April 30th, 2139, 0513 hours
Rear Admiral Delois Doxey stared at the plot tank intently as the fleet’s sensors got their first hint that the Reapers were still in the system. One hundred and fifteen million kilometers away, over 70 Ophiuchi II, three red icons appeared. After a few seconds the flagship’s computer put up info tags indicating that these were two Deltas and a Charlie. After a few seconds of studying the plot, she activated the comm system in her station and opened a line to the command deck. “Commodore McCullick, the fleet will continue on course for planet two.”
Tension built among the crews of the fleet as they continued to advance towards the Reaper Base. They had all seen the recordings of the Reapers in action on Terra during the Raids, and everyone knew them to be merciless killers. Every crewer in the fleet was determined to do their best to eliminate this threat, but they wouldn’t be human if they didn’t wonder about what kind of meat grinder they were advancing towards.
Two hours later the planet was in active sensor range of the fleet, and the plot suddenly updated with numerous contacts over the planet. The Reaper fleet now consisted of thirty-six ships of ten classes, three of which were new. Even as the intelligence division parsed the information coming in from the sensors, Admiral Doxey called a virtual command conference for her group leaders. Within minutes Admiral Doxey, her flag captain, and the commanders of the Jupiter, Mars, and Terra battle groups were present in the virtual environment. Although she could have chosen any setting for the meeting, as usual Admiral Doxey had chosen a no-nonsense briefing room virtual environment for the meeting, and the attendees appeared in the chairs surrounding a table with large displays hanging over them in positions they could all see. Once they were all present, she called up a breakdown of the Reaper fleet on the overhead displays.
Alpha: 17,400 tons, speed 0, armor 4, shields 196, suspected beam platform
Bravo: 17,300 tons, speed 0, armor 2, shields 196, 52xclass 2 Missile launcher
Charlie: 8,650 tons, speed 8,023, unknown armament or defense
Delta: 26,089 tons, speed, and armament unknown, shields 122
Echo: 17,396 tons, unknown speed and armament, shields 196
Foxtrot: 8,691 tons, unknown armament and defense, speed 5,338
Golf: 961 tons, Unknown speed, armament and defense
Hotel: 17,772 tons, unknown speed, armament and defense
India: 17,399 tons, unknown speed, armament and defense
Juliett: 8,689 tons, unknown speed, armament and defense
Total tonnage of Reaper force: 256, 706
Total tonnage of Imperial Force: 310,000
“As you can see, there are thirty-six Reaper ships present over planet two. Alpha and Bravo are known to be immobile bases, and Charlie class units are known to have a higher speed than our fleet standard. Aside from that little is known about the composition of the Reaper force. At this time, it is my intention to advance to contact with the Reaper force and engage them closely.”
Commodore Kelm, commanding officer of the Mars Battle Group, frowned. “The Reaper missiles are believed to have a range of approximately two million kilometers. At maximum fleet speed it’ll take two hundred and sixty-seven seconds to close to point blank range with the Reaper fleet, meaning that they will have the chance to launch twenty-two salvoes before we even close to combat range. And that’s assuming the other unknown classes can’t add any additional missiles to the salvoes.”
A general discussion started between the attending officers about the plan to close to beam range through missile fire. Admiral Doxey remained silent, watching who was talking, their demeanor, and what they were saying. Commodore Naraine of the battlecruiser Terra was optimistic as always, pointing out that the new escort destroyers and their gauss cannons, backed up by the fleet’s massed laser point defense, would deal with the Reaper missiles. Commodore Lacefield, CO of the battleship group, argued as always that orders were orders, and shouldn’t be questioned. Captain Fortenberry, the CO of the Jupiter and her battle group, was the youngest in the virtual room and the lowest ranking, and as usual remained silent throughout most of the conversation.
After a few minutes the conversations had devolved to a near argument between Commodore Kelm on one side, who was arguing that they should send for tugs to bring up bombardment bases to eliminate known Reaper missile bases before they entered combat range, and Commodores Naraine and Lacefield who were defending the current plan. Admiral Doxey raised her hand and the others quickly quieted down. “There are two Bravo class units over the Reaper Base. Fleet Ops has determined that the escort destroyers and destroyers that comprise our escort force will be sufficient to attrit the Reaper missile salvoes to the point that that capital ships can absorb the leakers with their shielding, which can be recharged. We will continue with the advance. Prepare your crews for an anti-missile engagement. That is all.”
One by one they left the virtual environment, leaving the admiral to be the last to leave. The fleet advanced through the depths of space, towards an inevitable fight.
Five minutes after the conference ended, at 0741 hours, Admiral Doxey was in her office, going over the plan of attack and the fleet deployment orders yet again, when alarms started ringing. Almost immediately Commodore McCullick was on the comms to her office. “Ma’am, sensors detect an inbound wave of missiles five point two million kilometers away and closing at 30,085 km/s, ETA 173 seconds. The missile salvo is composed of two hundred and sixteen size seven missiles. Current range to the Reaper base is fifty-one million kilometers. The fleet is at combat readiness, shields raised, point defense networks established.”
