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Terpla'ns / The Terpla'ns - Chapter 11.50
« Last post by Zume on December 24, 2024, 07:28:24 PM »The Combined Fleet held station on the far side of Gymnasium Prime’s second moon. Repair ships tended to damaged units that could be repaired relatively quickly, while those requiring more attention were sent to the Abyssal-017 starless nexus where the larger and more valuable mobile shipyards awaited them. One of those ships was Admiral Jki’s own Coral Sea, requiring two months of work. She transferred her flag to the Oknib, a capital missile dreadnaught. While listening to her staff’s various after-action reports and the latest intelligence summary Jki let a part of mind play out the events leading to the capture of the system.
In the captured records Gymansium was regarded by the Axis as a heavily populated and developed system. The defenses were taken to be strong, especially with time given to strengthen them. Jki elected to send in a probe of 120 Whale armed pinnaces equipped with scanner packs and six warp point probe ships, of which four had the same hull used by battle carriers and thus had excellent turning ability. Of the Whales only 40 came back and only two of the probe ships, both of which were based on dreadnaught hulls. The defenses were indeed formidable, comprising of 9 asteroid forts (3 large and 6 comparatively smaller ones), 21 type-5 bases, 9 type-3 bases, and 6 type-2 bases. The combat area patrol comprised 21 squadrons of F1 Hatchet fighters and 12 escort shuttles. Automated weapon buoys numbered 600 and keeping them company in the immediate vicinity of the warp point were 1800 mine patterns. Jki had no doubt that a very thin shell of mines extended all the way out in a radius of six light-seconds from the warp point, inflicting attritional losses to any armed pinnace group that wanted to take on the missile and fighter bases.
A conventional assault was out of the question, and not for the last time Jki wished the new warp-capable missile pod technology had its bugs ironed out and made available for use. Instead, it was down to a mass transit attack, complete with hundreds of armed pinnaces to tackle the inner ring of bases, and hundreds of small ships that will force the defenders to expend their weapons on them as well as maximize dispersion of their weapon buoys. As it went, the first wave comprising 500 Whale armed pinnaces, 120 small ships ranging from explorers to frigates, and 20 carriers made its entry. Subsequent waves were made in the normal manner, but each had two minesweepers with datalink jammers, 100 more Whales and a handful of additional small ships. Jki arrived in the fifth wave, finding the warp point still a maelstrom of fighters, pinnaces and ships. The close in bases and forts were gone or badly damaged, being set upon by plasma guns from the surviving small ships and the onboard weapons of the newcomers. There were just three capital missile bases six light-second out, keeping the six fighter and three defense bases company. It was the minesweepers that were being targeted now in a forlorn hope of knocking them out and giving the surviving Hatchet fighters a chance to regain datalink cohesion.
The final set of assault carriers arrived in the sixth wave, none losing passive defenses as there were enough small ships to dilute buoy fire. A group of pinnaces broke off from the warp point to accompany the fresh fighters as they went for the capital missile bases. Showing their discipline, the Axis Hatchet fighters stayed on the warp point. Those with guns engaged their Shark opposites while laser-armed Hatchets went after ships, namely those equipped with jammers. The last minesweeper, along with the remaining close-in bases, was destroyed just as the missile bases were engaged by Whales and Sharks. With a mix of spite and defiance the trio of bases fired their last combined salvo at the Jki’s flagship. The lasing warheads did their damage, but it was the firing of the last buoys that caused heavy damage. The battleship was able to transit out, though still taking spinal force beam pot-shots from the fighter and defense bases.
After transferring to the Oknib, Jki reentered the Gymnasium system and took stock. Of the 1000 Whale armed pinnaces committed only 114 remained, and the fighter loses from the assault carriers was over 80%. The close-in bases and asteroid forts all had datalink jammers, a major factor in the fighter losses. There were no defending Axis ships for some reason, but that mystery had to wait as the Combined Fleet formed up and moved in-system to Gymnasium Prime, sending task elements to investigate the system’s planets past the asteroid belt.
There were Axis ships after all; a carrier task group to be precise. It had positioned itself two light-minutes past the asteroid belt on the direct route to Gymnasium Prime. It launched a full strike against the Combined Fleet, with recon pinnaces reporting back that numerous small craft contacts had emerged from the asteroid belt and headed for the Axis carriers. This proved that the belt was lousy with fighter bases, just like the Bedrock system, and had six distinct chains of small bases, radiating out from the solar orbit of Gymnasium Prime, to feed fresh fighters for massed attacks. Jki half-expected that the carriers were the same ones that escaped Bedrock, and when confirmation that the drive field signatures were the same, she wondered if the same commander was in charge, whoever it was.
At this point, instead of heading directly for Gymnasium Prime, Jki took her fleet at an angle into the asteroid belt. Going anti-spinward in the belt, the fleet, now moving at maximum speed for a dreadnaught, forced the Axis carrier-launched strike to pursue while those asteroid fighter bases ahead had to wait to consolidate fresh arrivals from the bases behind them. The net result was that the ensuing double strikes didn’t have the time for a fully coordinated effort. Jki was thankful that the Hazen contingent had 216 Lancer interceptors, forming the close-in defense within the fleet’s jamming radius. Unable to use fighters, the Hazen were inspired by the Hamthen’s use of interceptors earlier in the war and spent a sizeable percentage of their naval budget to develop and deploy their own version. An updated interceptor had been perfected and wouldn’t reach the fleet the months but the ones in use now proved their worth.
In a relentless grind the Combined Fleet continued around the asteroid belt, destroying bases in passing and Hatchet fighters by the gross. Many were still of the F0 variety with a sprinkling of F1s, which served as escorts. The Axis carrier task group continued to pursue, but it came to a point where, even with life support packs, the F0 Hatchets couldn’t reach the carriers unless they turned around to pick them up. The Axis commander settled on moving, at full speed, to a point ahead of the Combined Fleet to receive fresh squadrons. With battlecruiser-hulled freighters filled with antifighter missiles Jki elected to have her ships resupplied on the move. Three more major waves of Hatchets were dispatched before the Axis carriers departed, heading for one of the other two warp points in the system, but not before receiving fighters, most likely F1s, into their hanger bays.
