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The Terpla'ns - Chapter 10
Advance Axis scouts had indeed reached
the Silvershoe system well ahead of Star Force 3, 2nd
Advance Fleet. That they were able to enter the system
uncontested was allowed by Commonwealth Admiral Barsus,
commanding Task Force 21. Once the scouts were in Barsus
had three task elements comprised of carriers and
battlecruiser-hulled minelayers move from their holding
positions three light-minutes out from the
Silvershoe/Connectors warp point. Now ringed with mine
patterns and weapon buoys those scouts couldn’t get out
until SF 3 mounts an assault. He wanted the Axis to know
that the warp point was now invested, leaving them to
decide to simply blockade or stage an assault. Either
way suited Barsus.
Aboard the Captain Velkoi, flagship of Task Force 21, Admiral Barsus and Captain Yos, the senior staff intelligence officer, were going over reports in the admiral’s day cabin, located next the ship’s CIC. “The Axis has moved back into the Tinsmith system,” Yos said as he brought up the relevant data on a flatpanel screen on the bulkhead. “They’re advancing slower than expected, whether in accordance to their own plans or out of caution. Tinsmith connects to Brass Latch and the dead-end system of Ohm. It’s likely they’ll invest the Tinsmith/Ohm warp point with light amounts of automated weapons and send scouting elements into Ohm to satisfy their security concerns.” Barsus nibbled on a bit of Salmon jerky, regarding the readout on the datapad Yos handed him. “As well they should, since we went through the trouble of making a sensor net in Ohm. They’ll be looking for it for some time since all communication is tight beam, so while the coverage will have gaps they’ll be compelled to station a few light units in Ohm for months while our ‘units’ stationed there run out of supplies.” “The scout and the attached supply ship have enough endurance for 16 months, longer if the scout is abandoned in one of the designated solar orbits. As for our own supplies we had to put three now-empty supply ships in one of the designated parking orbits in the outer reach of this system. We have only three months supplies on hand to maintain our remaining ships, not counting any potential combat losses or having more units placed in parking orbits.” Yos flipped through the reader in had in his other hand. “In regards to the Axis force coming down the chain from Borehole it’s likely they’re rebuilding the fixed defenses for the Borehole/Guilded Wire warp point. Once it reaches a level they consider to be adequate they’ll move into Brass Latch and then lay siege to the Brass Latch/Citadel warp point.” Getting up, Barsus tapped the icon for the Metalstorm system on the flatpanel screen on the bulkhead. It glowed yellow as it expanded to a full system schematic. “Thanks to the information we received via the tenuous link with the Unified Command Center we can infer the Metalstorm/Silvershoe warp point has been invested with significant force from the Axis fleet, given their pace of advance towards Hamthen.” He regarded the warp point icon like it was malicious smudge on a famous painting. “Their strategy still seems to be that of blockading us, letting the eventual lack of supplies to take their toll before attacking. That they haven’t sent so much as a pinnace probe, as far as we know, from this warp point and followed through with a task force lends credence to this assumption. With Evershem captured they’re committing themselves to their assault on Hamthen.” Yos blinked agreement. “It’s a pity that the Hokum are unable to provide logistical support even to help out the Valhallan fleet in Battlement system. There’s simply not enough time for them to build the freighters needed to transship supplies across their territory, and they won’t allow allied convoys, even unescorted ones, to have access to their systems.” “In two months that may no longer be a problem, Yos. There was an eyes-only dispatch in the message packet we got from the UCC today. It was signed by Admiral Jki and President Huj and had just two words assigned to a contingency plan. Task Force 21 is to go into Metalstorm as soon as practical. Task Groups 111 and 113 will stay in Citadel to guard the Citadel/Brass Latch warp point. Task Group 112 will cover the Silvershoe/Connectors warp point. The armed pinnace task elements from all three task groups will accompany us to Metalstorm.” “Audacious, Admiral. We risk losing both Citadel and Silvershoe should the Axis decide to attack in strength while TF 21 is engaged in Metalstorm.” “We need audacity, Yos. Even if we lose Silvershoe the Axis fleet now menacing Hamthen will be cut off from supply. Faced with rotting on the vine the enemy will either fall back and engage us or proceed to attack Hamthen.” “If the latter is their plan, Admiral, then we have to hope the defenses in Hamthen are up to the task. That planet represents their greatest failure, even more so than the capture of their colonies. Even if it means the ultimate destruction of the fleet involved so long as Hamethen Prime is utterly destroyed the Axis will consider it worth the effort.” “They will be bitterly disappointed. We’ll also be taking along the assault elements from Task Groups 111, 112, and 113. It is my intention to enter Metalstorm at the earliest possible moment. Yos, call in the rest of the staff to the CIC.” “Aye, aye, Admiral. Oh, what was the name of the contingency plan?” “Hurricane Fury.” First Leader Grandous dismissed the governing council from the meeting room. He had the Chief Administrator of Health and Welfare, Tonsak, stay. One of departments included in Health and Welfare was Morale Resources, which is to say propaganda. The room had a bay window that looked out onto Comensal’s capital city of Unity. Grandous looked out onto that city as he motioned with his hand to have Tonsak join him. “You have something more to say,” he said without turning. Tonsak went to the window and didn’t turn as well. “Yes, First Leader. Morale Resources is eagerly awaiting the good news from our impending assault on Hamthen. However, it has come to our attention that the populace is just as eager for news on the recovery of those systems still under abomination domination. Bandstand, Battlement, and Citadel. The last one, especially, since it has been occupied by the abominations for the longest time.” “Yes, for the better part of two years,” Grandous admitted. “If what we’ve seen from the recovery of Borehole and Forger’s Gate is applicable then the people of Citadel are resisting with every fiber of their being. After our setback in the Cain system we’re going to wait another six months. My admirals know now that containment is the only viable option until the Hamthen system is neutralized. The aboms in Citadel will be even furthered weakened by the lack of supplies while we grow stronger.” “First Leader, given the nature of the warp lines, would it be easier to mount a relief force for Battlement and Citadel via one of the two other closed warp points in the blue giant system that has the abomination repair bases?” Grandous shifted his gaze to a structure in the distance. It was a 10-story building in the center of the Victory Plaza, constructed after the Lauset conquest. “I want our people on Citadel to know that their resistance provided the driving force of our impending victory. It is only right but demanded by Providence that their efforts on Citadel are rewarded with the destruction of Hamthen Prime. Once that is done a victory plaza will be built to commemorate Citadel as well as our eventual triumph over the abominations. Tell the people that the liberation of Citadel is coming. We shall succeed.” “Thank you, First Leader. Morale Resources will have something ready to accompany the news of our Hamthen success.” The Axis citizens in the Metalstorm system had every right to be confident that they wouldn’t be occupied by Commonwealth troops for a third time, especially by those thrice-damned Hazen abominations. Mining was the order of the day for the citizens, but with Hazen marines, clad in armored pressure suits, the output of the mines was limited to keep the outposts and colonies operational. Now that they were gone the bounty of the system’s mineral wealth could be exploited to the fullest. There were two colonies and eight outposts, and upon liberation their industrial capacity was restored as the Hazen marines had destroyed a good percentage of the infrastructure. Above each colony a small space station was constructed from prefabricated parts, equal to the tonnage of a battlecruiser. Equipped with a small shipyard each these small stations produced munitions, mine patterns, weapon buoys, fighters and small craft for the Axis fleet. Additionally, under construction on the colonies, were ground bases set to house numerous armed pinnaces and escort shuttles for the purpose to serve as a ready supply of replacements for the front. Whatever industrial production was left over was used to produce general use supplies for the Axis fleet train. The same pattern was repeated in the Blood Pride and Forger’s Gate systems. Industrial improvements were made and with the minimum of infrastructure built the resulting production went towards enabling the various task forces and defenses to be supplied and bolstered. A sizeable number of mobile shipyards and repair ships were built for Operation Restoration. These went towards assembling prefabricated base components, and when that was done their energies went to building asteroid forts and repairing and refitting units. In the case of Borehole, Bedrock and Bulwark the emphasis was in building new orbital shipyards so as to make new ships closer to the front lines. In contrast the sole Comensal world still occupied by Commonwealth forces, Citadel, the operation to break the colonial resistance went on. Stone Hearth, capital city of the colony, was looking more like a massive parking lot as the prefab buildings were taken down and their basements filled in with plasticrete. Commander of the 1st Expeditionary Corps, Field General Jingu-wa, wanted to accelerate the task for it was drawing in the Comensal colonists-turned-partisans. As it was the operation had to be drawn down considerably for Jingu-wa had a new responsibility placed upon him. With abandoned ships being placed in distant solar orbits in Citadel and Silvershoe the crews had to be assigned somewhere. Space was at a premium on the transports, and it was decided to place the displaced crews on Citadel Prime. A site was selected in the equatorial tropics, factoring in such things as access to water, fishing and agricultural needs, defensiveness and remoteness from Comensal interference. Since Jingu-wa’s efforts at Stone Hearth were attracting the colonists, and the Comensal dislike of high humidity and temperature, it was a sensible plan. This was by no means a vacation for those involved. First and foremost was the construction of prefabricated buildings and excavating underground chambers. Terpla’n and Esani army engineers taught spacers these skills among other things. When not building there were college-level classes and recertification tests, exercises, sports, farming and fishing to keep everyone occupied. Most important the spacers were taught infantry skills and tactics and were given weapons training. Many afternoons were spent on constructing bunkers, trenches, pillboxes and foxholes. All were made proficient in using the standard rifle, handgun, grenade launcher and mortars. If worse came to worse the equivalent to an army infantry brigade would be available should the Axis reclaim the Citadel system. On Bedrock the stranded 3rd Expeditionary Corps, dispersed among the mostly unclaimed continental interiors, was avoiding contact as best it could from Axis ground forces. Sometimes combat was inevitable, both deliberate and accidental. It was one of former that had Dr. Ghon Huu, a specialist on the Comensal, present at the site of a Commonwealth Army devised ambush. He was examining remains and equipment captured in the aftermath. There were no living Comensal to interrogate since the ambush was total in its effectiveness. Located under a dense canopy of trees the temporary camp was comprised of camo-cloaked tents. Huu was in one of tents along with a Terpla’n sergeant, Huxan, that lead the platoon involved. “We tried, Doctor,” Huxan offered, gesturing to the three tables that held Comensal corpses. “When possible we went for leg shots but the survivors either bled out or suicided with grenades.” “I see.” The Tzelan regarded one dead Comensal with clinical detachment, removing the rifle it held in rigid hands. He inspected it like a jeweler appraising a precious stone. “A hunting rifle, and judging from the bolt action a well-used one. Quite possibly over a century old. You can see where the hands had left an impression on the wood stock.” Huxan worked over the weapon with his eyes. “A single shot rifle at that, Doctor. What do these civilian ‘safari parties’ expect to achieve? There’s no need for them at all when the Axis can use regular army troops to deal with us. All there doing is denying themselves of the work the civilians can provide for the war effort.” The Tzelan raised a wooly eyebrow upon making a discovery. “Look at this, Sergeant.” Huu placed the weapon down and raised the corpse’s hand, fingers extended with the palm facing the Terpla’n. “See how the fingers and palm are calloused? This individual is rather old, and judging from the trigger finger he has fired guns for most of life. I daresay he might even been a veteran of the Lauset conquest, putting him at least 120 standard years old if not more. Ah!” A small tattoo on the corpse’s trigger finger caught his eye. “I see that this individual had participated in a Lauset hunt at some point in his life. This tattoo signifies that he has killed one. In order to participate in such a hunt said individual had to be an expert marksman.” Huxan did his approximation of a shrug, as much as his Terpla’n physiology would allow. “Could’ve fooled me, Doctor. I thought all Comensal were expert marksmen.” Huu went to another body, exposing only the hand and again showing it to Huxan. “This one has far less callouses, but she has ‘trigger finger hook’, a form of arthritis that comes about in Comensal from firing guns on a regular basis. She obviously partakes of the firing range as well as sports hunting, judging from the rifle she uses.” Huu went to another table where captured gear was placed. He picked up what looked like a dense clump of vegetation, but upon turning it over showed that it had webbing holding the assorted leaves and slender twigs in place. “Like all serious sports hunters, the owner of this ghillie suit has extensively modified it. There are no plastics, no metal, and the webbing itself is made of natural fibers. Moreover the native plants remain viable for several days when plucked and wilt slowly. With their low IR signature Comensal so dressed are practically invisible. These senior hunters know their trade well.” Huxan blinked. “Come to think of