“Very well. I’ll be on the flag bridge. Fight your ship.” Closing the comms channel she hurriedly left her office and made the short trip to the flag bridge. Entering, her eyes went immediately to the plot, which showed the missile salvo closing on the fleet. Seeing the missiles closing on her fleet, she knew that they couldn’t close through fifty million kilometers of repeated missile strikes. Especially since these larger missiles were almost certainly more capable than the Reaper missiles they had encountered before. She made a snap decision and opened a comms channel to the bridge.
“Commodore McCullick, we will be executing a fleet turn to a reciprocal course back towards the jump point. Please plot the course and disseminate it to the fleet. We will turn on your mark, after I speak to the fleet.” She didn’t wait for his acknowledgement before closing the channel and opening the fleet wide channel.
“This is fleet command to all units. We will execute a fleet turn to a reciprocal course. The course and timing will be disseminated by the flagship. All ships are to engage incoming missiles as per the established missile defense plan.”
The fleet came about as ordered, and began opening the range to the Reaper fleet and stretching out its engagement time with the incoming missiles. The entire fleet watched as the incoming missile wave overtook them, racing towards the fleeing ships like a wave. The missiles raced through the fleet’s point defense fire in seconds to crash against the two battleship’s shields. It was all over so fast the point defense fire and the missiles hitting the battleship’s shields seemed simultaneous. Alarms rang throughout the Antares as the big battleship’s shields absorbed multiple missile-strikes, shedding the energy as the shields collapsed. After the explosions cleared Admiral Doxey could see that her flagship’s shields were still at 84%, but alarmingly, the Pride of Sol’s shields had been reduced to 11%.
“Report on point defense effectiveness!”
“Enemy missile salvo contained numerous decoys. Total number of missiles killed by point defense, twenty-five. Estimated fifty-seven decoy hits by point defense.”
She grimaced. A ten percent kill ratio was not enough to attrit the missiles, and the Pride of Sol’s shields had almost been knocked down on the first salvo. “Damage report.”
“The fleet reports no damage. The Pride of Sol reports sixty-seven hits by strength six missile warheads, shields intact and recharging. The Antares reports twelve hits, shields recharging.”
She was fortunate that the Reapers concentrated on her two largest and most capable units. Even so, the Pride of Sol almost lost her shields. It was at this moment that she realized that there was nothing she could do to affect the outcome of the battle. Her fleet was retreating, trying to get out of the enemy’s missile range before the enemy overwhelmed their defenses. There was no clever strategy that she could employ, no rabbit she could pull out of her hat. The Reaper missiles would come, and there was nothing that she or her fleet could do about it but endure it.
Ten minutes and fifteen seconds later the next wave of missiles appeared on the fleet’s sensors, rapidly overhauling them. Admiral Doxey felt very fortunate that it had taken that long for another salvo to appear on their sensors, as it had given the battleships time to recharge their shields. Three minutes and forty seconds later the missiles had reached the outer edge of the fleet’s point defense envelope and the battlecruiser’s heavy spinal lasers fired, trying to pick them off at range. The heavy lasers missed, and the missiles came on. The next up was the plasma cannons on the battle cruisers, but they only managed to kill one decoy. The missiles raced in on the fleet and the massed lasers and gauss cannons fired at the last second, killing twenty-two missiles and seventy-six decoys. The rest targeted the battlecruisers Terra and Mars.
Admiral Doxey anxiously watched the plot, waiting for it to update. Finally, the light codes for the Terra and Mars updated. Both battlecruisers had lost their shields, and their armor had been reduced to 80% and 87% respectively. Neither was showing any internal damage. Admiral Doxey was relieved, but if the Reapers continued to target those ships, things would get bad quickly.
Anxiety aboard the fleet ships grew until, like clockwork, the next salvo appeared on the fleet’s sensors ten minutes and twenty seconds later. Once again, the long-range point defense fire took out several decoys but no actual missiles. This time the last second point defense took out twenty-nine missiles and forty-three decoys. To Admiral Doxey’s horror, the missiles targeted four destroyers, the Jun Hsu, Aydan Calligaris, Chandra Graf, and the Iris Hennig. The destroyers had no shielding, and were completely exposed to the incoming missiles.
Admiral Doxey’s eyes remained riveted to the destroyer’s light codes while the system assimilated the incoming damage reports. She was briefly relieved to see that the Hsu took twenty-one hits, reducing her armor to 62%, and the Chandra Graf took sixteen hits, reducing her armor to 67%, and that both of the destroyers had sailed out of the fireballs as if nothing had happened.
She was dismayed when the light code for the Iris Hennig updated, showing that the destroyer had taken twenty hits and had one burn through, damaging multiple internal systems and causing losses among the crew. Her dismay turned to horror when the Calligaris’ code updated. The Calligaris took twenty-six hits, drastically depleting her armor and suffering a burn through that damaged one of her engines, reducing her speed by half.
