hate and absolute determination to rid the universe of the scum that had dominated their home system. They had faith in their abilities and those of their comrades, a faith honed through battle and innumerable drills. They would prevail in this fight, as they had all of the others that had come before.
On board the Revolutionary Guard ships, a curious mix of emotions ran through the corridors of the fleet. The officers and political watchdogs exuded confidence in the Guard’s ability to defeat the lackies of the old regime, and utter contempt for the misguided recidivists that so misguidedly followed the old ways. The crews wanted to believe them, after all, the old government had been so corrupt, and fallen so quickly to the Revolutionary Council’s onslaught, that it almost seemed like the political officers had to be right, however…a creeping fear stalked the crewers of the Guard fleet. The officers talked more about faithfulness to the Council than they did attention to their jobs, something most of the crewers knew just enough about to survive in space. Their pre-battle briefings had been filled with exhortations to remain faithful to the cause, rather than discussions of strategy or tactics, or even attention to their duties. As the traitor fleet approached, more than one crewer or junior officer looked around at his companions and wondered if any of them knew their jobs any better than they did. As the two fleets closed on each other, the fear in the Guard fleet mounted.
Just before the two fleets reached weapons range, Admiral Falson opened an all-ships channel, and spoke to his crews. On every ship his face appeared in every compartment and duty station, and for a few seconds everyone turned their attention to their leader. Admiral Falson appeared serious, but determined, and anyone looking at his face would have thought it cut from stone. “I speak now to all of the crewers of the true Torqual Fleet. The betrayers now in control of the government call you recidivists, adherents to the old ways, and traitors, but it is they who are traitors! I know you, and you know me! We are defenders, and we have always been defenders! We defend the Torqual people, as we have always done! As we will always do! The people now in charge on home world have no new ideas, no plan, so instead they tear at everything that makes us a people. They destroy and they kill because they have nothing to replace it with. They are just killers, and they have been in control for too long. We are here to stop them, and stop them we will! It ends now!”
Cheers rang out across the fleet as everyone, on all of the ships, jumped to their feet and screamed their agreement. The fleet had returned! “Now get to work, and let’s clear our skies of this scum!”
At ten light seconds, the fleet plot updated with the latest information on the revolutionary government’s fleet. Falson frowned. They had fewer cruisers than he did, but more ships and more mass. Also, they had more long-ranged combatants. The government forces had six Imperial Favor class cruisers, to his three, and six Bangor class cruisers, to his three Akagi(LR) class ships. On the other hand, the enemy had only six light cruisers equipped for close-range combat, which meant that he held the balance of power in close range combat with his nine Akagi class close-range combatants. After watching the government fleet close on his for a while, he came to a decision and began issuing orders. Throughout the Free Fleet the officers and crews leapt into action like the well-oiled machines they were.
On board the government fleet, Marshal Yullen, Grand Commander of the Defense Fleets of the Revolution, and Commander of the Revolutionary Guard, peered at the plot tank nervously. He had not been given the position of commander of the Revolutionary Guard because he was a military person, or because he knew how to lead a fleet in battle, but because of his loyalty and service to the Revolutionary Council. Originally, he had been a junior petty officer on board the old government’s fleet, and he had had the good luck to survive the battle with the D’Bringi that had brought his race into the Alliance and began the fall of the old order. Put out of work by the conquest, he had joined the revolutionary guard early, before it had become clear they were going to win, and thus had established his loyalty early. His prior military service had helped serve his ambitions well, once he had proven his loyalty by betraying other former military members to the Council’s security services. He had carefully hidden the fact that he had been assigned to a maintenance unit in the engineering department and had never led more than six crewers at a time. In any case, his former assignment hadn’t really mattered to the Revolutionary Council, as they disdained the old military and its hide-bound customs. Yullen had risen far and fast in the new order, and his appointment to command the Revolutionary Guard was his crowning achievement. Of course, it also meant that he had ended up here, leading a fleet in battle, something he had never planned on or wanted to do. Still, if everything went right, there would be no battle, aside from cleaning up scattered resistance, something the Revolutionary Guard was really good at.