Fighter and interceptor losses for the Combined Fleet were on the order of 33%. A handful of destroyers were lost or so crippled they were scuttled. Other ships only sustained light damage to their armor. Once the ring of asteroid bases was dispatched Jki held the fleet and waited for carriers from the support group to come forward to dispense their flightgroups. The run towards Gymnasium Prime was uneventful as the Axis had exhausted their stock of disposable fighters, so there were no further inbound fighter strikes. As for the space station over the planet it still had fighters, 324 strong, backed by over 100 escort shuttles. Only three type-4 bases kept the station company. Jki had already decided beforehand on a course of action. With capital missile armed units, including the new Yoshibo carriers, moving forward at a crawl with maximum ECM the rest of the Combined Fleet charged the orbital defenses with Sharks and Lancers ready to engage the Hatchets and Stilettos.
It took three minutes for the fleet to come within effective beam weapon range, 2.5 light seconds. The huge station had a mass of 24 battleships, too big for shields, but had ample armor. The charging ships focused on the station and the horde of fighters and shuttles while the capital missile units set upon denuding the BS4s of their armor, using enhanced lasing warheads on their SBMs. Not at all tempted to destroy the distant missile-firing carriers, the Comensal crews went after the dreadnaughts with the intent on complete kills.
A maelstrom of beams, missiles and small craft, punctuated by nuclear and antimatter fireballs, served as a backdrop as three dreadnaughts were crushed as the fleet entered the designed range. At that point Tuphon and Terpla’n ships equipped with needle beams attacked the station, sniping overload dampeners. Axis fire then shifted to those ships, but not before the dampeners were greatly reduced in number. This allowed those allied ships equipped with energy beams to cut loose, destroying the station’s internal systems with massive electrical discharges. Smaller ships were reassigned to cripple the BS4s. Thanks to jammers the Axis Hatchets were cut down in job lots while the Hazen Lancers engaged the Stilettos with abandon.
Either through oversight or deliberate action an antimatter warhead on the station was destroyed, and in turn the station was utterly obliterated as other antimatter warheads were set off. Jki ordered the BS4s to be rendered weaponless by energy and needle beam fire. Just as boarding shuttles were ready a flight of shuttles and cutters took off from the planet’s spaceport. The BS4s were rammed by the craft, finishing them off to prevent the allies from capturing them. In reply the spaceport was taken out by kinetic strikes. Troopships were called from the support group, and not for the last time Jki was greeted on the comms by the Comensal governor, his smile as false as his promise of cooperation. In a few months the inhabitants will start a massive resistance movement, just like on all the other occupied Axis worlds.
Jki acknowledged the reports, and after a brace of questions she dismissed her staff with herself heading back to her quarters. Halfway there she changed her mind. With her six feet now feeling inexplicably tired she went to the Oknib’s sickbay. There she found the ship’s doctor, a well-seasoned civilian practitioner that volunteered for naval service. Two discerning eyes focused on the admiral. “Good evening, Admiral,” the doctor said with formality. “I’m Doctor Pyco. To what do I owe this visit? High ranking officers rarely visit sickbay outside of checking on wounded spacers.”
“I make it a point to visit every department of my flagship, Doctor. This happens to be the first one on the list,” Jki replied. “As the Oknib received its refit it stands to reason the sickbay was updated as well. Care to give a tour?”
Pyco’s inner eyelids blinked. Captains and admirals did indeed avoid sickbay like the plague unless directly ordered by the ship’s doctor for mandatory physicals. He shifted on his six legs as he replied. “Very good, Admiral. You’ll find the facilities here are on the same level as any dirt-side hospital. If you will…”
It took fifteen minutes, as Jki asked questions that were tempered by knowledge that could only be gained by being a recipient of medical attention. Pyco did receive Jki’s medical file from the Coral Sea’s CMO, and he was beginning to suspect that there was more to Jki’s visit than just idle curiosity. About to show his office, Pyco was sidelined by Jki at an examination station. “This looks the same as those on the Coral Sea,” Jki commented, pointing at a table contoured for Terpla’n physiology. “Mind if I try it out?”
“Go ahead. You won’t find anything better outside of a five-star hotel.”
Jki settled in, the table automatically adjusting to accommodate to prevent her from falling off. “Feels good, doc. If I was here for a checkup, would you start with the usual checklist?”
“Depends. Anything that deserves some attention?” Pyco figured that Jki was requesting help in a roundabout way to save face.
“Been having some stomach aches, haven’t told the previous doc.”
Pyco’s inner eyelids slowly blinked. “I see. Have you been taking anything to alleviating those aches?”
“Engine Room Rot-Gut,” Jki replied in a casual manner.
The doctor’s outer eyelids closed slightly. Having tried the mentioned concoction, the only appreciable medicinal effect was to dull pain. “I guess that proves the higher the rank, the more inclined people are to self-medicate. If you’re willing, Admiral, I like to perform some tests and use some of that brand-new fancy gear I have at my disposal.”
“That will be appreciated, Dr. Pyco.”
********
All in all, Prime Lieutenant Camden was happy with his current assignment, though he considered it to be a sideways promotion. Previously he commanded a division of corvettes for a year, guarding convoys to and from Gymnasium via Eleto. Expecting assignment as an executive officer of a cruiser or allocated to a planet-side posting Camden instead, rather abruptly due to circumstances, was given the command of a destroyer division.
Camden’s ship, the Sprinter-class destroyer Thunderfoot, and its two division mates were constructed at the Evergreen shipyards in the Eleto system. Assigned to Star Force 2, Third Advance Fleet, the ships of the division had only just cleared the slipways when Gymnasium was conquered by the abom Terpla’ns and their equally wretched allies. Normally it would take a month of work-up to bring the ships up to specs, but the AFC only gave Camden’s division a week before heading out to the Jade system, two transits out from Eleto to rendezvous with other reinforcements heading for Admiral Hovwen. In that week everything that needed to work on the destroyer worked. Shields, ECM, weapons and point defense along with life support, computer coordination, and engines. As for everything else…
The destroyer division was in the Porch system, halfway between the Eleto and Jade warp points respectively. On the bridge of the Thunderfoot Camden went through a list of items that were deemed ‘nonessential for combat’ by the Evergreen Station quartermaster in the rush to get the division to its rendezvous. The recreation compartment had no equipment, not even floormats for the exercise section. Likewise, the mess halls had only base rations because the coolers went unstocked, so no servings of preserved fruit. Even the bedding would’ve been absent had it not been for the Recreation & Morale officer, as well as the ship’s quartermaster, having gone to a storage hold on Evergreen Station to ‘acquire’ bedding assigned to a freighter due to be launched in two months. Likewise, the Chief Engineer and some ratings ‘acquired’ a soda machine, complete with two months of flavor concentrate packets, along with a dart board that happened to be next to it. Camden asked no questions, instead thanking the personnel involved for providing for the welfare of the crew.