Before Admiral Doxey could open a channel to the Calligaris, her comms tech informed her that Commander Spomer, CO of the Calligaris, was on the line. She opened the channel immediately. “Commander, what is your status?”
The Calligaris’ bridge was barely controlled chaos as the ship’s officers coordinated the damage control teams efforts. Commander Spomer looked grim. “Admiral, our number two engine is damaged, and my engineering teams don’t think they can restore it any time soon. Our armor is at 47%, but we have multiple burn throughs and several other seriously weakened sections. We have fifteen casualties at this time.”
Admiral Doxey thought furiously for a few seconds, as Commander Spomer turned away to deal with urgent issues. It took Doxey only seconds to realize what she had to do. When Spomer turned back to the screen, she said “Commander, I cannot order the fleet to slow down to cover your ship. It is imperative that I get the fleet out of range of those launchers. I’m sorry.”
Commander Spomer grimaced. “I don’t know what good it would do if the fleet remained with us. Too many of the Reaper missiles are getting through our defenses, Admiral. Endangering the fleet won’t save us if they’ve got other missiles out there targeting us.”
Admiral Doxey hated doing it, but after closing out the channel she ordered the fleet to continue on, leaving the Calligaris behind.
Eight minutes later, the lagging Calligaris’ sensors picked up the next inbound missile wave. Admiral Doxey, and the whole fleet, heaved a sigh of relief when the missile wave passed the limping destroyer and continued on towards the main fleet. No one wanted to be the target of those missiles, but the sight of the lone destroyer falling behind the fleet, valiantly struggling to remain alive as the remorseless Reaper missile salvoes closed, rallied the crews and turned their fear, which had steadily been increasing, into anger.
The fleet’s massed point defense fire killed sixty-seven decoys and twenty-three missiles. This wave targeted the battleships, which by this time had recharged their shields. The Pride of Sol was hit by sixty-seven missiles, once again having her shields reduced to 11%. The Antares came through with her shields at 73%.
Six minutes later the Calligaris, falling farther and farther behind, detected the next wave of inbound missiles. This missile salvo passed the Calligaris by as well. Point defense killed twenty-nine missiles and fifty-nine decoys. This missile salvo was split between the battleships Antares and Pride of Sol, and the battlecruiser Jupiter. All three ships emerged from the fireballs with their shields intact.
The next five minutes passed with no new sightings of missile waves. Another ten minutes passed before Admiral Doxey passed the order for the crews to stand down from alert status. When another five minutes passed without incident Admiral Doxey ordered the fleet to turn back and rendezvous with the Calligaris, taking it back in under the fleet’s protection. Once the Calligaris rejoined the fleet, Admiral Doxey ordered the fleet to turn for the jump point. A new strategy for attacking the Reaper fleet would have to be devised.
Admiral Doxey ordered an after-action report on the performance of the fleet’s anti-missile defenses. It soon became clear that the much-vaunted gauss cannons didn’t perform as well as hoped. The fleet’s most effective anti-missile weapons were the mark II laser turrets, followed by the destroyer’s rapid firing 15cm lasers. The turrets had a consistent kill ratio of 29%, and the 15cm lasers were at 10%, while the gauss cannons were at 8%. The higher rate of fire for the gauss cannons raised their effective kill rate, and the laser turret’s larger size reduced theirs, but it was clear that the fleet needed much more effective anti-missile weapons.
Five hours later the Calligaris’ damage control teams finally managed to repair the destroyer’s damaged engine and the fleet was able to resume full speed. Shortly after that, four Delta class ships left the Reaper base and accelerated towards the retreating fleet. The Deltas were moving at 5,333 km/s, substantially slower than the Terran fleet’s speed of 7,500 km/s.
For a few moments Admiral Doxey entertained the idea of turning to engage the Reaper ships, but not knowing which units were equipped with the long-range missiles left her unwilling to try to close with the alien ships, even away from the base. Two minutes later the fleet’s sensors picked up two Charlie class ships speeding ahead of the Deltas, running at 8,023 km/s, faster than the human ships. There was no way they could catch the human ships before they jumped out, though.
May 1st, 2139, 0442 hours
The fleet was finally at the jump point. Admiral Doxey ordered the fleet to jump out, leaving only a scout behind with its engines at low power and its active sensors off to reduce its profile. Once in the Procyon system, Admiral Doxey ordered the four damaged destroyers to refuel and return to Shield Base. Once the damaged destroyers were off, the rest of the fleet refueled and resupplied from the waiting tankers, after which the slow support ships set out for the jump point back to Van Biesbroeck’s Star. With the immediate concerns resolved, Admiral Doxey called for another command conference.
This time, when the commanding officers had assembled, she immediately launched into her plans, instead of calling for a discussion. She knew the mood of the crews and officers after the long flight from the inner system, and it matched hers. They were mad, and they wanted revenge for their dead comrades. The Reapers would pay, and she knew how to make them pay.