it, Doctor, all the civilian safari parties we’ve managed to get intel on have been composed of seniors.” “Old but seasoned, Sergeant. As you indicated earlier, they could be at home, doing those tasks that their aged bodies would permit them to do. By going out into the field and using their well-honed shooting skills they are contributing to the war effort. As they see it they’re enabling the young to concentrate on production and use their good health to do more. Indeed, there has been some success with these safari parties, much to our detriment.” “My lieutenant was killed last week by a sniper. Perhaps by one of these Comensal.” Huu rubbed his chin in contemplation. “If the civilians are going to treat us like dangerous game animals then it should only be appropriate we take advantage of that. Sergeant, I will give you several datafiles on Comensal sports hunting that our forces gleaned from a civilian library server. They should prove quite useful in predicting the behavior of the safari parties. Once our other units are informed and cause significant casualties this might convince the Comensal government on Bedrock to stop the civilians.” “Or they might conclude that arming them with mortars and drone support is the way to go, Doctor.” “Not to mention black smoke, Sergeant. We’ll see just how ready they are to kill off great swaths of forests just like they done on Hamthen Prime.” The capital city of Elotoshani Prime, Deep Bay, was old and large. Like all cities, it grew organically so that while the center had narrow streets and densely packed buildings those neighborhoods further out were much less so. It was in the former that Nisecu Lake entered a bookstore that had been in business for over 300 years. The proprietor greeted him and showed him to a private reading room. From floor to ceiling three of the four walls had bookshelves filled with hardcopy print that was as old if not older than the store itself. Closing the door behind him Nisecu saw that that the table in the center of the room had two seats. One was occupied by an elderly Eloto, going through an old book with gloved hands so as not to leave fingerprints. Not so much as to prevent his identity to be discovered but to protect the pages from oils that could over time make the paper yellow and brittle. “I’m happy to see you,” said the elder as he motioned to Nisecu to sit. “I take it that you had to lose some tails?” “A few, actually. It seems that half the retirees living in this section of the city supplement their income by tattle tailing on their neighbors and strangers.” “Yes, an unfortunate result of decades of occupation. Once the Axis is gone we’ll make sure that the black marks applied to them will stick.” The elder closed the book and returned it to the shelf from where he got it. “My sources have obtained some new kernels of knowledge on the Axis shipyard over Evergreen. Some insight has been gained on the progress of the war against their enemies.” Nisecu’s eyes squinted. Evergreen was the other habitable planet in the Eloto system. It was colonized a scant forty years after the first Eloto went into space. By the time the Axis invaded the home system Evergreen had a population of 250 million. Due to the defiant defense and damage inflicted on the Axis fleet there was no occupation of Evergreen – it was simply bombarded with munitions followed by an Axis army 200,000 strong. In short order the Axis colonized the planet and over the decades of natural growth and a steady influx of population there were now 200 million Axis citizens on that planet. There were pockets of survivors on Evergreen with radio contact on very few occasions. The last transmission was 20 years ago, describing how the remnants were systematically hunted down and killed by not only soldiers but also from civilian ‘safari’ parties. Both sets of Nisecu’s grandparents were on Evergreen at the time of the invasion. He hoped they had met their end in a bombardment instead of being hunted down for sport. “What have you found out?” The elder rubbed two of his eyes. “Four standard construction slips were added to the station over Evergreen. Thanks to the intercepted message we know that those slips will be making prefabricated base components and transports to carry those components to the front lines. Two small slips were also added. They are tasked to build additional mine patterns and automated weapons buoys.” “Sounds like they’ve made some gains.” “Yes, a likely scenario. In that message a certain percentage of those mines and buoys will be allocated to this system’s warp point.” Nisecu was perplexed. The Eloto system only had one warp point and was considered by the Axis to be far removed from the front lines. “If the Commonwealth made an unexpected entrance into Axis space in a nearby system that would be a sensible precaution.” “Sensible, but in this case it’s a matter of restocking, Nisecu. You see, the Axis isn’t the production powerhouse it likes to think it is. All those mines and buoys for their offensive, their so-called Operation Restoration, had to come from somewhere. As of now there are only 60 patterns of mines and 12 weapon buoys in place around this system’s warp point. That is to say only 5% of the prewar total.” “That’s rather confident on their part, elder.” “And worrisome, my fellow. It was stipulated in the message that the rate of replenishment for the mines and buoys is 2% per month. If this is an indication that the Axis made considerable gains then they might go ahead and enact their ‘Eloto Solution’.” “Something that the others will factor into their contingency plans when I tell them,” Nisecu replied. “I’ll have to be here for a few hours before I can leave. This isn’t the kind of store where one leaves after a few minutes.” The elder pushed a time-worn book towards Nisecu along with a pair of gloves. “I suggest you read this to pass the time. It’s a study on ancient warfare, particularly on sieges. You may find it insightful when the opportunity presents itself to invest the Axis enclave on this planet.” Star Admiral Bonson, commander of Star Force 1, 2nd Advance Fleet, was in the CIC of his command superdreadnaught along with System Admiral Vangen, his chief of staff. They were waiting for news of the probe they sent into the Evershem/Hamthen warp point, staring at the holo imager with an intensity reserved to game masters in a tournament. Due to the nature of such probes it was a very short wait. “Two minutes,” said Vangen. “We would’ve gotten at least a pinnace back.” “240 of them, along with 200 Dispersions,” Bonson added as he glared at the readout as the probe force was officially marked as destroyed. “Factoring in mass transit losses there would’ve been more than enough to come back after one minute. With no courier drones from the Dispersions either we can come to just one conclusion. The Hamthen defenses must be formidable enough to destroy the whole probe force in 30 seconds.” “It’s inescapable that it was a mix of fighters, bases, ships, and automated weapons, Admiral.” Vangen turned off the imager. “In my opinion the bulk of the losses would have to come from laser buoys. That way there would be no courier drones at all.” “I’m forced to agree, Vangen. We’ll go ahead with variant ‘B’ of the assault plan. 80% of fighters embarked on the assault carriers will carry a pair of standard close attack missiles and a gun pack each. The rest will have pure loads of anti-matter close attack missiles. In conjunction with the armed pinnaces those fighters will destroy all bases within datalink jamming range of the warp point. All assault waves will be at the capacity of the warp point just short of causing it to destabilize.” “The relevant orders will be passed immediately, Admiral. As for the tenders that carried the probe pinnaces they will head back to Output to get resupplied. At what time will the attack be carried out?” “30 hours, Vangen. With Providence at our side we will crush the Abominations and blot out that mark against our honor – Hamthen Prime.” On the other side of the warp point the allies were quite pleased with the results, none more so than Flag Admiral Tulcus Jki. Commanding from the CIC on the battleship Coral Sea, Jki reviewed the results. Only seven patterns of mines and nine weapon buoys were lost in return for the destruction of those pinnaces and Dispersions that survived the mass transit. In fact two of the Dispersions were captured, snared by capital tractor beams and liberally dosed in energy beam fire thanks to the quick action of a Tuphonese base commander and a Bulani battlecruiser. They were now in the process of being towed to Hamthen Prime to be inspected by the fleet train’s mobile shipyards. An automated weapons control ship was sent in to rearrange the inner mine pattern and buoy shell so they were more-or-less even, thus denying the enemy a definite starting point for minefield clearance in their inevitable next attack. Jki turned from the repeater plot she consulted and looked at her staff. “They’ll come. Perhaps in an hour or perhaps in two days, but they’ll come. We can’t praise the gods too much for the Axis still being ignorant of our new weapons. Their mine clearance ships especially will get a rude shock should they enter the inner shell immediately. If they decide to wait until the inner mine shell thins out that will allow us to destroy more of those escorts, corvettes and frigates they’re so fond of. We have to win, for the fleets and ground forces trapped behind the Axis blockades are depending on us for salvation. Let’s not keep them waiting in vain.” After the staff acknowledgement Jki sat down. The pain in her gut came back on cue, though now she now was able to control her external reaction for the most part. She left it unsaid that, as far as anyone knew, this was the only route the Axis had open to them to advance. Any attack they would make here would be an all-out effort. Even if they only had a carrier group left then it would be enough for Hamthen Prime only had the beginnings of a space station. All other defenses were rightfully prioritized for the warp point. Jki trusted her staff to oversee all the necessary details without burdening her with unneeded, trivial matters. She purged her mind of doubts and concerns. The upcoming battle demanded that she confront it with a clear, unobstructed mind. It will come when it comes, she told herself as she left the CIC to her cabin for a few hours sleep. Chapter 10.25 It was not a long wait after all. Star Admiral Bonson stayed to his schedule. 30 hours after the failed probe of the Evershem/Hamthen warp point the Axis commander launched the largest assault of the war to date. The first wave had 640 Machete armed pinnaces and 158 ships, comprising mostly of Critical Mass and Grenadiers and a handful of assault carriers. 40 of the little ships and 4 Falcon Crest carriers interpenetrated, leaving six intact along with three Talon Pride carriers. 540 Machetes also survived the mass transit, having been tasked into two groups and arriving on two separate vectors. One group went subjective ‘north’ with the other going ‘south’, plowing through four complete minefield shells with the first one far thicker than the others. They took their losses, antimatter fireballs fueled by their own exploding FRAMs marked their passing, and that was only the beginning. What awaited the Axis forces were no less than 126 bases, arranged in four distinct shells. The inner shell had 36 bases split into groups of 6 sitting 1.25 LS from the warp point, just at the outer edge of datalink jamming. The second shell had 54 bases, arranged in six groups of 6 and six groups of 3 each at a range of 2 LS. As for the third shell it had 18 bases in six groups of 3 at a range of 3 LS and a final shell of 18 bases in six groups of 3 at 5 LS range. Base size ranged from diminutive type-2s to monstrous type-6s. 144 Shark fighters and 18 Hamthen Gar AFSC formed the cap, divided in six groups associated with the inner shell of bases. A group of 60 ships orbited the warp point at a range of 1.5 LS, with half being battleships and dreadnaughts and the rest light cruisers to battlecruisers. Another group of 24 ships, all dreadnaught sized, were orbiting at a range of 2 LS. The size of the innermost mine shell was 1200 patterns, less those mines spent on attacking the armed pinnaces that went through. The outer three shells were just one-fourth as thick. As for the automated weapons, they were considerable. No less than 1200 weapon buoys were present in one shell. Despite this the allied crews braced themselves for the Axis clearly was of the mind they had the strength to break the defenses and enter the system like a steel auger biting into nearly petrified wood. No mine clearance ordnance was fired from the external racks of the Axis ships. Instead transit-addled CAMs were fired at one of the closest bases while the armed pinnaces settled above their targets, waiting while their targeting systems stabilized after transit so their weapons would be at full effectiveness. Those fighters of the CAP that armed weapons attacked as well as those bases and ships within range reaching action stations. On their external racks were anti-drive missiles, attacking the Axis Falcon Crest carriers with all other weapons (save one) in range engaging the armed pinnaces. Losses were inflicted, though not enough for what was to follow. The second Axis wave entered as four Falcon Crest carriers managed to transit out with engine rooms burned out by ADMs or lanced by primary beams. Before doing so, however, those four and the other surviving assault carriers of the first wave launched 288 Hatchet fighters, staying together and heading for a separate base group of the inner shell. As for the second wave the total numbers involved were 196 explorers, 30 corvettes, 10 Falcon Crest carriers and 4 battleships. 70, 6, and 2 of the former interpenetrating and exploded while the battleships lost none. Those battleships were of the dedicated assault variety, firing transit-addled beams and external CAMs at one of the larger inner shell bases. Jammers on both sides knocked out the datalinks of everything within 1.25 light seconds of the warp point. As for the allied warships, sitting just outside that jamming, were firing as singletons or in pairs as their numbers still reached for battlestations. Not so for distant trio of Humarsh BS6. They fired a punishing salvo of 60 capital missiles, antimatter warheads utterly destroying one Falcon Crest. It was here the Axis learned that both the Allies and the Hokum did indeed employ the same kind of new weapon, and it wasn’t some variant of a point defense missile. A Cqux class missile DN, along with every other ship and base equipped with launchers, fired anti-fighter missiles at every armed pinnace and fighter within range. Those pinnaces that didn’t expend their point defense against Shark fighters found that they could defend themselves, but those that did were just as dead as their fighters. Even so the pinnaces took even a heavier pounding from a new form of point defense, their larger size working against them as always. But for that the Allies lost 18 bases of the inner shell and a total of 10 mine patterns from standard clearance rounds fired from the Critical Mass explorers’ external racks, all at a patch that the pinnaces moved through earlier. For the moment the fact that the mine detonations were more powerful than expected was overlooked. Only 6 weapon buoys were shot down by Axis point defense, saving them for Shark fighters and missiles for the most part. No carriers arrived in the third wave. 10 DNs, 10 BBs, 8 BC, 6 FG, and 16 EXs emerged with only 2 BBs, 4 FGs and 12 EXs interpenetrating in their sequenced arrivals and exploding. 