Counterstrike

Empire Rising Book 11

D. J. Holmes

https://www.facebook.com/Author.D.J.Holmes

d.j.holmess@hotmail.com

Comments welcome!

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales are entirely coincidental.

Copyright © D. J. Holmes 2021

Prologue

Karacknid Dreadnaught Slayer, Jaranna system.

High Admiral Tanaka-lang waved a claw to his subordinate when the transmission from the messenger frigate reached his flagship. Moments later the visual communication from his homeworld played on Slayer’s main holo display. Tanaka-lang recognized the Imperator’s throne room. It was impossible not to, the Imperator and his throne towered over the thousands of Karacknids who were in attendance. The Imperator’s eyes stood out even more, as they always did. They glowed a deep dark red. For several seconds Tanaka-lang stared at them transfixed. Only when the Imperator stood and two forms fell to their knees in front of his throne did Tanaka-lang notice the supplicants who had been brought before Imperator Taranaki.

One wore the markings of an Under Admiral, though Tanaka-lang didn’t know him. It was not so for the other Karacknid on his knees. Even hunched over with his back to the recorder, Tanaka-lang easily recognized him. They had been nest mates and competed against one another all through the youngling trials. Finally, by a hair’s breadth, Tanaka-lang had won the final duel to graduate top of the cohort. From there both had joined the fleet and their constant rivalry had catapulted them to the rank of High Admiral. For his entire life he had considered Hur’lang his closest friend and fiercest rival.

In silence, both on Slayer’s bridge and within the Imperator’s throne room, everyone watched the Imperator descend the steps of his throne. He stopped directly in front of the unknown Under Admiral. Then, without warning, his massive claws swept out. In one strike Taranaki decapitated the Under Admiral. Even as the Karacknid’s head fell to the ground, Taranaki pivoted and, in one continuous movement, swiped again. His razor-sharp claws cut through Hur’lang’s neck without even a hint of resistance. Blood splattered onto the attendants nearest the front of the throne room. Then Hur’lang’s body fell over as it slumped to the floor.

Despite their familial ties, despite their history, Tanaka-lang was filled with nothing but righteous satisfaction as his nest brother’s head bounced onto the throne room floor. Hur’lang and the Under Admiral had been given command of the invasion of Alliance space. They had failed one time too many. They had brought shame upon the Imperator. Death at the hands of the one they had failed was the only fitting way to end their shame. Death and vengeance, Tanaka-lang thought as the Imperator stood fully upright and surveyed those who had attended the execution. As the Imperator’s red eyes pierced the hearts of his people, Tanaka-lang felt the weight of his displeasure even though he was hundreds of light years away. For several seconds, the image documented the Imperator’s stare before it went blank.

A second later it was replaced with another visual of the Imperator. He was back on his throne and the throne room was empty but for several Admirals who stood around Taranaki. “Tanaka-lang,” the Imperator bellowed, though he barely opened his mouth. “Your nest brother failed me. You will assume overall command of the war with these Alliance species. Wipe them out at any cost. They have had far too long to convert their industries for war. This invasion cannot be dragged out any further. Overwhelm them and finish them. Fail me in this and your clan will suffer the consequences.”

When the holo display reverted to its usual image, Tanaka-lang had to blink several times to dispel the Imperator’s eyes and regain his focus. He still felt no sorrow or loss at Hur’lang’s death. All he felt was an overwhelming sense of obligation. The Alliance species had dishonored the Imperator. Every second they refused to roll over and die was a second more the glory of the Karacknid Empire was diminished. The Imperator had tasked him with ending this, and he was not going to fail.

With fresh determination, his eyes surveyed the holographic star map dominating Slayer’s bridge. Only a third of the Karacknid Empire was on display. To show any more would have made it impossible to make anything out. The first area his eyes fell on was the former territory of the U’nama. With over three hundred settled worlds, they were the largest civilization the Imperator’s fleet had conquered in one campaign. The fighting had been fierce, but Tanaka-lang had outsmarted his opponents and defeated them in a string of three decisive fleet engagements. Now their worlds belonged to the Karacknid Empire. Soon they would begin to churn out new warships to replace those lost in the conquest.

Tanaka-lang’s eyes moved to his battlefleet. The map marked the estimated position of the five thousand ships he had used to conquer the U’nama. Rather than heading from U’nama space back to the Imperial homeworld and then to Jaranna along the supply artery Hur’lang had set up, he had ordered his ships to traverse around the outer border of the Karacknid Empire. Though moving so many ships through sectors of the Empire with a limited supply infrastructure was slow, it was still quicker than the much longer route of heading to the center of the Empire and then back out again. His officers estimated the fleet was four months away. It would likely take another month or perhaps two to restock the ships and prepare them for the war once they arrived at Jaranna. The Alliance species and Humans employed a number of weapons and tactics that the U’nama had not. His ships needed to be prepared to face their new enemies, but soon they would be ready to begin offensive operations.

Finally, he focused on Jaranna and the frontline with the Alliance species and the Humans. Hur’lang had done an acceptable job fortifying the border with enemy space. Yet both of his attempts to advance into enemy territory had failed. His first invasion of Alliance space had been turned back with heavy losses on both sides. Then a planned thrust into Human space to outflank the larger Alliance fleets had been thwarted before it had begun. The second loss had cost Hur’lang his head. Tanaka-lang peeled his lips back to reveal his pointed teeth as he took in the fleet dispositions. Much of Hur’lang’s fleet was spread out along the border with Human space at their various supply bases. Out of position, they had not been able to come to the aid of the Karacknid fleets along the border with Alliance space. On the image, several systems opposite Alliance territory were flashing to show they had recently come under attack. Hur’lang’s defenses were holding, but the Alliance fleets were an irritation.

Still, Tanaka-lang thought. Hur’lang’s basic plan was sound. The Humans are the Alliance’s weak spot. With the relatively short front line between Alliance and Karacknid space, and the artificial shift passages the Alliance were known to be using, the Alliance fleets would be able to negate much of his fleet’s numerical advantage. But if the Humans fall to us, the front line the Alliance has to defend will more than double. Then our numbers can pour through the gaps. He would have to divert some ships to the border with Alliance space to make sure their probing attacks didn’t break through. But when his battlefleet arrived, their numbers would more than make up for what he would have to send away. Then we will have a fleet neither the Humans nor the Alliance will be able to stand against.

Tanaka-lang nodded to himself. The Imperator had tasked him with ending the war as quickly as possible. He understood what that meant. The Karacknid military industrial complex wasn’t designed for long wars of attrition. His species conquered quickly and forced their defeated enemies to retool their economies to focus on a single output. It was the easiest way to keep hundreds of species enslaved, for no one species had the capability to produce an army or navy to challenge the Imperator’s forces but it had its drawbacks. The Karacknid industrial strength was fragile. Without new conquests to keep feeding the fleet’s demands for more ships, their outward expansion would falter. But if we can defeat the Humans and the Alliance species and add their industries and technologies to our own, then it will more than make up for all the losses we have suffered. Tanaka-lang had examined the survey data himself. Beyond the Human and Alliance sectors there were more than a thousand other systems that would quickly fall to his ships. There would be more than enough riches to raise up a new generation of Karacknids if the species standing in his way could be wiped out.

“Get me Under Admiral Meria-Kan,” Tanaka-lang demanded as he turned to his bridge officers. “We have much to discuss.”

*

Marseille, France.

For the seventh time, Kilian Agarwal took a sudden left turn. He crossed two streets, turned left again, and then again after another minute’s walk. His turns put him back onto his original path. Then he slowed down. If anyone was following him, they would either be thrown off track or would reveal themselves as they scrambled to catch up with him. Since leaving the spaceport on the outskirts of the city he hadn’t seen any indication that a surveillance team was watching him, but he knew he couldn’t be too careful. His face had been plastered all over New Delhi’s news screens after the Empire’s invasion. The cosmetic surgery he had undergone in New Quebec might throw off a casual facial recognition scan, but not someone who was determined to find him. That was why he had travelled through Canadian and British colonial space before coming to Earth. With his fake identification papers and new face, there was nothing to track him back to New Delhi.

Still, it pays to be careful, he thought as he slowed in front of an old ornate block of flats. He had already passed it once, but now that he was certain he hadn’t picked up a tail, he actually walked over to the door of one of the ground floor apartments. Gently he tapped it five times in the prearranged signal. Within moments it silently opened just enough to let him in. As he slipped through, Agarwal was greeted by two Indian women, both of them had projectile pistols pointed at him. “Good,” he said with a smile and a nod. “You shouldn’t trust anyone… anyone but me that is,” he added as he waved the guns down. “You do recognize me, Saria? Akhila?”

“The voice is yours, but the face…” Saria replied, her gun lowering partly, but not all the way.

Agarwal’s smile widened as he gestured to his face. “Yes, I’ve had some work done since you last saw me. Now put those away and tell me how the plan is coming together? I haven’t travelled halfway around the colonies to get shot by my own agents. Culthrapori may be dead, but I don’t intend to follow him.”

Whether it was hearing more of his voice, or the casual mention of the fact that Agarwal had sent Saria and Akhila to Earth back when he had been the head of Culthrapori’s intelligence operations, both Indian women put their weapons away. “That’s better,” Agarwal said. “Now, update me on where things are at, and then let’s get some food. I’m starving.”

“This way,” Saria said as she turned and led Agarwal through the apartment’s main hall, into the kitchen and then into what looked like a pantry. When all three of them were squashed in, Akhila closed the door. Then Saria reached out and eased back one of the cupboards. It moved aside to reveal stairs that led down into darkness.

“This is a good safehouse,” Agarwal commented as he followed Saria into the darkness.

“It took a while to find apartments that had their basements filled in,” Saria replied.

“And even longer to dig out the staircase without being noticed,” Akhila added as Saria reached into the darkness and pulled on an old-fashioned light switch attached to a piece of string.

As light flooded the basement, Agarwal was greeted by a single room with a large table in the center. Several seats were scattered around it. He quickly moved over to the table. Paper maps were laid on it and a couple of datapads strewn across them. Saria activated the datapads and 3D images of several buildings appeared.

“We have struggled to recruit someone properly on the inside,” Saria said. “But we have a couple of people in two of the construction companies working on the new government buildings in Geneva and we think we have found a couple of windows of opportunity. They are not for a couple of weeks yet, so things may change. But we’ve begun making preparations. If there are changes we can reschedule, on the other hand, if their information is confirmed, then we’ll be ready.”

“Good,” Agarwal smiled as his hands moved over the maps and designs. “What do you have in mind?”

“This,” Akhila said as she moved over to a stack of long thin crates resting against the wall. Picking up a crowbar, she levered the top off one of the crates.

What was inside made Agarwal’s smile widen. “Hypervelocity missiles,” he said. He was impressed at their ingenuity.

“We picked them up on the black market pretty easily actually. After the Karacknids nuked Earth their economy was a shambles,” Akhila responded. “There is a thriving black market for all kinds of things. The new government has no way of tracking them.”

“These will do nicely,” Agarwal said as he lifted a launcher out of its crate. It was of a slightly different design than the Indian military standard issue ones he was used to, but the differences were unimportant. He was pleased to see three missiles nestled neatly at the bottom of the crate. They are going to pay, Agarwal thought as he tossed the launcher into the air and caught it again before setting it gently in its crate. Thanks to the Empire’s intervention on New Delhi he had lost his position and power, and even his homeworld. With Culthrapori’s execution there was no way he would get any of that back. But if he couldn’t have those things, then he was going to make sure the people who took it from him wouldn’t either.

“How many have we recruited?” he asked as he turned back to his two former agents.

“Enough to begin what you have planned Major,” Akhila answered. “And we believe we can find more.”

Agarwal smiled at them. “You have done well indeed.”

Chapter 1

The Rillelio species were once considered the friendliest and most industrious species the Empire had encountered. With everything that happened to them, it was not surprising that one of these things changed.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Mouse, Rillelio system.

Captain Jennifer Steele paced across her ready room. She had itched to return to Mouse’s bridge for several hours but she restrained herself. Her mission was time sensitive, but she still needed to give her people the chance to properly survey the system. Mouse had spent the last three days in the outer edge of the Rillelio system observing everything that was going on. They had to be sure before revealing themselves so, despite her impatience, Jennifer continued to pace.

She managed another full hour before breaking her stride and turning towards the hatch that led straight from her ready room to her frigate’s bridge. “Any changes?” she asked as soon as her foot crossed the threshold.

“Nothing significant Captain,” Saunders, her First Lieutenant, said as he hastily got out of her Captain’s chair. “There are some elections occurring on one of the planet’s continents. They seem pretty feisty, but beyond that, the planet seems sedate.”

“Thank you,” Jennifer said as she nodded to her First Lieutenant and took a seat. Swinging around, she turned towards Mouse’s sensor console. “Lieutenant Domingo, how is your work going?”

“The probe has gained access to about ninety percent of their communications Captain,” Mouse’s Second Lieutenant replied. “We’ve been sifting through them for the last twelve hours. There’s no sign of any references to the Karacknids or any other alien species. There’s plenty of science fiction stories but no indication that the Rillelio have actually made contact with any other species.”

“Then they certainly don’t know about the war going on around them,” Jennifer surmised. The Rillelio system was in the middle of what was quickly becoming no man’s land. About fifty light-years from the edge of space claimed by Humanity and thirty from the Karacknid Empire, the Rillelio sat in the middle of a very dangerous situation. No doubt they had been identified as a system to be conquered by the Karacknids once the war was over. Mouse and Jennifer hadn’t discovered the Rillelio homeworld. A Varanni expedition ship had centuries ago and Jennifer had been dispatched to see if the Karacknids had already begun to take over. “What about the ten percent of their communications the probe hasn’t been able to access?” she asked.

“They are mainly military, diplomatic and other encrypted COM channels,” Domingo answered.

“So the Karacknids may have covertly made contact with the Rillelio’s leadership,” Jennifer suggested. “Though I doubt we could find out one way or the other at this stage.” She nodded again as she made a decision. “All right I think we can say it’s time for phase two to begin. There is no official sign of any Karacknid involvement in the system. Power up our reactors and engines and bring us in towards the Rillelio’s homeworld. One quarter thrust.”

As Mouse began to move and her active sensors powered up, Jennifer watched the holo display of the system keenly. If there was a Karacknid warship hiding in the inner system, sooner or later Mouse would detect it. Of course, if it was anything larger than a Karacknid frigate, Mouse would be in a lot of trouble. But she couldn’t do anything about that. She had orders to follow.

“Whoever had bets on them not having gravimetric sensors just lost out,” Davenport commented as she pointed towards the Rillelio’s homeworld. There was a sudden flurry of activity in orbit.

“Perhaps they are close to developing their own shift drive,” Jennifer replied. That would be interesting to watch. Technologically, the Rillelio were roughly equivalent to Humanity in the 2200s. There were many orbital stations around their homeworld and several other stations around the different moons and asteroids within the system. According to Domingo’s analysis of their COM traffic, they had dispatched several sub light generation ships twenty years ago to a nearby star system with a potentially habitable world. To be able to carry out such a feat was impressive, but sadly the colonists were going to encounter a significant difficulty. The system the generation ship had been sent to wasn’t reachable via shift space. If and when the Rillelio did develop their own shift drive, they wouldn’t be able to visit their colony. Just like us, Jennifer thought. There were still a handful of worlds that colony ships had been sent to before Humanity had developed the shift drive. In two hundred years, no one had heard from any of them.

“We are getting a pretty good breakdown of their warships now that they are going active,” Domingo informed Jennifer. “Looks like they have ten ships with what I estimate to be military grade reactors and engines. They’re forming up into a defensive formation and putting themselves between us and their homeworld.”

“Send out the prearranged introductory COM message,” Jennifer ordered. “Then plot us a course to come to a halt just within two-way communication range of their warships. Let’s try to be as unthreatening as possible.”

As officers moved to obey her orders, Jennifer focused on the Rillelio warships. In the center of their formation were four larger ones, roughly equivalent to an Imperial light cruiser. The remaining six were not much bigger than Mouse. One Karacknid medium cruiser could destroy them all without breaking a sweat, she concluded. The power readings coming off the ships were much higher than the rest of the freighters and civilian ships in the system, but they were not overly impressive. When the Karacknids added the Rillelio system to their Empire, they would barely have to lift a finger to do so.

“We’ve come to a halt relative to their homeworld,” Domingo reported two hours later. “They are hailing us. Visual and audio.”

Jennifer took a deep breath before responding. The stealth probe they had sent into the system three days ago had been collecting and transmitting as much data as it could find back to Mouse. Much of the data had included visual recordings of the Rillelio. Knowing what the aliens looked like took a little bit of the edge off but this was still Jennifer’s first, first contact experience. Once she had settled her breathing, she nodded to Domingo. Immediately an image appeared on the holo-projector. With three eyes, two mouths and four arms, the upper half of the aliens was unlike anything Jennifer had seen before. Strangely enough though, their lower half was very similar to the Crians who were similar to the horses Jennifer had grown up with on her parents’ ranch in Utah. That similarity was something for some Earth biologist to figure out though. Moments after appearing, the alien spoke, both of its mouths moving together, though not in unison. Thankfully, the Kulrean translation software had spent the last three days perfecting its understanding of the Rillelio’s language.

“I am Admiral Xarth of the Rillelio defense fleet. Who are you and what is your intention?” the alien asked.

Jennifer smiled as wide as she could without it feeling forced. “Greetings Admiral. I am Commander Steele of the Imperial ship Mouse. My species call ourselves Humans. We are a multisystem civilization who inhabit a number of planets not far from here. I have come on a peaceful diplomatic mission. We would like to introduce ourselves to you. I understand your species has not made contact with another sentient race before?”

“You are correct Commander. This is a situation I have trained for, but never expected to see. You obviously have the ability to understand and communicate in our language,” Xarth replied.

Jennifer nodded. “We do. Though the technology is not ours. Another species, one we befriended several decades ago, shared it with us.”

“You know of other species as well. We are truly not alone in the universe?” Xarth asked.

This time Jennifer’s smile was genuine. “I can understand the surprise Admiral. Less than thirty years ago my species also thought it was alone in the universe. Since then we have made contact with sixteen other species and through them we have become aware of many hundreds more. Your species is certainly not alone Admiral. Of that I can assure you.”

Xarth shook his head in a very human fashion and his three eyes rolled around and around, none of them in unison. “You bring shocking revelations Captain. I’m sure the political leaders of the various nations on my homeworld will wish to speak with you. Before I allow your ship to approach our homeworld, I have several more questions and I must carry out a detailed scan of your ship.”

“By all means,” Jennifer replied. “I completely understand your caution. My sensors tell me you still have your weapons charged and targeting us. I will power down my weapons if you are prepared to do the same.”

“That would be acceptable Captain,” Xarth responded.

Jennifer looked away from him for a moment and nodded to Domingo. A second later Domingo nodded back to let her know that the Rillelio ships had powered down their weapons as well. “What are the questions you have for me Admiral?” Jennifer asked as she turned back to the alien.

“Your ship clearly has advanced power reactors and weapons. Why have you brought a warship to meet with us?” Xarth asked.

“Mouse is one of the smallest warships my species has in operation Admiral,” Jennifer answered. “She is designed for long range missions. She was the most logical choice to send to your system. Though I am a naval officer, I was a diplomat before joining my species’ Navy. I believe that was why I was sent here with my ship.”

“One of your smaller ships?” Xarth asked as his eyes rolled around in his head again. “Your larger ships must be impressive. Why does your species need warships at all?”

“I could ask you the same question Admiral,” Jennifer countered. “Though I can guess the answer. My species has always been cautious of the unknown. Often we have found it is better to be prepared than to be found lacking when a threat appears. And, to be honest, we have found that there are hostile sentient species out there. For the most part those we have encountered have been friendly. But that is not always the case.”

“That is troubling to hear,” Xarth said. “If I get the opportunity that is something I would like to speak to you about. I’m getting orders from my leaders though. Our scans indicate that your ship is powerful, but if you’re happy to enter orbit with my fleet closely escorting you, I have orders to allow you to proceed to our homeworld.”

“This is your system and your homeworld Admiral, we will follow whatever directions you have for us,” Jennifer said as she smiled. So far so good, she thought. However, the real difficulty would come in speaking to the leaders of the Rillelio people. Domingo’s analysis had identified at least six major national powers, all of whom seemed to compete with one another to one degree or another. Though they have jointly built their defensive fleet, that is a positive sign.

*

As Mouse’s shuttle broke through the thick clouds that enveloped the Rillelio’s homeworld, Jennifer inhaled sharply. The shuttle was heading towards what she could only describe as a supercity. Almost as far as she could see, skyscrapers and large spires dominated the horizon. Turning slightly she raised her eyebrows as she shared a look with Domingo. “Your analysis didn’t say we were going to find this,” she said as she waved towards the shuttle’s viewport.

Domingo’s eyes were wide as she shook her head. “The data we sifted through didn’t say anything about this. Sure, there were shots of cities, but I thought they were of different cities. Not one continuous one.”

Jennifer nodded only half listening. She had already turned back to take in the view. Not only was the scale of the city impressive, it was also beautiful. She had visited a number of Human colonies and had been part of one of the early diplomatic missions to Vestar, so she had some experience of what different worlds looked like. She had also studied all the data she could get on the Alliance and Conclave species. Even so, she was impressed. “They may not have shift drive technology, but it seems they have mastered living on their own world,” she commented.

“They may not be able to help us against the Karacknids, but they could be important allies,” Domingo agreed. “It’s a pity we can’t be completely upfront with them.”

“Indeed,” Jennifer responded, quietly impressed at Domingo’s analysis. As soon as she had heard about the Karacknid Empire’s attack on Earth, Jennifer had transferred from the UN diplomatic Corps to the UN Navy. That gave her experience in both worlds. Domingo had risen through the Royal Space Navy ranks after graduating from the academy and becoming a midshipman in the RSN. Even so, it seemed she had a pretty good grasp of the diplomatic situation.

“Here’s our landing spot,” the shuttle pilot said as the shuttle slowed and banked around an open space between two skyscrapers. A large group of aliens was already gathered below them.

“Take us in,” Jennifer ordered. As soon as the shuttle touched down she unstrapped her harness and stood. Before moving towards the rear of the shuttle she caught Domingo’s eye. “Remember, whatever happens, keep a straight face. Let’s not insult them unintentionally.”

“Aye Captain,” Domingo responded as she gave her commanding officer a sharp nod.

“But don’t be too stiff,” Jennifer responded as she flashed her Lieutenant a quick grin. “We wouldn’t want them thinking we are boring either.” Before Domingo could reply, Jennifer turned and led her through the shuttle. Even before she stepped off the access ramp, several aliens were moving towards her. Behind them, she saw the crowd had more than doubled in the brief moments it had taken the shuttle to land. There were aliens in all sorts of strangely colored attire and, off to one side, a number of aliens in a similar uniform, each carrying what she guessed was a weapon.

“Commander Steele of the Human species, allow me to welcome you to our world. I am Ambassador Zarnac. I represent the free nation of Karam in the Global Assembly,” the closest alien said. It stood just in front of Jennifer.

“Thank you for your welcome Ambassador,” Jennifer replied as she gave a low bow to Zarnac. Among most of the species Humanity had met it was an accepted sign of honor. When Zarnac didn’t respond, she quickly straightened and gestured towards Domingo. “This is Veronica Domingo, Mouse’s Second Lieutenant.”

“You are most welcome to our planet as well Lieutenant,” Zarnac said. “Please, allow me to introduce Ambassadors Civiv, Granlam, and Zorum,” Zarnac continued as he gestured to each of the three aliens who were standing closest to him. “They each represent their nations in the Global Assembly and together we have been chosen to be the first to speak with you. I would love to give you a tour of our capital city and other parts of our world if you like. First though, there are many questions that we have and I am sure you would like to converse with us. That is why you’re here after all, is it not?”

“It certainly is Ambassador,” Jennifer said with a smile. “In my species, friendships are developed through time spent with one another in conversation. That is why I am here with you now.”

“Then please, follow me Commander,” Zarnac said as he gestured with one of his three fingered hands and his three eyes turned to the side of his head in the same direction.

As they walked, Jennifer looked from side to side at the amazing sights. Quickly she began to ask questions about them. Though she only understood half of what Zarnac said, she found her respect for the Rillelio people growing. They had accomplished a great deal given how inferior much of their technology was to what Humanity now possessed. When Zarnac led them into one of the nearest buildings, she was even more impressed with their engineering capabilities. The interior of the building looked like it had been molded from one piece rather than put together out of subsections. It was quite possible the building had been built by any number of different ways she didn’t understand, but it certainly impressed her given her experience with Human buildings. The large room they finally stopped in did not disappoint her either. Along one wall was a giant world map that appeared to be etched into the wall’s surface. Jennifer assumed it mapped out the different nations that made up the global assembly. When she asked, Zarnac confirmed her guess.

“Let us get down to business,” Zarnac said after providing seats for Jennifer and Domingo and offering them some interesting refreshments.

“Where would you like to begin?” Jennifer asked.

“You have come to visit us,” Civiv said, speaking for the first time. “You have us at quite the disadvantage. We did not know you existed several hours ago. Perhaps you would like to go first and tell us about your species and why you are here.”

“Certainly,” Jennifer replied. “It would be my pleasure.” She gave the Ambassadors a brief history of how Humanity had discovered the shift drive and began to explore and colonize other worlds. She mentioned a handful of wars that had been fought within her species and then she focused on the discovery of the Vestarians, Kulreans and the Flex-aor attack. Leaving out the Karacknids, she shared with them how Humanity had made contact with the Varanni Alliance and the Conclave. When the Ambassadors found out that the Varanni had discovered their system centuries ago, before their species had even launched its first satellite into orbit, they were particularly shocked. From the number of questions they interrupted with, she guessed it was a lot for them to take in.

“That is why we are here,” Jennifer concluded as she felt a pang of guilt for not telling the entire truth. “We are looking to make new friends and trading partners. I have permission to share a number of our technologies and discoveries with you as a sign of friendship. In return, we are particularly interested in trading He3 from your system. It is a commodity that is always in short supply within a space faring civilization. Being able to purchase some from your world will allow our exploration ships to range further from our borders.”

“Your species must have an impressive civilization,” Civiv replied slowly. “To have so many colonized worlds and so many trade routes established with other civilizations, the He3 demands of your military and civilian shipping is no doubt significant. We only have two, I imagine basic by your standards, gas mining stations. Whilst we are certainly eager to trade with you, I do not understand why you need our fuel?”

“Two reasons,” Jennifer replied. “First, it would be quite expensive and time-consuming for us to set up our own fueling station in this system or in one nearby. It is our hope that we can establish a true friendship with your world and share goods and technologies between our two civilizations. If you can provide us with the fuel our ships will need it will greatly speed up that process. Second, at this stage in our relationship it is likely that we will have more technologies and commodities to trade with you than you may have with us. Though I must say I have been impressed with what I have seen of your engineering capabilities. In any case, by trading fuel for technologies, it gives you a valuable resource that we are happy to trade with you.”

Civiv brought his three fingered hands together. “If that’s the case, then I’m sure we would be happy to trade with you. Though we would have to invest heavily in upgrading our capacity. It should not be too difficult. We have not done so simply because we have no need for the extra fuel.”

“Which brings us to what you might trade to us in exchange,” Zarnac interjected.

“That may be more difficult to answer definitively without knowing more about your species and how our technologies may be of value to you,” Jennifer explained. “Though I do have permission to share certain farming technologies and plant-based foodstuffs that come from my homeworld as well as those from several of our friends. Computing and energy production technologies will also be on the table. In addition, if your species has an FTL research program, then perhaps some of my officers could give your scientists a few pointers. Our own FTL and weapons technologies are off-limits at the moment though.” As she spoke all four of the Rillelio Ambassadors turned and looked at one another, their eyes spinning. It made Jennifer smile. It seemed the Rillelio weren’t very good at hiding their emotions. That was not a bad thing. At least from her perspective. “I’m guessing you do have your own FTL program?” she asked.

The eyes of each Ambassador continued to spin as Zarnac answered for them. “We do, we have been seeking to develop such abilities for several generations but have had little success. Any help you could give us in this regard would be greatly appreciated. We’d happily trade as much fuel with you as we can. The other technologies will no doubt be of great benefit to our civilization, but we have always desired to explore the stars. Your arrival on our homeworld has confirmed that this is possible. Now, there will be no quenching our appetite for such adventures. If you could help us in this regard we would be forever in your debt.”

Jennifer’s smile widened. “Adventure is certainly one way to describe stepping out beyond your home system. Like I said, I cannot share our technologies with you at this stage. But I will arrange for my best scientists to take a look at your research program and assist as best they can. As our two species grow closer together, I’m sure my leaders will be happy to do more than give pointers in the future.” Though Jennifer was keen to talk more about some of the technologies she had been given permission to share, she quickly found herself dragged into a discussion of Humanity’s early years with their shift drive. They are hungry for adventure, Jennifer thought as she was bombarded with question after question. It was a very good thing for her purposes. It made them eager. But it may not serve them too well in the long term. If they drew the eye of the Karacknid Empire they would be conquered with ease. Which is all the more reason why we need to do what we are doing, she reassured herself. A part of her wanted to tell Zarnac and the other Ambassadors the full truth. But there was no way of knowing how they would react. They might suspect she was trying to trick them. Or worse, their curiosity might cause them to reach out to the Karacknids. Either way, keeping them in the dark was the safest thing to do. But will they see it that way when they finally find out? Jennifer couldn’t help but ask herself.

*

IS Mouse, Batazam orbit (one week later).

“Status update?” Jennifer asked as she stepped back onto her ship’s bridge. She had spent the last six hours on the planet’s surface saying farewell to her Rillelio hosts.

“We are ready to break orbit and depart Captain,” Phillips responded. “All systems are fully functional. We should have no problems on the journey back to Earth.”

“COMs, signal the surface and let them know we are breaking orbit. Navigation, lay in a course for the shift passage home and engage impulse engines,” Jennifer ordered. As her ship began to move, she scanned the projected route her navigation officer had drawn up, nodded in satisfaction, and looked back at Batazam. The planet was indeed beautiful. Both in its natural landscape and in the cities the Rillelio had built. She had very much enjoyed the tours Zarnac and the other Ambassadors had given her. Movement in low orbit caught her eye. Several construction ships were moving towards one of the small Rillelio fuel storage stations. They certainly are industrious, Jennifer thought. They were already expanding their storage capacity. She had no doubt work would soon begin on expanding the gas mining stations in orbit around the planet’s single gas giant as well. Somerville should be happy, she said to herself. We have found him his fuel.

Chapter 2

The Imperial War museum is home to many old warship designs, both pre-Imperial and from a number of the Empire’s early allies. To the untrained eye most seem small and quaint, but there is a great deal of history to be experienced there. I encourage all my students who get the opportunity to visit the Sol system to tour the museum. If nothing else, it gives one a sense of just how fragile the warships that defended the Empire were.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, Earth Orbit, 10th November 2483 AD

The battle had been raging for thirty minutes. James had lost nearly a fifth of his force. Still, his warships were giving as good as they got. Though he was doing his best to keep abreast of the wider tactical situation, as a fourth missile salvo crashed in to attack the Karacknid fleet, he watched the devastation pour over Earth’s would-be invaders. His eyes narrowed as he noticed a weak point forming. The right flank of the Karacknid fleet had taken a heavier battering than the rest. Their numbers were thinning out. “Signal Jil’lal, I want her ships to focus her fire here,” James called to Lieutenant Beckford as he pointed to a section of the Karacknid fleet on his command chair’s holo projector.

“Right away Admiral,” Beckford acknowledged.

“Admiral, Commodore Jenkins looks like she’s in trouble,” Lieutenant Anderson called from the tactical console. “Her ships are being pushed back to the moon. The ground-based weapons will be in range of Karacknid missiles in five minutes or so.”

James turned his attention to Jenkins’ position. The moon had been heavily fortified with ground-based missile launchers to boost Earth’s defenses. It was far easier to install them on the moon’s surface than to build entirely new battlestations to house the launchers. However, the flip side of doing so was that they were very exposed. Jenkins’ squadron was tasked with keeping any Karacknid ships that tried to engage the moon’s missile launchers at arm’s length. It seemed the Karacknids had become fed up with being pummeled by the missile launchers. More than a hundred Karacknid ships were pressing Jenkins’ squadron back. “Miyagi?” James asked as he turned to his Chief of Staff.

“Captain Zhou and his heavy cruiser squadron should be able to disengage and back Jenkins up,” Miyagi suggested.

“Do it,” James said immediately. “And inform our reserve fighters they need to be ready to go. The Karacknids pressing Jenkins have exposed themselves as well. Zhou and his ships can hold them in place and then our fighters can take them out of the equation.”

“Understood Admiral, I’ll update you on our fighter numbers as soon as we have them,” Miyagi replied.

With one problem potentially solved, James widened his focus to take in the rest of the battle. Over a thousand other Karacknid warships were pressing in hard against his ships and Earth’s battlestations. The fighting was almost even. In fact, with the moon’s missile launchers and his battlestations, James was reasonably confident the Karacknids wouldn’t be able to take Earth’s orbitals, not without losing almost all of their force. That was not his primary concern though. The more than one hundred Karacknid troop ships hovering just out of missile range were. The Karacknid fleet kept maneuvering and counter maneuvering to draw his ships out of position enough to allow the troop ships to race for Earth’s surface. If they managed to land near any of Earth’s major cities, the Karacknid ships would cause havoc. It would be impossible to launch missiles from orbit to take them out. Worse, as soon as they landed they’d go to ground and carry out a guerrilla campaign that would take months to root out. Months of wasting time and resources we don’t have, James knew. Several key shipyards had already taken damage in the fighting. The fledging Imperial military industrial complex was extremely fragile. The disruption a Karacknid landing would cause would throw Andréa Clements’ shipbuilding program back by months. And we’ve already lost more ships than we can replace in three or four months just keeping them at bay.

“New contacts!” Anderson shouted over the din of Drake’s bridge “Eighty new warships have just come out of stealth.”

As soon as James’ eyes found them, he swore. Half of the new contacts were moving to cut off Captain Zhou’s heavy cruisers. The other half were joining the attack on Jenkins’ squadron and the moon’s defenses. Both of his units were out of supporting range of the rest of his fleet. “Our fighters?” James asked desperately as he glanced at Commander Miyagi.

He was already shaking his head. “They’re still five minutes out.”

James cursed again. “Pull them back from their attack run,” he ordered, his voice full of reluctance. He didn’t want to abandon the moon. But Jenkins’ and Zhou’s ships were too valuable. He couldn’t let them be destroyed for nothing. He had to use the fighters to defend them. “Order our fighters to cover the retreat as soon as they are ready. Signal our missile crews on the moon. They are to go into rapid fire mode. They need to fire as many missiles as they can before the Karacknids take them out.” James ground his teeth together as he forced himself to review the rest of the battle. Vice Admiral Nogamoro knew how integral the moon’s missile launchers were to Earth’s defenses. With Jenkins and Zhou’s ships re-joining James’ fleet in orbit above Earth, James would better be able to prevent the Karacknid troop ships from landing. But the ship-to-ship battle had swung in Nogamoro’s favor. And I bet Suarez was the one leading the attack, James thought. Admiral Lightfoot had recommended his old Flag Captain be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. Since then, the Latin American Admiral had been impressing everyone with his gung-ho tactics. The battle is not lost, James said to himself, but it just got a whole lot tougher. Before he could start giving orders another voice interrupted him. This time it was one of Drake’s ordinary bridge officers rather than his command staff.

“I’m sorry to interrupt Admiral,” the Sub Lieutenant said as his voice broke.

“Don’t worry about it,” James said, “what is it Lieutenant?”

“We just detected eight hundred new contacts accelerating into the system. They’re Alliance warships. Their signatures match Admiral Ya’sia’s fleet that we’ve been expecting.”

“Thank you,” James said as a smile spread across his face. He was looking forward to seeing Ya’sia. It had been nearly two years since they had last spoken face to face. He glanced back at the holo display of the battle he had been fighting. Despite the setback, it was far from over. For a few seconds he was tempted to continue the simulation. He didn’t like conceding to Nogamoro. Yet he had preparations to make. “All right, call it,” he said as he turned back to Miyagi. “Nogamoro and Suarez can count this as a victory. Though make sure you remind Nogamoro of our current head-to-head scores. I wouldn’t want him getting too cocky,” James added. He was still beating Nogamoro two to one in simulated battles. Yet as they trained more and more, the difference was edging closer to even. Only Lightfoot and Koroylov had better numbers against him. Thankfully, both of them were still commanding fleets on the frontline, James didn’t know if he’d be able to take so many simulated defeats.

“You did well,” James called to the officers assembled on Drake’s bridge as they stood down. “Next time we’ll see it through and beat them. Beckford, patch me through to the Empress if you would.”

Unsurprisingly, it took nearly five minutes to get Christine to answer. She was always in the middle of some meeting or another and she had scolded him more than once for using a priority message to get through to her when there hadn’t really been an emergency. As he waited, James watched Admiral Ya’sia’s Alliance fleet make its way into the system. With over eight hundred warships and nearly as many supply freighters under her command, the fleet was the largest force that had been in the Sol system since the battle of Earth. And for once they’re not invaders intent on our complete destruction, James was happy to acknowledge.

“Admiral,” Christine said when her face appeared in his command chair’s holo projector. “I hear our friends have arrived.

“Indeed,” James said, forgetting to use her official title. He remembered as soon as he saw the look on her face. On official COM messages she had insisted they use the proper decorum. “Empress,” he hastily added.

“I’m sure you’re looking forward to greeting them,” Christine said as her facial features smoothed.

“That was why I wanted to talk with you,” James replied. “I’m sure you’re planning an official reception and everything. Do you need my help with that, or could I call over to Ya’sia’s flagship? I could then accompany her down to the surface for whatever you have planned.”

Christine laughed. “I can manage without you dear. Though if you want, I can check in with you and you can pick the official color for the reception or maybe some of the hors d’oeuvres?” Christine asked sarcastically.

James returned her smile. “I mean, if you want me to make those decisions I certainly can, though we’d only be making more work for Fairfax. He’d have to go over everything and fix it.”

“No, no we better not have that,” Christine replied, still chuckling. “Go and meet your friend and then you both can come down for an official welcome. That’ll let the two of you get all your military chat out of the way so you don’t bore the rest of us with it.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” James said grinning. “I’ll send word to your office as soon as we’re ready to depart. I presume the reception will be in Geneva?”

“Yes, the Imperial Palace has to get some use after all,” Christine answered. “Now, go have your fun. I have work to do.”

“Yes Empress,” James said as Christine winked at him and cut the COM channel. “Ready my shuttle,” he said a little louder for his command staff to hear. “Contact Ya’sia’s flagship and request permission to come aboard. I’ll meet her as she approaches Earth and once the fleet has settled into orbit we can proceed to the surface.”

“Yes Admiral,” Miyagi responded.

*

James couldn’t help but be impressed as his shuttle flew close to Ya’sia’s flagship. The design was like nothing James had seen in the Alliance fleet before. Even without Drake’s sensors he could tell it was larger than the battleship that had been Ya’sia’s former flagship. Her sleek angular lines give her an arrowhead like appearance. Several large weapon emplacements housed heavy plasma cannons. James nodded in approval. Ya’sia’s flagship was obviously one of the first Alliance ships to incorporate Humanity’s technologies. As the shuttle swung underneath the large ship, James saw that she was bristling with point defense weapons. They looked to be even denser than those on Drake’s hull.

“There’s her name Admiral,” the shuttle pilot informed James as a large block of alien writing appeared.

The shuttle’s translation software quickly projected the name for James to see. Unity, James thought as he read it. A fitting name. Before the Karacknid war, the Varanni had been the dominant species in their Alliance. With the need for every ship and naval crew member possible, the Varanni had been forced to share their best technologies with their neighbors. It was an ongoing process, but bit by bit the other species were being fully integrated into the Varanni fleet by its High Command. Ya’sia was probably the greatest success story. She had led a number of Varanni majority fleets into action and won victory after victory though there had been some defeats along the way. “All right take us in,” James said after allowing the shuttle’s pilot another minute to loop around the large warship. He didn’t want to keep Ya’sia waiting. As the shuttle entered one of Unity’s shuttle bays, James was impressed again. Lined up along one side of the bay were six Alliance Pulsar fighters. If the warship’s second bay held another six, Unity would be able to deploy a full squadron of twelve fighters. She must be even bigger than she looks, James concluded. The possibility of building a hybrid warship carrier had been thrown around by several senior Imperial Fleet officers, but eventually dismissed. The Imperial Fleet simply had too many systems to protect to concentrate so many resources into a handful of large, overpowered ships. Clearly the Alliance had not come to the same conclusion.

With a clunk, the shuttle touched down on Unity’s deck. James unstrapped himself and moved to the back of the shuttle. As he descended its rear ramp, the Alliance fleet’s welcoming party sprang to life. Several strange musical instruments began to play and a line of officers snapped to attention. James couldn’t help but smile at the array of aliens waiting to greet him. Six species were part of the Varanni Alliance. Each one of them was represented before him. In fact, he saw a couple of other species he didn’t immediately recognize. It wasn’t a hard guess to suppose they were other neighbors of the Varanni. Alliance High Command was actively seeking to incorporate other willing species into their Alliance to bolster their strength against the Karacknids. When one alien quickly moved towards him, James’ smile widened. Though he would never say it out loud, it looked like Ya’sia was trotting up to greet him. Her four legs moved as quickly as a horse’s might as it ran over to greet one of its own. Though James held out his hand, Ya’sia pushed it aside and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s great to see you again Admiral. Or Emperor, or your Highness,” Ya’sia said loudly enough for all the nearby aliens to hear, though she was still hugging him. “I’m afraid no one could explain the etiquette to me before leaving Varanni Prime.”

James wiggled out of her hug after a few seconds, despite her clear affection, he still felt a bit conscious being engulfed in the much larger alien’s arms. “Admiral will do,” James replied, “though I’d be just as happy with James.” He took half a step back and looked around him. “You have quite a ship here Admiral,” he said. “I’d very much like a tour if we had more time. For now, let me welcome you to the Sol system. You and your ships are very welcome.”

“We are pleased to be here,” Ya’sia answered on behalf of her officers. “We are keen to kick some Karacknid ass,” she said as she broke into a smile. “I believe that’s how your species would put it.”

James returned her smile. “I suppose we might,” he agreed.

“By my reckoning we have about half an hour before Unity will slot into orbit,” Ya’sia said. “Shall we retire to my ready room until it’s time to depart?”

“Certainly,” James said as he nodded.

Ya’sia raised her voice, “Dismissed,” she said as she turned and gestured to her officers. For several seconds she and James watched them leave the shuttle bay and then Ya’sia gestured again, this time for James to accompany her.

“They look pretty imposing up close,” James said as he eyed the Pulsar fighters. “You’ve heard about our Corsair interceptors I’m sure. It will be interesting to see a squadron of each face off against one another.”

“Indeed,” Ya’sia agreed. “I’m sure we can arrange that for tomorrow. My pilots will be eager to put themselves to the test. All but one are rookies. Keeping pilots alive long enough to return to our training schools is proving difficult.”

“I know what you mean,” James replied. “They are extremely efficient elements of our fleet, but they do suffer high attrition rates. I imagine that is only going to increase now that the Karacknids have their own fighters.”

“I am sure you are correct. Sadly, our ship losses may also go up,” Ya’sia responded. “At least Unity’s design should help us in that regard. You saw all the point defenses on your flight over?”

James chuckled. “I certainly did. She has more point defenses than Drake.”

“Given how deadly the Karacknid antimatter missiles are, Unity’s designers focused on the dreadnought’s defenses. Though that doesn’t mean we don’t have a heavy throw weight of missiles, and our fighters as well. She should pack quite a punch when we get her alongside a Karacknid fleet.”

“A Dreadnought,” James said as he nodded in approval. “She did look bigger than I was expecting. How does she compare to a Karacknid dreadnought in your simulations?”

“Very well,” Ya’sia answered. “We out mass a standard Karacknid dreadnought by ten percent. Almost all of that extra mass has gone into point defenses and the reactors needed to power them. In a straight up duel we can match their missile numbers. One on one, our point defenses give us a huge advantage. And if you throw in our fighters, we would win such a fight with ease. But I don’t expect us to be finding ourselves in any one-on-one duels. Sadly for every dreadnought I have with me, we’re likely to encounter six or seven Karacknid ones.”

“A reoccurring problem,” James echoed. “Something we’re not likely to be able to overcome any time soon either… Tell me, how was the journey here?” Dwelling on the Karacknids’ numerical advantage would only spoil his happiness at seeing Ya’sia again.

“Very smooth,” Ya’sia answered. “With the artificial shift passage complete and the jump gate finished on our end, it took just a month to get here.”

James shook his head. “It’s still hard to believe. It would have taken four months just a year ago. And now your dark matter repellers are working on artificial shift passages to the Gift and the Alpha and Beta systems. Your people will have completely redrawn our star maps within a couple of years.”

Ya’sia gave James a tap on his shoulders. “You’re not one of these old fogeys who doesn’t like change are you Admiral? I wouldn’t have put you down as one.”

James looked up at her and shook his head. “Of course not. I’m just amazed, that’s all.”

“And just imagine what will happen if the Varanni scientists studying the Gift find more wormholes,” Ya’sia said with a smile. “Things could change all over again.”

“Yeah,” James said, not nearly as enthusiastic as Ya’sia sounded. “We could discover another race like the Karacknids.”

“Or you could find more friends like us and the Conclave species,” Ya’sia countered. “that wouldn’t be so bad would it?”

“No, I suppose not, James said as he allowed a small smile to cross his lips. “But who knows what, if anything they will find.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll find something to grumble about… least if you are in this kind of mood. Fatherhood seems to have turned you into a… a, what does your species call it? A grumpy old man?”

James opened his mouth to complain, but Ya’sia beat him to it. “Here we are,” she said as she gestured for a hatch to open and nodded for James to go through. “Take a seat Admiral.”

Letting her remark go, James made himself as comfortable as he could in one of the seats, Ya’sia brought over some kind of beverage. She then held up her glass. “Let us drink to your son,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been wanting to congratulate you in person since I heard the news. To Jonathan.”

“To Jonathan,” James repeated. “And thank you.” Tentatively he tried a small sip and was surprised to find how enjoyable it was.

“Rear Admiral Becket particularly enjoyed this brew,” Ya’sia said. “She took a considerable consignment of bottles back with her when she left us. What do you think?”

“I think a certain Rear Admiral is going to need a talking to,” James said as he took another sip. “She has been holding out on the rest of us.”

Ya’sia smiled. “I brought a few extra bottles with me to send on to her. Maybe she won’t mind if you borrow a couple.”

“If she does, I’ll just have to order her to get over it,” James said. “I’m sure Christine would enjoy sampling this as well.”

“I look forward to meeting her,” Ya’sia responded as she set her drink down. “I’m glad you came over to Unity before we headed to the surface though. I wanted to share my condolences with you about Suzanna’s passing in person. A number of times over the last few years my mind has gone back to when we last parted. We both talked about being able to introduce each other to our spouses. I’m sorry I will never get to meet Suzanna now.”

“Thank you,” James said, keeping his face impassive. It still hurt to think about Suzanna’s loss. “I am sorry too. I must confess, I didn’t expect to ever remarry, and certainly not so quickly. But events seem to have overtaken me. I do still intend to hold you to your promise. Someday I look forward to meeting your husband.”

“And he you,” Ya’sia replied. “As I’m looking forward to meeting Christine. She must be quite the woman to have won your heart and the heart of your people. I have to admit, knowing your species’ history, I was very surprised when I heard that all your colonies agreed to join your Empire. Hopefully, your newfound unity will be a boon to us all in this war.”

“She is quite the woman,” James agreed. “If anyone can bring my species together to defeat the Karacknids, it is her.”

“No doubt, but I imagine you’ve been some help as well Admiral. My sources tell me you are even more famous now than when we first met.” James waved Ya’sia’s compliments away. “Tell me,” she continued. “Is there any news from back home?”

James lowered his hands as he thought. It was strange that she was asking him. She had just come from Varanni Prime. Yet with the tachyon pulse generator the Kulreans had built for him, he was more up to date with events in Alliance space than Ya’sia was. “There’s nothing much to report. A couple of minor skirmishes. No serious engagements. More intelligence reports of Karacknid ships filtering back along your border. It seems that most of the ships that were deployed to strike into our space have been dispatched back to your border to counter your fleets’ incursions.”

Ya’sia brought her hands together. “That is good news. The Karacknids have wasted months redeploying their ships to your border and back again. The timing of your fleets’ seizure of their forward depots was very fortunate. Hopefully we can capitalize on that. How soon can we proceed with Operation Counterstrike?”

“Tomorrow if need be,” James replied. “Everything is ready to go on our end. I do have a slight alteration to our line of attack I’d like to suggest. I have arranged for a new fuel source we can make use of. It’s one that the Karacknids shouldn’t know about. Using it should mean we don’t have to dally in the Alpha-three system to refuel. It should decrease the chances a Karacknid scout will detect us.”

“That sounds promising,” Ya’sia responded. “My ships will need several days to refuel and prepare for the next leg but we should be ready to depart in four days.”

“We can get our staff to confirm the specifics,” James said. “But leaving as soon as possible is our priority. Now, we don’t have long before we have to head to the surface. Tell me, how are things really going in the Alliance? I know the war has been taking a heavy toll.”

As Ya’sia told James how things had developed in the years since he had last visited Varanni Prime, James lost track of time. Both of them were surprised when their subordinates contacted them to let them know Unity had slotted into Earth orbit and their shuttles were waiting to depart. “We’ll have to finish this later,” James said as they stood. “I doubt we’ll get much time to ourselves at the reception, but afterwards.”

“Afterwards,” Ya’sia agreed.

Chapter 3

Many things have changed on Earth since the formation of the Empire. The Imperial Palace was one of the first. Since then, it’s outer structure has remained unchanged over the centuries. Whilst everything else comes and goes, the Palace reminds us of the history and strength of the Empire.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

As his shuttle flew over Geneva, James peered at the large construction sites. The Imperial Senate was almost finished. An expansive hexagonal building covered in a large bulbous dome, it was the first of three identical ones that would hold the Imperial government. Beside it, the foundations of the House of Commons and the House of Servants were laid and much of the machinery that had been used to build the Senate was being moved over to begin the House of Commons. They’ll be moving in soon, James thought as he pictured many of the Senators he had come to know over the last several months. As his shuttle continued, the urban scenery of Geneva gave way to one of the valleys that led deeper into the Alps. Within less than a minute, the Imperial Palace came into view. The shuttle banked tightly and descended onto one of the landing pads.

As he often did when he arrived at the Palace, James stepped off the shuttle’s access ramp and paused to take in the view. He was filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, the Palace was spectacular. Out of the edge of one of the largest mountains that lined the Valley, a ten-story semi-circular building emerged. Right at its furthest point from the mountain, a spire more than four hundred meters high rose towards the clouds. Anywhere else and the spire would have dwarfed its surroundings. Yet set amidst the Swiss Alps, the peaks surrounding the valley towered over it. James couldn’t help but shake his head. The Palace was massive. Officially it was his and Christine’s residence. If that was all it was, he would have complained about the building being a colossal waste of money. More than a thousand civil servants and naval personnel were based within the Palace as they served on his and Christine’s staff or in various other capacities. James knew there were plans to expand the Palace into the mountainside with a number of other underground buildings. When fully functioning, it was estimated that over ten thousand people would be based within the Imperial Palace. The plan was that it would serve as a secondary headquarters for the Imperial Fleet as well as for the growing Imperial bureaucracy associated with the Empress and Emperor of mankind.

Though James was impressed, he couldn’t help but look at the Palace and think of the expense. Though he didn’t complain out loud, he still felt like someone’s resources had been wasted. He and Christine could have lived anywhere, even in Badminton House! Money, resources, and time that could have been spent on ships had instead been spent on building the impressive sight before him. He knew what Christine would say if he did complain. More than once she had insisted that mankind needed a focal point, a source of pride. The Palace was meant to be a picture of what Humanity was building as they came together. Out of the ashes of the Karacknid attack on Earth they were not just building a war machine bent on vengeance, but a better future. Perhaps we are, James thought as he took in the palace, but those days are a long way off yet.

Looking away from the top of the palace’s spire, James’ eyes settled on the large welcoming party Christine had gathered. More than fifty politicians, naval officers and government officials were gathered in front of the Palace. James didn’t need to look for Christine to guess that she would be gesturing for him to join them. For a few fleeting seconds he allowed his gaze to move away from the Palace and onto the surrounding countryside. The Swiss Alps were spectacular. Not for the first time he was filled with an urge to head down the valley and explore the many quaint farms that dotted the landscape below the palace. Or if not down, then to head up into the forests that hugged the lower elevations of the mountains, or even higher up into the snow-covered peaks. It was the one drawback of the Imperial Palace compared to Badminton House; he did not have the privacy to simply enjoy a short walk. Though the countryside looked pristine, if he headed in any direction he would quickly come across Imperial Marines or security guards. When I get back, James promised himself, Jonathan and I are going to take a few walks together.

The sound of shuttles shedding their momentum as they approached the Palace drew James’ attention back to what was going on around him. Giving himself a shake, he quickly moved away from the shuttle and towards Christine. As he moved he heard more than one shuttle touch down on the landing pad. Along with Ya’sia, a Vice Admiral and several Rear Admirals and Commodores had come with the Alliance fleet. Christine had invited them all to the reception.

As he walked up to his wife, James greeted her with a smile. On such a formal occasion he knew she wouldn’t appreciate anything more intimate. He nodded to Fairfax, who was standing on his Empress’ left, and slotted himself in on Christine’s right. “Did you enjoy seeing your old friend?” Christine asked quietly.

“Of course,” James replied. “Though we only got to scratch the surface of the things we wanted to talk about. There’s been an entire war going on in Alliance space I’ve only been able to read reports about.”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to catch up on your trip to the Alpha-three Fort. Did Admiral Ya’sia say when she thinks her ships can depart?” Christine asked.

“Three, perhaps four days,” James replied. “I’ve already sent word to our ships to make final preparations.”

“Four days,” Christine repeated. “You better make sure you spend some of them with Jonathan and I.”

“I will, I will,” James promised. It was a constant struggle to get time alone with his wife and son, but it was one battle he never intended to give up.

“Here are our guests,” Christine said loud enough for all of those gathered around her to hear. She walked forward to greet Admiral Ya’sia and the Alliance officers as they descended from their shuttles.

As the groups approached one another, Fairfax cleared his throat loudly. Only then did James realize that as he knew Ya’sia, he was expected to do the introductions. Stepping forward quicker than Christine, he racked his mind to remember the names of all the Alliance officers. “Admiral Ya’sia,” he said as he gave his friend a deep bow. “Let me officially welcome you to Earth and introduce to you our Empress, Christine Somerville.” Stepping partly to the side, James gestured to Christine. “Empress, may I introduce Admiral Ya’sia of the Alliance Fleet.” Stepping further back, James allowed Christine and Ya’sia to close to within arm’s reach of one another.

“Let me add my own welcome to my husband’s,” Christine said as she shook Ya’sia’s hand and then bowed. “It is always an encouragement to host Alliance ships in our home system. Especially one led by such a capable commander. And someone I know my husband counts among his close friends. You have served your Alliance well and I hope my species can continue to benefit from that service now.”

“Thank you for your welcome Empress, and may I congratulate you on ascending to your position and on your marriage,” Ya’sia replied. Her eyes flicked to James momentarily, “I’m sure both are challenging, even for a woman such as yourself.”

Christine grinned at Ya’sia and then at James. “I can see we are going to get on well Admiral.”

“Allow me to introduce my officers,” Ya’sia said as she gestured for the collection of aliens behind her to come forward. James breathed a sigh of relief, his part in the introductions was done. Though he had read the files on each of the senior commanders in Ya’sia’s fleet, he watched each one of them eagerly as Ya’sia brought them forward and introduced them. Vice Admiral Klack was the first person she introduced. Slithering forward not unlike a snail, the Varanni’s face showed none of the strain he was probably feeling from trying to move on the less than smooth surface. James made a mental note to suggest some alterations to the shuttle landing area. Unless Humanity lost the war with the Karacknids, Varanni diplomats would be visiting the Palace regularly for decades to come. After bowing deeply to Klack, James repeated the gesture to the Rear Admiral and the three Commodores that were also with Ya’sia. Then he stepped back and allowed Christine to walk Ya’sia down the line of attendants she had brought.

Fairfax, Christine’s Chief of Staff, shared a brief word with Ya’sia before Christine moved on to introduce Deborah Nicholls, the former senator from the United Colonial States who was now the leader of the House of Commons. Beside Nicholls was Senator Rodriguez, the leader of the Imperial Senate. Each of them had already formed their own political parties. Nicholls and her allies had formed the Loyalist Party. The name was a statement that they intended to give James and Christine their full support. Given that the House of Commons was meant to most accurately reflect the will of the Empire’s citizens, it was a smart move. At least at the minute James knew his and Christine’s popularity was riding high. Senator Rodriguez had named her party the Constitutionalists. Fairfax had explained the nuance to him. Rodriguez wasn’t saying she didn’t support James and Christine, just that from her perspective and from those who followed her in the Senate and House of Commons, the constitution was the highest authority in the Empire, not the Empress or Emperor. Though Fairfax had been hurt by the formation of such a party so quickly, James wasn’t bothered in the slightest. As far as he was concerned, supporting the constitution and supporting Christine and him were the same thing. He and Christine had written the constitution after all. James was far more concerned about when other parties not so friendly to the constitution or the Empress would form. When that happened he wouldn’t be so pleased.

The third ranking politician Christine introduced was the Speaker of the House of Servants. Doctor Maylee Strobel had been a leading historian who had taught at both Princeton and Cambridge. Christine had chosen him as one of her appointments to the House of Servants and he had managed to get himself elected as the Speaker of the House, essentially becoming the senior member there. He hadn’t aligned himself with either the Loyalists or Constitutionalists though he appreciated the nuances both parties held. After Doctor Strobel, Christine introduced Admiral Nogamoro and Rear Admiral Suarez who together commanded Home Fleet. Then she introduced the other members of her Inner Council who were present, Rear Admiral Andréa Clements, Cynthia Davenport, and the once infamous smuggler John McCarthy. The rest of the council were either out of the system commanding fleets on the frontline or carrying out other tasks James and Christine had assigned them.

“Well, now that we all know each other,” Christine said to the group of individuals who had begun to mingle with one another. “Let us retire to the Palace. I have a meal prepared in your honor Admiral Ya’sia. There is a brief snowstorm expected in the next half an hour or so, so we best go inside. Please, follow me.”

James glanced over his shoulder towards Tour Saliére. There were dark clouds rolling over the peak from the direction of Geneva. The occasional snowstorms around the Palace were both a blessing and a curse. Inside they were beautiful to watch. Outside it was not always quite the same. More than a few times he had been caught in one whilst arriving from somewhere else on Earth dressed in just his Admiral’s uniform. The thought made him give a slight shiver. He quickly moved to Christine’s side and joined her in leading the procession into the Palace.

“This is an impressive structure,” Ya’sia commented as they entered the glass doors that were ten feet high. Two marines in combat armor had opened them and were now standing at attention.

Before James could say anything, Christine elbowed his arm. She then answered the Crian Admiral. “It is Admiral. Whilst I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the spacious apartments James, Jonathan and I share, the Palace is used for much more than just our residence. Many offices and strategic planning committees are based here. As Emperor and Empress, James and I are the head of our army and navy as well as being responsible for the long-term future of our species. The Palace is the focal point for all of our work. In addition, it is meant to be a symbol. The Karacknids may have nuked many of our major cities, but we can and will rebuild.”

“The Palace matches your intention well,” Ya’sia commented. “This building could be in Cria or Varanni Prime and it would fit right in. Your species has certainly come a long way in such a short time.”

“I confess that Superintendent Hallock and his people had some input in the design,” Christine admitted. “They even shipped in some of the more advanced construction materials they suggested we incorporate.”

Ya’sia smiled, “The Kulreans are an intriguing species, despite their professed pacifism, they keep getting themselves involved in our war with the Karacknids. I presume the expense and construction efforts Hallock saved were diverted to your warship construction program?”

Christine smiled back. “Of course Admiral. Where else would it go?”

Ya’sia nodded. “Where is the Superintendent by the way? I am keen to meet him.”

“Both Hallock and Admiral Jil’lal of Vestar are awaiting us in the banqueting hall. They wanted to leave the official introductions to my people and I, but they are as keen to chat with you as you are them.”

“Excellent,” Ya’sia replied.

When they arrived at the banqueting Hall, Christine introduced Hallock and Jil’lal to the Alliance officers and then the stewards showed everyone to their seats. To James’ delight, he had been sat between Vice Admiral Klack and Cynthia. The meal shouldn’t be too boring, he thought, no doubt Klack would have a lot of interesting strategic and tactical ideas to talk about. Superintendent Hallock sat on the other side of Klack however and initially James found that the Kulrean Superintendent held more interest for Klack than James did. James understood, the Varanni and the Kulreans had a long history together, albeit the species hadn’t interacted with each other for nearly a millennia until recently. “So,” James said between mouthfuls as he turned to Cynthia. “How is the building work going?” Though he was eager to talk to Klack, he didn’t mind getting to spend some time with Cynthia. She was his last real link to Suzanna. The Havenite had been his first wife’s closest confidante and unofficial Chief of Staff for several years.

“It’s progressing,” Cynthia replied as she quickly chewed what she was eating. “The foundations for the House of Commons are complete and the House of Servants is almost there too. We have most of the materials on site to begin construction in the Commons. We plan to begin by the end of the week.”

“How are the Senators liking their new building?” James asked. “I’m sure they’re happy to get out of the hotel conference rooms they’ve been meeting in.”

“They certainly are,” Cynthia agreed, “they can actually meet together as one body now rather than remotely. Though they have forwarded a number of suggested tweaks to the Senate building. We are incorporating them into the Commons and Servant buildings. Then we’ll probably go back and make the changes in the Senate, though that won’t be for a few years.”

James took a sip of his drink. “What’s the estimated completion time for the Commons building?”

“Six months and we will have all the construction work done, then another two for the refurbishment,” Cynthia answered. “I’m pretty confident about those dates. Now that we’ve completed one building, we have a good idea of how long it will take to finish the next two. By this time next year, work should be complete on both of them.”

“Impressive,” James commented. “How are things back home?”

“As well as can be expected,” Cynthia replied as she gave him a small smile. “You know my people. Giving up their independence did not sit comfortably with most of them, but we know the threat the Karacknids pose, and with you as Emperor, they at least know what they’re getting themselves into. A few new political parties have formed that want to revoke our membership of the Empire, but their support is almost non-existent.”

“I imagine that will grow with time. Especially if the Karacknid threat ever diminishes,” James responded. “I may not know Haven as well as you, but I have seen your people’s fierce independence come to the fore on more than one occasion. Still, I hope that won’t be for some years yet, and by then perhaps we will have convinced your people that remaining in the Empire is in their long term as well as short term good.”

“Let’s hope so,” Cynthia concurred. “With all the money flowing into the system with the number of warships we are building, our economy is booming, there has actually been a sharp increase of immigrants from Earth and some other colonies.”

James’ eyebrows rose. “That is going to be interesting. Perhaps if enough immigrants come in, we don’t have to worry about Haven thinking of seceding from the Empire. Though I imagine if too many come in and the ethos of the planet starts to change, it will only get the backs up of those who oppose the Empire.”

“It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out,” Cynthia replied. “I’m glad I’m not a part of it. I have enough of a headache as it is.”

“You’re not tempted to go back?” James pressed.

Cynthia shook her head. “Not at the moment. The new Governor of Haven offered me a position, I want to see things through here first though. I understand why you and Christine wanted me to head up the construction work. I have to deal with suppliers from basically every nation on Earth. They already think I have my favorites, and I’m not even from here!”

The sudden weight pressed against James’ left arm made him turn away from Cynthia. Klack had leaned over towards him. “Emperor, I have read all the reports I can get on your new Corsair interceptors. I know you have seen them in action firsthand. I’m keen to hear how you think they have performed so far,” the Varanni Admiral said.

James glanced back at Cynthia and gave her a wink as he reached out and touched her elbow. He knew she would understand the abrupt end to their conversation. As Emperor he had a duty to see to his guests, and, as an Admiral, talk of fighters and battles was a hard thing to turn down. Cynthia gave him a knowing smile; she understood both of his motives.

Turning back to Klack, James described the Battle of Alpha-two. Soon the discussion ranged from the battles Klack had been involved in to the new technologies and novel strategies Humanity and the Alliance were coming up with. For James, the meal flew by. Later, as he and Klack were joined by Nogamoro, Suarez and a Varanni Rear Admiral, the discussions continued long into the night.

Chapter 4

With the massive growth in the Imperial Navy after the War of Doom and the increase in ship sizes that accompanied it, small local shipyards could no longer keep up with demand. Within one hundred years of the Empire’s formation, entire solar systems began to be devoted to the construction of warships.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Palace, 12th November 2483 AD (two days later).

“I think that is about everything Admiral,” James said as he stood to bring the meeting to a close. “Good luck out there,” he added as he held out his hand to Rear Admiral Jackson Yamata. The Japanese naval officer was being given command of the shipyard Regin in the Maximillian system. With the rapid expansion the once secret shipyard was undergoing, it had become necessary to send a flag officer to take over operations. James had spent the last half hour filling the Rear Admiral in on some of the finer points of Haven culture, given he would be mainly dealing with Havenite freighters and politicians.

“Thank you for your advice Admiral, I won’t let you down. I know it’s not the front line, but I will do my best to get as many warships into your hands as I can,” Yamata replied as he shook James’ hand vigorously and then snapped to attention and saluted.

“I’m sure you will,” James said after returning the gesture. “Dismissed,” he added as he gave Yamata one final nod. Nogamoro had recommended Yamata for the position, Yamata was a competent commander who excelled in logistics. He was exactly the man Regin needed to ensure the shipyard’s expansion continued smoothly.

As the office door closed behind Yamata, James pulled out his COM unit. “Where are they now?” he asked Alfaro, his Flag Lieutenant. The Havenite was a new addition to his command staff. Given that he spent so much time off Drake when he was in the Sol system, having an officer who shadowed him and kept charge of his schedule was very helpful. Alfaro had joined the Imperial Navy after Haven had voted to join the Empire. He had been a Third Lieutenant in a Havenite destroyer before that. With a year or two’s experience as James’ flag officer, he would be able to pick up a position of First Lieutenant aboard a much larger warship. Or perhaps even a small command of his own given how the fleet is expanding, James thought as it took Alfaro a few seconds to get an answer to his query. He had been involving the Flag Lieutenant in most of the simulations his command staff carried out and Alfaro was showing decent tactical capabilities alongside everything else he did for James.

“They’re already in the air,” Alfaro informed James. “They’re scheduled to touch down in four minutes.”

“Very good,” James replied. Christine, Jonathan, and he had been scheduled to visit one of the new orphanages that had been built in China. With so many Chinese cities having been nuked by the Karacknids there were many orphans that he and Christine were responsible for. The vast majority had been adopted over the last two years, but there was still a need to provide housing, food, and education for those who hadn’t yet found new homes. When Yamata had been chosen to take over at Regin, James had been forced to cancel on Christine in order to meet with Yamata before he left the Sol system. “I’ll go and greet them myself,” James replied. “We may as well take a few minutes of fresh air while we can. Care to join me?”

“Of course Admiral,” Alfaro responded.

James turned and left his office. It was just a short walk to the Palace’s massive foyer. Alfaro was already there waiting for him. James nodded to him and together they crossed the foyer and exited the main entrance. The chilly mountain breeze washed over James, making his cheeks redden. As best he could, he ignored the cold and enjoyed the scenery. Taking a deep breath he slowly looked around, taking in the mountains that towered on either side of the valley and the beautiful scenery of the lake and valley itself. “This is one advantage of working here rather than on Drake,” James said to Alfaro. “You don’t get views like this in space.”

“No Admiral, certainly not,” Alfaro agreed.

Of course, James thought, on Drake there are far fewer politicians to waylay me. They are why I need some breaks to clear my head. Thoughts of Drake quickly disappeared as he spotted a shuttle coming up the valley. Christine and Jonathan would soon be home.

*

From a safehouse in Nice just one hundred and eighty miles away, Agarwal saw the shuttle as well. It brought a feral smile to his face. The live feed from the head mounted camera on his operative was being passed through more than twenty different locations including a station in low Earth orbit. Even so, there was barely a second of delay.

“Confirmed,” Saria said from where she sat beside him as she looked down at her own terminal. “That is the Imperial shuttle. According to their official schedule, they should be returning to the Palace.”

“Then that is them,” Agarwal said. “Give the go order.”

“Sent,” Saria responded instantly.

Agarwal could picture what happened next. He had trained the operative personally. From the camouflaged foxhole, his man would mount the hyper velocity missile launcher on his shoulder. Manually he would line the weapon up on the moving shuttle, leading his target by no more than a hundred meters. Releasing his breath, the operative would flick on the targeting sensors. If everything went correctly, it would take less than a second for the launcher to lock on. As soon as it beeped his operative’s finger would depress the trigger. Just as Agarwal imagined it, the image on his screen vibrated as the plume of a missile shot towards the shuttle. In less than two seconds it covered the mile or so to its target and a large fireball engulfed the rear of the shuttle. It tumbled towards the lower regions of the mountain his operative had climbed and hidden himself in days before.

“Confirmed missile hit,” Saria said. “It struck the shuttle’s engines.”

“A job well done,” Agarwal replied. “Now to tie up our loose end,” he added as he tapped a button on his own console. It sent a message back through the relays to the second missile he had given his operative. At least, the small bomb had been designed to look like a second missile. As soon as it received the message, it detonated taking out the one thing that linked Agarwal to the assassination of the Emperor and Empress. “It’s time to get out of here. Then we can sit back and enjoy the news reports,” Agarwal said as he raised his arms and stretched in his chair. He was still grinning.

*

The moment the shuttle deviated from its course, James knew something was wrong. He recognized the pilot’s attempt at throwing off a targeting lock. Then the plume from the hyper velocity missile raced through the sky. James didn’t have time to scream or think or do anything. Christine’s shuttle disappeared in a blinding explosion. Before despair and anger could overwhelm him, the shuttle appeared again as it rapidly lost altitude. Tumbling end over end smoke and flames enfolded it. James recognized the pilot’s vain efforts to get the shuttle under control. Before he could, the shuttle disappeared from James’ view as it crashed into the forests below the Palace.

For several seconds James stood stunned as his eyes flicked from where the shuttle had been to the smoke rising where it crashed. Within a handful of breaths, he begun to pant heavily and his head was shaking. No, no, no, he said to himself. By the fourth time he was speaking out loud, though he didn’t know it. “No! It can’t be. No! Not again!”

Alfaro’s hands on his arm shook James out of his stupor. “Admiral, Admiral,” his Flag Lieutenant said. “We have to get you inside now! Admiral!“

Turning slightly, James saw that the two marines in combat armor who guarded the main entrance to the Palace were charging towards him. Though he didn’t have the mental capacity to think about it, he vaguely grasped that they were afraid of a follow up attack that would be targeted at him. James didn’t care in the slightest. Flicking his arm, he released himself from Alfaro’s grip and shot off towards the rising smoke. The shuttle had crashed a couple of miles from the Palace. There was only one place James was going. Thanks to incessant nagging from Admiral Russell and General Johnston, both he and Christine had received a number of augmentations over the last six months. It didn’t put them even close to the level of a special forces marine, but James felt his augmentations kicking in as they boosted his speed and strength and tempered his adrenaline. The clarity the chemical rebalancing brought only redoubled his efforts. The shuttle hadn’t been completely destroyed by the hyper velocity missile. It had hit the mountainside hard yes, but there was a chance!

Quickly the two marines in combat armor caught up with him. “Emperor,” one of the marines called out. “You must come back with us immediately.”

James ignored them. Instead he put his head down and tried to run even faster. Johnston had boasted he could outrun a marine in combat armor, James didn’t have the same augmentations, but he intended to try. He wasn’t going to let the marines grab him. When they caught up with him again, James looked over. “I’m going to their shuttle. I order you to escort me there. If you disobey you will be court martialed. Understood?” he bellowed between breaths. When both marines turned to look at each other through their faceplates, James knew he had them. Neither had the rank necessary to even begin to disobey their Emperor. Ignoring them, James ran down the mountainside. Within four minutes he reached the edge of the forest and had to slow slightly as he weaved between the trees. The smoke billowing into the air from the crash site was easily visible through the canopy. It was like a signal fire drawing him ever closer. Overhead he heard the sound of other shuttles as search and rescue teams sortied from the Palace and other nearby areas. Though it was irrational, James cursed them all. He needed to be the first one there. He needed to get to Christine and Jonathan.

Just six minutes after the missile had struck the shuttle, James broke into the clearing the shuttle’s crash had made. The scene that greeted James almost tore his heart in two. The shuttle had broken up on impact. What was left of its rear was ablaze. Above it, a rescue shuttle was hovering and spewing out some kind of fire-retardant foam. On the ground several rescuers in protective suits tried to approach. Knowing he could do nothing there, James rushed to the front of the shuttle. Its cockpit was smashed to bits but the structure appeared intact. Running up to it, James pushed his way through the naval officers who were scrambling over it. “Christine!” he called out. “Christine,” he desperately repeated.

“Over here Emperor,” someone called, causing James to spin. On the ground to one side of the forward part of the shuttle two men were leaning over a shuttle seat. Someone was still strapped into it. James rushed over to them. “Her seat must have been thrown from the shuttle on impact,” one of the officers said. “We have a pulse, but she is badly hurt,” he added as he moved back slightly.

James swore as he saw the state of his wife. Her left arm and leg had clearly borne the brunt of the force that had thrown her from the shuttle. Both were bent at bad angles. He could see a bone sticking out of her thigh. Reaching down he grasped her uninjured hand. “Christine,” he said just as loudly as before as he took her hand. “Christine, can you hear me. Are you okay?”

When Christine didn’t move or acknowledge him, James shook her again. He knew her augmentations would dull her pain and reduce any internal bleeding. “Christine!” he repeated. When her eyelids fluttered, James leaned in closer. “It’s me, it’s James. You’re okay,” he said as much for himself as her. “You’re alive. Please tell me you’re alive.”

Instead of opening her eyes, Christine started coughing. Blood bubbled out of her mouth, coating James’ hand and shoulder. Then her eyes snapped open. For a couple seconds she looked around wildly as her arms thrashed. Then a howl of pain escaped her lips. James grabbed her shoulders and did his best to hold her still. Any kind of movement would only cause her more pain. “It’s all right. It’s all right,” he said as he tried to reassure her. “I’m here. I’m here.” After a few moments her thrashing died down. Then Christine’s eyes locked on James’. “Jonathan,” she croaked. “Jonathan. Where is Jonathan?”

James shook his head. “I don’t know, I came to you first. You’ve been badly hurt your left arm and leg…”

Christine looked down at her left arm. Her eyes widened and she tried to move it. Another groan of pain escaped her lips. She looked back at James. “I don’t care about me. Get our son.” The intense look made James release Christine’s hand at once. Without thinking, he stood and turned, moving quickly towards the forward of the shuttle. Jonathan travelled in a specially designed shuttle seat that was meant to protect him in the event of a crash. Please let it be intact, James thought as he pushed through the rescuers who were inside the forward part of the shuttle. If his seat had detached and fallen into the rear part of the shuttle, James knew there was no hope.

“My son,” he called as he fought his way through the rescuers. “My son, is he okay?”

“We’ve got him Emperor,” someone slightly ahead of the others called out. “He is here Emperor. He is still in his seat.”

As if by magic, the rescuers parted for James and he was greeted by the familiar sound of Jonathan wailing. Moments later he was standing beside Jonathan’s flight seat. The seat was on its side and Jonathan’s hands were pushed up against the glass that sealed him in place. “The seat looks intact Emperor,” the rescuer said. “But we can’t get it open. It’s lost its power connection to the shuttle. Nor can we disconnect it from the shuttle to get it out of here.”

“Here,” James said as he slipped in beside the rescuer. “It has a tricky release mechanism.” Praying that that was all that it was, James reached over and undid the manual release. As the top glass panel flicked open, James deftly caught Jonathan before he tumbled onto the shuttle’s side. He scooped him up into his arms and hugged his son to his chest. Closing his eyes, James let out a prayer of thanks. Then, though Jonathan continued to scream, he held the boy at arm’s length. Visually and then with his hand he examined every inch of Jonathan’s body, watching his son’s face to see if he had been hurt or broken anything. When Jonathan’s wailing continued but didn’t get any worse, James hugged him back to his chest and gave another prayer of thanks. Then his mind went to Christine. Ignoring everyone around him, he pushed through the crowd and moved back to his wife’s side. “Here he is,” James said as he held out Jonathan to Christine. The rescuers had released her from her seat and she was lying on a portable stretcher. Someone had wrapped her in a blanket and several medical devices were attached to her good arm. “He is fine dear,” James assured Christine. “He is shaken up, but I think he is okay.”