“I intend to move the fleet into defensive positions here at the jump point. We will wait for the Reaper force to invest the far side of the jump point. If they come through then fine, we will destroy them here. If they don’t jump through, then two days from now we will jump into the 70 Ophiuchi system and attack the Reaper fleet at the jump point on the far side.”
Commodore Kelm immediately spoke up. “And if they aren’t one the jump point, but waiting somewhere within range of their missiles?”
Admiral Doxey’s eyes narrowed. It was a reasonable question, but Kelm’s tone was annoying and her actions during the battle had been…subtly off. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on, but it was there. She made a mental note to talk to her XO and her squadron CO’s after the upcoming battle. “We will evaluate the situation as needed. If they aren’t within immediate attack range, then I will decide if they are close enough to make a run at them. If not, we will retreat through the jump point back to this location and assume defensive positions against an assault by the Reapers. Assault groups will be determined today, and I’ll send the attack plan to all commands as soon as it is ready. Prepare your ships.” She left the virtual conference, and one by one the officers left as well.
On May 2nd the scout’s sensors began picking up additional ships in the approaching Reaper fleet, until finally just before midnight the count for the Reaper force stood at four Deltas, an India class, six Foxtrot and five Golf class, for a total of sixteen ships. The two Charlie class ships detected leading the force earlier were not currently with the Reaper Fleet. The fleet was moving towards the jump point at a speed 0f 5,333 km/s, and the scout waited until they reached 75 mkm’s from the jump point before jumping out. The Reaper ETA at that point is just under four hours.
The Retribution Fleet divided into four groups, each led by a capital ship. The three battle cruiser groups each consist of the lead battlecruiser, a jump cruiser, and two destroyers. The battleship group consists of two battleships and two destroyers. The fleet’s destroyer escorts remain behind as the jump ships cannot carry them through the un-stabilized jump point along with the other ships. For now, the DDE’s will assume defensive positions with the battle groups at the jump point.
May 3, 2139, 1025 hours
Admiral Doxey keyed the all-ships channel, which would put her through to every ship in the fleet. Each ship, forewarned, put her on the general channel so every crewer could hear her announcement.
“Men and women of the Imperial Fleet! The Reapers devastated our home planet. They killed and kidnapped innumerable human beings over multiple raids. They attacked our fleet in the Groombridge system, and now they’ve attacked us here. They refuse to talk. They refuse to negotiate. And now they think they’ve thrown us out of their system because we cannot face their missile barrages. But if I’m right, then they are sitting on the far side of this jump point, and when we go through, we’ll jump in on top of them. We’ll be in our weapons range, and then we’ll teach them what it means to attack the Empire! For the Empire!”
Cheers rang out on every ship, and at the appointed time, the fleet jumped out…
…And into pure chaos!
As soon as the fleet materialized in the Ophiuchi system the Reapers opened fire, even before the Terran ships had fully materialized. The Terran assault groups came out of the jump scattered around the jump point, with the enemy concentrated directly on the jump point, in between the four groups of human ships. The Mars Battle Group came out of the jump closest to the jump point and immediately came under fire from the Reaper ships, and most of the fire was targeted on the group’s largest ship, the Mars herself. The Foxtrots, slightly smaller than Terran destroyers, hit the battlecruiser with three unknown weapons each, later identified as some sort of very powerful particle beams. The particle beams would prove to be particularly effective in the close-in fighting around the jump point. The Golf class ships, the same size as the Foxtrots, hit the Mars with rapid fire gauss cannons, picking away at its shields and armor. The powerful particle beams smashed through the Mars’s shielding and shredded its armor, and within seconds of materializing in the system the Mars blew up.
Admiral Doxey, along with the entire fleet, was stunned by the quick destruction of the Mars, but none of them could spare the time to grieve as the chaos around the jump point intensified as the Terran ships started striking back. Although the Terran commanders were as stunned as the admiral at the loss of the proud battlecruiser, they all had a job to do, and their survival, and the survival of their crews depended on them doing it.
Following established fleet orders, the Terran ships got underway, trying to close to point blank range with the Reaper missile ships, now identified as Delta and India class ships. The Delta class ships were launching large size seven missiles as fast as they could, while the India class unit was firing off size two missiles equally quickly. The missiles launched by the Reapers when the Terrans appeared in the system began arriving as the Terran ships moved out, and with their point defense nets disorganized by the jump the missiles had little difficulty closing on the remnants of the Mars battle group. For whatever reason the Reapers targeted one of the Mars battle group’s two destroyers, and Doxey’s fingers tightened on her chair as the destroyer was wreathed in explosions. The destroyer was hit by thirty-eight of the size seven missiles, leaving it crippled and drifting. A second group of missiles attacked the Terra, knocking her shields down and scoring her armor. Oddly, the Jupiter was attacked by one lone missile, which flared ineffectually against her shields. As the Terrans advanced, the Reaper Golf class ships targeted a Terran destroyer with their gauss cannons, reducing her armor to 83%.