The crews of the three ships were kept busy with drills, inspections, and instruction. Camden was thankful for getting some of his senior officers and noncoms from his corvette command to the Thunderfoot. Manned by painfully green spacers, Camden hoped to ‘remove the burs’ by the time the ships rendezvoused with Hovwen. To that end he worked on current daily schedule…
“Drive field detection!” roared the sensor rating, only three months past his qualifications. “Prime, I have six drive field contacts seven light-seconds ahead of us. Forwarding to your main plot.”
“Signals, inform the division to go to full alert,” Camden said as he focused on his plot. He scowled as he registered the information. From the drive field strengths there were three battlecruisers and three destroyers, all identified as belonging to the aboms. They had to have been here for some time, observing shipping going to and from the Eleto system to position their ships for an intercept. Porch only had a single chain of older style navigation and com buoys between the two warp points. Only scanner buoys were placed at the warp points. Most importantly there had to be a closed warp point in Porch. Immediately he had his signals officer start sending data via the com buoy chain back to the Eleto and Jade warp points. He held back on sending courier drones until the last possible moment.
There was no point in running. Even if Camden turned his ships around there was no guarantee that all their engines would achieve motive status in time. Besides, the ships had no defensive missiles on their external racks and interception of missiles coming from the rear arc would be degraded. With a grim steadfastness that one would find in a patriotic video Camden gave his orders and watched the plot as the formations closed.
One minute later at 2.5 light-second range the three destroyers had succeeded in bringing all their systems online. Still painfully green, only one destroyer achieved a hit on the designated abom battlecruiser. In reply the aboms, in three datalink groups comprised of one BC and DD each, fired on each of the Sprinters. All three ships lost shields from a mix of capital force beams and needles beams. Then came the anti-drive missiles. Receiving the worst of it and having lost some engine rooms already from general needle beam damage, the Thunderfoot was rendered immobilized. The other two destroyers were down to half speed.
The abom ships dropped to half speed, engaging erratic maneuvering as Thunderfoot’s divisionmates did they best they could to match. Again, the Axis crews’ painful inexperience played against them as a BC and DD used their tactical scanner data to locate and then sniped the hetlasers of all three Sprinters, followed by all the remaining engine rooms and point defense, equally paired away by the other four abom ships. With main power automatically adjusted to safe mode after the loss of engine rooms there was only one outcome in Camden’s mind. “Signals,” the prime lieutenant said, “inform the crew and the other ships that we’re going to be boarded presently.” As if on cue he saw on the main plot the abom ships launching shuttles and cutters, no doubt filled with marines. “Have all engineering departments arm the scuttling charges with minimum timer settings.”
“Acknowledged, Prime,” said the young rating. Axis ships smaller than light cruisers only had officers for half the bridge stations.
“Abom tractor beams have locked onto our ships, Prime,” said the weapons officer. “The shuttles and cutters will be on our hulls in one minute.”
“Acknowledged.” Camden scowled. There was no doubt the aboms will eventually take the ships, but if the charges go off then they’ll be rendered unsalvageable. Any attempt to tow them with tractor beams or even actual physical cables will fail. That only left…
“Prime,” said the Signals rating, “I’ve been unable to contact the computer operations compartment. That compartment had been pierced by a needle beam that took out engine room seven.”
They’re after the databanks, Camden thought. In this situation the ultimate responsibility in destroying the databanks is on me. Quickly, Camden passed orders to his executive officer in the auxiliary control room, putting him in charge of the ship’s internal defense. When the XO asked if he needed some marines as escort Camden declined, instead taking the weapons officer and sensor rating with him. Since there was no time to don the standard pressure suit Camden and the others had to use their issued shipsuits, which could act as pressure suits for a limited time. Each shipsuit had a pullover clear hood that could be secured to the neck collar and a pair of gloves to each wrist lock. For an air supply there was in each major compartment a service locker with thermos-sized oxygen packs that had a 90-minute supply and were secured to the chest. With laser pistols in hand the trio made for the computer operations compartment.
On the way Camden heard the announcement via his earpiece that abom small craft had latched on to the hull, quickly followed by subtle vibrations caused by breaching charges. Upon arrival Camden found out why there was no response from the duty shift. The needle beam had destroyed half of the work station desk in passing and killed the two techs with a combination of electrical discharge and intense heat. Unable to enter the data purge code that left the backup plan. Camden had the weapons officer and sensor rating cover the entrance as he opened a locker and extracted the gear inside. Said gear was a thermal rod with an accompanying protective heat-resistant glove and sleeve.
Using the thermal rod on the physical databanks will render them utterly useless. No amount of electronic forensics could extract any data from what would amount to a pile of molten glass and circuits. Opening the databank access panel, Camden was about to activate the rod when he felt vibrations from the deck. He turned to find a suited fist impacting his face, his world going dark.
A few minutes later Camden regained consciousness, finding himself on the deck with his legs bound and arms tied behind his back. He saw his two men by the compartment entrance, equally incapacitated and face down. Then he saw the suited aboms, four of them, wearing combat vac suits with helmets that had opaque visors. Bipeds, at least, and only two arms so that ruled out Hokum…
One of the aboms noticed Camden and knelt beside him, placing an oval-shaped disc to the side of his clear hood. It was a ‘skin-talk’ speaker, and through it he heard a computer-generated voice. “Good morning,” said the voice with a hint of electronic modulation and inflection, indicating cheerfulness, something that Camden didn’t find amusing. “Sorry for having to punch you, but I was concerned my stun round would’ve missed you and gone into that open panel. It wouldn’t do having the databanks scrambled by a stunner energy. Oh, rude of me. You deserve to see who’s talking to you.” The abom’s visor went clear, revealing an avian-featured face belonging to a Tuphonese. The despicable abom looked like he was talking, but a moment passed before he heard the resulting words. “That little glow rod of yours would’ve made this boarding a complete waste of time had you just one more minute. Good thing you guys don’t change the layout of your ships in a major way.”