Though Christine didn’t speak, James saw the relief wash over her face. Her mouth moved up and down slowly and James guessed she was thanking him, but no sound came out.

“May I take him Emperor?” someone beside James asked. At first James didn’t hear them but when they asked the second time he turned. “I’m a physician,” the woman said. “I’ve been treating your wife. Can I look at him?”

James shook his head and hugged Jonathan closer, his crying had subsided slightly, but he was still terrified. A croak from Christine made him turn back to his wife. She had raised her good hand and was pointing at the medic. When James met her eyes she nodded ever so slightly. As reluctantly as James had ever done anything in his life, he half turned to the medic and held Jonathan out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Christine nod again and close her eyes. The medic whisked Jonathan away and placed him on a much smaller stretcher. She felt over Jonathan and scanned him with a medical scanner. As James watched, first Christine and then Jonathan were lifted and carried to a nearby shuttle. Within thirty seconds the shuttle took off and headed towards Geneva. Before it cleared the tree line, four other shuttles closed in around it, providing a protective cocoon. All of a sudden, James found himself standing alone. More alone than he had been in his life before. He wanted to believe that they would be all right but it was difficult while looking at the wreckage all around him. Christine had been very badly hurt, and he had no idea whether Jonathan had been seriously hurt or not. The medic hadn’t even spoken to him after taking him. She had just scanned him and rushed off. As the rescuers around him continued to move about frantically, James fell to his knees. Exhaustion from his frantic sprint to the crash site caught up with him. Closing his eyes he fell to the ground as he fainted.

Chapter 5

Often I have reflected on how the death of one individual can sway the course of Human history.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Geneva University Hospital.

Forty-five minutes later James was sitting in a small hospital room. He couldn’t remember how he came to be there and nor did he care. The room he was in had an open viewing area that allowed him to watch what was going on in the adjacent medical suite. Initially there had been a flurry of activity as a bed had been rolled in and a handful of nurses had set up a number of different medical devices. Then they had all left. For more than twenty minutes James found himself essentially alone. Twice Alfaro had come in. The first time was to ask if James wanted anything. Rather than answer, James had asked if there was any news on Christine. When Alfaro shook his head James had turned away from his Flag Lieutenant. The second time Alfaro informed him that Fairfax and several other people were outside waiting to come in. James again asked for an update on Christine and then ignored him when none had been forthcoming. He didn’t care about Fairfax or anything else, he just wanted to know what was happening.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, a doctor entered the room. James hesitated, almost afraid to ask. The doctor clearly picked up on his state of mind. “I have come to update you Emperor,” she said gently. “Your wife is not out of the woods yet, but she is in good hands. She is in surgery now. We had to stabilize her before we could begin, but the best surgeons in Switzerland are working with her. We should know more in an hour or two.”

“What condition is she in?” James pressed. “Why can’t I see what’s going on?”

The doctor shook her head. “You don’t want to see what’s happening now. Our scans indicated that she had suffered some internal injuries, there has been a lot of bleeding. They had to open her up to clear out the blood and accelerate the healing process. We’re still waiting for results of a series of scans. Once they come back the surgeons will know exactly what needs to be done.”

James closed his eyes, he didn’t want to picture it, but he had seen far too many people mangled and torn apart by weapons fire. It was easy to imagine what Christine would look like under the surgeon’s knife. Within moments his mind brought him back to Suzanna’s funeral. Before she had been buried he had insisted on opening her casket. He had seen what the plasma pistol had done to her stomach. Christine’s injuries sounded almost as bad. James felt tears wet his eyelids as he thought about it. “Please tell me she’s going to be okay,” he said, forcing himself to look at the doctor.

The doctor took a half step forward and placed a hand on James’ shoulder. “She is in the best hands we have got. Her injuries are life-threatening, but there is much we can do. I can’t promise you more than that.”

James stood and turned away from the doctor and stared through the glass into the empty medical suite. “And Jonathan?” he tried and failed to ask without his voice breaking.

“He is in much better shape,” the doctor replied. “We’re doing a few more scans, but so far everything is coming back okay. His safety seat took the brunt of the impact. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing. We can’t be sure yet, there could be internal damage or bleeding like with the Empress, but we should know soon.

With his back still turned to the doctor, James nodded and lapsed back into silence. For a couple of minutes the doctor stood near him, but eventually James heard her take a few steps back and slip out of the room. Alone again, James’s mind whirled as he imagined what was happening to Christine and all the potential scenarios that could lead to Jonathan suffering complications.

It was an hour before anyone entered the room again. When they did, James turned to demand an update or send whoever it was away if there wasn’t one. The noise that greeted him made his anger evaporate. He recognized Jonathan’s crying right away. In the blink of an eye he crossed the small room and whisked Jonathan out of the nurse’s hands. At once, his seven-month-old son stopped wailing and wriggling. As if he sensed his father’s despair, Jonathan grabbed James’ shoulder tightly and pressed his head against James’ neck. James held Jonathan tightly to him as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the comfort the cuddle gave him. After a few seconds, the sound of someone clearing her throat made James open his eyes. The same doctor who had spoken to him before was standing on the threshold.

When James’s eyes met hers she spoke quickly. “Our scans came back negative. He has a few bumps and bruises, but there doesn’t seem to be any brain swelling or internal damage. He’s been very upset, understandably.” She nodded to Jonathan’s limp form, “though it seems like he has got what he wanted now.”

“And Christine?” James asked as he shifted Jonathan on his chest slightly.

The doctor grimaced. “I’m afraid there has been no update. She is still in surgery. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear something.”

“Thank you,” James said with a nod. He was still deeply worried about Christine, but holding Jonathan was giving him some balance. “Thank you for everything you have done.”

“Do not worry Emperor, it is our duty, and we are happy to help,” the doctor replied. James nodded to her and she turned and slipped out of the room.

James lost track of time. To keep Jonathan happy, he paced back-and-forth across the small room. After counting to eighty-seven he lost track of how many lengths he did. Back-and-forth, back-and-forth he walked as he bounced Jonathan gently and held him close. Though James was ecstatic that Jonathan was okay, his mind threw up every possible outcome that could take Christine from him. His imagination was full of thoughts of Jonathan growing up without a mother, of him having to juggle being a father and leading the Empire. Of the Karacknids defeating the counterattack Ya’sia and he had been planning without him there to be involved. A hundred different scenarios raced through his mind. The only brief respite he got was when two of Jonathan’s maids arrived. They quickly made up a bottle and gave it to James. Watching Jonathan greedily down the bottle made James smile for a second. But then his son fell asleep in his arms and James was left alone with his thoughts once more.

It wasn’t until three hours later that movement on the other side of the glass panel made James stop his pacing. Without warning the double doors into the medical suite swung inwards and nurses came rushing through. Moments later a bed was wheeled through and James recognized Christine, though her head was in some kind of brace and the rest of her was covered by a thick sheet. As James watched the nurses transferred her to the bed that had been waiting for her. Then they attached several devices to Christine and finally stepped back. They were still watching her when the door to James’ small room opened.

“Emperor Somerville,” a man dressed in a doctor’s coat said as he stepped in. “I am senior consultant Jack Keller. I have just finished operating on your wife,” he continued as James turned towards him. He broke into a smile. “I’m pleased to say that she is going to make a full recovery though it will be a long road for her. Both her left arm and leg were badly damaged. We’ve repaired as much of it as we can, it’s now over to her body to do the rest. She will need several months of physiotherapy, but after that, she should be as good as new.”

“The internal bleeding?” James asked, not willing to accept the good news just yet. “And her head?”

Keller nodded. “Both were more concerning than her arm and leg but we believe we have both under control. Her head took a nasty knock, there was some brain swelling, but we reduced it before there was a chance of any serious damage. I imagine she’ll have a headache on and off for the next couple of weeks to a month, but that should be the extent of it. As to her internals. Her spleen was ruptured and her liver scarred. There was quite a lot of blood loss but we’ve repaired the damage and given her a transfusion. Again, she will be tender for a while, but I don’t believe there will be lasting damage. I must say, she is a lucky woman. I saw the footage of the shuttle’s crash. It could have been much worse.”

“It could,” James found himself agreeing as the last wisps of his fear and despair evaporated. Instead he felt deep-seated anger bubble up within him. Someone had tried to kill his wife and child. They almost bloody succeeded! he thought. With an effort, he pushed down his anger. “Thank you,” he said to the doctor as calmly as he could. “I have my wife and Jonathan has his mother thanks to you. I won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”

“I would have done the same for anyone,” Keller responded. “But I am happy that I have been able to serve you both in this way.”

“Can I go and see her now?” James asked as he turned back towards Christine.

“If you like, but keep the noise down,” Keller said as his eyes flickered to Jonathan who was still asleep with his head on James’ shoulder. “Her hearing and eyesight will be quite sensitive. But the sedatives should be wearing off. She could wake up at any minute. Especially with her augments, they will flush out the sedatives we were using quicker than normal.”

“We’ll go to her now,” James said. “Don’t worry, we’ll be quiet.” Not waiting for Keller’s response, James moved past him and entered Christine’s suite. Gently he lifted a chair and pulled over to sit where he would be directly in her line of sight when she woke up. Reaching under her cover, he found her right hand, took it in his and gently squeezed it while rocking Jonathan back and forth.

James sat with her until he felt the slightest twitch from Christine’s hand. Stopping his rubbing, he waited to see if he had imagined it or not. A couple of seconds later there was another twitch. Then Christine’s eyelids fluttered. “It’s okay,” James whispered. “It’s okay, I am here with you.” Christine’s eyelids fluttered again, and then they opened. A strange croak came out of her mouth. James guessed what she was asking for and quickly let go of her hand and reached over to the glass that had been left near her bed. Ever so gently he moved it to her lips and gave her just enough to wet her tongue. “You’re in the hospital dear,” he explained. “In Geneva. They had to operate on you but you’re going to be okay.”

“Why…” was all Christine managed to say before her voice broke again.

“Your shuttle was attacked,” James said. “Don’t you remember? I found you on the ground, you were thrown from the shuttle.”

Christine closed her eyes, then they shot open again. “Jonathan,” she managed to say, her voice filled with panic.

James smiled as he twisted slightly to bring Jonathan more into Christine’s line of sight. “Don’t worry, he is here, fast asleep. The doctors have checked him over. He is perfectly fine. Though it was quite the ordeal for him. He hasn’t let me go since the doctors gave him back.”

“And me?” Christine asked as her voice firmed. “Everything hurts. How am I?”

“You did get knocked about. Your left arm and leg were all but shattered in the crash. But the doctor assures me they put everything back where it’s supposed to go. They had to do some work on your spleen and liver as well, but everything is fine. You going to hurt for a while. I don’t think you’ll be walking out of here any time soon, but they assure me you’re going to make a full recovery.”

Christine lay back as she closed her eyes again. “It does hurt everywhere. I think some of their drugs are wearing off.”

“I’ll speak to the doctors,” James said. “Your augments should start to help with some of that as the drugs wear off.”

Christine twisted her neck slightly so she could look at James once again. Though she began to speak slowly her pace quickly increased. “Have you spoken to Fairfax yet? Do we know who did this? What about a public statement, what has been said? Do the news broadcasts know what has happened? How long have I been here for?”

James shook his head to all the questions. “I don’t know anything. I’ve been waiting here with Jonathan. You know as much as I do.”

The smallest of smiles appeared on the edge of Christine’s lips. “You are a buffoon. You know that don’t you? An attempt was made on the Empress’s life. The whole system will be up in arms. We need to assure them that I’m okay, that you’re okay. Where are my maids?”

“They are nearby,” James answered. “They brought food for Jonathan so they can’t be far away.”

“You need to get them,” Christine informed him. “They can take Jonathan off you. You need to meet with Fairfax. You need to make a public appearance, reassure everyone that you’re alive and still in charge. You should probably get the surgeon that operated on me to give a run down on my condition.”

James shook his head. “There’s no way I’m leaving your side. Not until you’re well enough to come home. You’re my wife, that’s my priority.”

“I am your priority dear,” Christine replied as her right hand appeared from under the covers and sought out James’. “You said it yourself, I’m going to be in pain, but I’ll be okay. There’s nothing more you can do for me at the moment. Look, Jonathan’s asleep, the maids can take him from you and bring him back to his crib in the Palace. Better yet, they can bring his crib here so he’s with me. I think I’d like that. But you don’t need to be here, not all the time at least. There’s more people than just me who need you. And I’m the one who’s telling you to go.” James opened his mouth to argue but Christine squeezed his hand much more firmly than he expected. “I don’t have the energy to argue with you. This is something you need to do. You can go and do all that and be back in an hour or two.” Letting go of his hand, Christine waved at her body and all the machines connected to her. “I’m not going anywhere. If something happens the hospital can contact you right away. The Palace is no more than a couple of minutes shuttle ride away. It’s not like I am ordering you out of the system.”

James wanted to argue. The last thing he cared about was making a public appearance or statement. Yet he knew Christine well enough to know the look on her face was not one to be argued with. She intended for him to go and though she didn’t have the strength for it, she would fight with him until he finally gave in. Not wanting to waste what little energy she had, James reluctantly nodded. “Fine, I’ll go,” he replied as he let out a deep breath. “But if there is even the smallest of problems, you are to contact me right away. Do you understand?”

“Of course, I’ll call for you,” Christine promised. “Now go, the sooner you leave the sooner I can close my eyes for a bit and the sooner you’ll be back.”

“All right,” James said as he stood, new determination filling his voice. He didn’t particularly care about doing the things Christine wanted him to, but he wanted to be back as quickly as possible. “I’ll leave Jonathan with the maids and go back to the Palace. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he added as he lent down and kissed Christine’s forehead. Christine had already closed her eyes again. Not knowing if she had fallen asleep or not, he didn’t say anything more. Instead he quietly left the medical suite.

Outside he wasn’t surprised to find Jonathan’s two maids waiting. Nodding to one of them he gently prized Jonathan from his chest and handed him over. “Christine wants him to stay here with her. Can you arrange to have his crib brought down to her room?” he whispered.

“Of course, Emperor, we’ll do that right away,” the maid responded.

Behind the maids, James saw Alfaro waiting. He was moving back and forth from foot to foot. “What have the doctors said?” he asked as James’ eyes met his.

“They are both going to be okay. Christine has a difficult few weeks ahead of her, but she should be fine,” James answered. “She sent me out here to start to deal with the fallout from all this.”

Alfaro let out a deep breath of relief. “I am very pleased to hear that Admiral. What do you want to do first?”

Though several of the things Christine had instructed him to do sprang to mind, as he thought about the question, the anger he had felt before returned with a vengeance. Someone had tried to kill Christine and Jonathan. Yet he knew nothing about who they were or why they had done it. “Contact Admiral Russell and General Johnston,” James said as an edge crept into his voice. “I want to meet them at the Palace immediately. I want a full update on everything they know about the attack.”

“I’ll message them immediately Admiral,” Alfaro said as he pulled out his COM unit and began to type furiously. “Fairfax is in the hospital. He’s been waiting to speak to you. I’ve done my best to keep him at arm’s length.”

James smiled at his Flag Lieutenant despite his anger. He knew it couldn’t have been easy to keep Fairfax away. “Tell him we are going to the Palace. He can ride in my shuttle and we can talk about whatever he likes on the way.”

“Yes Admiral, right away Admiral,” Alfaro responded.

James was happy to talk to Fairfax, it would probably be a good distraction from the anger that was building within him, but he was dealing with Russell and Johnston first. Whatever political considerations Fairfax wanted him to worry about came second.

*

When James stepped into the small side office Alfaro led him to, he was happy to see Russell and Johnston were already there. Slipping into a seat, he waited for Fairfax to come in and then met Russell’s eyes. “I want to know everything you’ve got so far,” he demanded in an emotionless tone.

“It has only been six hours,” the head of the Imperial Intelligence Division responded, “So things are still very much in the preliminary stage. I have my best operatives working on it though.”

“We both do,” Johnston interjected, a hint of shame clearly perceivable in his voice. The Imperial Marines were the ones tasked with protecting the Emperor and Empress.

James waved a dismissive hand at both of them, he wasn’t interested in their overlapping jurisdictional problems. “Just tell me.”

“We found the shooter,” Russell informed him. “It wasn’t hard. Several of the Palace’s security sensors detected the launch location. Plus his remains were splattered across a twenty-meter radius. Whoever he was, he wasn’t meant to survive his mission. The second hyper velocity missile he was carrying exploded just seconds after Christine’s shuttle was hit. We are still seeing if we can get a DNA match. He’s not in any of our military or relocation records, but all the national records haven’t been combined into one database yet. We will find out eventually.”

“I want to know as soon as you do,” James demanded.

“Of course Emperor,” Russell responded. “We also found something else. Our initial analysis of the blast area found remnants of a video recorder. We think the shooter streamed his attack to someone else. I have our best analysts tracking the feed. We know it passed through at least eight relay stations. That number is probably going to double or triple, but eventually we’ll track down where the images were sent to. What we know is that someone was watching. They were probably waiting to see if the attack was successful before detonating the bomb. It would be an efficient way to cover the tracks of whoever organized the attack.”

James felt his anger rise. Someone had meticulously planned the attack on his wife and son. Not only that, they had watched it live. They had probably celebrated when the shuttle had been hit and crashed into the mountainside. Fairfax had told him almost no news had leaked to the public about Christine’s condition; his wife’s attackers would be gloating over how they had killed Christine and Jonathan.

“We also think they weren’t just targeting Christine,” Johnston said. “You changed your schedule to return to the Palace early to meet with Rear Admiral Yamata at the last moment. Whoever planned the attack likely hoped to kill both you and Christine. It’s clear they wanted to decapitate the Empire.”

James ground his teeth together as he met Russell and Johnston’s eyes. “Who did this? Who is behind this attack against my family?”

Both men glanced at one another and Russell shook his head slightly. “It’s too early for us to say for sure. The motive is clear but there are a number of groups who are opposed to the Empire’s formation. None that we thought were prepared to go to this extreme length. But they are out there. We are monitoring every group we know about. If there is any increased traffic or even a hint that they know something, we will take them in for questioning.”

James slammed his fist down on the armrest of his chair. “But we know nothing right now!”

“We don’t,” Johnston confirmed as he raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “But we will find them, I promise you that as my Emperor and my friend. You just have to let our people do their jobs. We’ll run down whoever did this.”

James wanted to scream. He wanted the scum who had attacked his wife brought to justice. He want to see them lined up and shot. The constitution didn’t spell out what fate awaited traitors to the Empire. Yet there were more than enough nations with a history of capital punishment. He and Christine would be perfectly within their legal rights to see that capital punishment was the appropriate response for such a cowardly attack. The anger stirring within him was pushing James to lash out at Russell and Johnston and order them to get the answers he wanted immediately; the rational part of his mind knew they were doing everything they could. Getting angry at them wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Full of frustration he turned to Fairfax. “There’s nothing more we can do here. You may arrange for me to do whatever you think needs done.” He turned back to Russell and Johnston. “I want to be kept abreast of every development. I want these bastards hunted down and brought to justice. There will be no excuses for failing to do this.”

“We understand Emperor,” Russell answered for both of them.

“Let’s go,” Fairfax said as he stood and placed a hand on James’ shoulder. Though he wanted to shake the other man’s hand away, James allowed Fairfax to lead him out of the office. Venting his frustration wasn’t going to quicken Christine’s healing or aid the search for the culprits. Yet knowing that and containing himself were two different things. James was sure that several years ago he would have been lashing out at everyone around him. Even if he wasn’t doing that now, the desire was still there.

Chapter 6

I have seen it many times, a marine or naval officer can fight on through the loss of just about anything; friends, comrades, spouses and homeworlds to name just a few. One thing that is not on that list are children. A parent should never outlive their child. Officer cadets should remember this when caring for those under their command.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Palace, 16th November 2483 AD (four days later).

Though he had two offices in the Imperial Palace and his own office on Drake, for the past three days James had set up shop in an auxiliary office barely big enough for a desk and chair. He had moved in as soon as Christine had returned to the Palace. Just a day after Christine had woken up from surgery, she had insisted on being moved there. Despite James’ protests, she had argued that the people of Earth needed to know she was okay. And being back home in the Palace at least nominally carrying out her duties was the best way to do that.

News of the attempted assassination had broken just as James had held his first meeting with Russell and Johnston. Since then the news broadcasts had been running wild with theories and guesses as to what had happened. Some had suggested that both Christine and James were dead and others that the attack had failed completely. Even James’ public appearance hadn’t quelled the commotion. In the end Christine had won the argument about returning to the Palace by flicking between some of the news broadcasts and settling one of her smoldering gazes at James. It had been clear that no argument known to man would change her mind. So with more than ten heavily vetted news crews at the Palace’s entrance, Christine had been flown home and wheeled in for all the world to see.

James had spent the last few days squashed into the side office adjacent to the Palace’s medical suite. He had spent what little time not at Christine’s side in the office trying to work through the mountain of work Fairfax kept sending his way. With Christine essentially consigned to bedrest, he had to cover both of their duties.

A piercing cry made James set down his datapad. Stepping through the doorway into Christine’s suite, he smiled at the maid who was bending over Jonathan’s cot and waved her away. “Don’t worry, I’ll take him,” James insisted. The maid returned his smile, curtsied, and backed away. Taking her place, James reached down and picked up Jonathan as he let out another cry. Gently he rocked his baby back-and-forth as he turned to Christine. When he saw her eyes were open he smiled at her. “I think someone is a little hungry,” he said as he felt Jonathan’s jaw moving up and down on his chest. “I’m afraid I’m not qualified to handle this problem.”

Christine’s right hand appeared from under her blankets and reached for Jonathan. “Bring him here then. I suppose this is one thing I can’t hand off to you.”

“Thankfully not,” James said as his smile turned into a grin. “Besides, we can’t have you doing nothing. You’ll become downright lazy with all this time spent lying around.”

Christine’s eyes narrowed as she unhooked her top and took Jonathan to give him a feed. “Given how much time you spend sulking around me, I’d be more worried that you are the one who is going to turn lazy. Have you even returned to our quarters or are you sleeping in that room as well?” James didn’t answer, he knew his silence would give him away in any case. “Exactly,” Christine continued, “so you can’t start accusing me. I’m sure you’d have got twice the amount of work done if you’d left my side for more than twenty minutes.”

“You’re my wife,” James complained.

“And the Empire is your responsibility dear,” Christine responded, “especially when I’m like this.” Her expression changed as her face softened. “Don’t worry, I’m only teasing. I have needed you these past few days. So has Jonathan.” She gently raised her left hand and patted the side of her bed. James watched carefully to see if there was any sign of pain on her face. Her left arm and leg were both encased in advanced metallic casts that gave her some movement as her bones set. According to the doctor she had fractured both her ulna and radius at several points. Happily, James didn’t see any grimace or other signs of discomfort. “Come and sit beside me,” Christine requested, her tone changing again. “There’s something I want to talk to you about,” she said seriously.

James didn’t like the sound of that, but he moved over and sat where Christine had indicated. “What is it?” he asked tentatively.

With her injured arm, Christine slowly picked up a datapad that was sitting at her fingertips. “What date is it?” she asked.

James rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you know what date it is. Let’s not play games.”

“Okay,” Christine said with a nod. “We both know what date it is. That means we both know what date the fleet was meant to depart for phase one of plan Counterstrike. Two days ago. “And yet the fleet is still in orbit and you’re still here.”

James felt his anger rising. “Of course I’m still here. Look at you. You were almost killed! What did you want me to do? Abandon you when you were barely fit to stay awake for more than a few minutes? Leave Jonathan alone with his maids?”

Christine gently placed her hand on James’ thigh. She looked away for a second as she adjusted Jonathan. “I don’t want this to be a fight,” she said in a conciliatory tone when she looked back. “I have needed you here. That’s true. But the fleet has been delayed for two days. We can’t let that continue. We don’t know who attacked me. But whoever it was, we can guess why they did it. They don’t like the Empire; they don’t believe it’s the only way we can defeat the Karacknids. Heck, they may not even really believe the Karacknids are a threat. Though after what they did to Earth, that I cannot fathom. In any case, if their attacking me delays our attack against the Karacknids, then they will have succeeded in destroying the Empire. We need to get our ships moving. You know that far better than I do. Our window of opportunity is closing. It may already be closed. The fleet cannot dilly dally in orbit any longer.”

“The fleet is not dilly…,” James began and then cut himself off. Taking a breath, he tried again, “A few more days until you’re up on your feet may not change anything. Admiral Ya’sia and the others understand.”

“I know they understand,” Christine responded. “They’ve all sent me warm messages. But that’s what they would say. They can hardly demand that you leave your wife’s sickbed. But I bet that’s what they’re thinking. Do you know why? Because it’s what you would be thinking if it wasn’t me lying here. It’s what I am thinking. The doctors have assured us I will make a full recovery. My life is no longer in danger. I can look after Jonathan just fine now,” Christine said as she tilted forward to give James a better view of Jonathan feeding. “There’s no need for you to remain here. Not when so much is at stake. Can you promise me another few days’ delay, or even a week, will make no difference? None at all?”

James wanted to say yes simply to win the argument. But Christine would know he was lying. The part of him that wasn’t a husband and a father was screaming that every hour could prove vital. “No,” he finally said. “I can’t promise that. You know I can’t.”

“What is it that you think you can accomplish by staying by my side? Are you going to perform some kind of advanced operation to get me to heal quicker? Do you have a medical degree you’ve been hiding from me?”

James ground his teeth together. “You know I don’t. You can stop with your arguing. I know what you are trying to say. But it is not my head forcing me to stay by your side. Someone tried to kill you. They are still out there. They could try again. They could have contacts in the Palace. How else could they know about your shuttle’s flight plans? I cannot leave you until I know you are safe.”

Christine snorted. “Safe? If you wait until then, you’re going to be here a long time. You know we have enemies. Even if we catch whoever did this, how do you know there are not others plotting something similar?” Christine squeezed James’ thigh. “I know why you have been here. I know how much you love Jonathan and I. I appreciate it, of course I do. You leaving will not change how much I know you love me. But if you won’t leave me and see to your duty, I will start to get upset. Your love for me cannot compromise the safety of our people. I will not allow that.” Shifting position, Christine changed tack before James could reply. “And what about our allies? It’s not just our fleet involved in Counterstrike. There are Alliance fleets all through Alliance space working according to the timetable you have drawn up with Alliance High Command. Do they know our fleet has been delayed?” Before James could answer, Christine let go of his thigh and reached for her datapad. She waved it in front of him. “I know they know. I have a message from Admiral Jourm himself requesting an explanation as to the delay.” Christine looked away from James. “This is not something I’m prepared to debate. You know the right thing to do. I know the right thing to do. We know what must be done. So please, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

James closed his eyes as he let out a deep breath. Every fiber within him wanted to argue or simply refuse Christine. But as always, she was right. Counterstrike was a carefully planned grand operation that included a number of fleets spread across more than a thousand light years. It was incredibly risky. Delaying was throwing everything in jeopardy. “You’re right,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been so filled with concern. I’ve hardly thought about anything else.”

Christine’s hand returned to his thigh as she smiled at him. “That makes me love you all the more. But you’re more than my husband. You’re our Emperor and Grand Admiral. You have a fleet to lead.”

“I do,” James conceded reluctantly. He hated to admit it. But his duty was clear. He took a moment to watch Jonathan then he gently lifted Christine’s hand off his thigh. Still holding it he stood. “This is not goodbye. I’ll go now and find Alfaro and start the process of getting the fleet ready. They’ll probably be able to depart within the next six hours. As soon as I put things in motion I will be back.”

Christine squeezed James’ hand and then moved it over to stroke Jonathan’s head. “We’ll be here waiting,” she replied. “Don’t worry, we’ll be in good hands when you leave. Johnston has more than tripled the marines guarding us. He’s even added a special forces marine to each team.”

James let out a deep breath. “Okay, I relent. I’ll go and speak to Alfaro and then I’ll be back.”

*

Rather than come right back, James made a slight detour after speaking with his Flag Lieutenant and confirming that the fleet was just waiting for orders to break orbit. After knocking on the office door, James tapped its entrance command. Recognizing his security clearance, the hatch slid open. General Johnston was still sitting at his desk as James entered but thanks to his lightning quick reflexes he was on his feet in a flash. “Emperor,” Johnston said. “It’s good to see you. I’m glad Christine is doing well.”

“As am I,” James replied. “Thank you for the extra security,” he added as he moved towards Johnston’s desk. “Please take a seat, this won’t take long.”

“Of course Emperor,” Johnston said as he sat back down. “I suppose you want an update on how the investigation is going. I’m afraid Admiral Russell is somewhere in orbit. He is following a lead with our customs officers.”

“That’s all right,” James assured him. “I’m sure you’re as abreast of the situation as he is. What have you found out so far? I need to know everything.”

Johnston looked away from James for second before looking back. “I’m sorry to say that the investigation is still very much in its infancy. At the minute we’ve only got two real leads. Neither of which has borne any fruit yet.”

“Tell me where they have led so far,” James followed up.

“Certainly,” Johnston said as he reached over and grabbed his datapad. “You remember that we suspected the shooter had been recording the attack.” Johnston waited just long enough for James to nod. “We eventually managed to trace the signal, it was relayed through twenty-two different sites but we tracked the final location down to an unoccupied apartment in Nice. So far though that trail seems to have gone cold. We know someone, probably two people, were physically present in the house when the attack took place. We’ve found trace elements from two different sets of clothing and the energy usage from the apartment suggests someone was using electronic equipment for several hours over the time period of the attack.” Johnston began to shake his head. “Sadly, we haven’t managed to pick up any DNA traces, nor have any of the imaging devices outside the apartment or nearby picked up any suspicious activity. We’re expanding our search across several nearby blocks. We may get lucky and pick up a face or even a form that we can match with someone in our databases. But the more time that passes the less likely that is.”

James balled his hands into fists as he listened. Whoever had organized the attack on Christine’s shuttle had been less than two hundred miles away during the attack. That in itself was a smack in the face. As if the attacker was laughing at how close he could be and yet still shoot down Christine’s shuttle with impunity. “And the other lead?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“We have ID’d the shooter,” Johnston answered. “But it hasn’t led us anywhere I’m sorry to say. He was a nobody. A low-level technician in a recycling plant named François Sault. Both of his parents were killed in the Karacknid attack on Paris. We think someone got to him and blamed his parents’ loss on you and Christine. As you know, a number of groups are suggesting that you started the war with the Karacknids. In any case, due to his loss and isolation we suspect he was an easy recruit. He was evacuated from the suburbs of Paris after the attack and was living in Toulouse. As far as we can tell he didn’t make any friends and was struggling to find work. With the right incentive and encouragement, he would have been an easy mark. Clearly, he didn’t suspect being double crossed. I don’t know what Sault thought was going to happen after launching the missile. There was no way he would have got off that mountain without being discovered. All of that points us towards a well-organized group who has experience in turning vulnerable people to their cause. But that doesn’t narrow down our list of suspects. We are tracing Sault’s movements over the last several months. At some point he had to be recruited and he needed some basic training in using a hyper velocity missile. Then someone had to hand off the weapon to him before he travelled to Switzerland. It’s going to take time, but whoever armed Sault can’t have left no breadcrumbs. Eventually we’ll find one of them.”

“And the weapon itself?” James pressed.

“We identified most of its serial number from the debris, it led us to a batch of launchers built in China for their marines fifteen years ago,” Johnston explained. He shook his head and shrugged. “I’m afraid that trail has gone cold too. After the Karacknid attack on Earth and the merging of the UN forces into the Imperial Marines, the records of the missiles were lost. They could have been stolen or simply misplaced at any point over the last two years. I don’t think we’re going to learn anything more from the launcher.”

“And that’s all you have,” James said as he sat forward, frustration filling his voice. “Surely given what we know about their M.O. you can at least narrow down the list of potential culprits? There are only so many factions on Earth that are hostile to Christine and I that have the capabilities to pull something like this off.”

“You’re right Emperor, but our investigations into all of them have found nothing,” Johnston responded. “There’s no indication that the groups we’ve been monitoring knew about this attack. Most if not all have actually denounced it over the last four days. Whilst they want to see an end to the Empire, killing you and Christine is not how they’d like to do it. Of course, we haven’t taken them at their word but monitoring their communications and activities has not given us any indication that one of the groups we know about planned this.”

“All right, so that’s as far as the evidence has taken you,” James acknowledged reluctantly. “Tell me, what do your instincts suggest?” As he spoke, James leant forward. He suspected this was as close as he was going to get to an answer before having to obey Christine and leave with his fleet.

Johnston paused for a second before tapping on his datapad a couple of times and flicking his finger. A 3D image appeared as Johnston’s desk holo projector came to life. The image showed more than a hundred faces, each with a series of bullet points listed beside them. “These are all the main players we still have not accounted for from Governor Culthrapori’s militia on New Delhi. We suspect most of them have gone to ground on New Delhi. They’ll be rooted out sooner or later. Though a more detailed analysis of civilian traffic in the weeks after New Delhi joined the Empire suggests that several of them may have gone off world. Russell’s intelligence analysists think they just wanted to go into hiding.”

“But you don’t?” James pushed.

“It’s only a hunch at this stage,” Johnston replied. “But seeing as we’ve ruled out all the major factions that have been stirring unrest here on Earth and in the nearby systems. Either a new faction has formed, one that is more openly violent than the ones we know about, or enough of Culthrapori’s militia escaped to continue to function.” Johnston tapped on his datapad again. One image grew as the rest shrank. “This is Kilian Agarwal. Interrogation of the militia we captured indicated that he was Culthrapori’s head of counterintelligence. It was his job to infiltrate and root out the different groups agitating against Culthrapori’s rule. We never caught him on New Delhi and interrogating those from his team who we did capture indicates that Agarwal dispatched several agents out of the New Delhi system before we arrived. There’s no way of knowing where they were sent. But if they were sent here, then they have been here for more than a year. If they’ve been setting up a small covert operation since then, they could easily have the means in place to attack Christine’s shuttle. If Agarwal is involved, then he has the means and the motive. Culthrapori’s militia had no problem using violence on New Delhi and I cannot see why they would restrain themselves here. Not if they want revenge against you and Christine.”

James stared at the image of Agarwal, his anger bubbling up within him. Johnston could be wrong. It could be some other group who had attacked his wife. Yet as he looked into Agarwal’s eyes, it was easy to imagine Agarwal was a cold-blooded killer. Johnston didn’t have to say it for James’ mind to follow his logic. “And if they had the means and motive to attack once. They’ll not hesitate to try again and again until they succeed,” he concluded.

Johnston nodded slowly. “I’m afraid so Emperor. Even if they don’t specifically target Christine, they are likely to want to cause as much havoc as they can. If they were loyal to Culthrapori, then they’re already facing charges of war crimes on New Delhi. They have nothing to lose. That makes them dangerous.”

“And, if they have counterintelligence training, almost impossible to hunt down,” James said as fear began to compete with his anger.

“I’m afraid so,” Johnston agreed. “But we may have one thing working in our favor. If it is Agarwal and his associates, they will be very reluctant to use Earth’s public transport system. Every passenger in a shuttle or maglev train is checked and recorded. Look at the locations that have come up in the investigation so far.” Johnston changed the holo projector image to show a map of southern France and Switzerland. “Nice, Toulouse and the Imperial Palace. If I was running a covert operation and had free access to Earth’s transport infrastructure, I’d recruit my shooter from somewhere far away from the apartment I intended to watch the attack from. And yet they are only a few hundred miles apart. That suggests we’re looking for someone or a group that are known to us. Their faces and files would set off alarms if they tried to get on a shuttle. Somehow they managed to get to Earth through our customs checks. That’s why Russell’s up there reviewing the security logs. But now that they are here, their movements may be restricted.”

“So if their range of travel is restricted, they may still be in southern France,” James surmised, his eyes narrowing as he took in the major metropolitan areas Johnston was showing. “They could be there right now,” James added as his teeth tightened together.

“They could, and that gives us an advantage. One more lead if you like. We’ve already increased checks on all people entering and leaving France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. We’re increasing surveillance drones and imaging devices in most of the cities as well. Without knowing who Agarwal’s accomplices are, we’re not expecting immediate results, but the more eyes we have on this area and the harder we make it for anyone to leave, the tighter we can put a noose around their necks. If nothing else, it means that if they do try something else, we’ll have a far greater chance of spotting them when they come out in the open.”

That did not sit well with James. Letting whoever had attacked Christine’s shuttle launch another attack was not how he wanted to identify them. They had barely failed in killing Christine and Jonathan once. He knew that Johnston wouldn’t just let another attack happen. But what if Johnston can’t do anything to prevent it? That was the problem. Without knowing who had turned Sault and acquired the hyper velocity missile launcher, there was no way to stop another attack. Not for sure. Reaching a hand up to his temple, James rubbed his head. “We don’t know who orchestrated the attack, not for sure. And we don’t know their motives. Nor if they will attack again. And we don’t know how to stop them?” he asked without looking at Johnston. When the General didn’t answer, James looked up. “How long have we known each other?”

Johnston moved back in his chair, clearly taken by surprise. “Since we met on Drake of course. Years ago now. What, fifteen or sixteen?”

“Eighteen,” James replied. “And how many times have I asked a personal favor of you?” he asked, still holding Johnston’s eyes unblinkingly.

Johnston shrugged. “I doubt you have ever asked me for a personal favor. But we’ve been friends all this time. Obeying one of your orders is the same as doing you a favor. I‘d do either because I respect you.”

“Well I have a favor to ask you now,” James said as he rested both his hands on Johnston’s desk to calm his anger. He didn’t want Johnston thinking his next words were coming from a simple desire for revenge. “I’ve just given orders for the fleet to prepare to break orbit. Christine has ordered me not to delay Operation Counterstrike a moment longer. I will be leaving the system by the end of the day. Yet my wife is in her sickbed, my son is traumatized and their attempted killers are at large. For all we know they’re planning another attack even as we speak. I’m not giving you this as your Emperor, but as a friend. I am asking you, please protect my wife while I’m away,” despite his efforts, James’ voice broke as he pleaded with Johnston. “I cannot leave them knowing they are in danger, yet I cannot abandon the fleet’s mission. I cannot be in two places at once. I have no choice but to entrust my family to someone else. I can think of no one better.” As he finished speaking, James held Johnston’s eyes as he sought for some reassurance that would ease the terror he felt at having to leave Christine and Jonathan.

When Johnston sprang to his feet, James flinched at his speed. Johnston didn’t appear to notice. He had the sternest look on his face James had ever seen. “You have my word Emperor. I will protect your family. I will find whoever attacked Christine and Jonathan and end the threat they pose to your family. I cannot go with the fleet instead of you. Nor can I ever make up for the anguish you have been forced to go through over the last several days. But if it gives you any comfort, I will do whatever it takes to find and eliminate this danger to Christine and Jonathan.”

James stood and gave Johnston a slow nod. “Thank you my friend. It will not make it easier to leave them. But knowing you understand, that you are making this your priority, will take away some of my worry. If I cannot protect them, there is no one else I’d rather have doing so.”

“It will be an honor and my pleasure to protect them in your stead,” Johnston said as he gave James a slight bow. “Now, if you’re leaving in a few hours, you don’t have any more time to waste with me. They’re safe in my hands. Go make the preparations you need to make and say your goodbyes. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back from your mission.”

“Thank you,” James repeated as he firmly shook Johnston’s hand. “Thank you,” he said again as he smiled and turned to leave. The passion of Johnston’s words eased his fear, albeit only by a small measure. Nevertheless, he knew that if anyone was able to put an end to whoever had attacked Christine before they could strike again, it was Johnston.

Chapter 7

Even with the widespread adoption of FTL communication, serving in the Imperial Navy comes with sacrifices. Being separated from loved ones is one of them. Even long range holo COM calls are not a substitute for being able to hold someone in your arms.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Palace

After spending what felt like three extremely short hours in the Palace’s command and control center making final preparations for his fleet to depart, James was satisfied that Operation Counterstrike could begin. “I think we are done here,” he said to Miyagi and Alfaro. “You two can head up to Drake now. Tell Captain Fisher I’ll be right behind you.”

“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi responded for both officers. “I’ll make sure your shuttle is prepped before we depart.”

“Thank you,” James replied as he nodded to several other officers who were permanently stationed in the Palace’s C&C. When he stepped out of the room, two marines snapped to attention. James acknowledged their presence with a glance and strode towards Christine’s medical suite. Both marines followed him. Johnston had assigned them to shadow him the moment he had returned to the Palace from Christine’s shuttle’s crash. There was at least one thing he was looking forward to when he got back on-board Drake. He’d have a little bit more personal space. When he got to the door into Christine’s suite, he stopped and took a deep breath. He was dreading what he had to do. With a glance at the marine guarding Christine’s door, he stepped forward as the marine tapped the door’s access panel.

Thankfully, Christine was awake. She smiled at him as he came in. “Everything sorted?” she asked, her voice sounding stronger than it had just a few hours ago.

“The fleet is making its final preparations now,” James confirmed. “They’re just waiting for me to join them and then we’ll break orbit.”

“You are here to say goodbye,” Christine responded as she patted the side of her bed.

James moved over and sat down. He took her good hand in both of his. He glanced over at Jonathan’s cot. “This is far harder than the last time we parted. These last several months, though we’ve been so busy, have been like nothing I’ve experienced before.”

“If I didn’t know what you were talking about, I might be offended Admiral,” Christine said as she followed his gaze to Jonathan. “I can’t imagine having to leave him. Being parted from you is hard enough, but from him? I’m not sure I could do it.” She turned back to James and squeezed his hands. “You are stronger than I. But I’ve always known that. That’s why you’re the Admiral… Even if you need reminding of that fact from time to time,” she added with a wink. “Now, let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. You know I’m going to make a full recovery. Jonathan is going to be just fine. You’re the one who is heading out into the unknown. Operation Counterstrike could fall flat on its face, or you could be gone for a year or more. We will be left here worrying about you while you go off gallivanting. So I don’t want to hear any more complaining. Give me a kiss and then give your son a cuddle.”

James hesitated as Christine lent forward. There was so much he wanted to say. This wasn’t the first time he was going off on a mission where the chances of him returning were not great and yet the idea of leaving Christine alone in her sickbed was tearing him apart. Adding Jonathan to the mix intensified his feelings ten times over. Even though he felt like he should say something, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Christine’s. He didn’t know where to start and Christine knew it all anyway. Saying too much would just make it all the harder. As their lips broke apart, Christine gently prized her hand from James’ and nodded towards Jonathan’s crib. Without a word James stood, moved over, and picked up his son. The baby continued to sleep deeply but he nestled into James’ arms. Looking down at his son, James couldn’t help but smile despite the swirl of emotions within him. He was beautiful. “He is the future,” he found himself saying as he looked up at Christine and smiled at her. “This is what we are all fighting for.”

“It is,” Christine agreed as she lifted her good arm. James moved over so that she could hug his waist. Still holding Jonathan, he lent down and kissed her forehead. Then he kissed Jonathan’s forehead and placed him in Christine’s arm.

“Now I have two reasons to make every effort to get home,” he said. “No Karacknid is going to stop me from getting back.”

“That’s no more than I expect from you Admiral,” Christine responded. “Now go and do your duty so you can return to us.” While James could tell she was making every effort to keep her face straight, as she blinked, a small tear appeared in the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek. He wanted to reach out and wipe it from her, but he didn’t trust himself to stop there. With one final glance from Christine to Jonathan and then back to Christine, he nodded.

“Farewell,” he said quickly and began to turn.

“Farewell,” Christine called after him.

Stepping out of the suite, James didn’t even notice the marines. Blinking rapidly to fight back his tears, he marched as quickly as he could towards one of the Palace’s rear entrances. He didn’t want to pass a whole host of officers and Palace workers on his way to his shuttle. Not in his current state. Thankfully, the few that he did pass did nothing more than salute him or give him a nod of recognition. James returned the gestures instinctively even though he was still focused on Christine and Jonathan. The last five months was as long as he had spent on Earth since first learning about the Karacknids. For the first time in a very long time he had begun to feel settled. Jonathan had played a big part in that. Now he was returning to space. In the past, that had always felt like he was returning to his natural environment. It wasn’t so this time.

Still struggling with his emotions, James exited one of the Palace’s rear entrances and walked around to the main shuttle landing pads. His shuttle was the only one there. Just before he ascended its access ramp he remembered the two marines who were right behind him. Pausing he turned to them. “Thank you for your protection,” he said, knowing that they wouldn’t be following him on the shuttle. “Look after them for me.”

Both marines snapped to attention. “Of course, Emperor. We will protect them with our lives.”

“Thank you,” James repeated. He turned and entered the shuttle. Throwing himself into a seat just behind the cockpit he strapped himself in and activated the shuttle’s internal COM system. “I’m ready. Let’s return to Drake.”

“Affirmative Admiral. Lift off in fifteen seconds,” the shuttle’s pilot informed him.

Through his feet James felt the shuttle’s engines power up. Moments later the shuttle was in the air. Typically when heading into orbit James focused on the sky above him as he sought out the ships he was heading towards. This time he couldn’t help but stare down at the Palace as it grew smaller and smaller in his view port.

Only when the shuttle broke through Earth’s atmosphere and the Palace and the Swiss Alps were no longer visible did James switch his focus. Despite his emotions, he couldn’t help but smile at the view that greeted him. Hanging in space in low Earth orbit were over a thousand warships of various designs. The eight hundred Alliance ships had been built by six different species. Then, hovering around Admiral Jil’lal’s flagship Fleetfoot were eighty Vestarians ships. Finally, in formation with Drake, two hundred and twenty Human warships, all of them built within the last two years, were waiting patiently to depart. Every species that was at war with the Karacknids except for the Conclave species is represented here, James thought as he stared at the various ships. Operation Counterstrike was designed to turn the tide of the war. From the beginning Humanity and the Alliance had been on the back foot. If the fleet before him was successful, that was going to change. The Karacknids had been beaten back again and again. It was time to put them on the defensive.

“Shall I take the scenic route through the fleet Admiral?” the shuttle pilot asked. “There are a pair of new Samurai class battlecruisers that finished their space trials last week. We could get a good look at them.”

James was tempted. “No, take me straight to Drake,” he answered instead. Counterstrike had been delayed enough already. With several Alliance fleets back in Alliance space waiting for his part in the operation to begin, he couldn’t justify entertaining his desires.

“As you wish Admiral,” the pilot responded.

After the shuttle touched down inside Drake’s hangar bay and James exited the small craft, he was pleased to see only Miyagi and Alfaro were waiting to greet him. Though he had only been away for a few days, he had half expected Captain Fisher to prepare a larger welcoming party. Especially given what had happened to Christine.

“Admiral,” Miyagi said as he snapped a salute. “Welcome aboard. Every ship in the fleet reports ready to depart. They are awaiting your command.”

“Then let us go to the bridge,” James instructed. “We will depart immediately.” As they walked, James asked his two subordinates several questions. He wanted to get a feel for the morale of the fleet.

“Actually Admiral, I think most of the crew are keen to get going,” Miyagi said. “They’ve known for a couple of months that our departure is imminent. The arrival of Ya’sia’s fleet hinted that we would be leaving soon. And given what has just happened, most are keen to see some action. If you don’t mind me saying, I know it’s been hard for you over the last few days. It’s been hard for the fleet as well. We’ve all been in orbit watching events unfold without being able to do anything. Breaking orbit and heading towards the enemy is just what we need.”

James didn’t know what to think of that. He was glad the fleet was eager to get going, though if the attack on Christine was the cause, that wasn’t entirely to his liking. “Admiral on deck,” the marine guarding the entrance to Drake’s bridge called out as James passed him. Stepping onto the bridge he found every officer standing at attention with their arms raised in salute.

“Welcome back Admiral,” Captain Fisher said from where she stood beside her command chair. “Drake is at your command. And may I say on behalf of her crew, we are pleased to hear Christine and Jonathan are making a full recovery.”

“As am I Captain,” James said formally as he surveyed the officers. Most of them he knew by name though there were a couple of new faces, clearly officers who had been rotated on to Drake over the last couple of months. “At ease,” he added as he moved towards his command chair. When he sat, everyone else did likewise. “Are we ready to depart Captain?” he asked as he swiveled to look at Fisher.

His Flag Captain nodded. “At your command Admiral.”

“Signal the fleet that we are departing,” James said as he glanced at Lieutenant Beckford, his COMs officer. “Then take us out of orbit. Set course for the Beta system,” he added as he turned back to Fisher.

As Drake’s bridge officers and his own command staff got to work, James rolled his shoulders and forced himself to relax. As the various squadrons that made up his fleet powered up their engines and broke orbit, he watched them instead of looking at Earth. He had spent enough emotional energy saying goodbye. Now he needed to focus on his ships and his fleet.

Twenty minutes later the fleet had fully formed up into the formation James desired and was on its way towards the Beta shift passage. Just as James was about to request the logs for the last several days to catch up on everything that had been happening, Beckford spun in her command chair. “Admirals Ya’sia, Suarez and Jil’lal are requesting to speak to you Admiral,” she informed him.

“Send them to my command chair,” James instructed. “Admirals,” he said as he greeted them with a smile. “It’s good to be talking to you again. I’m sorry for my absence over the last several days.”

“There’s no need to apologize Admiral,” Ya’sia said, speaking first. “I’m sorry that this is the first time I have spoken to you face to face since the attack on your wife. I wish to offer my sympathies for what your family has gone through. It was indeed terrible.”

“Thank you,” James said, repeating himself when Suarez and Jil’lal communicated their sorrow at what had happened to Christine as well. “I confess, it is good to be back on Drake’s bridge. Getting back to normality is what I needed though leaving them is tough.”

“I’m sure it is Admiral,” Jil’lal said. “Of course, I have no children of my own, but someday I hope to. We are pleased you are continuing on with us. We feared that might not be possible after the attack.”

“I was torn,” James confessed. “But Christine reminded me I’m needed far more here than on Earth. She has hundreds of marines protecting her now. She doesn’t need me.”

“In any case, I am happy you are with us,” Ya’sia added. “That is why we wanted to talk with you so soon. We have a number of ideas we want to run by you. We simulated a few of them, but we were waiting for your permission to begin fleet wide simulations.”

James smiled. This was exactly the distraction he needed as Drake took him further away from Christine and Jonathan. “I’m all ears,” he responded.

It was almost an hour later when his fellow Admirals finished outlining the strategies they wanted to incorporate into Operation Counterstrike. After listening carefully and asking a few questions, James suggested a couple of alterations and gave the go ahead to begin more detailed preparations. When the COM meeting ended, he checked on Drake’s status. There were still another two hours before his flagship would jump out of the system. By tradition James liked to be on the bridge for the first shift jump in any journey. There is just enough time to get Fox to prepare a hot chocolate and get a fresh uniform on, James thought. Before he stood he had one more thing to do though. “Lieutenant Beckford,” he called to his COM officer. “Send a message to the tachyon pulse generator. I want a transmission sent to Varanni Prime. Mark it for Admiral Jorum’s eyes only. Inform him Operation Counterstrike has begun.”

Chapter 8

Of the many species that have either joined the Empire or become our close allies, none have exhibited stronger martial prowess than the Gramrians. When we first met them they did not have the same experience in warfare our own species had, but they were fast learners.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, Scalatar (Gramrian homeworld) orbit, 10th September 2483 AD (one month previous).

“Yes?” Becket asked as she tapped the beeping COM unit built into her office desk.

“Rear Admiral, Admiral Faroul’s shuttle has just docked. She and her Flag Captain are making their way to the conference room now. Everyone else has already landed,” one of Viper’s bridge officers updated Becket.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Becket acknowledged. Tapping the COM unit again to switch it off, she stood and stretched. Then she picked up her datapad and slipped it into her pocket. She had memorized the details of her plan several days ago, but she wanted to have them close at hand. Moving out of her office, she walked through towards the main conference room. Located near the center of the heavy cruiser, the room was more than big enough for the senior officers of her fleet. It had the largest holo display and it was best suited for discussing the campaign her fleet was about to embark upon. As she walked, Becket took a detour to bring her onto the main route from the primary shuttle bay to the conference room. Sure enough, she bumped into Admiral Faroul and her Flag Captain, Captain Asaral. “Greetings,” she called to the two Poideal officers.

Both aliens bobbed their heads up and down as they moved to catch up with Becket. As they walked, Becket couldn’t help but be reminded of the marsupials native to her Chief of Staff’s home continent of Australia. Covered in a thick fur, the only clothing either Poideal officer was wearing was a small shift that covered a portion of their torso roughly equivalent to Becket’s chest. On it were the naval medals and rank insignia that identified Faroul and Asaral as officers in the Poideal Navy. When they got close enough, the aliens lifted their upper lips to reveal two large rectangular teeth. “Greetings Rear Admiral Becket,” Faroul said as she held out one of her two short arms for Becket to take. “As always, your ship is impressive,” she added as she made a point of glancing around. “I’m looking forward to seeing the new ships that will soon be coming out of our shipyards based on your designs.”

Becket smiled. “As am I,” she agreed. Humanity had shared all of its military technologies with the Poideal Navy as it was part of the Conclave. Faroul commanded all the ships that had been upgraded to incorporate as much modern tech as they could. There were still hundreds of others undergoing similar upgrades. Even so, at best Faroul’s ships could only hope to trade with similarly sized Karacknid warships at a ratio of two to one. Once their new designs started coming out of their construction yards that would change, but it was still some months away. Of course, Becket thought, whereas the Poideal count their fleet size in their hundreds, the Karacknids do so in the tens of thousands. A few newly designed warships wouldn’t change that. But there was no point dwelling on such things. “I’m looking forward to observing them in action against the Karacknids even more,” Becket added and gestured in front of her. “Shall we proceed? The others are waiting.”

“Of course Admiral,” Faroul responded.

“Thank you Lieutenant,” Becket said as she nodded towards the Junior Lieutenant who had been Faroul’s guide. She turned and led her two visitors towards the main conference room.

“I believe you’re not expecting any further reinforcements from Earth?” Faroul asked as they walked.

“Not in the immediate future no,” Becket confirmed.

“Then this is to be our final conference before we begin our part in the grand strategy?”

“Perceptive as always Admiral,” Becket replied. Since coming to Conclave space, she had learnt quickly that the Poideal were not to be underestimated. Whilst none of the Conclave species had a great deal of experience with warfare, the Poideal had shown a remarkable ability to adapt their ships and their thinking when it came to battle tactics. Having a massive hostile alien species arrive at your back door would encourage anyone to make a few changes, Becket thought. That said, the Poideal had still impressed her. Whereas the Folians and the other two species that made up the Conclave were still trying to get their heads around being thrust into a war for survival, the Poideal and the Gramrians had stepped up to the plate. That was why she had included Admiral Faroul and her fleet in the campaign she was planning.

“My people and I are keen to begin,” Faroul said, unaware of Becket’s thoughts. “Though I admit, there is more than a little trepidation on our homeworld about the results of our actions.”

“I understand completely,” Becket replied. “Which makes me appreciate your ships’ addition to our fleet all the more. As you know, the logic is simple. The Karacknids may not be amassing a fleet to conquer the Conclave just yet. But it will come sooner rather than later. If we do not strike now, then you will be overwhelmed.”

“Yes, the logic is simple,” Faroul said as she lifted her upper lip again. “But even among my species, logic only gets one so far. Fear is a very real factor.”

Becket nodded. “As it is with our species. If we had faced the threat of the Karacknids immediately, our homeworld might not have been devastated in the way it was. I’m glad your species does not seem to be allowing fear to dictate your actions.”

“As am I,” Faroul agreed.

“Here we are,” Becket said as she stopped in front of the main hatch into the conference room. She tapped its command console to open it and stepped aside. “After you Admiral.” As Faroul and Asaral passed her, Becket nodded to each of them. She paused, took a deep breath, and followed them into the conference room. Most of the Admirals and Captains present smiled, nodded, or waved at her. Becket returned their gestures as she moved to her seat. “Please, take your seats,” she said loud enough to be heard over the ongoing conversations.

As she sat, Becket pulled out her datapad, set it on the table in front of her and set her hands on the table. Taking another breath, Becket tried to calm her nerves. She knew it was silly, she knew all of the officers present, but this was her first briefing with all the senior officers of her fleet. Heck, it’s my first time commanding a real fleet on a real campaign, she said to herself as she tried to ease her nerves. Five years ago she had been Admiral Somerville’s Flag Captain. Now he had given her a fleet of over two hundred warships. He trusts you, she said. And you now have the experience and skill. Smiling at her officers so as not to give away her inner thoughts, Becket took another breath and began to speak. “Now that we are all here. It is time to make our final preparations. To begin, let me introduce our newest arrivals as not all of you have met in person yet.” Becket gestured towards the Crian naval officers. “Commodore Maleck commands the Alliance fleet that has just arrived from Earth. Beside him is his Flag Captain, Captain Salal. Second in command of the Alliance fleet is Commodore Jaran.” Becket bowed as she addressed Commodore Jaran to show the Varanni officer the respect his species expected. “Then commanding the latest contingent of Human ships is Commodore Fang,” Becket added as she smiled at Fang. She had known the Chinese officer as a Captain in the UN Navy. From what she had read of his personnel file, he had distinguished himself in the war against the Karacknids. After introducing the newest arrivals, Becket introduced the rest of the senior commanders of her fleet to Maleck, Salal, Jaran and Fang.

“Good, now that we are all acquainted,” Becket said after the officers shared a few brief pleasantries, “let’s get to work.” When Becket’s own Flag Captain, Captain Rogers, and several other officers nodded, Becket continued. “I am now authorized to tell you Operation Counterstrike is scheduled to begin in approximately one month. Over a thousand Human and Alliance ships will strike one of the Karacknid border forts in an attempt to push into Karacknid territory and cause more disruption within their supply network. The fleets of Commodores Maleck and Fang are the last reinforcements we will be getting here for several months. Each of you have separately told me your fleets are ready to depart. I believe we should aim to do so within the next few days. If we launch our attack now, news of our raid should reach the Karacknid homeworld at roughly the same time as the news of Operation Counterstrike. With luck, our diversionary attack will draw reinforcements intended for the Alliance front towards us. That should give Counterstrike an even greater chance of success. You’re all familiar with the general idea of our attack and the specifics.” Becket activated the conference room’s main Holo projector. An image of Conclave space and more than a thousand Karacknid systems appeared. Almost adjacent to Conclave space, two large spurs thrust into the Karacknid Empire. Becket had come to think of them as mountain ranges. Two elongated areas where the dark matter between stars was so thick that no shift passages had been discovered. Thanks to the maps of Karacknid space the Kalassai had shared with Captain Kansas, she now knew about them. As she tapped another button one system in between the two spurs began to flash.

“We will strike the border system here and break through into Karacknid territory.” Manipulating the image, Becket made the Karacknid systems between the two spurs flash. “Then we will head deeper into what we have designated the Valley, raiding and plundering as we go. It will require a great deal of luck but given the isolated nature of the Valley and the limited shift passages that enter and exit it, we have a real opportunity to give the Karacknids a cause for concern. I shared with you all several weeks ago the full details of the plan Admiral Shraw and I have put together. Maleck and Fang have had less time to analyze it, but you’re all familiar with our objectives. Are there any final thoughts you wish to share? This is the last chance we will likely get to have a conference like this in person.”

“I will admit,” Commodore Fang said, surprising Becket by speaking first. “I am concerned about the unintended results of our attack for the Conclave species. If we are successful and we draw more Karacknid ships into this sector, then the Conclave species are going to suffer the consequences.”

Becket nodded, that was what she and Faroul had just been talking about. She turned to the Poideal Admiral, expecting a similar response to their discussions earlier, but it was Admiral Shraw who responded first.

“You’re quite right to foresee the negative implications of drawing more Karacknid ships to our borders,” Shraw said as his forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth. “We are fully aware of that too. If this is the price of striking first, then we will face it. Besides,” he said as his lips parted revealing his razor-sharp teeth. “Whilst our ships are away, the rest of the Conclave fleets will complete their upgrades and new construction will begin to swell our numbers. Who is to say that once we return there won’t be a second fleet ready to launch another raid? As Admiral Becket likes to say, the best form of defense is a good offence.”

Becket smiled at the reptilian alien as his intelligent eyes turned on her. Not for the first time, Becket was very happy she was on Shraw’s side. As terrifying as the images of Karacknid soldiers in combat were, she was certain Shraw and the velociraptor like aliens of his species would tear the Karacknids apart. And not just in hand-to-hand combat, she thought. Shraw was an extremely capable naval commander.

“We know we are all in this together,” Faroul commented after sharing a glance with Shraw. “Your species and the Alliance face multiple thousands of Karacknid warships on your borders. If our attack causes the Karacknids to send a thousand against us, it will be one less your people have to face. We know we cannot win this war, only your fleets can.”

Fang bowed his head slightly to Shraw and Faroul. “If you both accept the likely outcome of our attack, then my conscience is clear, I felt duty bound to point it out.”

Becket mentally nodded, Fang’s personnel report had suggested he was a man of honor. It was obviously correct. “It is something we have discussed at length over the last couple of months Commodore,” she said as she turned to him. “Rest assured, we are all aware of the risks involved.” Gesturing towards the holo- display, she continued. “Now, the first part of our plan should be relatively straightforward. At least, there are not as many variables in play. It is after that where we must all be sure of one another. Let us go through our plan for splitting up one final time. Each of us will be operating independently from one another, but we must do so in a way where we can support each other if needed. I know this is a risky strategy but splitting our forces like this will allow us to do maximum damage to our enemy.”

Becket talked them through what she envisaged happening after their fleet penetrated the Karacknid Empire’s border. She had invited the second in command and Flag Captains of each fleet because she wanted them to hear it from her in person. Given the risks involved, it was very likely that some of the second ranking officers in each fleet, or even the Flag Captains, would be commanding their species’ ships before the campaign was over. More than once as she sketched out the plans she paused to ask questions of her officers about their roles and intentions. She wanted to make sure everyone present knew the minds and dispositions of one another. If she successfully got her fleets behind enemy lines, they would be totally dependent on one another. Misunderstanding a message or order could prove devastating. Not only did she want her subordinates to know the plan inside out, but she wanted them to know the skills and dispositions of their allies. Given that the fleet was commanded by officers from five different species, Becket knew she needed to make sure there would be no mix-ups.

Finally, after just over an hour, Becket was satisfied that she couldn’t meld her officers into a more cohesive unit. At least not in the time they had. “So we are all agreed then, we will break orbit in two days and proceed to our first target?” she asked.

“I am eager to proceed Rear Admiral Becket,” Shraw responded.

“As am I,” Maleck answered.

“As we have discussed, everything is ready to go, there’s no point delaying,” Faroul said.

“Then I will give the go orders to our advance squadrons,” Becket said as she clasped her hands together. “They can break orbit today if they are ready. Admiral Shraw, I was planning to place our special package in your charge. She is one of your freighters after all. If something goes wrong with her engines or reactors, your people will be better placed to fix it. If that’s all right?”

Shraw bowed his head in an expression Becket knew he had learnt from Captain Kansas. “As long as some of your engineers remain on board. My people are not nearly familiar enough with your stealth technology to keep everything serviced.”

“That is not a problem,” Becket replied with a smile. “All right then,” she said as she stood. “We are as prepared as we can be. I need to speak with my Chief of Staff and draw up orders for our advance squadrons. If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes, I have had my chef prepare a meal for us all. You can contact your subordinates and inform them of our intention to break orbit in two days and then we can all sit down for one last meal together.”

“That would be most acceptable,” Shraw said on behalf of the other officers.

Becket nodded to the Gramrian Admiral and then turned and left the conference room. Unsurprisingly, her Chief of Staff, Commander Wilson was standing outside waiting for her. “Did everything go well Rear Admiral?” she asked.

“Perfectly,” Becket responded. “Our combined fleet will break orbit in two days. I want our advance squadrons to leave as soon as possible. Draw orders to that effect and forward them to my office immediately. And get me Captain Kansas on a COM channel, I will speak to her personally.”

“Of course, Rear Admiral,” Wilson said as she gave Becket a quick salute and turned towards Viper’s bridge.

Becket followed her, albeit at a more leisurely pace. Just before the bridge she turned right into her personal office. As she sat down at her desk, she was surprised to find an open COM channel was already awaiting her attention. Tapping the COM unit, the holographic display of Captain Kansas’ face appeared in front of her. “Emilie, it’s good to see you,” Becket said, choosing to be slightly more informal than she normally would on an official COM call. “I hear you received some updated visuals of your cousin in the messages that came along with Commodore Fang’s ships?”

“Indeed I have,” Emilie said as a wide smile spread across her face. “He is quite the looker. If he doesn’t take too much after his father, he could be a real lady’s man. I could send them over to you if you like, I’m sure James wouldn’t mind in the least.”

“That would be nice,” Becket said with a nod. “I would enjoy that.” She had seen a few images of what everyone in the fleet was calling the Imperial baby and James’ most recent letter had been full of descriptions of Jonathan, but like the typical man that he was, he hadn’t included any images or holographic recordings. “Your ship has been refueled and rearmed I trust?” Becket asked as she came down to business.

“Aye Admiral,” Emilie replied. “I’ve had my engineers going over the three freighters you’ve given me with a fine-tooth comb. They should be able to last the trip without any incident.”

“That’s good to hear,” Becket said as a wry smile appeared on her lips. “I wouldn’t want you going all that way for nothing.”

“Neither would I,” Emilie replied as she mirrored Becket’s expression.

“In that case, I wanted to inform you that the other Admirals and I have decided to break orbit in two days. This is your official order to proceed with your part of the mission as soon as possible. If you can leave today, you may do so.”

Emilie looked away for several seconds then turned back to Becket. “I think that should be doable. We could probably get going in six hours or so.”

Becket smiled again. “I’m not in the least surprised. You young captains are always keen to get out from under the eye of your betters.”

“I’m sure being a flag officer has benefits of its own,” Emilie replied as she winked. “Though for the life of me I haven’t seen any of them yet.”

“Just make sure you don’t enjoy yourself too much,” Becket responded. “Come to think of it, I should probably arrange for Lieutenant Alvarez and his team to be put on a transport back to Earth. Now that Intrepid is part of a regular fleet, there is no need for you to have his team on board. I’m sure having his people around has been a real bore on the kind of long voyages you’ve been on.” When Emilie’s cheeks visibly reddened, Becket smiled and pointed at her younger friend. “You see, there is one advantage to flag rank. Nothing gets past a Rear Admiral… But in all seriousness, I’m sure Alvarez could be put to much greater use back on Earth. He is probably due his own ship or at least a First Lieutenant’s slot. You should discuss it with him before you break orbit. If he wishes, he can be on the next transport back home.”

Emilie nodded slowly, as she replied Becket could tell she was trying to control her emotions. “We will discuss it Admiral. Thank you. It will not be a pleasant conversation, but I understand exactly what you mean.”

“Very good,” Becket replied. “If it would help put Alvarez’s concerns to rest, I can order you to keep your hands to yourself while he is away.” Emilie’s face reddened even more, but before she could reply Becket wagged at her again. “You see, there is the second advantage. You can make fun of your subordinates and they cannot do anything in response.”

Emilie shook her head. “That’s not fair at all.”

“A third advantage,” Becket said as she smiled again and held up three fingers. “Admirals get to decide what is and isn’t fair.”

Emilie rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, you win. Have mercy on me. Change the subject please.”

Becket paused for a couple of seconds and held Emilie’s gaze before relenting. “Okay, I’ll be nice. But in return I want something from you. You’re to promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks while you are gallivanting around on your own. Your uncle is upset enough that I kept you here under my command. I don’t want to have to be the one to tell him something has happened to you.”

Emilie smiled. “I’ll do my best Rear Admiral, but we both know I can’t make any more of a promise than that. Intrepid seems to have a habit of getting herself into tricky situations.”

Becket rolled her eyes at her friend. For the past several months she had been using Intrepid and several other stealth ships to probe Karacknid systems. She had been seeking to evaluate the accuracy of the ship dispositions and fleet strength intelligence the Kalassai had shared with Emilie. For the most part they had proven surprisingly accurate. “All right,” Becket said. “I’m sure you have a lot of final preparations to make before you can depart. Just make sure you leave your station as soon as you have accomplished your task. I want you to re-join us as soon as possible. I imagine we are going to need your eyes and ears if we’ve made it that far.”

“That is a promise I can make Rear Admiral. As soon as we’re done, we’ll hightail it straight for the rendezvous system.”

“Good,” Becket said as she gave Emilie a nod. She raised a hand in a salute. “Good luck Captain.”

“And to you too Rear Admiral,” Emilie replied just before Becket ended the COM channel.

Becket took a second to roll her shoulders then she pulled up the additional orders she had asked Wilson to write. After reviewing them she approved each one and sent them to the bridge to be transmitted to their respective ships. Then she stood and left her quarters. She had a meal to attend. After that a thousand other things would no doubt demand her attention before the fleet could actually move out and begin the campaign. Not for the first time, her mind turned to one of her long dead heroes, General Jackson had given her the inspiration for the Valley campaign. His success had been in large part down to luck and determination, but a significant amount of planning had been involved as well. As her own plans continued to come together, her respect for him only continued to grow.

Chapter 9

Every Imperial officer longs after the homeworld of their youth. It is only natural. Joining the Imperial Navy means that we will visit many star systems throughout our careers. I have set foot on forty-four. Still, in my mind none compare to Mala’nuoer. I hope to retire there when I am no longer needed in the Imperial Academy here in the Famarian system.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, 17th October 2483 AD (five weeks later).

“How long has it been since the last activity?” Becket asked from her command chair on Viper’s bridge.

“Three hours Rear Admiral,” Lieutenant Armitage, Becket’s sensor officer answered. “The freighter that moved from the Karacknid orbital base at the fourth planet to the gas mining station is still docked there.”

Becket nodded to acknowledge her subordinate’s response. The fleet was on the extreme outer edge of a Karacknid border world. They had been sitting there in stealth for the last eighteen hours. In that time almost nothing had happened. When they had arrived one freighter had been moving towards the system’s fourth planet. After a couple of hours it had entered orbit and hadn’t moved since. Several hours later, a second freighter had moved from the fourth planet to the small gas mining station the Karacknids had built in orbit around the system’s only gas giant. The only other movement within the system came from four patrolling frigates. Their patrol arc was extremely predictable and they were only using their passive sensors to observe the space around them. “How is our analysis of their main base coming along?” Becket asked. She had seen the preliminary analysis several hours ago but now that they’d had time to watch one complete revolution of the fourth planet her analysts would have a clearer picture.

“We’re pretty much done,” tactical officer Salaman responded. “We’ve identified six more warships. Two light cruisers and four destroyers. That brings the total garrison up to forty-two. The largest ship is a medium cruiser. We are ninety-eight percent confident that there are no other ships powered down in orbit. Certainly, if there are any we’ve missed, there can’t be more than one or two.”

“The two battlestations?” Becket followed up.

“They are indeed a new design we have not encountered before,” Salaman answered. “Though new may be the wrong word. I believe they are an older design. If I had to guess, I’d say their hull is based on a Karacknid battleship’s hull, with a few minor alterations. Without the need for any engines and supply storage, each probably has twenty percent more firepower and point defenses. If we had a fleet of equal numbers, they would pose quite a risk, but they don’t tip the balance in the Karacknid fleet’s favor in any significant way. Of course, if the battlestations are of an older design, their missiles and point defenses may be somewhat outdated.”

“The rest of the Karacknid base?” Becket asked.

Salaman made the image on the holo projector zoom in on the system’s fourth planet. “The nine other orbital stations appear to be for supply storage and fleet maintenance. There has been the occasional shuttle moving back and forth between them and the planet’s surface. But traffic has been minimal. The small installation on the planet itself appears to be inconsequential. We are too far away to detect any serious subterranean facilities. But it appears the small planetary structure is used more for R&R or ground-based training. There are zero energy signatures coming from the planet’s surface. Either there’s nothing of significance there or their reactors are in cold shutdown.”

Becket felt like shaking her head. She could hardly believe she was looking at a Karacknid base. From her experience fighting the Karacknids, it just didn’t seem possible. Normally at least half of a Karacknid war fleet in orbit around a planet would have their reactors powered up, ready to respond to a threat instantly. They would have more ships out patrolling with their active sensors ablaze. It looked more like she was staring at a fleet operated by some other species that had no experience of interstellar warfare. And yet the ships were most definitely Karacknid.

“They are clearly not expecting any kind of threat at all,” Captain Rogers commented. “We could sneak past their patrols and right into powered missile range and they wouldn’t detect us.”

Becket nodded. “According to the Kalassai intelligence, the Karacknids incorporated the system into their empire almost forty years ago when they conquered a nearby sentient species.” It seemed as if the fleet she was looking at had been stationed here ever since. “If they haven’t seen any action in nearly forty years it’s no wonder they are so ill-prepared.”

“Apart from the Karacknids’ quick conquest of the Nanee species, they haven’t extended their borders too far in this sector of space for quite some time,” Commander Wilson added from the midst of Becket’s staff officers. “If this entire sector of their Empire hasn’t seen much action, this may be where they send their second or even third grade officers. The entire Valley could be filled with squadrons and fleets like this.”

“We can only hope,” Becket replied wistfully. “Though it would be foolish to make such assumptions. For now, we can make use of their lack of preparedness. Get me Rear Admiral Maleck on a COM channel,” Becket requested as she glanced at her COM officer. She had been working on a plan over the last several hours and it was time to put it into action.

“Aye Rear Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon responded.

A few moments later Maleck’s face appeared on Becket’s command chair’s holo projector. Maleck smiled when they locked eyes. “I think your species has a saying that would sum up what we are looking at. It seems we’ve caught the Karacknids with their pants down… How does that sound? Is that right?”

Becket couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, I think you’ve captured it perfectly. I just hope it’s not a ruse.”

“It would be a very impressive ruse if this was all being faked,” Maleck said, gesturing towards the inner system.

“It would,” Becket responded. “But we’ll be careful all the same. Given how lackluster their patrols appear though, I was thinking we could take advantage of that. If we can prevent any word of our attack getting out of the system it will buy us more time to run riot further up the Valley. How do you feel about sitting this one out? It would be good to give our allies some experience. A decisive victory will do their morale good as well.”

“You want my ships to block any Karacknids from fleeing?” Maleck asked.

Becket nodded. “There’s two shift passages they’re likely to try and use. You’ll have to split your fleet.”

Maleck looked away for several seconds as he thought her suggestion through. “If their entire fleet goes one way, we’d be left outnumbered.”

“If it comes to that, your ships will have to pull back,” Becket suggested. “There’s no point risking such an engagement so early in this campaign. I intend to get as close to their base as possible before striking. I doubt much of their fleet will be able to escape, even if their commander is of a disposition to flee his post. Even taking into account how lax things look here, given what we know about the Karacknids, I’d be shocked if they simply fled.”

“You’re right,” Maleck said. “On both counts. If we can stop word getting out of our attack it will buy us another week or more. It’s worth the risk. When do you want us to get into position?”

“I can’t imagine we’re going to learn anything significant if we wait around much longer. The system is so quiet we could wait weeks and nothing else would happen. You may as well get going.”

“Very well, Admiral, Jaran and I will split our forces and cover the two shift passages. We will stay in stealth unless we’re forced to engage.”

“I’ll see you on the other side Admiral. Good luck,” Becket said.

“And to you,” Maleck replied before ending the COM channel.

“I’ll speak to Admirals Shraw and Faroul next,” Becket said. “And inform Commodore Fang that we will be moving soon too.” Becket watched the forty Alliance ships that had been holding station around Viper slowly move away from her fleet. They split into two distinct groups as they angled for the two shift passages on the opposite end of the system.

“The time has come Admirals,” Becket said as the two Conclave admirals appeared in front of her. “Are your ships ready?”

“Ready and eager,” Shraw responded. “You intend to make sure no witnesses escape?”

“If we can,” Becket answered. “Though the Alliance ships won’t be taking any undue risks. We’re going to sneak in as close as we can. If the Karacknid ships run we can chase them down. Their heavier ships shouldn’t be able to outrun us and if they detach the lighter ships, Maleck’s fleet can handle them.”

“A good plan,” Faroul decided. “Our ships await your orders Rear Admiral.”

“We will begin entering the system immediately,” Becket said as she sent a flight path to Lieutenant Rondon. “Your navigation officers should be getting the route now. It will take a few hours but as long as the Karacknids’ patrol frigates keep using their passive sensors, we should be able to get close. We have the numerical advantage, but Karacknid missile technology is effective. Make sure you remind your crews of that. We don’t want to take any losses due to overconfidence.”

“Don’t worry Admiral,” Shraw said. “I don’t think overconfidence is going to be a problem. All of our crews are more than a little nervous. It has been a hundred years since a Gramrian fleet has gone into combat for real. And back then it was against our Conclave neighbors. Everyone will be at their best.”

“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll keep in contact via laser COM link as we proceed. I’ll give the order to move momentarily,” Becket responded.

“We will be at your side,” Shraw said as both he and Faroul tilted their heads slightly.