216 Hatchets were launched from the second wave carriers along with 20 escort shuttles from one of the assault BBs. Only 4 carriers transited out as more Allied ships and bases fired ADMs from their external racks. 288 Shark fighters, crash launched after the first wave entered, had reached the inner shell of bases. Due to their location of launch, only half of the new Sharks engaged the fresh Hatchets as they went after more inner shell bases. Axis scanners now picked up a group of 12 Allied carriers, all fleet size, approaching the 5 LS mark at cruising speed though they hadn’t launched their strikegroups yet. As for the Machete armed pinnaces they turned and retreated to the warp point. At the same time the explorers (save for the 70 Defiants, which stayed put), corvettes and frigates from the first and second waves modulated their engines, ramped up ECM to maximum, and entered an untouched patch of the inner mine shell that was in line with the Humarsh capital missile BS6s. One cannot fault them for charging in, not wondering why the buoys hadn’t fired and weaken them. As it stood even the fourth iteration of the Critical Mass series could take two mine pattern attacks before expiring. Even Providence had seemingly played a hand for not a single small ship was hit, much less targeted, by enemy weapons so far. Had they waited just 30 more seconds it would’ve given the tactical commander the time he needed to register what happened to the retiring pinnaces as they went through inner mine shell and made the connection with the results of the mine clearance rounds. As for the pinnaces they were heavily mauled, for only 96 Machetes survived transit back to Evershem (where they lost a further 14 by interpenetration). In retrospect, they were the ones favored by Providence, albeit briefly. 205 small ships entered the mines and were enveloped what could be best described as a hellstorm. Terpla’n scientists and engineers developed a new mine that contained antimatter instead of a standard nuclear warhead, giving it three times the destructive power. For the Endrili crews able to see the devastation on their monitors they gave thanks to Betrik for answering their payer of damnation against the Axis, purging them from the universe with holy fire. All told only 10 practically dead frigates and 5 untouched explorers were left for the price of 40 out of 200 mine patterns. The Axis crews were much too engaged in combat to allow that spectacle to distract them. They kept to their task, attacking the inner shell of bases. However, those ships with missile launchers now fired mine clearance rounds into the patch that consumed the first massive wave of small ships. If no base was in range, or arc of fire, then the nearest ship, fighter, or pinnace would do. 54 Whale armed pinnaces, launched from the second shell of bases, went for the third wave battlecruisers, taking and inflicting losses. Strangely, the Allied warships elected not to fire on the third wave ships and instead went for those second wave ships still present as well as the third wave small ships. What most concerned the Axis was the group of 24 dreadnaughts that had now reached and began orbiting the warp point at a range of 1.25 light seconds. Their salvos were light missile volleys, aimed at Hatchet fighters, yet the only other weapons they fired were ADMs at those first and second wave ships still on the warp point. More importantly, they were in the blind spot of the BBs and SDs…. Star Admiral Bonson arrived in the fourth wave aboard his command superdreadnaught. The tightly ordered transit of 10 SD (mixed types), 4 Cannonade BBs, 10 Rapier BCs, 4 FG, 10 CT and 2 EX saw the loss of 2 Hand of Providence SDs, 2 Cannonades, 2 Rapiers, 2 FGs, and 6 CTs. He had his attention briefly on the datafeed from the tactical commander, absorbing the fact of the new kind of mine had wrecked this initial mine clearance wave. A glaring prompt on Bonson’s master plot brought up a fresh, new and utterly unexpected tactic from the abominations. The 24 dreadnaughts in the blind spot of his third wave ships had shown themselves to be tugs. All of them were active and had either snagged a battleship, dreadnaught or battlecruiser in their tractor beams. Just months earlier all those Axis ships had been refitted, removing their shearing planes in return for additional point defense. Worse still was that Bonson’s revised firing orders didn’t reach his units in time. So while the Hatchet fighters either attacked bases or defended the warp point, and the ships went after what could be reached, the 40 escort shuttles from the third wave pounced on a base group 2 LS from the warp point. At the moment there was no weapon that could be brought to bear on the tugs. On her command battleship Coral Sea, Flag Admiral Jki was balancing the wrenching feeling in her gut with the mental satisfaction of the results of her inspired ingenuity. The first of the fifth wave of Axis ships bore witness on seeing 24 of their third wave brethren dragged into a mine patch and being utterly destroyed. Fresh Shark squadrons and a handful more Whales attacked fourth and fifth wave ships alike, smashing shields while all the Defiants were blotted out like so many intrusive bugs. With a subtle hand gesture Jki informed her operations officer to fire an appropriate number of weapon buoys. 400 energy buoys fired, but these were of a new generation for they had the same damage potential of regular energy beams. Internal systems on all the Axis ships were burned out by ruinous power surges. Even those ships with overload dampeners had to burn them out to stem the damage yet even then they lost weapons and engines. So weakened they couldn’t even pretend to put up resistance to the tugs. Embolden, those practical ships of utility grabbed two ships at a time, though the second was always a miniscule explorer or corvette. Bonson stared at his main plot as the tugs selected fresh victims and dragged them into the mines like ocean monsters plucking sailors to the deaths. Some of his ships were able to turn around and fire at the tugs, but that exposed them to unopposed capital missile fire from the rear. The other abomination ships were now firing as complete datagroups. Those with capital energy beams were hosing down the cripples, turning them into shorted-out wrecks. It was clear what the outcome of this battle was going to be, despite inflicting substantial damage on the fixed enemy defenses. He quietly gave an order to a CIC technician. There was no sense to continue the assault. “Admiral, we did it,” said Flag Captain Conna as his eyes took in the holo image projected in Coral Sea’s combat information center. “It’s been five minutes since the seventh wave. All enemy fighters and escort shuttles have either be shot down or died in ramming attacks. Boarding parties stand ready to secure the wrecks.” Jki’s eyes went from one dull red icon to another, each one symbolizing a shorted out hulk. The new energy buoys had worked as promised, and combined with those capital energy beams on Hazen ships all that remained was to secure the ships before the crews could scuttle. “Conna, have Mine Control create a lane in the field so that our remaining tugs can start pulling out the hulks to a spot in what remains of the inner base shell.” “Aye, Admiral.” A fresh pain stabbed Jki’s gut. The sixth Axis wave was comprised of dreadnaughts, battleships, and battlecruisers and whatever small assault ships could come along without destabilizing the warp point. As for the bigger units they were a mix of standard, assault and minesweepers. Interpenetration still took its toll, but some ships had brought weapons to bear on the tugs. As for the seventh and final wave it had 36 light cruisers and 108 escorts. As it turned out those escorts were, incredibly as it may seem, minesweepers, and while they died by the numbers the light cruisers picked up where their bigger brethren left off. Only four tugs remained, and two of those barely had the power to pull a dreadnaught hull from the warp point. Horrible as their losses were, they had their work cut out for them. “Start SAR operations,” Jki went on. “Axis lifepods will be ignored until our own are rescued first. Afterwards those Axis pods that came from superdreadnaughts will receive priority.” Her eyes went to a cluster of icons that sat 20 light-seconds from the warp point. The pain now felt like a lump of hot iron dropped in a bucket of icewater. “Those ships with empty external racks will arm them with ADMs. Have the rest of the fleet come forward and form up in accordance to the transit schedule and moved into position once the ADMs are loaded. Have the assigned Whales on station. We will transit at my command.” “Aye, aye, Admiral.” Back in Evershem the Axis forces weren’t exactly stunned, but it can be safely said they stoically accepted the outcome. They were, after all, going after a system that the abominations had to protect at all cost. With the new weapons used against them and the unorthodox use of tugs, combined with the bitter understanding that not enough armed pinnaces were used, the results were as good as they were going to be. From the last of the courier drones received just three abom bases were left in the inner shell and six were destroyed in the second shell, along with 3 abom light cruisers destroyed and damage in varying degrees to the rest of the ships. And, of course, 20 of 24 dreadnaught sized tugs. Combined with the losses in fighters, armed pinnaces, and minefield depletion the Aboms were committed to the defense. There was cautious certainty on the Axis’ part. As being the prime focus of Operation Restoration the drive into Hamthen space will continue. Reinforcements were enroute, along with more armed pinnace carriers. Already those empty pinnace carriers involved in the assault were moving to the fleet train, now in the Dotz system, to receive new Machetes as they were uncrated and prepped. Time, and Providence, was on the Axis side, the crews told themselves. With abom fleets isolated and deprived of supplies in the Citadel Chain, and the those damnable four-armed Hokum freaks clearly on the defensive, it was just a matter of waiting for Hamthen Prime to be burned to a cinder before First Leader Grandous gave the word to reclaim the rest of Axis territory held by the aboms. With scanner data already being sent back to Comensal on the new abom weapons the Axis will be all the stronger and… Scarcely 95 mintues after the Axis assault was launched the Terpla’ns and their allies conducted their own. Jki wasn’t going in completely blind, for she did conduct infrequent pinnace probes of the Evershem side of the warp point for weeks prior. If they were clever the Axis could’ve held a significant force back, safely beyond the scanning range of a pinnace. Two pinnaces did make it back to Hamthen, and combined what the Axis threw into their only fueled Jki’s speculations on the Axis’ strength. As it turned out she was right. 1600 Whale armed pinnaces, half of them Endrili with the rest a mix of Terpla’n, Hazen, Crajen and Humarsh crews, emerged from the warp point and suffering a loss of 244 from interpenetration. What they saw waiting for them was an enemy that subconsciously didn’t put enough faith into Providence. If they did, then they could’ve did considerably more damage before being defeated. As it stood, the Whale crews only saw a target-rich environment. There were a relative handful of superdreadnaughts, dreadnaughts and battleships remaining in Star Force 1. With them were battlecruisers and heavy cruisers in substantial numbers along with a pittance of light cruisers and a hefty number of destroyers. All the aforementioned ships were in two groups, 1.25 LS from the warp point so that datalink jammers could come into play. The carriers were 4 light-seconds out with a CAP of 210 Hatchet fighters, along with 24 escort shuttles. Keeping the carriers company were capital missile armed battlecruisers and dreadnaughts. Given their rapid advance the Axis only had a single shell of weapon buoys, 480 strong, and the mines were comprised of two shells of what turned out later to be merely 1560 patterns strong. Along with the Whales emerged the rest of the first wave ships. Endrili Noise Maker and Energy Sink ships, 52 strong, were joined by four Avami assault carriers and 40 Magnet escorts. The Avami carriers arrived as singletons while interpenetration took its allotted portion from the smaller ships. For the subsequent assault waves there were no more mass transits. With 1600 Whales, the largest massed armed pinnace assault in the war so far, what was left for the following warships to attack didn’t require additional mass transits. Divided into two groups, the Whales went after the Axis ships. Mines took their toll, those Hatchet fighters and ships that went active also took their share, but it wasn’t enough. The second wave transited in, comprised of a Bulani Conclave House SD and five of the brand-new Terpla’n Bedrock CVBs. They, along with the retiring Avami carriers, watched as the Whales utterly devastated the close-in orbiting Axis ships. Onboard point defense and internal guns also lacerated the defending Hatchet fighters and Stiletto escort shuttles, and what the Whales didn’t finish the strikegroups from the Avami carriers took care of. Instead of retiring the Whales went back to the warp point, taking their losses from the mines. They didn’t transit out in a massive wave, however, instead leaving one by one as each additional ship came in. For those that remained they used internal guns and point defense to fire at the buoy parks. Seeing this the Axis defenders elected to expend the buoys before they were all lost, resulting in the smaller ships being consumed in overkill conditions while the bigger ones took the hits in stride. The Axis carriers launched their fighters as soon as they became active, going for those Shark fighters away from the warp point. Sending them against the Whales now would be suicide as there were still over 1,000 of them. The handful of Axis capital missile units fired on the warp point ships, knowing their time was limited as the strikegroups from the Bedrock carriers closed in on them, guarded by the Avami fighters. It was here the Axis learned that these fighters were of a new generation. Those from the Avami carriers had internal guns while those from the Bedrocks has lasers. A massive furball ensued with the advantage going to the gun-armed Sharks as they