“Sir,” said another abom, his comm channel audio being picked up by the first abom’s translation software in his suit no doubt, “I’m afraid this control desk has seen better days. The port we needed got deep-sixed by that needle beam hit.”
“We have to be overlooking something,” the first one replied, obviously not caring that Camden was overhearing the conversation. “We studied the schematics from previous captured ships and even reports from our Hokum allies.” Hearing that made Camden cringe. If cringing made a noise, then Camden’s could’ve been heard.
“Wait, Sir, there’s one place I want to check again.” The second abom looked under that portion of the work desk that wasn’t ruined by the needle beam. After a pregnant moment came a sound that the translation program rendered as a pleasant utterance. That abom stood up, and on an extended finger was a piece of… tape?
“This is manufacture’s tape, Sir. It was covering the auxiliary port, and I didn’t see on the first inspection.”
Manufacture’s tape? Camden thought. That is removed after a full… oh Providence!
The first abom made a clicking noise that was rendered into a sound that indicated affirmation. “If that’s anything like in our navy, that tape is removed after a full inspection and approval by a senior officer.”
In the rush to get this ship into action, too many corners had to be cut! If those damn aboms know this much about our ships…
“Could be this ship was rushed into service without a complete shakedown cruise, Sir? If they didn’t bother to check this aux port and sign off on it, then we have a better chance than trying to connect to the databanks directly, especially since we don’t have the appropriate Axis minicomp.”
The first abom looked at Camden. “I found your minicomp on you, but without your access code I can’t use it. Are you willing to help us out?” The inflection of whimsy in the translated voice made Camden seethe to the point that his teeth grated. The abom Tuphonese noticed. “Oh, thought not. Okay, Sergeant, use the black box.”
“Yes, Sir.” The sergeant pulled what appeared to be a tablet from a pouch on his thigh. He pulled a fine, thin cable from it and attached it to the aux port. After a few moments a cheer was heard. “Payday, Sir. There was no challenge from the operating system. Not even a password. Downloading and transmitting of the database commencing. We’re going to make out like it’s CEO annual bonus day.”
“Well done, Sergeant. Guess that proves this ship and its crew was rushed into service before all the basics were covered.” For the life of him Camden swore the avian abom was smiling at him, despite having a beak. “Don’t worry, Comensal. That’s how the market rolls. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Damn it all! I just remembered. It was on my list. It was on my list! Today I was going to go through the first deployment checklist for Computer Operations. That damn piece of tape would’ve been removed by me no less and a password installed! Just one Providence-damned day!
“Sir,” said the sergeant, “I think we better get our prisoners on the shuttle before their air runs out.”
“So true, sergeant. This one especially. He has the rank tabs of a Prime Lieutenant. Very well could be the commander of this ship. Oh, silly me. I meant to use the security filter in our communications. Well,” the translated voice did carry a tone of observation instead of flippancy, though Camden was in no mood to listen, “it was an unintentional oversight, very much like what happened to you, Comensal. Happens to all of us.”
Camden didn’t resist as he was picked up by abom marines minutes later and hauled away like a plank of lumber. He didn’t yell or curse or squirm for he was paralyzed with rage.
********
Of the three Axis destroyers captured, the databanks of two of them were successfully retrieved. As for the ships themselves only on the Thunderfoot retained structurally integrity as the engineers were killed before they could prime the explosive charges The charges on the other two destroyers did go off, and being unable to be towed or considered worthwhile to repair they were obliterated by nuclear warheads. The Thunderfoot itself was tractored to a holding location where enough internal systems were restored and adapted so that it could transit to Inna and be studied by a team of Inna engineers under the supervision of Tzelen consultants.
Crajen Admiral Coopersmith, commanding the 3rd Field Fleet, was thankful that the operation provided a bonanza of data. The Eletoshani warp point was lightly guarded with only six large and one small base, backed up by scandalously thin minefields and weapon buoy parks. Only six warships and one auxiliary formed the mobile force. As for the orbital defenses over Evergreen, the second habitable planet in the Eleto system, were markedly stronger than those over Eleto itself, mainly due to the number of Comensal inhabitants. Some 70,000 Comensal were on Eleto, with 40,000 being civilians in a single city near the spaceport.
Defenses over Eleto were just three missile bases and a small space station, backed up by a fighter wing based at the spaceport. This was a major concern for Coopersmith. Even though the Axis considered the Eleto a major supplier of materials if the commanders in charge decided to nuke the population, even at the loss of their own civilians, then there was nothing Coppersmith could do about it. The captured data did provide a map of warp links, including one that lead up to Gymnasium. Finding and exploiting a fresh breach into Axis space was the reason behind the capture operation. Rescuing an occupied population would be a bonus. Reading the Axis’ own records regarding the Eleto, the Admiral sensed the wily aliens had plans to flummox their Axis overlords when the chance of liberation presented itself.
Coopersmith, in the CIC of his flagship, was playing host to Dr. Dunn, the Tzelan commanding the survey squadron, and Dr. Kunus, the Inna scientist leading the contingent of his fellow Inna. They were regarding the warp point icon on the main plot. “One hour to the assault,” said the Crajen. “In this brief period of time they couldn’t increase their passive defenses in any meaningful way.”
“Speaking of defenses,” said Kunus, “I take it that my government was reassured on the security of the Inna warp point?”
“They only needed to hear it from me, Doctor. Twenty-four large bases, with twelve more in two months, and backed up by passive defenses and a reinforced task group. Once Eleto is secured we can drive deeper into pre-war Axis space, furthering Inna security.”
Dr. Dunn nodded acknowledgement. “It will be interesting to find out what the Eleto know about us. I’ve read the captured Axis reports, damning and cursing the Eleto and their computer software sabotage."