Becket smiled at them and cut the COM channel. “Send the order to the fleet, take us in. Make sure everyone stays in stealth. We don’t want to give the game away before it begins,” she said as she looked towards her command staff.

Becket stayed on the bridge as her ships slowly crept into the system. Though Maleck’s ships had long since passed out of visual range, representations of their approximate positions were displayed on the holo projection of the system. Only once they were in position and no alarm had been raised did Becket allow herself to relax slightly. “What’s your best guess for when they’ll detect us Armitage?” she asked her sensor officer.

Armitage paused, looking for the right words. In the end he simply shrugged. “I don’t know how to best answer that Admiral. If this was a Karacknid fleet stationed on the frontline I’d expect them to have detected us already. The ships’ passive sensors mustn’t be as sensitive as we’re used to.”

Becket nodded as she mulled over that tidbit of information. She was closer than she had expected to get to the system’s fourth planet and the Karacknid orbital base. There was no chance the Karacknid fleet could flee without engaging her fleet, at least for a short missile duel. She’d be able to fire two or three salvos into the Karacknids as they passed. They really are this unprepared, Becket couldn’t help but conclude. Suddenly she sat up in her chair. Something else had occurred to her. It was possible the Karacknids had detected her ships and were luring her in. If they happened to have a number of stealth battlestations or ships hidden nearby, she could be the one walking into a trap and the deeper she went, the harder it would be to get out. When she glanced at Commander Wilson she saw her Chief of Staff was watching her closely. “Have several ships release a wave of stealth recon drones. I want to get one final picture of our target before we reveal ourselves. Check the upper orbitals of the planet as well. Let’s make sure there’s nothing in stealth,” she said in an even tone, so as not to cause alarm.

Within five minutes telemetry from the various drones was flooding Viper’s bridge. Becket sat back with a little more ease. Nothing out of the ordinary was detected. She had been concerning herself for nothing. Better safe than sorry, she thought. Acting unprepared and weak wasn’t the Karacknids typical MO for a trap, but Karacknid commanders were crafty. “All right,” she said. “The higher the approach velocity we have, the quicker our missiles’ closing speed will be. They cannot escape us now. Signal the fleet, we will go to full military power in sixty seconds. All ships are to be ready to fire as soon as we enter range. Signal our two light carriers. They are to prepare their Spitfires for anti-missile duty. Launch them as soon as they are ready. Make sure our new point defenses are fully functioning. This is going to be their first real test. Let’s not have a systems failure let us down.”

A chorus of acknowledgements came from her command staff as they obeyed her orders. Becket watched them for several seconds then looked back to the holo projection. The system’s fourth planet was a luscious green and blue dot in front of her. It had been slowly growing over the past couple of hours. As soon as Viper engaged her engines to full, the world would get rapidly bigger. Perhaps one day humans will colonize it, Becket thought. If we win this war that is. She tried to sound out the name the Kalassai had given the system. “Mala’nuoer,” she whispered to herself and shook her head. It didn’t sound quite right. The slight tremors that ran through her command chair cut her daydream short. Viper was powering up her engines.

Whilst the Karacknids were not of the standard Becket was used to, their reaction times were at least respectable. Seconds after Viper and the rest of the fleet went to full power and spewed gravimetric waves into space, the reactors on most of the Karacknid warships came online. The two battlestations were a few seconds slower, but they too prepared for combat.

“Ships breaking orbit,” Armitage reported. “Four frigates. They’re making a run for it.”

Becket watched the four ships for several seconds as they accelerated away from the planet’s gravity well and settled onto two different headings. The Karacknid commander was sending a warning to wherever his senior commander was stationed. And he wants to make sure it gets there. Depriving himself of four frigates took a reasonable chunk out of the Karacknid commander’s point defenses. “Let them go,” she said when it was clear the frigates were heading towards the two shift passages Maleck’s fleet was covering. There was no need for her to waste any effort on them. “Prepare a course to keep us at maximum missile range. There’s no need to get closer than we have to,” she said to Lieutenant Bradford, her navigation officer.

“The Karacknid fleet should open fire in thirty seconds unless their missiles are based on older tech,” Salaman announced.

Whilst it was something to hope for, Becket rather doubted they would be that lucky. Given the inferior nature of the Gramrian and Poideal missiles, her ships would be opening fire second. The Karacknid ships might have inferior missiles but given that the Karacknid empire probably produced hundreds of thousands of missiles every year, it was still probable that the fleet stationed in such a quiet sector got regular resupplies.

The Karacknid warships and battlestations opened fire right when Salaman had predicted. Viper’s sensors tracked four hundred and eighty missiles streaking towards Becket’s fleet. Along with her eighty Human warships, Admiral Shraw had sixty-five Gramrian warships and Admiral Faroul fifty-two Poideal ones. With just under three missiles per ship, Becket had little fear that her fleet’s point defenses would be overrun.

“Our Spitfires are about to engage,” Wilson reported.

Seconds later, twenty-four new contacts appeared just in front of the Karacknid missile salvo. Accelerating out of stealth, the Spitfires engaged the Karacknid missiles with their small plasma cannons. Though Spitfires had not been seen in this part of the galaxy before, the missile seeker heads had the latest Karacknid threat recognition software and they all carried out evasive maneuvers. Even so, twenty-one missiles were taken out. As soon as the rest of the salvo shot past the Spitfires, they ceased their evasive maneuvers to conserve fuel for their final attack runs.

“We are coming into range with our own missiles,” Salaman reported.

“Fire at will,” Becket snapped as she watched the Karacknid salvo. She only glanced at a secondary readout to confirm that every one of her fleet’s two thousand missiles had been released safely.

Captain Rogers sat forward in his command chair thirty seconds later when a hundred and four smaller missiles shot away from the Human ships in Becket’s fleet. Becket shared her Flag Captain’s anticipation, though she remained still. The missiles were a new design from the Imperial R&D department. Only Imperial ships built within the last six months were equipped to carry them. They were anti-missile missiles with an extra booster stage. The boosters carried the missile warheads towards the Karacknid salvo for two minutes before they disengaged and the warhead released its payload. Six more salvos shot out. Coordinating with one another, the six hundred missiles formed a wall in front of the Karacknid salvo. They detonated, releasing thousands of shards of shrapnel. The Karacknid missiles’ threat detection software had no data from which to interpret the new AM missiles. As a result, they registered them as smaller anti- ship missiles which were no threat. As soon as the wall of shrapnel was detected, they kicked into evasive maneuvers. It was too late for many of them, however. The shrapnel took out eighty missiles.

Even as Becket watched the shrapnel do its work, the new AM missile launchers on her ships fired again. This time, when the booster stage disengaged, they released a standard AM missile. Using their own seeker heads, they locked onto the Karacknid anti-ship missiles and accelerated hard as they sought to close with them. The Karacknid missiles threw themselves into evasive maneuvers. Just twelve AM missiles hit their targets.

“Well, it seems the theory has panned out this time,” Becket commented. The purpose of the extended range AM missiles wasn’t primarily to destroy Karacknid anti-ship missiles. Though every enemy ordnance taken out was a bonus. The real goal was to force the missiles to expend their fuel carrying out evasive maneuvers long before they reached her fleet’s point defenses. With so many different evasive maneuvers needed, the Karacknid missile salvo was now well staggered out. Instead of reaching her fleet at the same time, they would enter attack range over a period of ten or so seconds. That would allow her fleet’s point defense gunners plenty of time to prioritize the closest missiles and take them out before working their way back through the enemy salvo.

When Becket glanced at Rogers her Flag Captain was smiling. “They worked a charm,” he agreed. “No doubt we’ll not catch the Karacknids as unprepared for them again. But they worked this time.”

“That they did,” Becket replied. She looked back at the Karacknid salvo as it approached. Moments later the familiar sound of Viper’s flak cannons opening up was faintly heard on the bridge. They were quickly joined by plasma and laser cannons and then AM missiles filled space around the fleet as well. In the space of just fifteen seconds all but two Karacknid missiles were taken out. One of the remaining ones had targeted a Human destroyer. Deftly the destroyer twisted away from the missile. A proximity detonation bathed the warship in antimatter. Yet the destroyer flew right through it. Becket’s eyes widened as she nodded in approval. She had read the reports on the adapted gaseous shields Captain Scott and Xui-le had designed. But reading about them and seeing them were two different things. Each Human warship now had a thick layer of ionized gas held by magnetic fields several hundred meters out from its hull. With the briefest of warnings, the gas could be concentrated on any part of the ship. Though relatively simple and extremely cheap, the concentration of matter provided a barrier for the antimatter released from Karacknid missiles to connect with and cancel each other out. Losing a volume of unneeded gases was far better than seeing a gaping hole appear within a destroyer’s hull as antimatter particles negated everything they touched.

A brief flash off Viper’s port bow took Becket’s attention away from her ship. One of Admiral Shraw’s light cruisers hadn’t been so lucky. Its attempts to dodge the Karacknid missile targeting it had failed. The light cruiser was vaporized within seconds.

“Check with Scythe and see if she can replenish her gaseous shields in time,” Becket requested. “If not, move her to the back of the fleet.”

“Karacknids are firing again,” Lieutenant Salaman reported. “Same missile numbers as before.”

Becket nodded to him as he looked up from his command console and turned her attention to her own missile salvo. She doubted the Karacknids would survive two thousand missiles, but if they did, what was left would not be able to threaten her fleet. As her two thousand missiles entered range of the Karacknid point defenses, explosions ripped through them. Within seconds three hundred were gone. Hundreds more detonated as they twisted and turned in an effort to avoid the Karacknid fire. Becket shook her head. The Karacknids were trying their best but it was nowhere near good enough. A glance at a secondary readout suggested the enemy warships were equipped with standard Karacknid targeting sensors and jammers. That made Becket frown. Either the Karacknid gunners weren’t up to the standard she was used to or something else was at play, for the enemy point defense fire wasn’t as effective as she expected. Well over a thousand missiles actually got close enough to the Karacknid warships to detonate. The first to do so were the missiles from her ships. Their bomb pumped grazer warheads allowed them to engage the Karacknid ships at much longer ranges. Four hundred of them detonated, sending eight hundred laser beams into the Karacknid warships and orbital stations. Nearly half of the Karacknid ships were obliterated outright. The rest were so damaged by the attack or distracted by the destruction of their comrades that almost all of the remaining Gramrian and Poideal missiles got close enough to score direct hits. Every Karacknid ship and station in orbit around the system’s fourth planet was wiped out. The only trace of them was the salvo that was still accelerating towards Becket’s ships.

“Pass the word to our friends,” Becket said as she sat back in her command chair in satisfaction. “Congratulate them on their attack. Inform them I want to make sure we take no additional losses against this second salvo.”

“Aye Rear Admiral, transmitting now,” Lieutenant Rondon responded.

Becket watched as her fighters and multistage AM missiles engaged the enemy salvo. Then the point defenses of her ships opened up. “They learn fast,” Becket said when the point defense gunners of the Gramrian and Poideal ships took out all of the Karacknid missiles targeted at them. None of her fleet had to take evasive maneuvers. “Good work everyone,” she called out for all of her staff officers and Viper’s bridge officers to hear. “Analyze the enemy debris and make sure there’s no damaged ships hiding amongst the wreckage. Rogers, launch a couple of tungsten spears to level their surface base. If the Karacknids want to reoccupy this system, they’re going to have to rebuild everything from scratch,” Becket ordered.

“With pleasure Admiral,” her Flag Captain said with a grin. “It’s nice to kick some Karacknid ass so thoroughly for a change.”

Becket nodded. “Indeed it is. Long may it continue.” As her ships made sure they had completely destroyed the Karacknid fleet, Becket watched the four Karacknid frigates as they raced across the system, now with news of the border world’s demise. Either the two that were heading to the nearest shift passage were so fixated on her fleet that they weren’t paying any attention, or their commanders were completely inept. Either way, both of them disappeared off the gravimetric display without a warning. Maleck’s ships hadn’t even needed to come out of stealth. The Karacknid frigates had come close enough that they had blasted them with their energy weapons. The other two frigates at least figured out something was wrong for they both altered course. In response, Maleck’s second group of ships revealed themselves. Coming out of stealth they charged the two Karacknid frigates. Twenty missiles raced towards the two Karacknid frigates. In reply the frigates fired six of their own. As both groups of missiles converged with their targets the two Karacknid frigates disappeared whilst Maleck’s ships remained untouched.

“Break orbit,” Becket ordered as soon as the frigates were destroyed and her sensor officer confirmed the Karacknid fleet and surface base was no more. “Dispatch Hercules and Zion to take out the small gas mining station. The rest of the fleet will rendezvous with Maleck’s ships. Navigation, plot us a course to our next target.”

Chapter 10

In the early years of the Empire it often took weeks to traverse a hundred light years. This was in part due to the windy nature of shift passages and the relatively slow speeds shift drives could achieve. Compared to the size of the Empire now the areas fought over in the War of Doom seem small and close together, yet it was quite the opposite. With travel times of months between different theatres of the war, geography was as much a factor in any battle as enemy ship numbers or commanders.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, Karnlian system, 23rd October 2483 AD (five days later).

Like in the previous system, before revealing her presence Becket sent Maleck’s ships in stealth to cover the shift passages out of the system. Then she powered up her ships and headed into the inner system. Unlike the Karacknid border world, this system was heavily populated. There were hundreds of freighters moving between several outlying asteroid mining facilities and other inner system orbital structures. With so much traffic Becket had given up trying to sneak her fleet close enough to attack the few Karacknid warships that were in orbit around the one inhabited planet. According to the Kalassai intelligence, it was occupied by a species who called themselves the Karnlians. They had been conquered by the Karacknids fifty years ago. Just minutes after her ships revealed themselves, the five Karacknid warships in orbit powered up their engines and fled. A fleet being willing to stand up to her ships was one thing, five lonely Karacknids doing so was nothing but folly.

“Split the fleet,” she ordered once it was clear they intended to abandon the system. Seconds later her fleet split into eight smaller groups. The majority of her ships continued with Viper towards the Karnlians’ homeworld. The rest spread out to cover all of the major industrial nodes within the system.

Over the next hour and a half several messages reached Viper from the Karnlians’ homeworld. Many of the freighters fleeing from her ships also sent messages demanding to know what was happening. Becket ignored them all. She wanted to wait until she could have a two-way talk with the Karnlians’ leaders.

“We should be close enough now,” Lieutenant Rondon informed her as Viper and sixty-four ships closed with the inhabited planet.

Becket nodded. There were more than forty stations orbiting the planet but only two appeared to be of Karacknid design. Neither was particularly well armed and from the looks of things, none of the Karnlian stations had any offensive or defensive weapons. “Open a COM channel, make sure they know I want to speak to their leaders directly. Not some diplomat.”

“I have someone for you Admiral,” Rondon said a couple of minutes later. “Two someones in fact. They are both Chancellors of the planet. It’s a position they share.”

“Very well, put them on,” Becket responded. Having already accessed some of the radio transmissions coming from the planet, Becket knew what the aliens would look like. Despite that, she was surprised by their attire. The two Chancellors were dressed in the most elaborate costumes she had ever seen. Anatomically, the Karnlians were similar to the Kulreans. With grey hairless skin and two arms and two legs they looked like the old popular view of what an alien should be. At least, Becket knew that’s what a typical Karnlian looked like. The ones in front of her were so decorated in multicolored clothes which stuck out at weird angles that the only parts of their bodies she could actually see were their eyes and mouths. Altogether the display made her think of a peacock. Clearly one’s clothes indicate one’s status, Becket decided. “Greetings,” she said in as innocent a voice as she could muster. “I am Admiral Becket. You will understand if I’m not prepared to reveal anything else about myself. I already know some of your species’ history. About how the Karacknids conquered you. Given what we know of them I’m sure they have forced your species to serve as slaves in everything but name since then. My species and our allies are at war with the Karacknids. However, this is not a liberation. We cannot hold the system. We are here simply to destroy Karacknid infrastructure. I’m sorry that your species finds itself in the crosshairs.”

“You are threatening us then? You intend to destroy us so that the Karacknids can’t enslave us again once you leave?” one of the Chancellors spoke.

Becket decided it was fear rather than a calculated insult that caused the alien not to introduce itself. Given what it had just said, she understood entirely. “We have no desire to harm a single one of your species. We do not see you as our enemies. However, the economic contribution your system makes to the Karacknid empire is a legitimate target of war. I wished to speak with you to give you fair warning. In one hour from now my fleet will destroy every installation in this system. The other elements of my fleet are delivering the same message to the mining facilities and orbital stations they have approached. We will allow some of your freighters to remain so that they can transport your people back to your homeworld. But everything else must be destroyed. We cannot leave it in Karacknid hands. I’m sorry that we are doing this to you. Especially after what I am sure the Karacknids have done to your society already.”

“You cannot do this to us!” the second Chancellor snapped. “Not after everything our species has been through. When they return, the Karacknids will have no use for us, they will exterminate us.”

“They may,” Becket admitted. It was the one part of her mission that she had struggled with over the past several months. She had seen first-hand how willing the Karacknids were to nuke alien worlds from space. “It is not your fault that we are doing this to you. We’ve already defeated one Karacknid fleet guarding the border here. It is their fault that my ships have been able to penetrate this far into their empire. They may simply count the destruction here as the cost of their failure. In any case, as much sympathy as I have with your species’ plight, my species and our allies are in a war of survival. We cannot leave your system’s economy intact. Not when it is geared towards feeding the Karacknid war machine.”

“Then you’re no better than them,” the second Chancellor responded, venom that even Becket could recognize filling his voice.

“Perhaps,” Becket said slowly as she repeated the same argument she had used to convince herself. “But your species has served the Karacknids for forty years. Whether willingly or at gunpoint, you have served them. Given what they did to your species, your people know full well what the minerals and other commodities you have produced for them are used for. Whether in a large or small part, your species has played a role in aiding the Karacknids to conquer other worlds, in helping them kill hundreds of millions of my own species. I will not kill your people in revenge. But I will prevent your species from further contributing to their economy.” Before either Chancellor could speak again, Becket raised a hand. “This was a courtesy call. Hopefully one day when we have defeated the Karacknids your people will be free. If that day comes, I promise you my people will aid you as best we can. But that day is not now. You have received my warning. One hour from now we will destroy everything. Evacuate your people. If you do not, their deaths will be on your conscience, not mine.” Glancing over to Lieutenant Rondon, Becket nodded for the COM officer to cut the COM channel. Then she looked to her Flag Captain and raised an eyebrow.

“It was harsh,” Rogers responded, “but fair. At least they can have no doubt as to where they stand. If we ever liberate their system some proper diplomats can smooth over the feathers you have ruffled.”

“They will need to be good diplomats,” Becket replied, not happy about what she had had to do. Standard Karacknid operating procedure was to reduce the technological base of the species they conquered and force each species to specialize in producing one kind of material that the Karacknid economy needed. It kept the conquered species from ever having the ability to produce their own ships or anything else that would allow them to rise up and challenge the Karacknids. Unintentionally, Becket was sure, it also made attacking their space all the harder. At least for species with a conscience. If her campaign was going to be successful, she would have to cripple the economies of tens of systems. Systems inhabited by species the Karacknids had enslaved. She would have to repeat the conversation she had just had over and over again. That was why she had been so short with the two Chancellors. If she started taking a few hours to speak to species’ leaders in every system they attacked, the delay could see her fleet attacked as Karacknid reinforcements closed in. Each raid had to be short and decisive.

“They will,” Rogers agreed. “But in the long run, it’s what we need to do. We all understand it, even if it isn’t pleasant. Especially for you as you are the one that has to deal with them.”

“The pleasures of being an Admiral,” Becket responded, not wanting to be drawn into discussing her feelings in front of the bridge officers. “You’ll find out soon enough I’m sure,” she added as she winked at Rogers. She turned to her tactical officer. “Have the targets all been assigned?”

“Yes Admiral,” Salaman answered. “Viper is ready to take out the two Karacknid stations with a single salvo. Then elements of the Gramrian and Poideal fleet will move in and destroy the rest of the stations with their heavy laser cannons. Admiral Shraw requested their ships be able to make the attack.”

“Very well,” Becket responded. “Open fire on the Karacknid station now. Inform Shraw he can make his attack when the time comes. His ships could do with the target practice I imagine.”

“Admiral Shraw and Faroul have also opened a COM channel with the Chancellors,” Lieutenant Rondon informed Becket.

“Acknowledged,” Becket responded. “Galactically speaking, the Conclave species and the Karnlians are neighbors. They may as well try and smooth whatever feathers they can.”

Twelve missiles shot out from Viper. They raced across the distance to the two Karacknid orbital stations. A pitiful amount of point defense fire tried to take them out but the missiles dodged everything fired at them. In two blinding flashes both stations were destroyed. Becket nodded to Viper’s tactical officer and settled into her command chair. As the hour Becket had given the Karnlians to evacuate their stations counted down, Becket remained on the bridge and watched. With surprising efficiency hundreds of shuttles had taken off from the planet’s surface and the orbital stations and ferried people to the surface. Initially Becket was suspicious that some war materials were being ferried down to the planet surface. However, a scan of several of the shuttles didn’t show anything untoward. Just before the hour came, the five Karacknid ships that had fled the planet got to within five light minutes of the shift passage they were heading towards. That was as far as they made it. Maleck’s squadron of forty warships pounced and destroyed them with a single salvo.

“The hour is up. Admiral Shraw has requested permission to open fire,” Lieutenant Salaman said.

“Proceed,” Becket answered.

Shraw’s ships moved in. In the space of five minutes every orbital station was blown apart. Becket was glad Shraw made sure there were no large pieces of debris left intact to burn through Karnlian’s atmosphere. The last thing they needed was to have the Karnlians blaming them for a chunk of one of their own space stations wiping out a town or village. “Take us out of orbit,” Becket ordered as soon as the destruction was complete. “Set course to rendezvous with Maleck’s fleet. Our work here is done.”

*

IS Viper, unnamed system, 26th October 2483 AD (three days later).

“Target locked Admiral,” Lieutenant Salaman reported.

Becket took a moment to stare at the small station. They had almost missed it. But for an errant leak of electromagnetic energy, her fleet would have passed through the largely empty system and been on their way. When several ships had detected the emission, Becket had suspected a Karacknid squadron in stealth or some other more menacing surprise. Instead they discovered a small station that simply floated in the middle of space not near any planetary body. The station lay directly between two of the three shift passages that led into the system. Presumably, it was some kind of fuel depot used by freighters to top up their tanks. Despite her fleet revealing itself more than ten minutes ago, there hadn’t been a message from the station. Given that the station had no weapons she had half expected the Karacknids to surrender. But it seemed they had no interest in any such thing. Very well, she thought. No quarter offered and none requested. “Fire,” she ordered.

Six green plasma bolts shot out from Viper’s heavy plasma cannons. In the time it would have taken Becket to blink, the station was blown apart. “Return us to our original course,” Becket ordered. “And get me the senior fleet commanders on a COM channel.”

A couple of minutes later, after making sure her fleet was in formation and on the right heading, Becket looked back to her COM officer. Lieutenant Rondon simply nodded. Reaching over to her command chair’s holo projector she switched it on. The faces of her senior Admirals greeted her. “The time has come,” Becket said. “With luck, the main Karacknid forces in the Valley still don’t know that we are here. Splitting up will allow us to strike more systems in quick succession. Even if some Karacknid ships have spotted us, splitting up now will sow confusion as they try to organize a response. I believe we should continue with plan alpha one. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that our primary plan should be altered at this stage. What are your thoughts?”

“We have done well so far,” Shraw said. “I’m sure that will not continue, but whilst the enemy opposition is still light, we should hit as many of our targets as possible.”

“Agreed,” Maleck said. “We should make hay while the sun still shines,” he added.

Becket didn’t miss the sparkle in his eyes as she rolled her own. The Varanni Alliance species in general and the Crian in particular seemed to delight in learning Human proverbs. As far as she could tell, they didn’t have many of their own and they enjoyed using Human ones. Not wanting to encourage him, she moved on to Admiral Faroul. “Admiral?” she asked as she nodded to the Poideal commander.

“This is why we are here,” Faroul answered. “The risks will increase greatly, but we are prepared for that.”

“Then it is agreed,” Becket said as she brought her hands together. “We will split up and continue our attacks. Remember, we must keep each other fully informed of our movements. If we need to we must be able to support one another at once.”

“Do not worry my friend,” Shraw said as his tongue flicked in and out of his mouth. “We understand what you want from us.”

“Then there’s nothing left to say but good luck to us all,” Becket said as she glanced from commander to commander. When they had returned her well-wishes with their own she ended the COM channel. Now the real fun begins, Becket thought. The real fun and the real challenge.

Chapter 11

There have always been separatists and terrorists within the Empire. Often the line between them is blurred at best and gone in the worst cases. The challenge for our Emperors and Empresses has been to tackle such threats without stripping Imperial citizens of their rights and freedoms. With our modern technology, the temptation to monitor and control every second of citizens’ lives is very real. Humanity’s history is full of states who have made just such mistakes. Unless studied however, such history will not serve as a warning.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Avignon, 19th November 2483 AD.

As soon as his shuttle touched down outside the city General Johnston jumped out and moved to the hovercar. “Where are we going?” he asked the IID agent who was driving.

“Rue Laboureur,” the IID Agent answered as she powered up the hovercar and headed away from the shuttle landing pads. “It’s a small street in the inner city. You’ll have to walk the last few hundred meters or so, the street is too narrow for a vehicle.”

“Not a problem,” Johnston replied. “What do we know so far?” Johnston had been on his way to the Moon to meet with several marine Generals when Admiral Russell, the head of IID, had called and diverted his shuttle to Avignon.

“I’m not fully in the loop General. All I know is that we have discovered an apartment believed to be connected to the attack on the Empress. The agents there will be able to fill you in when we get there.”

“Ok, thank you,” Johnston replied. His heart was already racing. For the past three days he had been jumping from one thing to another trying to distract himself. He had made James a promise he intended to keep yet the investigation had been hitting dead end after dead end. At last, something was finally happening.

For the rest of the journey he went over everything they knew about the attacker François Sault. Sadly, it didn’t amount to much. With luck, that’s about to change, Johnston thought as the hovercar came to a halt. The investigation didn’t have many more leads so whatever breakthrough the IID had made it had to do with Sault.

“Right this way,” another IID Agent called as Johnston stepped out of the hovercar. “I’m Agent Hernandez, my partner is at the apartment now.”

“The apartment?” Johnston queried as he joined Hernandez and walked through the small winding street.

“Yes, our back dated surveillance on Sault put him in this street twice over the last month. Both times he went out of his way to come to Avignon. Neither of his overt reasons for visiting the city had anything to do with Rue Laboureur. We’ve been looking into the street for the last three hours. We think we’ve found where he was going.”

“How sure are we?”

“Technicians are carrying out a full spectral analysis of the apartment now. It’s just a one bed open plan apartment. We should have the results, including any DNA findings, in ten minutes or so,” Hernandez answered.

Within minutes Johnston walked most of the length of the small street and followed Hernandez into an apartment building that had to be at least five hundred years old. Right at the back he found another agent waiting for him beside a large oak door.

“Agent Swenson,” the man said as he held out a hand. “Russell asked me to supervise this personally.”

“How do you know this is where he was coming?” Johnston asked as Swenson opened the door and gestured for him to enter. The apartment was empty. The open plan living room had no seats and there weren’t any appliances in the kitchen. All the cabinet doors were open showing nothing inside.

“The bedroom is the same,” Swenson said. “All empty. The apartment has no windows or any other way in or out. The perfect safehouse for the kind of operatives we think planned the attack on the Empress. We don’t know this was the place for sure, but it’s a safe bet. I have other agents canvasing the street just in case another candidate shows up, but we think this is it. The apartment was listed for rent for nearly a year up until nine months ago. Then it appears the owner gave up. As far as we can tell, it has been vacant ever since. The neighbors have no recollection of anyone being to it for over a year and a half. It’s not even in our records. If it wasn’t for the holo cameras catching Sault coming into the street, nothing would have alerted us to the apartment’s existence.”

“The perfect safehouse,” Johnston said as he stepped into the bedroom to see it was indeed empty. “And he was here just twice,” Johnston repeated.

“Yes, unless he had some mistress who has a distaste for beds, this is likely where he met his contact,” Swenson suggested.

“You’re checking the holo cameras of the street for whoever he came to meet?”

“At this very moment. Though I’m not expecting to find anyone. Any agent with decent field craft would know to avoid the cameras in the street. I have agents looking at the visual recordings from the surrounding three blocks. Anyone that has even a hint of suspicion around them will be brought in for questioning.”

“Good,” Johnston said as he nodded. “The spectral analysis?”

“The techs are in the next room, five minutes or so and they’ll have preliminary results,” Swenson informed him.

Johnston took another minute or so to look around. He knew Swenson’s techs and their drones would have swept every inch of the apartment, but he needed to make sure there wasn’t something they weren’t seeing. “Ok,” he said when he was satisfied. “Send some of those visuals over to my datapad and I’ll look at them while we wait. May as well make myself useful.”

“Yes General,” Swenson replied. “There are a couple of sofas in the next apartment we have commandeered that you can use.”

“Alright,” Johnston agreed. He preferred to stand, he spent too much time sitting as it was, but he didn’t want to argue with the agent.  Slumping into a seat, he pulled out his datapad and flicked through images that the sifting software had flagged as suspicious. Most were images or short recordings of men or women who had their faces partially covered, making it harder to get a facial scan. Within seconds Johnston was able to flick through each, dismissing them as an effect of the clothes they were wearing. As he flicked through to another image, Swenson pulled his attention away.

“They have the preliminary results General,” the agent called as he stepped into the apartment’s main living room. Another man in white overalls was following him. “This is Agent Davis from our analysis division.”

“What have you found?” Johnston asked as he stood.

“Sault was definitely here,” Davis answered as he held up his datapad. Whatever it was showing, Johnston didn’t understand it. “We have detected trace elements of his DNA. There are two other sources, neither of which we can identify as yet. Both are female.”

Johnston nodded. “One of them will be his contact.”

“Indeed,” Swenson agreed.

“Anything else?” Johnston followed up.

“Yes, some strange titanium alloys.” Davis responded. “There were only a few miniscule flecks, but one of our drones managed to collect a couple of them. They are alloys that were only invented in the last hundred years. Given that the apartment is far older than that, none were used in its construction. Typically the flecks are used in military hardware. Including in the outer casing of hypervelocity missile launchers. Though not every nation uses such designs.”

“Let me guess who does, the Chinese,” Johnston finished for Davis.

“They do. I have sent away for the exact specifications of the shipment of missile launchers that is unaccounted for from China. Once we get it, I should be able to confirm if a launcher was in the room.”

“Thank you,” Johnston said. “Follow up on the launcher and the DNA. I want every database we have searched for a match. But make sure it stays with us. I don’t want word getting out yet. Whoever they are, if they are smart, they’ll be on the lookout for someone trying to trace their DNA profile.”

“Understood,” Davis said.

Johnston turned back to Swenson. “I don’t think we need to wait for confirmation to assume this was the safehouse where Sault received his launcher. He was probably here the first time to be trained on how to use it then the second to receive it. That means his contact had to be here. We need to identify them and find them immediately.”

“I already have my people on it. If they were picked up by any of our cameras, we’ll find then,” Swenson replied. “Do you want to join us back at IID headquarters or shall we update you when we find something?”

Johnston was sorely tempted to get a shuttle with Swenson back to Portsmouth where the IID headquarters had been built, but he had other things he needed to see so. “No, I have to get back to my schedule. But as soon as you hear anything, I want to know.”

“Of course General,” Swenson responded.

Turning up his datapad Johnston reached out with his other hand to switch it off before slipping it back into his jacket. The image it was showing made him freeze. It was of a woman. She was wearing a thick scarf around her neck that covered her mouth. That wasn’t entirely unusual. But she also had her head tilted away from the camera. It was almost a small enough tilt that it looked natural. But almost wasn’t good enough. Not to Johnston’s eyes. He pulled the datapad closer to his face as he zoomed in. On Earth it was all but impossible to tell these days but judging from the color of her skin the woman looked like she was Indian. That meant she was probably from an Indian colony rather than here. Johnston felt his instincts screaming at him. “Her,” he said as he held up his datapad to Swenson. “What do you think?”

“Maybe,” Swenson said slowly. Then with more confidence he nodded his head. “Yes, she is good. She’s stopping the cameras from getting enough for a full recognition scan, but she’s not drawing attention to herself from those around her.”

“Exactly,” Johnston agreed. “She knows what she is doing.” He was sorely tempted to abandon his appointments and go with Swenson to Portsmouth. They had a real lead to follow up on. Yet he suspected he would just get in everyone’s way. And one of his appointments was the Empress. “Get as much of a facial scan as you can. And see if we have any better images from the other cameras. Make her your priority. I want a full run down on everything we have on her ASAP. It doesn’t matter where I am. Just interrupt me.”

“Of course General,” Swenson replied.

“Good work,” Johnston said as he shook the agent’s hand again. “I have to see to a couple of things, but I’ll be following up with you as soon as I can.”

*

Imperial Palace

Johnston paused before the large double doors that led into Empress Christine’s main audience chamber. He took a deep breath as he collected himself. After meeting with Agent Swenson, he had spent two hours on the moon at the Marine Academy reviewing training practices and standards with the Generals in charge there. The Imperial Marines were under immense pressure to expand their numbers and they couldn’t afford to let standards slip. It was causing quite the headache. Dismissing those thoughts, he refocused on meeting with Christine. When ready, he nodded to the two marines guarding the doors. One reached over and pulled it open. As he walked in, he wasn’t surprised to see that Christine’s Chief of Staff was sitting with her at one of the tables that dotted the sides of the room.

“Ah, General Johnston, it’s good to see you, come on over,” Christine called as she waved her good hand at him.

“My Empress,” Johnston said as he approached and gave Christine a slight bow.

Christine frowned and waved his head back up. “There’s no need for that when it’s just the three of us. Now come and sit. Tell me how good I’m looking and update us on the security arrangements and the investigation.”

Johnston had to bite back a sigh. “So, you’re still planning to go through with it?” As he spoke, he glanced at Fairfax. The former British Prime Minister simply shrugged. They both knew how stubborn Christine was when she wanted to be.

“Of course,” Christine replied as she allowed a hint of indignation to creep into her voice. At the same time she flashed him a smile. “Look at me. I’m up and about. Sure I still have these blasted casts on. And I won’t lie, I’m still a bit tentative on my feet. But the people need to see me. They need to see with their own eyes that I am well enough to lead them. Unless you’re suggesting I’m too much of a cripple to make a public speech?” As Christine finished speaking she tilted her head to fix Johnston with a level stare.

“Certainly not Empress. In any case, I am not a doctor. I have no expertise to comment on your health. As long as you and your doctors are okay with that, I can’t complain on that front.”

“Exactly,” Christine said, jumping in before Johnston could finish his thought. “There’s no point in you trying.”

“That wasn’t exactly where I was going,” Johnston managed to get in. “As your Chief of Security, I am not entirely comfortable with just how public you intend to make this speech. Milan is a massive city. The cathedral sits in front of a large open square. It’s going to be a nightmare to fully secure. Especially if you want the square full of citizens. With your attackers still at large, I’m concerned. If they have more hypervelocity missiles there is no way we can fully protect you. Even with the best counter missile systems, I cannot guarantee your safety. Nor that of the crowd.”

“I have every confidence in you,” Christine responded. “Your marines have never let me down. Neither have you. This is something I need to do. Something the people of Earth need me to do. You know as well as I that there are still rumors flying around that I’ve been permanently maimed or crippled. Heck, there are even rumors suggesting that Fairfax has taken over and is running everything in my stead.” As she spoke Christine winked at Fairfax. “Think about the nightmares that is giving some of my citizens.” She shook her head. “This needs to be done. Unless you’re going to tell me it’s impossible to protect me in one of my own cities, then this is what’s going to happen.” Christine leveled her gaze at Johnston.

“I’m not saying it’s impossible. Just that I cannot remove all the risks,” Johnston responded.

“You know as well as I that in life and especially in war, there are always risks,” Christine replied.

Johnston simply nodded. The square was a nightmare to protect. There were five different streets leading into it and anyone could access the square through the many buildings that fronted onto it. Not to mention the much larger high-rise apartments and skyscrapers that surrounded the square further away. Any one of them would provide a good vantage point for a sniper or someone intent on harming Christine. As bad as that was, he had to admit that wherever Christine chose to do her speech, there would be risks. Someone with modern military weaponry with the intent to use it would be able to find an opportunity one way or another.

“Good,” Christine said as her facial features relaxed. “We can put that discussion to bed then. Tell me, how is your investigation going?”

“We are still chasing up leads,” Johnston answered honestly. He didn’t want to tell Christine about the new apartment and the woman who was the potential contact who had recruited and armed Sault. Not yet. He wanted to be sure before he got her hopes up.

“That’s all my Chief of Security has to tell me?” Christine pressed. “I know James asked you to handle this personally.”

“I am,” Johnston responded. “We are certain that Sault wasn’t working alone. And that he wasn’t the mastermind behind the attack. Someone else planned it. Someone who simply used Sault as a pawn. That means they are organized and have skills in spy craft. It’s going to make finding them difficult. Not to mention stopping them launching another attack.”

Christine frowned but chose to ignore Johnston’s attempt to return to their earlier conversation. “But you still have southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy shut down. So you believe this spy ring or whatever you are calling it should be stuck in those regions.”

“That’s our hope,” Johnston said with a nod. Given the apartment they had just found in Avignon, he was quite certain that the spy ring had set up in southern France as their base of operations.

“Well, the sooner you and Russell find them the better. I’m getting complaint after complaint from the Mayors and citizens of those regions. Restricting the personal freedoms of Imperial citizens is not something I’m keen on building a reputation for. There are four days until my public address. I’d very much like to announce the end of the restrictions then.”

“Four days is not a long time to hunt down and root out a spy ring Empress,” Johnston said slowly. “Even if we have some success by then, it will be difficult to know for sure if we have all the conspirators.”

“I guess we will just have to see how good you and Admiral Russell are then,” Christine replied. “For in four days I’ll be making my speech.”

Mentally, Johnston sighed. As Christine drew him into conversations about how the training of the next cadre of marines was going, he allowed her to change the subject. Though he answered her questions and engaged in the other topics she wanted to discuss with him and Fairfax, his mind was focused on finding Christine’s attackers. If they only had four days, the investigation needed to pick up pace.

*

When he stepped out of the reception chamber forty minutes later, Johnston pulled out his datapad to check his messages. He wasn’t surprised to see Admiral Russell had requested he call over to his office. With Russell’s secondary IID office based in the Palace, it was just a short walk for Johnston to head there. When he stepped into Russell’s office and saw Agent Swenson was there as well, Johnston had to fight not to grin. They had made a breakthrough. “What have you found?” he asked as he shook both of their hands.

“I’ll let Swenson update you,” Russell said as he gestured for both men to take a seat.

“We have found hundreds more images of this unknown woman,” Swenson said as he tapped Russell’s holo projector and more than twenty images of the same woman appeared. In every one of them she had her head tilted away from the camera or was wearing something that covered most of her face. “As you can imagine, not a single one of them has allowed us to get a full facial scan, but there’s enough to piece together a partial one. She has used three aliases that we’ve identified so far. But her real name is Saria Bedi. She’s from New Delhi. She was suspected of being a member of Culthrapori’s militia but she was never found after the colony joined the Empire and we couldn’t confirm her involvement one way or another. Now I think we know why. We have images of her moving around Earth going back nearly a year. She’s definitely a spy. She has only popped up infrequently here and there all over Earth. With so much movement she should have a digital footprint fifty or a hundred times the size of the one she does. If it wasn’t for your suspicions, she might have evaded our general counter surveillance efforts indefinitely.”

Johnston heard everything Swenson had said, but his mind had focused on one thing. “New Delhi,” he repeated. “That means Agarwal is involved. There is no doubt now. He was head of Culthrapori’s intelligence operations. He would have sent Saria here when Culthrapori was still in charge of New Delhi. If she is still carrying out active operations then Agarwal must be in contact with her. He has to be pulling the strings.”

“That’s our working theory,” Russell agreed. “We’ve tried to backtrack Saria’s movements before she came to Earth. She came here via Britannia, then Canadian space and the Swedish colony of Gustav. After that, the trail goes cold, but I think it’s a safe assumption that she started out from New Delhi. We’re searching every record we have to see if we can identify if and when Agarwal came to Earth. He probably used the same methods Saria did and we know it had to be some time after New Delhi voted to join the Empire. But as yet we have nothing. What we need to decide is what do we do next?”

“We’ve been compiling a list of known contacts and addresses Saria has visited and we are investigating them all,” Swenson informed Johnston. “But we are having to do it quietly so we don’t tip her off. We’ve also confirmed that one of the female DNA samples found in the Avignon apartment is of the owner who was looking to sell it. That means the second sample is most likely Saria’s. I have had a quiet trace put on the sample, if it shows up anywhere at all, I’ll be alerted. The question is, do we pick her up and interrogate her now, or follow her and try and find Agarwal and whoever else might be involved?”

Johnston closed his eyes as he thought. The decision was not an easy one. And Russell and Swenson were laying the responsibility on him. “What are your thoughts?” he asked as he opened his eyes again and glanced from Russell to Swenson.

Swenson glanced at Russell. “If it wasn’t for the Empress’ upcoming speech,” the head of IID said, “we could watch her for as long as we wanted. That way we could make sure we scoop up everyone involved when we finally take her. That would be my preference. If we lift her now, the rest will go to ground. They could hide out for six months or a year or even longer if they wanted and then start their operation again. We’d never know for sure if we had put an end to this. But…”

“But they’ve already made one attempt on the Empress,” Johnston said. “And this speech is the perfect opportunity to make another.” He closed his eyes again. It was a Catch-22. Right now they knew about Saria. They had enough of a facial scan to track her movements relatively accurately. That gave them an advantage. They could watch her and identify everyone she had contact with. But if they picked her up and she didn’t break, then they’d be back to square one. They would know nothing. As he thought through both options he was reminded of Christine’s words. “In life and war there are always risks,” he said. “We need to put an end to this threat to the Empress’ life. We’ll watch her as close as we can. I want every surveillance drone we have searching for her. I want to be kept up to date minute by minute and hour by hour. If we think she is involved in planning something, we’ll jump on her immediately. But if she doesn’t look like she’s planning anything for the Empress’ Milan speech, then we’ll get as much information on their whole organization as we can before we move. How does that sound?”

“That will work,” Russell said with a nod. “What do we tell the Empress?”

“Nothing yet,” Johnston answered. “She doesn’t need to worry until we know something more definite one way or another.”

“All right, Agent Swenson will continue to take the lead on this. He will report directly to the both of us.”

“Very good,” Johnston said as he glanced at Swenson and nodded. “We can’t make any mistakes in this. They can’t be allowed to hit the Empress a second time.”

“I won’t let you down General,” Swenson promised.

Johnston nodded again. “See that you don’t.”

Chapter 12

A trip to the Imperial capital can be a bittersweet experience, especially to a student of history. Many of the ancient cities are now but suburbs in one of the several mega cities that have formed. Still, if one knows where to look, some of the ancient sites can still be found.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Milan, 23rd November 2483 AD (four days later).

Standing in the middle of the large square, Johnston slowly turned through three hundred and sixty degrees as he surveyed the work his platoon of marines, or more accurately, the newly named Imperial Guard, were carrying out. At the base of the steps that led up to the cathedral, a small portable AM missile launcher was sitting. At the top of the steps the podium was in place and six Imperial Guards were at their positions. In the cathedral itself at least ten others were guarding the various entrances. As he turned, he noted the snipers on the top of the building adjacent to the cathedral. For several more buildings there were no signs of any marines, but he knew they were there making sure every entrance to each building that led into the square was covered. Each roadway had a small roadblock manned by Imperial Guards and on the roof of another building there was a more substantial AM missile battery. He had more than a hundred Imperial Guards keeping the square locked down tight. He would only open access to the square forty-five minutes before Christine’s speech and every single person who entered would have their face and DNA scanned.

As he turned back to face the cathedral, Johnston paused to take in the site. It was truly an impressive building. Spires upon spires was how he would describe it to his wife Clare when he returned home after Christine’s speech. I’ll have to bring her here someday, Johnston thought before turning back to the matter at hand and shaking his head. The cathedral was massive and impressive, but it was also weak and fragile. A hypervelocity missile fired into its front could topple the whole thing. Even if Christine wasn’t hit directly, the building could fall on her. I don’t like it, they could attack before she comes out if they wanted, Johnston supposed. It would be riskier, there’d be a chance Christine might survive. But a couple of hypervelocity missiles would bury her alive. What more can I do? he asked himself as he did another pirouette to take in the square. Alongside the visible defenses he had four shuttles stationed just two blocks away. They would have their engines running and be full of Imperial Guards, ready to come at a second’s notice. He also had a frigate in orbit that had all of its optical and electromagnetic sensors focused on a two-mile radius around the square. If any kind of targeting system activated, the frigate or the hundreds of drones he had swarming around this part of the city would detect it. Short of forcing Christine to get into a marine’s combat armor, he couldn’t do much else to put a barrier of defense around his Empress. That didn’t stop Johnson from raising a hand to scratch his forehead as he tried to think of something else he could add to his preparations.

Before anything came to him, his COM unit beeped at him in a pattern that made Johnston’s hand flick for it instantly. It was a flash alert. Pulling his COM unit out he activated it. Agent Swenson was requesting to speak to him immediately. “What is it agent?” he asked.

“One of our old roadside cameras picked up Saria,” Swenson replied immediately. “The hit is thirty minutes old. I’m afraid it took some time to work through the system. She was driving an old electric ground vehicle into the town of Magenta. It’s just a handful of miles away from Milan.”

Johnston swore. There was only one reason why she would risk coming so close to where Christine was going to be. “Don’t do anything yet. I want every drone we have in that town though. Nothing moves without us knowing about it. I’m on my way there now. Where are you?”

“I’m in a shuttle on my way too. I’m five minutes out,” Swenson replied.

“I’ll see you there,” Johnston responded as he ended the COM channel. He was tempted to order the town locked down, but if Saria had been there thirty minutes ago there was a chance she was already gone. They needed to find her and track her, not alert the Indian spy that they were onto her. Not yet at least. Johnston almost called Christine to cancel her speech. He knew she would refuse though. Her speech was still two hours away. She would insist he had plenty of time to stop Saria. Sighing, he tucked his COM unit into his tunic and ran to where the shuttles were waiting. They had caught a lucky break spotting Saria. There was a good chance they would catch her before she managed to do anything, but she had avoided every effort to spot her until now. It was just as likely that whatever she had planned she might actually be able to accomplish. There was no point trying to explain that to Christine though, the only thing he could do was stop Saria.

Four minutes later his shuttle touched down on the outskirts of Magenta. As Johnston stepped out of the shuttle, he saw another one banking as it came into land beside his. Once it did Swenson hurriedly joined him. “Here’s the image the roadside cameras picked up,” he said as he held up a datapad. The small electric vehicle had two people visible in it. Beside the driver Saria’s name was being displayed, though not enough of her face was serviceable for Johnston to be sure.

“How certain is that facial scan?” he asked.

“Eighty-eight percent,” Swenson responded. “It’s by far the highest we’ve got since we’ve been looking for her.”

“The other woman?” Johnston followed up.

“She came to Earth nine months ago. The name she used was Ursula Kendrick. That’s clearly not her real name. Beyond that we don’t know anything more. I have agents chasing her past movements now. She has to be another New Delhi spy.”

Johnston nodded his head. “Agreed. The town?”

“We have it on a soft lockdown. No one can leave or enter without us getting a full facial scan. There is more though. A drone picked up Saria’s vehicle on this street,” Swenson explained as he changed the image on the datapad. “It’s a small warehouse district on the edge of the town. It looks like they were headed to one of these two warehouses.” Swenson zoomed in the image. “They are both used for long-term storage of surplus factory equipment. A drone took this image as well.”

The image changed to show a man wearing a wide bowler and a thick scarf. Not much more than his nose and eyebrows were visible. It was more than enough for Johnston. He had been studying the images of Agarwal. “He is here!” Johnston said as his eyes widened. “When was this taken?”

“Just five minutes before we got the first image of Saria,” Swenson answered. “As soon as we knew she was headed here, I had the search parameters for Agarwal widened. The facial recognition gives only a sixty-four percent match. But I concur, it is him.”

“Get drones to cover every angle of those two warehouses,” Johnston ordered.

“Done,” Swenson replied after tapping orders into his datapad.

“How many marines do you have with you?” Johnston asked as he looked at the Imperial Guards still sitting in the shuttle he had ridden to Magenta. He had six with him.

“I have eight in my shuttle and two more shuttles on the way,” Swenson answered.

Johnston stared in the direction of the two warehouses. Agarwal and his associates had to be planning an attack on Christine. The factories were probably where they had stored the hypervelocity missiles. They wouldn’t be staying in Magenta for long. They would want to get their weapons and split up as quickly as possible. They could have left already, Johnston thought as he bit back a curse. Thirty minutes was more than enough time to get what they needed and part ways. “There’s no time to wait for them. We need to take our marines and cover one of the factories each. Once we go in the shuttle pilots can cover the main exits. We’ll go with the standard breach and search protocol. There’s no time to plan anything fancier. Let’s go agent,” Johnston said as he nodded to Swenson. He waited just long enough for the IID agent to nod in reply and then turned and ran to his shuttle.

As soon as he jumped in, he moved to the shuttle’s cockpit and sat behind the two pilots. Donning one of the headsets, he spoke as he tapped the coordinates of the factories into his flight seat. “Set us down two blocks away from these factories. Set engines to silent mode. We are doing as covert an insert as we can. Take off now!” Even as the pilots acknowledged Johnston’s order, he switched COM channels. “Listen up marines, I’m sending you schematics of a factory. As soon as we touch down we’re going to sprint to the factory and breach and clear it. Suspected terrorists are inside along with weaponry planned to be used against the Empress. Expect hypervelocity missiles and perhaps some other explosive weapons. The terrorists will be armed. We want them alive if possible, but dead is acceptable. There’s no time for backup. We need to take them out before they leave and split up. Understood?”

“We understand General,” the Sergeant in charge of the Guards responded. “Are you accompanying us Sir?”

“Of course,” Johnston replied. He wasn’t in his combat armor, but he had a standard combat suit on. That and his augments were all he would need. “Agarwal planned the attack on Empress Christine’s shuttle. He is not getting away this time.”

It took less than sixty seconds for the shuttle to take off and fly low over Magenta. The pilot identified a small square close enough to the warehouses where two shuttles could set down. Moments later Johnston was out of the shuttle. “Take point,” he said to the Sergeant. They moved swiftly through the streets. Most passers-by stopped and stared, whilst some dropped their shopping bags in surprise. Those in front of the Guards jumped out of the way. Everyone had seen holo dramas about marines in combat, but it was likely none of the civilians had seen combat armor clad marines in full sprint. In less time than it took the shuttle to fly over the town they reached the factory. Pausing for just long enough to check that Swenson and his marines were in position, Johnston sent an order for the shuttle pilots to take off. “Breach, breach, breach!” he called out.

The marine sergeant took a couple of steps back and shoulder charged the factory door. It burst off its hinges as the marine, boosted by his combat armor’s strength, ploughed through it. Leading the other marines, Johnston charged in. As the Sergeant went right, he went left, plasma rifle raised and ready. For a split second he wondered when he had picked it up and then dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter. As fast as his special forces marine augments allowed him, he flew through the factory, checking rooms and storage areas. With the seconds ticking by and room after room coming up empty, his desperation increased. Just as he got to the far end of the factory a marine’s voice coming over his COM unit stopped him from punching a wall in frustration. “Over here General,” the marine said. “We’ve got one.”

Relief washed over Johnston as he turned and quickly moved in the direction of the marine. When he entered the small side room, he saw a woman on her knees, head lowered. One of the marines had a hand on the back of her neck and his rifle pointed at her head. “She’s the only one here,” the Sergeant said from where he stood in front of the woman. He was holding his datapad, obviously having just scanned her facial features. “She isn’t Saria. But I’ve got a hit. One Akhila Malhorta of New Delhi. She is on the list of suspected Culthrapori militia that were never caught.” The Sergeant nodded to several crates that were lying open at the side of the room. “I think we can assume we found our terrorists.”

Johnston glanced at the crates. One had a couple of hypervelocity missile launchers in it while the other looked like it had housed hypervelocity missiles. He turned his attention back to the marine sergeant as the rest of the marines gathered in the room. “No sign of Saria or Agarwal?” he demanded. When the marines shook their heads Johnston swore. He pulled out his COM unit. “Swenson, what’s going on over there?”

“We’ve got nothing General; this warehouse is clear. What about you?” Swenson responded.

“We got one of Agarwal’s agents, but neither Saria nor Agarwal are here,” Johnston answered. “What about the drones outside, have they detected anyone leaving?”

“No one has come in or out in the last fifteen minutes,” Swenson answered. “Initially our coverage wasn’t perfect. The drones were covering the whole town at that stage. No images of Agarwal or Saria have been picked up though.”

Johnston looked back at the marines gathered around him. “Fan out again, check for any other ways out of here.” If Agarwal had managed to slip out of the warehouse he would be long gone. If he was able to avoid all the drones Swenson had operating throughout the town, he would be almost impossible to find.

“There is an open sewer inside the warehouse,” one of the marines reported seconds later.

Johnston left the woman they had captured and went to see for himself. He swore again when he saw the sewer cover lying to one side. “Swenson, get over here,” he ordered. “There’s an open sewer. I want as many drones as you’ve got down there searching for them. I want to know where they came out.” Almost before he finished speaking, Swenson appeared. One of the marines that was with him opened a compartment in his combat armor and six more remote drones flew down the sewer entrance. Swenson pulled off his backpack and released ten more. He pulled out his datapad and watched as the drones mapped out the sewer system under the warehouse. When he looked back up at Johnston he shook his head. “I’m sorry General. There’s no sign of them. The sewers branch out again and again and again. We can’t cover them all. And they may not be in the sewers any longer.”

Johnson turned and smashed an unarmored fist into the wall. Agarwal had escaped with hypervelocity missiles! Johnston’s mind raced. He knew where Agarwal was going. There are only so many routes that one could take to Milan. “Get your drones to fan out and cover every route from here to Milan. Contact the Imperial Guardsman in the city, I want them on high alert.” As Swenson and the marine sergeant got to work, Johnson turned and left them. He had little hope that the drones would locate Agarwal, even if they knew where he was going. Agarwal was good. There was only one person who knew Agarwal’s target and where he planned to launch his attack from. “Leave us,” Johnston ordered as he stepped into the small room where Akhila was being held. When the marines left the room, Johnston closed and locked the door behind them.

Moving over to Akhila he lowered himself onto his haunches in front of her and then lifted her head. “Do you know who I am?” The Indian opened her mouth as if she was going to reply and then spat at him. With his enhanced reflexes, Johnston easily swatted it out of the air. “That’s not going to work with me,” he said as gently as he could. “I am General Johnston. I was with Emperor Somerville when we overthrew Culthrapori. I personally witnessed his execution on New Delhi. You are in my custody now. There is no escape. I know you were on Earth when we took New Delhi. What you might not know is that many who served Culthrapori were pardoned. If they helped us, we were willing to be lenient. The Empire wishes to put past grievances behind us. For that reason I’m giving you one chance. Tell me where Agarwal and Saria are going and what they’re planning and I will personally ensure that you’re shipped back to New Delhi. You will not be allowed to leave the planet, but you can have your freedom there. What do you say?”

Akhila spat at him again. Johnston deflected it and growled. “I’m not playing games here. You are a terrorist. If you don’t make a deal, you will be executed. Tell me what I want to know.”

Akhila glared at Johnston for several seconds and burst out laughing as she shook her head. “You will get nothing from me you pig. You destroyed my homeworld. I will happily die if it means your Empress dies with me.”

Johnston growled again. Akhila knew he didn’t have time to waste playing games with her. If he had weeks, he could hand her over to the IID. Their enhanced interrogation techniques would break Akhila eventually. But there was no time for that. “Tell me!” he pressed as he grabbed Akhila’s throat to stop her from spitting once more. Even as he held her, Akhila tried to shake herself free. Johnston released her and closed his eyes as he tried to think clearly. Akhila took the opportunity to spit on him. Her saliva splashed on his eye and ran down his cheek. In a split-second Johnston’s rage swelled up within him. His hand snapped back ready to deliver a throat crushing blow to the Indian spy. Memories of the visit James had paid to his office in the Imperial Palace before departing Earth made him stop. He had made a promise to his friend. A friend who had already lost one wife before. He wasn’t going to let him lose another. Slower than before he spoke to Akhila. “You cannot provoke me. You do not understand what is going on here. I made a promise to an old friend that I would protect the Empress with my life. You are nothing but a murderer. A condemned women. Tell me now or you will suffer.”

“There’s nothing more you can do to me than taking my homeworld’s freedom,” Akhila sneered.

“There is,” Johnston said as he held Akhila gaze. “Tell me now. Last chance.”

Akhila shook her head. Johnston took a deep breath. “I take no pleasure in this. But I must know. Pulling his plasma pistol from its holster, he turned it down to its lowest power setting and shot Akhila in the foot. The plasma burnt through her shoe and ate away nearly half of her foot within seconds. Bloodcurdling screams filled the small room. Reaching out with his other hand, Johnston grabbed Akhila by throat and tightened his grip until she stopped screaming. “Tell me what I want to know!” he demanded. Letting her go, he pulled a hyper syringe from his utility belt. “I can take the pain away instantly. Tell me now!”

When Akhila refused to speak, Johnston turned his pistol towards her other foot. She flinched, pulling it away from the muzzle of his weapon, but she still did not speak. Adjusting his aim, Johnston fired. Her screams echoed all around him as she fell over and writhed on the floor. Banging from the door made Johnston turn away from her. “Stay out!” he yelled. Turning back to Akhila he grabbed her and pulled her up onto her knees. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her mouth was working up and down in a silent scream. Johnston waved the hyper syringe in front of her. “All the pain can go away instantly. The surgeons can restore your feet. Tell me what I want to know or I won’t stop until there’s nothing left of you. I will trade your life for Empress Christine’s in a heartbeat.” To prove his point, Johnston pressed the muzzle of his pistol into the charred remains of Akhila’s left foot. Her silent screams turned into vocal ones as Johnston pressed and moved the muzzle around.

“Ahh aall righ...” Johnston thought he heard amidst the screams. He pulled his pistol away.

“You’ll tell me?” he asked. When Akhila nodded vigorously he plunged the syringe into her neck. Her shoulders and chest slumped as the pain relievers got to work. Johnston had to catch her to stop her from falling over again. “Speak!” he commanded as he shook her. For a couple of seconds she looked at him, hesitation written all over her face. Johnston raised his plasma pistol again and the particulars of Agarwal’s plan tumbled out of her. As he listened to every detail, Johnston breathed an inward sigh of relief. He had never tortured anyone before. And he never wanted to again. He hated doing it. But he knew he wouldn’t have stopped. That scared him more than he wanted to admit.

Chapter 13

The Empire has strict laws on how it should treat sentient species. We enforce these laws on any species who wishes to join the Empire or be one of our trading partners. Of course, not all species share our point of view. Such realities leave some grey areas which naval cadets must learn to navigate.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

As soon as Akhila had told him everything he needed to know, Johnston let her slump to the floor. He jumped to his feet, unlocked the door and stepped out of the room. Swenson, the marine sergeant, and the rest of the marines were all standing around. “She needs immediate medical attention. See that she gets it and then get her on a shuttle to Milan.” Though Swenson and the others were expressionless, Johnston knew they knew what had just happened. He didn’t have time to worry about that though. “Get our shuttles to land. We need to get to Milan ASAP. I know what they are planning.”

“What if she was lying to you?” Swenson asked as Johnston moved through them.

“That’s why she’s coming with us,” Johnston called over his shoulder. “If she’s lying, she’ll regret it. Come on,” he added. “We’ll take the first shuttle with the Imperial Guard. The rest of the marines can follow in the second.” As they made their way out of the warehouse, he filled Swenson in. “Apparently Saria has a fake identification file listing her as a reporter. She and someone else she recruited are going to pose as holovid recorders and set up in one of the buildings that overlook the cathedral square. Agarwal is going to be further out. He is going to launch the first strike from an apartment building that is over half a mile from the cathedral. If his first missile fails to hit its target, he’ll have plenty of time to reload and fire a second or even third. Then in the commotion Saria is going to strike.”

“It’s a good plan,” Swenson said as he sprinted to keep up with Johnston. “Our AM launchers should be able to take out Agarwal’s missiles. But if they’re focused on a long-range threat, they may not be able to counter Saria’s attack.

“Exactly,” Johnston said as he glanced at the timer on his COM unit. “The Empress is scheduled to enter the cathedral in one hour and thirty minutes. If they get into place by then they could attack the cathedral any time they wanted. If they get even a hint that we’re after them, they will take out the cathedral and try to cause as much mayhem as possible. Akhila was almost willing to die for their cause. We have to assume Agarwal and Saria will go even further.”

As soon as they got into the shuttle Johnston sent coordinates to the pilots. Then he pulled out his datapad and searched for the two buildings Akhila had told him about. He handed the datapad over for Swenson to see. “Here, this is the building Saria is going to use. Contact the marines we have there and make sure they are on the lookout for her. Apparently, she has undergone some cosmetic surgery since the first attack on the Empress. Tell them not to do anything, we don’t want to alert Agarwal. They are only to keep close tabs on her. I want you in position to apprehend her as soon as I’m ready to take Agarwal.”

“Of course General. What is your plan for Agarwal?” Swenson asked.

“There are no marines based in the area Agarwal is going to,” Johnston explained. “If we deploy some now, he’ll get suspicious. I’ll infiltrate the building and get in place to intercept him. Once we know he’s inside more marines can be dispatched to back me up.”

“You’re going alone?” Swenson balked. “Surely some of the Imperial Guard could accompany you?”

Johnston glanced at the marines as he shook his head. “None of them are special forces marines. They are not up to what I have in mind.”

Swenson glanced at them and raised his eyebrows as he shook his head. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Johnston touched Swenson shoulder. “Don’t worry, I have this.”

A strange look crossed Swenson’s face, Johnston thought it was doubt for a second, but then he figured out where Swenson’s mind had gone. Given what he had just done to Akhila, it was perfectly reasonable for Swenson to have concerns about why Johnston wanted to take on Agarwal on his own. “Don’t worry my friend,” Johnston said as he squeezed Swenson’s shoulder. “I intend to stop him launching his attack on the Empress. Nothing more. If he surrenders, I’ll take him into custody.”

Swenson’s face went blank as he hid his emotions. “Of course, General, I thought nothing else.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Johnston replied as he removed his hand. “We’ll keep in constant contact. As soon as you’re ready to take Saria and her accomplice, let me know. We have to do it together. We can’t risk one alerting the other. Not when hypervelocity missiles are in the mix.”

“Understood,” Swenson responded.

Johnston nodded to the IID Agent and donned his flight helmet. Activating the COM unit, he explained to the pilot what he wanted. He had to order the pilot to do it, but eventually he relented. “Sixty seconds,” the pilot called a very short time later. Unbuckling himself, Johnston shot Swenson a smile as the agent looked at him confused. He moved down to the back of the shuttle. Tapping the rear hatch’s activation button, he grabbed a guard rail as it began to lower. Below him the rooftops of Milan came into view. As he looked down the shuttle quickly slowed. “Now,” the pilot shouted. Johnston jumped. Trusting the pilot had timed it perfectly, he braced himself. The roof of one of Milan’s higher high-rise apartments rushed up to meet him. As his feet hit the roof he let them give way as he tucked himself into a ball and rolled. His maneuver spread the force of the impact across his legs and back. It still knocked the wind out of him. When he came to rest Johnston rolled onto his back and lay still for several seconds. He had carried out low level combat jumps as part of the training regimes all special forces marines went through but that had been twenty years ago. He had never had cause to try one since. Slowly he moved each part of his body. Everything seemed to be working, but his left foot was throbbing. The pain quickly receded as his implants released a series of pain killers into his blood stream.

Gingerly he got to his feet. Then he looked around for the shuttle. There was no sign of it. It had either landed already or was lost in the hundreds of other aircars that flew over Milan’s skyscrapers. Unless anyone had been looking closely, all they would have seen of Johnston’s shuttle was that it had been slowing down as it approached its designated landing site. Johnston didn’t know exactly where Agarwal was, but unless the Indian had been staring directly at the shuttle at the moment he had jumped out, there was no way Agarwal could know he was nearby.

Glancing around, Johnston got his bearings. The building Akhila had told him about was just one block away. Moving to the edge of his building’s roof, Johnston peered down. He had chosen the spot he jumped out of the shuttle carefully. There were only a series of small narrow streets between his building and Agarwal’s one. Moving several steps back, Johnston sprinted towards the edge of the roof and jumped. Once again he landed on his feet and fell into a roll. His left foot throbbed for a few heartbeats but Johnston ignored it. Quickly he got back to his feet, ran to the edge of the roof and jumped again. When he came to the next building, it was three stories higher than the one he was on. With only a moment’s pause, he pulled a rappelling line from his utility belt and hurled it up to the adjacent building’s roof. Its metallic teeth dug into the building’s side as soon as they made contact. Swinging himself across the gap, Johnston rappelled up the building’s side. When he got to the top, he released the line’s teeth and attached the line to his utility belt. Twice more he jumped from roof to roof as the next two buildings were one and two stories lower each time. Finally he came to the building Agarwal was supposed to be heading for. A beep from his COM unit made Johnston pull it out after he landed. “Go ahead,” he said.

“General,” Swenson began. “The marines guarding Saria’s building have confirmed she just entered it. She has had a lot of work done on her face, but it is her. I’m about to enter the building. She is on the fifth floor. We have already sealed it off. No one else will get in or out.”

“Good, get in position and wait for my command,” Johnston replied. “What about the Empress, has she arrived yet?”

“Her shuttle has taken off, she should be here soon,” Swenson answered. “I’ve already alerted the pilots to the location of our two buildings so they know to avoid them. I didn’t say why, just that they are two areas not covered by our AM launchers.”

“Smart,” Johnston replied. He doubted Agarwal would try hitting Christine’s shuttle again. After the last time she flew in a convoy of three, there was no way to know which one she was on for sure. But it was better to be safe than sorry. “I’m in position. I will update you as soon as something happens. If it looks like Saria is preparing to make her move intervene immediately. But make sure you contact me right away. I’ll have to take Agarwal if I can.”

“I will keep you updated General,” Swenson responded.

Clicking the COM unit off, Johnston did a three sixty pirouette as he took in the building’s roof. There were two stairwells that opened onto the roof. Moving over to the one nearest the side of the building that faced the cathedral, Johnston jumped, grabbed onto the roof of the stairwell and pulled himself up. Then he lay down. He would be able to jump Agarwal as soon as he stepped onto the roof. To pass the time he pulled out his datapad and watched some of the feeds from the drones that were prowling around the apartment building and the surrounding city block. He didn’t have long to wait. A message came through from Swenson directing him to one drone’s feed. It was thirty seconds old, but it had picked up a suspicious looking character. Computer analysis of the person’s gait suggested it was Agarwal. He had just slipped into one of the buildings adjacent to the one Johnston was in. For a second Johnston thought that he was in the wrong spot. If Agarwal stepped onto the roof of that building, he’d spot Johnston immediately. When he pulled up the schematics of the adjacent building he relaxed a little. There was an underground passage between then. Agarwal probably planned to use it as one last stratagem to throw off anyone pursuing him.

As the time ticked by, Johnston felt his muscles tighten with tension. He stared at the lone stairwell that led on to the roof of the adjacent building. His prey wasn’t appearing there, yet he also hadn’t appeared on the roof of Johnston’s building. He should be here by now, Johnston thought. Yet there was no sign of him. A series of beeps from his COM unit made him quickly pull it out of his trouser pocket. He didn’t want any sounds alerting Agarwal if he was in the stairwell below him. “What is it?” he whispered into the device. “Is it Saria?”

“No,” Swenson answered. “She is in position but she hasn’t pulled out her launcher yet. It’s Agarwal that is a problem. One of our sniper teams on the cathedral’s roof has spotted some suspicious activity in one of the windows of your building. It’s three floors below you. Third window from the right. Whoever is in there is being careful and it’s too far for the snipers to get a shot. But they think someone is up to something suspicious.”

“He’s not going to take a shot from the roof,” Johnston realized. His line of sight would be more restricted, but he’d have a better chance of getting off a second shot before being discovered. He swore again as he thought through all the possibilities. If he went down to the floor Agarwal was in, the Indian could have some kind of surveillance system set up to sound the alarm. Alternatively, if Agarwal was set up for his shot and Johnston burst open the door, the Indian spy would have time to fire his missile. In the resulting confusion Saria might get to fire hers as well. “I have no choice,” Johnston said to Swenson. “I’m going to have to breach through the window. Are the marines in place on the street?”

“Yes General, two squads are there. They are just waiting for your say so to enter,” Swenson answered.

“Are you ready to go?” Johnston followed up.

“We are,” Swenson confirmed.

Reaching down to his utility belt, Johnston pulled out his rappelling line. He gently jumped off the roof of the stairwell and made his way to the edge of the apartment complex’s roof. Bending over, he counted out three windows from the right and attached the teeth of the rappel line. “All right,” Johnston said, “here goes nothing. If you don’t hear from me in thirty seconds evacuate the Empress. On my mark everyone is to go. Confirm?”

Swenson’s voice was clear. “Confirmed General, on your mark.”

Swallowing hard Johnston cleared his throat. He stepped back from the roof. As he spoke he ran forward “Three, two, one, mark!” As he said mark, his feet hit the edge of the roof. With all the force his augmented legs gave him, Johnston thrust himself away from the building. He continued forward until the rappel line reached the length he had let out. Then it sprung taunt, turning his forward momentum into a downward arch. Twisting his body, Johnston got his feet together and raised them. The window to the apartment came rushing up towards him. Though instinct told him to shut his eyes, Johnston kept them open as he aimed his feet for the silhouette he could see through the window.

He crashed through the reinforced glass. Pain shot up both his legs, though his left foot was by far the worst. Even as glass fragments showered his body, Johnston stared unblinkingly as his feet crashed into the person he had targeted. For the briefest of seconds he recognized Agarwal and registered the surprise written across his face. Then they crashed into one another and Johnston rolled across the floor.

As he sprang to his feet the pain shooting up his left ankle made him release an audible gasp. He nearly toppled over, but the urgency of his task held him steady. Glancing around to take in the apartment he saw Agarwal had been thrown across the room and smashed into one of the apartment walls. The hypervelocity missile launcher was lying a couple of feet from Agarwal’s legs. Too Johnston’s surprise, his plasma pistol was also strewn on the floor. The impact had dislodged it from his holster. As he turned back to Agarwal, he saw the Indian was staring at him. For a brief of moment they exchanged ferocious glances.

“You!” Agarwal growled.

“Don’t move!” Johnston shouted at the same time.

Agarwal hesitated for a second, then his fingers twitched. He dived for the missile launcher. Johnston had no fear that he would be able to get a clear shot out the window towards the cathedral from his position, but equally, he didn’t want to be hit with a missile himself. He knew Agarwal would happily sacrifice himself to kill Johnston. Reaching into his utility belt, Johnston used all of his enhanced speed to grab his nano carbon knife and flick it at Agarwal. For a fraction of a second Johnston felt a spike of fear as he thought he had misjudged his aim. Then Agarwal’s forward lunge brought him in line with the flight of Johnston’s knife. The blade struck Agarwal in the center of his throat and the force of Johnston’s throw meant it pierced right through, flinging Agarwal’s body to the floor. Johnston rushed over and kicked the missile launcher out of Agarwal’s reach. He looked down as blood spurted out of the Indian’s mouth and nose. For several seconds Agarwal tried to open his mouth as he struggled to breathe. Only blood bubbled out.

If his wounds had been less serious Johnston would have tried to administer medical help. At least he hoped he would have. He had enough experience with combat injuries to know there was no point. Instead he leaned closer so that Agarwal couldn’t help but look at him as he gurgled and struggled to breathe. “You won’t be hurting her any longer. You brought this on yourself.” Though Agarwal couldn’t say anything, Johnston could read the anger in his eyes. For a second Johnston held his gaze and then he shook his head. The Indian had wasted his life. His anger was for nothing.

Sitting back, Johnston pulled out his COM unit as he watched Agarwal’s last few seconds out of the corner of his eye. “Status update agent Swenson.”

“We have Saria in custody,” Swenson responded. “We have recovered the missile launcher. Both Saria and her accomplice are no longer in play. Are you okay General?”

“Yes I’m fine,” Johnston said as he tried to put a bit more weight on his left foot and then thought better of it. “Agarwal has been neutralized. The threat is over.” As he turned back to Agarwal, Johnston saw that the Indian spy had already died. My promise has been kept old friend, Johnston thought as his mind turned to James. He hobbled over to the window Agarwal had been preparing to launch his missile from. Slowly he raised a hand and held his thumb up lest the snipers mistake him for Agarwal. From the window he could clearly see the cathedral and the podium set up for Christine, though it was more than half a mile away. My promise has been kept, he thought again. He knew James would understand what he had been forced to do to get the information from Akhila. But I’m not so sure about her. He tried to picture what the woman who would soon be speaking from the podium would say when she found out what had happened. It was bad enough that Agarwal was dead. He knew Christine had wanted to hold a public trial for whoever had been behind the attack on her shuttle. But that was a minor annoyance compared to what he had done to Akhila. He had no idea what she was going to say about that. There would have to be a public trial and his actions would get out. It would be impossible to cover them up.

Though he was concerned, Johnston raised his chin as he stood up a little straighter. He had not enjoyed what he had done. A part of him did not like himself for it. And yet, if he hadn’t, it was all too easy to imagine what a hyper velocity missile fired from the window he was looking out would do. “If I had to, I would do it again,” he said to himself and to anyone else who cared to listen.

Chapter 14

In an interstellar war there is almost nothing worse than a powerful surprise raid behind your frontlines; it forces you to redeploy ships you planned to station elsewhere; it hurts the fleet’s moral; it causes your civilian population to question your ability to protect them; and it can severely damage or even cripple the supply chain of your military industrial complex. However, all this is balanced by the risk the attacker has taken, for in order to do enough damage, the raiding fleet must be of sufficient strength, and if they are surrounded and destroyed then the war can turn in the opposite direction the attackers hoped.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, unnamed system, 5th November 2483 AD (twelve days later).

Rear Admiral Becket sat with her head pressed against her command chair’s headrest. Her and Admiral Shraw’s ships were sitting on the edge of the third system they had come to since splitting with the other components of her combined fleet. For the last hour they had been in stealth waiting and watching. Even if there are some hidden Karacknid ships, she thought, we should be able to handle them. In the last two systems they had destroyed every orbital installation they had come across. There had been minimal resistance. Just a handful of Karacknid ships had been present. None had survived. The system in front of her was even less impressive than the two she had just raided. There was only one inhabited planet and besides a few stations orbiting it, there was nothing else of interest within the system. From what Viper’s sensors could detect, the planet itself was essentially an agricultural world. That explained their lack of orbital stations. Beyond those needed to store and transfer the food products, nothing else was needed.

Just as she leant forward to give the command for her fleet to advance, a number of new contacts appeared on the main holo display. Becket bit back what she was about to say as alerts blared. “New contacts!” Viper’s sensor officer announced as she tapped her command counsel to end the alarms. “Multiple new contacts accelerating into the system.”

“Acknowledged,” Captain Rogers responded. “I want a full count of the contacts and our best estimate of their size and type.”

As Viper’s bridge officers and Becket’s staff officers got to work, Becket looked at the contacts on the holo display. The gravimetric sensors were suggesting there were ninety of them. Based on the shift passage they had just exited they must have come from the frontier. Becket had memorized all the intelligence and star maps of the Valley the Kalassai had shared with Captain Kansas. “It’s the border fleet from system AX-17,” she guessed. “It has to be. There’s no other Karacknid force that should be coming from that direction. Not unless they have additional ships operating in the area.” Their appearance told Becket two things. One, word was out that her fleet had punched through the Karacknid’s border. The fleet in front of her was no doubt pulling back to regroup and contain her advance. Two, the fleet didn’t know exactly where her ships were. Instead of heading towards the planet to protect it, the fleet was on a direct course for another shift passage that led deeper into Karacknid space. It was the very passage Becket had intended to take her ships down after raiding the planet in front of her. “Get me a COM channel with Admiral Shraw,” she requested. They needed to decide what to do.

“The game is afoot,” Becket said when Shraw appeared from her command chair’s holo projector. “They are beginning to respond to us.”

“They are indeed,” Shraw replied as he showed his teeth. “I must say, planning it out and finding ourselves in the middle of all this are very different experiences.”

Becket nodded. “I wouldn’t argue with that.” The goal of her entire campaign was to tie up and draw into the Valley as many Karacknid ships as possible. In the confusion and fog of war Becket hoped to be able to pick her battles carefully and flee when necessary. That was all very good in theory. Now it was for real. “What are your thoughts?”