had the energy to spare for evasive maneuvers while the Hatchets, laden down with FRAMs, initially couldn’t. The third wave ships were all Hazen, and armed with capital energy beams they hosed down the cripples and rendered them into immobile wrecks. As for the fourth wave it had three Cqux missile dreadnaughts, two Nikazu II battleships and a Hazen Trumpeter battlecruiser. One of those battleships was the Coral Sea, and from the CIC of that ship Admiral Jki directed the subsequent flow of events. A trio of capital missile dreadnaughts came in the fifth wave, along with a like number of fleet carriers, firing lasing-warhead armed missiles at their retreating Axis counterparts. Soon there were enough Shark fighters that reached the missile ships, crippling them so that the ever growing number of allied ships brought their weapons into play. With minesweepers in hand, and the initial mine patch sufficiently reduced, Jki had her ships enter the minefield. Armor damage was done to some ships, however wide-angle beam fire cleared the patch, and the second targeted one was significantly smaller. “Flag Captain Conna,” Jki said, suppressing the urge to grimace as her gut wrought an avalanche of pain, “once the path through the mines is cleared release the assigned task groups. They are to pursue the retiring enemy carriers and cripple them with the intent to board and capture. The same goes for those ships that retired from the warp point assault. Accounting for the time lapse and with tugs involved those ships won’t be all that distant from this warp point.” “Aye, Admiral.” Conna passed the orders on and then regarded the master hologram display like it was a priceless artwork. “So far we’ve immobilized over sixty Axis ships, both here and back in Evershem. With the number of mobile yards on hand and the station over Hamthen Prime we’re bound to get some worthwhile data from their computers. Afterwards it’s a matter of dividing the spoils.” “A war trophy for the taxpayers back home, Conna?” Jki managed to say with a measure of whimsy, as much as her gut would allow. “Yes, I’m sure we’ll have one Axis ship taken back home and placed in a war museum. Our other allies will get one each as well. Since those ships were seized in Hamthen territory they are legally their property, but President Skuu will dispense with some of them in a gesture of appreciation.” “If they so choose, those hulls can go a long way to rebuilding the Hamthen navy, Admiral. The Hokum have made use of captured Axis hulls.” “Yes, but the Hamthen are not inclined to operate converted Axis ships. They would rather see them scrapped, but Skuu and his cabinet came up with an alternative. You see, they’re going to give them to the Hokum to do with as they see fit.” Conna’s eyes blinked. “After a secure route between here and Hokum occupied space is open, Admiral. Still, it will be a nice addition to the Hamthen economy.” “Not that much, Conna. President Skuu won’t be selling them to Hokum. Instead they’ll have to pay the Hamthen Ship Registry and Management Board a registration fee for each hull.” The incredulous look in Conna’s eyes alleviated Jki’s pain in her gut somewhat. “It will be a long term and dedicated process on the Hokum’s part to send mobile yards and a supply chain to Evershem and Hamthen. I imagine they’ll convert and repair the Axis ships just enough so they can go to Hokum space under their own power for final refitting. By doing this Skuu will further good relations with the Hokum. With so many hulls involved it’s a deal they can’t refuse.” “No doubt, Admiral.” A repeater screen caught Conna’s attention. “Ah, we’re getting an update from Hamthen.” “I’ll take it my day cabin, and I’ll be in there for the next few hours. Contact me only if something requires my immediate attention.” Conna saw Jki’s brief but involuntary hand placement over the front of her uniform. Like everyone else he knew what it meant but tactfully didn’t broach the subject. “Aye, aye, Admiral.” Located next to the CIC, the day cabin served as Jki’s office and, more often than not, her quarters. The chair behind the desk brought a measure to relief as Jki sat down and extended her six legs. After a few minutes the pain had become just a dull ache, and at that she reflected on the two battles. The Axis, thankfully, was still ignorant of the full strength of the allied fleet. Had it come down to using it in defense of the Hamthen warp point there was no doubt that victory would still been achieved but with much higher casualties. With the Axis fleet in Evershem all but practically destroyed it was down to returning to the Metalstorm system and prevent further Axis incursions. With the war approaching the end of its fourth year the Axis will come to regret learning that the production capabilities of the Republic and its allies were really heating up. The 1600 Whale armed pinnaces used to assault Evershem were based on 54 Roundhouse space stations, and half of the Whale crews were Endrili, a major investment by that race. A massive fleet train stood ready to keep not only the Combined Fleet in supply but also those task groups in Citadel and Battlement. The large number of mobile yards and repair ships would go a long way in bringing abandoned ships back into service as well as upgrading them with the new shield and point defense technology. Jki closed her eyes and imagined the battles yet to be fought, all for systems that have already taken their portion of blood and treasure from the allies. Just how much more of each would be needed was beyond her knowing. Back in the Hamthen system, at the warp point leading to the Stratus system, was the remnants of Axis fortifications, placed there during the occupation. Isolated, and out of supplies for 16 months, the four type-5 beam bases suffered successive equipment failures. The minefields and buoy parks were shadows of their former strength, yet the allies, at the behest of the Hamthens, were in no rush over the many months to finish them. The biggest battle occurred one month after Hamthen was liberated. The flight groups of the nine type-5 fighter bases, and the singular squadrons on the nine type-5 beam bases, were wiped out along with three of the nine capital missile bases. Thereafter, each month saw six capital missile battlecruisers, all Hamthen, engaging the bases, starting with the six armed with capital launchers. It was a classical war of attrition with only one outcome. True, damage was done to the battlecruisers, but it was only armor and said ships withdrew before internal damage was done. Once the bases ran out of SBMs it became nothing more than a live firing exercise. The battlecruisers were rotated, reflecting those under repairs and new construction, so that fresh crews could be trained. The Hamthen kept to the bombardment over those long months, staying just out of capital missile range while taking down one missile base at a time with laser-armed SBMs. Next came the empty fighter bases, but without offensive weapons (aside from XO racks), they were dispatched with measured practice. From this point on antimatter armed capital missiles were employed at a range of 5.5 light seconds. Those beam bases did have magazines for their former fighters and XO racks, but they, too, eventually ran out of SBMs to mount on those racks as well as EDMs. Now it was different. The quartet received a data feed encoded in an Axis frequency. Only the commanding officers and their execs watched the resulting video depicting the battle at the Hamthen/Evershem warp point. Tactical data scrolled along with map projections, all the while the officers debating whether or not it was just a psychological ploy, especially since the spectacle ended in an apparent abomination victory. But the news couldn’t be concealed for the data was sent again, this time on multiple bands so that even lowly techs could receive it on their work station monitors. It produced a sourness fit to sink stomachs low. Then the Hamthens came. With all scanner buoys destroyed it was the tactical scanners that picked up the approaching formation at a range of 15 light seconds. At 10 light seconds the composition of the force was three battlecruisers, one undersized destroyer, two corvettes and a class five freighter. With the smaller ships staying behind at the 7 LS mark the battlecruisers close to 5.5 and opened up on the first of two bases in the ‘southwest’ position of the warp point. Firing alternate loads of laser-tipped and antimatter armed capital missiles the first base barely had any working systems left because the datalink was one the things the Axis crews managed to keep working, along with all the point defense stations. Applying the killing blow was the freighter and destroyer, firing four laser-tipped SBMs from their external racks. With that done the Axis crews expected the ships to leave, waiting for next month for another of their number to be taken away. Not so, for the Hamthen ships just sat there while shuttles from the freighter brought reloads for the magazines and the external racks. Once done the battlecruisers this time closed the range to an even 5 light seconds so that they could employ their capital force beams. With this the last southwest base was dispatched. Again the ships were resupplied and the process began on the sole southeast base. When it came time for the last Axis base in the north position no missiles were used. Sitting just outside the range of hetlasers the trio of battlecruisers kept firing their capital force beams, all the while transmitting a forced spectrum broadcast of video playbacks. Said playbacks were of Axis soldiers being killed in combat or otherwise eliminated on Hamthen Prime during the liberation. If they couldn’t see it then the Axis crew heard it on PA systems and audio feeds. Even they could distinguish Comensal screams amidst the static and distortion. The force beams missed more often than not, despite the base being a stationary target, but they kept firing, and firing, and firing… It must’ve been when the last shield was downed that the base self-destructed. Whether it was deliberate, or an act of a crewmember pushed over the edge didn’t matter. After a minute of observance, the Hamthen went back to work. The pair of corvettes launched six Gars, sending them to sweep the area of any remaining weapon buoys and reporting the size and composition of the minefields. All the ships then closed in. Loaded now with capital, gun and even standard missile size minefield clearance rounds a path was blown through the mines. There was no need to destroy the remaining active mine patterns. In a year’s time the lack of maintenance will claim them. The destroyer was sent through the Stratus warp point, and five minutes later it came back and brought along a destroyer that had been stationed on the other side. From its holds the freighter deployed a comm/navigation buoy, the last one that linked the Stratus warp point to Hamthen Prime. With great satisfaction the commander of the Hamthen task element sent a message addressed to President Skuu, stating that the last remaining Axis military presence in the system had been eliminated and that the Stratus warp point was cleared for shipping. Only then did the crews celebrate their accomplishment. Chapter 10.50 The Axis forces in Metalstorm were, just two day earlier, eagerly awaiting news of victory over the abominable Hamthen and their allies at the Hamthen’s home system warp point. Parties were planned, complete with wine made from grapes grown in the agricultural warrens of Metalstorm’s A-3/3 and B-4/2 lunar colonies. It wasn’t doubted that Providence had shown favor in their cause. When the initial news came of the defeat it was tightly controlled by Metalstorm’s military governor. He told the civilians that the celebrations were delayed until news came of the bombardment of Hamthen Prime, a more fitting event to partake of Metalstorm wine. Privately, the Governor knew it would take at least three weeks for the aboms to arrive at the Dotz/Metalstorm warp point. A strong minefield and buoy parks still guarded the Metalstorm side, and reinforcements for Star Admiral Bonson’s fleet were only two weeks out. Moreover, the escort element for SF 1, 2nd Advance Fleet, could be tasked to guard the warp point in the interim, for they had the speed to come back in time. As for the Metalstorm/Silvershoe warp point it was well defended. 1200 patterns of mines in three concentric shells (660/360/180) were backed up by 420 weapon buoys. Orbiting the warp point at 1 LS range were 12 destroyers and 6 heavy cruisers. 9 of the new type-4 beam bases were in jamming range with 9 new capital missile-armed type-4s sitting at 7.5 LS range, all in 3-unit groups subjective north, southeast and southwest. Behind them were three fighter type-4 bases at 10 LS range ‘north’ of the warp point, each paired to a defensive type-2. Three of the old-style type-2 automated weapon control bases (each with a Hatchet squadron) sat together with the fighter bases. The combat area patrol consisted of 12 squadrons of F0 Hatchets orbiting the warp point along with a mere four escort shuttles, all armed with FRAMs. There would be more of both, but currently over the A-3/3 colony the recently assembled trio of fighter type-3 bases were undergoing a refit. It would be ten days before they were ready to be towed, but their 30 squadrons added to the 48 already at the warp point would go a long way for the defense. Now that the upgrading of system defenses in the Axis proper was well underway the F0 Hatchets in Metalstorm were going to be replaced with F1s, leaving the F0s here to be finally scrapped for recyclable materials. Crated F1s were coming in two weeks as well. It was just a matter of putting the best possible shine on this steamy mess when it came time to inform the colonists what happened. The Governor was concerned about the Republican pinnace probes of the Metalstorm/Silvershoe warp point. The last known probe was ten days ago, but for all anyone knew there could’ve been a successful probe. Perhaps the Abom Terpla’ns weren’t strong enough to challenge the defenses. As for conducting pinnace probes of his own the Governor was denied permission until word came of Hamthen Prime’s destruction. In anticipation of the order 12 pinnaces were built and ready for deployment from the spaceport on A-3/3’s surface. Those pinnaces didn’t get their chance. RSF Task Force 21, 2nd Field Fleet, conducted its attack. Reinforced with the assault elements from Task Groups 111, 112 and 113 the Terpla’n lead force was spearheaded by two Avami and two Salyf assault carriers. Preceding them were 240 Whale armed pinnaces, taking their losses from interpenetration, mines, and last-ditch defensive fire in stride as they reached the southeast beam bases. All the Whales were armed with a laser pack and three FRAMs each, but only used their transit addled lasers against one base, destroying it. For their part the Axis pilots remained true to their orders as all twelve CAP squadrons converged on the warp point. Four of the five active squadrons went after the pair of Salyfs, and what they couldn’t finish those beam and missile bases that went active in the opening moments did, revealing the carriers had their embarked fighters armed with FRAMs, resulting in massive fireballs that briefly rivaled a star. The fifth squadron fired on the second Avami, knowing that it even with full engines it wouldn’t reach its exit vector for another minute. A second wave made transit, comprised of five Nikazu-V carriers and an Event Horizon BB (which was there primarily to soak up buoy fire). The tactical scanners on the Avami carriers picked up the distant northern fighter bases and the crash-launch of F0 squadrons. With that information the Whales armed pinnaces split evenly into two groups; one stayed to finish the remaining two southeast beam bases while the other made for the southeast missile base trio. Twenty squadrons of Shark fighters launched from the two big carriers. Seven stayed on the warp point to take on the seven Hatchet squadrons that hadn’t engaged yet with the rest going after the 18 Axis ships. Each Shark was armed with a gun pack and two FRAMs. Once those FRAMs were expended, they would turn upon the weapon buoys and destroy as many as possible before they fire. And so it went. All six Axis CAs were crippled with seven DDs obliterated. Two more beam bases were destroyed in the next exchange but two Nikazu-Vs and the second Avami payed the price but it was done by overall damage as the Nikazu-Vs flight groups had standard nuke-armed close attack missiles. 