Working with the Revolutionary Council’s dreaded Enforcement Bureau, Yullen and his staff had gathered every relative or even acquaintance of a crewer or officer aboard the oncoming fleet still alive. Unfortunately, there were actually only a few that were both still alive and in the hands of the government. Many were dead from the purges, or disappeared into the areas outside the main cities that had stubbornly resisted government control, or had been deported to the colonies. Still, they had some, and they were all with his fleet now, and would act as hostages to the good behavior of the oncoming fleet. Plus, the revolution had documented most of the torturing and killing that had gone on during the purges, to ensure that the general population would remain terrified and compliant, and those records would now be used against those on the rebel fleet. The recording of the ‘correction’ of the traitor Falson’s daughter had already been sent to weaken the commander of the rebels, and other such recordings were available for many within the oncoming fleet. Yullen, and the Council, believed that these recordings, and the hostages, would be more than enough to stop the rebels, to make them ask for terms. Yullen had been authorized to offer the rebels anything they might believe to get them to surrender, because, of course, the Revolutionary Council did not consider agreements with traitors binding in any way. Once the rebels surrendered, they and their families would be treated exactly as traitors should be treated. The fact that the rebels might know that, and factor that into their thinking, had never occurred to Yullen. This strategy had always worked before, with the corrupt officials of the old government, and they were confident that it would work again.
Unfortunately, the traitors on board the incoming fleet had refused all communications, which had made Yullen look bad back home. He had confidently predicted that he would be able to talk the traitors into surrendering, especially as the revolutionary guard had gone to so much trouble as to collect the surviving family members of the incoming fleet’s officers and hold them against this eventuality. In the face of the rebel fleet’s lack of response, Yullen sent of lists of names of the rebel’s family members and the loyal revolutionary guard ships they were held on, to let the rebels know the price their continued resistance would cost them. And still the rebels were silent. Their silence had unnerved Yullen, who Yullen hadn’t bothered to come up with a battle plan. Oh, he had directed his staff to develop a plan as a backup, not because he believed they would need it, but as a way to give them something to do. He hadn’t even really bothered to look at that plan, so sure was he of his primary plan’s chance of success. Now he was beginning to realize that his confidence might have been misplaced. He had thought that he could dangle their precious families in front of them, especially Falson’s daughters, and the weak, cowardly recidivists would crumble as they always had. Instead, the incoming fleet had remained silent throughout its approach, and if Yullen was going to be honest, their silence had intimidated him. He would never admit it, though, so he remained silent and tried to project confidence. It never occurred to him that everyone else on board his flagship and the other ships of the fleet were just as intimidated, or that he wasn’t very good at hiding his fear. It had never occurred to him that the officers and crews of his fleet mattered in any real way. As long as they followed orders like the machines they were expected to emulate, he was satisfied. As he paced his bridge he radiated uncertainty, and those around him picked up on that. It made them even more unwilling to approach him, as he was an unpredictable and harsh taskmaster at the best of times.
As Yullen watched the plot, the recidivist fleet accelerated to combat speed and began closing on the government’s forces. They weren’t in range yet, but they would be soon. Increasingly, Yullen was in shock. He really hadn’t believed that the republican recidivists on board the fleet would actually attack the duly appointed defenders of the government. He turned to his comms officer. “Can you punch a signal through the jamming yet?”
“Yes sir, barely.”
“Then do so. I want to talk to Falson.”
As the two fleets closed, the monitor on Yullen’s station lit up with the face of Admiral Falson. “Falson, you idiot! You cannot do this! We outnumber you! And we have your families! You’ll get them all killed, and for what? Nothing! Surrender now or face the consequences!”
Admiral Falson’s face remained calm, eerily calm, and his voice was steady as he answered. “What choice have you left us, traitor! We are dead, one way or another, and we know it. If we didn’t know before entering this system, we know it now. You and your fellow revolutionaries have gone insane! So much killing, so much death. You’re drunk on it, and it must stop!”
Yullen could feel the fear rising in him as he watched the approaching fleet. “Wait, Falson, you must think of your family! We have them and…”
Admiral Falson’s face never changed its calm demeanor, but at the mention of his family Falson calmly reached out and closed the comms channel. Yullen stared at the monitor in shock, not believing that anyone could be that callous. Well, anyone outside the Revolution, of course. The leaders of the Revolution had been willing to sacrifice their own families to take power, and many of them had. They believed that that was what gave them the advantage when dealing with the corrupt old government. Taking family members hostage had always served the revolution well in their efforts to overthrow the government installed by the D’Bringi, and he couldn’t believe it wasn’t working now. His train of thought was derailed by an announcement that rang across the bridge.