Ten seconds after materializing in the system the battlecruiser Terra, the pride of the fleet, opened fire on the Reapers, targeting one of the missile-spewing Deltas. The Terra’s 31.25cm spinal laser speared the Delta from just over 100,000 kilometers range, cutting through its armor like butter and causing a jet of debris to trail behind the ship. The Terra’s four 25cm plasma cannons fired next, getting three hits and one penetration, followed by four quick-firing 15cm lasers, three of which hit as well, getting one armor penetration. The broadside from the Terran battlecruiser left the Reaper missile ship drifting and out of the battle, causing a cheer to break out among the Terran crews who had been shaken by the destruction of the Mars. One of the Terra’s escorting destroyers opened fire on a second Delta, knocking down its shields and scorching its armor.
It was at this point that Admiral Doxey, who had seriously been considering ordering her fleet to retreat, realized that the Reapers had been caught with their shields down. The Terra’s broadside, while powerful, wouldn’t have been able to penetrate a Delta’s full shield strength, but the one the Terra targeted hadn’t had any shields at all. She keyed the all-ships channel. “We caught them with their shields down! Pour it on! Don’t let them raise their shields!”
The Golf class Reapers turned their gauss cannons on the Terra, ripping through her barely recharged shields and sandblasting her armor, which had already been damaged by the initial Reaper missile salvo. Eight gauss cannon rounds penetrated her shredded armor, knocking out her passive sensors, a fusion reactor, one of her plasma cannons, and a fuel tank. The proud battlecruiser was still in the fight, though. As the Golf’s ravaged the Terra, the lone India class launched twenty-six size two missiles.
Missiles sleeted in on the jump cruiser and destroyer that were all that remained of the Mars Battle Group. The Assassin, the jump cruiser, spit defiant laser fire at the incoming missiles, but they were small and very fast, and thus hard to hit. The Assassin destroyed all five of the incoming missiles, but Terra was targeted as well, and by more missiles. The damaged battlecruiser defended itself with its laser turrets and knocked down four of the incoming missiles, but that left twenty to slam into her bare armor, causing multiple burn throughs, losing more fuel and a 15cm laser emplacement. At this point the battlecruiser’s armor was down to 44% and was holed in multiple places. She was still at full speed, though, and most of her weapons. She was definitely still in the fight.
The Jupiter and one of her escorting destroyers poured fire into a Delta at 65,000 kilometers, getting multiple armor breaches and slowing the Reaper missile ship to 75% speed. Meanwhile, the Terra and one of her destroyers had reached point blank range of the Deltas and unloaded all of their 15cm lasers into one, staggering the Reaper missile ship and leaving it drifting. While the battlecruisers had been slugging it out with the Reapers, the battleship group had closed to 27,000 kilometers of the main Reaper fleet. Apparently, the sight of the oncoming battleships was too much for the Reapers, because the Golf class ships shifted their gauss cannon fire to the flagship of the human fleet. The Antares plowed ahead as if unstoppable as the gauss cannon rounds sparked off her heavy shielding. In response, the Antares fired its 15cm lasers at an undamaged Delta, but its armor absorbed the blow. No other Terran ships were able to fire yet.
The Terran ships closed on the Reaper force, continuing to pour laser and plasma fire into the Delta class missile ships. Each battle group targeted a Delta, and with two at point blank range and two within 100,000 kilometers, the broadside was devastating. The Delta targeted by the battleship Pride of Sol was hit at point blank range by the battleship’s spinal laser and four plasma cannons and simply vaporized. Delta one, targeted by the Jupiter battlegroup, was crippled and left drifting. Delta two, attacked by a single destroyer from the Mars group, had managed to get its shields at least partially powered and suffered no damage, while Delta three, targeted by the Terra battle group was left crippled as well.
The Golf class ships continued to pour point blank gauss cannon fire into the Antares, getting sixty-one hits. The big battleship bulled its way through the barrage as if it didn’t notice them, pursuing the Reaper ships. The India class ship launched another salvo of size two missiles from the periphery of the battle as the other ships slugged it out in a chaotic furball around the jump point.
Admiral Doxey could see that the Delta’s were a spent force and ordered her battle group commanders to shift fire to the Foxtrots. They had handily destroyed the Mars with their particle weapons, and hadn’t fired again, indicating that they were slow to charge. She wanted them out of the fight before they could kill another of her capital ships. She ordered the Mars group to continue firing on Delta two, which had gotten its shields up and was still intact.
Terran point defense, having recovered from the jump, shot down fifteen of the incoming missiles, and fourteen slammed into the Antares, but the big battleship’s shields shrugged off the damage. After being pelted with gauss cannon rounds and now missiles, the battleship’s shields were still at 74%. Once again, the Golf’s targeted the Antares with their gauss cannons, and got many hits, but merely succeeded in reducing the battleship’s shields to 66%. The Terran fire against the Foxtrots was devastating. Most of the Terran ships were at either point blank range or under 50,000 kilometers and their lasers were doing terrible damage at that range. Five of the six Foxtrots were targeted, and all took penetrating hits, leaving one crippled and one at reduced speed. Delta two suffered multiple hits, but her armor continued to absorb the damage.