90 one-shot laser buoys had to be used to kill those five ships. It was cold consolation that the Axis had their fighter bases 10 LS from the warp point. The first set of crash-launched Hatchets would still need two more minutes to reach the warp point; it might as well have been two hours. The third wave saw the arrival of two more Avami SD(V)s, two Salyfs, the last Nikazu-V and a Singularity DN. With its extra armor protection, the DN was going to stay while the carriers launch and leave for the ship was going to use its datalink jammer against the incoming Hatchets. Fifteen more Shark squadrons joined the fray as the remaining Nikazu-Vs from the second wave turned to achieve their exit vector. These fighters went for the southwestern beam bases while seven squadrons from the first wave, having dealt with the now departing remnants of the Hatchet CAP, now focused on the crippled CAs for at least two of them had active jammers. As for the Whales that had finished off the southeast beam bases, they had moved on to the northern ones. Despite many having only have laser packs now they were determined to inflict as much damage before being forced to move due to the oncoming crash launched Hatchets. The 13 Shark squadrons that had gone for the ships came about and entered three buoy parks, using their guns packs. In response 60 more laser buoys were fired, inflicting more damage. While the newly-arrived Nikazu-V was dispatched the remaining first wave Avami transited out, much to the chagrin of the defenders. Wave four had the last two Salyfs and three Luttfomi minesweepers, arriving in time to see the surviving third-wave carriers launch 34 Shark squadrons, all of which went into the buoy parks. The Axis beam bases have been unexpectedly effective for their role. Their combination of sprint missile launchers, spinal force beams, capital energy and needle beams had stripped the shields from the assault carriers, burned out internal systems and lanced engine rooms with precision targeting. Because of this those bases remained priority targets. With the crippled CAs and an additional DD made into such much debris the 7 Shark squadrons returned to the warp point to shoot up more buoys. Compelled to use what was left of his buoys the Axis defense commander fired 90 laser buoys, wiping out two more Nikazu-Vs and crippling the remaining second and third wave ships. After that all the remaining buoys were shot down by fighter guns and point defense As for the fifth wave it comprised the last two Avami SD(V)s along with four Endrili Perdition assault minesweepers. All the ships in the assault had carried capital mine clearance charges as well as EDMs on their external racks. With the Perditions their internal launchers spat out charges of their own, focusing on the innermost ‘northern’ minefield patch. With the fire of the third wave ships the first group of Whales, now numbering 43, had finished the second of the northern beam bases. As much as they wanted to stay and take on the third base the oncoming horde of 34 Hatchet squadrons, now only 30 seconds from the warp point, convinced them otherwise. The Whales had already turned in the general direction of the southwest missile bases, set on joining their 74 brethren to take out those infernal platforms with laser fire. Four Engineer assault minesweepers and two Event Horizons emerged from the warp point just as the Hatchets reached the warp point. With every datalink jammer available turned on those 34 now disjointed Hatchet squadrons faced against 89 equally stymied squadrons of Sharks for the last Axis beam base only then activated its jammer. It didn’t last long as three of the Perditions fired antimatter sprint missiles at the base, destroying it while the fourth took care of one of the four remaining Axis destroyers. The painfully annoying laser swipes from the other three destroyers, now all active, were silenced by the transit addled Engineers. Despite still being jammed the Hatchet pilots remained true to their targets, going after ships instead of fighters. For clearing out all Axis units within jamming range of the warp point TF 21 lost both fourth wave Salyfs (their engine rooms damaged and forced to shut down due to energy and needle beam hits) and the first Event Horizon. Of those ships still on the warp point they began to transit out, denying the Axis missile bases more kills. There were more than enough Shark squadrons to deal with the northern missile bases, even though they were armed with standard nuke-armed close attack missiles and guns packs. The remaining Whales continued to work on the southeast and southwest missile bases, laser packs slowly but surely killing each one in turn. By the time the Sharks had gotten to the northern fighter bases they found them to be completely without passive defenses, aside from CAMs on their external racks. Only 54 Hatchets (now rearmed) and 14 escorts shuttles faced off against 511 fighters. They perished as quickly as their bases, though it came at a further loss of 38 Sharks. The defensive type-2s and automated weapon controlling bases perished as well. The minesweepers returned, including a brace of Endrili Firewalkers. Once the initial mine patch was weakened the sweepers entered it, taking the inevitable hits in stride as force and tractor beams in wide angle mode finished the job. The outer two rings, being far less dense, were cleared that much quicker. Now the task force entered Metalstorm proper, lead by Admiral Barsus. A personnel transport was left to conduct SAR operations as the task force broke into two parts. TG 211, comprised of battleships, dreadnaughts, fleet carriers and support elements, went to the Metalstorm/Output warp point to seal it off. TG 212, having the heavy cruisers, battlecruisers and light carriers, went to the Metalstorm/Dotz warp point to remove any defenses found. Sloop scouts were sent throughout the system, ferreting out comm and scanner buoys as well check on the lunar colonies and outpost of the two gas giants. The scout sent to A-3 couldn’t get close enough for a definite scan as it was intercepted by six escorts shuttles and had to flee at top speed. The shuttles didn’t pursue for long as they ran the risk of burning out their engines, yet each time a Sloop tried to get in close it was similarly chased off by fresh shuttles. The same thing happened at B-4, so for the time being Barsus settled on having a ring of scanner buoys 6.5 light minutes around each gas giant, using pinnaces instead of ships to keep the Axis in the dark. A task element, TE 211.1, was dispatched to the Metalstorm/Abyssal-019 warpoint. It was comprised of a Privateer and Chaq-B pinnace tender, three Rundenro frigates, two Cout escort carriers and two Phyr escort frigates. Preceding the task element was a Sloop scout. The ships of the task element moved at top speed of the Privateer with orders to reach the warp point and engage, if possible, any enemy shipping. It wasn’t long before the Sloop found something along the way. In the flight operations center on the Privateer class pinnace tender Cone Island there was a meeting underway. Lieutenant Senior Grade Munjo, commander of the Cone Island’s armed pinnaces, was also the task element’s strike group commander. With him was the task element commander, Flag Captain Genvake, and the staff intelligence officer, Hez. They were all gathered at the holoimager in the center of the room, looking at the composition of the convoy found by the element’s scout. “Small fish,” Munjo commented. “Undersized corvettes with matching freighters.” “Except for the big one,” Hez offered. “It’s a light cruiser-sized freighter hull, and it’s a tug. It’s tractoring five equally sized objects.” “How big are they, Hez?” Genvake asked. “Collectively it’s enough of a load for the tug to make the cruising speed of our ship.” “Hard to say, Flag. The scout only got within 8 light-seconds of the convoy before pulling back to 12 light-seconds. Perhaps the tractor beams interfered with the scanners. They’re bigger than escorts, but almost not the same size of the corvettes.” Munjo made a hard blink. “They wouldn’t tow them unless they had to. Perhaps they’re prefabricated base components.” An incredulous expression came across Genvake’s eyes. “That large? They could’ve easily stored the components in holds or even use shuttles and pinnaces.” Hez gave the cluster of icons a measured gaze. “Or they could be small warp point defense ships and require a tug to get to their destination that much faster.” “They have minimal power readings to be sure,” Munjo replied. “Could we send the scout closer in to get a more definite reading?” Genvake blinked. “Any closer might provoke a response. Given their numbers, even enough CAMs can kill the scout. I will keep the Sloop at its current distance.” “They’re showing remarkable patience, for boneheads,” Munjo admitted. From his eye movements one can see his thoughts being applied to the situation. “If there are any fighters based on those corvettes, they won’t use them unless the scout comes in much closer.” He blinked twice. “What are the chances of encountering more of those armed shuttles?” Hez looked at the ship icons intently. “Can’t know for sure. We’ve only seen them deployed from the fighter bases we destroyed, and inferred they were based on battlecruiser hulls when they attacked convoy HO-6. It’s conceivable some of the convoy ships are shuttle carriers. If they do have armed shuttles, perhaps a dozen at least.” Munjo blinked acknowledgment. “I’ll plan on that, given the number of ships involved. If it was a major convoy they would’ve devoted more in the way of larger escorts.” “We’ll be in shipboard weapons range in five hours,” Genvake stated. “By the time we reach the convoy it will be one hour from the Abyssal-019 warp point. Hez and Munjo, keep that in mind as we formulate the initial attack plan. Be ready to consider that the Axis might send in support from Abyssal-019.” “Yes, Flag,” said Hez. “It’s possible that reinforcements may come from there. The convoy can’t come about and return to the A-3 colony, and scattering will only slow their demise. I suggest we designate the tug as the primary target for our ADMs and capture it along with one of the ships it's tractoring.” “I’m intrigued as well, Hez. We’ll try to capture the tug and hope the crew doesn’t scuttle. Munjo, let’s start with the squadron assignments.” Five hours later had Task Element 211.1 seven light-seconds behind the Axis convoy. It comprised of one FT5 tug tractoring five small ships, 2 FT3s, 6 undersized FT2s, and 9 undersized CTs. Genvake used the Cone Island’s flight operations center as his CIC, and Hez was at one of the consoles. The tug icon in the holoimager was red with a green ring around it, signifying its importance. The convoy didn’t detune engines (as they all had commercial engines) or scatter during those five hours. Either they were resigned to their fate or there were other forces lurking out there, waiting for the task element to get into range. “Flag, message from the Captain,” said Hez. “He’s asking if he can start generating his fire control solution on the tug.” The senior officer gazed briefly at the enemy icons, thinking that if the enemy had any surprise defenses, they were going to have to spring them now. “Tell him yes, Hez. Use active fire control. He is cleared to fire once we’re in optimal range for our ADMs. Remind the frigates not to fire their standard missiles until they have at least an 80% fire control solution and only if they’re in their target’s blind spot. Also, the use of antimatter warheads will be limited to alternate salvos.” “Aye, aye, Flag.” The range dropped to six light seconds, the Cone Island sending out both phased radar and laser targeting beams at the tug. Genvake’s holoimager exploded with fresh contacts. No less than 33 armed shuttles and 8 F0 Hatchets were vomited from the tug, the five small ships it was towing, and three undersized corvettes. No doubt the convoy commander was convinced that the Cone Island was a missile cruiser, and it was best to launch now before losing some of the shuttles. Genvake didn’t hesitate for a moment. “Operations, Evasion Plan A,” he said loudly. “Cone Island, Jekna (the Chaq-B tender) and the Phyrs will detune engines once the maneuver is complete.” “Aye, aye, Flag,” said an officer at one of the consoles. The task element turned 120 degrees away relative to the convoy. Once the engines were detuned the enemy shuttles and fighters were 4 light seconds away. Their closure rate was half a light second per minute. Barely a heartbeat past when Munjo made his call. “Flag,” the strike group commander said over the wall speaker, “based on the rate of closure we’ll have just enough time to rearm our craft to better deal with those shuttles.” All the Whales were armed with stand-off missiles with the Sharks each having a pair of stand-off missiles and a gun pack. “I concur, “Genvake replied. “Inform the deck crews. The Whales are to be rearmed with three laser packs and a close assault missile each with the Sharks swapping out the stand-off missiles with close assault versions.” “Aye, aye, Flag. Once done we should have a full minute before they’re in the defensive envelope of our ships,” said Munjo as he passed on Genvake’s order. “The Hatchets are primary targets, Munjo. The shuttles will be dealt with by the Whales, shipboard weapons and those Sharks remaining in the initial exchange.” “Understood, Flag. Strike wing commander out.” Five minutes later had the Whales and Sharks rearmed and ready of launch. At Genvake’s command the ships stopped detuning and reduced