Coopersmith clicked his crusher claws while snapping the fingers of both hands. This time Kunus didn’t flinch, now having become much more accustomed to Crajen mannerisms. “I’d say they know a good deal, Dr. Dunn. Knowing that were a multi-racial organization fighting the Axis will give us common ground when we establish contact.”
In the captured records Gymansium was regarded by the Axis as a heavily populated and developed system. The defenses were taken to be strong, especially with time given to strengthen them. Jki elected to send in a probe of 120 Whale armed pinnaces equipped with scanner packs and six warp point probe ships, of which four had the same hull used by battle carriers and thus had excellent turning ability. Of the Whales only 40 came back and only two of the probe ships, both of which were based on dreadnaught hulls. The defenses were indeed formidable, comprising of 9 asteroid forts (3 large and 6 comparatively smaller ones), 21 type-5 bases, 9 type-3 bases, and 6 type-2 bases. The combat area patrol comprised 21 squadrons of F1 Hatchet fighters and 12 escort shuttles. Automated weapon buoys numbered 600 and keeping them company in the immediate vicinity of the warp point were 1800 mine patterns. Jki had no doubt that a very thin shell of mines extended all the way out in a radius of six light-seconds from the warp point, inflicting attritional losses to any armed pinnace group that wanted to take on the missile and fighter bases.
A conventional assault was out of the question, and not for the last time Jki wished the new warp-capable missile pod technology had its bugs ironed out and made available for use. Instead, it was down to a mass transit attack, complete with hundreds of armed pinnaces to tackle the inner ring of bases, and hundreds of small ships that will force the defenders to expend their weapons on them as well as maximize dispersion of their weapon buoys. As it went, the first wave comprising 500 Whale armed pinnaces, 120 small ships ranging from explorers to frigates, and 20 carriers made its entry. Subsequent waves were made in the normal manner, but each had two minesweepers with datalink jammers, 100 more Whales and a handful of additional small ships. Jki arrived in the fifth wave, finding the warp point still a maelstrom of fighters, pinnaces and ships. The close in bases and forts were gone or badly damaged, being set upon by plasma guns from the surviving small ships and the onboard weapons of the newcomers. There were just three capital missile bases six light-second out, keeping the six fighter and three defense bases company. It was the minesweepers that were being targeted now in a forlorn hope of knocking them out and giving the surviving Hatchet fighters a chance to regain datalink cohesion.
The final set of assault carriers arrived in the sixth wave, none losing passive defenses as there were enough small ships to dilute buoy fire. A group of pinnaces broke off from the warp point to accompany the fresh fighters as they went for the capital missile bases. Showing their discipline, the Axis Hatchet fighters stayed on the warp point. Those with guns engaged their Shark opposites while laser-armed Hatchets went after ships, namely those equipped with jammers. The last minesweeper, along with the remaining close-in bases, was destroyed just as the missile bases were engaged by Whales and Sharks. With a mix of spite and defiance the trio of bases fired their last combined salvo at the Jki’s flagship. The lasing warheads did their damage, but it was the firing of the last buoys that caused heavy damage. The battleship was able to transit out, though still taking spinal force beam pot-shots from the fighter and defense bases.
After transferring to the Oknib, Jki reentered the Gymnasium system and took stock. Of the 1000 Whale armed pinnaces committed only 114 remained, and the fighter loses from the assault carriers was over 80%. The close-in bases and asteroid forts all had datalink jammers, a major factor in the fighter losses. There were no defending Axis ships for some reason, but that mystery had to wait as the Combined Fleet formed up and moved in-system to Gymnasium Prime, sending task elements to investigate the system’s planets past the asteroid belt.
There were Axis ships after all; a carrier task group to be precise. It had positioned itself two light-minutes past the asteroid belt on the direct route to Gymnasium Prime. It launched a full strike against the Combined Fleet, with recon pinnaces reporting back that numerous small craft contacts had emerged from the asteroid belt and headed for the Axis carriers. This proved that the belt was lousy with fighter bases, just like the Bedrock system, and had six distinct chains of small bases, radiating out from the solar orbit of Gymnasium Prime, to feed fresh fighters for massed attacks. Jki half-expected that the carriers were the same ones that escaped Bedrock, and when confirmation that the drive field signatures were the same, she wondered if the same commander was in charge, whoever it was.
At this point, instead of heading directly for Gymnasium Prime, Jki took her fleet at an angle into the asteroid belt. Going anti-spinward in the belt, the fleet, now moving at maximum speed for a dreadnaught, forced the Axis carrier-launched strike to pursue while those asteroid fighter bases ahead had to wait to consolidate fresh arrivals from the bases behind them. The net result was that the ensuing double strikes didn’t have the time for a fully coordinated effort. Jki was thankful that the Hazen contingent had 216 Lancer interceptors, forming the close-in defense within the fleet’s jamming radius. Unable to use fighters, the Hazen were inspired by the Hamthen’s use of interceptors earlier in the war and spent a sizeable percentage of their naval budget to develop and deploy their own version. An updated interceptor had been perfected and wouldn’t reach the fleet the months but the ones in use now proved their worth.
In a relentless grind the Combined Fleet continued around the asteroid belt, destroying bases in passing and Hatchet fighters by the gross. Many were still of the F0 variety with a sprinkling of F1s, which served as escorts. The Axis carrier task group continued to pursue, but it came to a point where, even with life support packs, the F0 Hatchets couldn’t reach the carriers unless they turned around to pick them up. The Axis commander settled on moving, at full speed, to a point ahead of the Combined Fleet to receive fresh squadrons. With battlecruiser-hulled freighters filled with antifighter missiles Jki elected to have her ships resupplied on the move. Three more major waves of Hatchets were dispatched before the Axis carriers departed, heading for one of the other two warp points in the system, but not before receiving fighters, most likely F1s, into their hanger bays.