“I don’t like them getting in front of us,” Shraw answered. “If they can combine with a defensive squadron or two they’ll stop us being able to raid some of the more important systems. Or worse, if they head further into the Valley they’ll be able to combine with whatever reinforcements are eventually sent against us.”

“If we engage them it could be the end of our attack,” Becket commented. Combined, she and Shraw had one hundred and forty ships. Even with Shraw’s inferior ships they would outnumber the Karacknids, but it would be a close enough fight that they would take losses. “You’re right though, we cannot allow them to get ahead of us. They could catch either of our fleets out once we split up. Or if they pass us by they could outflank Maleck or Faroul.”

“Perhaps we could encourage them to tip the scales in our favor,” Shraw said as he laid out his idea.

Becket listen closely and nodded. “It could work. Your ships could find themselves caught out however.”

“We’ll take that risk,” Shraw insisted. “If it goes badly and we have to fall back, then we have to fall back. We knew from the beginning we couldn’t stay hidden in Karacknid space indefinitely.”

“Then let’s see if we can get this Karacknid commander to dance to our tune,” Becket said as she showed Shraw a predatory smile she knew would communicate her eagerness to the reptilian Admiral.

“I will speak to my Captains and we will prepare to play our part,” Shraw said as he revealed his razor-sharp teeth again and cut the COM channel.

Becket informed her own commanding officers of their plan and gave orders for her ships to move into the system in stealth. Then she sat back in her command chair. For two hours she watched the Karacknid fleet pass through the system. Further analysis of the engine signatures of the Karacknid ships proved her guess correct. The fleet was made up of several battleships and a number of heavy cruisers along with supporting destroyers and frigates. According to the Kalassai intelligence the Karacknids had only a handful of Dreadnoughts stationed within the Valley and none along their border. That had been one of the reasons why Becket had chosen the Valley as the sector she wanted to attack. Any time now, she thought as she tried to estimate where Shraw’s ships were. They had entered the system in stealth forty-five minutes ago. Seconds later sixty-four new contacts appeared as Shraw’s fleet accelerated hard towards the system’s inhabited planet. Though Gramrian engines weren’t as powerful as Karacknid ones, Shraw’s attack was timed to ensure the Karacknid fleet could not reverse course to save the colony. At least, the battleships and heavy cruisers couldn’t.

What is your decision? she asked her Karacknid counterpart. When all the Karacknid warships decelerated she sat forward in her chair. At first it was hard to tell if they were decelerating together or splitting up. Then the Karacknid fleet diverged into two groups. “I want exact confirmation on how they are splitting up,” Becket demanded. She wasn’t seeing what she had been expecting.

“The computer has identified all of the engine signatures in the smaller group Admiral,” Lieutenant Armitage responded moments later. “Twelve frigates, ten destroyers and eight light cruisers. It’s about two thirds of their escort ships.”

Becket ground her teeth together. The Karacknid commander was keeping a significant proportion of his smaller ships with his capital ships. The small group of Karacknid warships wouldn’t be able to take out Shraw’s squadron. Not with the upgrades Shraw’s ships had received. But in a fair fight Shraw would take a lot of damage. Shraw’s plan had been to draw all of the Karacknid escort ships towards the system’s inhabited planet. Then Becket’s ships could reveal themselves and together she and Shraw could take out the Karacknid escorts. It would have left the Karacknid capital ships lacking a serious amount of point defenses. “He knows Shraw’s ships are not all our force,” Becket guessed. “He must have received reports of our raids in other systems. He is holding back his main force.” Becket could see what the Karacknid commander intended. If Shraw’s ships were truly the only enemy ships in the system, then his smaller squadron could engage them and damage or cripple many. Then the rest of the Karacknid fleet could move in and finish the job. On the other hand, if there were more enemy ships, then he could pull his forces back and wait for reinforcements.

“What are your orders Admiral?” Commander Wilson, Becket’s Chief of Staff, asked as she turned in her command chair to look at Becket.

Becket stared at the Karacknid ships. She didn’t want to let the main Karacknid fleet escape. Not when she knew she would have to face them again. She glanced at Shraw’s ships. Every ship in the combined fleet was deemed expendable. That was the point of the entire mission; to cause as much havoc as possible, even if she lost her fleet. Finally, she glanced at a secondary holo plot and focused on the eight fast freighters that she had brought with her. Hanging back with the rest of her supply fleet, they were her safety net. She had hoped to hold them in reserve for a direr situation. Yet if she let the Karacknid ships in front of her escape, they would probably cause such a situation. “We are going to take the main Karacknid fleet,” she said. She glanced at her COM officer. “Contact Admiral Shraw. Tell him he is to engage the small Karacknid fleet. Launch our fighters and have them assist. Otherwise, make sure he knows he is on his own.”

“Aye Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon responded from his COM station.

Becket turned back to Wilson and Captain Rogers. “Ready the fast freighters. We’ll have to use their missile pods and hope that evens the odds for us.” Both officers nodded and got to work. “Navigation, alter heading to seven three four point three. Keep us in stealth.” For another fifty minutes Becket watched as events unfolded. Shraw slowed his charge towards the system’s inhabited world. He also altered his course slightly as his squadron prepared to engage the Karacknid escort ships. The twenty-four fighters in Becket’s squadron covertly launched and stealthily made their way towards their targets. Then the time came for Becket to play her hand. “The fleet will go to full military power. Begin rolling missile pods,” she ordered. The gap between the Karacknid capital ships and their escort squadron had widened to the point where supporting one another was impossible. “Let’s kick some Karacknid ass.” She couldn’t help but add as her squadron announced itself by charging the Karacknid capital ships.

The main Karacknid fleet responded at once. Ceasing their deceleration, they turned to face the newest threat. Becket had eighty warships. She knew she could beat the Karacknid sixty in a fair fight even though the Karacknid fleet had a higher proportion of larger warships. She had no intention of letting the fight be fair. She couldn’t afford the losses such an engagement would inevitably produce. Not so early into her campaign.

Before her ships got into missile range Shraw and the Karacknid escort squadron began their battle. The Karacknids opened fire first, but, thanks to the momentum of Shraw’s ships, they fired their first salvo before the Karacknids’ missiles hit home. Then it was over to the point defenses of each fleet. Six Karacknid missiles got close enough to detonate their warheads. Four Gramrian ships were destroyed completely. One survived unscathed while another was badly damaged. It quickly fell out of formation.

Only five of Shraw’s missiles made it to attack range as they dodged all the Karacknid fire. However they were joined by twenty-four Spitfire fighters armed with plasma missiles. The Karacknid ships had clearly not been briefed on engaging Spitfires for they focused most of their fire on Shraw’s missiles. Only after the Spitfires released their missiles did they switch their fire. They failed to shoot a single one down. Sixteen struck home destroying or crippling each Karacknid ship they hit. Shraw’s missiles damaged another three. The odds had been significantly turned in Shraw’s favor. For another twenty minutes the battle raged on before the last Karacknid ship was destroyed. When it was over Shraw’s squadron had lost nine ships completely destroyed and three so badly damaged they would have to be abandoned.

Throughout the whole engagement Becket had her hands tightened into fists. She wanted to aid her ally. Letting the Gramrians fight alone felt wrong. Yet it made the most strategic sense. She knew Shraw would understand. But that didn’t change how she felt. “Prepare to fire,” she said venomously when the battle ended, giving voice to her frustration. Her ships were about to come into range of the main Karacknid fleet. And we’ll be firing first, Becket thought with satisfaction. Let’s see how they like our mark IV missiles.

From each fast freighter twenty missile pods carrying four missiles had been released. Viper and the other heavy cruisers in Becket’s fleet released another ten. In total it boosted her first salvo by over five hundred missiles. When her ships opened fire, one thousand seven hundred and eighty missiles were hurled towards the Karacknids.

In return the Karacknids were only able to put out nine hundred. Before the new multistage AM missiles could engage them, the Human missiles struck. Karacknid point defenses shot down hundreds. Many more missiles dodged everything that was fired at them. A quarter of a light second out from the Karacknid ships, the remaining missiles detonated. The energy from the thermonuclear explosions was forced through the focusing lenses and converted into high energy grazer beams. The beams crossed the distance to the Karacknid ships in a fraction of a second. Fire, debris, and atmosphere erupted from nineteen Karacknid ships. Secondary explosions ripped ten of them apart. The rest fell adrift of the battle or struggled to stay in formation and fight on.

Becket nodded in satisfaction. They had done enough damage to reduce the threat from the Karacknid missile numbers. Her ships were already veering away from the Karacknids. She wasn’t going to let the rest of them get into energy weapon range. They would be blasted into oblivion by missile salvo after salvo. Before her ships could fire again, the enemy missiles had to be dealt with. As in the previous engagements, the multistage missiles proved their worth. The Karacknid fleet had clearly not learnt of them yet. Nevertheless, Becket lost a frigate to a direct hit. A medium cruiser also suffered serious damage when a proximity hit overwhelmed her gaseous shields and burnt away much of her armor and external sensor nodes. Becket watched her for several seconds hoping no more damage would become apparent. When her engines cut out she held her breath. But no secondary explosions or reactor meltdowns materialized. “Get a damage report from Halberd and send her as much help as we can,” Becket ordered. She turned to Lieutenant Salaman and raised an eyebrow.

“Twenty seconds Admiral,” the tactical officer replied. “Firefly and Thrust are settling back into formation.”

“Fire as soon as they are ready,” Becket ordered. When the two ships lined up their missile tubes on the Karacknid fleet, over one thousand one hundred missiles were accelerated towards the Karacknids. When it took nearly a minute for the Karacknids to return fire, Becket smiled. Her crews were operating far more efficiently. May we continue to face unprepared Karacknid fleets, she thought. It was more of a wish than a real hope. Despite her crew’s skill and her ships’ new AM missiles, it took five salvos to finish off the Karacknid capital ships. To her dismay, Becket lost four warships and a further three suffered serious enough damage that she would have to send them home. The journey would be an extremely risky one. But there was no choice, she couldn’t afford to let them slow her fleet down. “Make sure you ask for volunteers only,” Becket said to Wilson when the battle was over. “I only want enough people to get those ships home. Spread the rest out among the fleet. Cover the casualties our other ships have suffered as best you can.”

“Understood Admiral,” Wilson replied as she gave Becket a nod.

“Send these coordinates to Admiral Shraw,” Becket said as she glanced at her COM officer. “He is to take out the inhabited planet’s orbitals and then rendezvous with us at the next shift passage.”

As Shraw easily dealt with the defenseless orbital stations, Becket aided her command staff as they reorganized her fleet. She requested a COM channel to Shraw when his ships returned. “Another well fought battle Admiral,” she said as she greeted Shraw with a slight bow.

The Gramrian Admiral returned the gesture and showed his teeth. “It was. Though next time you will have to let my ships really get to grips with the enemy. We are ready to take them on face to face.”

Becket nodded. She thought Shraw and his fleet had just had taken on the Karacknids, but she understood what Shraw meant. As tactically crafty as the Gramrians were, they still liked to throw themselves against an enemy and fight to the death. “How are your damaged ships? We are going to have to dispatch several of ours back to your space.”

“We have one that should go with them. The rest of my fleet is ready to proceed. It is time for us to split up, unless you think it unwise?” Shraw asked.

That was the question on Becket’s mind. She had already split her fleet once. The plan had been for her and Shraw to split their forces again to cover more systems. Maleck and Faroul should have already split their ships. Yet if Karacknid border fleets were pulling back there was an even greater risk than she had anticipated. “If Maleck or Faroul encounter a fleet similar to the one we just faced they are going to be in trouble,” she said.

“I’m sure if they find themselves so outmatched they will run for it,” Shraw replied. “If they can.” Indeed, Becket thought but didn’t say. Shraw continued, “but in the systems we’re going to attack, we’re unlikely to run into another border fleet. There shouldn’t be one for at least ten systems.”

“There shouldn’t,” Becket agreed, though if the Karacknid border fleets were getting orders to fall back and rendezvous with one another, one could be heading for the systems she and Shraw were about to head to. It is the risk we all decided to face, she said to herself. “We will proceed as planned,” she said after weighing up her options. “If the Karacknids can amass enough ships to stop our advance sooner than we were expecting, we’ll have to fall back before reaching the Upper Valley. If that’s the case, we may as well do as much damage as we can. We’ll each hit our next two systems and then rendezvous as planned unless something changes. Don’t take any unnecessary risks Admiral.”

“I won’t Admiral,” Shaw said in return. “We can stay in almost constant contact. If either of us detects a force we cannot face we can come to each other’s aid.”

“That’s the plan,” Becket replied. She hoped that if it came to it, they’d have the time and space to do just that. At least if they dispatched frigates to one another every six hours or so they’d be able to stay abreast of each other’s progress. “Ready your ship that needs to go home and we will proceed.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s ready to go,” Shraw informed her as the Gramrian ended the COM channel.

An hour later Becket’s fleet split into two groups as Viper led the Human warships towards one shift passage and Talon led the Gramrian ships to another. Behind them four Human and one Gramrian ship huddled together as they carried out as many repairs as they could before trying to slip out of Karacknid space and back to safety.

Chapter 15

In five hundred years the Karacknids have not changed. They would rather enslave other species and force them to do most of the menial work of empire building for them. The irony is that when they actually put their minds to it, they can achieve great things. Their skills can be used for more than just warship production and fighting battles. Sadly, they will not accept this truth. It is why the Imperial Fleet must watch them to this day.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, 14th November 2483 AD (nine days later).

Becket pursed her lips as she weighed up the situation. Over the last two weeks they had encountered more success than she had hoped for. Her fleet had raided one system with a significant gas mining operation and a second that had been home to several large shipyards. The shipyards had only been capable of producing freighters, but taking them out would likely hamper the Karacknid’s supply situation in the Valley. The speed of her success and the constant updates she had from Shraw informing her about his successes had made her decide to push onto a third system before heading to the rendezvous point. Now she faced a dilemma. Ten minutes ago her ships had exited shift space and they had encountered more than they were expecting.

The system in front of her was one the Karacknids had built up themselves rather than conquered from another species. The orbital stations were all armed with modern weapons and there were three battlestations guarding the rest of the Karacknid real estate. According to the Kalassai intelligence, it acted as one of four supply hubs for the Lower Valley. She had planned to avoid it for fear that it would be heavily defended. But the scouts she had sent forward to watch for a Karacknid fleet had reported there were only twelve warships in the system. Now the number defending the orbital stations around the system’s only gas giant had climbed to twenty. Even with the three battlestations in orbit, it was a force she could assault. The supply depot wasn’t her only target, however. On Viper’s scopes a large convoy was crossing through the system. Over a hundred freighters with fourteen warships as escorts was a juicy target.

“What do you think they are hauling?” Rogers asked.

“They know we’ve been raiding their systems,” Becket answered. “They may be evacuating as many resources as they can. Those freighters could be full of raw materials for warship construction or even newly built missiles or other munitions.” That was the cause of Becket’s dilemma. She couldn’t catch the convoy, not with her medium and heavy cruisers, but she could detach her lighter ships. Yet if she did that, she wouldn’t have the strength to assault the depot. She didn’t have time to hit one target and then reform her fleet to take on the second. Her ships were already further away from Shraw’s fleet and the other Admirals than she liked. Tarrying too long would be asking for trouble. Especially if she tried to fight two battles in quick succession. The arrival of additional Karacknid forces would leave her in real trouble. “Open a COM channel to Commodore Fang,” Becket requested, leaning towards one option. Taking out the depot would hurt the Karacknids more in the long term. But hitting so many freighters after having already destroyed their freighter shipyard would likely do more immediate damage to their economy. And if we don’t hurt them in the short term, there may not be a long term.

“Commodore,” Becket said as a holo image of Fang appeared in front of her. “How would you like to transfer your flag to Manticore and go on a little hunting expedition?”

The smile on Fang’s face told Becket the Chinese commander got exactly what she was suggesting. “It would be my pleasure,” he replied.

“I’ll draft the orders right away, but you may get moving, there isn’t much time to spare,” Becket said.

Fang nodded. “I will inform my command staff. Do you have any other plans?”

“Not unless the gas giant’s garrison wants to try and come to the convoy’s rescue. We can’t risk engaging those battlestations. The rest of us will follow behind you and pick off any freighters that stray into our path. Then we can jump out of here and high tail it back to Shraw and the others.”

“Understood Admiral, I’ll get going now if that’s ok?”

“Of course,” Becket replied and cut the COM channel. She turned to her Chief of Staff. “Put together orders for Commodore Fang to transfer to Manticore and assume command of all of our light cruisers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes. He is to hunt down that convoy.”

“Immediately Admiral,” Wilson said as she turned and gave orders to Becket’s command staff. Within minutes all the smaller ships in Becket’s fleet lit off their engines as they charged after the convoy. The convoy was only an hour and a half away from the shift passage they were heading for so time was of the essence. The rest of Becket’s command moved into the system along the same course but much more slowly. Remaining in stealth, Becket waited and watched to see how the garrison squadron would react.

It was the freighter convoy who responded first to the sudden acceleration of Fang’s ships. They increased their own acceleration, but only by a small fraction. As Fang’s ships accelerated to higher and higher velocities, it became clear to the convoy commander that his ships weren’t going to escape. As one, the Karacknid warships escorting the convoy turned onto an intercept trajectory with Fang’s ships. Becket nodded out of respect. It was what she would have expected any Human commander worth her salt to do. The Karacknids were going to sacrifice themselves to give the freighters a chance to escape. Which tells me whatever is in those freighters is important, Becket thought with a small smile. She had made the right choice. Cold, was her next thought as she turned her attention to the garrison ships. They hadn’t broken orbit. They’re going to watch as their comrades die. The least they could have done was chase after Fang’s ships. After fighting the convoy escorts, the garrison squadron would have stood a good chance of engaging Fang and getting revenge.

“Do you think they have orders to remain in orbit no matter what?” Rogers asked.

When Becket turned to her Flag Captain, she saw he too was watching the garrison squadron. “That or their commander suspects there are more ships out here. If they have received reports about our raids, they will know we have more than just light cruisers in our fleet.”

Rogers nodded. “Either way, it would be tough to watch the escorts fight alone.”

“That’s assuming they think like us,” Wilson said. “Perhaps they see the escorts as going to a good death. Perhaps they are jealous.”

Becket wasn’t too sure about that. From what she had read, the Karacknids did have a thirst for battle, but it came more from a desire for victory than death. “Whatever is keeping them in orbit, it means we are not going to get to surprise them,” she said. “There is no point remaining in stealth now. Take our ships to full acceleration. We may as well catch up with Fang as much as possible. The closer we are to him the sooner we can jump out and head back to Admiral Shraw.”

Leaving her officers to pursue her orders, Becket focused on Fang’s progress. Whilst he outnumbered the Karacknid convoy escorts by a factor of two to one, there were two medium cruisers amongst the Karacknid ships. That didn’t make the fight even, but it did add an element of danger.

“Missile launches,” Lieutenant Salaman exclaimed. He turned to look at Becket with his eyebrows raised. “They are still well out of standard missile range. He must have fired a salvo of multistage missiles.”

Becket nodded as she kept her face expressionless. With the introduction of the mark IV missiles each Human warship only carried three salvos of multistage missiles for the rare occasion where they would be useful. She had been trying to conserve them but she hadn’t forbidden Fang from using them. “What are they targeting?” she asked as she considered what Fang might be up to.

Salaman swiveled his command chair back to his console. “They’re not aimed directly at the Karacknid warships,” he said moments later. “He’s going for the freighters? At such a range?”

“So far the Karacknids we have faced don’t seem to know much about our abilities,” Rogers suggested. “They may not know our multistage missiles would have to cruise ballistically at least half of their journey to the freighters. If they think they can power themselves all the way there…”

“Then I’d have to engage them as they pass,” Becket said as she finished her Flag Captain’s train of thought. “That would certainly disrupt their formation.”

“And if they think it’s just a ruse and let the missiles past,” Rogers added. “Then when they jettison their first stage and go ballistic, the Karacknids might think it was a trick. If they don’t split up their convoy, the multistage missiles could catch them with their pants down.”

“A neat trick,” Becket said loud enough for everyone on the bridge to hear. This was exactly the kind of thinking she wanted to instill in her officers. Even if it was going to cost all of the lighter ships in her fleet one of their multistage missile salvos.

Silence descended on the bridge as everyone waited to see how the Karacknids would react. Becket had to fight back a grin as she noticed several officers leaning forward in their command chairs out of the corner of her eye. Though everyone saw it for themselves, Salaman still felt the need to announce. “The Karacknid squadron is breaking formation!”

On the holo projector the fourteen Karacknid ships were breaking apart. In groups of four or five they maneuvered to intercept as many of Fang’s multistage missiles as possible. The missiles, detecting the movement of the Karacknid ships split further apart. Clearly Fang had programmed them to do so. As a result, the Karacknid ships had to spread out even further. Then the Karacknid point defenses opened up on them. Fang’s ships had fired four hundred multistage missiles. Half of them were taken out by the Karacknid warships. Not long after passing out of weapons range of the Karacknids, the multistage missiles jettisoned their first stage and disappeared from the gravimetric plot as they went ballistic.

Becket shifted her focus to the freighter convoy. The ships were still in a tight ball as they accelerated hard towards the system’s mass shadow. They don’t suspect a thing, she concluded. That was going to hurt them. In the meantime, more beeps indicated that Fang’s ships had come close enough to fire their mark IV missiles. The Karacknids returned fire seconds later. However, the battle was even more one-sided than the number suggested. Fang had targeted all of his missiles on one group of five Karacknid ships. The Karacknids were desperately maneuvering to rendezvous with one another. But the data on Viper’s main holo projector indicated they wouldn’t be able to join up in time to fully overlap their point defense fire. Additionally, with the ships so spread out, their missiles weren’t going to reach Fang’s ships at exactly the same time. He would be able to spread out his point defense fire.

Despite Fang’s impressive tactics, Becket winced when a destroyer suffered a direct hit from a Karacknid missile. Two more warheads detonated amongst his ships as the nearby frigates and destroyers threw themselves into evasive maneuvers. One frigate was unable to get out of the blast radius and antimatter washed over it. By the time Viper’s sensors were able to clear the interference from the detonations, the frigate was a drifting wreck. Half of it had been eaten away by the antimatter. As Fang worked to re-form his ships, Becket watched his missiles crash into the Karacknids. All five of the Karacknid ships, including one medium cruiser, were wiped out. “Now the odds are definitely in his favor,” Becket said with a nod.

It took just two more salvos to finish the remaining Karacknids. With more than a third of their ships already destroyed, the second and third Karacknid salvos didn’t penetrate Fang’s point defense fire. With the short battle over, everyone’s attention switched to the freighter convoy. Fang’s ships were still catching the freighters. But the Karacknid warships had delayed them slightly. Some of the freighters stood a good chance of escaping. Then Fang’s multistage missiles kicked in their second stages. Suddenly one hundred and eighty missiles appeared dead astern of the Karacknid freighters. With their miniature inertial compensators, the second stage of the missiles were able to achieve extremely high rates of acceleration. The Karacknid freighters panicked and scattered in every direction.

Rogers shook his head. “They’re not getting away now,” he commented.

“I’m afraid not,” Becket agreed. If the leading freighters had kept on their course, they might have made it to the shift passage. Now that they were turning away from the shortest route to the system’s mass shadow, their demise was certain. Of Fang’s one hundred and eighty missiles, one hundred and forty found targets. Quite a few of them ended up targeting the same freighter. After the explosions ended, only fifty-four Karacknid freighters remained. Some of them realized their mistake and altered course onto their original heading whilst others continued to scatter. In the end, it didn’t matter. Over the next forty-five minutes Fang’s ships split up and hunted down every single freighter. Heavy plasma cannon bolts ripped into those Fang’s ships could get close enough to and mark IV missiles finished off the rest.

“Call Fang’s ships back,” Becket ordered. “Set course for our shift passage out of here.” Though she was tempted to engage the Karacknid supply depot deeper in the system, it would delay her by more than half a day. She was already late for the rendezvous with Shraw. We have accomplished enough in this system, Becket thought as she watched Fang’s ships decelerate. There was no need for any more risks. Not at the moment anyway.

*

IS Viper, 16th November 2483 AD (two days later).

“Peacock has just returned Admiral,” Lieutenant Armitage informed Becket.

Becket nodded to acknowledge her sensor officer. She had her fleet sitting just beyond the mass shadow of the system she had agreed to meet Shraw in. As usual, she had sent a scout in to check out the system before jumping her fleet in.

“Peacock is transmitting sensor data to us now,” Lieutenant Rondon said quickly, urgency filling his voice. “It’s coming across on a priority one channel.”

“Put it up on the main holo projector,” Becket ordered. Peacock’s Captain wouldn’t have sent the sensor data like that unless there was a problem. Seconds later, Becket saw exactly what it was. She ground her teeth together as she fought to keep dismay off her face. Shraw was in trouble. “Jump us in immediately,” she snapped. “As soon as we revert to real space have an intercept course for Shraw’s fleet ready. The fleet is to go to full military power.” We wasted too much time, Becket said to herself as guilt welled up. Her fleet had taken out the Karacknid convoy. But at what cost? On the holo projector in front of her Shraw’s fleet was fleeing across the system. Fifty Karacknid warships were chasing them. The sensor data  showed a salvo of missiles closing with Shraw’s ships. And there are already ships missing, Becket knew just by looking at Shraw’s fleet. Before she could say anything more to herself, Viper jumped into shift space and exited just two seconds later. The ship vibrated slightly as her engines powered up to full. “Launch fighters,” Becket ordered. “Have them run interference on the Karacknid missile salvos for Shraw. What is our ETA on reaching them?”

“Half an hour Admiral,” Lieutenant Salaman answered. “The Karacknids will get off another four salvos by then. It looks like they can only bring their forward tubes to bear though.”

“That may be all they need to devastate Shraw’s fleet,” Becket responded. In a straight up chase, a warship could only bring the few forward-facing missile tubes it had to bear on its quarry. Yet the ships trying to run away weren’t able to utilize all of their point defenses. “Wilson, prepare two salvos of multistage missiles. Fire as soon as you have the targeting data ready. We need to turn their focus on to us.”

“Right away Admiral,” Becket’s Chief of Staff responded.

Minutes later the salvo erupted from Becket’s fleet. In that time three Karacknid antimatter missiles pierced the point defenses of Shraw’s fleet and one supply freighter and two warships were taken out. Before the multistage missiles got anywhere near the Karacknid fleet, they fired two more salvos at Shraw’s ships.

“They’re not turning,” Captain Rogers pointed out. “They don’t intend to pull back even when we join with Shraw.”

“They are angry,” Becket guessed. Thanks to the daily updates she had been getting from Shraw she knew how much damage the Gramrian Admiral had been doing in the nearby systems. “Their commander probably figures that even if he loses his entire force, taking out as many of our ships as possible will be worth it.”

“They may try to charge to energy weapon range,” Rogers followed up. “With the momentum we will be carrying…”

Becket nodded. There was nothing she could do about that. If she slowed her ships it would take longer to reach Shraw and the Gramrians would take more losses. “We hammer them as much as we can and finish them with our heavy plasma cannons if we have to,” she said. It was far from ideal, but if she wanted to save Shraw’s fleet, her ships were going to have to pay the price for her decision to tarry and engage the Karacknid convoy. As her ships charged, Becket unconsciously tightened her hands into fists. There was nothing she could do but watch missile salvo after missile salvo crash into Shraw’s point defenses. The Gramrians fired back their own missiles every time the Karacknids opened fire, but their attacks had little effect. The Karacknids had more than enough warships to deal with the Gramrian salvos. It didn’t help that the Gramrians designed their ships with far more forward missile tubes than rear facing ones. They had assumed they would be the ones doing the chasing. In contrast to Shraw’s missiles, each wave of Karacknid missiles scored more hits among Shraw’s fleet. Even proximity hits that didn’t destroy Gramrian ships were devastating. Any damage that meant a ship lost velocity ensured that ship would fall under the Karacknids’ guns.

“Multistage missiles are about to ignite their second stages,” Lieutenant Salaman reported. Moments later one thousand new contacts appeared halfway between Becket’s ships and the Karacknids. With a speed even Karacknid missiles couldn’t match, they charged down the throats of the enemy ships. Becket ground her teeth together as she urged the missiles on. She wanted revenge for the Gramrian ships she had been forced to watch be destroyed.

Thanks to the Karacknids’ charge after Shraw and the high acceleration rates of the multistage missiles, the closing rate of Becket’s salvo was significant. Becket did a quick calculation and guessed the missiles would have a closing velocity greater than .9c. At such speeds their evasive maneuvers would be limited, but speed was a defense all of its own. As Karacknid point defenses tore into them, hundreds were taken out. Enough made it through though to detonate and fill Viper’s sensors with explosions. Each multistage missile released just one grazer beam compared to the mark IV’s three. Nevertheless, five Karacknid ships disappeared from the holo plot. A couple of others fell out of formation and Becket was sure many more had suffered damage.

“That will give them something to think about,” Rogers commented.

Though Becket was sure it would, she wasn’t surprised when the Karacknids reformed their formation and fired another salvo from their forward tubes towards Shraw’s ships. They’re not giving up, she thought. Despite the losses, the Karacknids were intent on doing as much damage as possible. Their salvo only managed to destroy one Gramrian ship thanks to the intervention of Becket’s fighters. Then Becket’s second salvo of multistage missiles tore into the Karacknids. More ships detonated or were hammered out of formation.

As the Karacknids rejigged their formation to cover for their losses, Becket noticed a shift. Seconds later their intentions became clear. “They’re preparing to engage us,” she announced to her officers. Rather than line up another salvo of missiles at Shraw’s ships from their forward tubes, the Karacknids were turning their broadsides towards Shraw’s fleet. “They’re going to give Shraw one full salvo and then engage us. Can we help them?” she asked desperately as she looked over to her command staff. Both Wilson and Salaman shook their heads. “What if we dispatched our frigates and corvettes?”

Salaman answered her. “They wouldn’t get close enough to add their point defenses to Shraw’s.”

Becket swore. Shraw’s ships were going to take another pounding. “Make sure our fighters are in the optimal interception zone,” she ordered. It was all she could do. “Get ready to hit them as soon as we come into range.”

With everyone else on Viper’s bridge Becket could only watch helplessly as the Karacknid fleet hurled seven hundred missiles at Shraw’s ships. To receive them, Shraw turned his ships so that their full point defenses could be utilized. Shraw was close enough to Becket’s ships that she didn’t need to run at full speed any longer. Even so, Becket was sure that was not going to be enough. As her fighters swooped in, they took out thirty missiles. Impressive shooting, Becket knew. Yet it hardly made a dent in the Karacknid numbers. The point defenses of Shraw’s ships opened up on their targets. Karacknid missiles were taken out in their hundreds. Then the small explosions of destroyed missiles were replaced by the massive detonations of antimatter warheads. Becket felt her shoulders and back tighten as she tensed, waiting for the damage reports to come in.

When Viper’s sensors were able to peer through the dissipating explosions, at least ten ships were missing. Several others were flying through space ballistically, clearly out of control. Nearly a third of his fleet is gone, Becket reckoned. As her ships closed with Shraw’s, Becket forced herself to watch the damaged and crippled ships pass by. “Send them as much help as we can,” she ordered. Her gaze turned to the Karacknid ships. Shraw might have been outnumbered, but she was not. “Fire!” she ordered. “Begin deceleration,” she followed up when the missiles were all clear.

“We should get off one more salvo before they get into energy weapon range,” Salaman reported in a level tone, though Becket guessed he was more nervous than he let on. An energy weapon duel was deadly for everyone involved.

“Make it count,” Becket responded. She turned to watch her missiles crash into the Karacknids. Eleven ships were destroyed outright and others suffered serious damage. Those that remained opened fire themselves. Becket all but dismissed their salvo. Six hundred missiles wouldn’t be a problem for her point defenses. It was what came next that she was concerned about. Seconds after all the Karacknid missiles were taken out by her fleet’s point defenses, her ships fired again. The salvo reached the Karacknids less than a minute before Becket’s fleet entered energy weapons range. Fourteen more Karacknid ships were destroyed. That left eighteen largely intact. And now we pay the price, Becket thought as her mind went back to the Karacknid convoy they had tarried to take out.

“Firing plasma cannons,” Salaman shouted. With a slightly longer range than energy cannons, more than one hundred plasma bolts were shot towards the Karacknids. Less than four seconds later hundreds more laser beams were added to the mix from the Karacknids and Becket’s ships. Explosions rippled up and down both fleets. Becket was flung forward in her command chair as something punched deep into the guts of her flagship. The lights around her flickered several times and then came back on.

“We’ve been hit amid ships!” a bridge officer called out.

“All four reactors are reporting stable,” another announced.

“Damage reports coming in. It looks like a laser beam punched through at least four decks,” Viper’s First Lieutenant reported in a more level tone.

Becket listened to it all and then dismissed it. She had a fleet to command. Turning to her command staff she sought out Lieutenant Salaman. “Update our targeting information immediately,” she ordered. “Fire a second salvo as soon as the energy weapons are charged.”

Salaman was already hunched over his console. He tapped a few buttons and turned to Becket shaking his head. “No Karacknid ships are being detected. None under power anyway.”

Becket glanced up at the main holo projection of the battle and then at the gravimetric plot to confirm for herself that the Karacknid fleet was no more. She looked back at Salaman and nodded. “Good shooting Lieutenant.” Turning to her Chief of Staff her tone darkened. “Tell me,” she asked.

“Reports are still coming in, but Stalker, Unicorn, Wrath and Hercules are all gone,” Wilson answered. “Eight other ships are reporting damage. It looks like Wasp has been crippled.”

Becket grimaced as she pictured each of the Captains who were no more. She had known them all. Not to mention the thousands of their crew and officers who were also dead. She glanced at Shraw’s fleet. It had suffered even more losses. Forcing the gloom out of her voice, Becket began to give orders. “I want a full analysis on every damaged ship. I want the fleet ready to move as soon as possible. If we have to scuttle Wasp or any others, then so be it. We cannot linger here. There may be other Karacknid fleets on the way. We need to get to the next rendezvous point to join the others. Get help sent to the ships that need it immediately.” And then we’ll see how the other fleets have got on, Becket thought. Her grand Valley Campaign had barely completed a third of her initial objectives and they had suffered significant losses. Shraw’s losses in warships were significant, but so too were the freighters she had lost. If they didn’t have enough supplies and fuel to proceed, then she would have to turn back. And as yet she had no idea how Maleck and Faroul had fared. All of their fleets might have to retreat. If they have even made it to the rendezvous system. That did not lighten Becket’s mood one bit.

Chapter 16

It is a very fortunate fact for the Empire that so many competent naval commanders came from just one family.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Intrepid, 16th November 2483 AD (same time).

Emilie couldn’t help but twiddle her fingers as she sat in her command chair on Intrepid’s bridge. For eleven days her small group of ships had remained in stealth at the entrance to one of the shift passages that led away from the system they were in. It was one of only two shift passages that led eastwards out of the Valley towards the rest of the Karacknid Empire. The second one was in the Upper Valley just over four hundred light years away. Apart from those two routes any other ships that wanted to leave the Valley eastwards would have to go all the way to the very top of the Valley and around the large area of space that was devoid of shift passages. As a result, Intrepid had been able to watch several hundred freighters pass through the system on their way in or out of the Lower Valley. More than once Emilie had been sorely tempted to launch a surprise attack against some of the juicier targets that had passed under her guns. But that was not her mission and so she had held her discipline.

Despite how interesting it was to watch so many Karacknid ships going about their daily business, after eleven days, the novelty had waned. Not for the first time, Emilie found herself daydreaming. As she stared vacantly at the holo projection of the system, her mind went to the last time she had seen Lieutenant Alvarez in Intrepid’s hangar bay.

“You know I don’t have to leave,” Alvarez said to her as he held her hands. As if to mock him, the shuttle they stood beside started its engines. Ignoring it, Alvarez pressed on. “I’m sure if I asked, Admiral Becket could find me a place in the fleet. There’s bound to be one or two ships that could do with an extra Lieutenant.”

Emilie shook her head as she squeezed his hands. “That’s not what either of us want and you know it. What difference would it make if you were on some other ship or back on Earth? We wouldn’t be able to see each other either way.”

“But at least I’d be nearby,” Alvarez pressed. “We could talk every day and I’d be able to keep up with how you’re getting on. On Earth, whatever news I get would be months out of date.”

Emilie smiled. “You know as well as I that Becket has something special planned for Intrepid. The chances are that even if you did get assigned to one of Becket’s ships, Intrepid would be on a detached mission. You’d still not know what was going on.” Alvarez looked away. She had rehearsed the argument with him several times. “Neither of us can put our relationship above the needs of the fleet and our people. You served your time as a Lieutenant. You are ready for command now. The Imperial Fleet is crying out for experienced Captains. Your skills would be wasted if you stay here. You’ve admitted as much already. This is what has to happen.”

“I know,” Alvarez said without looking at her. “It’s just, these last months, they’ve been special.”

“Indeed they have,” Emilie said as she released one of his hands, reached up and turned his cheek towards her. Quickly she pulled her hand back to wipe her cheek. A tear had threatened to betray how difficult she was finding their parting. She pressed on. “If we win this war, we can have many years together which we can enjoy even more. But we must win this war. And that means I have a duty to do, as do you.” When she saw Alvarez’s jaw tighten followed by a short nod, Emilie let out a deep breath and her shoulders relaxed. Arguing him into leaving her was one of the hardest things she had ever done. Having to relive the argument again just before they parted was almost breaking her.

“You’re right, but it doesn’t make it any easier,” he said as he nodded again. “We must do what we must do.”

Emilie forced a grin on her face. “Of course I’m right you buffoon,” she said, giving him a playful punch. “Now stop wasting our last moments together and give me a kiss.” Reaching out again she placed both her hands behind his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. A year or two ago she would have been mortified to kiss someone in a hangar bay full of her crew but they had been through a lot together and they all knew about her and Alvarez.

When they parted, Emilie noticed Alvarez glancing from side to side. Following his gaze she saw that everyone in the hangar was looking away. As he looked back at her she winked at him. “If we kept making out how long do you think it would take someone to interrupt us?”

Alvarez rolled his eyes. “You’re supposed to be the Captain here.”

“I am the Captain,” Emilie replied as she faked indignation. Then she softened her tone. “Which is why I know it’s time to say farewell my love.” Standing on her tiptoes she kissed Alvarez gently on the lips and pulled him in for a hug.

“Stay safe,” he whispered in her ear.

“You too,” she said as they parted. “Earth is not going to be any safer than where we are going.”

“No, I suppose it’s not,” Alvarez agreed. He smiled at her, reached out and gave her hand one last squeeze. With a nod he turned and proceeded to the shuttle. Emilie watched as he moved into the shuttle, sat down and strapped himself in. She watched as the shuttle powered up its engines, took off and left Intrepid’s hangar bay. She was still watching as it disappeared into a tiny speck in front of her.

“Captain,” a familiar voice called, breaking into Emilie’s memories. “Captain…”

“What is it?” Emilie asked as she shook herself and looked over to her First Lieutenant.

“Sub Lieutenant McMasters has identified an interesting contact,” Jones said as he signaled for her to look at the main holo projector. “They must be redlining their reactors.”

The contact that had drawn McMaster’s attention stood out like a sore thumb. An initial analysis of its drive signatures suggested that it was a Karacknid destroyer. Its acceleration rates were closer to a frigate and significant waves of electromagnetic energy were leaking from the ship. “They are in a hurry that’s for sure,” Emilie commented. “I think we have our first customer.” She grinned at Jones and raised her eyebrows. The presence of a ship obviously straining hard to cross through the system was a strong indicator that Becket had launched her attack. Despite the danger, Emilie couldn’t hide her excitement. “Maguire, get a firm fix on that contact’s trajectory. I want to know its flight path down to the millimeter,” she said to Intrepid’s Second Lieutenant.

“Aye Captain,” Maguire responded as she bobbed her head.

“McMasters,” Emilie added as she turned to Intrepid’s sensor console. “Do the same for every other contact in the system. I want to know exactly where every ship will be by the time that new contact gets within weapons range.” As her officers got to work, Emilie waited patiently. One of the key strategic benefits the Valley afforded an attacker was that news of an incursion could only leave the Valley via three systems. Two on its eastern side and one on its western. That also meant that reinforcements could only enter the Valley through those same shift passages. And if news never left the valley of Becket’s attack, then the reinforcements would be very slow in coming. Neither Becket or Emilie thought they’d stop news escaping completely but delaying it was certainly possible.

Emilie frowned as she looked at the sensor readings of the system. Launching a sneak attack against the Karacknid courier ship was going to be difficult. With so many eyes watching, Emilie could destroy the Karacknid destroyer and in the process inform every Karacknid freighter Captain in the system that something was afoot. Yet if the destroyer had news of Admiral Becket’s raid, destroying it would only alert the freighters that something was happening, not that a full enemy fleet was operating within the Valley. Still, if she could, Emilie wanted to stop news of Becket’s attack getting out without raising the alarm at all.

When the analysis of all the contacts in the system was finished and displayed on the holo projector, Emilie smiled. Only two freighters would be in the system by the time the contact reached the shift passage. Both could be taken out without too much difficulty. Along with Intrepid, Becket had assigned the destroyers Hawk and Gremlin to Emilie’s command. “Send orders for Hawk and Gremlin to intercept each freighter,” Emilie ordered. “Put us onto a course to intercept that destroyer. I want them within plasma cannon range thirty light seconds out from the shift passage.”

As her ships, still in stealth, split up and spread out, Emilie watched the Karacknid destroyer’s progress across the system. Its commander was certainly pushing his ship to the limit. Emilie knew Intrepid could be pushed in a similar fashion, though not for long. Perhaps for the time it would take to pass through a system or two. In contrast, she guessed the Karacknid commander intended to push his ship all the way to whatever fleet base he had orders to bring the news of Becket’s attack to. A beep from Intrepid’s sensor console made Emilie glance at Sub Lieutenant McMasters.

“A new freighter has just lit off its engines,” McMasters explained as he glanced up at his Captain. “It’s headed for our shift passage too.”

“Show me,” Emilie requested as she grimaced. Another freighter meant another witness. The flight path of the new contact justified Emilie’s concerns. The freighter would be more than close enough to the other two freighters that she intended to destroy to detect what was about to happen. “There’s nothing for it,” she said as she turned to Jones. “It has to go too.” When Jones nodded, she turned to her COMs officer. “Signal Gremlin. Tell her to leave her freighter to us and get close enough to intercept this new contact.”

“Yes Captain,” Sub Lieutenant Ramires acknowledged.

For forty minutes Emilie watched the Karacknid destroyer draw closer and closer to her command. With the destroyer so intent on whizzing across the system, she was confident it wouldn’t detect Intrepid as she remained in stealth. So much excess energy was leaking from the Karacknid warship that its sensors couldn’t be operating at anywhere near one hundred percent efficiency anyway. As the Karacknids crossed over the threshold of the maximum range of her heavy plasma cannons Emilie remained still on her command chair. She waited a handful more seconds until it was in optimal range. “Fire!” she snapped. Each of Intrepid’s six heavy plasma cannons shot out deadly bolts. In three seconds they covered the distance between the ships. The Karacknid destroyer had just fired her maneuvering thrusters when four bolts struck home. Three ripped apart her insides whilst the fourth punched right out the other side of the small warship. Seconds later it broke in two. The ship’s momentum made each section of the destroyer spin wildly out of control.

For several seconds, the three freighters in the system continued as if nothing had happened. Then, one by one, the Captains figured out they were in danger. The two freighters nearest the shift passage increased their acceleration whilst the third decelerated, clearly thinking it was safer to head back the way it had come. Within thirty seconds of Emilie’s order to fire both Hawk and Gremlin revealed themselves. Hawk did so by pummeling its freighter with plasma bolts until the freighter broke apart. Gremlin hadn’t been able to get close enough to its target to attack from stealth. Instead she powered up her engines and gave chase to the decelerating freighter. Emilie didn’t have to watch to know that the freighter stood no chance. Instead she shifted her focus to the original freighter she had tasked Gremlin to target. “After them,” she ordered.

Intrepid’s engines and reactors powered up to full and the exploration cruiser announced itself as her acceleration created gravimetric waves. The freighter quickly turned away from Intrepid as Emilie’s ship charged after it. The turn gave the freighter an extra ten minutes, but that was all. As soon as Intrepid got close enough, three salvos of plasma bolts blew the freighter apart. The moment the action was over, Intrepid reverted to stealth. Hawk and Gremlin had already done so. Emilie checked the main holo display of the system and the gravimetric sensors. The system had gone quiet. With a nod of approval, she turned to her bridge officers. “Send a rendezvous point for Hawk and Gremlin to return to us. Then put us back in the same spot we where before the Karacknid destroyer appeared. Well done everyone. Now let’s get ready to do it again.” We’ve given you some time, Emilie thought as her mind turned to Admiral Becket. Make the best use of it.

*

Intrepid, 19th November 2483 AD (three days later).

An alarm on her COM unit woke Emilie with a start. She let out a gentle groan. She had been dreaming of Alvarez. Turning over she reached for her COM unit. “What is it?” she asked as she tapped it.

“Three new contacts have just entered the system Captain,” Lieutenant Maguire informed her. “They’re not charging with abandon across the system, but they’re definitely making a decent turn of speed.”

“I’ll be there presently,” Emilie responded. “Ask Jones to join us on the bridge.”

“Yes Captain,” Intrepid’s Second Lieutenant replied.

By the time Emilie got to the bridge and analyzed the sensor data in front of her, she knew there would be no hiding her actions this time. Though Hawk and Gremlin’s stealth tech was good, it wasn’t quite up to Intrepid’s standards. There was no way all three ships could lie in wait for the three Karacknid warships. And Intrepid couldn’t take them on her own. “We’ll see if we can let them get into missile range and then we’ll engage them,” Emilie informed her officers. The Karacknid ships were three destroyers. Though Intrepid was the size of a medium cruiser, she didn’t quite have the same armaments. Still, with the element of surprise, Emilie was confident her ships could take the Karacknids in a missile duel. “Then we may as well take out as many Karacknid freighters as we can. Run targeting solutions on all of them. We’ll hit as many with missiles as we can. Some are going to get out, but if we can make this look like a small raid, who knows what the Karacknid commanders who hear about it will make of our actions.”

For the next twenty minutes Intrepid, Hawk and Gremlin slowly maneuvered to place themselves between the three Karacknid warships and the shift passage out of the Lower Valley. Emilie ran a couple of simulated engagements to ready herself for the coming battle. Lieutenant Maguire interrupted her in the middle of one. “Captain, a new warship has just entered the system. It’s lighting up the gravimetric sensors.”

Emilie looked up and had to fight not to swear. The new contact had come into the system from a different shift passage than the first three Karacknid warships. Though it too was heading out of the Valley. Given its speed it was a fair bet it had come from a system Becket had attacked as well. “Both groups of ships are carrying news of Becket’s raid,” she said as she thought out loud. “They’ll be communicating with one another. If they didn’t know it is a full-on invasion, they will now.” Emilie paused to take a deep breath. “We have to stop them if we can. What data do we have on that ship?”

“It’s another destroyer Captain,” McMasters informed her.

Emilie grimaced and brought a hand up to rub her jaw. Ship for ship she reckoned it was a toss-up between a similarly sized Karacknid and Human warship. That being the case, she fancied her ships’ chances against what had to be Karacknid border garrison ships. She was sure the Karacknids would have their best ships and Captains assigned to the warfront with the Alliance. Yet Karacknid antimatter missiles made that way of weighing things almost useless. Just one Karacknid missile punching through her ships’ point defenses was all it would take to destroy anyone of them. Do I have a choice?” she asked herself. If the loss of one of her ships or even all three of them gave Becket’s fleet another week of freedom in the Lower Valley, then the trade-off would be worth it. If we don’t stop them, Becket could find herself being hunted by a Karacknid fleet that could destroy all of her forces, Emilie thought. There was only one choice before her. Her next thought made her grimace again. Who to send? Both Gremlin and Hawk had good Captains. Emilie had come to like Gremlin’s Captain. That almost made her hesitate. But she knew in her gut what the right call was. “Get me Captain Mount on a COM channel,” she requested.

“Captain, I’m afraid I have a tough ask of you,” Emilie said as she came straight to the point. She was used to leading others into battle but ordering a subordinate to go in her stead was new. She didn’t trust herself to get overly familiar with Mount now.

“The lone Karacknid destroyer,” Mount responded. “It has to be stopped. Gremlin is up to the task.”

“I knew she would be,” Emilie said, quietly thankful Mount hadn’t made her say it. “Good luck Captain.”

“And to you,” Mount replied as he saluted. “Neither of us have an easy task.”

“We’ll speak after,” Emilie said as she returned his gesture and cut the COM channel. She took a second to compose herself then looked back at the holo screen. The Karacknid warships were still continuing on their courses. “Signal Hawk, tell her we will begin the battle in formation Delta-two. We will break stealth and open fire on my command.”

“Hawk has acknowledged Captain,” Sub Lieutenant Ramires informed her moments later.

Now we wait, Emilie thought. The Karacknid ships were still an hour away from the point where Intrepid could open fire and Emilie had been in more than enough battles to know that the time would drag by ever so slowly. Despite her best efforts to distract herself, it was worse than she remembered. Concern for Intrepid and Hawk, and even more so for Gremlin filled her mind and made the seconds tick by at a snail’s pace. Eventually McMasters informed everyone that the three Karacknid destroyers were just five minutes away from powered missile range. “Still no sign that they have detected us?” Emilie asked even though she had been watching the sensors as closely as anyone.

“Not a hint,” Maguire confirmed.

“Make sure everyone is alert and ready,” Emilie responded. If the Karacknids had detected her and they were smart, they would continue as if they knew nothing. But we’re not going to let them get to energy weapon range, Emilie said to herself. For a moment, she stiffened as the destroyers crossed the maximum powered missile threshold. Yet when they didn’t open fire, Emilie forced herself to relax and wait patiently. If they weren’t going to fire, she was happy to wait until they were close enough that she could fire her first salvo and have it strike home before they could fire two in response. If she could destroy one Karacknid ship in the first moments of the battle, the odds would dramatically shift in her favor. As patiently as she could, she waited for a full three minutes before giving the order, “Fire!” Seconds later, twenty-six missiles shot away from Intrepid and Hawk. “Maximum acceleration. Put us onto heading one nine four point seven.” She focused on the Karacknid destroyers. Their reaction would tell her how good their commanders were. As the seconds ticked by, far quicker than before, her confidence grew. It wasn’t until the missiles had been racing away for sixteen seconds that the Karacknid ships altered course. Energy spikes followed the maneuver and they each fired ten missiles of their own. But not perfectly, Emilie noticed. One of the Karacknid ships had hesitated by a couple of seconds. It wasn’t much, but their salvo wasn’t perfectly coordinated. And they’re targeting both of us, she happily recognized. Whilst all her missiles were targeting the lead Karacknid destroyer the Karacknids had evenly dispersed their fire between Intrepid and Hawk.

Having fired first, Emilie watched her missiles tangle with the Karacknid point defenses before having to worry about her own ship. With every missile targeting one enemy, they were slightly easier to take out. Yet it also meant the three that got close enough to detonate and release their grazer beams devastated the Karacknid destroyer. Of the nine beams released, six struck the Karacknid ship. In real time Emilie watched two of them burn holes so deep into the destroyer’s hull that armor and debris were blasted out the other side. Though no secondary explosions finished the destroyer off, it rolled over and lost all acceleration. Moments later it all but disappeared off Intrepid’s sensors as its reactors went cold.

“Hawk is launching long range AM missiles!” Maguire announced, drawing Emilie’s attention back to the danger her own ship was in. Having never seen the missiles in action before, Emilie watched closely. As the first two missiles exploded and released a wall of shrapnel, taking out three Karacknid missiles, she was impressed. When the second wave killed another two enemy missiles she became jealous. “Intrepid needs to get her hands on some of those,” she said to her bridge crew. As she hoped, it drew a few smiles and chuckles and relieved some of the tension. “But we’re far from defenseless. Let’s show Hawk what we can do,” she added.

Flak cannon rounds, AM missiles, point defense plasma bolts and laser beams reached out towards the remaining Karacknid missiles from both Human ships. The smaller explosions from flak rounds and AM missiles were soon joined by larger detonations as enemy missiles were taken out. Emilie gripped the armrest of her command chair. The first enemy salvo was going to be the deadliest. On the main holo plot she watched the distance to the enemy missiles rapidly countdown as the number of contacts fell. With just eight seconds until the missiles would be close enough to detonate, there were only four left. Then two more were taken out. Fear welled up inside her as the remaining two dodged the final wave of AM missiles launched at them. In a split second, plasma bolts and laser beams converged on both missiles and they detonated. Cheers erupted from around Emilie. She allowed them for several seconds as she turned and smiled at Jones. Then she put on a more serious face. “Concentrate,” she called to her bridge officers. “Fire a second salvo as soon as the tubes are reloaded. Target the second Karacknid destroyer.” She knew she could target both ships and stand a good chance of taking them out with her next volley, but she didn’t want to take a chance. Better to take out one ship than have both survive to fire a third salvo.

The rest of the battle played out exactly as Emilie anticipated. Her second salvo destroyed the second Karacknid destroyer and her third finished the battle. In return, the twenty missiles of the Karacknid second salvo failed to breach Intrepid and Hawk’s point defenses. The final ten missiles of the third volley released by the lone Karacknid destroyer stood no chance of doing so. As soon as the destroyer was gone, Emilie turned to a secondary holo display and sought out Gremlin. Mount’s command was engaged in a bitter duel with the Karacknid destroyer. The display indicated that two salvos had already been exchanged. It looked like the destroyer had been hit by one grazer beam whilst Gremlin had narrowly escaped a proximity detonation. Two Karacknid missiles were diving towards Gremlin. Emilie felt the spike of fear she had had for Intrepid shoot through her again. One missile was taken out but the second detonated. At such a distance, Intrepid’s sensors couldn’t tell if it had been a direct hit or not. Emilie leaned forward in her command chair. “What happened?” she demanded; her voice full of frustration. Then the sensors cleared. Gremlin was still there, but it looked like she had been bathed in anti-matter. A proximity hit! “Gremlin’s gaseous shields must have borne the brunt of the antimatter,” she said to her officers. She shook her head. It looked like the destroyer had lost almost all of its valstronium armor on its starboard side. Point defenses and missile tubes were also missing and several holes were open to space. Despite the damage and loss of life, Emilie stared in amazement as the destroyer rolled and presented it undamaged side to its opponent. Fresh missiles shot out of her undamaged tubes.

Turning her attention to the Karacknid destroyer, Emilie was just in time to see its point defenses engage a previous salvo from Gremlin. One missile got close enough to detonate and one of its three grazer beams lanced into the destroyer. Amazingly, the Karacknid destroyer shrugged off the hit and opened fire again. However, just eight missiles rather than the normal ten were shot into space. She is damaged, Emilie thought with relief.

As both sets of missiles raced towards their targets, Emilie bit her lip. With both ships damaged anything was possible. Gremlin’s missiles reached their target two seconds ahead of the Karacknids’. Three missiles evaded all the point defense fire, showing how many defensive weapons the destroyer had lost. Seven of the nine beams released from the missiles punctured the Karacknid destroyer. It detonated in a blinding explosion. Turning her gaze quickly, Emilie was just in time to see a lone Karacknid missile detonate off Gremlin’s port engine. The anti-matter washed over the destroyer. For the briefest of seconds, it appeared to stop as it struck Gremlin’s gaseous shields, then they collapsed and the anti-matter closed in. One moment Gremlin was accelerating as normal and the next, a full third of her rear section was simply gone. Without engines the destroyer lost all acceleration and tumbled out of control. Several small secondary explosions ripped up her starboard side, flinging debris in all directions. Emilie cursed as she pounded her command chair. “Damn them!” she exclaimed.

As her emotions threatened to get the better of her, she closed her eyes and lowered her head. Taking two deep breaths she settled herself. She had ordered Gremlin to her destruction. That was on her. But she had other responsibilities. Opening her eyes, she sought out Sub Lieutenant Ramires. “Give Hawk permission to begin hunting down all the nearby freighters. She is to take out as many of the witnesses as possible.” Emilie turned to Lieutenant Maguire. “Get Intrepid over to what’s left of Gremlin as fast as possible. There have to be survivors. We’ll stabilize her roll and save as many as we can.”

“Aye Captain! At once,” Maguire responded.

*

Two hours later Emilie’s mood had not improved. They had only managed to pull eight survivors from Gremlin. Then, to keep the destroyer from falling into Karacknid hands, Emilie had been forced to destroy the wreckage with Intrepid’s heavy plasma cannons. Destroying the bodies of so many fallen comrades did not sit well with her. Worse, though Hawk had destroyed six freighters, five had escaped the system. News that enemy ships were operating in the Valley would spread far and wide. At least we delayed news of Becket’s invasion, Emilie hoped as she tried to look on the bright side. In the grand scheme of things, the loss of one destroyer to delay the Karacknid’s response by a week or more was worth it. On paper at least, she thought. To those who had known Captain Mount and the others on board Gremlin such conclusions were not so easy to make. “All right,” she said to her bridge officers. “We’ve done all we can do here. It’s time to head to the rendezvous point and make sure Admiral Becket knows that word has gotten out. Plot us a course into the Valley.”

“Yes Captain,” Maguire responded.

Emilie looked to Intrepid’s COM station. “Signal our three friends. Inform them it’s time for them to deploy their ordinance. They can scuttle their freighters and bring the shuttles over to Intrepid when they’re done.”

“Sending the orders now Captain,” Ramires acknowledged.

Emilie watched as the three freighters that had been powered down weeks ago rebooted their reactors and powered up their engines. Swooping down from above the shift passage out of the Valley they deployed hundreds of stealth mines. Each mine contained a smaller version of the mark IV missile. With half the range and a warhead that only powered one grazer beam, individually they wouldn’t be able to do much damage to a Karacknid capital ship. But in larger numbers they could wreak havoc. Even if one hit only causes minor damage, it could be enough to slow a capital ship down, Emilie thought. Whatever Karacknid relief forces tried to enter the Lower Valley through the eastern shift passage would get a nasty surprise. And that will buy us more time, more time to avenge Gremlin’s loss.

Chapter 17

The two oldest parties within the Empire’s parliamentary system are the Loyalists and the Constitutionalists. It is true that their political ideologies have shifted over the centuries, even so, their names still indicate which way they lean. Many other parties have come and gone over the centuries, the War Hawks, the Isolationists, the Freedom Party, and the Secessionists have all left their mark on the history of the Empire.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Earth, Imperial Palace, 24th November 2483 AD.

Christine marched back-and-forth across her office. She was livid! She didn’t even notice the throbbing pain that was shooting up her injured leg. Even Jonathan had escaped her mind as he slept in a crib in the adjoining room. Only one thing consumed her. After giving her speech at the Milan Cathedral she had returned to the Palace and retired for the night exhausted. In passing, one of her security Captains had told her about the apprehension of some suspected terrorists, but he hadn’t had all the details. Christine had asked to be briefed in the morning.

When she had woken up, the main story on all the holo news channels had briefed her instead! Now she was waiting for Johnson, Russell, and Swenson. She had demanded they meet with her immediately. What were they thinking! She growled to herself, shaking her head. They risked everything!

The door to her office swung open. Spinning, Christine saw Fairfax tentatively poke his head in. “They’re here,” he said. “Are you ready for them?”

“Of course,” Christine snapped. “Show them in.” As Fairfax popped back out behind the door, she moved to her desk and forced herself to take a seat. Her foot began to tap as soon as she sat.

Fairfax led Johnston, Russell, and Swenson into the office. Christine smoothed her expression. She didn’t have quite the same success with her tone of voice. “Sit,” she barked. Her eyes never left Johnston as the marine General moved towards the two seats in front of her desk. When Fairfax took one there was a moment’s confusion as the other three men decided who would take the seat. It was a calculated measure. One Christine used to put unwelcome guests off guard. In the end Admiral Russell, by far the oldest of the three, sat.

“I want an explanation,” Christine said as calmly as she could, her eyes fixed on Johnston. “I don’t want excuses; I don’t want the official story. I want the truth and I want to know why. Mess me about and it will be the end of your careers. Please explain to me why there is a lawyer on every holo news channel insisting that his client was arrested without charge and tortured whilst under our jurisdiction.”

“It wasn’t without charge,” Swenson said hastily. “We caught her red-handed with the same weapons that were used in the attack against your shuttle.”

“Was I speaking to you?” Christine said as she slowly turned and leveled her gaze at Swenson. When the IID Agent didn’t respond, but instead lowered his eyes, she turned back to Johnston. “Tell me now.”

“I did what needed to be done Empress. Your life was on the line and there was no time. I did what needed to be done,” Johnston repeated without looking away.

Christine’s anger came to a boil. “You have been with us from the start! You know what the Empire is all about. Heck, you were with James when he brought New Delhi into the Empire. He didn’t break the ideals of the Empire. He used them to win New Delhi over. You have compromised everything. We have a constitution that gives all of our citizens rights, rights you tore up in front of the entire planet. Now every fringe group that hates the Empire has enough ammunition to keep them going for decades. Not to mention the genuine people who now have concerns. How can I stand up in front of Earth’s populace or any other colony and say I am dedicated to upholding our constitution?” Pausing, Christine took a breath to let Johnston answer. “Well?” she pushed.

“I don’t presume to tell you how to be our Empress,” Johnston said a little more hesitantly. “Just as I know you wouldn’t presume to tell me how to be a marine General.”

Christine barked a laugh. “That’s rich. Being a marine General is one thing. Torturing civilians is another. I’d say that’s a little bit out of your job description. Wouldn’t you?”

“I was put in charge of your security since the attack on your shuttle. I’ve been heading up the investigation into your attackers. We had intelligence that they were planning to attack you again. At your speech last night. This was only hours before your speech. We had no other way of getting the information.” Johnston’s voice hardened. “I had no other way. Neither Russell nor Swenson were involved. I made the decision and I do not apologize for it. I got the information from Akhila that allowed us to intercept both Agarwal and Saria. Each of them was armed with a hypervelocity missile launcher. Either one of them could have killed you or hundreds of civilians. There was no other way of getting the information.”

“Of course, there was,” Christine countered. “You could have arrested her and called off the speech. Then you could have sweated the information out of her. She broke easily enough in the end.”

“Would you have called off your speech?” Johnston asked her. “On the word of one suspected terrorist when, in all honesty, we did not know for certain she had any connection to the first attack? If you recall our last meeting you were adamant about going ahead. You wouldn’t even entertain discussing a postponement.”

“That is beside the point entirely,” Christine said as she outwardly dismissed Johnston’s point. Inwardly she reluctantly saw that there was something in his words. But it didn’t come close to justifying his actions. “Tell me why? I’ve known you for years. James has known you for decades. How could you do this to us? Don’t you get what this does for our image?”

Johnston shook his head vigorously. “I wasn’t thinking about your image. That’s not my concern. I was thinking about your safety. It’s because I’ve known you for years. Because I’ve known James for decades. I did what had to be done. I didn’t enjoy it. I hated it in fact. But I did it to protect you. I made a promise to James when he left that I would see to his family’s safety. That is why I did what I did and why I will not apologize.”

Christine couldn’t help but spring to her feet. “I don’t want your apology!” she spat as she slammed her good first on the table. “I want you to see how wrong… how morally wrong… how evil what you did was. We have ways and means of interrogating prisoners. Torture is not one of them.”

“We would never have gotten what we needed from her unless I had done what I did,” Johnston replied calmly.

“She would have broken eventually,” Christine argued.

“Empress, I’m not so sure about that,” Fairfax said cautiously. As he spoke, he handed a datapad over to her.

Christine grabbed it and quickly scanned through it. It was a medical report on Akhila’s injuries. Attached to it in extremely analytical language was Johnston’s own description of what he had done to her. Unconsciously a hand went to her stomach as she swallowed hard at the description. Her unease only fed her revulsion. “This is worse than the holo news reports are implying,” she said as she dropped the datapad onto her desk with a bang. “And it will get out. There’s no way we can avoid that. If we tried to cover it up it will only make things worse. It doesn’t matter that she was planning to make an attempt on my life. It doesn’t matter that you managed to stop Agarwal. No one will see those things. All they will see is an Imperial citizen tortured by one of our highest-ranking marine Generals.” Placing both her hands on her desk, Christine lowered herself into her seat as her energy faded. She glanced at Fairfax who nodded to show he approved of what she had in mind.

“You have left me no choice,” she said after taking a breath. “I’m appalled at what you have done but because of who you are, because of our friendship, I believe that in time I can come to forgive you. I know you did it for me… That however does not change what the public’s response will be. Nor what I have to do as your Empress. I am sworn to uphold our constitution. And you have broken it. Here is my decision...” Christine paused as she took a breath and gathered her strength. “Lieutenant General Johnston. You’re being demoted to the rank of Colonel. As soon as you step out of this office consider yourself relieved as my Chief of Security. I’m reassigning you to New Shanghai’s marine headquarters. There you can serve under General Wu. There’s a new marine training facility being set up there. You can help train the first cadre of cadets that will be recruited.

“Admiral Russell,” Christine said as her gaze finally lowered to the ageing Admiral. “You’re being relieved from command of the IID. I know you had no direct part in this, but the blame will fall at your feet, nonetheless. You can go back into retirement or we will find you a suitable post within the IID.” She turned to the man she knew the least. “Special Agent Swenson. You’re being demoted and transferred to the Adolphus colony. There is a small IID field office there and you’ll be serving under the chief of station.” Pulling her hands together, Christine straightened her shoulders and took another deep breath. She moved her gaze from each man to the other. “All three of you have skills and abilities that have served our young Empire well. Despite what I have to do to you today, I hope you will continue to use those skills on behalf of our people. None of this is ideal. But I cannot let it slide. Nor would I even if I could. This will not be enough in the eyes of many. There will be groups within all three of our Parliamentary houses calling for you to be thrown out of the marines and incarcerated,” Christine said as she settled her gaze on Johnston. “Count yourself lucky I’m not prepared to have such a circus distract everyone from our war with the Karacknids. Now… Do any of you have anything to say?” When none of the three men opened their mouths, Christine decided it was the first sign of wisdom she had seen from any of them so far. She gave them one final nod. “Dismissed.”

As they got up and left in silence, she couldn’t help but share a glance with Fairfax. She was truly sorry that it had come to this but they had left her no choice. Whilst it didn’t change anything, she appreciated the consolatory look Fairfax gave her. With a good deal of effort, she dismissed Johnston and the others from her mind. She had a thousand other things she needed to see to. Chief of which was to put an end to the new political scandal.

*

Opening the door out of Christine’s office, Johnston stepped aside as he held it open to allow Russell and Swenson to walk past him. Closing it quickly he stared at the back of the two men. He didn’t know how to feel. A coldness had descended on him the moment he had heard Christine’s tone. He knew she was going to be angry with him but he hadn’t realized just how angry. Nor had he expected to be treated as he had been. Especially after everything he had done for Humanity and the Empire. You did see the holo reports, he said to himself. There was a storm brewing. In the grand scheme of things what he had done might be small and inconsequential, even if it was wrong, but with the Empire still so young… Shaking his head he berated himself. He had no regrets. He had carried out his duty and fulfilled his promise. Considering the political ramifications of his actions had never been of interest to him. He wasn’t going to start worrying about it now. Getting banished to New Shanghai was an embarrassment. He would never rise up the ranks of the marines again. And yet the Karacknids were still out there. He couldn’t just resign and give up the fight. But what about those two? he asked himself as Russell and Swenson walked away in silence. Loudly he cleared his throat. When they turned, he held up a hand to beckon them to stop. “I owe you both an apology,” he said as he stepped towards them. “None of this was your fault. I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”

Russell smiled and stepped forward. “You have nothing to apologize for Colonel. You did what had to be done and now you have to take the consequences. In your shoes I would have done the same. Sometimes in our line of duty we have to leave the rule book behind in order to get things done. We do this so that the likes of Christine do not have to. Besides,” Russell added as his smile widened, “I happened to be enjoying retirement before James dragged me into all this. I’m sure I can find a way to enjoy it again. Her anger will diminish in time. I imagine there will be a consulting role or two for me in the future. It’s not all bad.”

“I’m glad you feel that way Admiral,” Johnston said as he felt his guilt ease a little. “And you Agent Swenson. I’m afraid I have ruined your career.”

“Perhaps,” Swenson said in a slightly more stoic tone than Russell had. “But I have many decades ahead of me yet. Who knows, my posting to Adolphus may open up some doors that wouldn’t have been available here on Earth. And there are other ways to serve the Empire than in the IID. In the short term though, I imagine my wife will be singing your praises. We’ve been married for three years and she’s always complaining I’m never home. I have no idea how she’ll react to being assigned to an outer colony. But it is on the far side of the front line with the Karacknids. That will put her mind at ease.”

Johnston nodded. He wasn’t sure if Swenson was putting a brave face on it or not, but he appreciated what the agent was trying to say. And it reminded him of Clare. Now that it was over, he wanted nothing more than to tell her everything that had happened. Good and bad. He didn’t know if she would approve, but she would support him anyway. Snapping to attention, he gave both men a salute. “It was an honor working with you both. I hope we will see each other again under better circumstances.”

“As do I,” Russell replied for Swenson and himself. Both men saluted Johnston and with one final nod, they turned and went their separate ways.

Half an hour later Johnston was on a military shuttle zipping over the North Atlantic and then the eastern and central United States. Looking out the window he watched the landscape change from the floodplains of the central states to the foothills of the Rockies. When they crossed over into Montana the shuttle descended. Though it was inconvenient to live so far from the Imperial Palace, Clare had insisted. The wild mountain ranges and extensive forests covering the foothills of the Rockies reminded her of Haven. It was a small sacrifice he had made when they had moved to Earth.

When the shuttle touched down in the field outside their remote log cabin, the front door opened and Clare stepped outside. She had no doubt seen the holo news reports. He could tell from her expression that she was worried. After thanking the pilot, Johnston descended the shuttle and slowly walked up the field towards her. Clare stepped out and pulled him into a hug. “What did she say?” Clare asked after they kissed.

Johnston had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Of course, she had guessed what had happened. Before meeting each other during the Indian invasion of Haven, she had been a spy for one of the Haven Councilors. Though she had left that life behind since coming to Earth, Johnston guessed she never really left it behind. “I’ve been demoted,” he said as his shoulders slumped. “And I’m being reassigned to New Shanghai. I’m to help train the new marines being recruited there. I’m sorry,” he said as he glanced back to take in the scenery from their cabin. “I’ll understand if you want to stay here.”

Clare slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t be stupid you big buffoon. Of course I’m going wherever you go. The Somerville Foundation has an office in New Shanghai. I’m sure I can transfer my job there. I’ll have some new responsibilities, but if that’s where you’re going, then that’s where I’m going. And…” She said slowly as a new twinkle appeared in her eyes, one Johnston knew to be scared of. “If you’re going to be a little more settled, perhaps with a little less responsibility, then maybe it’s time we started thinking about our own family…” A wide smile spread across Clare’s face. “Perhaps if young Jonathan had a friend to play with it might help you get back in James and Christine’s good books.”

Johnston found himself at a loss for words. A hundred other things had been swirling around his mind on the flight from Geneva. Chief of which had been how Clare would react to having to move to an entirely new planet. The last thing he had expected was talk of children.

“Well? What do you say?” Clare asked as she leaned in and kissed him again.

All of a sudden Johnston found his mind turned to a topic he hadn’t thought about for years. For the first time since leaving Christine’s office he smiled.

Chapter 18

No species the Empire has yet encountered has shown the technical capacity of the Rillelio. It still confounds historians that they did not discover the shift drive sooner than they did. History could have been so much different if they had.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, Rillelio system, 30th December 2483 AD (six weeks after leaving Earth).

“An impressive system,” James commented as he took in everything Drake’s sensors were detecting. Though the Rillelio hadn’t developed their own shift drive, they hadn’t wasted any time developing their home system. According to Commander Steele, the Rillelio impulse engines were very primitive compared to Humanity’s. Even so, they had spread themselves out to every planetary body Drake’s sensors could detect.

“Look at the gas mining stations,” Fisher said as she manipulated the holo image to zoom in on one of the system’s gas giants. “They have to be double the size they were when Mouse made first contact.”

“They are clearly eager to continue trading with us,” Miyagi surmised.

“Given Commander Steele’s report, it’s no wonder. They seemed amazed by our stories of exploration and discovery,” James replied. He almost felt guilty for lying to the Rillelio. Almost was as far as it went though. His species was in a war of survival. Some lines had to be crossed.

“It looks like they’ve added a couple of large storage stations around their homeworld as well,” Lieutenant Commander Ivanov, James’ operations officer, pointed out. “They may be able to meet our demands and then some.”

“They are hard workers,” James said as his respect for the Rillelio grew. “Signal Mouse, she may take her squadron in. As soon as they leave, start the fleet moving through the system.”

“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi replied and then dished out orders to James’ command staff.

As Mouse and three destroyers broke off from the main fleet and escorted twelve freighters into the system, James watched the Rillelio response. A small group of warships sortied out from their homeworld and settled onto an intercept trajectory. No doubt Commander Steele had already sent a COM message identifying herself. The fuel the Rillelio were unknowingly supplying his fleet with was a relatively small amount. It wouldn’t even cover the fuel his fleet had spent getting to the Rillelio system, but Steele had put in a quarterly order that would fill the tanks of the twelve freighters Mouse was escorting into the system. She was also about to ask the Rillelio to double what they had already agreed to sell her. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small amount of fuel, but given the position of the Rillelio system, it meant James could set up regular refueling convoys for his fleet as it advanced into Karacknid space. It would cut three weeks off the journey if he had to send the freighters back to New Shanghai. Once we make our first move, we can start shipments coming from Alpha-two Fort, James knew. Combined, the fuel outputs from the two systems would cover much of his fleet’s requirements. Of course, things like missiles and other munitions would still have to come from Human space. But fuel was the most important strategic resource in any multi-system campaign.

“Our laser COM array is getting flashed,” Sub Lieutenant Martinez reported. “It’s Vengeance, Admiral Lightfoot is requesting to speak to you.”

James smiled. Even with Drake’s advanced sensors and the rest of his ships in his fleet, no one had detected Lightfoot’s fleet. Given how careful he had been to avoid Karacknid scouts detecting the various elements of Counterstrike as they came together, James wasn’t complaining. “Put him through to my command chair,” he responded.

“Emperor, it is good to see you again,” Lightfoot said as a holo projection of the Admiral sitting in his command chair appeared in front of James. “There were no serious delays I hope?”

“I apologize for our lateness,” James replied. “I’ll fill you in later. But we are here now.” As much as the attack on Christine and the danger she was in played on James’ mind, he had no wish to speak about it openly. “Once we have our fuel, we’ll be ready to proceed. What is the status of your fleet?”

“We are ready and raring to go Admiral,” Lightfoot answered. “Admiral Danlien has taken over command of Alpha-two Fort. His ships will be ready to join us as soon as we call for him. At the moment he has all of his ships carrying out battle maneuvers. The freighters and drones are in orbit. Unless a Karacknid scout is particularly brave, no one should notice our absence.” As he spoke, one of Vengeance’s officers sent additional data to Drake and the main holo projection on James’ flagship updated to show the location of Lightfoot’s one hundred and forty warships. Still in stealth, they were already closing with the main fleet.

“I’m happy to hear it,” James responded. “Once we are through the system and can come out of stealth, I’ll introduce you to the rest of our commanders. We have a lot of battle simulations and strategies to go over. But I’m sure you and your people will get up to speed quickly.”

“We will do our best,” Lightfoot said with a chuckle. “You know we haven’t just been sitting on our backsides the last few months.”

“I never thought otherwise,” James said as a small grin spread across his face. “We’ve been pretty busy back on Earth too you know.”

“It’s a pity we don’t have Koroylov with us as well,” Lightfoot commented. “I’d hate to be the Karacknid commander that had to face the three of us.”

“The sims where I fought just the two of you still give me nightmares,” James responded. “But someone has to protect our borders. If things go south, we need someone like Koroylov watching our backs.” The first phase of Operation Counterstrike was to punch through one of the Karacknid border forts that opposed the Alpha-two Fort system. It was why Lightfoot’s fleet was joining James’. Once the Karacknid border fleet was taken care of, Alpha-two Fort would no longer be threatened with imminent attack. The other two forts that Humanity had been building up to connect with the string of Alliance forts that ran the length of the frontline still had to be manned, however. Admirals Koroylov and Allende commanded the joint Human and Alliance fleets at each Fort.

“That is true,” Lightfoot agreed, “though I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. From the ships you’ve got with you, I imagine Home Fleet has been left somewhat undermanned.”

“Nogamoro has fifty warships still in the Sol system,” James informed Lightfoot. “Vice Admiral Suarez has the rest here with us. Everything is riding on Operation Counterstrike. Both here and in Alliance space.”

“Then we better not mess it up,” Lightfoot replied.

“No, indeed not,” James said with a solemn nod.