“Enemy fleet now at eight-point-five light seconds range.”
Yullen didn’t know a lot about space battles, but he knew that they were now just barely outside combat range. He finally realized that a battle was actually going to happen. That thought, of course, led to the inevitable corollary that his own precious skin was at risk here, something he hadn’t actually believed until now. “All ships will open fire as the enemy enters range! Plan Alpha! Plan Alpha!”
The revolution’s leaders were callous and ruthless. They viewed the great mass of citizens as little more than tools to be shaped by the party into a force that could create the great future that they had envisioned for their race. Like any tool, they were to be used and discarded, and could be replaced at a whim if they broke or faltered. No one cared about a tool, except to the extent that it was capable of doing its job. That attitude extended to their military forces, which they openly disdained. Now that they had broken the officer corps to the party’s yoke, and set watchers among them to ensure obedience, they viewed the fleet as yet another tool to be used when necessary and then put away and ignored until it was needed again. They would have scoffed at the idea that of morale, honor, pride, and experience could have any effect on the upcoming battle, which to them was a mere matter of numbers and equations. The ship’s crews had largely been replaced by the faithful from among the party’s membership, and if they weren’t trained as well as those they replaced, they were at least loyal, which meant far more to them than mere battle prowess. After all, what use was a sharp sword that turned in your hand and stabbed its wielder? Better a blunt sword that actually hit its enemy. They believed that the honor and duty that the old fleet had believed in was actually a weakness, not a strength. Yullen had believed that as well, as he had watched to old admirals in command of the fleet give up, one after another, at the merest threat to their families. After all of their nattering about honor and duty, their complete surrender had convinced him of the supremacy of the Party and the Council. Now, watching the returning fleet implacably advance on him, personally, Yullen was beginning to doubt his previous beliefs.
The oncoming Free Torqual Fleet hit the seven-point-five light second mark and the nine Akagi class short-range and medium range cruisers actually accelerated towards the government fleet, exceeding maximum military speed by detuning their engines. This made it difficult for them to target anything, but they were far beyond the range at which their beam weapons could hit their targets anyway. It also meant that they were overstressing their engines, which could suffer damage at some point, but that mattered little as it wasn’t clear that they would survive the next several minutes, much less any time longer than that. Following Plan Alpha, the government’s ships had come to a halt and begun modulating their engines, to make themselves harder to hit. To Falson’s practiced eyes their formation appeared ragged, but they all managed to come to halt in something resembling decent order.
Both sides had nearly perfect intelligence on the enemy’s ships, and thus both sides knew the capabilities of the enemy ships facing them. The government’s six capital missile cruisers concentrated their fire on one of the Free Fleet’s three capital missile cruisers, while the Free Fleet’s missile cruisers targeted one of the enemy’s beam-armed light cruisers. The Free Force’s missiles reached their target first. The targeted light cruiser was evading, and its panicked CO launched all three of its EDM’s as the missiles closed in on the ship, in spite of the fact that clearly over half of the eighteen capital missiles targeted on it were going to miss. Three got through the ship’s point defense fire and EDM’s, knocking down the light cruiser’s shields and scoring its armor. The return fire from the government’s two capital missile datagroups was targeted on the Free Fleet’s lead capital missile cruiser, which launched two EDM’s in its defense and took four hits, knocking down its shields and causing light armor damage.
The Free Fleet continued racing towards the government fleet, with its beam ships still detuning. The Free Fleet’s medium range cruisers stopped detuning and continued towards the enemy force, now within range of their missile launchers. On board the government fleet, Marshal Yullen had been watching the Free Fleet race towards his fleet, perplexed at how they thought they could win. The fear that had been growing within him was bubbling just below the surface, as he had realized that even though his fleet would surely win the battle, he personally might not survive. The second salvoes from both fleets were on their way when he hit the communicator button on his console. “Admiral Torson, your squadron will advance on the traitors and engage them closely!” Yullen hated the rising note of barely suppressed panic in his voice, but he had to get the Guard’s light cruisers out in front of the fleet. Out in front of his command ship, to be specific.
Admiral Torson’s face on Yullen’s monitor was dull, and his voice was edged with just as much fear as the Marshal’s. “What? Are you insane? Plan Alpha calls for us to remain with the fleet and screen at close range! I will not abandon the plan now!”
Marshal Yullen was practically shaking with rage as he replied. He knew cowardice when he saw it. “You get your ships out there, Admiral, or I will have you executed!”