Fighter and interceptor losses for the Combined Fleet were on the order of 33%. A handful of destroyers were lost or so crippled they were scuttled. Other ships only sustained light damage to their armor. Once the ring of asteroid bases was dispatched Jki held the fleet and waited for carriers from the support group to come forward to dispense their flightgroups. The run towards Gymnasium Prime was uneventful as the Axis had exhausted their stock of disposable fighters, so there were no further inbound fighter strikes. As for the space station over the planet it still had fighters, 324 strong, backed by over 100 escort shuttles. Only three type-4 bases kept the station company. Jki had already decided beforehand on a course of action. With capital missile armed units, including the new Yoshibo carriers, moving forward at a crawl with maximum ECM the rest of the Combined Fleet charged the orbital defenses with Sharks and Lancers ready to engage the Hatchets and Stilettos.
It took three minutes for the fleet to come within effective beam weapon range, 2.5 light seconds. The huge station had a mass of 24 battleships, too big for shields, but had ample armor. The charging ships focused on the station and the horde of fighters and shuttles while the capital missile units set upon denuding the BS4s of their armor, using enhanced lasing warheads on their SBMs. Not at all tempted to destroy the distant missile-firing carriers, the Comensal crews went after the dreadnaughts with the intent on complete kills.
A maelstrom of beams, missiles and small craft, punctuated by nuclear and antimatter fireballs, served as a backdrop as three dreadnaughts were crushed as the fleet entered the designed range. At that point Tuphon and Terpla’n ships equipped with needle beams attacked the station, sniping overload dampeners. Axis fire then shifted to those ships, but not before the dampeners were greatly reduced in number. This allowed those allied ships equipped with energy beams to cut loose, destroying the station’s internal systems with massive electrical discharges. Smaller ships were reassigned to cripple the BS4s. Thanks to jammers the Axis Hatchets were cut down in job lots while the Hazen Lancers engaged the Stilettos with abandon.
Either through oversight or deliberate action an antimatter warhead on the station was destroyed, and in turn the station was utterly obliterated as other antimatter warheads were set off. Jki ordered the BS4s to be rendered weaponless by energy and needle beam fire. Just as boarding shuttles were ready a flight of shuttles and cutters took off from the planet’s spaceport. The BS4s were rammed by the craft, finishing them off to prevent the allies from capturing them. In reply the spaceport was taken out by kinetic strikes. Troopships were called from the support group, and not for the last time Jki was greeted on the comms by the Comensal governor, his smile as false as his promise of cooperation. In a few months the inhabitants will start a massive resistance movement, just like on all the other occupied Axis worlds.
Jki acknowledged the reports, and after a brace of questions she dismissed her staff with herself heading back to her quarters. Halfway there she changed her mind. With her six feet now feeling inexplicably tired she went to the Oknib’s sickbay. There she found the ship’s doctor, a well-seasoned civilian practitioner that volunteered for naval service. Two discerning eyes focused on the admiral. “Good evening, Admiral,” the doctor said with formality. “I’m Doctor Pyco. To what do I owe this visit? High ranking officers rarely visit sickbay outside of checking on wounded spacers.”
“I make it a point to visit every department of my flagship, Doctor. This happens to be the first one on the list,” Jki replied. “As the Oknib received its refit it stands to reason the sickbay was updated as well. Care to give a tour?”
Pyco’s inner eyelids blinked. Captains and admirals did indeed avoid sickbay like the plague unless directly ordered by the ship’s doctor for mandatory physicals. He shifted on his six legs as he replied. “Very good, Admiral. You’ll find the facilities here are on the same level as any dirt-side hospital. If you will…”
It took fifteen minutes, as Jki asked questions that were tempered by knowledge that could only be gained by being a recipient of medical attention. Pyco did receive Jki’s medical file from the Coral Sea’s CMO, and he was beginning to suspect that there was more to Jki’s visit than just idle curiosity. About to show his office, Pyco was sidelined by Jki at an examination station. “This looks the same as those on the Coral Sea,” Jki commented, pointing at a table contoured for Terpla’n physiology. “Mind if I try it out?”
“Go ahead. You won’t find anything better outside of a five-star hotel.”
Jki settled in, the table automatically adjusting to accommodate to prevent her from falling off. “Feels good, doc. If I was here for a checkup, would you start with the usual checklist?”
“Depends. Anything that deserves some attention?” Pyco figured that Jki was requesting help in a roundabout way to save face.
“Been having some stomach aches, haven’t told the previous doc.”
Pyco’s inner eyelids slowly blinked. “I see. Have you been taking anything to alleviating those aches?”
“Engine Room Rot-Gut,” Jki replied in a casual manner.
The doctor’s outer eyelids closed slightly. Having tried the mentioned concoction, the only appreciable medicinal effect was to dull pain. “I guess that proves the higher the rank, the more inclined people are to self-medicate. If you’re willing, Admiral, I like to perform some tests and use some of that brand-new fancy gear I have at my disposal.”
“That will be appreciated, Dr. Pyco.”
********
All in all, Prime Lieutenant Camden was happy with his current assignment, though he considered it to be a sideways promotion. Previously he commanded a division of corvettes for a year, guarding convoys to and from Gymnasium via Eleto. Expecting assignment as an executive officer of a cruiser or allocated to a planet-side posting Camden instead, rather abruptly due to circumstances, was given the command of a destroyer division.
Camden’s ship, the Sprinter-class destroyer Thunderfoot, and its two division mates were constructed at the Evergreen shipyards in the Eleto system. Assigned to Star Force 2, Third Advance Fleet, the ships of the division had only just cleared the slipways when Gymnasium was conquered by the abom Terpla’ns and their equally wretched allies. Normally it would take a month of work-up to bring the ships up to specs, but the AFC only gave Camden’s division a week before heading out to the Jade system, two transits out from Eleto to rendezvous with other reinforcements heading for Admiral Hovwen. In that week everything that needed to work on the destroyer worked. Shields, ECM, weapons and point defense along with life support, computer coordination, and engines. As for everything else…
The destroyer division was in the Porch system, halfway between the Eleto and Jade warp points respectively. On the bridge of the Thunderfoot Camden went through a list of items that were deemed ‘nonessential for combat’ by the Evergreen Station quartermaster in the rush to get the division to its rendezvous. The recreation compartment had no equipment, not even floormats for the exercise section. Likewise, the mess halls had only base rations because the coolers went unstocked, so no servings of preserved fruit. Even the bedding would’ve been absent had it not been for the Recreation & Morale officer, as well as the ship’s quartermaster, having gone to a storage hold on Evergreen Station to ‘acquire’ bedding assigned to a freighter due to be launched in two months. Likewise, the Chief Engineer and some ratings ‘acquired’ a soda machine, complete with two months of flavor concentrate packets, along with a dart board that happened to be next to it. Camden asked no questions, instead thanking the personnel involved for providing for the welfare of the crew.