*

IS Drake, outer edge of Karacknid fleet base system, 19th January 2484 AD (three weeks later).

“Confirmed, eight hundred and six Karacknid warships in orbit around the fleet base,” Lieutenant Anderson informed Drake’s bridge officers from his tactical console. “It doesn’t look like they’ve received any reinforcements.”

“None that they’re willing to show us anyway,” Fisher responded as she shared a glance with James.

James nodded. “Indeed.” If the Karacknids had detected his fleet’s approach to their space, they could have brought in additional ships and kept them hidden. “Launch a spread of stealth recon drones. I want a wide angle on their search pattern. Then prepare to launch a second wave of normal recon drones. Have them traveling at half the velocity of the stealth drones. We’ll have them go active as soon as we reveal our presence.”

“Aye Admiral,” Anderson responded as his fingers danced over his command terminal.

“Signal Vengeance, inform Admiral Lightfoot he can proceed,” James ordered once the first wave of drones were away. Moments later Lightfoot’s flagship and every Human warship in James’ fleet bar Drake and her escorts and the converted freighters James had brought with him broke away from the main fleet. In stealth they circumnavigated the system and two smaller groups broke away as they moved to their assigned positions. For several hours James watched their progress whilst keeping an eye on the reports coming in from the stealth drones. When he was satisfied the Karacknids didn’t have any ships hidden along his line of approach he turned to Miyagi. “Let us begin.”

Nodding, James’ Chief of Staff gave the order for the main fleet to advance. First, eighty destroyers and light cruisers carried out a micro shift jump. Winking in and out of normal space, they suddenly appeared at the edge of the system’s mass shadow. For the last hour the patrol patterns of the small squadron of Karacknid ships guarding the shift passage had been fully analyzed. The destroyers and cruisers jumped out in positions that allowed them to immediately engage the Karacknids. As expected, other Karacknid ships appeared that had been hiding in stealth. The stealth drones had detected most of them but the few that had gone unnoticed weren’t enough to tip the balance. In a series of quick missile engagements, all of the Karacknid ships were destroyed for the price of only a handful of losses. As soon as the battle was over, Drake, Unity, and all of the Alliance and Vestarian warships carried out their own micro shift jump. When they reverted to real space, they powered up their engines and charged into the system, lighting up every Karacknid gravimetric sensor. The enemy commander would know nine hundred warships were bearing down on his position.

If he had been facing any other enemy, James would have been wondering if his opponent would stand and fight. He didn’t have to worry about that with the Karacknids. As long as the numbers were close to being even, there was no way they would pull back. Not when it would mean letting our fleet into their space, James was sure. The Karacknid commander’s pride would not let him abandon a Karacknid system. Ten minutes after James’ fleet had revealed itself, the Karacknid fleet broke orbit. James had chosen his target specifically because the Karacknid fleet base had only a handful of small battlestations. Staying in orbit and fighting alongside them would not give the Karacknids any real benefit. Being out in open space and able to maneuver was much more important.

“It looks like they have fighters,” Anderson announced as a group of very small contacts appeared on Drake’s sensors. “I’m counting twenty so far. More are being launched.”

“They’ve certainly committed to their fighters,” Fisher commented as the number rose to eighty.

“Take it as a compliment,” James said with a smile. “That’s how badly we’ve hurt them with our own.” From up and down the frontline Alliance fleets had been reporting Karacknid fighters. James had expected to see some stationed at the fleet base. The number was still pretty impressive though. If the Karacknids had as many fighters stationed at every one of their fleet bases, it meant they already had a thousand or more. “Inform Admiral Ya’sia she can launch her fighters. They are to intercept the Karacknid fighters. But make sure they don’t push out too quickly.”

“Understood,” Miyagi responded.

As both fleets continued to close, James watched the Karacknid fighters form up and race ahead of the Karacknid fleet. It looked like the Karacknid fighters were timing their attack to coincide with the first Karacknid missile salvo. That was fine by James. Ya’sia’s Pulsar fighters quickly matched the Karacknid fighters’ movements. Then, ten minutes after the Karacknid fighters charged, one hundred and sixty new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. James knew exactly what they were. Lightfoot had launched every Spitfire and Corsair he had in his fleet. They were charging the Karacknid fighters from a ninety-degree angle to their line of advance. Unless the Karacknid fighters turned from their attack run on James’ fleet, the Spitfires and Corsairs would cut through their lines. Before the Karacknid pilots had a chance to decide what to do, Ya’sia’s Pulsars gunned their engines. Now if the Karacknids did turn, they’d be cut apart by Ya’sia’s fighters instead.

In the heat of the moment the Karacknid commander chose to split his forces. Forty fighters turned to engage Lightfoot’s force while the other forty continued on their heading for Ya’sia’s Pulsars. As soon as each group of fighters met, a deadly swarm of dogfights broke out. James watched it for nearly a minute. Outnumbered and, as far as James was concerned, though he was probably biased, outclassed, the Karacknid fighters disappeared at rates far higher than his own.

“I think the Karacknid fleet commander is on to us,” Miyagi pointed out as he pulled James’ attention away from the dog fight. “Look,” he said as he altered the view on the holo projector. A small group of frigates had broken away from the Karacknid fleet. They were fanning out in the direction Lightfoot’s fighters had come from.

“It’s too late,” James said. He hadn’t seen the numbers yet, but his instincts were all he needed. Lightfoot’s fleet had traversed partially around the system’s mass shadow, then turned and used the denser shadow of one of the system’s gas giants to head deeper into the system. They had used the gas giant’s gravity to slingshot them back towards the point James had lured the Karacknid fleet to. Even though they were in stealth, James was sure they were closing in on the battle.

Whether because a frigate had detected something or the Karacknid commander had suddenly got nervous, every ship in the Karacknid fleet decelerated. James shook his head. It wasn’t going to change anything. “Fire as soon as we come into missile range. Lightfoot will be ready.”

With their momentum still carrying them towards James’ fleet, and James’ fleet accelerating at full military power, the Karacknids breaking maneuver did not work. Five minutes before they reached missile range, the thirty converted freighters that were in formation around Drake opened their cargo bay doors and rolled out missile pods. With four missiles per pod and thirty pods per freighter, they released a single salvo equivalent to a battlefleet. When Drake, Unity and the rest of James’ ships opened fire, fourteen thousand missiles shot towards the Karacknid fleet.

The Karacknids fired ten thousand of their own missiles. For a few moments, the battle looked like it was going to be even. Then another seven thousand contacts appeared, accelerating at rates even higher than the two groups of anti-ship missiles that were already in play. As soon as the missiles revealed themselves, Lightfoot’s ships went active as they came out of stealth and increased their acceleration. Whilst still out of standard missile range, they had fired a salvo of multistage missiles.

With the Karacknid fighters all destroyed, the Human and Alliance fighters could engage the Karacknid missile salvo as it passed. Between them they took out a couple of hundred missiles. Then they turned and headed back to their carriers to be refueled and rearmed. Fighters were a precious commodity. James didn’t intend to risk them when he had the numerical advantage.

Having the higher starting momentum, James’ missile salvo reached their targets first. Lightfoot had timed his missiles to hit the Karacknids just a couple of seconds later. Both massive missile salvos crashed into the Karacknid fleet from two divergent angles. With their point defense fire split, the Karacknids were overwhelmed. More than a thousand missiles burst through the point defense fire and released their destructive energy into their targets. Drake’s sensors detected more than three hundred hits. Before a full analysis could be made, it was Drake’s turn to defend herself. The point defense weaponry James was used to was joined by concussive missiles, directed energy beams and hundreds of thousands of railgun cannon rounds from the Alliance warships. Despite their best efforts, James knew missiles were going to get through. Seconds later the now familiar blue balls of antimatter bloomed within his fleet. Positioned behind a range of screening ships, Drake didn’t even have to carry out evasive maneuvers. But as James watched other ships be wiped out by the antimatter, it was obvious many weren’t so lucky.

With his converted missile pod freighters having already pulled back, it took James just a few seconds to confirm that the eight escort ships in formation with Drake were still alive. “Leave damage control to Admirals Ya’sia and Jil’lal and their staff,” James ordered his officers. “Focus on getting our next salvo off.” With the Karacknid fleet badly damaged, James didn’t want to give them a chance to hurt his fleet any more than necessary.

Whether from the confusion his first salvo had caused, or because of his crew’s superior skill, Drake and the ships around her opened fire a full two minutes before the Karacknids. Just as they fired, Lightfoot’s fleet released another salvo of multistage missiles. By then James’ officers had analyzed the effectiveness of their first salvo. One hundred and sixteen Karacknid warships had been destroyed. Seventy-eight more had lost power to one degree or another. They were being left behind by their comrades as the main Karacknid fleet decelerated.

When the Karacknids finally fired, their salvo numbers had been reduced by twenty percent. “What was our damage?” James asked after giving enough time for Ya’sia and Jil’lal to get a handle on their ships.

“Thirty-eight ships destroyed, eighteen more have had to pull back Admiral,” Lieutenant Commander Ivanov informed him. “Sending the file to your command chair.”

James glanced down at it. At most, his fleet had lost five percent of its point defense weaponry. The second Karacknid missile salvo was going to be far less effective than the first. On the other hand, as James watched his missiles crash into the Karacknids, hundreds more reached their targets. Right across the Karacknid fleet, ships were blown apart. It was quickly apparent that the numbers had swung decisively in his fleet’s favor. Over the course of the next twenty-five minutes, James watched in almost complete silence as his ships finished the battle. Whilst the Karacknids’ rate and weight of fire quickly fell away, his fleet kept up a merciless bombardment.

“All right,” James said when the last enemy contact disappeared from Drake’s sensors, “Switch our focus onto rescue operations and damage repairs. Signal Admiral Lightfoot, instruct him to close with the orbital stations and finish them off.”

“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi responded.

James nodded to his Chief of Staff and pulled up the damage report on his ships. Just sixteen more had been lost and only a handful had suffered further damage. In total, it looked like eighty of his ships had been destroyed or would have to be sent home. A ten to one kill rate, James thought. Even in the simulations of phase one of Counterstrike, they hadn’t achieved such success. A good start. A very good start. “Signal our two gravity well squadrons, inform them they can begin operations,” James ordered.

Minutes later, from beyond the edge of the system’s mass shadow, two small squadrons of ships appeared. They were heading towards the systems’ two shift passages that led towards galactic east. At the center of each squadron were two gravity well cruisers. With the addition of the fifth cruiser James was keeping in reserve, they were all the gravity well cruisers Humanity had. The latest intelligence from his scouts indicated that the Karacknids had built three further fleet bases to the east. If and when word reached them of his incursion, they would move to intercept him. When they did, they were going to find the shift passages they normally used were closed to them. Each gravity well cruiser had the ability to pull an entire Karacknid fleet out of shift space and keep them in normal space. Once there, the Karacknids would be able to chase down the cruiser, but that was why each squadron had two. When one was threatened, it would power down and jump out. Then the second cruiser would power up its gravity wells and keep the Karacknids trapped. With a bit of luck and a lot of coordination James hoped the two squadrons would be able to keep whatever forces that came from the east busy long enough for him to complete Operation Counterstrike. If the Karacknid fleets to the east decided to try and circumnavigate the cruisers, it would take them a couple of months to head deeper into their own territory and circle around.

“Admiral, I think our stealth ships are about to go active,” Lieutenant Anderson informed James as he drew his Admiral’s attention back to the main holo projector.

James nodded his thanks to Anderson and waited expectantly. The Karacknid commander had dispatched six frigates from his fleet to bring news of James’ attack. Two had headed towards the eastern shift passages. They had already jumped out. The remaining four were all heading towards the shift passage that provided the quickest route to the system he and the Alliance admirals had designated as the Karacknids command HQ system. It was the system from which the Karacknids had launched their invasion of Mindus space. After Admiral Gupta’s successful raid on the Jaranna system, intelligence indicated that ninety percent of the Karacknids supplies and reinforcements flowed through their fleet HQ system. James had no intention of letting the Karacknid commanders there know of his incursion.

Just two minutes later, the two squadrons of ships that had left Lightfoot’s fleet hours before the battle appeared as they accelerated. Each squadron consisted of six destroyers and a light cruiser. Coordinating their maneuvers, they fanned out to intercept the four Karacknid frigates. For half an hour the Human and Karacknid ships carried out an intricate dance as the Karacknid captains tried everything they could to evade being caught. Three of the Karacknid captains failed. James was impressed by the actions of the fourth captain. Somehow the frigate survived a missile salvo from a destroyer and managed to evade coming into range of a second destroyer that attempted to close with it. The Karacknid frigate almost made it to the system’s mass shadow and the point where it could escape into shift space. Then the two additional ships James had sent with the squadrons came into play. Both were upgraded versions of the gravity well generator cruiser Gupta had used to such effect on her raid on Jaranna. They powered up their generators and the final Karacknid frigate found itself in the midst of a far larger gravity well. Instead of being able to jump out to shift space in five minutes, it had to travel another hour and a half to get away from the gravity well that was restricting its shift drive. Its problem was further compounded by the fact that the gravity wells were mobile. Though not as fast as the frigate, the gravity well cruisers could chase it for hours if necessary. Such a long time was not needed though. With only one target to chase, the two squadrons James had assigned to intercept the Karacknid messenger ships encircled the Karacknid frigate and destroyed it.

“A complete success,” Captain Fisher said with a grin when the Karacknid frigate disappeared from Drake’s sensors. “Congratulations Admiral. Phase one has gone better than expected.”

“Indeed,” James agreed, not sure if he should be pleased or concerned. He wasn’t used to things going so well. “Now let us begin phase two,” he added. “Prepare the fleets to rendezvous and continue on our planned course. It’s time to see how far we can push into the Karacknid empire.” James couldn’t help but grin. For years now those were words he had never been sure he’d be able to say.

Chapter 19

Invading enemy systems is easy, holding them is hard.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Drake, outer edge of Karacknid HQ system, 13th February 2484 AD (four weeks later).

The same grin spread across James’ face four weeks later as he stared at the sensor data his scouts had just returned with. He had raced his fleet through nine Karacknid systems. Occasionally he had dispatched small squadrons to raid the Karacknid infrastructure, but his main fleet had pressed on without pause. Though he had known word would spread of his attack, his fast pace had paid dividends. In front of him the Karacknid HQ system was in a state of pandemonium. As far as James could tell the Karacknids were trying to evacuate as much of their supplies as possible. Three convoys of freighters were easily identifiable as they made their way out of the system. Between them and moving into and out of the system were more than a hundred other freighters operating on their own.

“I think we’ve caught them with their pants down,” Fisher commented. “It’s mayhem in there.”

“Which means we’re just in time,” James said as he thought through how to approach the situation. The vast majority of the Karacknid freighters were heading towards the shift passage that led to Jaranna. That meant the supplies would eventually make their way to the Karacknid fleets along the front line. If he could, he wanted to take them out. The entire point of Operation Counterstrike was to cut off the Karacknids’ main artery of supply. Alliance fleets up and down the front line would be launching their own attacks as they pressed the Karacknids. With his fleet cutting off Karacknid supplies and reinforcements, Alliance High Command intended to push as far into Karacknid space as possible. The entire operation was designed to buy the Alliance and Human shipyards more time and space to churn out warships. Yet James’ eyes were drawn to the Karacknid fleet that was defending their HQ stations. Seven hundred ships was less than the border fleet he had wiped out. But if they escaped, they’d be able to join the Karacknid ships based at Jaranna and threaten his fleet. He had to contain them or he could end up having to retreat fastener than intended. “Signal Commodores Scott, Rivers, Teleck and Mar’yal,” he requested as he came to a decision. “They are to detach themselves from the fleet and hunt down those Karacknid convoys. They can rendezvous with us as soon as they have done as much damage as they think they can. Make sure they know they’re not to risk their squadrons engaging more powerful escorts.”

“Right away Admiral,” Lieutenant Martinez replied from his COM station.

“Miyagi,” James said as he turned to his Chief of Staff. “Inform the others we’ll be jumping in momentarily. We are going to ignore the convoys and head straight for their main base. Let’s see if we can encourage the system fleet commander to stay put.”

“Aye Admiral,” Miyagi responded with a nod that showed he understood James’ intentions. The Karacknids had set up their main base of operations in orbit around the system’s third planet. It was a rocky volcanic world that intelligence suspected was rich in several rare elements. Alongside an extensive mining operation on the planet’s surface there were orbital refineries to process whatever was mined. Neither of which was of much concern to James. It was the massive supply stations and forty orbital battlestations that had his focus. The supply stations were estimated to hold enough supplies to keep a fleet of six thousand warships in operation for more than a year. The orbital battlestations, combined with the Karacknid fleet, would have enough firepower to take on all of his ships. Each battlestation was more than three times the size of Unity. No one knew exactly how much firepower each one put out, but it had to be colossal. James couldn’t destroy them all, but at the very least, he wanted to keep the supplies and Karacknid fleet bottled up in the third planet’s orbit. “We are ready to go,” Miyagi informed James five minutes later. James responded with a wave of his hand.

Drake’s jump into shift space and then reversion to normal space jostled James. Within the blink of an eye he was pressed back into his command chair as Drake’s impulse engines fired up and the battleship’s inertial dampeners increased their power to compensate. The four squadrons James had assigned to chase the convoys broke ahead of the main fleet. James split his time between watching them and keeping an eye on the Karacknid battlefleet. Predictably, the convoys increased their acceleration rates. At least the freighters that could did. The handful of warships that were playing escort duty turned to engage the ships hunting them. As several small battles played out, James paid particular attention to Commodore Scott’s squadron. His former Flag Captain commanded the medium cruiser Misfit. With ease Scott’s ships dealt with a small group of Karacknid escorts and slipped into the middle of a convoy more than one hundred freighters strong. James couldn’t help but be filled with pride as the woman he had come to think of as a younger sister ripped the Karacknids apart.

“The Karacknid battlefleet’s reactors and engines are lighting up!” Lieutenant Anderson called out. “They are breaking orbit.”

James felt his heart beat faster as he switched his full attention to the enemy battlefleet. It was indeed breaking orbit. But it wasn’t moving to intercept his fleet. For a second, James thought they were running. Yet he had positioned his fleet to block the Karacknids’ main line of retreat. At least, he thought he had. James suddenly feared he had missed something. As the Karacknid warships settled onto their intended heading, James frowned. Either there was a shift passage he didn’t know about or the Karacknid ships were up to something else. Just as he zoomed out the image on his personal holo projector, Miyagi saw what was happening. “Look at this convoy here,” his Chief of Staff said as he gestured towards the main holo plot. “It’s reversing course. They’re trying to avoid Mar’yal’s squadron.”

“Signal the Vestarian,” James snapped. “Order him to pull back. He is not to tangle with the main Karacknid battlefleet.” Rather than engage the main enemy fleet, the Karacknid commander was moving out to allow one of his convoys to fall back to their fleet base. James glanced at Fisher and Miyagi and shared a nod with each of them. The Karacknid commander’s maneuver meant he intended to stay in this system and protect the fleet headquarters. That was exactly what they desired.

With his main fleet not able to catch and engage the Karacknid battlefleet before it fell back into orbit, James slowed his warships’ approach and dispatched more light ships to engage the freighters that were still trying to escape. Over two hours, hundreds of freighters were mercilessly hunted down and destroyed. Then, when the killing was over, James planned out a new set of orders. “Inform Lightfoot he may detach his fleet. Then signal our raiding squadrons. They are to return to our supply train and rearm and refuel. Then they can proceed with their part of phase two. Send word to our mining frigates. They can begin their operations as well.”

“Transmitting those orders now Admiral,” Martinez replied.

“Bring the rest of the fleet to a halt just outside of powered missile range of the third planet,” James added. “Let’s get as good a sensor reading on their battlestations and fleet as we can. Make sure there is a constant patrol of fighters on guard duty. We don’t want them launching any surprise fighter attacks.” From the scans Drake had already taken of the Karacknid stations, it was clear some of them were designed to launch the Karacknid equivalent of James’ spitfires. If he wasn’t careful, they could give him a headache. In order to keep the Karacknid battlefleet locked up in orbit he’d have to sit tightly on them, yet by moving in so close he would have very little warning of a sortie of Karacknid fighters.

As James’ orders were sent out a number of different things happened. Lightfoot’s flagship Vengeance and four hundred Human and Alliance warships split off from the main Allied Fleet. He turned onto a heading for the shift passage that led to the Jaranna system. The Karacknids had turned the Mindus homeworld into a forward base for their invasion of Alliance space. Whilst it had been heavily raided by Admiral Gupta’s fleet thirteen months ago, the Karacknids had been rebuilding it ever since. If he could, Lightfoot had orders to destroy everything that was there. Even if he couldn’t, Lightfoot’s fleet would give early warning of any Karacknid attempt to send aid back towards their fleet HQ system. The four squadrons James had dispatched to hunt down the Karacknid convoys all turned and reversed course. They would rendezvous with the large fleet of supply freighters and escorts James had kept well outside the system’s mass shadow. After replacing their spent munitions, they would split up and head north and east into the Karacknid empire. James had given them express orders to destroy and cripple as much infrastructure as they could. Finally, from the supply fleet, sixteen freighters powered up their engines and entered the system. They made for the nearest asteroid field. There they would collect the materials they needed for what James had in mind.

*

IS Drake, 28th February 2484 AD (fifteen days later).

After the excitement of the successful battle against the Karacknid border fleet and the rapid advance into Karacknid space, the fleet’s sudden boredom was impossible to miss. Even James had to admit that their occupation of the Karacknid HQ system wasn’t what he had imagined. For just over two weeks his ships had slowly circled the Karacknid HQ world observing their enemy. The Karacknids hadn’t done anything to break the monotony either. While their ships remained on high alert, the Karacknid fleet did not break orbit once. Instead they seemed content to watch James’ fleet as it went around and around. Despite sending out a number of scouts and receiving constant updates, no large Karacknid fleet appeared to be coming to their HQ’s aid. To the east the main shift passages any Karacknid fleet might have taken had been cut off. To the west Lightfoot had been sending constant updates on his progress towards Jaranna. Though his updates became more and more out of date as Lightfoot progressed further away, as yet he hadn’t encountered any serious resistance.

The boredom was why James was on Drake’s bridge hours before his first real attack was due to begin. Finally finished with their work within the asteroid field, the mining freighters were already on their way into the inner system. As they slowly closed with Drake, James passed the time by watching them. The tactic had been discussed many times throughout Humanity’s history and many science fiction holo dramas had shown the idea, yet it had been Admiral Koroylov who had first utilized the strategy for real. Since then James had come to think of it as the standard siege tactic. If a fleet had time, which his certainly did, collecting large asteroids and hurling them at the orbital defenses of a planet was a very cost-efficient way to reduce an enemy’s strength. With fighters and multistage missiles thrown into the mix, James was certain he had a winning hand to play. When the mining freighters, disguised as regular supply freighters, were just half an hour out from Drake, he gave the order to send his fleet to battle stations. “I’ll speak to the Admirals now,” James said to his COM officer.

A couple of minutes later holo projections of Ya’sia, Klack, Suarez and Jil’lal were all looking at James. “Is everything ready to proceed?” he asked.

“Everything is prepared on our end,” Ya’sia answered.

“And ours,” Jil’lal added.

James nodded. “Very well, I will give the order for our freighters to begin as soon as they reach us. Let’s not hang around any longer than we need to.”

“That is fine by all of us,” Ya’sia said with a smile. “Though once the Karacknids see what we have planned, they may not simply let us walk away.”

“Which will work out to our benefit,” James responded. “So, let us be prepared to face that eventuality if it arises. I will be giving orders momentarily. Good luck everyone.” After letting each Admiral respond to his farewell, James cut the COM channel. “Miyagi, inform the freighter Captains that they can begin their attack run immediately. Ivanov, coordinate with Anderson and lay in a flight path for our fleet. Bring us to rest at maximum missile range. Then prepare to reverse course as soon as we fire. Inform Commodore Chen his fighters are to prepare to launch as well.”

“Acknowledged,” Miyagi and Ivanov said in succession.

As the mining freighters caught up with his fleet and moved ahead, James tried to imagine what the Karacknid commander must be thinking. In several battles he or one of the other Alliance commanders had used converted freighters for various purposes. No doubt the Karacknid commander knew he was up to something. But unless you react quickly, it will be too late, James thought. The only way to stop the freighters releasing their ordinance would be to order ships to break orbit and intercept the freighters. But the window for doing so was narrowing. And James had his fighters ready to block any attempt to do so.

For twenty minutes the freighters led his fleet towards the Karacknids HQ base. As Drake and the others decelerated, the freighters continued on. When they were five minutes from missile range, the freighters’ engines went into overdrive. Shuttles detached from each of them and fled back towards Drake.

“Still no reaction from the Karacknids,” Anderson reported.

“He has to know we are about to do something,” Fisher commented as she turned to James.

“They think their point defenses can handle whatever we can throw at them,” James guessed. “And perhaps they are right.” His attack was a test as much as it was a full-on attempt to destroy the Karacknids. But surely they are a little nervous? he asked himself as he imagined how he might feel with so many unarmed freighters defiantly charging his ships.

“Missile launches!” Ivanov announced. “Forty missile contacts detected. They’re targeting the freighters.”

“A waste,” Fisher responded. The freighters broke apart as if they had been hit by a missile. Yet instead of disappearing amidst secondary explosions, the fractured hulls of the freighters spread apart revealing hundreds of asteroids. Nowhere near the size of the massive ones Koroylov had fitted engines to and rammed into Earth’s defenses, their numbers made up for their lack in size. As asteroids bumped into each other and spread out, they created a wave of destruction hurtling towards the system’s third planet and the Karacknid ships and stations in orbit.

Without waiting for James’ order, his fleet fired as soon as they came into range two seconds after the freighters broke apart. Within moments of being confronted with a hail of asteroids, ten thousand missiles were thrown into the mix. Then Chen’s fighters and bombers swept in to follow the missiles. As the seconds ticked by, a smile spread across James’ face. The Karacknids still hadn’t fired their own missiles. The Karacknid commander was torn. He could fire a full salvo at James’ ships before they fell back out of range. But then his point defenses would be the only weapons he could use against the asteroids. A Karacknid anti-matter missile was the ideal weapon to obliterate an asteroid. Where laser beams and other point defense weapons would simply break the asteroid into hundreds of smaller bits, anti-matter would wipe them out. What is it going to be? James asked his opponent as his ships pulled back from the Karacknid base. The sudden appearance of thousands of missiles from the Karacknid fleet and battlestations answered him seconds later. James lent forward as he strained to see what heading they were on.

“They’re splitting up,” Ivanov informed everyone on the bridge. “It looks like a quarter are heading towards the asteroids, the rest are targeting us.”

“Inform Chen his fighters are to release their missiles at extreme range of the battlestations,” James snapped. “I don’t want them flying through all those antimatter missiles as they are detonating. His force is to pull back as soon as they can.” Firing so far out would mean the Karacknid ships would easily dodge the balls of plasma released by the fighters’ missiles. With luck, the large battlestations wouldn’t have such an easy time of it. “Prepare the fleet to fend off the Karacknid salvo,” he added.

With the Karacknids delaying the launch of their missiles, James could gauge the effectiveness of his attack before having to worry about his own fleet. With four carriers worth of Spitfire fighters and Lancaster bombers, Chen’s attack wave released four hundred and fifty plasma missiles. As the small attack craft peeled up and away from the planet, the missiles detonated, each releasing a large ball of plasma that used its momentum to continue on towards the orbital battlestations. At that moment, hundreds of new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. The Karacknids had sortied their fighters. Quicker than James would have thought possible, the fighters formed up into squadrons and raced out after their missiles.

The Karacknids had timed their antimatter missiles to reach the wave of advancing asteroids just as James’ own salvo of missiles caught up with them. As antimatter explosions erupted in the midst of the asteroids, hundreds of asteroids and missiles blinked out of existence. James shared a glance with Fisher. The Karacknids should have focused all their missiles on the asteroids. They were still more than two hundred of them barreling towards the planet. That number halved as the Karacknid fighters tore into the asteroids and blasted them with their particle beam weapons. Yet every asteroid that was blown apart just added to the confusion as hundreds of pieces of debris took its place. As the Karacknid point defenses opened up, the confusion increased. Thousands of small asteroids were hurtling towards the planet. In the midst the disintegrating asteroids, James’ missiles accelerated. As their ECM boosted up, Karacknid sensors, already straining to make sense of the thousands of asteroid pieces, were overwhelmed. Even so, for the final thirty seconds it took their wave of destruction to reach the Karacknid ships and stations, point defense fire continued to take out targets. Then the wave of asteroid debris, anti-ship missiles and plasma balls struck the Karacknid formation. Explosions rolled throughout the Karacknid ships and stations. They were too many for James to count. Beside the visual image of the Karacknid formation, text appeared as Drake’s computer and sensor officers sought to analyze the damage. James read it eagerly. It looked like approximately sixty ships had been taken out. At least that number again had been hit by a missile or asteroid piece. Crucially, four of the Karacknid’s battlestations were gone.

“We’ve hurt them bad!” Miyagi said as he looked up from his command console, a wide grin on his face.

James smiled back. He wasn’t used to his Chief of Staff showing such emotion. But he understood. The asteroids had played havoc with the Karacknids point defense fire. “Let’s handle their salvo first and then we can congratulate each other,” James responded.

“Of course, Admiral,” Miyagi said, his face quickly returning to its usual impassive appearance.

As the Karacknid missiles entered point defense range of his ships, James put a stern look on his face. With everyone already intimately familiar with their roles, there was nothing for him to do but look fearless as the incoming missiles threatened his fleet and flagship. Without the battlestations, the warships’ missiles wouldn’t have even caused his gunners to break a sweat. However, each battlestation had one hundred and sixty missile tubes. They had significantly boosted the numbers in the enemy salvo. When they crashed into his fleet, multiple explosions signaled the death of Allied ships. Though he always hated himself when it happened, James couldn’t help but feel a moment’s relief when it was clear no missiles had targeted Drake. It only lasted a second and then his concern for his fleet took over. As damage reports started to come, he threw himself into organizing rescue operations. Their attack had been successful, but he had known they would have to pay a price.

An hour later his fleet was back at its original location as it resumed circling the Karacknid fleet HQ base. James had lost twenty ships. He knew it was a small price to pay for the damage he had done to the Karacknids, but every loss hurt. “I think we can call that attack a success,” James said to his command staff. “Send word to our remaining mining freighters. I want to know when they will be ready. Miyagi, work with Ivanov and see if we can scrape together any other freighters from our supply train. I know we have munition and fuel freighters that we need to send back for resupply. But perhaps we can spare a few of them to load up with more asteroids. If we can hit them again like we did today, we should be able to move in and finish the job ourselves.”

“I’ll see what we can scrape up,” Miyagi responded as he gestured for Ivanov to join him at his command console. James nodded to his Chief of Staff. He had twenty more mining freighters collecting the asteroids that they would need. If he could add more to that, his next attack would be even more devastating. It would take at least two weeks to make the preparations, but if the Karacknids sat still long enough, he would be more than happy to hit them again.

As his ships resumed their watch on the Karacknids, James carefully analyzed the Karacknid fleet. Given what he had just done to them, the Karacknid commander had to know that his ships were in a precarious situation. If he had been facing such odds, James was sure he’d be willing to try anything to counterattack or slip his ships past the enemy fleet to safety. As impressive as the Karacknid battlestations were, James had just shown that they had a significant vulnerability. If the Karacknid commander insisted on protecting them and the rest of the orbital stations of the HQ base, his ships would be in trouble. “I’m going to retire,” James said after watching the Karacknids for an hour or so. “Make sure the fleet keeps a wary eye on them. After what they have just been through, they’ll be desperate to get revenge. Let’s not allow them to catch us out. Keep a special eye on their fighter stations.”

“Yes Admiral,” Captain Fisher replied.

Chapter 20

The War of Doom saw many technological advances. The early Spitfire fighters and their variants saved Humanity from defeat. When the Karacknids developed their own fighters the scales shifted again.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Prometheus, 2nd March 2484 AD (two days later).

Commodore Chen sat in Prometheus’ flight ops reading a report. His right hand was tapping on his computer console. Chen had found the movement had become a habit. It had started not long after Emperor Somerville had insisted he step back from flying Spitfires and accept a promotion to the rank of Commodore. Without a flight stick to grasp, Chen needed something to occupy his hand. Though he wasn’t meant to be on duty, Chen had been tossing and turning in his bed. Giving up on trying to sleep he had come into flight ops. The command deck served as the command and control center for every fighter in Somerville’s fleet. Whilst technically he only commanded the fighters that belonged to Prometheus, her three sister ships and the six bulk carriers that were part of the fleet; in reality, he had been forced to learn how to command the small squadron of carriers and their escorts as well. With his knowledge of fighter combat, each of their captains looked to him for leadership.

None of that was what was robbing him of sleep, however. Over the last few months he had settled into his role. Whatever was keeping him awake was eluding him. With a sigh he set the datapad down. The report on the readiness of Icarus’ Lancaster bombers was one he had read earlier. He had hoped there had been something in it his subconscious was trying to tell him he had missed. But there was nothing out of the ordinary about the report. Something was nagging at him though. “What is the fleet’s status?” he asked one of the flight officers out of habit.

“Nothing has changed in the last several hours Commodore,” the Lieutenant replied. “We are still circling the Karacknid base. We have twelve Spitfires out on patrol and the frigates and recon drones that are watching the approaches to the fleet have nothing to report.”

Chen tightened his lips. He was staring at the main holo projection of the system. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual going on. Beyond the couple of small squadrons of destroyers and frigates that were patrolling the outer system and the convoy of freighters that was approaching the fleet, the system was quiet. Except, of course, for the two massive fleets that were squaring off against one another. Still searching for what was keeping him away, Chen turned his mind back to the battle of two days ago. He had gone over the attack with his squadron leaders and then with Admiral Somerville and then several times on his own. Analysis of his fighter’s plasma missiles had indicated they had struck one battleship and four other orbital stations, destroying each of them. In the grand scheme of things his fighters had contributed very little to the battle. And yet they had suffered no losses. Plasma missiles were less than one fifth the size of the standard mark IV anti-ship missiles Drake and the rest of the fleet fired. That meant there were hundreds of them stored away in the supply train. Firing a full salvo for only a few hits wasn’t an issue as far as logistics were concerned. So why can’t I sleep? Chen asked himself. Idly he pulled out the picture of his wife and son. There was always a small part in the back of his mind that worried about them both. Yet as he stared at them, he only felt love well up within him. They weren’t the reason he wasn’t sleeping.

“The fleet is preparing to alter course in five minutes,” one of the officers on watch called out. “Make sure our fighters on patrol are aware. We wouldn’t want them missing the turn and getting lost,” she finished with a chuckle.

Chen frowned. He hadn’t been made aware of any scheduled course change. “Why are we changing course?” he asked the officer.

The officer stared at him blankly for second and then hastily looked at her command console. “Eh, it’s only a minor course change. This system’s star gives off unusually large solar flares. One is coming our way now. We are turning our noses into it to protect our more sensitive sensor arrays. We’ll be altering course back onto our original heading in a couple of minutes.”

Chen stood up as his mind whirled. For the first several hours after the attack on the Karacknid base, James had kept his ships at battle stations. The Emperor had feared the Karacknids would launch a counterattack once they realized how vulnerable they were. Yet nothing had materialized. Over the last two days everyone’s alertness had slowly decreased as the Karacknids had apparently remained docile. What if they were waiting? Chen thought. “How much will our maneuvering and the solar flare reduce our ability to watch the Karacknid fleet?”

“Not by much I wouldn’t think Commodore. I’m not a sensor specialist though. Perhaps by twenty percent?” the officer replied.

“I want to know for sure!” Chen demanded as he turned and stared at the Karacknid orbital installations. “Wait,” he said before the officer could turn to look for someone else. “There’s no time. How many fighters do we have ready for emergency launch?”

“Two squadrons Admiral,” the officer replied at once. “One squadron from Icarus and one from bulk carrier four.”

“Launch them both now,” Chen ordered. “Send all our carriers to battlestations. I want every fighter sortied as soon as they are able. Don’t wait for their squadrons to form up. Just launch fighters as soon as the pilots get to them.”

“Right away Admiral,” the officer of the watch replied. She turned and gestured to her subordinates. “You heard him, start sending the orders.” She turned back to Chen. “May I ask Commodore, what is going on?”

Chen didn’t turn away from the holo projection of the Karacknid base as he answered her. “If I was going to launch a fighter attack against our fleet. Now is exactly when I’d do it. Send a flash alert to Drake. Inform Admiral Somerville I believe the Karacknids may be planning to hit us.” Pausing for a second as the officer sent the communication from her console, Chen turned fully to face her. “How long until we can have all our fighters launched?”

The officer turned to one of her subordinates and he answered for her. “Fifteen minutes Admiral. It will take the next five to start really getting our numbers up after we launch the two emergency squadrons. But then our numbers will rise rapidly.”

Chen shook his head. The solar flare was two and a half minutes away. If the Karacknids launched as soon as it hit the planet and followed the flare as it passed the planet and enveloped the Allied Fleet, they’d be on his ships in ten minutes at the most. Unconsciously the fingers on his right hand twitched. “There’s no time to match up pilots with their fighters. Stick pilots in whatever fighters they can get to quickest. Don’t bother arming any with plasma missiles or taking them off the fighters that have them, there is no time,” he ordered before he turned and moved to leave the flight ops.

“Where are you going Commodore?” the officer on watch called.

Chen didn’t turn as he answered her. “Every pilot we have is needed and I’m already in my flight suit. Get me a fighter ready to launch.” Leaving flight ops, he broke into a jog. It took just thirty seconds to descend the nearest stairs to the flight deck. Without pausing he ran to the nearest fighter that was sitting in a launch tube. “Whose fighter is this?” he called to the tech that was working on the craft.

“Flight Captain Barrett,” the tech answered as she stood up from the panel she had been hunched over.

“Well it’s mine now,” Chen replied. “Is she ready to launch?”

“She’s not equipped with her plasma missile,” the tech responded as she shook her head.

Chen waved away her concerns. “That’s not a problem. Her fuel status?” He knew that every fighter that was kept in a launch tube had to be fully fueled. Yet he wanted to make sure.

“She’s full,” the tech answered. “As soon as I finish up here, she will be launch ready.”

Chen was already climbing the ladder into the cockpit. “Finish up at once. As soon as I finish the pre-flight checks, I’m out of here.”

The tech’s eyes widened. “Yes Admiral, I’ll do it immediately,” she said as she bent over again and her hands frantically worked within the Spitfire’s open access panel.

As soon as his butt hit the flight seat, Chen hit the button to lower the canopy. He flicked switches as he powered up the Spitfire’s engine and impulse drive. Doublechecking his fuel status and then the condition of his plasma cannons he gave a nod when he was satisfied. Twisting his head, he checked to see that the tech had finished her work. She was standing several meters away and raised a thumb when he looked at her. As he waved back, Chen keyed the Spitfire’s COM unit with his other hand. “Prometheus flight ops, this is Commodore Chen. Requesting permission to launch.”

“Commodore, you have a launch slot in thirty seconds. You’ve been assigned the callsign Trigger-happy,” the flight Lieutenant informed him tentatively.

Chen shook his head as he cracked a smile. He had no idea who had come up with the callsign but they were observant. Whoever it was, he intended to get them back but there was no time to worry about such things at the moment. “Thank you, Lieutenant,” he replied in a perfectly professional tone. “Launching now,” he followed up when his fighter told him the launch tube was ready.

As soon as Prometheus shot him into space, Chen pulled back on his flight stick and banked up and over the battle carrier. He settled his Spitfire’s nose onto a direct course for the Karacknid fleet base. A quick check of his sensors told him the solar flare was less than thirty seconds away from the planet. Quickly he keyed his COM unit to the channel every fighter already in space used. “Listen up pilots,” he said to them. “This is Commodore Chen. Callsign Trigger-happy. All fighters form up on me. Keep in your squadrons if you can, if not, your wing man is whoever you end up with. This may be a false alarm. But if not, we need to be ready. Form up now.” As squadron leaders and pilots acknowledged his command, Chen was distracted as a priority request came through to his Spitfire. Tapping a button, he saw it was from Drake. “This is Commodore Chen,” he said as he switched COM channels.

“Commodore,” Admiral Somerville’s familiar voice said. “What is going on?”

“It’s the solar flare Admiral, our fleet automatically changes course to protect our sensors. If the Karacknids are going to attack, this is a prime opportunity,” Chen said quickly, knowing that Somerville would get it immediately.

“Of course!” Somerville replied. There was a pause for several seconds. “Do what you can with the fighters you’ve got Commodore. I’ll make sure the rest get launched immediately. I’ve got a fleet to see to. Good luck.”

Before Chen could reply, Somerville ended the COM channel. Glancing down at his sensors, Chen saw that he had forty-six Spitfires and Corsairs in formation around him. His fighter gave him a warning as the solar flare washed over his Spitfire. For several seconds, his sensors were blind as they rebooted and recalibrated themselves. As soon as they regained full functionality, Chen saw what he had feared. Two hundred contacts were racing straight towards him. Their speed meant they could only be one thing. Enemy fighters. With a flick of his thumb he switched COM channels back to his pilots. “Okay ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the Karacknids have come out to play. We’re going to take them head on. We need to disrupt their formation and breakup their attack. We will not be able to stop them all, but the more we can make them stagger their attack on the fleet, the more chance our warships’ point defense gunners will have. This is not going to be pretty, but it needs to be done. Every fighter to maximum acceleration, we will hit them as far away from the fleet as we can.” As soon as he finished, Chen gunned his Spitfire’s engine. Glancing to his left and right, he saw that one fighter had slotted in almost touching his right wing tip. “Beacon Three, it’s good to have you along for the ride,” he said as he switched COM channels again.

“Glad to be here Commodore, I didn’t think I’d be flying escort to you. It’s a privilege. Reading about your medal of honor was the reason I tried out for the flight combat academy,” Beacon Three replied.

Chen smashed his teeth together. That was not what he needed to hear. Not when the odds of either of them surviving were so slim. He kept such thoughts from his voice. “I’m even happier to have you with me. Let’s stick together and show these Karacknids what we can do.”

“Yes Commodore,” Beacon Three responded enthusiastically.

Nodding at the pilot’s sentiment, Chen returned his focus to the Karacknid fighters. They were just two minutes away from his force. His fingers danced over one of his control terminals as he programed his Spitfire’s computer to assign targets to each of his fighters. Then he checked his target and tilted his nose slightly away from it. He didn’t want to give the Karacknid fighter any warning. “Evasive maneuvers,” he ordered as he switched COM channels to his pilots again. As he glanced out of his canopy, he saw all the fighters begin to twist and turn. “Open fire now, let’s make them have to maneuver as well.” At such a range plasma bolts from his Spitfires would not be able to damage the Karacknid fighters, but they didn’t necessarily know that. The more Chen forced the Karacknids to carry out evasive maneuvers, the more broken up their formation would be by the time it reached the fleet.

Plasma bolts zipped out across the distance to the Karacknids. For thirty seconds the ineffective fire continued. Chen smiled when the Karacknids tried to dodge the understrength bolts that whisked past them. From the midst of his formation, missiles suddenly whooshed away from some of his fighters. For a millisecond Chen was caught off-guard. He hadn’t flown with Corsairs before. He had forgotten about the interceptors’ anti-fighter missiles. With their impressive speed, they closed the distance to the Karacknids in seconds. Charging straight into the face of the missiles, the Karacknids had almost no time to dodge. Six fighters were blown apart. Then the Karacknids opened up with their mass particle cannons. Alarms blared from Chen’s Spitfire as sensors detected particle beams passing close to his fighter. Ignoring them, Chen focused on his target. He twisted and turned one final time before settling the nose of his fighter onto a direct line with his target. Squeezing his trigger, he released two hundred plasma bolts in the space of three seconds. A roar of delight escaped his lips as the Karacknid fighter blew apart. With his vision so focused on his target, he was only dimly aware of other explosions occurring around him and amongst the Karacknids. Then, in almost the blink of an eye, his fighters passed through the Karacknids. Chen used his maneuvering thrusters to whip his fighter around. Depressing the trigger again, he fired a hail of bolts at the back of a Karacknid fighter. He roared again when it too was destroyed. Before he could seek out another target, the momentum of his fighter and the Karacknids’ craft brought them out of weapons range. “Drake, this is Chen, we’ve done what we can. They’re all yours,” he called to the fleet’s flagship.

“Acknowledged Commodore, you have softened them up for us,” a voice Chen didn’t recognize replied.

“Form up on me,” Chen said to his fighters as he switched back to their COM channel. He checked sensors to see how many were left. Just twenty had survived the engagement. Chen grimaced when he saw that Beacon-Three wasn’t one of them. Only then did it hit him how lucky he had been. He had been so focused on taking out his targets that he had forgotten about the danger to himself. His mind went to his wife. She hadn’t been at all pleased when he had been assigned to lead the fighter element of Operation Counterstrike. The one consolation he had given her had been that he wouldn’t be flying combat missions. She would be furious when she found out what he had done. But I’m alive, he said to himself as he thought about how he would tell her. And if I hadn’t done it, the Karacknids might have destroyed Prometheus… They still could, he reminded himself as he forced away thoughts of his wife. There were still one hundred and fifty-six Karacknid fighters charging the fleet. Glancing at the sensors, Chen saw that they were just twenty seconds away from the outer range of the fleets’ point defenses. Clearing his mind, he tried to picture what the Karacknid commander would do after his attack. He’d want to get back to the safety of the third planet’s battlestations as soon as possible. That meant his fleet would bank up and to the left after their attack run. “Follow me,” he ordered what was left of his pilots as he pointed his Spitfire’s nose in the direction the Karacknids would fly in.

As his ship carried out the maneuver, he kept his attention on the Karacknid attack. Seconds before they could open up with their particle beams, sixty Spitfires and Corsairs crashed into them as the second wave of fighters attacked. Making things even more difficult for them, the leading Karacknid fighters found themselves being targeted by every point defense weapon in the fleet. Explosions erupted all around the Karacknids as their fighters were taken out. Then the Karacknids got close enough to open fire. As particle beams ripped into warships, blasting away their armor, much larger explosions were detected by Chen’s Spitfire. He counted five massive ones that had to be caused by ships detonating. More energy spikes suggested others had taken damage. As soon as the Karacknids passed the fleet, they carried out the same maneuver Chen had. Spinning their fighters, they fired another round of particle beams. More ships were blown apart. Chen found he was gripping his flight stick hard enough to turn his knuckles white. When the Karacknid fighters regrouped and turned back towards the planet on exactly the course he had predicted, his eyes narrowed. He had failed to stop the attack on the fleet, but he was going to get revenge. “They will be slow as they reverse course back to the planet. We’ll slice right through them. Make every plasma bolt count,” he ordered his pilots.

It took twenty minutes for his fighters to reverse their momentum from their initial attack run and close with the Karacknids. With their engines at maximum, the Karacknids easily saw them coming. For a few moments Chen was surprised the Karacknid commander hadn’t dispatched some of his fighters to engage Chen’s fighters. If the Karacknid commander forced Chen into a dogfight, the majority of the Karacknid fighters could escape untouched. Only when Chen spotted more than a hundred fighters racing after the Karacknids from the direction of the Allied Fleet did he understand. If the Karacknid commander stopped at all, his force would be caught by a lot more than the twenty fighters Chen had. His fighters charged into the Karacknids in a textbook slash attack. One of the first things taught at the fighter pilot academy was that speed won battles. With four times the velocity the Karacknids had, his fighters pierced their formation, blowing up targets with ease. The Karacknids had a much harder time locking onto and hitting his faster craft. Forgetting about his own safety, Chen released a hail of plasma at one target. Without even waiting to see if it was destroyed, he switched onto a second. Then he was through the Karacknid fleet. He spun his fighter and blasted a third enemy craft. With his adrenaline still pumping, he sought out a fourth, but none presented itself. The battle was over. Glancing at his sensors, he saw he had lost another six from his small force. The Karacknid fighters had suffered far worse. Out of the original two hundred that had launched their surprise attack, just over eighty were returning to their hangers. You won’t be trying that again any time soon, Chen thought as he wondered if the Karacknid fleet commander had survived the battle.

A beep from his COM unit made him glance down at it. Drake was hailing him again. “Go-ahead Drake,” he said as he activated the channel.

“Commander Chen, Admiral Somerville wishes to speak to you. One moment please,” the COM officer informed him.

“Chen,” Somerville said moments later. “You have beaten the odds once again. The fleet owes you big time.”

“How is the fleet Admiral? What are our losses?” Chen asked as guilt replaced his adrenaline. He should have seen the Karacknid’s attack coming sooner. Far sooner.

“We took some serious hits and lost some ships, but it would have been far worse without your actions Commodore,” Somerville replied. “I get the feeling another Medal of Honor is in your future. I thought I told you at the start of this mission that you’re too valuable to be flying fighters anymore.”

“I… I guess I forgot in the heat of the moment Admiral,” Chen replied.

Somerville smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Commodore. I think I’ll make an exception this time. Now get your fighter home. I don’t want to lose you because you ran out of fuel or suffered some other mishap. You and your pilots did good today Commodore. You all have my thanks.”

“Thank you Admiral,” Chen replied just before the COM channel ended. As his fighter approached the fleet, he saw a number of ships had large scars and deep gashes along their hulls, clearly the work of particle beams. Shuttles and crew in space suits were swarming around the damaged sections carrying out repairs. This siege is not broken yet, Chen was sure. He had no doubt Somerville was already coming up with ways to get back at the Karacknids.

Chapter 21

The Karacknids had a number of competent commanders. Tanaka-lang stood above them all. Any military history of the War of Doom must devote at least a chapter to his accomplishments, both prior to the war and during it. To do any less would be to rob my students of a valuable learning opportunity for there is much to be gained by studying our enemy.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Vengeance, Jaranna system, 2nd March 2484 AD (same time).

“Launch a spread of recon drones,” Lightfoot ordered as soon has his fleet jumped out of shift space. “Take us in, one quarter impulse.” His scouts had detected just one hundred Karacknid warships in orbit around Jaranna. If that was all the strength the Karacknids had in the system, he would be able to ravage the orbital stations the Karacknids were building but he wanted to be sure.

As his fleet moved in, he watched the feed from the drones carefully. Half were stealth drones while the other half were filling the system with energy from their active sensors. If the Karacknids did have any ships hiding with their reactors powered down, they’d have to carry out at least minor maneuvers to avoid his active sensor drones. The idea was to encourage them to head in the direction he had stealth drones operating.

“They’ve sure done a lot of work to the system since we were here last,” Jake Hamilton, Vengeance’s Flag Captain commented. “They’ve nearly rebuilt everything we destroyed.”

“Very nearly,” Lightfoot agreed. His Flag Captain had commanded a medium cruiser under Admiral Gupta’s fleet when they had raided the system. “It would be a pity if we ruined all the effort they’ve spent rebuilding their supply hub.”

“No unusual readings from any of our drones yet Admiral,” Lightfoot’s sensor officer updated everyone.

“They must have some more ships,” Commander Evans, Lightfoot’s Chief of staff, suggested. “We’ve hardly seen sight nor sign of anything since we left their HQ system.”

“We’ve been well behind enemy lines all the way here,” Hamilton responded. “If a Karacknid fleet suddenly appeared several systems behind our frontline they wouldn’t encounter too many warships.”

“No,” Evans agreed slowly. “Though they have far more ships than we do.”

Hamilton nodded to Evans. “Point taken.”

“There may not be any other ships in the system, but this is new,” the sensor officer reported as the holo image of the system zoomed in on Jaranna itself.

In the midst of the Karacknid fleet there was one ship that stood out. If it hadn’t already been surrounded by dreadnoughts, Lightfoot would have assumed it was one. Yet it dwarfed the ships around it. “What is it?” he asked.

“Neither ours nor Alliance sensor records have seen anything like it before,” the officer replied. “Wait, I’m running the sensor return through the Kalassai intelligence… I’ve got something. They call it a Command Dreadnought. Apparently, they’ve only come across a couple of them before. They believe they are assigned to higher up Karacknid fleet commanders.”

Lightfoot froze. It made no sense. They had been fighting the Karacknids for three years and had never come across one before. Did that mean they hadn’t been facing a senior Karacknid commander? And if they were now, why were there only one hundred ships in the system? The warship he was staring at looked designed for getting into the thick of a large fleet battle. Why was it sitting relatively alone behind the front lines? Something is not right, he thought. We’ve seen Karacknid scouts on our journey here, this commander must have known we were coming. Which means if he has more ships, he has laid a trap for us. “I want a new spread of stealth recon drones,” Lightfoot snapped. He paused as he scanned the system. Imagining himself as the Karacknid commander he guessed where he would hide an ambushing fleet. “Focus on these four locations,” he added as he highlighted four key areas. As his officers got to work releasing the drones, Lightfoot silently thanked the fact that he had given the order to go in at one quarter impulse. Any faster and his fleet could have already sprung the Karacknid trap if there was one.

It took thirty minutes for his second spread of drones to detect something, but when they did, Lightfoot’s instincts were confirmed. One stealth drone had detected a handful of ships lying completely still about two thirds of the way to Jaranna. Though Lightfoot had no idea how many ships were actually there, the presence of a few made him sure there would be far more. Then a second sighting had come in. Behind a small moon that orbited the system’s sixth planet there were one hundred and forty powered down Karacknid warships. “Full reverse,” Lightfoot ordered as soon as the second contact came in. “Lay in a course directly out of the system. Full power.”

As his fleet turned, Lightfoot half expected the hidden Karacknid ships to reveal themselves and attempt to pursue him. When they didn’t, his concern grew. If the Karacknid commander intended to keep his numbers hidden, it meant they could be even higher than he feared. If there is a new senior Karacknid in charge of the war, how many ships does he have elsewhere? Lightfoot worried. “Dispatch four frigates to Admiral Somerville. He needs to know about this immediately.” Operation Counterstrike could be in jeopardy.

*

Slayer, Jaranna system

High Admiral Tanaka-lang slowly retracted his claws as the Allied ships reversed course. He had thought he had them. Four hundred Allied ships was a small force. Yet it was a significant proportion of the ships that had broken through his lines. With a fleet nearly twice their size hidden within the Jaranna system, he had been less than an hour away from pulling off a standard claw ambush. From five different directions he would have surrounded the Allied Fleet in a cocoon of death and slaughtered them. Now they were falling back. Something had spooked them. Tanaka-lang knew a lesser Admiral might have given chase. There was a 50-50 chance he could have caught the Allied Fleet with at least some of his ships and forced them into a fighting retreat but he would have given away his numbers. That was the last thing he wanted. The Humans had uncovered the vast majority of their fleet. If he could cut them off and finish them, the door would be open for a counterattack into the heart of Human space. High Admiral Hur’lang’s plan to invade Alliance territory through Human space had cost him his life. Yet the theory behind the plan was sound. “Order our fleet elements to remain hidden,” Tanaka-lang commanded his subordinates. “Send another wave of frigates to our frontline positions. Every theatre commander has permission to fall back if pressed heavily. Any supplies and munitions they can spare are to be sent back to us with all haste.” Though he hadn’t received any word from the frontline bordering Alliance territory, Tanaka-lang was sure the Allied Fleet that had cut off his main supply route wasn’t acting alone. If the allies were smart, they’d be launching attacks up and down the front to force his fleets to use up supplies. That was fine with him, he had no qualms temporarily abandoning a few frontier systems.

As his officers got to work, Tanaka-lang watched the Human fleet cross the system’s mass shadow and jump into shift space. The sudden appearance of the Allied Fleet behind his front lines had caused him concern. Supplies were always an issue, and the Allied Fleet had cut off the main supply route his entire fleet relied upon. It was also worrying that none of his fleets to the east of where the Allied Fleet had punched through his defenses had reported in yet. That was a mystery Tanaka-lang was still trying to solve. But after an initial few days of concern, his worry had diminished. His main battlefleet was scheduled to reach the Mar’am system in twelve days’ time. When they did, the Allied Fleet was going to get a surprise. If he could scrape up enough supplies, Tanaka-lang intended to drive that surprise all the way to Earth and then Alliance space. Soon we will have you under our guns, Tanaka-lang thought towards the Allied Fleet that had just disappeared from Slayer’s sensors as his claws reappeared from their sheaths and dug into his command chair. Soon.

*

IS Misfit, 16th March 2484 AD (two weeks later).

“What are your orders Commodore?” Scott’s First Lieutenant asked.

For a second Scott thought the Lieutenant was talking to someone else. She still wasn’t used to her new rank. Just imagine what it will be like if you get your own command staff, Scott thought. She had enough people to organize with just Misfit’s bridge officers under her command. Shaking herself, she focused on the matter at hand. Her squadron of twelve destroyers and cruisers had just raided two small Karacknid colonies. Circling back towards the Karacknid fleet HQ system, they were on their way home. Upon entering their third Karacknid system, instead of the relatively undefended world they had expected to encounter, they found a large freighter convoy. Over two hundred freighters were being escorted by twenty Karacknid frigates and four destroyers. “Let me see those scans,” Scott said as she looked at her First Lieutenant. “Send them to my command chair.”

As a 3D image of a Karacknid destroyer and frigate appeared in front of her, she enlarged it. In conjunction with Xui-le, she had designed most of the modern warships currently serving in the Imperial Fleet. In doing so she had studied Karacknid ship design and tactics as deeply as anyone she knew. Upon seeing the Karacknid escorts she knew there was something different about them. As she examined them more closely, her interest increased. The two ships before her were definitely a destroyer and frigate. Yet they were unlike any variant she had come across. They have to be old, surely, she said to herself. Why else would the Karacknids be using them to escort freighters? Why haven’t we come across them before? At several points during the war, Human and Alliance fleets had found themselves behind enemy lines. If the Karacknids utilized older ship variants outside of the frontline, they would have been spotted. Looking up from the Karacknid ships, she took in the view of the whole system again. She had come to attack a small mining world. Every small piece of damage her squadron and the other raiding squadrons Somerville had dispatched could do would count for something. But a small mining world was just that, a small target compared to the convoy in front of her. No, it’s irrelevant at this stage, she decided as she turned away from the mining facilities. The real question is, what is that convoy doing? It had been over four weeks since the Allied Fleet had entered the Karacknid HQ system. Word should have spread far and wide of an enemy fleet operating behind their lines. Why was a Karacknid supply convoy heading straight for the Karacknid HQ system? Do they know something we don’t? “Can we catch the convoy?” she asked her officers.

“It would be close Captain,” Misfit’s Second Lieutenant responded. “We know their freighters can increase their acceleration rates if they need to. If the escort turns and takes us on, the freighters will probably make it to the system’s mass shadow and escape.”

“Then we follow them,” Scott said. “We remain in stealth and match their course. As soon as they jump out, we’ll go to full acceleration. We should be right behind them by the time we get to the next system. Then we can see exactly what they’re up to. And, if the opportunity arises, we will blast them into pieces,” she added as she winked at her First Lieutenant. “Send the word to the rest of our ships. Get us moving.”

“Aye Admiral,” Misfit’s Second Lieutenant acknowledged.

“The Karacknid mining station?” her First Lieutenant asked.

Scott shook her head. “It’s their lucky day. That convoy of ships is heading in a strange direction. Answers are more important than hurting Karacknid infrastructure at this stage.”

“Understood,” the Lieutenant replied with a nod.

Thirty-six hours later Misfit and the rest of Scott’s ships jumped out of shift space into a new system. The cruiser’s passive sensors looked for the Karacknid convoy. Gasps from her sensor officer and Second Lieutenant told Scott they had found more than the convoy. A second later everyone on Misfit’s bridge saw what the gravimetric sensors had detected. There wasn’t just one convoy in the system; there were ten! Or more! Scott guessed. “I want to know what we are looking at immediately,” she demanded.

For nearly thirty seconds no one answered her as every bridge officer peered over their consoles, working furiously. Scott’s Second Lieutenant was the first to speak. “It looks like there are thirteen convoys similar to the one we tracked in the last system. They are heading towards the same shift passage. It is the one that will eventually lead to the HQ system. Every convoy has destroyers and frigates similar to the ones we spotted escorting them. There are a handful of cruisers sprinkled into the mix as well.”

“Wait,” Misfit’s First Lieutenant interjected. “The furthest away squadron, it’s not a convoy. Those aren’t freighters. They’re battleships and dreadnoughts!”

Scott’s eyes widened. The lead convoy had over four hundred ships in it. Even as she watched, the leading ships disappeared off the gravimetric sensor right at the point where they crossed the system’s mass shadow. They had just jumped into shift space. “Check our sensor logs, how many ships did we initially detect in that forward convoy? They’ve been jumping out the entire time we’ve been watching them.”

“There were six hundred Captain,” a sensor officer reported. “Though the number started to drop as soon as we detected them.”

“A battlefleet,” Scott said as dread filled her voice. “Why didn’t the ship’s computers recognize those warships immediately?” she asked.

“Their drive signatures are slightly different than what the computer is programmed to recognize as enemy capital ships,” the sensor officer reported.

“Like the frigates and destroyers in front of us?” Scott followed up.

“Yes Captain,” the officer replied.

Scott closed her eyes. The enemy battlefleet was already an entire system ahead of her. There was no way she could get to Admiral Somerville in time to warn him. Not if she turned back and retraced her steps. They’d beat her to the Karacknid HQ system by days. And there’s no way to know how many warships they have, she complained to herself. She was certain Misfit’s sensors hadn’t detected all of the Karacknid battlefleet. They could have been jumping out ships for more than half an hour. There could be ten thousand of them for all we know! She pulled up a star map of local space. Her squadron had been assigned to raid the north-western most systems Somerville had wanted hit. As far as they knew, the Karacknid supply network led from their HQ system all the way to their homeworld. Any reinforcements coming from the inner systems would have been traveling through systems far more to the east of where she was.

“What is it?” Misfit’s First Lieutenant asked as he turned his command chair towards Scott and the star map she had on display.

“Those warships. They are either old, brand-new or have come from a different theatre of war,” Scott explained. “Think about where we are. If what we just saw was a new battlefleet jumping out of the system, and all these freighters are their supply train, we’d expect them to be coming from the interior of the Karacknid Empire. That’s where we’d expect their newer ships to be coming from, straight out of their shipyards. Why are they out here? Why have they been traveling from East to West. What if this is an entire fleet that was fighting in another war? Perhaps one they’ve won. Now they’ve come to join the fight against us. Either way our fleet is in big trouble. That could have been a fleet of Karacknid veterans we just saw on their way to the HQ system.”

“Then we need to warn Admiral Somerville as soon as possible,” Scott’s First Lieutenant replied. “He could get caught between that fleet and the Karacknids defending their HQ.”

Scott was all too aware of that, but she didn’t respond. She was desperately trying to figure out a way to get word to Somerville. She shook her head. There was only one option she could think of, but it seemed impossible. If the Karacknid battlefleet was heading towards the HQ system, they only had to pass through one more system. How could she possibly catch them in such a short space? “Get me all the Captains of our squadron. I need to speak to them privately. I’ll be in my office.”

Standing, Scott quickly stepped out of Misfit’s bridge and into her adjoining office. By the time she sat at her desk, most of the Captains in her small squadron had their holo images arrayed around her. “I am certain that we just watched the tail end of a Karacknid battlefleet jump out of the system. Given how many convoys there are in front of us, it has to be a big fleet. That means Admiral Somerville’s fleet is in trouble, serious trouble. If we can’t warn him in time, the entire fleet could be caught and wiped out. You all know what that means. The door to Earth and even the heart of the Alliance would be wide open. We have to get word to Somerville, no matter the cost.”

“What are you proposing Commodore?” Captain Rankin of the destroyer Beastly asked.

“I’m going to dispatch one destroyer to retrace our steps as quickly as possible and get back to the Karacknid HQ system. It may be the Karacknid battlefleet delays coming to their HQ’s aid. If so, that destroyer may make it in time. If they don’t delay, there’s no way retracing our steps can get us back quickly enough. That’s why the rest of us will head on. We’ll charge through this system and do whatever it takes to get in front of the Karacknid battlefleet.”

“That is suicide,” Captain Cummings interjected. “We’d never make it past all the convoy escorts, never mind a Karacknid battlefleet!”

“We have no choice,” Scott replied calmly. “Unless someone has another suggestion?” As she looked from Captain to Captain they all averted their eyes and held their tongues. They knew there weren’t any to be made. “Listen, I know this may be a suicide mission. But we have to try. If the fleet is wiped out, we will be hunted down and destroyed. If not, if we escaped and made it back to Earth, there’d be nothing left by the time we got there. We have to try… But I’m not going to force any of you to follow me into certain death. I will randomly select which destroyer is going to retrace our previous course. I’ll send orders to you all that make it clear you do not have to follow me. If you want to go with the destroyer, then so be it. However, Misfit will be entering this system at maximum acceleration. You can follow me or not. Decide now, as soon as I write these orders, we will be moving.” Not wanting to entertain any more discussion on the matter, Scott cut the COM channel. Each Captain knew what was at stake. Talking was not going to achieve anything more. She dictated the orders and moved to the bridge. “Jump us right to the mass shadow. Then I want maximum military acceleration. Set course for the shift passage the Karacknid battlefleet just jumped into,” Scott ordered. For several seconds Misfit’s bridge officers stared at her, some with mouths open. “Do it now!” she snapped. Suddenly the bridge was a hive of activity.

“Ready to jump,” her ship’s navigation officer said thirty seconds later.

Scott nodded. “Inform the others we’re jumping, then take us in,” she replied. Moments later she was rocked in her command chair as Misfit jumped into shift space and jumped out again a second later. Her restraints tightened as the cruiser’s impulse engines kicked in. Every Karacknid warship in the system would know she had arrived. Scott’s focus wasn’t on the enemy ships though. Not yet. Instead she watched the space around Misfit. When ten other contacts appeared beside her, all accelerating along the same trajectory, she smiled. The other Captains were with her. Likely, they were all about to die. But at least they would do so together.

Chapter 22

I have spoken before about the contribution one life makes. Often I wonder what Commodore Scott would have produced if she had focused her energies solely on scientific and technological projects rather than commanding warships.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Misfit, 16th March 2484 AD.

“Plot a course around each of the convoys,” Scott ordered as her squadron charged into the system. “Keep us two powered missile lengths from the freighters. Let’s see if we can show the Karacknids we have no interest in their ships.” When her First Lieutenant looked at her, she shrugged. “It’s worth a try.” With so many convoys, if all their escorts turned to fight her, she would never make it through the system. Yet she couldn’t afford to take a wide course around them. By the time she did, the Karacknid battlefleet would be too far ahead of her.

“The rear convoy is increasing speed,” Misfit’s sensor officer reported. “Wait, their escorts are turning.

“So are the escorts from the next two convoys,” another officer added.

“I guess they don’t believe us,” Scott said to her officers. “I can’t say I blame them,” she added to lighten the mood. From the Karacknids’ perspective, their lightly defended convoys would seem like her ships’ prime target. “Prepare the squadron to fire all our multistage missiles. Let’s give the first group of escort ships a hammering.” Scott ordered. “Time it so our third salvo strikes them a couple of minutes before they enter powered missile range.”

As her eleven ships fired three volleys in quick succession, the twenty Karacknid escorts didn’t waver. They accelerated straight for Misfit. Consisting only of frigates and destroyers, in any straight up fight, Scott would have bet on her ships. The problem was, defeating one group of escorts meant nothing when there would be eleven more coming in behind them. Still, she willed on her missiles as they closed with the enemy. Her first salvo destroyed three ships. Her second five more and then the third took out all but four of the Karacknids. When they opened fire themselves, they could only put out twelve missiles. To finish them off, Scott ordered a half salvo of mark IVs. None of the Karacknid missiles made it through the point defense fire of her ships. In contrast, the final four Karacknid ships were easily blown apart. One down, eleven to go, Scott thought as she racked her brain for some way to get past them. She was out of multistage missiles.

With her ships quickly catching up to the freighters in the rearmost convoy, Scott wished she could spare even ten minutes to close with them and release a couple of missile salvos. Out of fear that she would do just that, the freighters were scattering in every direction. But she still could have hit them hard. We’ll have to settle for causing confusion, she consoled herself. The escorts from the second rearmost convoy were closing with the scattered freighters in an effort to protect them. “Give the next convoy a wider berth,” Scott ordered as she decided it was worth trying again. “Double the distance that will be between us.”

“Aye Commodore,” the navigation officer responded.

For several minutes Scott watched the Karacknid forces, wondering if they would understand her course change. She was certain the escorts from the second rearmost convoy wouldn’t seek to engage her. Not when she had obliterated the rearmost convoy escort so easily. If she took them out, two convoys would be at her mercy. But sooner or later the Karacknids were bound to combine their forces.

“Look!” Misfit’s First Lieutenant said as he leaned forward in his command chair. “The convoys, they’re altering course!”

Scott could hardly believe it. The escorts from the second rearmost convoy were herding the rearmost convoy freighters back into a defensive formation just as she expected. But the rest of the convoys were pulling away from their direct course to the next shift passage. They were almost mirroring Scott’s curved trajectory that had her avoiding them. Frowning, she tried to figure out what the Karacknids were thinking. If they pulled the escorts from their leading convoys, they could combine them and confront her with sixty or eighty warships. But what if I was bluffing about our speed? Or our missile range? she asked herself as she put herself in the minds of the Karacknids. They had no way of knowing she didn’t have ten or twenty more salvos of multistage missiles. Coming from another war, they wouldn’t be as familiar with Human warships as the other Karacknids. If they pulled their escorts back to fight her, she could slip past them and have free range to engage the leading convoys. When a single warship broke away from the forward most convoy and went to full military acceleration, Scott realized what the Karacknids had decided. The warship would bring news to the battlefleet about her ships’ presence. Either they’re calling for help or informing the battlefleet about us so that they can handle us when we follow them. “I think they’re going to let us past,” Scott said to her officers, surprise filling her voice. “Maintain course and watch them closely.”

As the minutes ticked by and the Karacknids continued to pull out of Misfit’s way, Scott could hardly believe their luck. Her destruction of the first group of escorts must have spooked the rest of them. Or the cargo of their convoys is extremely important, Scott decided. The latter was probably the most likely. That worried her even more. It was almost unheard of for Karacknids to pass up a fight. Which makes it all the more important to get to James, Scott told herself. If the convoys in front of her carried enough supplies for the battlefleet she had glimpsed to advance on Earth immediately, there would be no way to stop them if James’ fleet was lost. “Get me Chief Engineer Houlihan,” Scott requested. Scott had played a hand in designing many of Misfit’s systems. Her cruiser had been built to last for years but if all they had left were a few days, there were a few changes they could make. Ones that might give them a chance. They had five hours before they could jump into shift space and then a four day journey to the next system. If the Karacknids were going to leave her alone, she was going to use every minute of them.

*

Misfit, 20th March 2484 AD (four days later).

With no time to spare, Scott jumped her squadron into the next system right on its mass shadow. Her ships immediately went to full power. Her crews had been busy. Every non-essential system had been disconnected from the ship’s power relays. Extra powerlines had been hooked up to the impulse engines and massive amounts of excess energy were being fed into them. Most of the ship’s outer sections had been abandoned and inertial compensators pulled and focused on the bridge and personnel quarters. Valstronium armor had been stripped from the rear and sides of the ships and focused on their nose to protect from cosmic particles. As far more energy flowed through the impulse engines than they were rated for, Scott’s ships catapulted themselves into the system. Houlihan estimated that their impulse engines wouldn’t last more than a couple of days if that.

Just as Scott expected, the Karacknids had a welcoming party for her. One hundred light ships were fanned out all around the mouth of the shift passage. She had exited right on the very edge of the passage. With her ships already lined up to forge away from the side of the shift passage, only a handful were able to give chase thanks to her ships’ increased acceleration. For twelve minutes a missile duel ensued. Six Karacknids were destroyed. None managed to get enough missiles into one salvo to penetrate Scott’s point defenses.

“Great work everyone,” Scott said as soon as they were free. “Plot us a course directly to the next shift passage,” she added.

“Engines are holding at the moment Commodore,” the Sub Lieutenant Scott had ordered to focus on monitoring them reported.

“The others?” Scott asked as she glanced at her First Lieutenant.

“Mongoose is reporting some minor fluctuations, but they’re working to stabilize them,” her First Lieutenant answered.

“What are we looking at…” Scott began to ask as she turned her gaze to the wider system. What she saw made her next word catch in her throat. The display from Misfit’s gravimetric sensors was a blur of contacts. “What on Earth?” she asked as her mouth fell open. “That can’t be!” There were nearly ten thousand contacts slowly moving into the system. They formed one massive ball of ships that seemed to dominate the entire system. It could only be the Karacknid battlefleet. Yet there were so many!

“Gravimetric sensors are functioning normally Commodore,” Misfit’s sensor officer responded, her voice full of awe. “They are real. Gravimetric signatures indicate they are all warships.”

Scott swallowed hard. Ten thousand ships was almost as many as the Karacknids had stationed along the front line with Alliance space. If they moved the entire fleet she was looking at up to the front, they’d likely be able to conquer all of the Alliance in one offensive. If they send them against us, we are doomed, she knew. Suddenly the massive amounts of supply freighters she had flown past made sense. So many ships would gobble up fuel like no one’s business. Scott was almost tempted to turn and attack the convoys. If she could destroy one or two of them, she might be able to slow the Karacknid fleet’s offensive. Yet if she didn’t warn James, his fleet would be wiped out and Earth lost anyway. And your ships are in no condition to fight a proper battle, Scott reminded herself. She had to press on. Somehow, she had to get around the Karacknid fleet. “Plot us a course around them, keep us two light minutes from them at all times,” she ordered.

“It may not be as bad as it looks,” Misfit’s tactical officer said. “Look at their acceleration rates. With so many ships in one formation, they’re slow. Especially given how much acceleration we can put out.”

They haven’t made it too far into the system yet, Scott said as she started to feel a glimmer of hope. Her ship’s race through the last system had allowed her to catch up with the Karacknids. The battlefleet was less than two hours ahead of her. No, she corrected herself, two hours without our modifications. Now, they were just over an hour ahead of her. “How long until they reach the mass shadow?”

“Three hours Commodore,” an officer replied.

Scott nodded. If they could get ahead of the Karacknid fleet, they might just make it to the next system and warn James in time for him to pull back. The blaring of alarms snapped Scott’s head around. She was just in time to see Ladybird fall out of formation as her impulse engines died. A second later she disappeared in a blinding flash. Scott let out a string of expletives. One of the destroyer’s impulse engines must have overloaded. It had sent a cascade of energy back to its reactors. There was nothing her crew could have done. By the time they received a warning it would have been too late. As she glanced at her own officers, Scott saw fear on more than one face. It could happen to anyone of her ships at any moment. Impulse engines weren’t designed to handle so much thrust. “Focus on your tasks,” she said to her officers. “Things are going to get far worse before they get better. This is about more than just our lives.” Her words received several nods as everyone turned back to their stations. Scott doubted it would curb their fear for long, she felt the same trepidation pulling at her heart.

“We’ve got movement from the Karacknid battlefleet,” a sensor officer said, pulling everyone’s thoughts away from Ladybird. “Light ships are breaking away.”

It wasn’t hard for Scott to figure out where they were going. Minutes later it was clear more than a hundred frigates and destroyers were moving to block her ships’ attempt to pass the Karacknid battlefleet. We can’t fight that many, Scott thought. “Assume we are seeing their maximum acceleration rates for this destroyer variant. Estimate how much faster their frigates can go. Use it to plot us a wider course around this intercepting squadron. We have a small amount of time to spare. Just make sure we get to the next shift passage ahead of the Karacknid battlefleet. But don’t plan the change of course for another ten minutes. Let’s let the small Karacknid squadron get far enough away from the battlefleet that they won’t be able to send reinforcements.”

“Working on it Commodore,” Misfit’s First Lieutenant replied as he moved over to the navigation console. “We have it ready,” he informed Scott half a minute later. After reviewing the course, Scott nodded to give her approval. “Alter course,” she commanded when the ten minutes were up.

Just moments after her fleet turned onto their new heading the Karacknid squadron responded. Forty-four frigates accelerated ahead of the destroyers. Scott kept her face impassive. She had been hoping there would be less frigates in the squadron. Forty-four frigates would give the Karacknids a missile salvo of eighty-eight missiles. There’s nothing we can do about it, she thought. Her ship’s new course would allow the frigates to briefly engage her squadron. She didn’t have the time to try and avoid them any further. “How many salvos will they get off?”

“Just two Commodore,” Misfit’s tactical officer answered. “Then we’ll be clear of them.”

“More movement from the main Karacknid battlefleet. Frigates are breaking out of formation. They’re racing straight for the shift passage,” a sensor officer reported hastily.

Scott grimaced as she assessed the new situation. The Karacknid commander wasn’t content to rely on two salvos from his frigates to take her out. Thanks to her wide arc around the Karacknid fleet, the new group of frigates stood a decent chance of catching her just before her ships jumped out of the system. Scott wanted to swear again, but she didn’t want to worry her officers any more than they already were. “We’ll worry about them later,” she said. “Prepare the squadron for these coming salvos.”