Torson cut the channel as Yullen jumped to his feet and began pacing. “The coward! What is he thinking, refusing my order! Security!” Marshal Yullen’s chief enforcer, an Intelligence Directorate thug named Eroll, stood up from his station. “Dispatch officers to arrest Admiral Torson immediately!” The officer turned to leave.
Yullen’s flag captain hesitantly rose. “Sir, is it wise to cause confusion in the chain of command at a time like this?”
The Flag Captain gestured to the tank and Yullen could see that the missiles launched by both sides were arriving. Yullen’s eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning me? Now?” the panic in Yullen’s voice was even more apparent. “Arrest him!”
“Sir, no! I merely….” The captain stumbled to a halt as the omnipresent security officers rushed forward and grabbed him, hustling him off the bridge.
Unnoticed as everyone on the bridge focused on the drama, the missiles launched by both sides rained down on their targets. Capital missiles launched by the Free Fleet’s single capital missile armed group, augmented by capital missiles from their external racks, overwhelmed the defenses of a Guard light cruiser and stripped away its armor and shields, along with half of its engines. The Free Fleet’s medium range cruisers, armed with rapid firing standard missile launchers, targeted the light cruiser damaged by the first salvo of capital missiles and ravaged it, getting eighteen hits against the hapless CL, which had no more EDM’s to launch in its defense. Return fire from the Revolutionary Guard fleet’s capital missile cruisers was focused on the same Free Fleet capital missile cruiser as before. The two squadrons of Revolutionary Guard cruisers managed to score just two hits against the Free Fleet cruiser, whose point defense seemed impenetrable. The two Guard squadrons armed with advanced standard missile launchers only managed to score one hit between the two squadrons, slightly weakening the shields of one of the Free Fleet’s standard missile cruisers.
Marshal Yullen didn’t notice this exchange of fire, as he was ranting against the disloyal officers under his command, but the other captains in the fleet noticed this disparity of results. Fear was growing throughout the Revolutionary fleet, where the crews and officers were beginning to understand that their revolutionary master’s insistence that fervor for the cause was an acceptable substitute for competence on the job was perhaps not based in reality.
Yullen’s eyes had turned back to the tank just as Security Officer Eroll returned to the bridge. “Marshal Yullen!” Yullen turned at the near shout. “My forces on board the Equality tried to arrest Admiral Torson but were barred from the bridge when Torson locked it down. They have been unable to penetrate its defenses.”
Yullen just stared at the security officer in disbelief. What the hell was going on? His mental line of questioning was halted by a call from his new flag captain, formerly the second in command of the flagship.
“Sir! The Equality is leaving the line!”
Yullen wheeled around to peer at the tank. He immediately saw that his new flag captain was right. The light cruiser Equality, the flagship of the light cruiser squadron that was supposed to be protecting his cruisers, had turned and was running back towards the home planet. Yullen was filled with rage, forgetting his fear for a few seconds. He stabbed the all-ships button on his console.
“All light cruisers will fire on the Equality! It has turned traitor and will attack our planet to assist the recidivists!”
Even as Yullen issued the orders the Free Fleet continued to close on the government ships. Two of Yullen’s light cruisers turned their force beams on the fleeing light cruisers and wiped it from space as missiles from the approaching fleet began impacting the firing light cruiser’s shields. Yullen felt a surge of delight when the treacherous admiral’s cruiser disappeared in a deluge of force beam fire, but then one of his loyal light cruisers blew up.
“What just happened?” Even as he asked the question a second light cruiser’s light code began to rapidly blink, indicating that it had received serious internal damage.
Yullen’s Flag Captain gestured at the tank. “The enemy is concentrating their fire on the light cruisers. All of their ships are within range now.”
Yullen watched incredulously as one by one, his remaining light cruisers received enough damage to cripple them. His eyes turned to the icons for his cruisers, which remained reassuringly steady. “What damage have we done to them?”
The bridge remained silent. After a second Yullen rounded on his unfortunate flag captain. “Captain!”
His skin turning duller, the Flag Captain stood up. “Sir! We have disabled the shields on four of their cruisers.”
“What!?” Yullen’s eyes were drawn to the tank, where he could see the traitor short-ranged cruisers charging seemingly straight at him. For a second, he was tempted to order his fleet to run ahead of the approaching fleet to try and maintain the range, but he instantly dismissed that thought. If he ordered his ships to abandon their positions, he was pretty sure they would panic and run, and wouldn’t stop until they reached another system, if then. “All ships will concentrate their fire on those short-range cruisers!”