The crews of the three ships were kept busy with drills, inspections, and instruction. Camden was thankful for getting some of his senior officers and noncoms from his corvette command to the Thunderfoot. Manned by painfully green spacers, Camden hoped to ‘remove the burs’ by the time the ships rendezvoused with Hovwen. To that end he worked on current daily schedule…
“Drive field detection!” roared the sensor rating, only three months past his qualifications. “Prime, I have six drive field contacts seven light-seconds ahead of us. Forwarding to your main plot.”
“Signals, inform the division to go to full alert,” Camden said as he focused on his plot. He scowled as he registered the information. From the drive field strengths there were three battlecruisers and three destroyers, all identified as belonging to the aboms. They had to have been here for some time, observing shipping going to and from the Eleto system to position their ships for an intercept. Porch only had a single chain of older style navigation and com buoys between the two warp points. Only scanner buoys were placed at the warp points. Most importantly there had to be a closed warp point in Porch. Immediately he had his signals officer start sending data via the com buoy chain back to the Eleto and Jade warp points. He held back on sending courier drones until the last possible moment.
There was no point in running. Even if Camden turned his ships around there was no guarantee that all their engines would achieve motive status in time. Besides, the ships had no defensive missiles on their external racks and interception of missiles coming from the rear arc would be degraded. With a grim steadfastness that one would find in a patriotic video Camden gave his orders and watched the plot as the formations closed.
One minute later at 2.5 light-second range the three destroyers had succeeded in bringing all their systems online. Still painfully green, only one destroyer achieved a hit on the designated abom battlecruiser. In reply the aboms, in three datalink groups comprised of one BC and DD each, fired on each of the Sprinters. All three ships lost shields from a mix of capital force beams and needles beams. Then came the anti-drive missiles. Receiving the worst of it and having lost some engine rooms already from general needle beam damage, the Thunderfoot was rendered immobilized. The other two destroyers were down to half speed.
The abom ships dropped to half speed, engaging erratic maneuvering as Thunderfoot’s divisionmates did they best they could to match. Again, the Axis crews’ painful inexperience played against them as a BC and DD used their tactical scanner data to locate and then sniped the hetlasers of all three Sprinters, followed by all the remaining engine rooms and point defense, equally paired away by the other four abom ships. With main power automatically adjusted to safe mode after the loss of engine rooms there was only one outcome in Camden’s mind. “Signals,” the prime lieutenant said, “inform the crew and the other ships that we’re going to be boarded presently.” As if on cue he saw on the main plot the abom ships launching shuttles and cutters, no doubt filled with marines. “Have all engineering departments arm the scuttling charges with minimum timer settings.”
“Acknowledged, Prime,” said the young rating. Axis ships smaller than light cruisers only had officers for half the bridge stations.
“Abom tractor beams have locked onto our ships, Prime,” said the weapons officer. “The shuttles and cutters will be on our hulls in one minute.”
“Acknowledged.” Camden scowled. There was no doubt the aboms will eventually take the ships, but if the charges go off then they’ll be rendered unsalvageable. Any attempt to tow them with tractor beams or even actual physical cables will fail. That only left…
“Prime,” said the Signals rating, “I’ve been unable to contact the computer operations compartment. That compartment had been pierced by a needle beam that took out engine room seven.”
They’re after the databanks, Camden thought. In this situation the ultimate responsibility in destroying the databanks is on me. Quickly, Camden passed orders to his executive officer in the auxiliary control room, putting him in charge of the ship’s internal defense. When the XO asked if he needed some marines as escort Camden declined, instead taking the weapons officer and sensor rating with him. Since there was no time to don the standard pressure suit Camden and the others had to use their issued shipsuits, which could act as pressure suits for a limited time. Each shipsuit had a pullover clear hood that could be secured to the neck collar and a pair of gloves to each wrist lock. For an air supply there was in each major compartment a service locker with thermos-sized oxygen packs that had a 90-minute supply and were secured to the chest. With laser pistols in hand the trio made for the computer operations compartment.
On the way Camden heard the announcement via his earpiece that abom small craft had latched on to the hull, quickly followed by subtle vibrations caused by breaching charges. Upon arrival Camden found out why there was no response from the duty shift. The needle beam had destroyed half of the work station desk in passing and killed the two techs with a combination of electrical discharge and intense heat. Unable to enter the data purge code that left the backup plan. Camden had the weapons officer and sensor rating cover the entrance as he opened a locker and extracted the gear inside. Said gear was a thermal rod with an accompanying protective heat-resistant glove and sleeve.
Using the thermal rod on the physical databanks will render them utterly useless. No amount of electronic forensics could extract any data from what would amount to a pile of molten glass and circuits. Opening the databank access panel, Camden was about to activate the rod when he felt vibrations from the deck. He turned to find a suited fist impacting his face, his world going dark.
A few minutes later Camden regained consciousness, finding himself on the deck with his legs bound and arms tied behind his back. He saw his two men by the compartment entrance, equally incapacitated and face down. Then he saw the suited aboms, four of them, wearing combat vac suits with helmets that had opaque visors. Bipeds, at least, and only two arms so that ruled out Hokum…
One of the aboms noticed Camden and knelt beside him, placing an oval-shaped disc to the side of his clear hood. It was a ‘skin-talk’ speaker, and through it he heard a computer-generated voice. “Good morning,” said the voice with a hint of electronic modulation and inflection, indicating cheerfulness, something that Camden didn’t find amusing. “Sorry for having to punch you, but I was concerned my stun round would’ve missed you and gone into that open panel. It wouldn’t do having the databanks scrambled by a stunner energy. Oh, rude of me. You deserve to see who’s talking to you.” The abom’s visor went clear, revealing an avian-featured face belonging to a Tuphonese. The despicable abom looked like he was talking, but a moment passed before he heard the resulting words. “That little glow rod of yours would’ve made this boarding a complete waste of time had you just one more minute. Good thing you guys don’t change the layout of your ships in a major way.”