speed to 0.1c, sending out fighters and armed pinnaces alike to engage the horde. The ships had made an abrupt turn to engage their pursers, now a mere light second away. It turned out to be a brief but savage exchange at point blank range between shuttles, pinnaces and fighters. All the Axis craft were carrying antimatter armed attack missiles and used them in proximity mode against the fighters. In exchange for wiping out all the Hatchets and shuttles 21 of the 24 Sharks were destroyed. What the Sharks didn’t kill the Whales did and with such lethality that the ships didn’t had to fire their weapons. “Flag,” said Munjo over the attack frequency, “we still have time to engage the convoy before they make transit.” Genvake noticed the strained undercurrent to Munjo’s voice. Fighters and pinnaces were expendable, the feeling made more poignant since not one ship received internal damage or crew killed. The loss of striking power was potentially critical, for even two complete Shark squadrons could’ve raced ahead and engage while the ships caught up. Now it was race against time. For all that anybody knew they could be Axis forces waiting on the far side of the warp point. Going through said warp point with the task element was out of the question. “Bring your craft back aboard, Munjo,” Genvake replied. “Ops, all ships will make an intercept course on the convoy at the Rundenro’s top speed. Rearm all fighters and pinnaces with maximum loads of stand-off missiles. Once at five light-second range all ships will drop down to 0.1c. The Sloop scout and cutters from the escort carriers will stay behind to conduct a SAR operation for any of our pilots that ejected.” A collection of affirmative replies came back at Genvake. Now at the holoimager he had Hez join him. “What time frame are we looking at?” “38 minutes before we enter maximum standard missile range, Flag,” said Hez. “If it’s still practical, do you still want to capture the tug?” “With only 22 minutes our work is cut out for us, Hez. However, capturing an intact Axis database is always a worthy endeavor. Now it’s a matter of dispatching the convoy in the fastest, most efficient way possible.” The minutes past with deliberate agony for the convoy. What the convoy commander hoped was for the Rundenros to be crippled or destroyed for they had the sustained firepower. Dispatching so many Sharks was just a side benefit. When the task element entered weapons range Genvake had the Rundenros commence fire on the corvettes to ‘remove the barnacles’ and thus destroy any CAMs on their external racks. In the first three volleys standard nukes were used. When the range dropped to 2.75 LS it was a mix of nuclear and antimatter warheads. The convoy did not at any time alter course for doing so would only lengthen the time it was in weapons range. Because of this all the missiles were fired in the blind spots of the corvettes which had to depend on the degrade point defense of their charges they were meant to protect. At 2 LS range the long-range scanners on the Cone Island were able to discern the internal systems of the freighters and shield-down corvettes. Hez informed Genvake that the tug had no shield generators, point defense or datalink. The same for the small ships that the tug was tractoring, being nothing more than a pair of shuttle bays, scanners and an engine. Those ships could wait their turn. One shield-up corvette was destroyed by the mixed salvos from the frigates, and Cone Island’s laser nipped the datalink of the first corvette hit. The task element then slowed to match the speed of the convoy and launched the 3 Sharks and 18 Whales. While the range and the lack of datalink among the Whales appreciably downgraded their potential damage they nevertheless took out two FT2 freighters, crippled another, and helped the frigates take out another shield-up corvette. The frigates took out another FT2 as the Sharks and Whales landed on their respective carriers to rearm, though this was just for insurance. Cone Island focused its laser on the remaining FT2s to destroy their armor and fragile datalink connections. Both FT3s and two more FT2s were destroyed in quick succession. Genvake then had the two corvette fighter and one shuttle carriers eliminated. Now 13 minutes out from the warp point Genvake focused on the tug. A single salvo of 6 nuke-armed standard missiles was fired at the ship. This was followed up by Cone Island’s laser and solitary external standard missile. The tug lost its dedicated power room and all its tractor beams, releasing the five small ships like so many hot rocks. ADMs from the escort carriers and Rundenros knocked out the tug’s engine rooms while the Phyr’s ADMs took out the sole remaining crippled FT2’s engine. As the ravaged convoy kept on course the Rundenros fired as singletons at the remaining corvettes, using just nuke-armed missiles. The Cone Island and Jenka fired their ADMs at the five small ships, denuding them of their engines in under two minutes. Hez looked up from his monitors. “Flag, shall we finish off the remaining corvettes?” Genvake blinked slowly. “No. We’ve crippled them to the extent that they lost their cargo holds. Our sensors have told us that much. Let them proceed to the warp point with the frigates making sure they head that way. Now that the Axis forces between here and Blood Pride are cut off, they’ll have to decided either to waste scarce resources to repair or mothball them.” “Flag, related to that subject, should we begin boarding actions?” “Sent out the standard message requesting their surrender. I don’t want to lose Marines if we can avoid it.” Not one minute later after receiving the message the tug and three of the small ships (later found out be designated as Picket-class scouts) exploded their stocks of antimatter ordnance. The Cone Island and Jenka sent their shuttles to board and capture the two remaining Pickets while a Phyr frigate physically docked to the inert FT2. One database was recovered and provided a wealth of data on the fortifications at the Output/Metalstorm and Data Disk/Output warp points. A pair of fleet tugs came to pick up the captured ships so they could be further studied at Hamthen Prime, as soon as their engines and life support were restored and adjusted for Terpla’n physiology. In his report Genvake stated he underestimated what he called ‘escort’ shuttles and that the formation should’ve been solely engaged with shipboard weapons at the 1 LS mark to reduce their numbers before launching his fighters and pinnaces at 0.5 LS threshold. A small measure of solace was gained as five pilots were recovered; there would’ve been more, but antimatter fireballs reduced the chance of successful ejection. Genvake also called for ships equipped with needle beams to be attached to pinnace task elements so that more enemy ships could be prevented from scuttling by destroying their engines and magazines. Elsewhere in the system that portion of TF 21 sent to the Metalstorm/Dotz warp point destroyed the three small automated weapon control bases stationed there. After destroying the buoys and clearing a patch in the minefields several pinnaces were sent through, quickly followed by Sloop scouts. They found the Axis comm buoy chain and went about destroying it, putting their own network of scanner and comm buoys in their place. While it was true that the Combined Fleet was three weeks out from Metalstorm that amount of time was for battleships and dreadnaughts moving at cruising speed. For the smaller warships it was two weeks. To their credit the large Axis support group deployed all of its minefield patterns and buoys at the Dotz/Evershem warp point, backed up by all the escorting warships while the freighters, repair ships, tugs, and troopships went to a predesignated spot in the outer system. Despite the immense resources supporting it, the improvised defenses only gave the briefest of pauses to the Combine Fleet. Once in Dotz, the faster elements of the fleet sped on to the Metalstorm warp point and contacted TF 21. A task group was dedicated to hunt down the support group, being added by 36 of the new Kingfisher pinnaces. Equipped with a fighter-grade long range scanner suite and enough cargo capacity to carry six buoys each the Kingfishers slowly and methodically laid an extensive sensor and comm net in Dotz’s outer system. In the fourth month a Kingfisher stumbled across the support group, sealing its fate. The sensor buoy net was wide enough that when the task group moved in it witnessed the support group breaking up into smaller formations and spreading out. With Kingfishers extending the network all the while the support group was destroyed completely in one month. For the Metalstorm gas giant outposts and the two colonies, A-3/3 and B-4/2, they were occupied once elements of the Combined Fleet arrived in support. Backed up with AFHAWKs the ships sent to A-3/3 crushed the defenses with minor fighter losses. B-4/2 was different, having only one BC-sized space station and a small lunar spaceport. A mere 12 F0 fighters and 3 escort shuttles (the rest having been sent to A-3/3 earlier) provided opposition. A Tuphonese BC equipped with needle beams, and backed by two Kilpro destroyers, dispatched the defenders and captured the station and spaceport. The capital units of the Combined Fleet arrived on schedule at Metalstorm. Admiral Barsus, commanding TF 21, went to the flagship of the Combined Fleet, the battleship Coral Sea, and met with Flag Admiral Jki. For this initial meeting they were alone in the wardroom, drinking hot tea. Barsus noted the sign of haggardness in Jki’s lower eyelids, no doubt related to the responsibility she was saddled with. “The Hazen marines reported no opposition from the Comensal colonists at both lunar colonies and their associated outposts,” he said after a short sip. “They’re dismantling the additional fabrication units the Axis had set up previously.” Jki made a wry smile. “Well, with this being their third occupation, they had plenty of time to practice the routine. Have the intel teams find anything at the B-4/2 spaceport?” “Thankfully yes, Admiral. Three of those ‘escort’ shuttles were found crated and stored in the spaceport’s warehouse along with a crated armed pinnace. They’ll be shipped to Yoshibo for complete analysis. We found no evidence that they developed the AFHAWK, but there were examples of their version of the fighter life support pack in the warehouse as well. This backs up what the Royal Valhallan Fleet had encountered at Battlement.” Jki looked at her tea. “They’ve seen the AFHAWK in action at Hamthen, and enough of their drones got away to spread the news, Barsus. As sure as the tide goes out, they’ll find a way to scrape up enough money and resources to crash-develop their own copy.” She took a small sip. Barsus stirred his tea for a moment. “We were able to get some pinnaces into Output and confirmed what we found in the captured database from the convoy heading for the Abyssal-019 warp point,” he said with justified confidence. “It was an understrength minefield being heavily supported by laser buoys and tended by a trio of standard-sized type-2 bases. Only 48 outdated F0 Hatchets, 24 of those ‘escort’ shuttles and 3 pinnaces provided the actual defense. We needed only two assault waves to send in enough fighters to defend the regular and armed pinnaces that followed, arriving in a normal transit pattern, to take out the buoys. Once that was done a datagroup of Disam missile cruisers entered the system took out the bases.” He sipped some of the tea. “Our sensor net in Output is halfway done, and only a few Axis ships have been detected. I have to assume whatever follow-up forces they were planning on sending to Hamthem are being held in Datadisk, or in the system linked to Datadisk with the closed warp point we were guarding before this offensive started.” “Given the tonnage we’ve smashed so far,” Jki said, her voice more lively than her looks, “and the lack of serious Axis probing that you’ve reported, and if what the Hokum are reporting is accurate, then we’ve dealt the enemy a serious setback. That they haven’t set about recovering Citadel when they had the opportunity, or wiping out the Valhallan Royal Fleet at Battlement and the anchorage at Kerama Retto, has made it clear the Axis considered avenging itself on the Hamthen their top priority.” “That may very well be a component to their reasoning,” Barsus said. “It may also be a matter of them having no other route into our space. Consider, if they were willing to let our forces wither on the vine for a few more months, they could push a task force into Citadel and reclaim it. Had they a proper task group backing up the fixed defenses at the Silvershoe warp point it would’ve been a more costly battle for us.” Jki sipped some tea. “True. We’re thankful that they hadn’t found a back door into Republican space or that of our allies.” She briefly gazed at the steam coming off the tea in her cup. “Admittedly none that we know of. Survey efforts in the Crajen sector are still ongoing, as well as negotiations with the Inna. Their home system has two additional warp points, and the Tzelan officials are crafting a technological uplift, defense, and trade agreement in exchange to survey those two warp points. The 3rd Field Fleet will be at listed strength in two months, and the great majority of the ships will be Crajen, Humarsh and Tzelan. So, if the survey groups find a fresh route into Axis space that fleet will be on hand to exploit it.” Barsus spooned some sugar into his cup and stirred the contents. “What will be the mission now for Task Force 21? Guarding the Metalstorm/Output warp point?” “You’re going on the offensive.” Jki downed the remainder of her tea despite it being somewhat hot. "Reinforcements will be joining you in a month, including more assault carriers and fleet pinnace tenders. This will mean refits for the remainder of Task Force 21 will be limited to battle damaged units or when a protracted lull presents itself. But you will get all the new munitions, fighter and pinnace models in compensation. More ships will be assigned to reinforce Task Groups 111, 112 and 113. In turn they will combine to form Task Force 12 and conduct a campaign to reclaim the Borehole system and assist any surviving Army units on that planet. A task group will be sent to recover Blood Pride, and the Combined Fleet will proceed to retake Bedrock, Brickyard and Bulwark. Task Force 11, if it still exists, will be hiding in the outer reaches of Bulwark as well as those supports ships hiding in Brickyard. It is also the Combine Fleet’s task to recover those ships and crews. The Army units we were forced to abandon on Bedrock will also be recovered. Once that’s done, the offensive will continue on to the Gymnasium system.” Barsus downed the rest of his still hot tea in one swig. “It’s just as well you have all those ships in the Combined Fleet, Admiral. I hope this time Bedrock will figuratively become the foundation for our eventual victory.” Chapter 10.75 Activity in the Bedrock system maintained its brisk pace. Bases, either new, prefabricated, or