Scott could do nothing but watch as her ships closed with the first squadron of Karacknid frigates. As soon as she came into range, she ordered her ships to fire. One and then a second salvo shot out from Misfit before the Karacknid frigates were left in the dust by the cruiser’s massive acceleration. The two salvos of missiles the Karacknids had fired were able to catch up though. As the first eighty-eight missiles tried to punch through her point defenses, Scott found herself pumping her fist as missile after missile was taken out. Only two got close enough to attempt to attack their targets. Audacious artfully dodged the missile targeted at her. Duke was not so lucky. The missile targeting her detonated half a kilometer off her starboard bow. Scott held her breath as antimatter washed over the warship. When the destroyer’s nose appeared at the other side, she sighed in relief. Her gaseous shields had been thick enough to negate much of the antimatter. “Order Duke to the far side of the formation. Her shields will be too depleted to survive another proximity hit,” Scott ordered. From the look of the destroyer it appeared she had lost some point defenses as well. “Let’s get ready for the next salvo.”

Before the second Karacknid salvo caught up with her ships, Scott had the pleasure of watching her missiles ravage the Karacknid frigates. Being so small and with limited point defenses, it only took one or two grazer beams to destroy a frigate. After both of her missile salvos crashed home, twenty-eight of the Karacknid ships were gone. As satisfying as destroying them was, Scott couldn’t help but glance at the massive Karacknid battlefleet. Destroying a handful of frigates meant nothing compared to what Misfit’s sensors were detecting.

“Engaging second salvo in twenty seconds,” Misfit’s tactical officer announced.

Just before the first long range AM missiles were launched, alarms blared from several secondary consoles. Scott recognized one as a collision alert and turned to look at her own ships. Duke had suddenly altered course. The destroyer looked like she was trying to burst through the middle of Scott’s formation. She was trailing a line of debris and flames. “One of her impulse engines is overloading!” Scott called. “Get out of her way!”

For a couple seconds her heart leapt into her mouth. It looked like Duke was going to collide with Sparrow. At the last moment, Sparrow pulled her nose up out of the way. Just as suddenly as it had begun, the threat disappeared. Every ship in Scott’s squadron had managed to avoid being hit. Duke was ploughing away from the formation on her own. The damage had been done, however. With her ships scattered, their point defense fire was haphazard and uncoordinated. Scott gripped her command chair as almost ten missiles got close enough to hit her ships. Multiple antimatter explosions detonated. The only saving grace for her ships was that being spread out meant one proximity hit couldn’t threaten two ships at once. Even so, Scott knew her ships were in real danger. As Misfit suddenly veered off course, Scott’s hands were flung off her command chair. She felt something snap in one of her wrists. As she fought back a scream of pain, her vision closed and then blacked out from the g-forces. A second later and they snapped open again. She was just in time to see and feel Misfit’s bridge tremble as a shockwave passed through the center of the ship. Antimatter had struck her command throwing off the ship’s momentum! Alarms blared all around her.

“We’re still here,” someone called out needlessly. “Multiple damage reports coming in.”

“Decks one to three on our starboard forward section reporting massive damage, multiple hull breaches. Emergency bulkheads have all sealed,” another officer added.

Scott barked out orders as she assigned tasks to her officers. She needed to know how badly Misfit was damaged as soon as possible. As soon as she had said everything she could think of, she turned to Misfit’s sensor officer. “The rest of our squadron?” she asked. The main holo projector turned from the Karacknid fleet to show her ships. Scott shook her head. Venus was gone. It looked like Surprise had suffered a proximity hit like Misfit. She at least was still in formation. Providence and Thunderer had joined Duke in falling back towards the Karacknid frigates. As Scott watched, Providence and Thunderer started to move closer to one another despite the massive damage both had suffered. Moments later, Duke, who appeared to have gotten her damaged impulse engine shutdown, did the same. It was clear what they intended to do. Scott almost activated her command chair’s COM unit to order the three ships to launch their shuttles and scuttle their ships but then she remembered her increased acceleration. Shuttles from the three warships wouldn’t be able to catch Misfit and the others. Though her officers kept pulling away her attention with reports and questions as they sought to get a handle on Misfit’s damage, Scott watched the progress of her three warships. Sticking as close together as they could, they charged the Karacknid frigates. They got off three salvos before antimatter missiles took them out. Ten more Karacknid frigates were destroyed. Scott ground her teeth together when her three warships disappeared from Misfit’s sensors. Ten enemy frigates was not worth the loss of her ships. Five gone, she thought as her anger built. She only had six ships left and she was still a long way from getting out of the system.

Squaring her shoulders, Scott changed the image on the holo projector away from the small group of Karacknid frigates. She couldn’t afford to mourn her losses. She had two hours before the second squadron of Karacknids that had broken away from the battlefleet would enter missile range of her ships. Thankfully, the Karacknids wouldn’t be able to fire a full salvo. With her ships’ higher acceleration rates, her squadron would slowly curve around and in front of the second Karacknid frigate squadron. With a glance she checked on their progress. They’d have forty-five minutes to engage her ships with their forward missile tubes. That’s all we have to survive, she thought. Forty-five minutes and then we can jump out. With a deep breath she focused her mind and gave orders as she got Misfit and her remaining ships ready for the engagement.

The two hours went by in a flash. It seemed like no time had passed when her ships finished their curving course and settled onto a straight line for the shift passage to the Karacknid HQ system. Just minutes after they did, the Karacknid frigates got close enough to open fire. Though her ships had increased their acceleration rates and maximum velocity, the Karacknid frigates were willing to risk matching her maximum velocity. With just one forward missile tube, the frigates fired ninety missiles. Instead of returning fire immediately, Scott had her ships hold. When the Karacknid missiles were three minutes out from her point defenses, she opened fire. Instead of grazer beam warheads, she had armed her mark IVs with standard nuclear detonators. The missiles exploded just in front of the Karacknid salvo. It was an old trick, but Scott nodded in satisfaction as more than ten of the Karacknid missiles veered off course. Their tracking sensors were fried by the nuclear detonations’ EMP pulses. Then her point defenses opened up. Miraculously, they managed to take out every Karacknid missile. For several minutes Scott had to fight back a smile as she started to believe they could do it. Then the second Karacknid salvo came in. Again, she fired her anti-ship missiles at the Karacknid missiles, this time they split into two groups as they dodged her fire. Two missiles punched through her ships’ point defense fire. Before Scott could shout a warning, Apache was blown apart in front of her. Scott closed her eyes. She was down to four ships. She had just lost twenty percent of her point defense fire. Vainly she glanced at the map of the system. The Karacknids would get off two more salvos.

When the third Karacknid salvo attacked her ships, Scott tried splitting her anti-ship missiles. The Karacknids had anticipated her move and their salvo split into four. The thermonuclear detonations fried a couple of missiles, but no more than that. As her ships hurled point defense fire at the Karacknids, Scott found her ships altering course. Less than five seconds before the three Karacknid missiles that were left struck her ships, they formed a tight ball around Misfit. It took Scott a second to realize what they were doing. Then she saw it. The other ships in her squadron were overlapping their gaseous shields. With seconds to spare, Scott’s fingers danced over her command console as she added Misfit’s shield to the barrier. The three Karacknid missiles all struck the shields and detonated. Their antimatter wiped out the thick ionized gases but didn’t reach her ships! “Ingenious,” Scott found herself shouting. She was jealous she hadn’t thought of it herself. “Ingenious,” she said again as she shared a smile with her First Lieutenant. “Divert everything we can to recharging our shields,” Scott ordered. “Make sure the other ships do the same. We’re going to need that trick again if we are going to get out of here!”

With the final Karacknid salvo already on its way, there was little time to prepare. Scott estimated that they had just enough ionized gas to project shields sixty percent the strength of what they had minutes before. It will work, she thought, as much out of hope as expectation. It has to work. As the Karacknid missiles came in, she fired her own anti-ship missiles at them. Only one Karacknid missile was destroyed. Long range and short-range AM missiles, plasma bolts, flak cannon rounds and laser beams all reached out towards the enemy missiles. Though many were destroyed, it wasn’t enough. Without having to give the order, Scott’s three other ships closed with Misfit. Providing a protective bubble around the flagship, they all extended their gaseous shields. Scott’s hope rose for a few fleeting seconds. Then it turned to dread. There were five Karacknid missiles still charging her ships. They were dodging the last few point defense weapons fired at them. In a flash, four zipped in and struck the gaseous shields. So much antimatter was flung at them that the shields winked out of existence instantly. Their gas particles were wiped out as they came into contact with antimatter particles. What was left of the antimatter struck the three ships that were protecting Misfit. Every one of them suffered serious damage. Within a couple of seconds, they tumbled and spun away from Scott’s ship. The sole Karacknid missile that was left registered the hits and identified Misfit as its primary target.

Despite the carnage, Scott saw the missile approaching. She screamed out a warning to her pilot and gunners, but it was too late. Just as Misfit crossed the system’s mass shadow, the Karacknid missile charged along Misfit’s port side and detonated at a range of just three hundred meters. With her gaseous shields depleted and much of her valstronium armor moved to protect her nose section, the deadly antimatter ate deep into Misfit’s hull. On the bridge, the shockwave from the explosion and crippling damage flung everyone about. As the inertial compensators struggled and failed to protect Misfit’s crew from the g-forces, Scott’s vision closed over. This time she felt unconsciousness reaching out and grabbing at her. The last thing she heard was internal damage alarms as her ship was ripped apart from the inside. Then everything went black.

Chapter 23

From our point of view, the tactics used to besiege heavily defended planets seem archaic. Hurling rocks at one another sounds more like a strategy from the stone age than modern naval warfare. Nevertheless, it was highly effective.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, Karacknid HQ system, 23rd March 2484 AD (three days later).

“Now we are about to see just how resourceful our opponent is,” James said to his command staff. His second group of mining freighters had finished gathering and modifying the asteroids they needed several hours ago. Now they were accelerating hard towards the Karacknid orbital stations. Commodore Chen had launched his fighters and bombers. James had his fleet moving in behind the freighters as well. The Karacknid commander would have known a follow up attack was going to come sooner or later. He had had two weeks to prepare. If he had any tricks up his sleeve, James and his command staff were about to see them. But unless the Karacknids had found a way to tip the balance of force in their favor, James intended to close in after the freighters released their asteroids and finish the Karacknid fleet base. Having spent a month in the system, he had already disrupted the Karacknid supply network as much as he had hoped. Destroying their fleet base and supply hub would complete his part of Operation Counterstrike. At the first sign of a serious Karacknid fleet coming to confront them they could retreat.

As the freighters continued towards the fleet base picking up speed, the tension in James’ shoulders eased. A month in one system was a long time. Though his scouts hadn’t detected any large Karacknid fleets coming from the east or north, James’ nerves were becoming increasingly frayed. He knew it was only a matter of time before Karacknid border fleets found a way through the shift passages the gravity well cruisers had blocked off. As good as the gravity well cruisers were, the Karacknids would eventually give up trying to catch them and go around. It might take a month or more, but sooner or later they would. Therefore, the longer he stayed in one place, the more likely it was that a fleet would appear to trap him. In just a few hours we can leave, he assured himself. The battle would be fierce, even if the Karacknids didn’t have any tricks, but he had numbers on his side.

“Karacknid fighters are launching!” Anderson reported. “They’re going to make a run on our freighters.”

That much James had expected. “Order Commodore Chen to counter them,” he ordered.

From Chen’s formation of small attack craft, forty Corsair interceptors raced forward. They quickly caught up with the freighters and moved to engage the Karacknid fighters. Their anti-fighter missiles took out twenty-two of the Karacknid fighters. Then both groups of ships clashed. Three Karacknid fighters managed to burst out of the ball and close on a freighter. Their particle beams blew the freighter apart easily. Before they could switch to a new target, two Corsairs dispatched them.

The destroyed freighter’s momentum meant its shattered hull and asteroid chunks continued towards the Karacknid fleet base. “Have those interceptors check for survivors,” James requested. “If there are none, instruct them to break the freighter apart more with their laser cannons. They may as well release all the asteroids. They will not reach the planet orbitals with the other freighters, but they will add to the confusion.”

“I’ll pass the orders onto Commodore Chen,” Martinez responded.

What is next? James asked his counterpart. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Half of the frigates and destroyers in the Karacknid fleet broke orbit. They raced away from the planet towards the freighters. James nodded. His command staff had anticipated this move as well. He would have to detonate the freighters early or risk them being destroyed before they could release their payloads. Worse, as soon as the small Karacknid ships got into weapons range of the asteroids, they could decelerate. They could keep the asteroids in range of their point defenses for more than enough time to blow most of them to smithereens. Yet detonating the freighters early wasn’t the only thing James could do to counter such a move. It wasn’t ideal, but his hand had been forced. “Take them out,” he ordered.

The rest of Chen’s two hundred fighters and bombers gunned their engines. Ordinarily, the small attack craft were used to take out Karacknid battlestations and battleships. Wiping out the smaller ships was a waste of their plasma missiles, but it would put a large dent in the Karacknid’s point defenses. We can always pull back and let them refuel and rearm if needed, James assured himself. If the fighting wasn’t going his way, there was nothing stopping him from pulling out of range.

As the wave of nearly two hundred fighters passed by the remnants of the Karacknid fighters still fighting with the Corsairs, a handful of Karacknids tried to break away. A Spitfire squadron turned and engaged them, taking them out before they could reach any Lancaster bombers. “It’s a good thing they don’t have more fighters,” James commented as he glanced at Fisher. If the Karacknids had another hundred fighters to back up their small warships, Chen’s attack would be in trouble. Even without them, the point defense fire from the Karacknid destroyers and frigates knocked Spitfires and Lancasters off of Drake’s sensor display. Chen’s forces fired their plasma missiles. Accelerating under their own power for just thirty seconds, the missiles detonated to release a ball of superheated plasma. Under their own momentum, nearly three hundred and forty plasma balls rushed towards the Karacknid ships. Being smaller and more maneuverable than capital ships, the Karacknids tried to dodge the incoming fire. With more than one ball targeting each ship, it was a difficult feat to accomplish. Multiple explosions erupted in front of Drake as plasma burnt its way into the critical systems of tens of Karacknid warships. As James’ forces peeled away from what was left of the enemy destroyers and frigates, his hands tightened into fists. At least eight enemy warships had survived and they rippled off a salvo of missiles towards the freighters. “Inform Commodore Davies his ships may go active,” James snapped.

Twelve destroyers that had been cruising towards the Karacknid fleet base in stealth appeared. James had timed their approach to coincide with the freighters. Though without knowing exactly when the Karacknids might send out their light ships, the timing wasn’t perfect. Going to full power, Davies’ ships did everything they could to catch up with the freighters. As soon as the Karacknid missiles reached the range of their point defenses, they opened up on them. What was left of the Corsair squadrons that had engaged the Karacknid fighters slipped in to take out some of the Karacknid missiles. Despite the best efforts of the ships’ gunners and Corsairs’ pilots, four missiles raced through their fire. Three struck freighters directly amid ships. The expanding balls of antimatter wiped out most of the freighters’ superstructure and the asteroids within. One freighter Captain, sensing the danger, detonated his ship, releasing its asteroids seconds before being hit. The anti-matter missile targeting his ship detonated and took about half of the freighter’s asteroids with it. The rest spread out as they tumbled towards the Karacknid fleet base.

“One fifth of our asteroids gone,” James commented to his command staff. “It could have gone better. But they spent all their fighters and half their light ships doing so. Let’s finish this. Set the fleet on its final attack course.”

As his nine hundred ships prepared for their final approach to the Karacknid fleet base, the remaining freighters continued their high-powered acceleration. For five more minutes they charged towards the Karacknid orbital stations. Then their crews abandoned ship and detonated the freighters. Hundreds of asteroids spilled out on ballistic courses for the Karacknid battlestations. A minute later James’ fleet opened fire. His nine hundred ships released twelve thousand missiles. Once again, the Karacknids were faced with a dilemma. They could fire a full missile salvo at the asteroids or James’ ships, but they couldn’t do both. Whatever they did, James was confident the Karacknid commander wouldn’t try and split his salvo this time. That had failed spectacularly two weeks ago.

“We’ve got movement from orbit,” Lieutenant Ivanov announced. “Almost every freighter is breaking orbit! They’re accelerating straight towards the asteroids.” She turned to face James. “They must be going to ram them!”

James grasped what she was saying immediately. For the last two weeks they had watched the Karacknids loading up the freighters. Everyone had believed the Karacknids were loading up supplies from their orbital stations in preparation for trying to escape. That hadn’t been it at all!

“Karacknid warships and battlestations are opening fire,” Anderson reported seconds later. “They’re targeting us!” he added hastily. “They’re ignoring the asteroids.”

James shared a glance with Fisher and Miyagi. Things were not going as they had hoped. He could do nothing about it now though. “Make sure our point defense gunners are prepared and fire a second salvo as soon as possible,” James ordered as he squared his jaw and resolutely faced the Karacknid forces. His ships were committed now, it was time to see how much destruction they could do. He still had the numerical advantage even without the asteroids being quite as deadly.

Before each side started to inflict damage on one another, James’ ships and the Karacknids released a second salvo. Then, moments later, the Karacknid freighters closed with the wave of asteroids. As one, the freighters detonated releasing tens of thousands of tons of unwanted supplies and spare materials. The two giant waves of debris crashed into each other. Thousands of strikes were recorded by Drake’s sensors. Asteroids were split apart into hundreds of smaller chunks, many of which were deflected off course. Yet not all were hit, and even amongst those that were, most of their smaller chunks continued towards the Karacknid fleet base. As the first salvo from James’ ships and the Karacknids passed through the expanding cloud of debris, there were a handful of explosions as missiles struck chunks of asteroids or freighters. Then the Karacknid defenses opened up on the remaining asteroid chunks and James’ missiles. There were far too many targets for the Karacknid gunners to hit them all. Within a minute of opening fire, mark IVs started to detonate, sending hundreds of grazer beams into the Karacknid warships and stations. Then Alliance missiles rushed in and added thermonuclear detonations to the carnage. Finally, whatever asteroid chunks hadn’t been blown apart by defensive fire smashed into the Karacknids’ orbitals or struck the planet’s atmosphere.

Between the nuclear detonations and energy released by asteroids striking the planet’s surface, Drake’s sensors were momentarily overwhelmed. Before they cleared, James’ fleet opened up with their own point defenses. Space around Drake became so dense with fire that nothing of the Karacknid fleet could be seen. Sixty missiles made it past his fleet’s point defenses. One targeted Drake. A last-minute AM missile from one of the corvettes protecting Drake just managed to take it out. As other antimatter explosions erupted within his fleet, James knew others weren’t so lucky. It took just sixty seconds for sixteen ships to be confirmed killed. As the number rose, James shifted his focus back to the Karacknid fleet. He needed to know he hit them harder. “How successful was our attack?” he demanded.

“Four battlestations are gone. We’ve taken out twenty-two other ships. At least one of them was a battleship, Admiral,” Ivanov reported at once. “Multiple other ships have been hit and taken damage. Our second salvo is three minutes out from their point defenses.”

Two more, James thought. He would hit the Karacknids with two more salvos and then see how things were. If he could degrade the Karacknids’ point defense strength quickly enough, he could overwhelm them within an hour. If not, it could take twice that time or longer. In such an extended missile duel his losses would be high. Far too high given how easily the Karacknids could replace their losses. “Let’s hit them again,” he said to his command staff.

As another missile salvo raced away from his fleet, James braced himself for the next group of Karacknid missiles that were fast approaching. Soon point defense fire flared out from all his ships. “Admiral,” one of Drake’s sensor officers called out amidst the general din of the bridge. “Admiral,” the officer had to shout to get James’ attention.

“What is it Sub Lieutenant?” James asked as he turned and tried to find the officer.

“A new contact has just appeared on the gravimetric plot. It’s just jumped out of shift space on the far end of the system. Two of our picket ships are moving to intercept,” the officer replied.

James’ eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t need to be distracted with such minor information. “Keep me informed,” he snapped, not wanting to waste energy on reprimanding the Sub Lieutenant.

“That’s not all Admiral,” the Sub Lieutenant called even as James turned away from her. “The drive signature, it’s heavily distorted, but the computer still estimates that it’s from Misfit.” James was already turning back as the Lieutenant continued. “She’s under the command of Commodore Scott. Her ship is not scheduled to return for at least a couple of weeks and she is meant to be part of a larger squadron.”

“I know exactly who commands Misfit,” James replied. His mind was already whirling as he tried to figure out why Scott had returned so early. “Show me the gravimetric plot,” he requested. A moment later one of his command chair’s holo projections showed the far end of the system. He had six ships picketing the shift passage just in case the Karacknids tried to sneak any reinforcements into the system. Between two of them a fainter gravimetric signal almost appeared to be flashing. It was as if Misfit’s engines were on the brink of powering down. Just as James opened his mouth to give an order to transmit a request for an update to Misfit, fourteen other contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot right behind Scott’s ship. James’ order turned to a groan. The contacts were Karacknids!

*

IS Misfit, minutes earlier.

“I think we’re going to make it,” Sub Lieutenant Rodgers said as he looked up from his command terminal. He had several deep cuts along his right cheek and blood had flown down his neck and dried to leave three long streaks that almost looked like tattoos. “The shift drive is still fluctuating wildly, but it’s no worse than before. We are only three minutes away now.”

Scott nodded to him and leaned back in her command chair. The movement caused a sigh to escape her lips. Ever so gently she closed her eyes. Her head was throbbing. The pain in her abdomen had subsided to a dull ache, but she didn’t think that was a good sign. The Karacknid antimatter missile that had struck her command had taken out twenty percent of her ship’s mass. She had lost half her bridge crew and more than sixty percent of Misfit’s crew. Somehow the ship had held together. Her shift drive had barely been functional, but it had been enough to jump away from the frigates that had been chasing her. For the last two days what was left of her officers and crew had fought tirelessly to keep the ship together. Twice they had almost lost the shift drive. An unplanned reversion would have ripped Misfit apart. More than twenty of her crew had died from their injuries along the journey. Including Misfit’s First Lieutenant. Scott had cried when he had passed. Nevertheless, she had been forced to keep going. She hadn’t slept since entering shift space. She hadn’t even left her command chair. Despite the urgings of her Sub Lieutenants, she knew she couldn’t afford to get up. Misfit could have encountered a problem at any second.

But we’re almost there, she told herself as the pain in her head made her groan again. We are almost there. With a great deal of effort, she forced her eyes open. A hypospray with more stimulant sat in her lap. She was tempted to use it, but the Karacknid HQ system was so close now. The adrenaline from reaching their goal would keep her awake. After she warned James, she could sleep for days or even months. She didn’t care at this stage. Misfit was not savable. She’d have to transfer her crew to the nearest Allied warship as soon as possible. Then she could finally rest.

“Reverting to real space in twenty seconds,” the same Sub Lieutenant announced, his voice full of relief.

Every muscle in Scott’s body tensed despite the pain as her ship prepared to exit shift space. She had no idea if Misfit would hold together or not. As the reversion sent a tremor through the ship, more than one Sub Lieutenant let out a gasp of concern. Though she wanted to close her eyes, Scott forced them to stay open. If her ship was going to be ripped apart, she wasn’t going to cower from it. Miraculously, despite several additional tremors that were far from normal, nothing catastrophic happened. As soon as she was sure her ship wasn’t going to break apart, Scott jumped into action. “Get our short-range COM array active immediately and see if we can pick anything up on our passives,” she ordered. With only one reactor operating at eighteen percent and her gravimetric and active sensors gone, Misfit barely had enough energy to keep the shift drive and what little life support systems that were left active. Now that the shift drive was no longer in use, Scott could get the short-range COM array going. Fixing it had been one of her priorities over the last two days.

“I think I’ve picked up something off the port bow,” a Sub Lieutenant reported. “There’s a ship moving our way.”

“Hail them,” Scott requested immediately. Seconds later she was talking to a COM officer from the destroyer Oak.

“Repeat, Misfit, I need your identification codes before I can put you through to my Captain,” the officer said for the second time.

Scott swore at her. “Can’t you see the damage we’ve taken! We lost our main computer with its identification codes. We are on secondary and tertiary systems here. Let me speak to your Captain immediately. I’ve got intelligence of vital importance.”

“That’s against protocol Misfit,” the officer replied. “We are closing in on visual range, once we confirm your identity, I can pass you through.”

Scott swore several more times. She hadn’t fought her way past an entire Karacknid battlefleet and worked herself to death to be turned away by a junior officer. “Get me your Captain now or I will open fire on you!” she roared. Her threat was empty, but it was all she had.

“Commodore,” one of her Sub Lieutenants called out, fear filling his voice. “I’m detecting more ships on the passive sensors. They’re coming in from behind us. I think they’re Karacknids!”

Scott turned towards the only holographic display still working on the bridge. Fear surged within her. “They’ve followed us!” she groaned. “Transmit our logs to Oak immediately,” she ordered. “Wait,” she said as she shook her head. Oak was in as much trouble as Misfit. There was no guarantee they would take her logs seriously and send them on to Somerville in time. “Power up the long-range COM relay,” she ordered instead.

“But Commodore, we don’t have the energy to get it up to a usable efficiency,” another Sub Lieutenant complained.

“Cut power to every other system on the ship,” Scott ordered without hesitation. When the Sub Lieutenant hesitated, she half screamed at her officers. “Every other ship in our squadron died to get us here. Do it now or it will have been for nothing!”

The officer immediately turned and hunched over her terminal. “Long range COMs are active,” she said without looking up. “Your command chair still has audio and visual recording capabilities. Life support will begin to run out in two minutes.”

“Thank you,” Scott said as she turned from her officer. She knew the Karacknids would be on them even before that. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to say her last words.

Chapter 24

Often the outcomes of battles are impacted by one decision, often taken days or even weeks in advance. Cadets must learn this lesson from the history of the Imperial Fleet. They must understand that the fate of entire fleets, of thousands of warships, may depend on actions they take when they think nothing is on the line, for when it comes to war, every decision has consequences.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

“No!” James cried as he smashed his fist into his command chair. Even as Karacknid missiles punched through his defenses and exploded, his focus was on the other end of the system. The Karacknid frigates that had jumped in behind Misfit had released a wave of missiles. Oak and Tusk had just been taken out. Even as he cried out, two missiles intersected with Misfit. In an instant, all three contacts disappeared from Drake’s gravimetric plot. “No,” he cried again as he shook his head. Closing his eyes, he punched his command chair several times, his teeth grinding together. He had just lost another friend. Not again… not another one, he thought as the same overwhelming sense of loss he had experienced when he had heard of Gupta’s death washed over him.

“Admiral,” Miyagi shouted almost in his ear. “Admiral, we’ve lost another fourteen ships. What are your orders?”

James almost ignored Miyagi. With a great deal of reluctance, he pulled back from the sense of loss threatening to engulf him. With burning eyes, he turned towards the Karacknid fleet still in orbit, hiding between their battlestations. He had no way to strike at the ships who had mercilessly hunted Misfit down and killed her. But he did have Karacknid warships under his guns. “We keep fighting!” he growled in rage. “Hit them again and again.”

“Aye Admiral,” Miyagi responded before issuing orders to James’ command staff.

Though he was still in a fit of rage, James smiled when he saw many more battlestations and warships had been destroyed. The Karacknids had lost perhaps as much as fifteen percent of their strength. The battle was going his way. He was going to crush them. The amount of destroyed ships wouldn’t make up for having to watch Scott’s command being destroyed but he was angry and killing Karacknids felt good. As another wave of missiles shot from his ships, James willed them on, his fists still in tight balls. He was trying his best not to think of the last time he had spoken with Scott. Nor of the hundreds of times before that.

“Admiral,” the same Sub Lieutenant who had first told him about Misfit called out a minute later. “We’ve got a COM message coming through from Misfit.”

The next few seconds were a blur to James. Somehow, whether he ordered it or not, a holo image of Scott appeared from his command chair. He gasped. Scott looked like death warmed up. She had a deep gash on her forehead. It was so deep that he could see a faint hint of white from her skull. Her eyes were wide and her skin was pale. It looked like she was hunched over as if she was protecting her right side. James’ heart went out to his friend. Whatever she had gone through, it had been horrible. She’s at peace now, he consoled himself as he fought back tears. His friend looked to be in so much pain.

“Admiral Somerville,” she began, her lips moving slowly. Every word sounded like it increased her discomfort. “We encountered a Karacknid battlefleet over ten thousand warships strong. They have thousands of supply freighters with them. I think they have enough supplies to begin an offensive immediately. We managed to get past them, but they are only hours behind us at most. I am sorry. I lost my squadron. Misfit isn’t long for this world either. You have to get your fleet out of here immediately. They will trap you if you don’t. I’m sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. I’m sorry I have let you down. Tell..” Before Scott could finish her sentence, the recording ended.

James’ head whipped towards the COM officer. “That’s all we’ve received,” she said before James could demand to hear the rest. The officer shook her head. “Misfit wasn’t able to transmit anything else before…”

James had to shut his eyes tightly to stop more tears from forming. Scott had given her life to warn him of this new fleet and yet she had died feeling she had let him down! Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he raised a hand and rubbed his eyes. As soon as he was sure his emotions wouldn’t get the better of him, he snapped them open. Fisher, Miyagi, and the rest of his command staff were staring at him. For a second he glanced at the Karacknid fleet base. He had them beat. It was only a matter of time, but ten thousand Karacknid warships was not a force to be trifled with. Not even for the few minutes it would take to fire another salvo or two. “Full reverse,” he ordered. “Get the fleet out of here. Then plot a course back to Earth. Maximum acceleration.”

As his ships pulled back, they fired one final salvo, then they had to defend themselves as a wave of Karacknid missiles struck them. Nine warships were destroyed and four badly damaged. “Evacuate all of them,” James ordered at once. “There’s no time to try and repair them. We need to pull back as fast as possible.” If the Karacknid battlefleet appeared as his ships were disengaging, he would not make it to the shift passage he had entered the system from. Worse, what was left of the Karacknid fleet at their fleet base could pursue him and delay him until he fell under the battlefleet’s guns. As soon as James saw that shuttles were starting to take off from the damaged ships, he turned to Miyagi. “Organize six of our fastest frigates. Dispatch them back to Earth immediately. Koroylov, Nogamoro and Empress Christine need to know what is happening. This battlefleet could already have plans to advance straight to Earth. They need to begin preparing our defenses. Especially if we get trapped here.”

“At once Admiral,” Miyagi responded.

Before he could turn to Ivanov and Martinez to arrange the frigates, new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. Both James and Miyagi stared at them as their concern grew. The four scouts James had stationed at the shift passage were racing away from it. Behind them, more contacts joined the twelve frigates that had destroyed Misfit. The number rose quickly to around sixty but then stopped. James glanced at Miyagi and nodded for him to get back to work. The Karacknid battlefleet hadn’t arrived just yet. But it could at any second, James was all too aware. The frigates could be the final part of the force that had chased Misfit, or it could be the advance scouts of the main Karacknid fleet. There will be no way to know until the battlefleet arrives. And by then it could be too late.

When his last missile salvo crashed into the Karacknid fleet base, James almost didn’t notice he was so focused on getting his fleet out of the system. There were scouts arrayed around the system, several squadrons out raiding nearby Karacknid worlds and Admiral Lightfoot’s fleet operating in the region of Jaranna and James had to get word to them all. It was only when Anderson drew his attention to his final salvo that he glanced at the holo display. A single battlestation and twenty ships were destroyed. They hadn’t been the main target of James’ last salvo though. At least thirty supply stations and construction yards were taken out by his missiles. James had no idea if the stations held supplies the battlefleet had intended to use in whatever operations they had planned, but he hoped it would cause them some delay.

Just twenty minutes later several consoles on Drake’s bridge beeped. More contacts had been detected by the gravimetric sensor. This time, as James, Fisher and Miyagi watched the gravimetric plot, the number did not stop rising. For a full twelve minutes hundreds and hundreds of ships appeared as they jumped out of shift space and powered up their impulse engines. Only when Drake’s counter reached ten thousand four hundred and eighteen did the number plateau. A deathly silence settled onto the bridge. Hearing about a fleet of ten thousand warships was one thing. Seeing it charging towards you was another entirely.

“We’ve got activity from the fleet base,” Anderson said almost in a whisper. “The Karacknid fleet there is preparing to break orbit.”

As James stared at the enemy battlefleet he couldn’t help but see Earth’s destruction in their numbers. Since breaking off the attack on the Karacknid fleet base he had scanned the report Scott had sent with her recorded message. Drake’s sensors were detecting the same thing Misfit’s had. The Karacknid warships were not like the ones they had encountered to date. They had clearly been dispatched from another part of the Karacknid empire. Its purpose was obvious; the destruction of Earth and the other Allied homeworlds. Reluctantly, James tore his eyes away from the massive group of ships. Anderson was right, the two hundred and thirty ships of the HQ fleet were preparing to chase him. “They’ve left it too late to slow us by much,” he said to his command staff. “If need be, we can turn and give them one salvo.” Suddenly another thought hit James. It made him turn back towards the Karacknid battlefleet as it split apart. Twelve hundred ships surged ahead of their comrades. Within seconds, Ivanov identified them as light cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. As their new acceleration rates updated, their flight path showed that they would intercept his fleet forty minutes before he could jump out. James cursed. The Karacknid HQ fleet had no intention of attacking him by themselves. They’d stay on his tail and only close when the lead element of the Karacknid battlefleet engaged him. James was pretty certain his fleet would escape but they were going to take damage in the process. Possibly a lot of damage. “Options?” he asked as he turned to his officers.

“We could launch a fighter strike against the HQ fleet,” Ivanov suggested. “Away from their battlestations, their dreadnoughts and battleships will be vulnerable. Especially after they sacrificed so many of their light ships.”

“It won’t completely stop them from being able to harass us, but it will blunt the damage they can do,” Fisher added to show her approval. “We can launch a second attack if we want. We should have time.”

“We could just turn and engage them,” Anderson offered. “If we attack them with our fighters and our fleet, we’d be able to take them out with ease. Yes, it will prolong how long the Karacknid light cruiser fleet can engage us for. But we’ll be able to give better than we get in any engagement with them. If that fleet is intended for Earth, we might not get a chance to fight a battle on such even terms again.”

“Engage both fleets now and retreat with whatever we have left?” James asked as he brought a hand up to rub his chin. He understood Anderson’s logic but he couldn’t accept such a strategy. It was almost tantamount to admitting defeat. If he lost a third of his fleet in taking out the Karacknid HQ fleet and half of the cruiser fleet, he’d be ahead in terms of numbers yes but his fleet was almost all that stood between Earth and the Karacknid battlefleet. He couldn’t throw away a third of his numbers when nine thousand warships would remain untouched. He shook his head. “The HQ fleet would pull back as soon as we turned towards them. We still might be able to crush them, but it would take too long.”

“A small fast force could delay the Karacknid cruiser fleet,” Fisher said, though her tone of voice suggested she wasn’t too keen on the idea. “They could engage the Karacknids and force them to fight. That may buy us the time to jump to safety without having to tackle them. I’m sure the HQ fleet wouldn’t take us on, on their own.”

James didn’t like that idea either. Ordering some of his fleet to their deaths to save the others wasn’t the kind of thing he liked to do. The tactic sent his mind back to Gupta. She had done just that in a system not far from where he was now. Yet he couldn’t sacrifice himself. Not when there was still an entire battlefleet in play. If he could take out the ten thousand Karacknid ships in the system, he’d gladly give his life to do it. But that was not an option. “Let’s keep that as a last resort,” he said. “Draw up plans for the size of squadron we need and who would be best to command it but unless there is no other choice, we will keep that strategy in reserve. Have Commodore Chen prepare plans for a strike against the HQ fleet. We have two hours until the cruiser fleet intercepts us. I don’t want to hit the HQ fleet twice with our fighters, for we may end up losing too many of them. I fear we are going to need every fighter we can get in the weeks ahead. But if we need to, we will launch one strike against their capital ships.”

“Aye Admiral,” responded Miyagi and half of his officers. “We’ll get to work now.”

As his officers drew up the plans, James set up a COM call with Ya’sia and Jil’lal. “How are your people holding up?” he asked them.

“As well as can be expected,” Ya’sia answered. “We thought we were about to crush the Karacknids. Now they are hunting us. And they’re going to hunt us all the way back to your space.”

James grimaced. “My fears exactly.”

“I’m sorry about the loss of Misfit and Captain Scott,” Jil’lal said in a somber tone. “I still remember the first time I met her when she was your science officer on Endeavour. She did very well to warn us. Hopefully, it will have been in time for us to escape and do something about this Karacknid battlefleet.”

“Hopefully,” was all James could bring himself to say. To change the subject he outlined the plans his staff officers had come up with. “Do either of you have any other suggestions?”

Jil’lal shook her head. “Short of fighting the cruiser squadron head on, I don’t see what else we can do. We need to get out of here more than we need to destroy a few Karacknid light ships.”

“I concur,” Ya’sia said. “We can hit the HQ fleet with our fighters and then we’ll have to face whatever the cruiser fleet throws at us. I fear we will have to scuttle any ships that are badly damaged. But getting the fleet out of here is more important.”

“I’ll have my staff officers transmit our plans to your officers,” James responded. “Let me know immediately if you think of anything else.” With a nod to each Admiral, James cut the COM channel. He turned to his officers but they were all busy. As Drake and his fleet raced towards the shift passage back to Earth, he was left with his own thoughts. It didn’t take long for them to turn to Scott.

Nearly an hour passed without James having to give much input to his officers. As the time ticked by, he resisted the urge to launch the strike against the HQ fleet. A part of him wanted to get it over and done with, though he knew the longer he waited, the less chance he would give the Karacknids to come up with some new strategy. He imagined the wait for Chen’s pilots was even worse than his own but he could do nothing to help them.

The sudden blaring of the contact alert alarms grabbed James’ attention. “Multiple ships accelerating in from the Jaranna shift passage,” Ivanov reported as James turned to her. “They’re ours!” she added a few seconds later, full of relief. “It’s Lightfoot’s fleet!”

James returned her expression. Lightfoot was supposed to be operating in around the Jaranna system. He should have been a couple of weeks away and yet here he was. His fleet of four hundred ships was turning onto an intercept course for James’ ships. As the holo plot updated, it showed that they would join the main Allied Fleet before the Karacknid cruiser fleet could open fire. “I don’t know what he’s doing here, but boy am I glad to see him!” James said to his staff officers, still grinning. “Prepare to record a message, I want to hear from him immediately,” James requested.

As soon as the COM unit started recording he began, “Admiral Lightfoot, you’re a sight for sore eyes. I dispatched a messenger frigate to you not more than an hour ago. I didn’t expect to see you so soon. As your sensors are no doubt telling you, we’ve been joined by some friends. Your assistance would be helpful. What is your situation?” When he finished speaking, James nodded to Martinez to transmit. As the shift passage that led to Jaranna was not far from the one James was heading to he didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

“Admiral Somerville,” Lightfoot said as he saluted. He looked far more serious than James had felt as he sent his message. Of course, Lightfoot was seeing the Karacknid battlefleet for the first time. “I’d like to take credit for our timing,” he continued, “but we had to fall back from Jaranna. We detected a Command Dreadnought and several fleet elements hiding in the system waiting to ambush us. We haven’t detected them following us, but there could be five hundred or more Karacknid ships close on our stern. I imagine the Command Dreadnought belongs to the commander of this battlefleet. It’s likely he headed on to Jaranna to get the lay of the land. What are your orders?”

“We have already made preparations to strike the Karacknid fleet that is trailing us with our fighters,” James explained. “Launch your own now and we will coordinate the combined attack. Apart from that, just get the rest of your fleet here as soon as possible. We need to extract ourselves from this system as intact as possible. We’re going to need every ship we have to turn back this battlefleet.”

When Lightfoot replied, he acknowledged James’ orders and sent across a full report on his brief excursion to the Jaranna system. James skimmed through it then turned to Miyagi. “Inform Chen he can launch his fighters as soon as they are ready. His squadron leaders will have to coordinate with Lightfoot’s. We’ll not be able to manage the strike from here with the distances involved.”

With the order to attack given, James was relegated to the position of observer. It took the fighters fifteen minutes to launch and form up. They slowly approached the Karacknid HQ fleet. Seeing them coming, the HQ fleet deployed all of their light ships ahead of their capital ships. James was tempted to intervene and order Chen to split his attack between the Karacknid light ships and capital ships, but he held himself back. The Commodore had trained his squadron leaders well. They would know what to do. Thirty seconds before Chen’s two hundred fighters entered range of the Karacknid’s point defenses, eighty new contacts appeared as Lightfoot’s fighters powered up and came out of stealth. Charging in from a completely different angle, they had a clear run on the Karacknid capital ships. Their sudden appearance caused confusion among the Karacknid ranks. More than twenty light ships reversed course in an attempt to cover the new attackers. Their maneuver only meant they were out of position as Chen’s fighters dove in towards them. The smaller explosions of fighters being picked off by defense fire was quickly joined by far larger explosions as plasma missiles ripped holes in the Karacknid light ships. There was a pause of several seconds as Chen’s fighters passed through the small Karacknid ships. Then it was the turn of the capital ships to defend themselves. More fighters and bombers were destroyed, but the majority of Chen’s fighters and all of the ones from Lightfoot’s fleet attacked the capital ships. Drake’s sensors had detected and catalogued thirty dreadnoughts, battleships, and battlecruisers. Just sixty seconds after the wave of plasma balls ripped into them, only five remained. A further forty cruisers and light ships had been taken out as well. The heart of the Karacknid HQ fleet had been decimated.

“That is one threat we don’t have to worry so much about,” Fisher commented.

“Chen still has more than two hundred fighters and bombers left,” Miyagi added as Drake’s sensors tracked the two groups of fighters as they returned to their carriers in James’ and Lightfoot’s fleets.

James nodded but didn’t add anything. Trading a handful of fighters for so many dreadnoughts and battleships was an amazing exchange. Yet even if it faced a similar attrition rate, the Karacknid battlefleet could easily attempt to drive on Earth.

As the fighters returned to their carriers, James watched the Karacknid cruiser fleet. It continued towards his ships undaunted. The Karacknid commander had to know that if he wanted, James could launch a second sortie against his ships. With nothing larger than a light cruiser in the Karacknid fleet, a single plasma missile would destroy whatever it hit. Though James didn’t want to throw his fighters away in such an attack, the Karacknid commander did not know that. On top of that, it was obvious Lightfoot’s ships would join his before the cruiser squadron could get into missile range. “He is still coming,” James commented.

“I know they are bloodthirsty, but it seems a waste,” Fisher suggested. “They have us outnumbered five to one. Why engage us on worse than equal terms? Especially when we are going to escape anyway.”

“A good question,” James responded. “A very good question,” he added as he began to work on the problem. On one of his secondary holo displays he pulled up the sensor data Misfit had collected of the Karacknid convoys that were following the battlefleet. “Has anyone done an analysis of these freighters yet?” He asked.

“Just a preliminary one,” Ivanov answered.

“Do we think they have enough supplies to make it all the way to Earth?”

“Possibly,” Ivanov answered tentatively. “If over ninety percent of those freighters are filled with fuel, they would be able to take Earth and threaten the rest of our colonies. But there’s no way to know how likely that is. And there’s another problem.”

“Go on,” James pressed.

“Commodore Scott believed the Karacknid battlefleet has come from another theatre of war. One they presumably had just finished fighting in. If that’s the case, the battlefleet has had a relatively long journey. We cannot know how long for sure but it may be that many of those freighters carried the fuel the battlefleet needed to reach Jaranna. Many of them could be empty.”

“So we really have no idea at this stage,” James said, frustration filling his voice. “But,” he added as he turned to Fisher, “it does perhaps explain the Karacknids’ actions. If they don’t have enough fuel for the entire battlefleet to head straight to Earth, they may be planning to strike us with what they can. If that’s the case, then doing as much damage to our fleet as they can now makes more sense.”

Fisher nodded. “I’m not sure that fills me with confidence though.”

“No,” James agreed. For one thing, if their line of thinking was correct, it confirmed that the Karacknids did indeed intend to push for Earth. “But we cannot change where we are,” he continued. “Work out our best defensive formation incorporating Lightfoot’s ships back into our fleet. Then have our ships prepare to face the missiles this Karacknid cruiser squadron will hurl at us. We only have to survive four salvos before we can jump out.”

Over the next half an hour James spoke more with Lightfoot as his ships rendezvoused with the Allied Fleet and then he brought Jil’lal and Ya’sia into the conversation. With all of his squadron commanders and Captains knowing what was expected of them, he had little else to do. When the Karacknid cruiser squadron came into missile range, Drake was protected behind so many other ships, his flagship was never threatened. That didn’t mean James didn’t feel the losses his fleet suffered. With each salvo the Karacknids hurled at him, tens of ships were lost. More ships fell behind as they were damaged. As fast as they could they were evacuated and scuttled. In return, the Karacknid fleet suffered nearly thirty percent casualties. The exchange rate was in James’ favor, yet he couldn’t help but feel he was losing ships that he would desperately need in the weeks ahead.

After the last Karacknid salvo was dealt with and only a handful of missiles made it through his defenses to strike targets, James let out a sigh of relief. The only capital ship that had been lost was the heavy cruiser Merlin. The vast majority of his fleet’s firepower would live to fight another day. Even as that filled James with relief, Drake’s sensors detected more movement deeper within the system. More than two hundred freighters had broken orbit from the Karacknid fleet base. They were moving to rendezvous with the Karacknid battlefleet which was slowly following James’ fleet. Far more concerning, six hundred new contacts had just appeared from the same shift passage Lightfoot’s fleet had. They too settled onto a course that put them in pursuit of the Allied Fleet. We are far from out of the woods yet, very far indeed James thought just before Drake jumped out of the system. The last thing he saw on his ship’s active sensors was the large Command Dreadnought at the center of the new Karacknid fleet. Whoever his opponent was, James feared he may have met his match.

Chapter 25

The Gift played a crucial role in the War of Doom. It still plays that role today for while advancements in the shift drive and the discovery of the Sun Gates have revolutionized interstellar travel, they have not yet rivaled the capabilities of wormhole travel.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, 22nd December 2483 AD (three months previous).  

As she walked into Viper’s main conference room, Becket nodded, smiled, and bowed to the various Admirals and Flag Captains present. Her flagship was sitting on the extreme outer edge of an uninhabited system on the border between the Lower and Upper Valleys. With every ship in the fleet in stealth, even if a Karacknid patrol came looking for them, they would be very hard to find. That didn’t stop Becket feeling slightly nervous. If a Karacknid fleet did appear, having all her commanding officers in one place was risky. Yet they had a big decision to make and she felt doing so in person was important.

Sitting, she activated the conference room’s main holo projector. It displayed a map of the Valley. Nineteen systems flashed a gentle red to show which ones had been raided by her fleets. “Let me begin by saying that it’s good to see you all again in the flesh,” she said with a smile. “We have all had an eventful six weeks. I’m glad you’re all here and doing well. Let us have a moment’s silence for those from our fleets who are not with us.” Bowing her head, Becket took a minute or so to recall the faces of the Captains she had lost. Then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Now,” she said as everyone looked back to her. “I have read all of your reports, but I’m keen to hear how each of you got on. Then we have to decide what comes next. If you don’t mind, I’ve asked Commodore Fang to update you all on how our fleet fared since we split up. Then we’ll move on to Admiral Shraw and so on.” When the various officers gave their consent, Becket turned to Fang and nodded.

As the Chinese Commodore spoke, Becket looked around the room to gauge how everyone was feeling. They were more than one hundred and fifty light years behind enemy lines. There was no hope of reinforcements reaching them or of any fresh supplies coming their way. More than likely there were several Karacknid fleets charging through the Lower Valley to hunt them down. Yet her commanders looked composed and content as they listened to Fang. That’s a good sign, Becket thought. She wouldn’t have been surprised if some nerves were beginning to fray with the constant tension that came from being in the middle of a warzone for so many weeks on end. She was used to long campaigns, but for many of the officers present this was their first real experience of a protracted interstellar war.

When Fang finished retelling their story and had answered a number of questions, Becket turned to Admiral Shraw and raised an eyebrow. The Gramrian briefly recounted his fleet’s experience of the joint raids he had carried out with Becket and then went into more detail about the systems he had attacked after splitting up from Becket’s fleet. His description ended with the second Karacknid border fleet they had met chasing his ships across the system and the arrival of Becket’s fleet just in time to save them from destruction.

“We lost about a quarter of our warships in the stern chase across the system,” Shraw concluded as his forked tongue flicked in and out. “On top of that we lost closer to a third of our supply freighters. My fleet has taken a beating, but we are still combat worthy. We may have lost one claw, but we have more ready to use. And we have Admiral Becket to thank for that,” he said as he bowed his head towards Becket.

Becket wanted to wave away his gesture. They had already talked about this a number of times on the journey to the rendezvous point. It had been her fault that Shraw’s fleet had been left isolated. Yet the Gramrian wouldn’t hear it. As far as he was concerned, they had agreed to split up and even to extend the time they spent apart. Instead of contesting his statement, she bowed back to acknowledge the compliment. “Now,” she said as she turned to Admiral Maleck, “I’m eager to hear how your side of the campaign fared.”

Though she had read Maleck and Faroul’s reports thoroughly when they were transmitted to Viper several hours ago, Becket listened intently. Maleck described how his Alliance fleet and Faroul’s Poideal warships had attacked several Karacknid systems. Most interestingly was one system that appeared to have its economy focused on making Karacknid antimatter missile warheads. In Becket’s experience almost all the Karacknid systems on the outer rims of their empire were focused on less sophisticated enterprises like growing food and mining minerals. According to Kalassai intelligence, the vast majority of the more technically advanced industries were based in systems much closer to the Karacknid homeworld and their own colonies. It seemed that there were a handful of exceptions. After destroying the orbital manufacturing plants, Maleck had sifted through the wreckage and scooped up some interesting finds that would help the Alliance scientists in their quest to develop their own anti-matter warheads.

After striking the warhead manufacturing system, Maleck and Faroul had split up and raided five more Karacknid systems. By their count, they had engaged and destroyed forty-eight Karacknid warships. In return they had lost just fifteen ships between them. It was a trade Becket was more than happy with. Altogether that meant nineteen Karacknid systems had been attacked and, in most of them, every orbital station and warship destroyed.

“So,” Becket said when the discussions were finally over. As she had expected, the Admirals had wanted to discuss a number of the more important engagements in minute detail and see what they could learn from each of their experiences. “With the exception of Admiral Shraw’s run-in with what we believe to be a second Karacknid border fleet that was pulling back, our campaign has gone very well. However, we cannot ignore the losses Shraw has suffered, both in terms of warships and supplies. We must decide how to progress. I am leaning strongly in favor of continuing. We came here to cause as much havoc as we can. From what we’ve seen so far and from what our scouts have picked up, the Lower Valley is awash with Karacknid freighters fleeing our attacks and warships trying to hunt us down. I’d say we are doing well but we can do more. The more mayhem we cause, the more ships we should pull away from the main front of the war. But I know each of you have responsibilities to your own people and to defending your own systems. So whether we continue or fall back, there must be a consensus among us. What are your thoughts?”

“You already know my thoughts,” Shraw said as he flexed his claws. “I say we strike deeper into Karacknid territory. We must hurt them as much as we can whilst the opportunity is before us. My fleet has lost a good deal of it supplies yes, but we have enough munitions for several more battles and we can scavenge much of the other materials we need. The Karacknids use the same He3 fuel we do. We can get our hands on some I’m sure.”

“Your enthusiasm and courage are to be admired,” Fang responded. “But it is a serious problem. One we should consider carefully. “If we have to delay our raids to capture fuel and look for other supplies, it will slow us down. Perhaps considerably. Our entire campaign is based on our ability to move quickly through Karacknid space. As we have no large capital ships with us we can outrun any significant Karacknid fleet that comes against us. But if we have to stop to search for fuel, we could lose that advantage.”

“How much does your fleet need?” Faroul asked.

“Whilst the higher-than-expected warship losses we have suffered mitigates our fuel situation slightly, we are still missing approximately thirty percent of the fuel we would need to complete the full campaign,” Shraw answered.

“A not insignificant amount,” Becket commented. “Though we all brought slightly more fuel with us then we anticipated needing. Thirty percent is a lot.” That was one of the biggest headaches Becket had faced in planning the campaign. They had crossed more than a hundred light years into Karacknid territory. The full plan called for them to double that at least. Yet doing so while having to bring all your fuel with you was a nightmare. Each of her fleets had almost as many supply freighters in them as they did warships. “If it comes to it, we can certainly share some of our fuel with you. Though if we do proceed, we will have to make capturing some more a priority. That will undoubtedly compromise our speed. But if we are careful, we could overcome the problem. Instead of sending your fleet out to raid new systems Admiral Shraw, you could focus on capturing the fuel you need. That would reduce the effectiveness of our overall campaign, but it would allow us to continue.”

“Once we have enough fuel, we could resume more aggressive operations,” Shraw announced.

Becket flashed the Gramrian Admiral a smile. “Of course,” she replied. There was no way she would be able to keep Shraw and his fleet from hitting the Karacknids as hard as they could. “Okay, that is one problem we can potentially take care of. But there are others.”

“The Karacknid garrison fleets,” Maleck said. “We did not anticipate them being pulled back from the border so quickly. Having to engage two of them has cost us dearly. If the Karacknids are willing to abandon their other border systems then there could be three more border fleets already hunting us down. If fleets from the Upper Valley and beyond the east and west of the Valley are sent against us, then they could all combine quickly into one or even two or three large fleets that we would not be able to handle.”

“We know the border fleets do not have any battleships or dreadnoughts in them. That means they have the speed to catch us and force an engagement,” Captain Rogers added. “If we continue to split up as we have done so far, any one of our fleets could find themselves facing a fast garrison fleet like Shraw did.”

“It works to our advantage,” Shraw countered as he looked around the other Admirals, flicking his tongue again. “Yes, we lost ships but that is to be expected in war. We still came out ahead. By chasing us the Karacknid garrison fleet was forced into an engagement with Admiral Becket’s fleet and wiped out. That is an entire fleet the Karacknids will have to replace. We are here to divert Karacknid warships from the war front with the Alliance and Humans. Taking out enemy fleets will certainly accomplish that.”

“It will,” Becket responded. “But if we can, I’d much rather engage Karacknid ships with more of a numerical advantage than we were forced to. In any case, now that we know the garrison fleets are pursuing us, the risks have increased.”

“They have,” Faroul agreed, “but they cannot be in every system. And if they combine, then they will be able to cover even less territory. As long as we keep our fleets in close supporting range, then I am happy to continue.”

Becket nodded at the Poideal, then she turned to Maleck. The Crian bowed his head. “If Shraw and Faroul are not deterred by this threat, then neither is the Alliance fleet.”

Before Becket could give her final thoughts on how she intended to handle the garrison fleets, her COM unit beeped. She had told her command staff not to interrupt her unless it was important so she pulled her COM unit out and held up an apologetic hand to the other admirals. “What is it?”

“Intrepid and Hawk have just arrived at the rendezvous point Admiral. Captain Kansas has sent a report for you. There’s no sign of Gremlin,” Lieutenant Armitage informed her.

“Send it to my datapad now,” Becket replied. “Sorry,” she said as she looked back to the other Admirals. “The scouts that we sent to monitor the Lower Valley eastern shift passage have returned.” Knowing that any further explanation was unnecessary, Becket quickly opened Kansas’ report and scanned it. She nodded in approval of what Kansas had accomplished. Gremlin’s loss was sad but taking out the Karacknids was more than worth the price. “News has left the Lower Valley of our raids,” Becket informed the other Admirals. “Though exactly what the Karacknid commanders on the other side will know is not clear. Captain Kansas took out two waves of warships that appear to have been dispatched with news of our attacks. However, when engaging the second group several freighters got away. At the very least, Karacknid commanders near the eastern end of the Lower Valley know that Human warships are engaging their shipping. It may take days or even weeks for more concrete news to filter through to them but they know. Kansas deployed her mines, so whatever initial fleet comes through will get a nasty surprise. We must operate on the assumption that Karacknid warships will be sortieing through from the eastern side of the Valley against us.”

“It is the news we expected,” Maleck said, “but at least Kansas has bought us some additional time. She is Emperor Somerville’s niece is she not?”

“She is,” Becket confirmed. “I have served with her on several occasions. She is a fine officer.”

“She must take after her uncle. In any case, this changes very little,” Maleck continued. “If Karacknid fleets are soon to be coming in from the lower eastern end of the Valley, it will make heading home the way we came even more dangerous than our advance. Those fleets will expect us to continue operations in the Lower Valley. As far as we know, no Karacknid ships know we have come this far. Heading forward may actually be safer, at least in the short term. And if news has left the eastern end of the Valley, then we can expect it to have left the western end as well. Warships and fleets will be coming from that direction too.”

“If we head home now, we could attempt to do so without seeking any further engagements. If we do not raid any more Karacknid systems, the fleet searching for us will have a hard time,” Becket countered. She wanted to make sure the Admirals were certain of their decision.

“We have come this far,” Shraw protested. “We haven’t attacked anything in the last three systems. As far as the Karacknids know, we are many light years from here. If we press forward now, it could take a week or two for news to head back down the Valley. We would have far more of a head start on the fleets pursuing us if we continue than if we try to backtrack.”

“In the short term yes,” Becket responded. “But in the long term, the more fleets that enter the Valley the tighter the noose around our necks will become.”

“Again, that is the risk we all accepted when embarking on this campaign,” Faroul interjected. “I am with Admiral Maleck. I do not believe this news changes anything.”

Becket smiled widely at the Admirals. “All right then, I had to be sure. I think you all know me well enough to know what I believe we should do. However, I have some changes I’d like to suggest. For one, if more fleets than we expected are operating behind us, then if we push on, I suggest we sneak through several more systems before we resume raiding. The more distance we can put between ourselves and the Karacknid fleets in the Lower Valley, the better. Then, we can limit our raids until Shraw gathers the fuel he needs to ensure his fleet can get home. After that, it may be wise to push more westward than we had initially planned. We have already destroyed two Karacknid garrison fleets that were stationed on the westward end of the Valley. If we push more westward ourselves, then we’ll be putting even more distance between us and whatever other garrison fleets are operating in the Lower Valley.”

“That is acceptable to me,” Maleck responded.

“And us as well,” Faroul said as she looked at Shraw and the Gramrian Admiral bared his teeth.

“Perhaps we could make one additional change,” Shraw said as everyone looked at him. “I presume you intend to continue with our strike against the Karacknid asteroid shipyard even if we are moving more westward. If this Captain Kansas is as good as you say, perhaps we could expand her responsibilities. A diversionary attack or two further up the eastern end of the valley would divert some Karacknid forces away from pursuing us along our main line of advance.”

“It certainly would,” Becket agreed as her mind got to work. The other Admirals joined Shraw in discussing some of the finer points of the suggestions he had just made and brought up more ideas of their own. As Becket listened and participated, she had to fight not to break into a smile. Despite the various scout reports of Karacknid fleets that had been spotted; despite the certainty that more enemy warships would be filtering into the Lower Valley; despite the dangers that lay ahead, she was exactly where she wanted to be. The Karacknids had nuked her homeworld. They had killed hundreds of millions of her people. Now she was in the middle of their space causing havoc. They can come after us all they want, she thought, we’ll just have to dance around them even better than we have already.

Chapter 26

Some star systems will always be more important that others, both in economic and military terms. In times of peace this is a boon, yet in times of war it can be a curse.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, outer edge of Karacknid ‘Hub’ system, 23rd January 2484 AD (four weeks later).

“Scout data from Panther coming in now,” Lieutenant Armitage informed Becket and the rest of her command staff.

Becket nodded and waited for it to appear on Viper’s main holo projector. It had been four weeks since her admirals had decided to press on into the Upper Valley. They had passed through several systems quietly so as not to raise the alarm. Then she had split her forces to rapidly raid as many systems as possible. She reckoned they had already quadrupled the effectiveness of their incursion into Karacknid territory. The Upper Valley systems were far more developed than the Lower Valley ones. Whilst that meant they were better protected; the increased protection didn’t reflect the increased value. She had lost six warships in the previous two weeks of raiding. For that, her fleet had destroyed what, in Human terms, had to be hundreds of trillions of credits worth of orbital real estate and shipping. Shraw, Maleck and Faroul had all encountered similar success in their raids. Though Maleck had decided to take on a convoy with a significant escort and had lost nine of his ships in the battle. Even so, he had completely destroyed the convoy and its escorts.

Now Becket had recombined her fleet. At least, Shraw’s and Maleck’s ships were once again in formation around hers. They were still waiting for Faroul to return. While they waited, Becket had sent Panther into what she had dubbed the ‘Hub’ system when she had initially envisaged her campaign. It was one of two key targets she wanted to hit. Now they were here. When the sensor data appeared, more than one voice was heard from the officers on Viper’s bridge. Though they had all seen the Kalassai intelligence on the system, they were shocked. As far as Becket could guess, the system served as a transport hub for most of the Lower Valley and a significant portion of the Upper Valley. The system’s only gas giant was dominated by six massive orbital stations. Each station had eight long arms, making them look like giant spiders. As Armitage zoomed in on one of the stations, Becket counted more than thirty freighters attached to just a single arm.

“They are all crawling with freighters,” Rogers commented. “But look, there’s hardly any traffic going to, or leaving those stations.”

“They’re scared,” Becket concluded. “News has reached them of our raids. The system commander has probably forbidden freighters from leaving least they fall into our hands.” Just under a week ago Becket and her fleets had stopped their raiding and passed through a couple of systems to come here. She had hoped to catch the system’s defenders off guard but they were obviously anticipating coming under attack.

“It doesn’t look like they’ve received any reinforcements,” Commander Wilson observed. “There’s hardly any more warships in orbit than the Kalassai intelligence indicated there would be.”

“No,” Becket agreed. “But I imagine they are on their way. Which makes Faroul’s timely appearance all the more important. Still no sign?”

Armitage shook his head. “Nothing yet Admiral.”

“All right, let’s get to work. We have our basic attack plans drawn up. Let’s make what changes we need given the extra warships Panther has detected. Then let’s draw up a second set of plans based on Faroul being delayed.”

“Aye Admiral,” Wilson responded as she and the rest of Becket’s staff officers got to work. Becket was content to let them get on with it and review their work once they were done. Instead she turned back to the image of the Karacknid shipping hub. There were forty-four warships orbiting the gas giant. Becket knew her fleet could take them out if she had to. What concerned her were the four orbital battlestations. They were only the size of a Karacknid battleship, but that gave them enough offensive and defensive fire to seriously hurt her fleet. The Kalassai intelligence says those supply stations are armed with point defenses as well, Becket reminded herself. Ideally, she wanted to take out all the freighters and stations. But several of her plans were aimed at causing the freighters to panic and break orbit. If she could encourage them to do that, she could hunt them down at will. Then the Karacknid commander would have a real dilemma. If he wanted to protect the freighters, he’d have to leave the protection of the orbital battlestations. If he did that, Becket intended to pounce on his fleet with everything she had. With the Karacknid warships out of the way, the battlestations wouldn’t pose half as serious a threat. She could take them and the supply stations out at will. But we need Faroul for that. She didn’t have the numbers otherwise.

Four hours later there was still no sign of Faroul’s fleet. Becket had scout ships in every system that had a shift passage connecting to the Hub system and, in some cases, she had scouts two systems away. If Faroul had got into trouble, she should have been informed about it. Equally, if there was a Karacknid fleet nearby one of her scouts would have told her. Unless there is a scout on its way with news right now, Becket reminded herself. But if there was, there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t afford to wait for Faroul. If the Karacknid forces in the Hub system knew about her raids in the nearby systems she was certain there was a reinforcement fleet already on its way to secure the Hub. She needed to act. “Are the plans ready?” she asked her Chief of Staff.

“Yes Admiral,” Wilson responded.

“Then transmit them to Rogers and I, we’ll review them and come to a decision. Alert the fleets that we will be advancing within the hour,” Becket ordered. After reviewing the various attack plans with her Flag Captain, Becket chose the one she preferred. It was one of her ideas that Wilson and Lieutenant Salaman had altered slightly. Making her own minor adjustments she sent it to Maleck and Shraw for their approval. When they gave it, she ordered her fleet to proceed into the system.

An hour later they were in position. With every element of Becket’s fleet in stealth, there was no way to communicate over long distances without risking detection. For ten minutes everyone waited for the Gramrian ships to begin. When Shraw acted, Viper’s gravimetric plot was suddenly filled with new contacts. Fifteen drive signatures appeared and Viper’s computer quickly identified them as Karacknid freighters.

For several minutes they charged straight towards the gas giant at an impressive speed. Then more contacts appeared behind them. Shraw’s fleet. It took several seconds to alter its heading to match that of the freighters, and then they went to full power. At that very moment a number of blips appeared beside several of the freighter contacts. Viper’s computer was querying its initial identification. Some of the drives were giving off anomalous readings. Becket grimaced, though it was to be expected. The drones she had her people reprogram couldn’t perfectly mimic Karacknid freighters. And they can’t keep up their ruse for long. Assume they have been chased through at least one other star system, their drives are being strained to their maximum, she thought towards the Karacknid commander. As seconds turned into minutes, Becket frowned at Viper’s main holo display. The Karacknid fleet orbiting the system’s only gas giant hadn’t twitched. Come on, she urged fixing her attention on the Karacknid warships. Yet there wasn’t a hint they intended to move. No energy spikes from reactors or engines. No maneuvering thrusters turning their noses out of orbit. Every ship remained completely stationary.

Becket shook her head. “They’re not buying it,” she said, fighting to keep the disappointment out of her voice. As she spoke several of the freighter contacts altered again. Their drive signatures had completely changed. Now Viper’s computer was classifying them as unknown contacts. “And the ruse is up,” Becket added. Her attempt to lure the Karacknid ships out of position had failed. She had no choice but to engage the Karacknid Hub in a straight up fight. “Signal Shraw, instruct him to rendezvous with us and we will proceed to engage the Karacknid defenses.” Though a straight up fight was far from ideal, Becket had no intention of simply abandoning her attack. Taking the Hub out would cause as much damage as raiding a handful of other systems, if not more. She still had a trick or two up her sleeve. “Launch fighters and instruct Flight Captain Capricorn to prepare for plan Zeta-two. Confirm with Chief Flanagan that his work on the multistage missiles is on schedule.”

“Right away Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon replied, typing furiously on his COMs console.

Becket nodded to him and turned back to the main holo display. The Karacknid commander was a cool customer. Either he had seen through her ruse right away or he had been prepared to sit and watch fifteen freighters be destroyed in order to protect the Hub. Either way it suggested his ships were going to put up a good fight. Better than the unprepared ships we’ve fought so far I imagine, Becket reluctantly admitted.

It took forty minutes for Shraw’s ships to catch up to where Becket had her ships hiding in stealth. When they did, Becket’s ships powered up their reactors and engines to full and fell into formation with the Gramrian fleet. “Now they know what they’re truly up against,” Rogers commented.

“Hopefully, they don’t know everything,” Becket said to her Flag Captain.

“No,” Rogers agreed. “But they’ll know they’re in for a fight now.”

“Indeed,” Becket agreed. With her and Maleck’s fleet having revealed themselves, she had one hundred and thirty-five warships ready to engage the Hub’s defenders. “Send the freighters forward,” she ordered. “Then fire as soon as we get into maximum powered missile range.”

From the midst of the fleet, twelve freighters moved out ahead. The supplies and fuel they had been carrying had already been used up. Now they bristled with point defense weapons. Salvaged from several warships that they had been forced to scuttle and seven more that had been sent home due to damage, the freighters wouldn’t survive even a half salvo from the Karacknid defenders. But they would draw some of their fire. A couple of minutes later every Human warship in Becket’s fleet that had a multistage missile left launched it. The first stage of their engines charged the missiles towards the Karacknids’ orbital stations. “Bring us to a halt,” Becket ordered as soon as the missiles were away. She needed to see how her attack fared before committing her fleet to any further action.

*

Flight Captain Capricorn fought and failed to push down her fear. She was a veteran of fifteen combat missions in her Spitfire. Ten of which had been in battles before Rear Admiral Becket’s Valley campaign. She knew how risky this kind of mission was. The odds of survival were seventy percent at best. Likely they would be much worse. Despite her fear, nervous excitement had her tapping her foot. So far Becket had used her squadron of Spitfires conservatively. They had been engaging enemy missiles and launching attacks against freighters. Now they were going into real combat. Despite the odds, Capricorn was eager to test her and her squadron’s abilities against the Karacknids. From the talk coming over the squadron COM channel, it was obvious the rest of her pilots felt the same. Or at least, they want each other to think that, Capricorn thought with a wry smile. Only two of her pilots had seen real combat before, but they all knew the odds. She didn’t know if it was worse simply knowing the odds as an abstract idea or knowing them from having lived through similar battles before. Shrugging, she dismissed the question. She couldn’t afford such distractions. Not on the eve of battle. Reaching forward she keyed her Spitfire’s COM unit. “That’s enough chit chat out of you lot. Even with laser COM links, there’s a chance the Karacknids might catch a hint of our presence. Radio silence from here on out. Only engage engines on my command. Retribution One out.” Knowing her pilots wouldn’t reply, Capricorn glanced left and right to check their status. Her entire squadron was flying so close together that she could easily make out all eleven Spitfires. All of them wiggled their wings to show their acknowledgement.

Capricorn paid special attention to Retribution Three and nodded in satisfaction when it too wiggled its wings. Initially she had set out with twelve fighters and pilots. They had lost Dom in a raid on one planet. Retribution Three had had his Spitfire blown apart but he had managed to eject. At the moment he was flying in a spare that had been fixed up by the small group of flight engineers that had been assigned to Retribution squadron. They had assured her the Spitfire was ready for combat, but she was happy it was Retribution Three and not her in its cockpit. If he is happy, then I’m happy, Capricorn thought and then dismissed the rebuilt Spitfire. It was another concern she couldn’t afford to waste her mental energy on.

A beep from her cockpit told Capricorn Viper and the other Human ships in the Combined Fleet had fired their multistage missiles. For nearly a minute she watched as they accelerated towards the Karacknid orbital stations. Quickly it became clear they were all targeting one station on the outer edge of the formation of six that orbited the gas giant. Understandably, the Karacknid defenders reorganized their formation. Every capital ship and most of their smaller ships moved to place themselves in the ideal position to intercept the incoming missiles. Only six small frigates remained close to the two battlestations that were right in the middle of the six orbital supply stations. Moments later all of the Karacknid ships and orbital stations disappeared from Capricorn’s sensors as the gas giant’s largest moon passed in between them. Capricorn keyed her COM unit. “All fighters, execute maneuver.”

She grabbed her flight stick and twisted her fighter’s nose so it was perpendicular to her former trajectory. Then she eased her throttle up to six percent. For several seconds she held her breath as she began to doubt the navigation officer had calculated the move perfectly. It looked like the moon’s circular momentum was greater than her fighter’s velocity. If it was wrong the moon would rush past her fighters and leave them out in the open for every Karacknid sensor to see. As the fighter gained more lateral momentum, the relative speed of the moon quickly dropped. Capricorn let out a sigh of relief as her fighter’s speed matched that of the moon. Then she cut her acceleration and returned her Spitfire to stealth. Glancing left and right she saw that all of her pilots were still with her. One down, she thought and glanced at a time on one of her secondary readouts. She had forty-five seconds until her pilots needed to carry out the next maneuver. When the timer reached three, she keyed her COM unit again. “Execute maneuver two!” she ordered.

Flipping her fighter’s nose again she eased the throttle as she pulled her fighter up and over the moon. Then she set her Spitfire on a diagonal course back towards the Karacknid battlestations. Just as planned, one of the gas giant’s smaller moons was blocking her view of the Karacknid stations. As her ships used their forward momentum from their flight towards the gas giant to keep them heading towards their target, the second smaller moon continued to block any active sensors from seeing their advance. “At the last second,” she reminded her pilots over the laser COM link, trusting the small moon would block any transmission signal seepage.

The sudden flareup of energy from behind the moon on Capricorn’s passive sensors told her that the Karacknids had engaged Becket’s multistage missiles. Keep your focus on them, she told the Karacknids. As the small moon loomed larger and larger in front of her, Capricorn took hold of her flight stick. She swallowed hard. Her instincts were already telling her to pull up. Yet she had worked out the maneuver with Becket’s navigation officer. She knew her Spitfires should be able to handle what she was about to ask of them. As her nerves spiked, she glanced at the timer. It still had seven seconds on it. She had to fight not to close her eyes as the moon grew larger and larger. Relief hit her when she glanced at the time again and it was about to hit zero. “Maneuver three!” She ordered as she pulled up on her flight stick. For the blink of an eye she feared the Spitfire’s engines, now at one hundred percent, didn’t have the power to overcome her momentum. Then, just as quickly, the moon shot out of sight below her. Capricorn dipped her Spitfire’s nose as she sought out the two Karacknid battlestations.

Off to one side of the enemy formation there was a kaleidoscope of color as Karacknid point defenses blew apart multistage missile after multistage missile. Capricorn glanced at it then turned her focus to her targets. The longer the point defense fire was not aimed at her, the better. For nearly ten seconds her Spitfires charged forward without any resistance. Then alarms went off. Laser beams zipped past her canopy. Capricorn increased her random jinks and twists. She  easily dodged everything that was coming towards her as enemy fire remained moderate. Suddenly, the fire quadrupled and then increased again. They realize we’re the real threat! Capricorn guessed. She was committed though. There was nothing more to do but focus on her target.

As it had done in each one of her previous missions, time seemed to slow. Her vision narrowed so that nothing but her target was visible. By now she only needed to rely on instinct to judge how close she had to get to release her missile. Despite the explosions all around her, nothing distracted her from seeking to reach that point. As soon as she did, she let out a scream of triumph. Thumbing her flight stick’s fire control, she released her plasma missile. At once she swung her Spitfire’s nose away from the gas giant. Evasive maneuvers never ceased. Only then did her vision widen and she became aware of other missiles being launched and explosions erupting amidst her squadron’s fighters. For a couple of seconds the point defense fire was intense, then, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, it rapidly slackened. The Karacknids had adjusted their fire onto the plasma missiles.

Though she didn’t decrease her evasive maneuvers, Capricorn glanced at one of her secondary monitors. Eight missiles were racing towards their targets. She had lost three pilots before she had even opened fire. Three of the missiles were taken out. The remaining five detonated and released their massive balls of plasma. Flying ballistically, the plasma balls could be avoided, but not shot down. The large battlestations’ limited maneuvering thrusters would be of no use. Three balls of plasma ploughed into one battlestation. It detonated instantly in a blinding flash. The two remaining plasma balls slammed into the second battlestation. It didn’t detonate outright, but it wasn’t hard for Capricorn to imagine the massive internal damage the plasma would cause as it burnt through the station’s innards. “We hit them good!” she said as she punched her fist into the armrest of her cockpit. Both battlestations had to be out of commission.

As the point defense fire zipping past her fighter continued to slacken and then disappear she took several deep breaths to calm her emotions. Then she keyed her COM unit. “Retribution squadron, check in,” she requested, already certain that the butcher’s bill was going to be high. She wasn’t wrong. Just five of her pilots responded to her call. Grimacing, Capricorn shook her head. She had lost five pilots. Five men and women she had come to consider friends. And yet this is why we are here, she reminded herself as she turned her Spitfire towards Viper and safety. Her squadron had done their job, now was time for the fleet to get involved. And they’re going to pay a far higher price than just five lives, she was certain.

Chapter 27

The most feared weapons in naval warfare are particle beam cannons. With unlimited range the only defense against long range attacks is to stay hidden or keep on the move. Their widespread introduction put an end to the use of fixed orbital defenses. They were simply defenseless against mobile weapons platforms equipped with particle beam cannons. It is not surprising that we first encountered this technology fighting the Karacknids. If they had had the long-range sensor technology to allow them to fully utilize such weapons the war would have been far shorter than it was.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, Karacknid Hub system.

“Take us in,” Becket ordered as soon as the plasma balls ripped into the battlestations. With one destroyed and the other crippled, she was more than willing to risk her fleet by engaging the rest of the Karacknid defenders. “Tactical, fire as soon as we are in range, target everything at their warships,” Becket added as her fleet moved forward. “Navigation, make sure we stay at maximum missile range. We have the advantage in point defense fire. Let’s give our gunners as much time as we can to calculate incoming enemy fire.”

As the officers acknowledged her commands, Becket shared a glance with her Flag Captain. Both she and Rogers knew that the fight was going to be a tough one. But once we hit this Hub, we can raid our way out of the Upper Valley and back home, Becket promised herself.

Alarms from several consoles announced that the Karacknids had opened fire. Even with three battlestations out of the picture, the Karacknids put out an impressive salvo. Becket stared at it, knowing that the missiles represented a wave of death and destruction for her fleet. She accepted that. It was the price she had to pay in order to destroy everything the Karacknids had built up in the system.

“Firing!” Lieutenant Salaman announced as soon as Becket’s fleet got close enough for all of her ships to open fire together. Her salvo was more than double what the Karacknids had released.