“Sir,” said another abom, his comm channel audio being picked up by the first abom’s translation software in his suit no doubt, “I’m afraid this control desk has seen better days. The port we needed got deep-sixed by that needle beam hit.”
“We have to be overlooking something,” the first one replied, obviously not caring that Camden was overhearing the conversation. “We studied the schematics from previous captured ships and even reports from our Hokum allies.” Hearing that made Camden cringe. If cringing made a noise, then Camden’s could’ve been heard.
“Wait, Sir, there’s one place I want to check again.” The second abom looked under that portion of the work desk that wasn’t ruined by the needle beam. After a pregnant moment came a sound that the translation program rendered as a pleasant utterance. That abom stood up, and on an extended finger was a piece of… tape?
“This is manufacture’s tape, Sir. It was covering the auxiliary port, and I didn’t see on the first inspection.”
Manufacture’s tape? Camden thought. That is removed after a full… oh Providence!
The first abom made a clicking noise that was rendered into a sound that indicated affirmation. “If that’s anything like in our navy, that tape is removed after a full inspection and approval by a senior officer.”
In the rush to get this ship into action, too many corners had to be cut! If those damn aboms know this much about our ships…
“Could be this ship was rushed into service without a complete shakedown cruise, Sir? If they didn’t bother to check this aux port and sign off on it, then we have a better chance than trying to connect to the databanks directly, especially since we don’t have the appropriate Axis minicomp.”
The first abom looked at Camden. “I found your minicomp on you, but without your access code I can’t use it. Are you willing to help us out?” The inflection of whimsy in the translated voice made Camden seethe to the point that his teeth grated. The abom Tuphonese noticed. “Oh, thought not. Okay, Sergeant, use the black box.”
“Yes, Sir.” The sergeant pulled what appeared to be a tablet from a pouch on his thigh. He pulled a fine, thin cable from it and attached it to the aux port. After a few moments a cheer was heard. “Payday, Sir. There was no challenge from the operating system. Not even a password. Downloading and transmitting of the database commencing. We’re going to make out like it’s CEO annual bonus day.”
“Well done, Sergeant. Guess that proves this ship and its crew was rushed into service before all the basics were covered.” For the life of him Camden swore the avian abom was smiling at him, despite having a beak. “Don’t worry, Comensal. That’s how the market rolls. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Damn it all! I just remembered. It was on my list. It was on my list! Today I was going to go through the first deployment checklist for Computer Operations. That damn piece of tape would’ve been removed by me no less and a password installed! Just one Providence-damned day!
“Sir,” said the sergeant, “I think we better get our prisoners on the shuttle before their air runs out.”
“So true, sergeant. This one especially. He has the rank tabs of a Prime Lieutenant. Very well could be the commander of this ship. Oh, silly me. I meant to use the security filter in our communications. Well,” the translated voice did carry a tone of observation instead of flippancy, though Camden was in no mood to listen, “it was an unintentional oversight, very much like what happened to you, Comensal. Happens to all of us.”
Camden didn’t resist as he was picked up by abom marines minutes later and hauled away like a plank of lumber. He didn’t yell or curse or squirm for he was paralyzed with rage.
********
Of the three Axis destroyers captured, the databanks of two of them were successfully retrieved. As for the ships themselves only on the Thunderfoot retained structurally integrity as the engineers were killed before they could prime the explosive charges The charges on the other two destroyers did go off, and being unable to be towed or considered worthwhile to repair they were obliterated by nuclear warheads. The Thunderfoot itself was tractored to a holding location where enough internal systems were restored and adapted so that it could transit to Inna and be studied by a team of Inna engineers under the supervision of Tzelen consultants.
Crajen Admiral Coopersmith, commanding the 3rd Field Fleet, was thankful that the operation provided a bonanza of data. The Eletoshani warp point was lightly guarded with only six large and one small base, backed up by scandalously thin minefields and weapon buoy parks. Only six warships and one auxiliary formed the mobile force. As for the orbital defenses over Evergreen, the second habitable planet in the Eleto system, were markedly stronger than those over Eleto itself, mainly due to the number of Comensal inhabitants. Some 70,000 Comensal were on Eleto, with 40,000 being civilians in a single city near the spaceport.
Defenses over Eleto were just three missile bases and a small space station, backed up by a fighter wing based at the spaceport. This was a major concern for Coopersmith. Even though the Axis considered the Eleto a major supplier of materials if the commanders in charge decided to nuke the population, even at the loss of their own civilians, then there was nothing Coppersmith could do about it. The captured data did provide a map of warp links, including one that lead up to Gymnasium. Finding and exploiting a fresh breach into Axis space was the reason behind the capture operation. Rescuing an occupied population would be a bonus. Reading the Axis’ own records regarding the Eleto, the Admiral sensed the wily aliens had plans to flummox their Axis overlords when the chance of liberation presented itself.
Coopersmith, in the CIC of his flagship, was playing host to Dr. Dunn, the Tzelan commanding the survey squadron, and Dr. Kunus, the Inna scientist leading the contingent of his fellow Inna. They were regarding the warp point icon on the main plot. “One hour to the assault,” said the Crajen. “In this brief period of time they couldn’t increase their passive defenses in any meaningful way.”
“Speaking of defenses,” said Kunus, “I take it that my government was reassured on the security of the Inna warp point?”
“They only needed to hear it from me, Doctor. Twenty-four large bases, with twelve more in two months, and backed up by passive defenses and a reinforced task group. Once Eleto is secured we can drive deeper into pre-war Axis space, furthering Inna security.”
Dr. Dunn nodded acknowledgement. “It will be interesting to find out what the Eleto know about us. I’ve read the captured Axis reports, damning and cursing the Eleto and their computer software sabotage."
Coopersmith clicked his crusher claws while snapping the fingers of both hands. This time Kunus didn’t flinch, now having become much more accustomed to Crajen mannerisms. “I’d say they know a good deal, Dr. Dunn. Knowing that were a multi-racial organization fighting the Axis will give us common ground when we establish contact.”
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