asteroid, were being assembled over Bedrock Prime. Mine patterns and weapon buoys continued to be placed at the Tire Iron and Circuit Run warp points. Even the asteroid fighter bases were being rebuilt, though their construction was slower due to the priority for the larger bases and forts. The core of a new space station was now complete, and additional construction slips were in the works. In a private lounge on the space station were two AFC officers. Admiral Hovwen, commanding the carriers of Star Force 2, Third Advance Fleet, was at the wet bar, added ice to her glass before pouring in the scotch. With her was Star Admiral Mansel, commander of Star Force 2. Having drank earlier, the scotch in his glass was almost gone, so he decided to crush the remaining ice between his teeth. “Some good news this week,” Mansel said as he looked at Bedrock Prime from a large observation port. “Over 3,000 abom E’sani soldiers killed and two supply caches destroyed.” “But we lost 1,000 of our own, and that’s not counting the civilian safari parties,” Hovwen replied as she joined him. The central jungles of the primary continent were in view, and she felt the humidity even at this distance. “It was dumb of Governor Lovcon to give them communicators to call for kinetic strikes. I bet over half of them called down fire on their own positions by accident.” “I don’t doubt that, Hovwen. Enthusiasm is no replacement for training. At least more army troops will be arriving to further along the destruction of the abom. We, however, have far more pressing problems.” Mansel crushed an ice cube in his mouth. “Having expressed one opinion, go ahead and say the rest. You have my confidence.” Hovwen took a draw of scotch. “Thank you. I can see the logic of pulling the task groups out of Connectors and Laser Burn to bolster the defenses here. But once the Hokum pinnace scout the Laser Burn warp point defenses, they’ll be tempted to resume the offensive. Geode will be reconquered and Smelter along with it. Even the Iron Sky system stands a chance to be taken.” “Water in the river,” the Star Admiral replied. “Fleet Command sent a raiding group to disrupt the Hokum’s control in our systems they conquered. It should’ve been used to recover the Fallowed Field system, putting pressure on the Aboms in Tire Iron from two directions.” Hovwen shook her glass lightly before taking another draw. “Or sent to Borehole to reclaim Citadel, blocking the Aboms in The Twins (the Axis name for the Kerama Retto system) and in Battlement to death from a lack of supplies. But like you said, water in the river. Any word if there will be counterattacks to reclaim Bandstand and Battlement?” “No. Fleet Command is forting up the systems leading up to those two, and the mobile forces assigned to them now have a lower priority on reinforcements. The plan now is to stand on the defensive until a new fleet is built up for offensive operations.” “Conquering the Hokum should be next, Star Admiral. Removing them from the mix will simplify our strategic planning. It’s something we should’ve done once we deduced they were a measurably smaller power than the abom Commonwealth.” “If only Fleet Command focused more on the long term, Hovwen.” Mansel crushed another ice cube. “At least the new technologies our forces observed and recorded will be fast tracked.” “What did we discover, exactly?” “For one, an externally-carried scanner pack for fighters, along with definitive proof those anti-fighter missiles are standard size and not the point defense variety.” Hovwen took a draw from her glass. “Having those missiles are at the top of my list. They’ll greatly increase the defensive envelope of our ships.” “Something I look forward to as well.” The Star Admiral shook his glass. “There’s also the new shield generators and point defense system. Given what we’ve seen it’s logical to conclude there’s a capital version. Finally, there is the new type of mine, armed with antimatter. I’m sure that and the anti-fighter missile will get top priority.” This time Hovwen downed the remaining scotch in her glass. “Good thing we’re no longer taking damn Eleto research. My pilots are only now accepting the life support packs. We practically had to reverse engineer them.” Mansel crushed one more ice cube before dumping the rest in the wet bar’s sink. “Fresh destroyer and light cruiser squadrons will be arriving in five days from Gymnasium. My staff will devise exercises to bring them up to speed, including a simulated warp assault when they make transit. You will be part of it, so you best be off to your ship and take two carrier squadrons along.” Hovwen finished her scotch and emptied the partially melted ice cubes into the sink. “Yes, Admiral. I’ll report once I’m aboard and underway.” The Combined Fleet had moved on. It went through Silvershoe, being informed that no Axis ship transited from Connectors. Leaving the light minefield and attending ship in place the fleet moved into Connectors, maintaining dreadnaught cruising speed as it headed for the Forger’s Gate warp point, sending out scouts to ferret out scanner and com buoy chains. Citadel received much need supplies as well as replacement troops, finally allowing those regiments scheduled to be rotated out to do so. Support ships that were mothballed to reduce overall upkeep were now being tended by repair ships. Once reactivated, they would be sent back down the chain to Hamthen and Hagelkorn to be refitted with the latest technology. A task group arrived in Kerama Retto to bolster the defense of the anchorage while a supply convoy moved on to Battlement to replenish the Royal Valhallan fleet. A far more extensive sensor net was started in Kerama Retto in case there were more close warp points from which the Axis could mount another raid. In the Chrome and BRB-2 systems the survey ships had completed their surveys twice over, finding no other open warp points. As a precaution a light minefield was placed at the Chrome/BRB-2 warp point along with a ring of sensor buoys on the BRB-2 side. If any closed warp point happened to be in BRB-2 and the Axis moved on to Chrome the Allies will know of it. As far as one can get from prewar Axis space would be the Inna home system. A Terpla’n diplomatic team had finished what the Tzelans started, concluding a trade and military defense treaty. In three months a Tzelan science outpost will arrive and take residence on the Inna homeworld to provide technological uplift. Among the various provisions was for Inna scientists to accompany Tzelan survey squadrons as they probed the home system’s two other open warp points. Dunn, the head of the Tzelan scientific team aboard a survey frigate sitting before Inna’s second warp point, was in the lounge and secured to a chair, ready for transit. He looked over to see the four Inna scientists assigned to the ship in their chairs, designed to fit Inna anatomy. The four also wore bulky pressure suits; not that they needed them, but for data collection purposes. As the first ones of their race to experience a warp transit it was felt to be prudent to record how Inna physiology would be affected by said transit. To Dunn’s eyes they appear to be apprehensive as their feet at the end of their tripod legs worked the deck like it was bread dough and their pairs of hands drumming on the armrests. “It will take but a moment to transit, Mister Kunus,” Dunn said to the lead Inna scientist. “The other two survey ships have already transited and sent back grav-surge data. Our transit will be comparatively smooth in comparison.” “That is comforting to hear,” said Kunus, his translated words coming from his vox box sounding mechanical and deliberate. Eventually the language AI aboard ship will have built enough of a database to lessen that effect to add inflection and nuance. For now all four scientists had the same computer-provided voice. “How long will the survey take?” “With three survey ships, at least six weeks to know if there are additional warp points. Considerably less if it’s just a starless nexus or stars without planets. Planetary surveys will take an additional four weeks to determine mineral wealth. Ah,” Dunn said as a chime sounded in the lounge. “Transit in 30 seconds.” For Dunn it was a routine transit and his innards only felt mildly annoyed. For the Inna it was different. All four looked like they bit into something sour and two of them threw up, reaching for handcloths from their equipment pouches to clean their faces. “Eventually everybody adjusts,” Dunn offered. “Indeed,” replied Kunus. He turned to a colleague. “Make an entry. Having a meal one hour before warp transit resulted in both participants voiding the contents of their stomachs. The next test will involve having a meal two hours before transit.” After the cleanup and discussing the recordings of their suits the Inna scientists were ushered to the analysis center. Workstations filled the room except one wall dominated by a large flat screen. “The two other survey ships have been in-system for five days,” Dunn explained. “They have determined that this is a distant binary of red dwarfs. Subsequently, the chances of finding habitable planets here are exceedingly slim.” Kunus scrutinized the display. “You mentioned earlier that a warp point could be open on one end and be ‘closed’ on the far side. Is this the case here?” “Yes, Mister Kunus. To preserve the anonymity of the warp point for as long as possible the support ship will remain at the warp point with its drive field down. Additionally,” he motioned to the screen, “a flight of pinnaces is deploying a sensor net on a 240 degree arc centered on our entry point. Warp points in a binary are only found in proximity of one of the stars and located in the aforementioned arc with the ‘blind side’ facing the secondary component. It will be a comprehensive net, and with a sprinkling of communication buoys set to tight-beam transmission we’ll be informed if other ships are detected.” Kunus’ three eyes blinked with their inner eyelids. “These pinnaces are harder to detect than ships?” “Very much so, and they have their own set of long range sensors. They will detect ships long before they could see them. However, we will have to assume any alien pinnaces they encounter will be similarly equipped. As for us, we’ll be taking a spiral course away from the warp point, eventually rendezvousing with the other survey ships.” “Excellent.” Kunus’ vox voice sounded as though it came from a demented sci-fi robot. Dunn took it as a sign that the Inna was expressing excitement. “Now for our individual assignments. We’re all eager to learn the fine points of system surveying.” Back in the Connectors system the Combined Fleet was closing on the warp point leading to the Forger’s Gate system. A drive field was detected by the brace of scouts ahead of the fleet, and eventually it turned into three distinct contacts. A trio of ships was sent out to intercept. The contacts turned out to be Axis escort hulls, most likely Fleet Tracker scouts. The Axis scouts stayed 12 light-seconds ahead of the Terpla’n ships, which comprised a heavy cruiser type not seen before and two Rundenro frigates. After a half hour of passive trailing the cruiser launched nine small craft, all moving at top speed. Thus, after four minutes the scouts made them out to be pinnaces. For the Axis scouts the options were limited to either going to full speed, match the current speed of the pinnaces, or keep the current speed and allow the pinnaces to close. They chose the third option, reasoning that if the enemy was foolish enough to send pinnaces (likely the armed variety) in the hopes to destroy a scout then they will oblige them. A single pinnace didn’t carry enough stand-off missiles to effectively engage a scout that had datalink point defense. Also the pinnaces have to close the range for their missiles the best chance to lock-on, but permitting the scouts to engage them in turn with improved point defense. Thus, the tactical officers on the scouts worked on their fire control solutions as the pinnaces closed. As they closed to within 2 light-seconds the scouts confirmed that these were armed pinnaces for they were being acquired by fire control scanners. The scouts planned to open fire at 1.25 light-seconds, mindful to keep the pinnaces in their firing arc. After firing at 1 LS range the small ships were going to match the pinnaces’ speed and keep the range fixed. There was no need to spin up ECM for the Tracker Shield could easily swat down the stand-off missiles. Besides, armed pinnaces don’t have datalink. How wrong the tactical officers turned out to be. The nine pinnaces were of the new recon variety, designated as Kingfishers in CSF service. In their approach the Kingfishers didn’t prime their point defense mounts for their fire-control systems were different than that used on Whale armed pinnaces, insuring their anonymity before the attack. Moreover the new craft had fighter-grade long range scanners. With that they found the Tracker Shield ironically didn’t have a single shield generator and had two datalink point defense mounts along with an improved mount. Arranged in groups of three, the nine Kingfishers closed the range, taking no losses at the 1.25 LS mark. Just a bit closer brought them into optimal range for their stand-off missiles, and the first group fired before the scouts did. The tactical officer on the Tracker Shield was surprised to see a trio of pinnaces fire their stand-off missiles in a volley that could only be achieved by datalinked. Nine of the twelve missiles were able to lock-on, far better than expected for these missiles had lasing warheads, plus it helped matters that the ship didn’t have active ECM. Despite the best interception resolution possible six of the nine missiles were able to detonate, lasing the ship’s hull. The armor was broken along with the datalink, cargo hold, and an engine room. Both external racks were destroyed, taking their solitary CAM with it. Of the two other ships one elected to fire at a pinnace but missed, and in turn was soundly trounced by nine missile hits. The other wisely used its improved point defense to engage missiles but only shot down one of the six, losing armor, datalink and a hold. Coming about, the pinnaces rushed back to their cruiser which had detuned its engines for the rendezvous. The least damaged scout went to full speed, and the Tracker Shield detuned its remaining engines to keep the range from the cruiser. This didn’t prevent the Rundenros from detuning theirs, and the range closed ever so slowly. The heavily damaged scout also detuned its remaining engine more out of reflex and a desperate bid to live that much longer. The frigates ignored the heavily damaged scout and engaged the Tracker Shield as it came within 4 light-seconds, disengaging detuning and greatly improving the fire control solutions. One hit was scored in the first volley, enough to ensure the loss of another engine room. The second volley half a minute later consisted of two external ADMs along with four internally launched missiles. Both AMDs hit, burning out the remaining engine while a solitary missile destroyed one point defense mount. Taking note of the down drive field the frigates closed, firing a solitary missile in a bid to denude the scout of its point defense. This kept up until the fourth volley, and resulting hit nearly destroyed the ship. One frigate docked to the immobile hulk, the marines easily securing the ship for only the cramped crew quarters were left intact. The cruiser closed on the other scout, firing its three external ADMs as they came into optimal range. Two hit, rendering the scout immobile and without a drive field. It still had a shield, and like with the frigates the cruiser fired its three external standard missiles one at a time. The first one evaded point defense and hit, doing enough damage so that, like its squadronmate, was left barely intact. A shuttle was sent over and boarded the scout before it could raise its shield. As for the third scout it kept running at full speed towards the warp point, its progress kept tracked by the Combined Fleet’s other scouting assets. A tug was dispatched to pick up both crippled scouts, their fate to be picked over by intelligence officers and engineers for any information. In time the cruiser and its escorts reached the Forger’s Gate warp point well ahead of the Combined Fleet. The sole Axis scout made transit at the last possible moment; this action seen as a defiant act of bravado on the crew’s part. The cruiser waited six hours before dispatching its first recon pinnace to probe the far side of the warp point. It did not return. By the time the fleet arrived success was reported by the fifth pinnace probe. Waiting in Forger’s Gate was an initial shell of 300 mine patterns kept company by 180 buoys. 