If only Shraw had mark IVs, Becket wished. One day that would come, but for now, despite the numerical advantage, the destructive capability of both salvos was almost equal.

“Admiral Faroul!” Lieutenant Rondon said as he waved a hand frantically towards Becket.

“Compose yourself Lieutenant,” Wilson cautioned him as Becket half turned towards her Chief of Staff and COMs officer.

“What is it?” Becket queried as she only half listened. The Karacknid missile salvo was less than thirty seconds away from entering range of her fleet’s point defenses.

“Grazer has just jumped into the system Rear Admiral,” Rondon said his voice as full of panic as before. “She is one of Faroul’s frigates. She has a flash alert from her Admiral. There is a Karacknid fleet less than an hour away from the system. Faroul encountered them racing towards the system two days ago and has been shadowing them ever since. There’s over a hundred ships in the fleet!”

Becket spun completely around to face Rondon. “You’re sure?” she demanded. “Over one hundred ships?”

“Yes Admiral,” Rondon confirmed. “They’re less than an hour away.”

“Send the report to my command chair,” Becket ordered as she turned back to her navigation officer. “Levitt, as soon as this Karacknid salvo strikes us, pull the fleet back. We are disengaging. Don’t give the order until we’ve weathered this first salvo or it will sow confusion. But as soon as we do, I want every ship pulling out of range of the Karacknids.”

As the familiar sounds of Viper’s point defense weapons opening up reached the bridge, Becket was sorely tempted to ignore the Karacknid missiles. She wanted to pull up Faroul’s report and find out exactly what the new strategic situation was. Yet her people were fighting and dying. She couldn’t ignore their efforts. As her fingers twitched, she forced herself to watch the battle. More than two hundred missiles remained. Twisting and weaving, they were desperately trying to avoid everything fired at them. So many different kinds of point defense weapons were being fired from the various ships in her fleet that Becket couldn’t keep a track of who was firing what. While she couldn’t, clearly others could for Karacknid missiles were being taken out in their tens and twenties. One missile caught her eye as it pulled up just in time to cause two AM missiles to strike each other rather than it. Next, a flak cannon round exploded just in front of it, but somehow the shrapnel didn’t cause enough damage to make the missile’s fuel ignite. Laser beams and plasma bolts shot by the missile but it dodged everything fired at it. Becket opened her mouth to order Viper’s gunners to focus on it, but she was too slow. The missile slammed into an Alliance light cruiser and the warship evaporated from the inside. The missile had penetrated through several decks before exploding and the antimatter it released vaporized everything it touched.

Out of her peripheral vision, Becket saw three more bright blue anti-matter explosions erupt within her fleet. Then her ships were pulling back out of range of the Karacknids. One remained stationary where she was. Becket recognized her right away. She was the medium cruiser Harbinger. For several seconds Becket was confused and then the warship’s slow rotation brought her underside into view. A proximity hit had wiped out nearly a third of her lower sections. Becket knew that was where the main energy conduits from her reactors to her engines had been. “Damage report on Harbinger and the others,” Becket snapped as she stared at the holoprojection, hoping the stricken ship would start to move soon. If she didn’t, the Karacknids would be able to send a second missile salvo to finish her off.

“She’s not responding Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon responded.

“Commander Wilson, organize as many shuttles as can be launched in time. Try and tow her back out of missile range. As fast as you can,” Becket ordered.

“I’ve got the other damage reports,” Lieutenant Salaman informed her.

“Go-ahead,” Becket said with a nod as she turned from Wilson.

“Harbinger was the only proximity hit,” Salaman explained. “The other three were direct hits. Each missile scored a kill. Admiral Maleck lost a light cruiser whilst we and Shraw lost a frigate each. Anchorage was the frigate that took the hit. There’s no sign of her.”

“Our missiles are being engaged by their point defenses,” Armitage interrupted.

“Thank you,” Becket said to Salaman as she focused on the holo plot. Three ships lost. With Harbinger’s damage it would probably rise to four. We need to kill at least twice as many of them, Becket thought. With another Karacknid fleet on the way, she could find herself trapped. With that thought in the back of her mind, she watched her missiles try and dance around the Karacknid defense fire. When what was left of her salvo got about halfway through the enemy fire, the six supply stations opened up with their lighter defenses. Becket was impressed. The supply stations increased the Karacknids’ defensive fire by at least twenty percent. It wasn’t enough. Sixteen missiles survived everything the Karacknids threw at them. Six were Human missiles and they detonated first. Eighteen grazer beams lanced into the Karacknid warships. Three blew up within moments of being struck. The others all suffered damaging hits. Viper was close enough that Becket could see debris being blasted into space. Then the Alliance and Gramrian missiles connected with the enemy squadron. When Viper’s sensors were able to peer through the huge amounts of energy the detonations released, more enemy ships were gone. The remaining Karacknid battlestation had also suffered several hits. Losing power, it was being sucked down into the planet’s atmosphere.

As soon as the final missile exploded Becket pulled up Faroul’s report and scanned it. It quickly made sense why the Poideal Admiral had been delayed. Just as she had jumped into a system two shift passages from the Hub system, she had detected the Karacknid fleet. Fearing that the fleet would pursue her, she had pulled her ships back. To her surprise, the Karacknids had ignored her and charged across the system. Knowing where the shift passage the Karacknids were headed towards led, Faroul had assumed the fleet was heading to the Hub station to reinforce whatever fleet was already there and decided to give chase. Even though she respected Faroul’s leadership capabilities, Becket was surprised by Faroul’s audacity. The Karacknids could have turned at any point and engaged her fleet.

Yet they didn’t, Becket thought. That was strange. They must have known there are more enemy ships operating in the area. It was the only explanation that made sense. If the Karacknid commander was concerned that Faroul’s ships would raid the Hub system he could have simply turned and destroyed the Poideal fleet. Which means they could expect us to be here when they arrive, Becket mused as she considered what to do next. A thought made her glance back at the Karacknid fleet still orbiting the gas giant. A lot depended on what its commander did next. If she pulled back to engage the new Karacknid fleet and the Karacknid ships already in the system followed her, she could be caught in a crossfire. But if we don’t pull back and keep engaging the gas giant, we’ll be caught in a crossfire anyway. It was why she had ordered an immediate retreat.

“Get me Maleck and Shraw,” she said to her COMs officer. “I don’t think we have any choice,” she said as soon as the two Admirals appeared on her command chair’s holo projector. “If we try and pull back out of the system, we will be leaving Faroul as a sitting duck. As soon as the commander of this new fleet sees that the gas giant is secure, he’ll turn and destroy her fleet. Even if she escapes, if these two Karacknid fleets combine they’ll hunt us down until they destroy us. We have to take out this new fleet quickly.”

“Agreed,” Maleck said. “There is no other choice.”

“If we can destroy them, then with Faroul’s ships we can come back here and finish what we started,” Shraw said eagerly.

“Assuming the Karacknid commander of the gas giant fleet plays nicely,” Becket responded. “If he comes after us, we’ll be in trouble. If that’s the case one of us, preferably my fleet, will have to engage the gas giant fleet while you two hold off the main Karacknid fleet. If Faroul is right behind them, then between the three of you, you might be able to buy enough time for my ships to finish off the gas giant fleet and re-join you.”

“That’s not an ideal plan,” Maleck responded. “But you do have the largest fleet. What you suggest makes sense. Hopefully, it will not come to that.”

“My hope as well,” Becket replied with a solemn nod. “Let’s get to it. There’s no time to waste. The more distance we can put between ourselves and the gas giant the safer we’ll be.”

After ending the COM channel Becket checked in with her staff officers. “How is it going with Harbinger?” she asked.

“We can’t get her towed out of range in time. The Karacknids have already fired twenty missiles at her,” Wilson informed her. “We’re evacuating as many as we can. But a large percentage of what’s left of her crew are trapped by wreckage.”

Becket ground her teeth in anger. There was nothing she could do. Appealing to the Karacknids to have mercy was a nonstarter. As far as they were concerned, killing the helpless crew of an enemy was probably a bonus. Though she trusted her officers were doing everything they could, she had to fight the temptation to get involved and micromanage the effort. Yet with just eight minutes until the Karacknid missiles reached Harbinger, there wasn’t time for her to get involved and risk sowing more confusion than clarity. In silence she watched as shuttles streamed towards the light cruiser. When the Karacknid missiles were just two minutes away they all took off. Like a flock of birds suddenly disturbed, they fanned out to avoid the coming explosion. When it came, Becket watched with clenched fists. She had lost another warship and there would be more to come.

“We managed to get three hundred and seven crew off,” Wilson informed her minutes later. “I’m working to reassign them to the rest of our ships now.”

“Thank you,” Becket replied. “Good work,” she added as she hid her true feelings. Harbinger had left Earth with a compliment of seven hundred. They had saved less than half.

As her fleet raced away from the gas giant, she watched the Karacknid fleet carefully. Amazingly they didn’t appear to want to follow her. Just like they had when she had tried to lure them out with her fake freighters, the Karacknid warships remained perfectly still.

“Perhaps they think our retreat is another ruse,” Rogers suggested. “They don’t want to leave the stations they are protecting… Though if that is the case, their commander must be overly cautious. We have no need to try and lure them out. Not now that the battlestations are out of the equation.”

“He may have strict orders not to leave orbit,” Becket contemplated. “If he has been informed reinforcements are on the way, then perhaps he doesn’t want to risk the stations until back up arrives.”

“That may be,” Rogers agreed. “If so though, he’s going to miss the battle.”

“Let’s hope so,” Becket said with enthusiasm. She turned her attention to the coming battle. Though there was no way to be certain where the Karacknid fleet would exit shift space from the shift passage it was traveling along, she could make an educated guess. If the Karacknid commander of the fleet had ignored Faroul’s fleet to head straight for the Hub, then it was likely he would want to take a direct line to the Hub once he entered the system. Given the size and shape of the shift passage he was traveling along, that narrowed his entry positions considerably. After pulling up a map of the end of the shift passage, Becket selected the most likely enemy entry point. Then she sent new coordinates to her navigation officer. Moments later her fleet changed heading slightly. It was only a minor course correction, but it would hopefully put her ships in the optimal position to engage the Karacknids.

The question was, how accurate was Faroul’s information on the Karacknids. The Poideal Admiral had indicated that the Karacknid fleet would appear in fifteen minutes. Sadly, it was too soon for Becket’s ships to be in a position to ambush them. But if they were delayed for some reason then the possibilities open to her would be interesting. As her ships charged towards the shift passage, she watched the timer count down carefully. When fifteen minutes passed her hopes rose. They were dashed four minutes later. One hundred and ten Karacknid ships appeared on Viper’s gravimetric plot. Becket cursed when she saw them. They weren’t accelerating straight towards the Hub. Instead they were on a course perpendicular to the one she had expected. They anticipated our presence! she realized. Of course, now that she saw it, it made perfect sense. Why else would Faroul have kept her ships following so closely to the Karacknids unless she was confident there were more friendly ships in the Hub system? The Karacknid commander had figured that out and now he was charging his ships away from the most likely route into the system to avoid an ambush.

Now Becket found herself in a real dilemma. She could still pursue and engage the Karacknid fleet, but when Faroul appeared, she wouldn’t be able to lend her support right away. For several seconds Becket stared at the holo projection of the system. If she didn’t engage the Karacknids now they would circle around the system and join the fleet guarding the Hub. But if she did, her ships would definitely take losses without Faroul. It’s too risky, she told herself as she glanced at the Hub longingly. But perhaps we can still cut them off. Faroul would no doubt exit the shift passage on course to join the battle she expected to find. Becket could use that. “Alter our course, put us onto heading nine nine four point two,” she ordered. “Do it now!” she added when both Rogers and Wilson looked up from their command seats with wide eyes.

Only after they gave the order to their subordinates did she start to explain. “We can’t risk engaging that fleet without Faroul. Not if we want to have enough ships to get out of the Upper Valley. Our new heading buys us time.” Her ships turned their noses onto the new direction and fired up their engines, once again heading into the Hub system. Though this time not directly towards the system’s gas giant. Instead Becket had her ships aimed at the point that the new Karacknid fleet would have to cross if they wanted to reach the Hub.

Alarms from several consoles made every bridge officer look up at the main holo plot. Becket wasn’t surprised by what she found. The Karacknid Hub fleet had finally broken orbit. They were settling onto a trajectory that would allow them to rendezvous with the main Karacknid fleet. Becket smiled at the development. That gave her more options. The fleet should have stayed put.

For the next twenty minutes each fleet continued on their courses without any further change. Then forty-four new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot right where the main Karacknid fleet had appeared. Faroul had arrived. “Transmit our orders for Admiral Faroul,” Becket snapped. Less than a minute later Faroul’s ships altered course and powered up their engines to full as they closed with the rest of the Combined Fleet. As soon as Becket had all her ships together in one fleet, she increased the acceleration rate of her ships and closed with the Karacknids. Within the Karacknid fleet there were six battleships and one dreadnought. That was a problem, but it also made the Karacknid fleet slow. As soon as it became clear that her fleet had the acceleration advantage, the main Karacknid fleet began a series of maneuvers to break past Becket’s fleet and get to the Hub. For forty minutes Becket matched the Karacknids move for move. Occasionally the Karacknid fleet gained a slight lead, but then a counter maneuver or her fleet’s edge in acceleration reeled them back.

“Do you think we can catch them before the Hub fleet is able to reinforce them?” Rogers asked.

Becket understood the question. Taking on the main Karacknid fleet would be tough enough, fighting it and the forty remaining ships from the Hub garrison would make the odds almost even. “I’d say we stand a good chance,” she answered. “If that was my goal.” She smiled as Rogers frowned. She watched him as he turned to the main holo plot and narrowed his eyes.

A few seconds later he spun back to her. “The garrison fleet?”

Becket nodded. “Take them out of the picture and the odds will be in our favor. Not to mention the fact that the hub will be a sitting duck.” As things were, Becket had her fleet almost directly between the main Karacknid fleet and the Hub. If the garrison fleet was taken out of the picture there would be nothing to stop her from destroying the six massive freighter supply stations.

“As soon as they realize what you’re doing they’ll charge us,” Rogers suggested.

“Undoubtedly,” Becket replied. “But we have them beat when it comes to acceleration. We should have enough space to trade for time. Speaking of which, the time is almost upon us. COMs, get me the other Admirals.” Though she had been in constant communication with them as their ships had matched the main Karacknid fleet’s maneuvers, she hadn’t outlined her plan yet. She wanted to wait to make sure it would be a possibility. In five minutes the Karacknid garrison fleet would cross the point of no return.

Chapter 28

Though the number of ships involved in the Second Karacknid War far outweighed those in the War of Doom, it is the latter where capable students can learn the most from studying the battles. For with lesser numbers our commanders were forced to win by whatever means possible.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

When Maleck, Faroul and Shraw appeared in front of her, Becket quickly outlined her plan. “…And so I’d like four of your medium cruisers,” she asked Admiral Maleck as she finished. “Your ships have the speed to keep up with mine and they have the heaviest punch. That should minimize our losses and still leave you enough ships to defend yourselves.”

“That’s no problem Admiral, I’ll assign them to you as soon as we’re done here,” Maleck responded.

“Very good, I’m putting you in overall command of the Combined Fleet,” Becket replied. “If you need help call and we’ll come running. But try and avoid contact if it all possible.”

“We understand,” Maleck said on behalf of the other Admirals. “You go have fun; we’ll watch your back.”

“And remember this for the future,” Shraw added. “Next time I’d like to be the one going on the hunt.”

Becket smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind Admiral. Stay safe. We’ll speak again in an hour or so if not before.” After nodding to each Admiral, Becket cut the COM channel. She turned to Lieutenant Levitt. “Map out an intercept trajectory for the Hub. As soon as the Hub fleet crosses the point where they won’t be able to get back to the Hub before us, we’re going to turn and charge the Hub. COMs make sure Maleck’s four medium cruisers know what we are planning. Assign them a position in the center of our formation.” Lieutenants Levitt and Rondon acknowledged her commands together and got to work.

“They’ve crossed it!” Levitt announced just under five minutes later.

“Bring us about,” Becket ordered. Every Human ship and four of Maleck’s medium cruisers broke away from the Combined Fleet. Turning their noses straight towards the system’s gas giant, they re-engaged their main engines. Becket couldn’t help but smile as she imagined the Karacknid commander’s confusion. He had refused to leave the Hub twice before. Now that he had, he suddenly had an enemy fleet charging towards the stations he was supposed to be defending. Now it is your turn to face a dilemma, she thought. He could still join the main Karacknid fleet. Then the Karacknids would be able to seriously threaten Maleck and what was left of the Combined Fleet. But the Karacknid commander would be accepting the destruction of the Hub. Becket’s smile widened when the Hub fleet turned and decelerated. Of course the Karacknid commander wasn’t going to just watch so many freighters and orbital stations be destroyed. She had done it the long way around, but she had lured the Karacknid fleet out of orbit and into a position where it had to fight her. And you will lose, she thought to the Karacknid commander. It was possible the Karacknids knew her ships’ abilities. Either because these Karacknid commanders were better informed or because they had received reports from Becket’s previous battles. It didn’t matter, she outnumbered the enemy fleet nearly two to one and when the numbers involved Human and Alliance warships, that actually counted.

“Target their capital ships,” Becket ordered ten minutes later. “Prepare to turn to engage them. We’ll close to just outside of energy weapon range.” Doing so would maximize her numbers advantage as neither side would have as much time to track enemy missiles. Whilst it would likely mean more losses for Becket’s fleet, at least in the initial salvo, Becket wanted to end the battle as fast as possible. She was nervous about leaving Maleck and the others alone. Even as her mind turned to Maleck, the main Karacknid fleet finally made a move. Turning onto a direct course for the Hub, they accelerated with their maximum thrust. Becket opened her mouth to give orders for Maleck, but the ships of the Combined Fleet reacted before she could say anything. Expertly Maleck turned his ships away from the Karacknids and matched their acceleration rates.

On the main holo projection Lieutenant Armitage put up the Karacknid fleet’s projected route along with a timer. The Karacknids would reach missile range of Becket’s ships in one hour. That was how long she had to finish off the Hub fleet. “Let’s get started,” Becket said. “Turn us towards the Karacknids. We’ll fire as soon as we enter range, the Alliance cruisers can join us in the second volley. Order all ships that still have them to flush their missile pods.”

“Yes Admiral,” Wilson acknowledged.

As her ships turned to meet the Hub fleet, Becket patiently watched the range steadily decrease. To their credit, the Hub fleet didn’t falter when they saw her fleet was abandoning its attack on the Hub to target the warships instead. Without having to give the order, Becket’s ships opened fire first. With twelve missile pods thrown into the mix, her ships put out a salvo of one thousand missiles. The Karacknids opened fire thirty seconds later when they entered missile range. Both groups of ships fired again before they prepared to defend themselves. As the first missile salvos from both fleets slammed into their targets Becket’s shoulders tightened. She counted six explosions of anti-matter among her ships. Officers all around her frantically worked as they sought to find the status of the ships hit and to reform the fleet after its evasive maneuvers. Leaving them to it, Becket watched as eleven Karacknid ships were blown apart or fell out of formation. One quarter down already, she thought with pleasure. Her joy increased when she saw the Karacknid fleet slow its acceleration.

“They must have other damaged ships they are trying to keep in the fight,” Rogers concluded.

“Let’s hope they have lost missile tubes as well as engine power,” she replied, turning to her Chief of Staff.

Wilson was already waiting. “Three ships are gone. Two more have suffered minor damage, their gaseous shields largely protected them from proximity detonations. Though they have been depleted now.”

“Move them to the back of the fleet,” Becket ordered. “What ships?” 

“Mountain, Ranger and Arrow,” Wilson answered.

Becket nodded solemnly. Mountain and Ranger were small corvettes, but Arrow was a light cruiser. She only had seven of them left in her fleet.

“Next salvo incoming in eighty seconds,” Lieutenant Salaman announced. “Firing our own salvo in thirty.”

Becket turned to watch another salvo race away from her ships. Moments later Viper’s point defenses opened up on the Karacknids’ second salvo. As she had come to expect the two volleys of extended range AM missiles wreaked havoc among the Karacknid missiles. Hundreds more were taken out by the more conventional weapons of her fleet. Even so, as the last handful of Karacknid missiles got close, Becket felt Viper being thrown into an evasive maneuver. Her heart raced. The maneuver meant a missile was still targeting her flagship. Fighting the g-forces Viper’s inertial compensators were struggling to cope with, her head swiveled to look at a secondary display. Two missiles were closing with Viper! One would have been bad enough. Viper’s pilot would have been hard-pressed to avoid it. Two was far worse. Becket’s heart rate spiked. Her whole body tensed. The missiles were just seconds away.

As Viper’s pilot increased his maneuver, Becket felt her vision narrow. Then he suddenly reversed course. The g-forces flung her back into her command chair. Bile shot up her throat and she threw up all over herself. Then a new force shunted her sideways. It hadn’t been a maneuver. They had been hit! Her instinct was confirmed moments later as alarms screamed all around her.

We’re alive, was the first thing her mind told her as the g-forces died away. And we have power, she added. The inertial compensators were still working. If they had failed the g-forces from the tail end of Viper’s evasive maneuvers probably would have turned the bridge crew to mush.

“Damage report,” Captain Rogers authoritative voice demanded over the din. Becket looked around and was pleased to see he appeared fully alert despite the gash running along his cheek. She gave him a quick nod when their eyes momentarily met. Then she looked away. Viper was his ship; Becket understood that her condition was Rogers’ priority.

“One missile shot wide,” Viper’s sensor officer reported. “The second got a proximity hit. The gaseous shields didn’t contain all of the antimatter.”

“I’ve got damage reports coming in from decks three through to nine on our nose section. It looks like the armor was burnt off and breached,” Viper’s First Lieutenant added.

Another voice Becket didn’t immediately recognize joined in. “There’s no response from missile tubes eighteen and nineteen. I think we have to assume the point defenses in those regions are down as well.”

“Get repair crews to those missile tubes immediately,” Rogers snapped. “They are our priority. Lieutenant Smithson, take charge of the repairs. I have a ship to fight.”

As Rogers set about turning his ship’s damaged side away from the Karacknids, Becket returned her focus to her fleet. “Update?” she asked her Chief of Staff, confident that Wilson had had enough time to re-establish contact with the rest of her ships.

“We lost just two ships, both destroyers: Pontiers and Claymore. Two more ships survived proximity hits. South Carolina has to pull out of formation. Lakshmi says she can stay in the fight,” Wilson informed her.

“Very well, make sure they both get whatever assistance they need. Liaise with Lieutenant Smithson and make sure we get help here as well,” Becket responded. “Lieutenant Salaman,” she said as her tactical officer looked up from his console. “Fire the next salvo as soon as every ship is ready.”

“Of course Admiral,” Salaman called back.

Becket waited until he looked back down at his console before she fixed her attention on the main holo display. Her second salvo had already ripped into the Karacknids. Only twenty ships remained. As she watched, they opened fire. The number of missiles they released was less than half of what their first salvo had. It’s over. Even with the losses she had suffered, the point defenses of her fleet would handle the next two Karacknid salvos. As nine hundred and eighty missiles were hurled out into space from her fleet thirty seconds later, she was even surer.

Over the next ten minutes things played out just how she imagined. Her point defenses swatted away both Karacknid missile salvos. Then, when her final one crashed home, only three Karacknid ships appeared out of the wall of energy the explosions gave off. Though intact, each was a spinning wreck as they left a trail of debris behind them. None showed any energy readings. They were dead in space.

With the battle over, Becket checked on Maleck’s fleet. The main Karacknid fleet was still charging straight for her ships. She breathed a sigh of relief, Maleck had been able to stay ahead of them. Her eyes narrowed as she judged the distances involved. Just enough time, she thought. Clearly Lieutenant Salaman had been thinking the same thing for new projected courses appeared beside Maleck’s and the Karacknid fleets. It showed just how long Becket’s ships had before Maleck would catch up to her and then Becket had to decide if she was going to fight or run. “Course change,” she called out. “Put us back onto an intercept trajectory for the gas giant. Lieutenant Salaman, I want one full salvo at those six orbital supply stations and the freighters attached to them. Navigation, as soon as we fire, reverse course and prepare to rendezvous with Admiral Maleck.”

“Aye Admiral,” Salaman and Levitt replied one after the other.

As her ships raced towards the gas giant, the response from the hundreds of freighters attached to the orbital stations was not surprising. Almost as if one mind controlled them, they disengaged from the stations and broke orbit, fleeing in all directions. It was too late for them; Salaman would be able to target each with a missile and still have more than enough in the salvo he was going to fire to finish the supply stations. A few lucky ones might get away, but that would be it. Certain of the outcome of the engagement, Becket turned to the main Karacknid fleet. Given how previous Karacknid commanders had reacted to her raiding fleets, it was quite possible he would continue his charge towards Maleck’s ships. If she wanted, she could use her fleet’s superior speed to dodge the Karacknids. But then she would be forced onto the defensive. The Karacknid fleet could chase her for days and tie her up whilst other Karacknid fleets circled in to surround her. We have to fight him, she decided. There was no way she could raid other systems or slip out of Karacknid space without dealing with the Karacknid fleet. As she ran through various tactics she could use, Salaman fired his salvo at the Karacknid orbital stations. Becket plotted out several ideas and only looked up when the missiles struck home. More than three hundred freighters were destroyed. Each of the six orbital stations, despite the point defenses they were equipped with, were taken out. “Good shooting,” she said to Salaman after the last missile turned a freighter into a ball of molten slag.

“Admiral,” Wilson called out as she pointed to a secondary holo display.

Becket spun to see what her Chief of Staff was concerned about. “They’re pulling back,” another officer said as Becket saw what was happening.

Almost in disbelief she stared at the enemy fleet. The Karacknid warships were indeed decelerating and turning. It looked like they would settle onto a course back towards the shift passage they had entered the system through. Becket shook her head. She could hardly believe her eyes. It was almost unheard of for a Karacknid fleet to shy away from battle. Only one explanation made sense to her, but even then she wasn’t sure. “They were sent here to protect the supply hub,” she said to her officers. “Now there’s nothing left for them to protect. I guess the Karacknid commander doesn’t want to throw his ships away.”

“We will not be fighting them today then,” Rogers said. “At least we have time to carry out some more repairs.”

Though Becket agreed with Rogers’ sentiment, she had more than her flagship to think about. If they had fought the Karacknids, her fleet would have taken losses for sure, but at least she would have stood a good chance of removing the Karacknid fleet from her list of concerns. If the Karacknid commander wasn’t prepared to throw his fleet away to damage her, that meant he had some wits about him. Which meant he would be dangerous. He could keep his fleet nearby and shadow her ships. We will not be able to split up and raid systems independently, she thought with a curse.

“Admiral Becket,” Lieutenant Rondon called out. “The other Admirals are requesting to speak with you.”

“Put them through,” Becket responded. “Admirals,” she said as Maleck, Shraw and Faroul appeared in front of her. “It appears things have worked out in our favor, at least as far as destroying our primary target.”

“It has,” Maleck replied in a tone that conveyed he had come to the same concerning conclusions Becket had about the Karacknid fleet.

“We have a proposal,” Shraw said eagerly before Maleck could add anything else. “We cannot let this Karacknid fleet leave. It will be a thorn in our claw for weeks if we do. We have the speed advantage; we must give chase and bring them to battle.”

“I’m in agreement with your general sentiment, but if the Karacknids will not fight, we would be forced into a long stern chase. With their antimatter missiles, it could prove as deadly for us as them,” Becket responded. In a stern chase her fleet would only be able to fire their forward missile tubes and could only defend themselves with their forward-facing point defenses. The Karacknids could only use their stern weapons, but in a prolonged duel where the number of missiles fighting each salvo was small, the Karacknids antimatter missiles held a real advantage. One hit from one of her missiles might damage a Karacknid warship. One hit from a Karacknid missile would take out its target.

“You are correct Admiral, but I have an idea,” Shraw said as he peeled his lips back over his upper and lower teeth.

As he explained, Becket found herself nodding. “That could work,” she said when Shraw was done. We’ll set course to pursue the Karacknids immediately. We can try your tactic and test it whilst our ships that need to carry out repairs do so. Then we can close with them and see how much damage we can do. We’ll have to chase after them for days if not longer, but if we can cripple enough of their ships then we can resume raiding more systems.”

“If it’s possible, there’s nothing stopping us from raiding the systems we pass through on the way,” Maleck suggested.

“No, I suppose there is not,” Becket replied as she mimicked Shraw’s facial expression.

Shraw bobbed his head towards Becket and his forked tongue flicked out several times in quick succession. “The hunt is on to kill more Karacknids!” the reptilian Admiral said with ferocity. Not for the first time Becket thought how glad she was that the Gramrians were on her side.

Chapter 29

Though interstellar geography does not play the same role in multi-system wars it once did; understandably of course due to shift passages losing their significance, it is still vital for any budding strategist to grasp. Often battles are won or lost long before two fleets meet actually meet in combat. Decisions and maneuvers carried out weeks ago can dictate the fate of fleets as much as missile numbers can.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Scharnhorst, Western Valley shift passage.

Captain Warnock rushed onto the bridge of her destroyer. Her First Lieutenant had called her less than thirty seconds ago. As soon as she saw the holo projection of the end of the shift passage, she understood why. Amongst the usual heavy traffic of freighters coming in and out of the Valley, there was a new group of contacts. Their formation immediately singled them out as warships. Four weeks ago, Scharnhorst had detected the first group of Karacknid warships that had rushed to the shift passage and out of the Valley. Their speed had been a clear indication that they were carrying news of Becket’s invasion. They had let them go as per her orders and she had fantasized about taking on the single ships that had come one by one. No such thoughts came to her now. Two hundred and fifty Karacknid warships was not a force to be trifled with. “Track and identify them,” she ordered as she moved over to her command chair. “And doublecheck all the freighters, make sure there isn’t a single stray emission.” She had officers checking every six hours but given the circumstances it wouldn’t hurt to check again.

As she settled into her command chair, she watched the progress of the Karacknid fleet. For four hours it headed into the single system that had a shift passage that led westward out of the Valley towards the rest of the Karacknid empire. At the heart of the fleet were six dreadnoughts and ten battleships. Alone they had the firepower to seriously threaten Becket’s fleet. And that assumes her fleet is still fully intact, Warnock thought.

When the view on the holo projector changed Warnock sat forward. The Karacknid fleet was splitting in two. One hundred and seventy ships altered course slightly and headed towards one of the shift passages that headed out of the system. The remaining ships altered course towards another shift passage. They are splitting up! Warnock glanced at her First Lieutenant and flashed him a smile. Becket’s ruse was working. By now Warnock was sure the Rear Admiral would have her ships operating in the Upper Valley. Yet the bulk of the Karacknid fleet, operating on intelligence that was weeks out of date, was heading towards the shift passage that led to the Lower Valley. “Unless they get word quickly, it will take a week or more for them to double back, perhaps even longer,” she said to her First Lieutenant and the rest of her bridge officers.

“That will let them spend more weeks raiding Karacknid systems,” Scharnhorst’s First Lieutenant commented with a grin.

“I wonder how much damage they’ve done already?” Scharnhorst’s tactical officer asked.

“Who’s to say?” Warnock responded. “Though I imagine they’ve been having a lot more fun than we have over the last couple of months. Of course, that wouldn’t be hard, Warnock thought. Since escorting the ten freighters she had under her command to the only westward shift passage out of the Valley, they had been hiding. Getting here had been an interesting mission. A couple of times they had almost been discovered by Karacknid freighters. But that felt like an eternity ago now. But I bet they’ve also seen a lot more danger, she had to admit. There was something to be said about boredom when it came to being a naval officer. It was usually accompanied by a much longer life expectancy.

“What do we do now Captain?” Scharnhorst’s tactical officer asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Warnock responded. “We’ll wait until they have left the system and then we’ll give them half a day. There is no rush after all. Contact Swift and Beacon, inform their captains they are to prepare to leave as soon as both Karacknid fleets enter shift space. They are to carry out their primary orders.”

“Yes Captain,” Scharnhorst’s COM officer responded.

Warnock stayed on the bridge for the next several hours until the Karacknid fleet jumped out. Then she watched as the only two other warships under her command left Scharnhorst’s side. Both frigates had orders to race into the Upper Valley, find Becket and inform her about the new fleet’s arrival. Even if only eighty Karacknid ships were heading her way, she needed to know about it. Once both frigates faded out of view of Scharnhorst’s optical sensors, Warnock retired to her quarters.

It wasn’t until two days later that she felt comfortable beginning the next phase of her orders. When a suitable lull in the Karacknid freighter traffic appeared, she sent word to the freighters to deposit their cargo. From each freighter more than two hundred stealth mines were laid across the entrance to the shift passage. When the operation was done Warnock sat back in her command chair and rolled her shoulders. As far as she could tell, none of the passing freighters had detected anything. The mines were in place. And so we begin waiting again, she thought. Sooner or later one, two or even three Karacknid fleets would try to leave the Valley and head back westwards. It was her job to determine which one was the most suitable target for her mines. And then the real action will begin. Somehow she would have to find a way out of the system and back home. Given how furious she expected the survivors of her surprise attack to be, getting out in one piece would be difficult.

*

IS Intrepid

“We’re here,” Lieutenant Jones commented as Intrepid dropped out of shift space well behind the system’s mass shadow. “As an uneventful trip as we have had.”

“It was,” Emilie agreed. Almost too uneventful, she thought. A little excitement would have broken the monotony of the last four weeks. They had been escorting a single Gramrian freighter into the eastern end of the Upper Valley. Twice they had encountered Karacknid squadrons rapidly heading towards the Lower Valley and they had passed through several systems with Karacknid fleets guarding them. Not once had there been any indication they had been detected. The freighter that was holding station with Intrepid had been specifically upgraded for this mission. Her stealth coating was just as effective as Intrepid’s.

As Intrepid’s sensors began to make sense of the system before her, every conversation on the bridge died down. More than a hundred freighters were traveling across the system. A squadron of twenty warships was also detected along with several other ships on patrol. The system is a hive of activity, Emilie thought, just as the Kalassai intelligence indicated. One thing that was out of the ordinary, at least for an uninhabited system, was the location of the activity. The freighters and warships that were all on the move were not focused around one of the system’s inner planets. Instead the activity centered on a large and unusually dense asteroid field that was only a few light minutes away from the system’s mass shadow. “Zoom the image in,” Emilie requested.

Intrepid’s sensor officer didn’t have to be told what Emilie wanted to see. Everyone knew what they were here to do. The image on the main holo projector zoomed in on one of the largest asteroids in the field. It was roughly one tenth the size of the Earth’s moon and the Karacknids had completely hollowed it out. Now it served as a massive ship retrofitting base. According to Kalassai intelligence, Karacknid ships from up to a thousand light years away were sent to the asteroid to be retrofitted with upgrades or decommissioned. The freighters streaming to and from the large asteroid were no doubt carrying supplies and parts used in the retrofitting process. Amongst the hundreds of other asteroids that surrounded the shipyard, other mining activities were going on as raw materials were gathered from the asteroid field.

“It looks peaceful,” Jones observed. “They clearly have no concerns about Becket’s fleet reaching this far.”

“Let’s hope they remain that way,” Emilie added. The less suspicious the Karacknids were, the better chance her attack would have. For a couple more hours she sat on Intrepid’s bridge and watched the system. As she engaged officers in small talk, she kept an eye on everything that was happening. When she was finally happy that nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary and that the Karacknids were not on any kind of heightened alert, she nodded to Jones. “Okay, I think we can proceed. Signal Vendor, instruct her to begin her launch maneuver.”

“Yes Captain,” Sub Lieutenant Ramires responded. She tapped on her console for several seconds before looking up again. “Vendor acknowledges the order. She is beginning now.”

Emilie nodded to Ramirez and looked up to the main holo projector. Ever so slowly at first, but then with a gradual increase in velocity, the freighter moved away from Intrepid. She was just using two percent of her maximum thrust, but given enough time, it would still allow the freighter to get to a significant velocity. With her stealth coating and low thrust, Intrepid was only able to track Vendor with her optical sensors. After thirty minutes the freighter disappeared from view. For three more hours Emilie sat on the bridge as she waited to see if the Karacknids would detect anything. “They should be launching their ordinance about now,” she commented to her officers.

In her mind’s eye she could picture what was happening. They had simulated it enough times. Within Vendor’s hull there were forty asteroids. Each one had been hollowed out and its insides lined with a stealth coating and energy dampening field. Hidden behind that technology was a single missile pod that housed four Alliance missiles. Once released from Vendor, the asteroids would set off on a ballistic course that would see them pass by the large asteroid field the Karacknid retrofitting yard was in. Given the size and mass of the field, its gravity would capture the asteroids and pull them in on a gradual arc, the focal point of which just happened to be the Karacknid retrofitting yard. It would take four months, but eventually the asteroids would get close enough that their concealed charges could detonate, shattering each of them and revealing the weaponry within. Emilie had no idea how much damage the thermonuclear detonations would do to the warships within the giant Karacknid asteroid, but Becket’s engineers had assured her that they would produce enough force to crack the asteroid open. With luck all the ships within would be destroyed. But even if not, the retrofitting yard would be critically damaged. Which will delay hundreds of Karacknid warships from being put into service. Warships Emilie knew would be sent to the warfront with Humanity. At least, that’s the plan, she said to herself wryly. Her orders were for Intrepid and Vendor to jump out of the system as soon as the freighter returned. Whilst she had no problem with that, she didn’t want to wait around for four months to see what would happen, it meant there would be no way to confirm if their attack had been successful. Either the asteroids would reach their target or they wouldn’t. It would probably be years before Emilie found out one way or another. If we ever do, she admitted.

“Plot us a course out of here,” Emilie ordered when Vendor finally came back into visual range of Intrepid. “It’s time to make our way back to Becket’s fleet.” And that is going to be a little more interesting, Emilie added to herself. She had no doubt Becket was causing more mayhem in the eastern end of the Upper Valley. That meant there would be Karacknid warships and squadrons on high alert all over the place.

*

IS Viper, 29th January 2484 AD.

As soon as her fleet exited shift space, Becket sought out the Karacknids. She pursed her lips when she saw them. For the second time they had chosen not to try and ambush her ships. Since her destruction of the supply hub, the Karacknids had been constantly fleeing from her fleet. Now, as before, instead of waiting at the edge of the shift passage to strike when her ships emerged, they were racing across the system. “Give chase,” she ordered at once. Having jumped her fleet out just before the system’s mass shadow to avoid an ambush, her ships were already behind. It took an hour to catch up. By then, it was clear where the Karacknid fleet was heading next.

“Inform Maleck, Shraw and Faroul this will be the last system we chase them through. Every missile is to be made to count,” Becket ordered.

“Right away Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon said from his COM terminal.

Becket nodded to Rondon. Maleck, Shraw and Faroul would know what she was thinking. The Karacknid fleet was on a course to a known Karacknid fleet base two more systems away. Either the Karacknids had come from there in the first place, or they were hoping to draw Becket in so that the Karacknids could combine with the fleet stationed there and crush her. Either way, she had no intention of following. As soon as they crossed the system and jumped out, she was going to reverse course. Until then, she could continue to hit the Karacknids. Sooner or later they would figure out she had backtracked and come looking for her.

When the fleet got close enough, the various elements involved in Shraw’s tactics began their operations automatically. Having spent ten hours in the previous system doing what they were about to do, they were well practiced. A full third of the Human and Alliance destroyers, frigates and corvettes went to full acceleration and pulled ahead of the combined fleet. After fifteen minutes, they turned to present their broadsides towards the Karacknids. Then they cut their engines. Just as they did, the rest of Becket’s fleet got into missile range of the Karacknids with their forward missile tubes. A hundred and eighty missiles shot towards the enemy ships. The Karacknids had already opened fire and had one hundred and ten of their own missiles tracking back towards Becket’s ships.

Seconds before the Karacknid missiles got into point defense range, the main part of Becket’s ships caught up with the light ships that had charged ahead. The light ships, with their broadsides facing the Karacknid missiles, used all of their point defense weapons. The boost in firepower meant Becket’s ships destroyed all but one of the Karacknid missiles. The Human light cruiser that the sole missile targeted swerved enough that the proximity detonation was mostly absorbed by its gaseous shields. Only light damage was reported. In contrast, of Becket’s one hundred and eighty missiles, six detonated and released grazer beams or thermonuclear detonations into their targets. One Karacknid frigate was destroyed outright. A medium cruiser took enough damage that it fell out of formation. Alone and damaged, it was taken out by a second smaller salvo.

Just moments after the single Karacknid missile detonated amongst her fleet, Becket gave the order for her ships to slow to bring her ships out of missile range. The light ships that had turned broadside were quickly left astern but they soon turned and accelerated to catch up. When they did Becket ordered her fleet to close with the Karacknids again. By then another third of the Alliance and Human destroyers, frigates, and corvettes had accelerated beyond the capital ships. They would move ahead of the fleet and repeat the maneuver their comrades had just completed.

In this fashion Becket chased the Karacknid fleet all the way across the system. Twice every hour for seven hours she moved into missile range and peppered the Karacknids. By the time the Karacknid fleet jumped out the system was littered with a trail of destroyed warships. Eighteen in total had been wiped out. The Karacknid force had lost one quarter of its warships in the stern chase through both systems.

“Begin deceleration,” Becket ordered as soon as the last Karacknid ship jumped out. In between missile salvos she had been analyzing the star map of the local systems. She intended to take her fleet in almost the opposite direction of the Karacknid fleet base. There, if resistance was limited, she could split up her fleet and begin raiding more systems. All the way to the upper end of the Valley, she hoped as she stared at the holo map. There were three hundred systems in the area of space between where she was, the eastern end of the Valley and its upper limit where space opened up and the Valley ended and the rest of the Karacknid empire began. There was no way she could raid them all, but she could hit many of them and there was more than enough space for her to keep maneuvering and hiding from enemy fleets. There is much more damage to be done yet, she thought with anticipation.

Chapter 30

During my only visit to the Sol system I was privileged enough to be able to visit Home One. Within one of its strategic planning rooms is a large holo map of the entire Human Empire. System defenses, fleet strengths, supply conditions and estimates of enemy positions are all displayed there. To say that it was mind boggling is an understatement. For the officers who work there, the responsibility that rests upon their shoulders is immense.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper, 12th February 2484 AD (two weeks later).

With her office to herself Becket had her holo projector displaying at its maximum resolution. As she often liked to do, she was walking back and forth through the projection. Surrounding her was a star map of the Valley. The map showed the progress of her rapid advance into Karacknid territory along with markings identifying the various battles that had taken place. In total, her fleet had advanced nearly three hundred light years into the Karacknid empire. They had raided more than forty systems and destroyed two hundred and sixteen Karacknid warships along with hundreds of freighters. And the targets have gotten juicier and juicier, she thought as her focus rested on the eight flashing systems that were nearest to her fleet’s current position. After chasing the Karacknid fleet and then splitting up her forces, her fleets had destroyed enough orbital and asteroid mining facilities to almost match what was in the entire Human Empire. According to the Kalassai, the systems her ships were passing through had been conquered or colonized more than three hundred years ago. Everything the Karacknids had built since then was being destroyed.

As encouraging as that was, the further her fleet advanced the more concerned she became. Traveling through the Upper Valley was like looking further into the future. If Earth was conquered, it would be slowly integrated into the Karacknid empire. From what Becket could tell, such a future wouldn’t be worth living in. The further up the Valley her fleet went, the more destitute and despairing the species she encountered were. The Karacknids’ policy of systematically destroying every part of a species’ culture and technological base but the one element they wished to exploit was devastating. It was now at the point that most of the species they encountered didn’t even try to ask for help. They simply accepted the destruction of their orbital stations without emotion. Becket shook her head. It was horrible. But other than feel bad, there was nothing she could do for them. You have enough problems of your own to worry about, she reminded herself. The real reason why she was reviewing her fleet’s progress and position was that reports were starting to come in of several Karacknid squadrons that had been spotted several systems to the west of her fleets. The most concerning of which was the seventy ships she had chased away two weeks ago. They had returned and were shadowing her. With her fleet split into its four elements, the Karacknids could easily catch one element out and destroy it. And if the two other smaller squadrons her scouts had spotted joined them, then they could threaten her entire force.

“We need to move eastward,” Becket said reluctantly as she paused her pacing. Since entering the Upper Valley she had been moving east away from the fleets that her scouts reported. As her fleet continued up the Valley it slowly widened on both sides giving her more room to maneuver. Yet she didn’t like heading so close to the eastern edge of the Valley. With no shift passages through the dead zone she could find herself trapped. But being potentially trapped is better than being definitely forced into an engagement. Starting to move again, she used her hands to zoom in on the systems around her fleet. Slowly she circled them as she pictured how the next few weeks would play out. Given the position of the Karacknid fleet and their two squadrons, she imagined how she would organize their movements if she commanded them. Moving east is our only option, she concluded. Our time is limited. With more and more Karacknid ships closing in on her position the noose was tightening. By now every ship in the Valley will know where we are. Any fleets that had gone into the Lower Valley to search for her would be charging towards the Upper Valley if they weren’t in the Upper Valley already.

A beep from her office door dragged Becket from her thoughts. With a hand gesture, she shrank the holo map to half its size. “Come in,” she said a moment later.

“Admiral,” Commander Wilson said as she stepped into Becket’s office. “Swift has just joined us. Captain Warnock of Scharnhorst dispatched her eighteen days ago. A Karacknid fleet has passed through the eastern shift passage. They split up. The majority headed towards the Lower Valley. But eighty ships headed into the Upper Valley. Swift came straight here to inform us, but without knowing our exact location she had to spend a number of days looking for us. As she did, she came across the Karacknid fleet of eighty ships again. They are rapidly closing on our position from the south.” As she finished speaking, Wilson pulled out her datapad and tapped on it. Becket’s holo projector changed to show a sensor image of the two Karacknid fleets Scharnhorst and Swift had watched enter the Valley. Then the holo map appeared again, this time the location of the new Karacknid fleet was flashing.

Becket stepped closer as she rapidly assessed the new situation. “If they have continued on their general trajectory, they could be only two or three systems away from Shraw’s fleet,” she realized. “Which means they have probably been updated on Shraw’s activities.” Becket’s mind went to the other Karacknid fleet and the squadrons she had been planning to avoid. With this new fleet coming up from behind, they could easily trap her in a pincer movement. Most certainly, they would be able to chase her. Even if she went more to the east, they’d be right on her heels. “If this new fleet makes contact with the Karacknids to our west, we’re going to be in a very tough spot,” she commented.

“It is concerning Admiral,” Wilson agreed. “We had hoped any fleets from the Lower Valley would still be a week or two away. Now if we try and make our escape, they could bring us to battle.”

“Send for Captain Rogers, and get Commodore Fang on a COM channel,” Becket requested. “We need to come up with a new plan now.” As Wilson nodded and pulled out her COM unit Becket wished she had Maleck, Shraw and Faroul nearby to consult with. They were all in different systems. It would take a week to get them all. A week we don’t have, she thought as she stared at the holo map. She needed to come up with a plan quickly. She couldn’t shake the feeling time was running out.

By the time Rogers stepped into her office and Fang appeared on a secondary holo projector, Becket thought she had something worked out. She still had one advantage. It was unlikely the Karacknid fleet coming up from the south knew the exact whereabouts of the rest of the Karacknid forces. She could use that. She explained what she had in mind to her subordinates and listened to their feedback. After altering her idea slightly, they all agreed. “Send out two fast frigates to each of the Admirals. Our plan needs to get through to them immediately,” Becket said when they were finished. “In fact, send three to Shraw. Let’s not take any risks with this.”

“I’ll arrange it immediately Admiral,” Wilson responded as she turned and left.

“Thank you,” Becket said to Rogers and Fang. “You may see to your duties. We’ll begin heading out of the system within the half hour to get into position.” Both officers saluted her and left. Alone once again, Becket widened the holo star map and continued to ponder the strategic situation. Though she had already come to a decision, she couldn’t help but second guess every detail. So far from friendly space even the smallest mistake could mean destruction for her entire fleet.

*

Talon

Admiral Shraw watched as four of his destroyers swept into the midst of an asteroid field and fired laser beams in all directions. On Talon’s sensors a wave of explosions seemed to move through the asteroid field as the destroyers took out every mining installation. As the small engagement continued, Shraw’s claws flexed in and out of their protective hoods to scratch along the armrest of his command chair. It was a sign of nervousness way beyond the scale of the battle his destroyers were fighting. Tilting his head slightly, he glanced at a second sensor readout for perhaps the fiftieth time in the last hour. His movement betrayed his true feelings. There were still no additional gravimetric contacts in the system. He knew they were coming though.

When he finally noticed the scratching of his claws, Shraw sheathed them. He let out a low growl and then allowed himself to continue the action. His officers already knew of his nervousness. They would have been picking up his pheromones ever since Admiral Becket’s message had arrived. There was no hiding one’s emotions from his species.

Ten minutes later his destroyers had finished their attack run. “Recall them to the fleet,” Shraw ordered. “Show me the rest of the system.” As the holo display widened its image, Shraw flicked out his tongue several times. It was a sign of satisfaction within his species. As his tongue retracted, he tasted the same emotions from the officers around him. His fleet was split into four squadrons. Each had attacked several mining, harvesting, or processing facilities that were spread out throughout the system. One of Shraw’s officers had estimated that the system’s yearly output of refined minerals for warship production was almost a quarter of his species’ output. Shraw knew that if his species lost such capacity, they would be out of the war. Yet the Karacknids likely had a hundred more such systems. But they will feel this loss nonetheless, he assured himself. If they want to rebuild it, they will have to divert resources away from building new ships. A beep from over Shraw’s left shoulder cut his thoughts off. It had come from the gravimetric sensor. At once Shraw spun around. Just as he expected, two new contacts were racing into the system. His scouts had returned.

“Send word to our squadrons. All attacks are to cease immediately. We will rendezvous at the designated coordinates.” Patiently he waited for the scout’s report to reach Talon. As soon as it did, he pulled it up on his command chair’s view screen. It took just seconds to get to the important part. As he read, his tongue flicked in and out. This time it was a sign of anticipation. The scouts had made contact with the Karacknid fleet. It was just systems away from his ships now. They are hunting us, he concluded as he combined the Karacknid fleet’s current position with the estimated position Becket had given him. They were zeroing in on his position. “It is time to get the fleet out of here,” Shraw said to his bridge officers. “Lay in a course for the next system in Becket’s plan. Organize a frigate to head to Admiral Faroul. Include our scout’s report and tell her that it is time for us to play at being the prey.”

*

IS Viper, 19th February 2484 AD (seven days later).

“They have taken the bait,” Becket said as she read through the latest report from Shraw. Both Maleck and Fang were on a holo COM call with her. The Karacknids had chased Shraw through an entire system and continued the chase even after the Gramrian joined up with Faroul. “Shraw expects to be entering the ambush system a day from now.”

“Then it’s best we get moving,” Maleck suggested. “We don’t want to be late. I doubt Shraw and Faroul would thank us for that.”

“Indeed not,” Becket said with a smile. She gave both officers a nod. “Very well, we will proceed immediately. Prepare your ships to jump. Becket out.” Becket waited a couple of seconds for Rogers to prepare Viper for the jump. Then she turned and gestured for him to proceed. “Take us in,” she ordered.

For the first time in three days Human and Alliance ships all around Viper powered up their reactors and shift drives and jumped into shift space. “With luck they will think we are light years away,” Becket said to her Flag Captain as her ships journeyed along the shift passage to the system they had designated the ambush system. Just over a week ago she had dispatched two small squadrons of Human and Alliance ships to raid systems more to the west. There was a chance they might get caught by the Karacknid squadrons operating in that direction, but they had strict orders to run at even the slightest sign of danger. She was hoping reports of their attacks would reach the fleet pursuing Shraw. If the Karacknid commander thought the rest of her fleet was more to the west, he would continue pursuing Shraw with the abandon he had already shown.

“Let’s hope so,” Rogers agreed. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Indeed,” Becket responded. After seeing her fleet safely into shift space, Becket stood and stretched. “I’m going to retire to my quarters. Call me if anything comes up.”

“We will Admiral,” Commander Wilson assured her.

When she got to her quarters, Becket reviewed her plan one last time and then slipped into bed. For several hours sleep resisted her but eventually she drifted off. Twenty hours later she was back on Viper’s bridge.

“Exiting shift space in thirty seconds,” Lieutenant Levitt announced.

Becket tensed as the jump out of shift space sent a jolt through her flagship. She fixed her eyes on the main holo projector as Viper’s passive sensors sifted through every stray electromagnetic energy wave that washed over her.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Lieutenant Armitage reported. “Both the passive and gravimetric sensors are clear.”

“So far so good,” Rogers commented. Everyone knew Becket had chosen the system because the Karacknids didn’t have as much as a relay outpost in it. There were no eyes present to see the emergence of her fleet.

“Move us towards the comet,” Becket ordered after waiting another couple of minutes to make doubly sure. Her ships moved deeper into the system. Alongside the lack of a Karacknid presence in the system, she had chosen it because of the particularly large comet that was just coming out of its inner system cycle. Thanks to its close brush with the system’s star, it was shedding copious amounts of ice and rock particles and its long tail would provide the perfect cover for her fleet to hide behind. The cover wouldn’t protect her ships from a close scan by Karacknid active sensors, but she didn’t need to hide for that long. Staying in stealth, it took three hours for the ships to creep into position. When they were several thousand kilometers behind the comet, they matched its course and speed and powered down their reactors and engines completely. Now we must be patient, Becket thought.

She didn’t have to wait half as long as she expected. Just two hours later Viper’s gravimetric sensors lit up like a Christmas tree. Eighty-five contacts appeared as they exited shift space and accelerated into the system. The leading ship carried out a series of strange maneuvers before slotting back alongside its friends. Becket was already looking towards Lieutenant Rondon.

“Shraw says the Karacknids are half an hour behind him,” Rondon said as he translated the ship’s strange movements. “Enemy numbers are put at one hundred and four ships.”

“Inform the rest of our fleet,” Becket said as she turned and shared a glance with Rogers. Shraw’s fleet was meant to have a speed advantage over the Karacknids. Yet they were right on his heels. “They’ve found more ships,” she said knowing that Rogers would pick up on the rest.

“It wasn’t unexpected. But Shraw and Faroul are going to be hard pressed. How did they get so close?” Rogers replied.

“I’m not sure, but I suspect we are about to find out,” Becket answered. “Wilson, make sure every ship is as dark as possible.” She ordered as she turned to her Chief of Staff. With all of their supply freighters hiding well beyond the system’s mass shadow, the warships around Viper should be very difficult for the Karacknids to detect. That was one of the reasons why she had Maleck’s ships with her and not Faroul’s. Alliance stealth tech was much closer to Humanity’s.

Right on cue, the Karacknid fleet appeared. As soon as the one hundred and four contacts accelerated, Viper’s gravimetric sensors picked them up. Becket’s officers identified each ship based on its acceleration profiles. “Four battleships,” Becket said out loud. That was what she had been expecting. In theory, Shraw should have been able to outrun such a fleet. As the battleships continued to accelerate at higher and higher rates, Becket began to understand. The Karacknids had to be redlining their reactors and engines. “The Karacknids don’t want to let Shraw get away,” Becket said to her officers. “We’ve done so much damage they’re willing to risk four battleships to put an end to our raids.” Though her words brought a few smiles to the lips of her junior officers, Becket wasn’t as happy. A desperate enemy was a dangerous one.

“At their current acceleration rates the Karacknids will enter missile range with their forward tubes in one hour,” Lieutenant Salaman announced from his tactical console.

“That is cutting it close,” Wilson said as she turned to Becket. “If we had planned our ambush one system further away…”

Becket nodded. Shraw’s fleet would have been destroyed before it led the Karacknids into the trap. “But we are here,” Becket replied. “And though it may be close, we can pull it off. Shraw is going to have to weather a couple of missile salvos. But there’s nothing we can do about that.” At least, nothing if we want to actually engage the Karacknids, Becket said to herself. If she revealed herself now there was a 50-50 chance the Karacknid fleet would decelerate and avoid action. Given how eager the Karacknid commander was, perhaps he would fight anyway. But she couldn’t risk letting the Karacknid fleet get away. Not when her scouts were constantly updating her on several other squadrons to the west that were getting ever closer. She had to take the Karacknid fleet out now and that meant Shraw and Faroul had to face what was coming their way. “Let’s make the best use of our time,” Becket said to her officers to distract them from their thoughts. “Our first salvo has to do as much damage as possible. We’ve got an hour and twenty minutes to track every single Karacknid ship. Let’s use it wisely.”

Chapter 31

With the Karacknids on one side of the Empire and the Antarians on the other, it is hard not to believe that the Empire is surrounded. With a number of other threats like the Flex-aor whom we must always keep a wary eye on, it is not surprising so many other species look to us for protection. To date the Imperial Navy has been up to the task, though we have been tested. If another threat were to arise, then the balance of power would swing against us. All of our enemies would smell blood in the water. That is why we must always be vigilant.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Viper.

As her officers prepared for the coming fight, Becket rolled her shoulders to release some tension and settled deeper into her command chair. It was never easy watching someone else fight on your behalf, but she was learning to accept it. The price of command, she thought as she pictured the way Admiral Somerville had looked when he had said as much to her. He had told her she wouldn’t understand until she had experienced it. Now she knew. With her attention fully on the Karacknid fleet, she watched as they closed with Shraw’s ships and came into missile range. From their forward tubes they fired four hundred and fourteen missiles. Then, the Karacknids slowed their acceleration rates to keep pace with Shraw’s fleet. They know the Gramrian ships don’t have the same missile range as they do, Becket realized. Thankfully, in a stern chase it wasn’t too big of a disadvantage. With the Karacknids racing along behind them, all Shraw and Faroul had to do was fire their missiles and let them travel ballistically for several minutes before igniting their engines. Still, staying further back meant Shraw’s missiles would be coming in with a slower closing velocity. The Karacknid commander was taking every advantage he could.

Before the missiles reached Shraw’s fleet, the Karacknids fired again. When the second salvo was about a third of the way towards their targets, an entirely new set of contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. Shraw’s first salvo had just lit off their engines. With most of the Gramrian ships having only a single rear missile tube, the salvo had just two hundred missiles in it.

Over the next twenty minutes Becket ground her teeth together to stop from swearing as she was forced to be nothing more than an observer in the missile duel that unfolded. The Karacknids managed to pump four salvos into Shraw’s fleet in that time. Eight Gramrian and Poideal ships were destroyed or severely crippled by them. In reply the three salvos Shraw got off destroyed just three Karacknid ships. It was a losing ratio.

But not for much longer, Becket promised herself as the Karacknid ships passed the point of no escape. “Now!” she ordered. “Full power, fire when ready.”

Up and down her fleet reactors kicked into life and impulse engines flared. In seconds, the eighty-one ships around Viper burst through the cloud of ice particles given off by the comet. To cement their surprise, Becket’s ships fired a salvo of one thousand and twenty-six missiles and charged the Karacknids.

“Signal Shraw to keep running,” Becket snapped as soon as her fleet’s missiles were away. “He can turn and fight once we have taken the Karacknids’ focus.”

“Message sent Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon updated her moments later.

“The Karacknids are turning,” Lieutenant Salaman reported. “They’re bringing their broadsides to bear on us.”

As soon as the Karacknids had lined up their missile tubes, they released their first full salvo. Eleven hundred missiles raced out towards Becket’s fleet. Becket took a deep breath. The Karacknid salvo was going to hurt. But so will ours, she reassured herself. Her salvo was timed to strike the Karacknids just as Shraw’s third salvo did. Though Shraw’s missiles were small in number, the crossfire would seriously degrade the effectiveness of the Karacknid point defenses.

“Admiral Shraw’s ships are turning!” Lieutenant Armitage shouted over the other conversations that were going on. “He’s turning to engage!”

Becket’s head snapped around to where Shraw’s ships were being displayed on the holo projector. What she saw made her shake her head. The Gramrian was ignoring her command. Rather than widening the distance to the Karacknids before turning to engage, he was not breaking off. Shraw’s fleet rippled off a full missile salvo of its own. “Time our second salvo to match their fire,” Becket snapped. Shraw’s maneuver meant her second salvo of missiles would rip into the Karacknids with deadly force. But Shraw’s ships were at the mercy of the Karacknids. If the Karacknid commander chose to fire at his ships instead of Becket’s…

Becket swore when the Karacknid commander did just that. As soon as his ships had reloaded, he altered course and fired a full broadside towards Shraw’s fleet. Though Shraw had the same number of ships as Becket, his point defenses were far less efficient. There was a reason why Becket had Maleck’s Alliance ships with Viper. Together they had a far better chance of standing up to the Karacknids’ salvos. He wanted to be a part of the hunt, Becket said to herself. You should have known this would happen. As skillful as the Gramrians were, they were gung ho. Well my friend, you’re about to get your battle, she thought to the Gramrian Admiral. We all are, she couldn’t help but add as the first full Karacknid salvo closed with her ships.

As both the Karacknid fleet and her fleet opened up with their point defenses, Becket lost track of her own missiles. All she could do was watch as her officers directed Viper’s fire. Despite their best efforts multiple anti-matter explosions bloomed within her fleet. Becket winced when a frigate just in front of Viper winked out of existence. Guilt welled up within her. Because of Viper’s damage, Commodore Fang had insisted Viper be positioned near the back of the fleet. As a result, several ships in front of her flagship were destroyed or crippled as they sought to protect her.

After the last antimatter missiles detonated, Becket looked back towards the Karacknid fleet. It would take several seconds for Wilson to get a handle on her fleet’s losses. She wanted to see how the Karacknids had fared. Satisfaction spread across her face as she saw more than ten Karacknid ships fall out of formation, either crippled or severely damaged. There were other holes in the Karacknid fleet where ships had been destroyed outright. Her mark IV missiles had done their work. Even as she watched, the remaining seven fighters of Flight Captain Capricorn’s squadron swept into the confused Karacknid fleet and released a swarm of plasma missiles. Two of the Karacknids’ four battleships turned into miniature suns as the plasma burnt into their reactors and set off massive nuclear detonations.

“How bad was it?” Becket asked as she turned to her Chief of Staff.

“Ten ships out of commission Admiral, eight losses and two crippled,” Wilson answered. “We’ve already got rescue operations underway for the two crippled. But they’re falling adrift fast.”

“Do what you can,” Becket replied as she glanced at the list of ships Wilson had sent her. To her surprise, only one light cruiser had been lost. The rest were all destroyers or smaller. Losing any ship was bad, but one light cruiser was worth two or three destroyers and one of her few medium and heavy cruisers were worth all the light ships she had just lost. “Let’s hit them again!” she added as she turned to Lieutenant Salaman. “We need to finish this before they do to Shraw what we are trying to do to them.”

“Of course Admiral!” her tactical officer said enthusiastically.

As her next salvo of missiles closed with the Karacknids, the situation felt surreal to Becket. With the Karacknid’s second salvo heading towards Shraw’s fleet. She could watch the next moments of the battle in complete safety. To her relief, less than a minute before her missiles entered point defense range, the Karacknids fired their third salvo. This time it was aimed at her ships.

“I think they’ve realized we are the main threat,” Captain Rogers commented.

“Too late to do them any good now,” Becket responded. With the loss of two battleships and the other ships her missiles had already destroyed, the Karacknid weight of fire had been reduced by three hundred missiles. Her fleet’s defenses, weakened though they were, would have a much better time handling that many.

The truth of Becket’s words was demonstrated when her second salvo and Shraw’s first full salvo struck the Karacknid fleet simultaneously. When Viper’s sensors were able to make sense of the situation, half of the Karacknid fleet was missing or falling out of formation. What was left was a broken force.

Reluctantly, Becket turned to see Shraw’s fleet. The full salvo the Karacknids had fired his way had hit home at the same time. When she saw the Gramrian and Poideal fleet, she closed her eyes. Twenty-five contacts were gone. At least ten more had fallen out of formation and it looked like others were struggling to match the fleet’s pace. Shraw’s fleet had been just as devastated as the Karacknids. Fear for her friends gripped her as she sought out Shraw and Faroul’s flagships. When she saw Talon a wave of relief hit her. It diminished as she kept looking for Boxer and failed to find the Poideal flagship. “Lieutenant Armitage, what is Boxer’s status?” she asked desperately.

As Lieutenant Armitage leaned in over his sensor console, Becket leaned forward in her command chair towards him. When he turned, she knew from the look on his face. “There’s no sign of her Admiral. I’m sorry.”

Becket couldn’t help but grimace. She hadn’t known Faroul as well as she did Shraw, but she had been getting to like and respect her. It is so unfair, Becket couldn’t help but think. Shraw had been the one to decide to turn back into the fight so quickly and yet Faroul was the one who had paid with her life. Don’t, Becket ordered herself. Faroul would have agreed with Shraw’s decision. Throwing blame about would help no one. “One more salvo,” she ordered as she raised her voice, allowing her emotions to flow into it. “One more salvo to finish them off.”

Moments after speaking, Becket had the satisfaction of watching her second salvo crash into the Karacknids. With so many losses already, the fleet was decimated. Before she could see the final demise of the Karacknids, her ships had to fend off one more salvo. She lost six warships. It was a small price to pay. As her third and final salvo hit the Karacknids, accompanied by the missiles the survivors in Shraw’s fleet had managed to put out, every single Karacknid contact disappeared off Viper’s sensors. The battle was over.

You did it, Becket said to herself, though she felt no joy. She had maneuvered her four fleets across multiple systems to lure the Karacknid fleet into a position where she had surrounded and wiped them out; and yet she felt no joy. She had destroyed the Karacknid warships at a loss ratio of better than three to one and yet she didn’t care. Her losses had been catastrophically high. More than forty warships were gone from her combined fleet. She had lost more than a quarter of her remaining strength. “Devote all our efforts to rescue operations,” she forced herself to say. “Get me a full status update on every fleet. Rendezvous with Shraw’s ships and get our supply freighters in here asap. We’re going to need a lot of repair work. Then organize a conference call with the surviving senior commanders. I need to talk to them.”

*

By the time each fleet had reorganized itself and rescued as many escape pods and survivors as they could, just over three hours had passed. “Let me begin by saying that you all fought well,” Becket said to her senior commanders. A part of her wanted to reprimand Shraw, but for the sake of unity she knew she couldn’t. Plus, the Gramrian Admiral had led his fleet back into the fight with the clear intention of soaking up some of the Karacknid fire. If Shraw hadn’t done what he had done, Becket knew it would be her and Maleck’s fleet that would be suffering the higher losses. Reprimanding him would come across as ingratitude of the worst kind. “And let me pass on my sympathies to you and your people Commodore Comoil. Admiral Faroul was a commander of significant abilities. I know I speak for all of us when I say she will be sorely missed. Not just in our fleet here, but in the many battles that are to come.”

“Thank you, Admiral Becket,” Comoil replied with a slight bow of his head. “She died for a worthy cause. She will not be forgotten by our species.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Becket replied. “I have read the initial reports each of you have prepared on your fleet’s condition. Given the losses we have suffered here and the other Karacknid fleets that we know are nearby; I believe it is time we head home. We have done far more damage than we hoped and we have defeated a number of Karacknid fleets. If we linger any longer, the Karacknids are likely to force us into battle. If we have to fight again, even if we win, I doubt the survivors would be able to make it home.”

“Your assessment is fair Admiral,” Maleck said as he brought his hands together. “By now Karacknid fleets are bound to be headed our way from the upper side of the Valley as well. If we delay our escape, we may head further north and find the way shut in our face.”

“I’m eager to get my ships home,” Comoil agreed as Becket turned to him. “We will have to scuttle several of them but even many of those that we can take with us have been damaged. They need several months in a repair yard.”

Becket nodded to Comoil and turned to Shraw and raised an eyebrow. “There are several systems nearby that we could still raid before the Karacknid westward squadrons reach us. But if this is the general consensus, then I will go with it,” he said, much to Becket’s relief.

“Better to live to fight another day than die now when the war is still young,” Becket advised him.

“To abandon the hunt when the prey is so vulnerable is difficult,” Shraw replied. “But there is wisdom in your words.”

“Then it is settled,” Becket said with one more nod. “We’ll send word to our diversionary squadrons and scouts; we are heading home. Hopefully our final ruse is as successful as our others.” Each alien made their own species’ sign of affirmation in response to Becket’s words. Hopefully the way has not been shut, Becket thought. From day one, her plan had been to take her ships right up to the upper mouth of the Valley that led into the rest of the Karacknid empire. Then she would turn east and head back towards Conclave space along the outside edge of the eastern dead zone. With only one shift passage leading out from the valley east, every ship chasing her would have to race back towards the shift passage or follow her up out of the valley and then down the eastern dead zone. With luck, by the time they realize we have fled, it will be too late, Becket said to herself. Even if there was the juiciest target imaginable in front of her fleet, she had no intention of launching another attack. If the Karacknids couldn’t track her, then they wouldn’t be able to catch her. That was her hope at least.

*

IS Scharnhorst, 13th March 2484 AD (four weeks later).

The beeping of her COM unit woke Warnock in seconds. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was fully alert. Rolling onto her side she tapped the beeping device. “What is it?”

“We’ve got heavy traffic coming into the system Captain,” the officer of the watch informed her. “You’re going to want to see this.”

“On my way,” Warnock replied as she slid out of her bed onto her feet. In less than a minute she was dressed and stepping onto the bridge. “Report?” she requested.

“One hundred and fifty warships Captain. Eight battleships and six dreadnoughts. They are heading towards the eastern Valley shift passage,” Scharnhorst’s First Lieutenant reported.

Warnock nodded to her Lieutenant as she sat in her command chair. She peered up at the holo projection that filled the bridge. “I think we have our first customers,” she said as a grin spread across her face. For weeks and weeks her warship had lay dormant with her engines and main systems powered down. With Scharnhorst’s passive sensors they had watched squadron after squadron of Karacknid warships pass through the shift passage into the Valley. With each new group of ships her concern for Admiral Becket’s fleet grew. If the Karacknids were rushing out of the Valley again it could only mean one thing. Becket’s fleet was still alive and she was racing down the outer eastern edge of the dead zone. She had no idea exactly where Becket’s fleet would be, but that didn’t matter. Her mission was to disrupt any Karacknid attempt to intercept Becket and the fleet in front of her certainly counted. She couldn’t let them pass. “We’ll wait a couple of hours and then send the crew to battle stations. There’s no point getting anyone jumpy just yet. Have Lieutenant Hatum warmup the COM relay and run a full diagnostic. We don’t want it letting us down now.”

“Aye Admiral,” Scharnhorst’s First Lieutenant responded.

Over the next four hours Warnock watched the Karacknid fleet’s progress across the system. She wasn’t surprised when, an hour after first appearing, a second fleet jumped in behind them. With over a hundred freighters and a small number of escorts, she guessed it was the main fleet’s supply fleet. Their presence meant what she was about to do wouldn’t go unnoticed. The supply fleet would send messengers back to warn any other fleets that were coming this way. “We’re going to have to use everything we’ve got in this one attack,” she informed her officers when the Karacknid fleet was half an hour away from being able to jump out of the system. “Prioritize capital ships, as soon as we go active, we will update the mines with our targeting information. It’ll give away our position, but it will be too late for the Karacknids to chase us.”

Let’s see how cautious you are, she thought towards the Karacknid commander. Warnock was fully aware that Captain Kansas had deployed mines at the Western Lower Valley shift passage. Those mines had been programmed to engage ships coming into the Valley. Whilst no ships entering the Valley through the eastern shift passage in front of her had been attacked by mines, a cautious commander would check anyway. But one who wasn’t so cautious, Warnock hoped, why would they suspect we wanted to prevent them leaving? As the Karacknid fleet drew closer and closer and the number of warships that had their active sensors operating didn’t increase, Warnock’s hopes rose.

“They are not even making a token effort to look for mines,” Scharnhorst’s first officer commented.

“That’s fine by me,” Warnock responded. “Sixty seconds and then we will light them up… Now!” she ordered.

Before Scharnhorst’s reactors or engines came to life, her COM relay pulsed out a bevy of activation codes to the one thousand mines strewn across the entrance to the shift passage. Every single one of them came to life within two seconds. As soon as they powered up, their active sensors filled space around them as they sought out targets. Milliseconds before they fired, Warnock’s targeting priorities reached them. Locking on, each mine, which was really a missile pod, fired its four mark IV missiles. With the Karacknid fleet less than a handful of light seconds away, the missiles’ flight time was just under sixty seconds. The reaction of the Karacknid ships was good. Point defenses automatically hurled their destructive energies at the missiles. Yet four thousand missiles would have been enough to overwhelm their defenses in a normal engagement. With so little time to react, more than a thousand got close enough to detonate.

In just two seconds, three thousand grazer beams ripped into the Karacknid fleet. Explosions and secondary explosions lit up space all around Scharnhorst. When the commotion died down, there was hardly a ship left. Not one Karacknid capital ship had survived. Only a handful of destroyers and frigates remained and most of them had been hit by at least one grazer beam. “Jump us out,” Warnock snapped when one of the nearby destroyers turned towards her command. Almost before she had finished speaking, Scharnhorst disappeared into shift space. “Mission accomplished,” she said as she allowed pleasure to fill her voice. “Good work everyone. That is something the Karacknid survivors will not easily forget. Hopefully, it will slow down the next fleet that tries to pass through the shift passage as well. Good work,” she repeated as she looked around and smiled at her officers.

Now it’s time to get ourselves home, she thought. With no way of knowing where Becket’s fleet was, there was no point trying to rendezvous with her Admiral. Scharnhorst would have to operate on her own for a little while longer yet.

Chapter 32

It takes two years to train an Imperial Marine. This is partly due to the implants all marines who make it through the first eighteen months of the course receive, and partly due to the extremely high standards the Marines set. With hundreds of thousands of volunteers each month, the Marines can afford to be selective and after the First Antarian War their budget was more than tripled. This has increased the combat performance of the Imperial Marines considerably.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Marines’ Bozhou training facility, New Shanghai, 22nd April 2484 AD.

“All right, listen closely,” Johnston said far slower than he was used to. “The enemy is held up across the square in the second building. They are on the third or fourth floor. You need to lay down covering fire, move up and cut off their retreat. Then you can breach and clear the building. Understood?”

“Yes Colonel,” the marine cadet playing the role of the platoon’s Lieutenant replied. Standing beside him and facing Johnston, the platoon’s three acting sergeants nodded.

“This is your first combat simulation, use your heads and don’t let me down,” Johnston instructed them, though in reality he didn’t have very high expectations. Two platoons had already gone through the day’s training exercise. Neither had impressed. He had arrived at New Shanghai five weeks ago and been assigned the newest cadre of cadets. Three platoons of totally inexperienced civilians. Most of the training Johnston had put them through focused on physical conditioning and weapons handling. They were just beginning their combat and tactics training, and it showed.

“We won’t,” the acting Lieutenant promised with a naivety that forced Johnston to hide a cringe.

“Well then, get to it. The entire urban training facility is yours to utilize,” he replied, giving the cadets the only hint he had shared with the other two platoons. As the cadets flashed him a salute and turned to jog back to their platoon, Johnston gave a slight shake of his head. Then he turned and glanced towards the building he had pointed them to. Though he couldn’t see anything even with his augmented vision, it was easy to imagine the two squads of actual Imperial Marines that were holed up within the building. No doubt they were having a great time of it after dispatching both of Johnston’s previous platoons. Though outnumbered five to one, they had no problem dealing with the cadets. And they don’t even have their combat armor, Johnston thought with a sigh. All of the initial divisions of Imperial Marines had been put together from marine and army units from the former UN nations. Now that well of personnel had run dry. There were only civilians left to recruit from. Whilst volunteers were in no short supply, turning them into combat ready marines was a hard task. Especially in the timeframe Empress Christine had given the Marines to enlarge their numbers. Typically, it took a year of training before a marine could attempt to take the exams to pass out of basic training. That time had been reduced to eight months. That gave Johnston seven months to get his three platoons ready. At the moment he wasn’t entirely confident about his capability to do so.

Nevertheless, when his cadets began to move, Johnston nodded in approval. Two squads circled around the buildings that fronted the main square. It looked like they had been dispatched to cover the rear of the high-rise apartment the enemy combatants were in. His nod turned into a grimace when another squad moved into the nearest building. Johnston could easily guess what orders they had. Moments later they poked their heads out of the second and third floor windows and lay down fire on the enemy position. Below them, the remaining thirty cadets charged across the open square towards their targets, firing as they moved. From the enemy position, there wasn’t sight nor sound of the marines there. They could have cut down half of the charging cadets if they wanted, but it seemed they were happy to wait.

Pulling out his datapad, Johnston watch the engagement proceed on a 3D holo image of the training field. The positions of each of his cadets and the marines were clearly marked on it. Just as he had said, the marines were holed up in the third and fourth floors of the apartment complex. With at least a modicum of efficiency, his cadets closed in and surrounded the apartment complex. Then, with several squads laying down covering fire, four squads breached the front and rear ground floor entrances. With ease they cleared the first two floors of the apartment. Then things fell apart. As he was moving up the stairwell, one cadet triggered a plasma mine. In the distraction, two well-hidden marines opened fire on the rest of the squad. All five were taken out of the exercise without getting off a shot in reply.