The Free Fleet short-ranged cruisers closed to one point two five light seconds before they fired again. Yullen watched in shock as the three lead cruisers fired their force beams at three of his crippled light cruisers, wiping them from space. The three light cruisers had been crippled, reduced to one sixth speed and only retaining a weapon or two, but the traitors wiped them from space without hesitation, not even calling for a surrender. Despite everything, Yullen was shocked. That wasn’t how the Fleet worked. How many times had he and the other Council members laughed about the old regime’s stupid adherence to its values, even as it went down in flames. For the first time he began to realize that perhaps they had pushed them too hard. Too far.
Then one of the loyalist Bangor Class Heavy Cruisers exploded when it came under fire from traitor cruiser group. It was followed quickly by one of his capital missile cruisers. Yullen blanched when he saw that, for it was one of his flagship’s data-group members. Standard and capital missiles sleeted in on a second Bangor class cruiser, overwhelming its defenses and causing serious damage. Yullen stared at the traitor fleet, hoping that his fleet had been able to inflict commensurate damage, but his hopes were dashed. His ships had focused their fire on a single traitor Akagi class beam cruiser, and while they had managed to knock its shields down, and penetrate its armor, the damned ship was keeping up with its squadron mates and was maintaining coordinated fire on his battered fleet. Nothing seemed to deter the traitors. They were coming in like beasts from hell, and their effectiveness compared to his fleet was staggering.
The command deck had broken down into chaos around Yullen as officers shouted at each other and into their comms channels. Yullen staggered back to his station and collapsed. How could this have happened? His eyes settled on the comms button and he realized that he had one chance left. He hit the channel to the traitor fleet, and was surprised when his monitor lit up to show Admiral Falson.
“Yes?”
Yullen was briefly taken aback by the venom in the other’s voice, but rallied. He was the survivor of numerous political battles within the Council, some of them bloody, and showing weakness never worked. “Traitor, you must cease fire! You are killing your own people! We have your family on board our ships, and the families of your officers and crews! Every missile you fire, every beam, kills someone you know! Now stand down and you and your families can all live! We’ll even release you to the Alliance, if that is what you want!” Yullen watched the other’s face as he spoke, but he didn’t see what he wanted. There was no weakness there, not sentimentality. Only an implacable hatred. He tried again. “You saw the videos I sent of the hostages we have on our ships! You have to believe me!” Thinking of Falson’s child that had expired at the hands of the Council’s torturers, he tried another approach. “If you don’t care about your family, what of your crews? What about them?”
“My officers and crews know their families are dead. They have accepted that, and now they want justice. And they will have it!” The channel closed with a finality that Yullen felt in his soul. He sat at his station, unbelieving and beyond thought or emotion. Finally, he roused himself when Flag Captain Horson shook him.
“Sir! The Fleet!”
Yullen turned dull eyes towards the tank and saw his fleet unravel as the enemy charged towards them. Government cruisers scattered in as many directions as there were cruisers. Their missile launchers fell silent as they ran, each ship hoping that the enemy would cease firing if they did. It didn’t work. The enemy fleet mercilessly chased down the fleeing ships, firing as they came. Yullen realized that the battle was over, lost. Now it was every person for themselves. “Captain, get us out of here!”
The captain turned and began yelling orders. The flagship got underway, racing after the other fleeing cruisers. In quick sequence five government cruisers were savaged by force beams, plasma guns, and missile fire. Somehow, miraculously, Yullen’s cruiser escaped the barrage. The government cruisers got the message, and one by one they dropped their drive fields, surrendering to the Free Fleet. All except Yullen’s cruiser. It continued to run as its officers were sure of their fate should they surrender. It didn’t get far, as the next salvo from the Free Fleet was concentrated on that one ship, wiping it from space.
The Free Fleet, having suffered only minor damage, closed on the drive-field down ships of the government, force, and soon had them under control. The officers and crews were stripped and imprisoned in their own brigs, while the hostages, the few that remained, were freed and reunited with their families and friends. The Free Fleet, having suffered minor damage in the battle and now reinforced by three Bangor class cruisers which had surrendered intact, set out for their home planet. The first battle was over, now came the battle to free their planet and their people.