114 F1 Hatchets formed the CAP. There were no ships. Six light-seconds from the warp point sat six battleship-sized asteroid forts, two undersized BS2s and one full sized BS2. Admiral Jki considered her options, concluding on sending an initial wave comprised of four Gravity Wells, an Avami and one of the new Bedrock assault carriers. All these ships had the latest technology, and while the Gravity Wells didn’t carry fighters their passive defenses were extremely tough, and they had datalink jammers. Of the 19 CAP squadrons 12 became active and attacked. As hoped the Gravity Wells were targeted, the Axis defenders believing them to be assault carriers. All the Hatchets carried full loads of antimatter close attack missiles. The Gravity Wells lost all shielding and on average 57% of their armor. Three of the asteroid forts crash-launched their remaining fighters for a total of 162. As the 72 expended Hatchets raced back to their forts in came the second wave of ships. It was comprised of five Nikazu-V carriers and a Luttfomi minesweeper. The Bedrock transited out, but not before it and the Avami launched 90 F2 Sharks, each carrying an internal gun and three standard close-attack missiles. The engaged the seven remaining Hatchet CAP squadrons, now with datalinks jammed by the Gravity Wells. Despite this setback those Hatchets that managed to engage their weapons focused on the trailing Gravity Well. Combined with the flushed external racks of the active forts (firing capital missiles with lasing warheads), and a portion of the 90 laser buoys fired, it was enough to breach the armor. For that effort, the 42 Hatchets were destroyed. The Commonwealth ships used their point defense on the remaining 90 buoys, shooting down 15. One of the three remaining forts and the standard-sized BS2 launched 72 Hatchets, with the first wave now 4 LS out. The Gravity Wells transited out with the Avami. Replacing them were six Singularity DNs. The Nikazu-Vs reached their transit vector and launched their 150 Sharks. The 75 remaining buoys fired before more were lost, though spread across 12 ships the damage was diluted. The last two forts launched the last 108 Hatchets. All Hatchets launched from the forts carried full loads of antimatter close-attack missiles, just like the CAP squadrons. Destroying ships was the only priority, so dogfighting was forbidden. There was no fourth wave yet, for Jki didn’t want transit addled ships to be engaged by whatever number of crash-launched squadrons reached the warp point first. The five Nikazu-Vs transited out, leaving just the Luttfomi and Singularity DNs. All seven ships were facing their transit vector with their point defense enveloped cleared to engage whatever missiles the forts may have remaining. The first fresh Hatchet squadrons didn’t have the time to enter the blind spots of the ships. With all seven ships having active jammers and backed up by 240 Sharks the pilots of the 162 Hatchets nevertheless carried out their task. Already damaged, the Luttfomi succumbed to antimatter pummeling. The remaining forts fired their external missiles, those warheads that got pass point defense lased the side of one Singularity. For their efforts 147 Hatchets were shot down, and the 15 survivors ran back to the forts to rearm. Despite the odds the following wave of 72 Hatchets engaged, focusing on the Singularity hit before. The tough defenses served the ship well, and along with its five brethren it engaged the fighters with point defense even as the Sharks destroyed this Hatchet wave in its entirety. The damaged ship transited out as the final wave of 108 Hatchets came to meet its fate. Still they managed to inflict significant internal damage on a second DN before joining the previous wave in death. As the second DN transited out it was replaced by three Oknib capital missile DNs. These ships waited until the transit effects wore off before firing on the forts. The point defense offered from a BS2 tasked to cover a pair of forts was lacking, and the forts had no EDMs on their external racks nor any point defense of their own. The Oknibs fired antimatter CMs from their launchers and one-third of their lasing CMs from external racks at one fort, obliterating it along with the two squadrons it was rearming. Two more forts were destroyed before the last three finished rearming and launched six squadrons, all that remained of the original CAP. As these Hatchets closed on the warp point the Oknibs destroyed the BS2s before resuming the attack on the remaining forts. Again, despite the jamming and being hideously outnumbered the Hatchets pressed their attack, going for an Oknib. Due to the new shields, this ship didn’t sustain armor damage after which the Hatchets were blotted from space. With no point defense the last forts were easily dispatched, and the six Hatchets that remained were rearmed and launched, but this time were downed by antifighter missiles fired by the Oknibs. As the rest of the fleet made transit mine clearance rounds were fired from their external racks into a selected patch. When it was sufficiently weakened six minesweepers went in and disposed of the remaining patterns, creating a clear lane for passage. Jki dispatched a task group, accompanied by troopships, to reoccupy Forger’s Gate. All that was found in orbit were two CA-sized asteroid forts and a single SD-sized space station. The 18 Hatchet squadrons raced out to engage, their numbers culled by AFHAWKs and Sharks alike. Only a dozen Hatchets reached the leading elements of the task group, the targeted battleship only losing 80% of its shielding. Again the remaining Hatchets were dispatched with alacrity, scarcely a moment past before the troop shuttles were launched and heading for the spaceport and other planetside locations. Transit into Circuit Run met no resistance. Flights of pinnaces and a network of scouts went about to lay scanner buoys in line for the Bedrock, Laser Burn, and Borehole warp points. A task group was dispatched to the Borehole warp point along with a mining squadron. As for the rest of the fleet it moved towards the Bedrock warp point. On the third day it picked up a drive field belonging to a Hokum ship. It turned out to be a scout corvette, and after exchanging information it was recalled, along with the greyhound group that had patrolled Circuit Run, back to Laser Burn now that the Commonwealth was here in force. Jki was in the CIC of the battleship Coral Sea, going over fresh dispatches and scouting reports. Her Operations and Intelligence officers were there as well, gleaning salient facts from the electronic bounty like a seagull picking oysters from a cluttered tidepool. Flag Captain Conna spoke first. “Admiral, there’s no need for a Marine detachment to return to the Axis colony on CR-A-01. The Hokum have investigated and found no trace of habitation.” “Odd,” Jki said. “Why would they evacuate a very mineral rich moon after we were forced out? Was there any indication how long the colony was abandoned?” “Abandoned my not be the right word, Admiral. That implies haste. Hokum investigators found the colony was locked down and sealed in a manner that suggested long-term preservation. The fusion power plants were deactivated, the only power coming from farms of solar arrays and batteries. Only a bare minimum of electrical power is used to keep critical systems warm and to prevent icing in the water storage silos. As for the colonists I suspect they may have been reassigned to Bedrock right after Circuit Run was recovered due to a need for additional technical crews for construction projects.” Jki blinked. “Well, that’s one less rear-area headache we have to deal with. All the same still dispatch a pinnace to that colony. If the colony was prepped for long-term preservation, then it stands to reason that their computer records were treated the same way.” “Aye, Admiral. There’s bound to be something the Hokum investigation overlooked.” Lanaq, Jki’s Intelligence Officer, spoke next. “Admiral, Task Force 12 has reclaimed the Brass Latch system with moderate losses to their assault element. Given the composition of defenses encountered, a thick minefield backed by numerous laser buoys and more of those fighter-heavy type 4 bases, it’s likely those in Tinsmith will be the same if not more.” “That didn’t take long. That assault element was in Citadel barely five days.” Jki’s eyes went back to her monitor. “With the scheduled reinforcement TF 12 will continue to advance. Our covering force at the Circuit Run/Borehole warp point will compel the Borehole defenders into a fish-or-cut-bait mentality.” “I’ll have to agree, Admiral,” Lanaq said. “The lack of effort on the Axis’ part to reclaim Citadel when the opportunity presented itself likely means the forces at Borehole are primed for defense.” Jki brought up a representation of the Bedrock system on her monitor. “Speaking of defense, how soon will we be able to probe the Bedrock warp point?” Conna briefly glanced at a monitor next to him. “Eighteen hours, Admiral. All available recon pinnaces are tasked deploying comm and scanner buoys. We’re using a Privateer pinnace tender with its loadout of Whales equipped with scanner packs on their external racks.” “Hopefully probing losses will be minimal, Conna. We’ll need as many Whales as possible when we break into Bedrock for a comprehensive scanner shell around the fleet.” Jki made a wry smile as she read another dispatch. “The Valhallans are sending major reinforcement for their fleet at Battlement. Queen Quasso is coming as well to take command of the Royal Fleet. With tugs assisting their capital units they will arrive in Battlement in five months.” “That is good news, Admiral,” said Lanaq. “The morale of the Valhallan fleet in the Battlement system will increase now that the daughter of the departed King Russen will take his place.” Jki looked at the master plot in the CIC, eyes fixed on the Bedrock warp point icon and a familiar pain returning to her gut. “Have the rest of the staff convene for a preliminary assault plan here in the CIC in one hour. I intend to enter Bedrock at the earliest possible moment. Our people there as well as in Bulwark and Brickyard expect no less.” The Tzelan survey squadron continued in a methodical manner as it slowly spiraled away from the entry warp point. As for the system, now labeled A-1 by the accompanying Inna scientists, it was slowly revealing its secrets. A gas giant was detected orbiting the primary star, and plans were underway to send a pinnace towards it to ferret out and inspect any moons it may have. Aboard Dunn’s ship the daily review of collected data was underway. “Pity it will be some time before we can place a mining outpost here,” said Kunus, the lead Inna scientist aboard. “We’ve established our first permanent outpost on our homeworld’s moon only ten years ago.” “By treaty this system belongs to your race, Kunus,” said Dunn as he brought up an image of the gas giant on the main display. “Unless an unknown race has claimed it first. Establishing an outpost under such circumstances might ignite a war.” Kunus’ three eyes looked inquisitive. “Speaking of war, what are the chances that this system is part of the Axis?” Dunn noted the computer-translated voice for Kunus has improved to the point to include inflection and emphasis of certain words. However, it still had the mannerisms of early text-to-voice speech such as rushing words and robotic tonalities. “Hard to say. Warp point connections between systems care little for the actual physical distances involved. It also depends how large the Axis actually is in terms of systems they control.” “Hence the sensor buoy network your pinnaces are involved in,” the Inna said. “The gas giant is on our side of the primary, and the pinnace flight won’t take that long. I’m assuming we’re waiting until the sensor network is more comprehensive?” “Yes, Kunus. It will be a matter of days now. Have you selected which among your team will be going?” The Inna nodded. “All four of us are equally qualified and have the same level of seniority in our respective institutions. Therefore, the matter will be settled in the most equitable manner possible. We’ll use rock, paper, scissors.” Dunn looked perplexed. “Intriguing. Is that a creative art competition?” Before Kunus could reply a notification chirp brought both his and Dunn’s attention to the master plot. A flashing dot appeared and beside it a scrawl of text Kunus couldn’t make out. After a few moments Dunn spoke. “An alien drive field has been detected. That it appeared within the detection range of one of our scanner buoys means that it was either there to begin with and started its drive or that it emerged from a warp point. Thankfully the closest pinnace to the contact is outside long range scanner detection range.” “What will happen now, Dunn?” “Our ships and pinnaces will withdraw, Mister Kunus. A scout will remain at our entry point to send daily courier drone reports on the status of the alien contact. We should be getting a definite read on the drive frequencies in an hour.” “This occurrence will invoke the defense pact?” Kunus’ voice was tinged with concern. “Yes it will,” replied Dunn. “The 3rd Field Fleet will secure the Inna side of the warp point as a precaution. If it turns out to be an alien race, then it becomes a first contact situation. If it’s the Axis, then I’m afraid your homeworld will be on the frontlines.” 04/16/16 updated 09/01/20 |