Admiral Doxy again ordered her fleet to shift fire, this time focusing on the Golf class gauss cannon units, along with the intact Foxtrot and Delta two. In response, the Golf class units shifted their fire to a Terran destroyer which had already lost most of its armor and shredded the Terran ship, leaving it a wreck surrounded by life pods. Once again Delta two survived the barrage aimed at it, its armor absorbing the laser fire. Four Foxtrot and four Golf class units came under laser fire from the Terran ships, destroying one Foxtrot and heavily damaging the others.
The India class unit launched another salvo of size two missiles, and at this point Admiral Doxey could sense the end of the battle approaching, and gave the order for her units to fire at will, freeing them to choose the best target they could as the enemy faltered.
The Terrans shot down sixteen missiles leaving eleven to slam into the Antares’ shields, barely affecting the battleship and only reducing her constantly recharging shields to 65%. The Terran ships spit fire in every direction, targeting every Reaper ship within reach. The destroyer Ganna Shivets raked a Foxtrot with its 15cm laser, leaving it a wreck. A second destroyer got in close to a Foxtrot and speared it with its entire laser broadside, penetrating all the way through the Reaper ship and leaving it tumbling in a cloud of debris. The Antares targeted a damaged Foxtrot that was trying to retreat and wiped it from space. There would be no quarter given, and no Terran was willing to let a Reaper ship get away now that they had them in their grasp. In response the DD Kemke Janzen was raked by gauss cannon fire from four Golf class ships, reducing her armor to 87%.
The battle was turning into a slaughter at this point, and the Terrans were reveling in it. The remaining Golf class ships continued to pour fire into the Janzen, but the destroyer’s armor was intact when they started and it would take time for the Golf’s to wear it down. Time they didn’t have. In quick order Terran laser and plasma fire wrecked two Deltas and three Foxtrots and inflicted punishing damage on several other ships, including the India class missile ship.
Once again, the Antares was attacked by a size two missile salvo, and once again her shields shrugged off the damage. The Golf class ships split their fire between the Janzen and another already damaged destroyer, but didn’t get any penetrations on either, reducing their armor to 71 and 74% respectively. In response the Terran fleet finally destroyed the India class missile ship, and a Foxtrot and Delta class.
The Terran fleet now turned its attention to the last Delta, Delta two, and the Golf class ships. In quick order the Delta and a Golf were swatted out of space, and several other Golfs were damaged. The Golfs returned to concentrating their fire on the Janzen, which had its armor reduced to 59% and suffered a penetration that failed to do any internal damage.
The battle was close to ending, but the Reapers had no give in them. They kept fighting to the end, and even when their ships had lost their weapons they tried to ram, although none of them were successful. By this point only one Golf class still had intact weapons, and it doggedly followed the DD Kemke Janzen, pouring gauss cannon fire into the evading destroyer. The Janzen suffered a second penetrating hit, losing a 15cm laser, but in quick succession the Terran fleet destroyed the three remaining Golf class ships, decisively ending the battle.
When the light code for the last Reaper ship turned dark, Admiral Doxey looked around the flag bridge at her aides and staff, and for a second they looked back, all of them shocked at the violent and destructive battle. Still trying to comprehend what had happened, Doxey looked down at her command station and saw that the battle, which had seemed to last for hours, had instead started and ended in less than a minute. She stared dully at the tank, at the light codes for the two Terran ships lost in the battle. Two Terran ships, seven hundred crew, lost in less than a minute. Then she saw the light codes for life pods around the two ships, and that brought her back to herself. She still had a job to do.
“All right people! We won the battle, now let’s pick up the pieces. I need damage reports from all fleet ships.” She glanced at the tank and noted that the battleship Pride of Sol’s icon indicated no damage. “Detail the Sol to pick up the life pods from the Mars and the Fergeson.”
The damage report was sobering. The battleships had come through the battle with no damage, as had the Jupiter. The battlecruiser Terra’s armor had been reduced to 44% and had suffered multiple penetrations, and had moderate internal damage. It could still make full fleet speed, though, and its engineering team promised full repairs were possible before reaching Shield Base. Of the destroyers, one had armor damage and the Janzen had serious internal damage, although it too could make full fleet speed.
Overall, Admiral Doxey was well-satisfied. Sixteen Reaper ships had been eliminated, seriously weakening the force at Ophiuchi. The battle had cost the fleet two Terran ships, one in the first seconds of the battle. Of the original thirty-six Reaper ships, the Reaper fleet had been reduced to 2xAlpha, 2xBravo, 2xCharlie, 1xEcho, 12xGolf, and 1xHotel. After action analysis confirmed that the Delta class carried forty size seven missile launchers, the Foxtrot was armed with 3 particle beams, the Golf’s were armed with two rapid firing gauss cannons, and the India class was armed with twenty-six size two missile launchers. Although she was tempted to make a run at the Reaper base in the inner system, that was easy for her to put aside. Seven of her destroyers were damaged to one extent or another, and the Terra, while repairable, shouldn’t go into battle again until her armor was repaired. The Reapers had been stripped of most of their mobile units, the base could wait.
The two Terran battleships proved to be extremely durable and effective combatants. The Pride of Sol came through the battle with her shields at 67% and destroyed three Reaper ships, while the Antares’s shields were at 100% by the end and had destroyed one Reaper ship. The destroyers, with their fast-firing 15cm lasers, were particularly effective. The Kemke Janzen, which suffered serious internal damage, destroyed two Reaper ships in the battle. The jump cruiser Eradicator came through the battle unscathed and destroyed an India and a Foxtrot class ship. Most of the other ships in the fleet destroyed at least one enemy ship, all assisted in the kills. The enemy particle weapons, which had destroyed the Mars in the first seconds of the battle, were concerning, but they were apparently slow to reload because they had not fired again during the battle.
Later, as the fleet assembled at the jump after rescuing the survivors and completing initial damage survey’s, Admiral Doxey was interrupted by an incoming call from the commander of the Pride of Sol. Commodore Lacefield was considered something of a rising star within the fleet, and had been given command of the tough battleship as a reward for exemplary service. He was well liked by his peers and subordinates, and generally cheerful. So, when Admiral Doxey saw the dour expression on his face, she knew she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say. “Commodore, what can I do for you?’
Commodore Lacefield grimaced in what looked like disgust. “Admiral, I suggest you take this call in private.”
Admiral Doxey hadn’t expected the unusual request, but it wasn’t too uncommon for an officer under her command to request privacy, so she agreed and put the channel on hold while she relocated to her office near the flag bridge. Once there, she opened the channel. “Very well, Commodore, the channel is encrypted and I’m alone.”
“Admiral, we picked up the life pods from the Mars and the Fergeson. We rescued two hundred and four survivors, including Commodore Kelm and Commander Zadrozny.”
Admiral Doxey looked relieved. “Well, that is good news, but I assume there is more to the story.”
“Unfortunately, Admiral, there is. The life pod that Commodore Kelm was recovered from was empty, aside from the Commodore. She claimed that the entire bridge crew died in the attack on the ship, and that she was the only one who got to the life pod in time.”
Admiral Doxey frowned. “That’s unlikely.” It was extremely unlikely, in point fact.
“I know, but it is possible, I guess. There is more though. Commodore Kelm claimed that the entire bridge crew died in the attack, leaving her as the only officer to get off of the bridge and to the bridge life pod. But lieutenant commander Delduca, an officer in Mars’ logistics department and a bridge watch stander, was rescued aboard a different pod. He tells a different story. I think you should talk to him.”
“Right now?”
“Yes ma’am, right now. I’ve got him waiting in my quarters, and I can bring him in right now.”
Admiral Doxey had a bad feeling about this. “Very well.”
It took Commodore Lacefield just a few seconds to retrieve the other officer, who sat down in front of the monitor. “Go ahead, tell the admiral what you told me.”
Lt Commander Delduca looked uncomfortable, but determined. “Ma’am, it didn’t happen the way Commodore Kelm is claiming.” The Lt Commander looked nervous, but continued. “Ma’am, you saw what happened to our ship. We materialized in the system and were hit almost immediately. It happened really even before we were aware we had arrived. One second, we were in the Procyon system and the next there was a tremendous snap when the shields failed under enemy fire. Whatever weapon they were using just cut through our shields and armor like it wasn’t there! Our shields failed, and then the Mars shuddered as her armor was shredded.” Delduca shook himself, and looked right at Admiral Doxey. “Ma’am, that’s a feeling I’d rather never have again. The Mars was solid! As good a ship as there is, but we were torn apart before we knew what was happening. Alarms were ringing, and entire sections of the ship were going red. That was my position on the bridge, damage control coordinator. I could see it happening in seconds. Entire sections of the ship going red, and the screams from the intercom! Oh my god, the screams!”
Delduca sobbed, overwhelmed, and Commodore Lacefield put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “It’s okay, William. It’s okay. Just tell the admiral what happened next.”
Delduca took a second, then nodded. “Yes sir.” He looked back at the admiral, and she could see the hell he had witnessed in his eyes. “Ma’am, it was all chaos. Everyone on the bridge was struggling with their stations, trying to get the ship under control even as it was shot out from under us. I could tell it wasn’t going to work. There was too much damage, and it was coming in too fast. I turned to the Commodore, to tell her what I was seeing on my board, but when I turned around, she wasn’t at her station. Then I saw her.” Delduca’s face got still and rigid. “Ma’am, she was running towards the aft area of the bridge. I wasn’t the only one. The XO, Commander Jenson, saw her too. He cursed at her, as she left the bridge.” Delduca sat, lost in thought.
Admiral Doxey sat stunned for several seconds, trying to understand what she had heard. “Are you saying Commodore Kelm abandoned her post?” Her voice had gone flat.
Lt Commander Delduca straightened under her gaze. “Yes ma’am, she did. She ran through the rear hatch, that leads to the bridge life pod, and the crawlspace tubes that lead down into the ship. That’s the last I saw of her.”
Admiral Doxey couldn’t believe this. She didn’t like Kelm personally, but she had always performed well. This couldn’t be true. Still, why would a relatively junior officer lie? “What happened next?”
“Ma’am, the XO began to ask me a question, but before he could the ship shook under us and we knew she was finished. XO Jenson gave the order to abandon ship and we all went to the bridge life pod. That’s when we discovered that it was gone. I think we knew that Kelm had taken it, but none of us really believed it until we saw it with our own eyes. I…I could see the anger in Commander Jenson’s eyes, but he was our leader now, and he was a good officer. He ordered us back to the elevators, but I told them that my board had showed them as destroyed just below the command deck, so he ordered us into the crawlspace tubes. As long as they aren’t breached you can get nearly anywhere on the ship, and all we needed to do was get to the first crew deck two levels down and we’d find some pods. So, we set out, but before we got to the crew deck there were more explosions and fires, and one by one the others were killed, or wounded and couldn’t go on. Finally, it was just me, but I got lucky. I found a pod and got off, with some others from the crew services section.”
Admiral Doxey sat silently for a few seconds, considering what she had been told. Her elation at their recent victory now tasted like ashes in her mouth. She didn’t want to believe it, but she knew that Delduca was telling her the truth as he believed it. Still, accusing a commodore of cowardice in the face of the enemy was a serious thing, and couldn’t be done solely on the word of a junior officer. “Lt. Commander Delduca, is there anyone else who can support your claims?”
Delduca looked sad. “Ma’am, no one else from the bridge got off, I think.” He looked up at Commodore Lacefield hopefully.
Lacefield shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, no one else was recovered from the bridge crew.” Delduca’s face fell.
Admiral Doxey thought for a second. “Very well. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Commodore, would you take the Lt Commander back to your quarters and then come back. I’d like to talk to you about this matter.”
Lacefield straightened. “Yes ma’am.” He escorted Delduca out of the office and returned in a few seconds.
“Commodore, this is a very serious matter. You are to sequester Lt Commander Delduca for the time being. No one from his or your crew are to speak with him. He is not a prisoner though. You are not to speak with Commodore Kelm at this time.”
“That won’t be a problem ma’am.” His face twisted with disgust. “She has been camped in our sick bay since recovery, claiming multiple injuries since her harrowing escape from the Mars.”
Admiral Doxey looked up sharply. “She said that? Is she injured?”
Lacefield shook his head. “In so many words. But I’d say from the volume of complaining she was fine, ma’am.”
“Very well. I am going to dispatch the Buckler to the wreckage of the Mars. They will recover the bridge recorder and any other evidence available, and report to me. You are not to speak of this matter to anyone else, aside from me, until I give you further orders. Is that clear?”
“Very clear, ma’am.”
Admiral Doxey signed off, and then made a call to Commander Belmonte, commander of the DDE Buckler. Shortly thereafter the DDE sped away from the fleet, arrowing towards the wreck of the Mars. The Buckler hovered over the wreck for three hours, while the rest of the fleet prepared for return to the Procyon system. Upon its return to the fleet, the Buckler docked with the flagship. Shortly afterwards, Admiral Doxey ordered Commodore Lacefield to transfer Commodore Kelm to her flagship.
Admiral Doxey was present at the boarding area when Commodore Kelm arrived from the Pride of Sol. The Commodore was a tall, regal blonde, with a carefully controlled expression on her face as several Sol crewpersons escorted her aboard the flagship. She saw the admiral and straightened and saluted. “Admiral Doxey, thank you for…” She faltered when she saw the Antares master at arms behind the admiral, along with two of her mates.
Admiral Doxey, not wanting to prolong this any longer than necessary, nodded at the master at arms. “Commodore Kelm, you are under arrest for treason and cowardice in the face of the enemy.” Kelm’s face drained of color and she gasped. “You will be held until the fleet returns to Terra, at which time you will be tried and convicted. May god have mercy on your soul.” Admiral Doxey turned to leave as the master at arms and mates took the Commodore into custody.
“But…but…Admiral! You can’t! I didn’t…” she looked around frantically as the master at arms took her wrists and bent her arms behind her. “Admiral! Please!” Kelm’s voice had taken on a whining tone that grated on everyone present.
The whine in Kelm’s voice stopped Doxey in her tracks. Suddenly her self-control slipped and she was furious. She rounded on the commodore. “There is video for heaven’s sake!” Doxey’s face was flushed and she was as angry as she’d ever been. “There is video of you leaving those heroes behind to die!” Kelm opened her mouth, and Doxey took a step forward, raising her hand. “Not one word! They deserved better than you!” With that Admiral Doxey turned and left the stunned commodore behind to be taken to the brig.
The fleet jumped back to Procyon minutes later, leaving behind the scouts to watch the jump point.