The remaining cadets hurled flash bangs and grenades of their own into the windows and up the stairwell to the third floor. Then twenty of them charged. However, the marines had already retreated to the fourth floor. It allowed them to set off the simulated charges they had placed on the third floor. Half of the charging cadets were taken out. With a number of acting sergeants and squad leaders out of the exercise, cohesion quickly fell apart. Listening in to the platoon’s COM channel, Johnston heard the acting Lieutenant screaming out a hail of contradictory orders. It took nearly two minutes, but eventually what was left of the platoon advanced. Laying down as much covering fire as they could, they finished clearing the third floor and made their way up to the fourth. They encountered far stiffer resistance as a squad of marines refused to fall back. For two more minutes a stand-off developed as both sides exchanged copious amounts of simulated plasma bolts. To Johnston’s surprise, one marine was hit. He had gotten a little too cocky. In reply, another seven cadets had fallen. Then the marines counter attacked. The second squad that had disengaged used their rappel lines to swing across from their apartment to one of the adjacent ones. In a flash they descended the stairwells and fell upon the squad of cadets that had remained outside the building to lay down covering fire. Then, in perfect coordination, the first squad of marines charged from their positions just as the second squad entered the building and attacked the cadets’ rear. In the space of sixty seconds it was over. Every cadet had been hit and taken out of the exercise.

Johnston shook his head as the cadets picked themselves up and gathered in the square in front of the building. He had told the acting Lieutenant that the entire training facility was his to use. Any officer with half a brain should have known the marines would be expecting a frontal attack. The presence of plasma mines and explosive charges should have been assumed. The cadets could have entered the apartment complex from the roof of several of the nearby buildings or even matched the marines’ move and used their rappel lines to enter through the windows of one of the higher floors. They hadn’t attempted any kind of asymmetrical tactic. And now they were all dead. At least it’s just a simulation, Johnston thought as he moved to where the platoon of cadets had gathered. His first two platoons were moving to join them as well. They will learn. At least, they’d better, he added as he took in his cadets. Still shaking his head, Johnston stopped in front of them all. “There are one hundred and thirty of you here,” he said as he raised his voice to fill the square. “One hundred and thirty. And all you faced were eight fully trained Marines. You only managed two kill two of them. I’m not sure you even deserve the title of marine cadet. If this was a real battle and anything of significance had been riding on it, you would have lost spectacularly. Failure here could have meant the failure of a surprise attack, or the bogging down of a citywide combat mission. You don’t deserve a hover truck ride home. You’ll all be jogging back to the barracks. I expect everyone back within forty minutes.” A groan escaped from more than one cadet’s lips. Johnston had worked the platoon hard before bringing them to the urban training field. He had wanted them to go into combat fatigued. As his head whipped round to find the culprits, all their faces turned blank. Though his augmented reflexes made it easy to identify who had made the noises, Johnston chose to pretend he hadn’t. That was the one small measure of grace he would afford them. “Then, when you get back, you are each going to write up a tactical analysis of today’s training mission before lights out,” he continued. “I want to know exactly why you failed and how you would do things differently. Anyone’s analysis that is not up to standard will be giving me ten laps of the training field at zero five hundred tomorrow. Understood cadets?”

“Yes Colonel!” every cadet replied in unison.

Johnston nodded. “Very good. Now what are you all still standing here for?” he bellowed. The cadets grabbed their gear and formed up into platoons and squads. At the command of the acting Lieutenants, they broke into a jog as they moved through the urban training field towards the cadet barracks that was several miles away. Johnston nodded again as they disappeared from view. They might all be a sorry excuse for marine cadets now, but he wasn’t going to let them stay that way. If training marines was all he could do to protect the Empire, then that was what he would do.

An hour later and back at the barracks after overseeing the return of his cadets, Johnston emerged from the officer’s shower room. He was surprised to find a marine sergeant standing at attention waiting for him. “Colonel, Lieutenant General Wu wishes to speak to you immediately,” the marine informed him.

Johnston clamped his teeth together to hide his exasperation. “I’ll be there presently,” he informed the Sergeant. Wu commanded all of the Marine forces on New Shanghai. Whilst he wasn’t a bad commander, he had little combat experience and none fighting the Karacknids. Whether out of jealousy of Johnston’s experience or because he was intimidated, Wu constantly went out of his way to remind Johnston who was the ranking officer. Either that, or he simply doesn’t like me, Johnston thought as he reluctantly made his way to Wu’s command barracks.

“Colonel,” Wu said as Johnston stepped into his office. The General didn’t even bother to stand from his seat behind his desk. In response, Johnston ignored his gesture towards a seat facing him. “I’ve been reading a concerning report,” Wu continued after a moment’s pause. “Your cadre of cadets has the highest dropout rate amongst all the recruits. It’s the highest we’ve seen since we began training cadets on New Shanghai. I’m told one more dropped out just half an hour ago… You know I have to send regular training reports back to Earth. What am I supposed to tell them about your progress here?”

“You can tell them we’re turning soft, timid, desk junkies into marines,” Johnston replied, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. “Marines capable of going up against the Karacknids and winning. Not everyone is cut out for that. Not even close to everyone. I will not go easy on them just to boost our numbers. We need men and women who can take the fight to the Karacknids and kick ass. That’s what I’m doing here. That’s all you need to tell them.”

“You’re meant to be training your cadets to the agreed-upon standards,” Wu protested. “Standards I have set. Hundreds of marines have already passed through our training program. It is your job to match both the numbers and quality of graduate cadets each of the other instructors are setting. We have quotas to fill. Every Imperial colony near the front line does.”

“Then we need to expand our training cadres even more.” Johnston responded as he allowed himself to be drawn into the argument. “A higher attrition rate should be built into your plans. The Imperial Marines have standards. Standards that should not be compromised. I’m training my cadets to that standard. At any moment, any one of your divisions could be called up to join the invasion of a Karacknid world, or head to Alliance space and help defend one there. We need to be ready for when that time comes.”

“My marines will be ready; don’t you worry about that Colonel. As will I,” Wu shot back. “If you’re suggesting otherwise, I will take that as an insult and evidence of insubordination.”

For the briefest of moments, Johnston almost gave the General what he now realized he wanted. It was only because he knew Wu’s marines were actually well trained that he didn’t hurl a real insult at the General. “I hope they will be ready,” was the nicest thing he could bring himself to say. “When the time comes, I hope they will be,” he repeated as he turned and left the General’s office. He knew he hadn’t been dismissed, but he didn’t care. If he stayed any longer, one of them would end up saying something they couldn’t take back.

*

Thanks to the fact that Clare had moved to New Shanghai with him, they had their own apartment outside of the Marine base. Living in the city of Bozhou was a far cry from the Rockies of Montana. But it was a haven for Johnston, nonetheless. He was sure that getting away from Wu and his officers each evening was the only thing stopping him from losing his temper. When he stepped into the apartment, Clare was sitting in front of a computer terminal, clearly working on something. She paused and turned as he approached. “How was your day?” she asked as a wide smile spread across her lips.

“The same as yesterday, and the day before. Little by little they’re getting better, but it’s going to be a long process,” Johnston answered. Setting down his equipment in their spare room, he moved towards the kitchen. It was his turn to prepare dinner. “What have you been up to?” he asked.

“Nothing much,” she said from right behind him. As she spoke she rubbed his shoulders. “Just reviewing the Foundation’s investments in New Shanghai and Yagong. Our branch has been given a hundred million credits to expand our current investments. I’ve been added to the part of the team that is to determine where the money will be best put to use.”

“I couldn’t imagine anything more boring,” Johnston replied as he shook his head.

Clare squeezed his back a little harder than necessary. “Someone has to pay for all the equipment you jarheads use. Not to mention meet all the demands for war materials the fleet is crying out for.” Johnston shrugged, he knew he would only get himself in more trouble if he said anything else. Instead he grabbed a knife and started chopping onions. “You’re very tense tonight,” Clare said as she kept working on his shoulders. “You spoke to Wu again didn’t you?” When Johnston remained silent she squeezed his shoulder again. “What happened?”

“He had a concern about my training methods,” Johnston replied reluctantly. “I put him straight. We didn’t talk for very long really.”

Clare sighed. “He does sound like a pain in the ass.” She paused for a moment. When she spoke again she sounded a little more tentative. “But do you think maybe you are both at fault? You haven’t been in the best mood since we’ve come here and I’m sure it’s not easy for Wu to have such a decorated officer suddenly serving under him. A couple of months ago he would have been seen as your inferior… Maybe you still see things that way?”

Johnston didn’t like where Clare was going. She knew him too well. “How about I focus on making us something to eat?” he asked. “Then, once you’ve gotten some more energy into you, we can get to work on this baby you haven’t stopped talking about since we got here. You can leave the marine politics to me. How does that sound?”

Clare chuckled. “That sounds like you just deployed a diversionary strategy against me.” She slapped him on the shoulder. “But I’ll admit, it’s an effective one. You have a deal. For tonight at least. I suspect this may be a conversation we will come back to.”

Before Johnston could reply, his COM unit beeped. The pattern told him it was urgent. Pulling it out, he saw a message had been sent to his datapad. Moving over to the kitchen table he grabbed his datapad and sat down. Opening it he saw he had a flash alert. “What is it?” Clare asked as she followed him and sat down.

“I don’t know yet,” Johnston replied as he pulled up the file. He was certain it wasn’t going to be good news. He skimmed through it. When he was done, he set the datapad down and his hands tightened into fists. He was no expert in naval affairs, but he had picked up enough over the years to read the situation. James’ fleet was outnumbered and in trouble. Even if it made it back to friendly territory, what could so few ships do against so many? Memories flooded Johnston’s mind. Holstein was a very different colony to New Shanghai, but it would make no difference. The Karacknids were fierce warriors. They would crash over Wu’s marines like a cavalry charge from a millennium ago. The cost in marine and civilian lives would be horrendous.

“What is it?” Clare asked again.

“Operation Counterstrike hasn’t gone well,” Johnston began as he sketched out what General Wu had sent to his senior officers. “James’ fleet encountered a new Karacknid battlefleet of ten thousand warships. He sent a messenger frigate here with the news. He fears that the Karacknid fleet will drive his ships back towards Human space and attempt to conquer us.”

“Can they?” Clare asked, her voice rising.

“With ten thousand ships?” Johnston said as he turned to her. Slowly he nodded. “If they can bring that many, I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”

Clare’s face fell. “What is happening?”

Johnston glanced at his datapad. “Commodore Clayton is preparing the orbital defenses. Wu is activating the colony’s Militia and preparing the ground defenses. My cadets are to be reduced to half day training. The rest of the time we will be helping prepare the defenses.”

“They think the Karacknid battlefleet will come this way?” Clare followed up, her eyes widening.

“It’s a strong possibility. They attacked through the German colonies last time, but they may come against us. If they do, they’ll likely bring ground forces to occupy our colonies. We need to be ready to face them. If they attack us here, the longer we can hold them up, the more time we will buy for Earth.”

“What can I do?” Clare asked as her expression changed and determination filled her voice.

Johnston smiled at her reaction. It was easy to see her as the woman who had fought alongside his marines in the Haven resistance against the Indian occupation force. With an effort, he softened his features. “This time, you do nothing,” he said as he took her hands in his. “I’m putting you on the first shuttle back to Earth.”

Clare pulled her hands from his as she vigorously shook her head. “No way,” she insisted. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You are,” Johnston said as he used his faster reflexes and vice like grip to take Clare’s hands again. “This is not something we are going to argue about. I’ve already fought one battle against a Karacknid invasion force. I have no desire to do so again. But if I have to, I am not doing it with you here. If they come against us with as many ships as James says, there will be no relief force. They will take the colony and it may never be retaken. If I’m to fight and die here with my marines, I can’t do it knowing you are here too. You’re going back to Earth… There’s nothing you can do here, but if we can hold them up long enough, then you may be able to help us from there.” Johnston knew Clare wanted to argue with him. Gently he squeezed her hands. “Please, I can’t do my duty if you are here. When they come, they will not care about the rules of war or protecting civilians. I can’t have you here. There will be an evacuation, you must go with it.”

As tears ran down her cheeks, Clare nodded ever so slightly. Johnston pulled her into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered into her ear. “Thank you.”

Chapter 33

In modern times the Emperor and Empress are advised by a cadre of senior Admirals who form the Imperial Navy’s High Command. Often it is they who decide upon and carryout military strategy. In the first years of the Empire our leaders exercised their role as Head of the Military much more literally.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Palace, Earth, 7th May 2484 AD (two weeks later).

As naval officers filed past her into the briefing room, Christine held out her hand and stopped Koroylov. Despite the gravity of the situation, she gave him a brief smile. “I’m glad you are here with us,” she said to him.

Koroylov returned her smile, though his was far grimmer. “I’d say it was fortuitous, but given the news, I’m not so sure about that.”

“Someone has to take the lead, and you are who we need,” Christine replied. Koroylov had returned to Earth from Alpha-one Fort less than a week ago as his flagship underwent a routine maintenance and upgrade cycle. Just an hour ago James’ messenger frigate had arrived with news of the Karacknid battlefleet he had encountered. Christine had appointed Koroylov as the senior commander of all of the Empire’s forces outside of those that were part of the Counterstrike Fleet. He had commanded Earth’s defenses during the first Karacknid invasion. Though Earth had been nuked by the Karacknids, Christine had every confidence in him. Besides her husband and Admiral Lightfoot, he was the best commander Humanity had.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Koroylov replied as he gave Christine a slight bow., “but I will do my duty for my Empress.”

Christine patted his forearm and gestured with her head for him to head into the briefing room. When all of the naval officers and her Inner Council were present, she moved to the head of the oval table. “The situation is dire,” she said as soon as she sat. There was no time to waste with pleasantries. “Admiral Koroylov, your staff will understand just how dire better than me. Please, brief the rest of us and then we must take any and every action we can to prepare ourselves. I’ve already sent word to Varanni Prime. We can update them with our plans as soon as we are done here. I’m hoping they will be able to dispatch a fleet in time.” With the Kulrean tachyon pulse generator, Christine knew that Admiral Jorum would already be reading James’ report. She had no idea how many ships the Alliance had near their border with Human space, but she had pleaded with him to send all of them.

“Thank you Empress,” Koroylov said formally. “None of us have had long to analyze and think through the Emperor’s news but given the nature of what he has informed us about, it does not take much of an imagination to foresee what is likely to happen. The best-case scenario is that the Karacknid battlefleet does not have the necessary supplies to launch an immediate attack. If the late Commodore Scott’s guess was correct and the battlefleet has come from another theatre of war, then they will have used up a lot of fuel traveling to the Karacknid HQ system. Added to this, Operation Counterstrike caused a lot of disruption to the Karacknid supply situation in and around their HQ system. It may be that Emperor Somerville inadvertently disrupted the build-up of supplies that must have been going on in preparation for the battlefleet’s arrival. If this is the case, then it may be several months, likely six to nine, before the full Karacknid battlefleet moves against us. However, there are indications that we will not be so lucky. We know that the Karacknid battlefleet was willing to immediately pursue Emperor Somerville’s fleet out of the HQ system. That suggests they are at least ready to begin limited offensive operations. That brings us to the worst-case scenario. If the enemy battlefleet has continued to pursue our Emperor’s forces, they could be here within two months.”

As Koroylov paused, Christine looked at her gathered advisers. Shock and dismay was written on many faces. Yet there was a hardness there too. They had been living under the threat of a second Karacknid attack for more than two years. They had prevented one less than a year ago, but everyone had known it would come sooner or later. Operation Counterstrike had been meant to buy them time, but they had known it could only delay the inevitable. As the silence lingered, Christine forced herself to speak. “We must operate under the assumption that we have only two months,” she said as she looked from face to face, holding each person’s gaze for a second or two. “We cannot underestimate this threat. Anything and everything that we can do must be done to stop this Karacknid battlefleet. We all know the stakes at play here. If we fail it will be the end of our civilization. The first question we must answer is,” Christine continued as she finished working her way around her advisers and returned her eyes to Koroylov, “what direction of attack do we expect them to take?”

Koroylov glanced over to Nogamoro. “There’s no way to know for sure Empress,” the Japanese Admiral answered. “Admiral Lightfoot failed to attack their supply base at Jaranna. With it still intact, the shortest route here would be through Alpha-one Fort and German colonial space like their previous attack. This would also mean that if the Karacknids plan to push on towards the Alliance’s unprotected flank, their supply route would be relatively short. However, the battlefleet is pursuing the Emperor’s fleet. If they continue to do that, then they would come at us through Alpha-two or Alpha-three. They would then have to push through Japanese or Chinese colonial space. At present we can only guess at what they will do. As more updates come in from Emperor Somerville we will have a more accurate picture. But it may take a few weeks to know one way or the other.”

“Three potential lines of advance,” Fairfax commented, his concern evident. “We do not have the resources to adequately defend one, never mind three.”

“Indeed we do not,” Koroylov agreed. “But you are forgetting one thing. Emperor Somerville will know the dilemma we face. He will do whatever he can to lure the Karacknid battlefleet after him. That means we must risk making the assumption the Karacknid route will be via the Alpha-two Fort. It would be my advice that we make our plans on this assumption.”

“Whatever fortified system they come through; does it really matter?” McCarthy asked. “Those forts were designed to hold back a Karacknid fleet of one thousand warships. And only for long enough to buy us time to pull ships to cover such an incursion. Can any of them, even with the reinforcements we might rush to them, hold up to a fleet of ten thousand ships?”

“No,” Koroylov answered decisively. “It is impossible. We do not have the time nor the resources. That is why my second recommendation is that we abandon the border forts immediately. We should pull back our forces from each of them and concentrate them along the Karacknids’ predicted line of advance.”

“But if your prediction is wrong,” Fairfax complained as he turned to Christine, wide-eyed. “If the Karacknid fleet takes another route. Or even if one of their border fleets notices our forts are abandoned, the Karacknids could push into our colonies uncontested.”

Christine nodded to her Chief of Staff, she shared Fairfax’s concern. Turning to Koroylov she raised an eyebrow. Koroylov cleared his throat. “Either we risk the colonies, or we accept Earth will fall,” he said unapologetically. “You cannot protect both. I do not know what our chances are at saving Earth, slim though they most certainly are, they will be none if we do not concentrate our forces.”

Christin’s jaw tightened. She had sworn to protect all of her Empire’s citizens. Yet she knew she had no choice. She had to listen to Koroylov. “Very well,” she relented, though it pained her greatly to abandon so many of her citizens. “You may send orders to pull back all of our border fleets. If we cannot hold the border forts, then where will we make our stand? If we fight in the Sol system we will risk the Karacknids destroying everything we have built up since their last attack.”

Leaning forward, Koroylov activated the room’s holo projector. “This is what I am proposing,” he said as an image of the border regions with Karacknid space appeared in front of everyone. New Shanghai was in the center of the image. “If the Karacknids pursue Emperor Somerville and he falls back along his supply lines, then he will fall back to New Shanghai. A lot of work has gone into building up the system’s defenses. It is our most heavily populated colony along the frontline with the Karacknids. If we can get enough reinforcements to New Shanghai and Somerville manages to extract his fleet largely intact, we may attempt to make a stand here. At the very least, we may be able to delay the Karacknids long enough for our allies to come to our aid.”

“What do you mean?” Commoner Nicholls asked. “How can you delay a fleet of ten thousand ships. Even if we pull back our border fleets, we will not have the numbers to match them.”

“No, we will certainly not,” Koroylov said as he shared another glance with Nogamoro. “But we have other ways of fighting the Karacknids. What I and Admiral Nogamoro wish to propose is a complete mobilization of our military and civilian transportation networks.”

“To what end?” the leader of the Loyalist party in the House of Commons asked.

“To tow and transport as many orbital battlestations, defense satellites, space fighters, and Imperial Marines to New Shanghai as possible. Also to convert all the freighters and civilian craft we do not need for transportation into armed military ships. We do not have the time to arm them with anti-ship missiles launchers, but we can mount as many point defenses on them as we can get our hands on. If we can fortify the system with thousands of defense satellites and fighters and add our own fleet to the defense, we may be able to present the Karacknid battlefleet with a nut it cannot crush in one go. If our fleet is based there, they will not be able to pass by New Shanghai and strike at Earth for our fleet will threaten their rear supply lines. Our border forts are too far away to attempt to reinforce them in this way in the time we have, but it may be possible with New Shanghai. We have hundreds of battlestations and thousands of defense satellites and fighters throughout our colonies. If we can concentrate them at one point and force the Karacknids to fight us there, we may be able to hold them off long enough for help to come.”

“What you’re talking about isn’t just pulling back our warships from the other colonies, it’s abandoning them entirely,” Christine said, shocked at the desperation in Koroylov’s voice. She knew the situation was dire, but Koroylov was making it sound even worse than she had believed.

“Unless we throw everything we have at this Karacknid battlefleet, we will lose,” Koroylov said as he leveled his gaze at Christine. “We must do this or we will lose,” he pleaded.

Christine swallowed hard. She was already committed and there was only one answer she could give. Nevertheless, it didn’t come easy. “Of course, I’ll have my cabinet draw up the necessary orders immediately.”

“Thank you,” Koroylov said as his shoulders slumped. “I will have my staff pass on to you everything we think we will need. It goes without saying that requests must be sent out to all of our allies and friends. We need everything the Alliance, the Vestarians, and the Conclave can send us. And we need them on their way immediately. They may not be in time to help us defend New Shanghai, but if we can slow the Karacknids, they may be the only warships left to defend Earth.”

Christine felt her heart skip a couple of beats at the gravity of Koroylov’s words. It sounded like he didn’t expect to survive the coming battle. If he didn’t think he would, then he likely thought James wouldn’t either.

“You plan to head to New Shanghai?” Fairfax asked.

“Immediately,” Koroylov replied. “Nogamoro can work out the finer details of what we need and follow with Home Fleet as soon as it’s ready to depart. But if I am to organize the defense of the system, I would like to depart today. I need to get a proper lay of the land and see what condition the defenses are in. I can send regular reports back to update you on exactly what we are going to need.”

“If that’s what you think you need to do, then you may depart as soon as my staff officers and yours are content we know what you need,” Christine said to Koroylov. “Rest assured, we will be reaching out to all our allies. Even the Kulreans. It may be that they have other worldships that they could send here. Maybe we could even convince them to send the two they have in orbit to New Shanghai. Surely that would make the difference?”

Koroylov shook his head. “Against ten thousand Karacknid warships, we’d need ten or maybe even twenty worldships to turn the tide but everything we can get will help. So you may try. Without Superintendent Hallock here I doubt they’ll send more ships. But anything is worth trying at this stage.”

“I will try,” Christine promised. With the tachyon pulse generator, she could send a message to Hallock within the hour. She had no doubt he would sympathize with their plight, but she knew that the two worldships that were orbiting Earth had cost Hallock all the political capital he had with his own species. Surely ten thousand warships will change their minds? Christine had no doubt that if the Karacknids conquered Earth and Varanni Prime, Kulthar would be next on their list of targets. “Is there anything else we need to discuss at this stage?”

“There is one thing,” Fairfax said, though he didn’t meet Christine’s eyes. “Colonel Johnston. Koroylov mentioned shipping Marines to New Shanghai. If we are expecting some kind of ground battle, surely he should command our forces.”

Christine screwed up her face. “How likely is a ground invasion?” she asked Koroylov.

Koroylov shook his head. “That I cannot answer. The Karacknids landed troops on Holstein when they took that colony. Yet they brought none when they attacked Earth.”

“Then why request marines?” Christine pressed.

“Because we will need all the help we can get,” Koroylov answered. “Marine ground divisions are equipped with ground-based weapons that can strike ships in orbit. At the very least those weapons will be helpful to us. In the event that the Karacknids do land troops, the more marines we have on the planet the better. If they do land troops it will be because they want to secure the colony before advancing. The longer we can prevent them from doing that, the more time we buy ourselves. And if that eventuality does arise, then I concur with Fairfax. There is no one more qualified to command our Marines in such a battle than Colonel Johnston.”

Christine let out a deep breath of frustration. “I demoted him not three months ago and now you would have me reinstate him?”

Though she was looking at Koroylov, Fairfax was the one who answered. “You heard what the Admiral said; we need to throw everything we have against this Karacknid battlefleet. Sure it will turn heads if you promote him so quickly. Your justice will look empty. But if Earth falls, who will care?”

“Fine,” Christine said. She refused to turn to Fairfax. “Write up the orders and they can go with Koroylov to New Shanghai today. But his promotion is only temporary. If we all survive this he will still have to face up to what he did.”

“Of course Empress,” Fairfax said quickly. “Now Admiral, is there anything else we can do for you?”

Koroylov looked at everyone in the briefing room and shook his head. “I don’t think so. As long as everyone understands the significance of the situation we are in and the importance of what we are asking. Every effort from every branch of our government and all of the Empire’s citizens is needed. When the Karacknids last attacked us, we were not ready. We’re not ready now, but at least we have some warning. We must use it.”

Christine followed Koroylov’s gaze as he looked around at her Inner Council and the naval officers that were present. It was clear from the way they nodded to Koroylov or met his eyes that they all understood. “We are all with you in this Admiral,” she said for them all. Her frustration at having to deal with Johnston was already forgotten. “We cannot go with you to New Shanghai, but we will do our utmost to see that you get every possible help we can send your way.” And let us hope and pray it is enough, Christine said to herself as she read both gratitude and doubt in Koroylov’s eyes. Please let it be enough.

Chapter 34

If one can choose one’s place of battle they should. Every single time. Never fight the enemy on his chosen battlefield unless there is no other choice. Too many times naval engagements have been won before the first shots have been fired because of failing to heed this advice. The War of Doom is replete with such examples. We will consider all of them as we continue to examine the major engagements of the war.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Slayer, Karran system, 28th March 2484 AD (two months previous).

As Slayer slipped out of shift space into the system the Allied Fleet had fled to, Tanaka-lang’s gaze settled on his enemy. Almost as if they were goading him, one thousand five hundred Allied ships were sitting stationary at the far end of the system. They hadn’t retreated any further, but they were clearly not interested in engaging his battlefleet. They are not so foolish, Tanaka-lang reminded himself. Since arriving at Jaranna he had read every battle report from the entire war. He was all too aware that Karacknid Admirals had been bested more than once by a number of enemy commanders. But not this time, he promised. On the journey from the Farmang system he had reviewed the condition of his battlefleet. His ships had used up much of their fuel traveling to the fleet base the allies had attacked. The many freighters and a handful of convoys the allies had destroyed hadn’t helped things either. Even so, he had determined they had enough fuel and munitions for four thousand warships to pursue the Allied Fleet. When more supplies could be scraped together, additional ships could follow. Tanaka-lang was also waiting on reinforcements from the Imperial homeworld. Four battle carriers had been promised him. They and several hundred escorts were due to arrive in a month or so. Even more were to come after that. As Tanaka-lang stared at the Human fleet, he considered his options. The only fighters he currently had available were based on orbital hangers. He had none that could travel with the fleet. Given how dangerous he knew the enemy fighters to be, that gave him pause. Especially as he knew Slayer would be the primary target in any fighter attack. His oversized dreadnought would attract a lot of attention.

Tanaka-lang had planned to launch his invasion of Human space from the Jaranna system but his enemies had presented him with an opportunity too good to pass up. It meant moving up his timetable, but if he was cautious, that wouldn’t matter. He had already dispatched two thousand ships towards the front line with the Alliance species. His commanders had orders to stop the attack the Alliance fleets had launched. If possible, they would begin their own counterattacks as well. If he could, he wanted to keep the Alliance’s eyes away from the frontline with the Humans for as long as possible. His remaining four thousand ships would have to wait in the Farmang system. But as new supplies of fuel arrived he had left orders for them to be dispatched forward. It would start as a trickle, but his numbers would quickly swell. And by then I’ll have my first carriers, Tanaka-lang thought as he looked at the enemy fleet and showed his teeth.

“Begin moving the fleet forward,” he ordered one of his officers. “Make sure every squadron commander knows they are not to break formation unless given express instructions.”

“At once High Admiral,” the officer replied.

Tanaka-lang’s razor-sharp claws extended to scratch his command chair as his fleet began to move. He was certain the Humans would want to goad him into fighting. If they could split his fleet and engage it in sections, they could whittle down his numbers. That, or they will try to trade space for time. Whilst they may try either, Tanaka-lang had no intention of playing their games. With his four thousand warships in a tight ball, there was nothing they could do to seriously hamper his progress. He didn’t doubt they would try, but they would fail. Run back to your worlds, he thought towards his enemy. Run back to them and watch us ravage everything you have built.

*

IS Drake (two hours previous).

“Thank you all for coming,” James said to his officers as he took his seat amongst them. He had every one of his senior commanders in Drake’s main conference room. After racing across the system they had retreated to from the Karacknids’ HQ base, his fleet was sitting stationary, ready to jump to the next system at a moment’s notice. They were waiting to see what the Karacknids would do next. Simply reacting to the enemy was not how James wanted to play things however. Hence the conference. “We were not to know it,” he continued, failing to hide the sorrow he felt for Scott’s loss. “But Operation Counterstrike was doomed from the get-go. As dire as the situation is, at least we know about this Karacknid battlefleet. If we had not launched Counterstrike, we would still be in the dark.”

“We have paid a heavy price for the information, but you’re right Admiral,” Ya’sia agreed. “It is better to know the trouble one is in than to go blind to it. I believe your species has a saying, ‘ignorance is bliss;’ that is not the case here.”

“It is not,” James said as he gave Ya’sia a thankful nod. “And so here we are. There’s no way to know what the Karacknids had planned for their battlefleet, but now that we have struck at them, we must assume they intend to counterattack. With ten thousand ships, the Karacknids can push all the way to Earth. If our capital falls, then the rest of our colonies will lose cohesion. If they wanted to, the Karacknids could then threaten the Alliance’s eastern flank. If the Alliance has to stretch its defenses to cover such a vast area, they will be too weak. The Karacknids could push through their frontlines at several places with ease. That is our situation. Therefore, our only chance is to stop the Karacknids reaching Earth. The future of our species rests on our success.” Pausing to let the seriousness of his words sink in, James glanced at his fellow Admirals. They didn’t need him to explain things further, they could all read the strategic situation. Taking a breath, he continued, “Whilst we are outnumbered, we do have some space we can trade for time. There are sixteen shift passages between here and Alpha-two Fort. If we can, I intend to contest every single one of them. We are not going to risk our fleet if we can help it, but we must delay this monstrous fleet. I’m eager to hear all of your thoughts.”

“Perhaps the situation may not be quite as dire as we fear,” Jil’lal suggested. When James frowned at her, she raised her four arms in a gesture of conciliation. “If Commodore Scott was right and this battlefleet has come from another theatre of war, then they will have travelled a long distance. We know we have disrupted the Karacknid’s supply situation. It may be that this battlefleet may not be able to advance for several weeks or even a month or two. We may have more time than we think.”

“That is a hopeful thought,” Ya’sia replied. “One I hope you are proven correct on. Yet we cannot base our future strategies on the hope we may have more time, especially given how many supply convoys Commodore Scott detected following the Karacknid battlefleet.”

“That is not my suggestion,” Jil’lal said, James picked up the hint of irritation in her body language. “What I’m saying is this, it is at least a safe assumption that supplies may be limited for this battlefleet. Especially fuel. That would suggest two strategies that we should pursue. One,” Jil’lal said as she raised one of her hands. “As we fall back towards our space we should employ what Human military books call a scorched earth strategy. Every supply dump, fuel mining station and refinery we encounter should be destroyed. Additionally, I suggest we send out fast raiding squadrons that can hit any in nearby systems as well. Two,” another hand rose. “We might try and sneak a squadron behind the Karacknid battlefleet. If they continue to bring supply convoys with them, we could attempt to take out several of them. That may buy us several weeks or more if we are successful.”

James smiled at Jil’lal. “Both strategies are exactly the kind of response we need. I hope you are correct about your estimate of their supply condition. But even if you’re not, the more we can do to reduce their ability to advance into our space the better.” Turning to Miyagi, James shared a glance with his Chief of Staff. “I’ll have my people begin to draw up plans for raiding squadrons.” Miyagi nodded in response.

“I’d like to volunteer to lead any force that will stay behind to attack Karacknid convoys,” Rear Admiral Suarez offered. Reaching forward he activated the conference room’s holo projector. Moments later a map of the nearby systems appeared. “Human ships still have the best stealth technologies within our fleet. If I take a squadron of light cruisers and destroyers, we could hide and let the main Karacknid battlefleet pass us by. Then, after we hit a convoy or two, we could skirt around the Karacknid battlefleet through these systems. As long as we are not delayed, we could catch up with you before you leave Karacknid space.”

“And if you don’t?” Ya’sia asked, “We’d be without your ships when we have to fight the Karacknid battlefleet, which we will sooner or later.”

Suarez shrugged. “If we don’t make it out, then we will do whatever we can to make a nuisance of ourselves. If our actions can delay the Karacknids by a couple of weeks or more, it would be worth the loss of our ships.”

That, James knew, was true. Even so, leaving Suarez’s ships in a system to hide and hope the Karacknid battlefleet passed them by was quite the risk. Never mind hoping that they would be able to get ahead of the main Karacknid battlefleet again. If he did send out raiding squadrons as he retreated, no doubt there would be several Karacknid fleets trying to hunt them down. Suarez could easily get trapped behind enemy lines. “Dispatching ships from our main force like that is not something I’m keen on,” he admitted to Suarez. “But it may be necessary. There is another factor to consider though,” he continued as he gestured towards the holo map. “Sooner or later the Karacknid border fleets to our east will find a way around our gravity well cruisers. You could end up bumbling into one of them as you try to fall back.”

Suarez twisted his face as he looked up to consider the holo map. “True,” he agreed. “But that is a threat we all face. One could get between our main fleet and our line of retreat as well.”

James smiled at Suarez’s point. “It could, but I’m hoping our scouts will be up to the task of giving us ample warning. If you lead this stealth attack, you will not have the same luxury. What do the rest of you think?” he asked as he turned to draw the other commanders into the discussion. The conversation went back and forth as each Admiral argued the merits of dispatching a force to try and sneak behind the Karacknid battlefleet. One of the key points of contention became the size of the force. To take on the escorting forces of the convoys Scott had detected, the force would have to be sizeable, at least sixty or more ships. In actual fact, James suspected it would need to be even bigger. When Scott had detected them; the convoys had been traveling through the inner parts of the Karacknid empire. It was safe to assume their escorts would be strengthened as they neared the borders of Karacknid space. As the debate continued, James turned his attention to Lightfoot. As yet, he hadn’t weighed in one way or another. When Lightfoot noticed his gaze, James glanced at Suarez and raised an eyebrow. Suarez had been Lightfoot’s Flag Captain not long ago. With a slight nod, Lightfoot told James everything he needed to know. If Suarez had Lightfoot’s confidence, then James was content. A part of him wanted to send a lesser commander on the mission for he knew that if it came to a large-scale fleet battle, Suarez’s skills would be desperately needed. Yet the better the commander he sent on the mission, the more chance they would have of coming back. For another couple of minutes James let the discussion continue as the consensus began to settle on releasing a fleet to hit the Karacknid convoys.

“It is settled then,” James said as he re-joined the conversation, glad that he didn’t need to argue the point himself. “We will dispatch Suarez with a squadron to attempt to take out a Karacknid convoy or two.” As he spoke, he fixed Suarez with a level gaze and emphasized the word two. He didn’t want Suarez risking everything to take out more than his squadron would be able to handle. “Miyagi, Suarez and I can work out the finer details of what ships we will dispatch. We’ll not be able to do it right away in any case. We’ll have to wait until we are dispatching other ships to raid nearby systems. Suarez’s force can pretend to be one of the squadrons we dispatch and go into hiding instead. Now…” James said as he paused to give the Admirals time to think. “That gives some of our smaller ships something to do. We still have our main fleet. What are the rest of us to do?”

“There is an inevitability about the Karacknid’s numbers that means I’m not sure we can delay them,” Lightfoot said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. James turned to his friend in surprise. As the last Karacknid invasion fleet had advanced towards Earth, he had led a small squadron though a series of brilliant tactical moves that had bought vital time for Earth’s defenders. James had been counting on Lightfoot’s keen mind to do the same now. “Even if they only bring half their fleet,” Lightfoot continued, unaware of James’ thoughts. “That’s five thousand warships. Yes, we can try a few sneaky tactics here and there, but the main bulk of the Karacknid fleet will keep rolling forward. Unless we can engage them in a full battle, there is not much we can do.”

“Surely there is,” Vice Admiral Klack insisted. “What about our gravity well cruisers? We could redeploy them from the eastern shift passages to delay the Karacknid battlefleet. We could hold them off for weeks with them.”

Lightfoot glanced at James. James knew what was coming. He had already considered and dismissed the gravity well cruisers. At least in the short term. “And if we pull them back from the eastern shift passages?” Lightfoot asked. “Then the Karacknid fleet there would close in behind us. We’d be trapped and then what good would we be to Earth’s defenders? Plus, the gravity well cruisers would be trapped as well. We’d lose them within a month. Then the Karacknids would press on without having to worry about us.”

“There’s another problem,” James added as it looked like Klack was going to argue. “If we did redeploy them and we successfully stopped the Karacknid battlefleet from traveling through shift space, then the Karacknid commander may decide to redeploy his fleet. If I had to guess, I’d imagine that the Karacknids’ initial plan was to sortie their battlefleet from Jaranna either against Alliance space or Earth via the Holstein system. If we slowed their battlefleet here and they did redeploy, they would be able to strike at Earth or Alliance territory before we could get back in time. They have the advantage of shorter travel times over us. I don’t want to encourage the Karacknid commander to entertain such thoughts.”

Klack looked like he wanted to say more, but after a glance towards Ya’sia, the Varanni bowed his head slightly. “That is one possibility I had not considered. But once we pull back into your space, then surely we should deploy them?”

James smiled, “That is exactly when they will be the most use.”

“What about our missile pods?” Jil’lal asked, as James turned, he saw she was looking at Lightfoot. “We could modify them and use them as mines. That ought to give the Karacknid battlefleet a surprise. At the very least it would make them more cautious.”

Lightfoot gave Jil’lal a conciliatory nod. “That is one sneaky trick we can certainly attempt. At best though it will buy us a few hours, perhaps a day. I’m sure the Karacknid battlefleet will be deploying hundreds of scouts in each system before it jumps in. If we do manage to surprise them with some mines, they’d have to take some extra time checking each new system, but that should be relatively simple.”

“It is something we can attempt,” James said as Jil’lal looked his way. “Are you saying there’s nothing else?” he asked Lightfoot. James felt Lightfoot’s mood getting him down. Despite the size of the Karacknid fleet, he didn’t want to give in to despair. Lightfoot wasn’t helping in that regard.

“I’m not saying there’s nothing else,” Lightfoot said as he sat a little straighter. “Just that we have to accept this battlefleet is going to reach our border as soon as they want to. Unless…” Lightfoot paused as he turned his chair to fully face James. “Unless we are willing to try something audacious. Something that will risk all of our ships.”

James grinned as he saw the Lightfoot he had been hoping for appear. “Go on,” he demanded as his grin remained. His despair had lifted.

Chapter 35

Whilst only used sparingly; gravity well cruisers were deployed at crucial times during the War of Doom. That surprises many naval cadets for they are prevalent and well known on the modern battlefield. With only the smallest of updates they still play a key part in many battle tactics.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake.

Three extremely risky ideas were being hotly debated. Whilst Lightfoot’s initial idea seemed to be the most popular, his ingenuity had given rise to two other strategies as more people began to think outside the box. Unsurprisingly, the debate was largely between the Human Admirals and Ya’sia, Klack and the other Alliance commanders. Despite their more recent experience of warfare against the Karacknids, the Alliance officers were more risk adverse than James, Lightfoot, and Suarez. James was all too aware that most of his officers had spent the better part of the last two decades risking their lives time and time again. He didn’t know whether that made them numb to the dangers of Lightfoot’s strategy or if it gave them an edge over Ya’sia and Klack. Eventually, James decided he needed to bring the discussion to a close, they couldn’t spend all day arguing. Not when the Karacknids were likely to be close on their heels. “At this point I’m leaning heavily in favor of pursuing Lightfoot’s suggestion,” he said loud enough to be heard over the ongoing conversations. “We will sim it and the two other potential strategies and see how they play out. Then I will make my final decision. You all can send me any further thoughts you have on each strategy. For now, I think we should be heading back to our ships.”

Before anyone could respond to him, James and Captain Fisher’s COM units beeped urgently. “What is it?” James said after activating his unit.

“Admiral, the Karacknid battlefleet has just appeared,” an officer said hastily. “I’ve sent the sensor data to your conference room.”

“Thank you,” James said as he reached for the room’s holo projector. With a tap, it changed from showing a couple of potential places where Lightfoot’s strategy could be employed to the system they were in. Four thousand contacts were visible at the far end of the system. Slowly but methodically they were moving straight towards Drake’s position. “Four thousand,” James said. He turned to catch Jil’lal’s eyes. “You may have been onto something,” he said to her. “Maybe they don’t have the supplies to bring their whole fleet.”

“No, perhaps not,” Jil’lal said as she gave him a nod of thanks. “But four thousand is still enough ships to break through all our defenses.”

“Yes,” James replied as a measure of enthusiasm filled his voice. “But if we can whittle that number down, or better yet, if Suarez can cut their supplies even more,” he added as he slapped Suarez on the back. “Then maybe we can reduce them to a size we can handle.” Though he tried to sound more confident than he felt, James guessed from the looks in most of the officers’ eyes that he wasn’t succeeding. Even if the Karacknids only had four thousand now, they could have more following. And even if they don’t, as soon as they get the supplies they need, they soon will. Even so, four thousand was far better than five or six or ten. It was a start. We’ll have to make the best of it, James thought. Even if the others weren’t optimistic, he was determined to be. “All right everyone, back to your ships. We’ll fall back through a couple more systems and then we’ll begin to put our plans into action. I hope we will get to see each other all again in happier times,” he added as he began to shake hands and bow to the commanders as they rushed out of the conference room. As he expected, Ya’sia was the last to leave. “Admiral,” James said as he gave her a slight bow. “You have some additional thoughts on Lightfoot’s suggestion?”

Ya’sia shook her head. “I get that we have to take risks. I don’t like it, but it is your homeworld that is under direct threat. No, I wanted to discuss something else. It is something Alliance High Command has explored. In the event that our borders are breached and our homeworlds seriously threatened, we have plans to evacuate a small fleet and several colony ships. If we have to, we are making preparations to run from the Karacknids and set up a new base far from here. One where we will have the time to prepare to face them again.”

James stared at Ya’sia, mouth open. It sounded like she was admitting defeat. No, not just her, the entire Alliance High Command, James thought as he shook his head. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked as he tried to make sense of what Ya’sia had said.

Ya’sia turned and gestured towards the holo image that showed the Karacknid battlefleet. “Even if they only have four thousand now, that number will rise. If we cannot stop them before they get to Earth, your homeworld will fall. If it does, I have little hope the Alliance can defend our own territory. When news of this Karacknid battlefleet reaches Alliance High command I believe they will put their evacuation plan in motion.” When James opened his mouth to complain, Ya’sia cut him off. “I’m not saying we will give up. We will fight to the last. But we must be wise. The future of all of our species is at stake. Think about how much the Mindus helped us. In passing on their technological base to us they have given us a massive step up against the Karacknids. If we can flee and find new friends and allies and assist them, they may be able to stand against the Karacknids where we have failed.”

“I still don’t know why you’re telling me this,” James complained.

“Because you’re not just an Admiral in your species’ Navy, you are your people’s Emperor. I think your species should prepare to evacuate some of your citizens, your technologies, and your culture. Your people can go with mine, or we might go our separate ways to better our chances of survival. But either way, you should make the necessary preparations.”

James shook his head again. “There’s no way I’m doing that” he almost spat at Ya’sia. “That would be admitting we have already been beaten. We are a long way from that.”

“I agree,” Ya’sia said calmly. “But if or when this battlefleet reaches your homeworld, it will be too late. These are preparations that should be made now. Made in the hope that they will not be needed, but made, nonetheless. You are your species’ Emperor; you have a duty to your people that goes beyond commanding warships and fighting battles.” James was still shaking his head when Ya’sia placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not trying to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. I just thought you should know. You can think on it. Perhaps you should inform Christine of our plans. She may have thoughts of her own on the idea.”

James grimaced at Ya’sia; he knew what she was doing. It wasn’t hard for him to picture Christine’s response. Though she would be horrified by the idea of being defeated, she would quickly see the wisdom in preparing for the worst. Deep down, James saw it too, but the warrior in him did not want to admit that. A glance at the Karacknid battlefleet told him that time was of the essence. Reaching a hand up he gently lifted Ya’sia’s hand off his shoulder and squeezed hers as he stepped aside for her to pass him. “I will give it some thought, I promise,” he told her. “For now though, I’ll let you go back to your ship.”

“Of course Admiral, you only have to ask and I will send you the files on the preparations we have made,” Ya’sia said as she gave James another bow.

James returned her gesture and waved as she left the conference room. Then he shook his head. He would have to request those files now, even if he didn’t want them. Ya’sia would be insulted if he didn’t. Once again, he turned to the Karacknid battlefleet. You will not destroy my homeworld, he thought angrily, not while I still live. Even as he allowed his anger to boil, he felt a twinge of guilt. He was Humanity’s Emperor, fighting and dying was only one of his responsibilities. With a sigh he left the conference room and headed for Drake’s bridge. Ya’sia’s conversation had not lightened his mood at all. Yet he didn’t have time to wallow in his thoughts, he needed to get his fleet out of the system ASAP.

*

IS Mjolnir, 7th April 2484 AD (eleven days later).

Rear Admiral Suarez intently stared at the holo projection. He knew what it was showing intimately, but he didn’t want to look left or right. If he did, one of his staff officers or Mjolnir’s bridge officers would catch his eye. Given what was in front of him, he didn’t trust his emotions. Four days ago, he had transferred his flag to the medium cruiser Mjolnir. Then, along with eighty other warships, they had broken away from Somerville’s fleet and gone into stealth. For two full days they had watched as the Karacknid battlefleet slowly passed through their system and jumped out in pursuit of the Emperor’s fleet. It had taken another eighteen hours for the first Karacknid convoy to appear. Suarez was looking at it now. He is not taking any risks, Suarez thought as he imagined the orders the Karacknid commander had given the convoy escorts. When Commodore Scott had spotted the convoys, each had consisted of approximately one hundred freighters and had been guarded by thirty warships. Understandably, the convoys had been combined into much larger ones of four hundred. It made them more unwieldy, but they were easier to defend as they approached the frontline. However, instead of the expected one hundred and twenty escorts, the convoy in front of Suarez had two hundred and twenty. Crucially, two battlecruisers sat at the center of the force that was leading the convoy. There has to be a way, Suarez said to himself. There has to be. Though his force was outnumbered two to one, he had to at least try and hit the convoy. If he went back now, he’d have to go through several systems in a wide arc around the Karacknid battlefleet. It would be weeks before he could re-join Somerville’s fleet. That was fine if he managed to take out some freighters. If he didn’t manage to attack the convoy, the entire operation would be a total waste of time and ships. Both of which Somerville could have used in other ways.

Taking a deep breath, he set his mind to work on the problem. Though he kept staring at the holo plot, his thoughts were elsewhere. After more than five minutes of throwing out idea after idea, he finally settled on something. “Okay,” he said as he finally turned to his staff officers. “Here’s what we are going to try.”

Two hours later his ships were in position. The first sign to the Karacknids that something was happening was when forty light cruisers, destroyers, and frigates, lit off their engines. Having maneuvered themselves to be directly in front of the convoy, Suarez’s detached warships charged straight down the Karacknids’ throats. With Mjolnir still in stealth and off to one side of the Karacknid convoy, Suarez watched the Karacknid commander’s response. From both flanks of the convoy, half of the escorts increased their acceleration rates and moved to join the two battlecruisers at the front of the convoy. To all intents and purposes, it looked like the Human warships intended to charge right through the Karacknid escorts and get into energy weapon range of the convoy. The chances were slim that Suarez’s ships could accomplish such a feat, but even if just two or three ships managed to, they could take out a whole group of freighters within seconds. It was a threat the Karacknid commander had to take seriously, just as he had hoped.

Patiently, Suarez sat in his command chair and waited for the right moment. For over twenty minutes the squadron he had detached from his force charged the Karacknids. Just seconds before they reached the point of no return, every ship fired its maneuvering thrusters. Flipping end over end, they turned their engines towards the Karacknids. Then they began a maximum thrust deceleration burn. “Now!” Suarez ordered. “Go active, full acceleration.”

The Karacknid convoy commander responded instantly. Escorts that had moved forward  decelerated as they fell back towards the weakened flanks of the convoy. Yet the ships Suarez had with him were already diving towards the convoy. The Karacknid escorts would be too late. Come on, he thought, come on, scatter! If the Karacknid freighter Captains lost their nerve and broke formation, he’d be able to take out a lot of them. Yet they didn’t budge. Suarez frowned as he stared at the convoy. Not only were the freighters not moving. The escorts on the flanks of the convoy weren’t either. Instead of forming up into one formation to better protect themselves, they were staying spread out. It would allow them to better protect the freighters, but if he wanted to, Suarez could blow them apart and then go for the freighters anyway. Something is not right, he thought as soon as he noticed the actions of the escorts. His mind went to the Jaranna system. The Karacknid defensive force there hadn’t reacted when Lightfoot’s fleet had arrived in system because they had several large forces hiding within the system. “Launch a spread of drones immediately!” Suarez demanded as a shiver of fear ran down his spine. The commander of the Karacknid battlefleet liked traps. He could have just walked into one. “Lock onto the convoy with our multistage missiles,” he followed up. He had been planning to keep his ships’ final salvo of multistage missiles for the end of the engagement. They were perfect for hunting down spread-out freighters. Now he needed them for another reason. “Fire as soon as the squadron is ready.”

Suarez watched the recon drones go in trepidation. Minutes later he shook his head, they weren’t detecting anything. There was a massive space around the convoy though. If there were warships lying in wait in front of the convoy’s flightpath, they could be anywhere. When the multistage missiles shot out, Suarez’ hands tightened into fists. The missiles would be a better indication of just what was going on. Suddenly, a blaze of new contacts appeared on the holo plot. Three groups of twenty ships had reacted. Two were ahead of the convoy and one behind. The twenty ships to the rear of the convoy accelerated to intercept his missiles. The other two groups were settling onto an intercept trajectory for Mjolnir. “Reverse course, get us out of here,” Suarez snapped. If he engaged the forty Karacknid warships, he could probably beat them, but his fleet would never escape the system. The rest of the Karacknids would close in and surround him. “Signal Commodore Nordstrom, order her to rendezvous with us at the delta shift passage. We cannot fight this force. We need to fall back.” Even as he gave the order, Suarez thanked whatever gods were looking after Nordstrom’s forty ships. If he had of delayed the attack by ten minutes, Nordstrom’s ships would have run right into the middle of one of the hidden Karacknid squadrons just as they began their breaking maneuver. Now, they were just about able to get away without being brought into missile range. It had been pure luck. For both of us, Suarez thought as the holo plot updated to show the projected course of the Karacknid warships. One group of twenty ships would get into missile range briefly with his ships as they fell back. They’d only get off one salvo though.

Before Suarez had to worry about that, he watched as his multistage missiles raced towards the convoy. Wisely, his tactical officer had spread the missiles out in a wide arc. Karacknid warships were racing to place themselves between the thickest sections of missiles and the freighters. For their part, the freighters continued on unswerving. Suarez was impressed, their Captains clearly had nerves of steel. As point defenses opened up, the missiles did everything they could to avoid being hit. Then, ignoring the Karacknid warships, those that survived, dove into the convoy. Twelve freighters were blown apart or badly crippled. Unconscious of the action, Suarez shook his head. Taking out twelve when there were three hundred and eighty-two left meant almost nothing. The Karacknids would likely not even notice they were gone. As if to mock him, a large group of new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot thirty seconds later. A second convoy had entered the system, consisting of four hundred more freighters and just as many escorts.

“Missile launches,” Mjolnir’s tactical officer announced. “One hundred and ninety missiles incoming.”

“Let’s take them,” Suarez said as he nodded to his Chief of Staff. At least, his ships could do that much. With his squadron racing away from the convoy, it took fourteen minutes for the missiles to catch up with them. When they did, every point defense weapon in his squadron opened up. Only one missile managed to dodge everything that was hurled at it. Zeroing in on two destroyers, it swerved towards the leftmost one at the last second. The destroyer tried and failed to dodge the missile. In the blink of an eye a large blue antimatter ball erupted from within the midst of the destroyer. When it dissipated, the warship was no more.

Suarez kept his face impassive despite the loss. “Jump us out as soon as we reach the shift passage,” he ordered. There was nothing else for him to do now. The only way he could help Somerville was to get his ships back to the fleet as quickly as possible. Cutting the battlefleet supply lines was not going to be a successful strategy. At least not in the short term. And in the long term it may not matter, Suarez feared.

*

Vestarian cruiser Chancellor, 10th April 2484 AD (three days later).

Why am I here? Jil’lal asked herself for the fifth or sixth time. I could have sent a Commodore or Captain. At the time she had thought it appropriate. It had been her idea; she should be the one to put it into action. Now, with just four other light cruisers in formation with Chancellor, she wasn’t so sure. The entire Karacknid battlefleet was about to jump into the system. That was an ominous thought. More than one hundred scouts were already filling local space with megajoules of electromagnetic energy as they made sure the way was clear. Several of the scouts were getting dangerously close to Chancellor.

When hundreds of new contacts appeared on Chancellor’s holo display, Jil’lal didn’t know whether to be relieved or nervous. The Karacknid battlefleet had arrived. At least the wait was over. Hundreds of contacts quickly turned into thousands. Then they advanced. Jil’lal waited just two minutes before giving the order she had come to give. “Transmit the signal,” she said to Chancellor’s Captain. The cruiser’s COM officer was ready and the signal was sent instantly.

Four light seconds ahead of the Karacknid fleet, just far enough from the shift passage that the Karacknid scouts hadn’t checked the area thoroughly yet, five hundred stealth missile pods activated their targeting sensors. In one and a half seconds they identified the Karacknid battlefleet, fired their maneuvering thrusters to reorientate themselves, and released their four mark IV missiles. Two thousand missiles were suddenly on their way towards the Karacknid fleet. Ordinarily, the Karacknids would have no problem with such a number. With the battlefleet still strung out and maneuvering to reform after exiting shift space Jil’lal had an opening. The missile pods’ two thousand missiles were focused on just one part of the fleet. With only a portion of the Karacknid battlefleet’s point defenses able to target them, it was the best chance the missiles had. “Get us out of here,” she ordered as soon as the missiles were on their way. She had no desire to hang about any longer than necessary. The Karacknids would give chase if they thought they could catch Chancellor and her escorts. They would probably do so anyway.

As the missiles crashed into the Karacknids, the vast majority of them were taken out by point defense fire. Jil’lal didn’t let that disappoint her. She had expected it. Only nineteen missiles got close enough to detonate and release their grazer beams. Even so, the few explosions that appeared on the flank of the Karacknid fleet were exactly what she had come to see. Now you will have to be a little more careful, she thought towards the Karacknid commander. Every ship and supply freighter in Somerville’s fleet had been scraped dry to gather up the five hundred missile pods. There was no way she could repeat her attack, but the Karacknids weren’t to know that. To avoid repeat attacks, they would have to spend more time surveying space further beyond each shift passage before their main fleet jumped out. It would only buy an hour or two per system, yet every strategy they employed that bought them an hour or two would add up.

*

IS Drake, 13th April 2484 AD (three days later).

“Karacknid scouts emerging from shift space,” Anderson reported as soon as a handful of contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. James nodded to his tactical officer and watched as more contacts filtered into the system. Over the course of fifteen minutes the number rose to two hundred and sixty.

“He is being extra cautious,” Fisher commented. “Jil’lal’s attack seems to have worked.”

“Let’s hope it buys us enough time to replace our five hundred missile pods,” Miyagi replied.

James glanced at his Chief of Staff. He didn’t want settled arguments brought up again. Not when it was too late anyway. Five hundred missile pods had been a high price to pay to make the Karacknids slightly more cautious. But it would hopefully be worthwhile. “Get us moving,” he ordered. “Inform Chen he can launch his fighters as soon as he wishes.” Moments later James’ fleet of one thousand one hundred warships powered up their reactors and came out of stealth. As his staff officers had planned, they accelerated from the inner system back towards the shift passage the Karacknid battlefleet would come from. Settling into a long arc, their course would allow them to briefly enter missile range of the Karacknid battlefleet when it arrived and then swoop back into the inner system. With a far higher momentum, they’d be able to get into missile range, release a handful of salvos and pull back as their momentum and course took them away from the shift passage again. Just as James intended, the Karacknid scouts would see his fleet coming. As Spitfires, Corsairs, Lancasters and Alliance Pulsar fighters launched, the Karacknid scouts would see them as well. The entire operation was nothing more than a demonstration, but there was no way the Karacknid commander could know that. Either he would have to delay bringing his battlefleet into the system if he wanted to avoid James attacking the forward elements of his fleet, or he would have to risk an engagement. If James just had his ships, he had no doubt the Karacknid commander would not be worried, but Chen’s fighters added an unknown element. If Chen could launch a successful strike at the heart of the Karacknid battlefleet, he could destroy anywhere from fifty to a hundred dreadnoughts. Even with a fleet of four thousand warships, that would hurt the Karacknids.

For forty minutes James’ ships continued along their arcing course as they waited to see what the Karacknids would do. When the gravimetric sensors lit up with hundreds of contacts, James got his answer. The Karacknid commander did not wish to wait. Aware of several officers glancing at him, James kept his face impassive. He wasn’t going to turn back until he saw what the Karacknid commander had planned. If all his maneuver did was cause the Karacknid battlefleet to form up into a defensive formation, that would waste some of their time. The Karacknid battlefleet didn’t alter course or split up and try and surround his ships. Instead they completely ignored James’ attack. With their noses pointed directly at the next shift passage that would lead to Earth, they continued on at the same speed they had through the previous systems.

“They’re not going to fight us?” Fisher asked as she turned to James. “They are not even remotely concerned?”

James stroked his jaw as he stared at the Karacknid battlefleet. “They are calling our bluff,” he answered. “If we actually get close enough to launch a missile strike, I dare say they’d react. Until then, they have no intention of being waylaid.”

“What are your orders Admiral?” Miyagi asked.

James hesitated. Pulling out of his attack run immediately would give his fleet more time to race ahead of the Karacknid battlefleet to the next system. Yet he didn’t want to admit defeat so quickly. Not when it would send a signal to the Karacknid commander that he had lost the current battle of wits. Delaying will accomplish nothing, James said to himself. Perhaps in the next system there will be away to delay them. Though he wasn’t entirely convinced by his own arguments, he knew it was pride that was making him hesitate. “Give the order, alter course towards the shift passage out of here. Let’s hope Suarez and the other raiding squadrons are having more luck than us.”

Chapter 36

The Empire has always had its seedy underworld. Some say we inherited it from the corrupt UN era. Given what I have seen of Human nature during my travels around the Empire, I doubt that is the only source of blame.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Imperial Palace, Earth.

“Empress Christine, McCarthy and the... ah… independent traders are ready to meet with you,” a Palace aide informed Christine after tapping on the open door into her office. “Mr. Fairfax is already on his way to the throne room.”

“Thank you, Patricia,” Christine said, just managing to remember the aide’s name. She smiled at her choice of words. Independent traders was the polite way of saying smugglers and perhaps even pirates. She had asked McCarthy to reach out to all of his former contacts and for them to reach out to theirs. Though she doubted there were many pirates left, the Imperial Navy had seen to that, there was, perhaps, one or two who had evaded capture. The rest of the group would be smugglers. Smugglers in what, Christine didn’t want to know. If she did, she might not go through with what she planned. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Setting down her datapad full of munitions reports, Christine stood and took a couple of seconds to straighten her clothes. “Is there something else?” she asked when she looked up and saw Patricia still staring at her.

“It’s just…” Patricia began and then cut herself off.

“Go on,” Christine pressed, she had been trying to produce more informality among her aides. She wanted to get to know the people who served her better. She hoped to be able to promote several of them to the position of personal assistant. There was far too much work for her to do it on her own. Though she had many Palace aides, they didn’t have the security clearance to deal with some of the things she’d like to be able to hand off. Patricia was one Christine had her eye on.

“Well,” Patricia continued, “it’s just about the throne room. Wouldn’t it be better to meet with them somewhere less intimidating? Most of them aren’t fans of the Empire after all.”

“They’re certainly not,” Christine agreed with a chuckle. “But I’m about to make them a series of promises. Promises I need them to believe I can and will keep. The throne room is the best place for that.”

“I see Empress, thank you,” Patricia replied tentatively.

“No need to thank me,” Christine replied. “Now, let us proceed.” As she moved out of her office, Patricia quickly fell into step beside her. Aware that she had a number of other meetings scheduled over the next six hours, Christine picked up her pace. She had only had four hours of sleep the night before, there were just too many demands on her. She needed to do everything she could to reinforce the New Shanghai system and get as much help to Koroylov and her husband as possible. That was why she was meeting with McCarthy’s contacts. They had ships and personnel that would be needed.

When she stepped into the throne room, she reckoned there were nearly thirty men and women milling around. Most were standing apart from one another, though a few seemed to be deep in conversation. Almost all had their backs turned to the two thrones that were supposed to be hers and James’. She had only sat in hers once and James hadn’t yet sat in his. Nevertheless, they played an important role. They were a symbol of her authority.

Fairfax was standing just inside the doors when she entered and he immediately came to her side. “I think they are all here Empress,” he whispered. “At least, all those who agreed to come.”

“Then we may get started,” Christine replied as she moved towards the long rectangular table she had requested be set up to one side of the room. Catching McCarthy’s eye, she nodded towards the table. McCarthy nodded, cleared his throat loudly, then obviously made his way to the table. Following him, Christine sat down at the head of the table. Fairfax took the seat to her right and McCarthy the one at her left. The ‘independent traders’ slowly made their way over to join them. None were slow enough to cause offence, yet they were showing that they wouldn’t jump at her beck and call. When they were all sitting, Christine nodded to McCarthy.

He cleared his throat and placed both his hands on the table. “Listen, you all know why we’ve asked you here. We all heard the address Empress Christine gave to the planet. There is a Karacknid fleet bearing down on Earth. One nearly five times the size of the fleet that destroyed so many of our cities and killed hundreds of millions of our people. None of you are blind or stupid, you can see that we are mobilizing everything we possibly can to fight off this fleet. We want to stop them getting into the Sol system. Together, you have many ships and skilled people under your command. Most of you have worked with us in an unofficial capacity already. Now we are asking you to make it official. We need your ships to serve and fight alongside the Imperial Navy.”

A woman who Christine guessed couldn’t be older than her mid-twenties leaned forward. “You’re right, none of us are blind or stupid. We can see the odds. Why would we risk our lives for a lost cause?”

“Because there is profit in it for you,” McCarthy answered. “We are willing to hire your ships and crews at triple the going rate. That’s more than you could make smuggling even the priciest of black-market items. And the risk won’t be much higher than trying to escape Imperial Navy patrols.”

“That’s debatable,” a much older man with a thick black beard said. “Fighting a Karacknid fleet of ten thousand ships is a tad riskier than trying to outrun a couple of corvettes. Especially when all the corvettes are being sent to the Chinese colonies.”

Christine felt Fairfax stir beside her. Quickly she reached out and placed a hand on his forearm. She too was angered at the suggestion that the smuggler would seek to profit off the threat of the Karacknid fleet, but anger wouldn’t serve her purposes.

“What good are triple the going rates if we are no longer alive to collect them?” another smuggler asked.

“You can all designate a next of kin,” McCarthy explained. “If you don’t make it back, they will receive all the payments you are due.”

The older smuggler laughed. “What makes you think the likes of us care about our next of kin?”

“Because you’re Human,” Christine said, unable to hold her tongue any longer. It was time to put her cards on the table. “Because I know you have two daughters Seamus. You may have moved them to Haven for now, but if New Shanghai falls, Earth will fall. And if Earth falls, Haven will fall.” Christine was suddenly glad she had stayed up late memorizing as much information about the smugglers as McCarthy had been able to provide her. Holding Seamus’ eyes, she waited until he looked down. Then she allowed her gaze to roam over the rest of the smugglers. “We are far more alike than we are different. I will resist the Karacknids with every fiber of my being, for my husband, for my son, and yes, for our species. You all may like to play the act, to appear to care for no one and nothing but credits, but you are not deluding me.” She gestured towards McCarthy. “McCarthy was once considered the most notorious of your kind. I’m sure one or two of you might like to contest that, whatever the truth, he has proven to have a heart, like I know all of you do.

“Yet I know you are businessmen and women, I could sit here and make a purely emotional appeal, in my heart I would hope that would be enough, but nevertheless, I came here willing to bargain. Here are my terms. Once this is over, if we are successful, our military and freighter fleets will be devastated. I am therefore prepared to offer each and every one of you exclusive Imperial contracts for the next ten years. A great deal of Imperial materials and munitions will need to be distributed throughout our colonies and industrial hubs. As long as your organizations can keep up with our demand, then the contracts will be yours. I’m prepared to put that in writing. That should more than make up for whatever losses your operations might suffer whilst assisting the fleet in New Shanghai.” As more than one smuggler leaned forward to get a better look at her, Christine fought to keep a smile from her face. She had at least pricked their interest. “There are conditions however… If you wish to hear them.”

For several seconds none of the smuggler’s spoke. They were exchanging glances with one another, but no one seemed to want to speak first. Then the older smuggler, Seamus, coughed and waved a hand. “Oh go on then, tell us,” he requested.

This time, Christine did smile, she had them. She raised a finger. “One, whilst under the command of the Imperial Navy, your ships will obey every order given to you. If you do not, the deal will be off.” She raised a second finger. “Two, your shipping operations must run to our deadlines. The Imperial Navy cannot have any of its logistics hampered by delays. If our ship production is compromised it could cost us this war.” Finally, she raised her third finger. “Three, none of the freighters you use for our contracts can simultaneously be used for illegal activities. If your ships or crews are caught, the deal will be cancelled…” Pausing again, Christine looked around at the smugglers. “If you have the courage and selflessness to go to New Shanghai and serve with the Navy, and you can stick to these three conditions, then you will each have a decade’s worth of as many exclusive transport contracts as you can fulfil. That should set each of you up handsomely for whatever legal or illegal activities you wish to pursue thereafter.”

“A generous offer,” Seamus said as he rubbed a hand through his beard. “But one we would need to have in writing now.”

“Indeed,” the young woman who had spoken first agreed.

“You shall have it,” Christine promised. “I will sign it personally.”

“Deals and contracts and triple pay will mean nothing if you are defeated,” another smuggler, a man in his thirties said. Christine thought he was called Haken. Whoever he was, his voice was full of disdain. “This is not our work; I have no desire to die for your cause.”

Christine allowed some of the anger she was feeling into her voice. “This is not just my cause. You are a fool if you think that it is. Every Human life is threatened. If we do fail and we are conquered, then yes, my offer is worthless. Yet so is everything else you have. Do you think the Karacknids will allow you to go on smuggling once they have conquered our colonies? Do you think you could run and hide? Perhaps live out your life in a distant uncolonized world, or some hidden asteroid base?... Yes, you could do that,” Christine said with a nod. “But the Karacknids would still hunt you down. What kind of life would you have? Always on the run, always looking over your shoulder, never having a safe home. We are at an all or nothing point in this war. Everyone who can help must, we stand or fall together.”

Though he said nothing, Haken held Christine’s stare. A part of her heart went cold when she saw that her words hadn’t moved him. She could see it in his eyes. He really did care for no one and nothing else. He’d let Earth and every colony burn just to serve his purposes, Christine thought, dismay filling her. She grit her teeth. So be it. “I’m not here to force any of you to do this,” she said as she forced her voice to be calm. “You have heard what I wanted to say. If you wish to sign on, you may remain and I will have the paperwork brought to us. If not, then I will not waste any more time on you.”

There was a short period of silence. Then the smuggler who had spoken last stood up sharply. “I can’t believe the rest of you. I will not serve nor die for this woman. I didn’t vote for no empire nor no war.”

Christine thought he was going to spit on the floor as he turned and stormed off towards the large double doors that led out of the throne room. She gave the rest of the smugglers a few seconds to consider their own response before asking, “Anyone else care to join him?” When no one stood and several smugglers shook their heads, Christine smiled at them. “Good,” she said with a nod. She half rose from her chair and gestured towards the two Imperial guards who were standing at the main doors into the throne room. As Haken went to pass between them, they grabbed him. There was a brief scuffle, but he was quickly subdued and dragged out of sight. When Christine sat back down, all of the smugglers had spun to watch. Slowly, one by one they turned back to her. When she had their attention she smiled as pleasantly as she could. “There are several warrants out for Mr. Haken’s arrest. He will be handed over to the relevant authorities and a full investigation carried out. If he is innocent, he will be set free. On that you have my word. For now though, all his ships and assets will be impounded. If they happen to be halfway to New Shanghai by the time Haken makes bail, then that will be a pity.”

Seamus shook his head. “You would have arrested us all if we hadn’t agreed?”

Christine nodded as she kept the same smile on her face. “Every single one of you,” she said in a far colder tone than her face communicated. “I will leave no stone unturned when it comes to getting what I need to protect my people. Be thankful then that you agreed to this. Keep your end of the bargain and I will keep mine.” With a nod to McCarthy, Christine stood and left the smugglers to it. She could trust McCarthy to get the paperwork sorted and bring it to her. She’d sign it and make sure each smuggler had their own copy before they left the Palace.

“Andréa is going to go ballistic,” Fairfax said as he caught up with her just outside the throne room. “Organizing logistical supplies from forty-four colonies and ninety other systems is hard enough. Doing it while employing smugglers is going to be a nightmare.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Christine replied as she felt a twinge of sympathy for Andréa. It was no small task being in charge of the fleet’s Research and Development and Logistics divisions. Yet Andréa was one of a kind. Christine was sure she would find a way, though she wouldn’t be happy that was for sure. “If we all live long enough to have to deal with them, it’s a nightmare I’ll happily face,” Christine added. “We made our conditions clear. If they do not live up to them, we will remove all their contracts and fulfil them ourselves.”

Before Fairfax could say anything, they rounded a corner and found Patricia waiting for them. “Empress Christine,” she said as soon as she saw them. “Commodore Mandow has requested your presence in the C&C center.”

Christine fought back a sigh, if there wasn’t one thing, there was another. “Lead on Patricia,” she said in a manner that didn’t reveal her emotions. “Do you want to come?” she asked as she half turned to Fairfax.

Fairfax grinned at her, “Whatever it is, I’m sure you can handle it Empress. I have a pile of files to go through that would ordinarily take a week. I have given myself till this evening.”

“Very well,” Christine said as she shooed Fairfax away. “Go and see to your files. Just make sure none land on my desk. “Shall we?” she asked as she turned back to Patricia.

Patricia nodded quickly and turned to lead the way to the Palace’s C&C. When they stepped in, Christine couldn’t help but be drawn to the massive holo display of the Sol system. James had told her the Palace’s C&C had the largest military grade holo display yet built. The C&C was a large circular room with a diameter of more than one hundred meters. She reckoned the roof was at least twenty meters high. Nevertheless, the holo image of the Sol system dominated almost the entire room.

“Empress,” Commodore Mandow called out, drawing her eyes back to ground level. “Thank you for coming. The Vestarian reinforcements have arrived. They are under the command of a Rear Admiral Malon’nal. He has requested to speak to you.”

“Thank you Commodore,” Christine replied. “I presume I can speak to him here?”

“Yes,” Mandow answered as he pointed up towards a group of eighty contacts that were approaching Earth. “His squadron should be in two-way COM range in a couple of minutes. You may speak to him from this terminal,” he said as he guided her to a COM station.

“Thank you,” Christine said again as she took a seat. As she waited for Malon’nal’s flagship to come into range, she looked up at the holo display. Not for the first time, she was envious of Commodore Mandow’s job. Though she was sure managing all of the Sol system’s civilian and military traffic was an incredibly complex task, getting to stare at the massive holo projection of the system was a very pleasant benefit. Despite not having the professional eye James and most of her naval officers did, Christine was pleased as she began to pick out various things. She counted sixteen large orbital battlestations being towed towards the Beta shift passage. Half of them had come from Earth or Mars, but the other half were on courses that led back to the Alpha shift passage. They had been taken from colonies that had once belonged to the British Star Kingdom, French Republic, or Russian Star Federation. Wherever they had come from, they were going to New Shanghai. Streaming past the slow moving battlestations there were several hundred freighters all headed towards the Beta shift passage as well. No doubt they were laden with troops, munitions, fighters, or defense satellites.

Further into the system, in high orbit above Earth was what was left of Home Fleet. Nogamoro was in the final stages of getting ready to leave. In another couple of days the two hundred ships he had gathered would depart for New Shanghai along with the massive swarm of freighters that were hovering around the warships. Alliance High Command had promised to immediately dispatch all their nearby border patrols. Within a week or two they would start to arrive. Perhaps as many as six hundred ships would eventually make it to Earth. Nogamoro had refused to wait for them though, he was eager to get going.

Finally, she returned her gaze to the Vestarian warships. With their own tachyon pulse generator, she had been able to inform Vestar of the Karacknid battlefleet within an hour of finding out herself. The eighty additional ships they had been able to scrape together and send to Earth would be greatly appreciated.

“Rear Admiral Malon’nal is ready to speak to you,” a COM officer informed Christine just as her COM station beeped.

Nodding to the officer, Christine reached out and activated the COM unit. A holo image of the Vestarian Admiral appeared in front of her. “Greetings Rear Admiral Malon’nal and welcome to Earth. We are glad to have you with us. Thank you for making such a quick journey here.”

“Thank you for your welcome Empress, and may I pass on the greetings of Tak’ar. He asked that I speak to you personally and assure you that we will send as much help as we possibly can,” Malon’nal replied.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Christine responded. “Such assurances from your leader relieve some of my concerns. Are there any other ships that we can expect from your homeworld in the coming weeks?”

“Some,” Malon’nal answered. “We are rushing the construction of ten ships that are nearing completion. There are another twenty or so that are expected to return from patrols or scouting missions. They will all be sent here as soon as they are able. Once they arrive though, that will be our entire fleet. We will have nothing more to send.”

“Then your people have done more than I could have hoped,” Christine replied. “You have my assurances that my people will not forget.”

“We know that we are all in this together,” Malon’nal said. “Even now Admiral Jil’lal is facing down this battlefleet with Emperor Somerville. My people and yours will fight side-by-side until this war is over.”

Christine smiled at Malon’nal. “It seems Tak’ar has chosen the right Admiral to command his reinforcements. I’m sure you’re eager to make contact with Admiral Nogamoro and Home Fleet. I know he will enjoy getting to know you. No doubt he has many simulations for your people to run with his. I’ll not keep you any longer Rear Admiral. I will speak to you again before the fleet departs.”

“Thank you for your time Empress. I know you will do everything you can to support the fleet.” Malon’nal gave a Human salute before he ended the COM channel. Christine looked up at the much larger holo display again. For a couple seconds she let her gaze linger over the projection of all the ships and planets in the Sol system. Then she let out a sigh and turned to find Patricia. She had far too many meetings to be wasting time stargazing. “Right, what’s next?” she asked as she stood.

*

Imperial Palace (two days later).

“You’re going to want to see this,” Fairfax said as he rushed into Christine’s office without even knocking and thrust a datapad in front of her face.

“What is it?” she asked as she frowned at Fairfax. She didn’t reach for the datapad. She wanted an explanation first.

“It’s an FTL message from Kulthar. Superintendent Hallock has given permission for one of their worldships to accompany Home Fleet to New Shanghai,” Fairfax said, a massive grin on his face. “They actually responded positively to your request!”

When Christine moved to take the datapad, Fairfax pulled away. “Are you sure you want to read it Empress?”

Despite her stress and tiredness, Christine grinned back at Fairfax. She suddenly felt giddy. A Kulrean worldship was thirty or more times the size of a Karacknid dreadnought. She had no idea how good its weapons were, the Kulreans kept that a secret, but one worldship had to be worth sixty or maybe even a hundred dreadnoughts. “Give me that,” she growled as she snapped at the datapad again. “Don’t play games with your Empress!”

Fairfax relented and handed her the datapad. She scanned through it and glanced at Fairfax. “I can hardly believe it,” she said. For the first time in several weeks she felt hope.

“I know, I know,” Fairfax said, clearly as excited as her. “They took their time to decide, but they are actually sending one ship to help us. I know it says the worldship is only allowed to use its defensive weapons, but even so, that is going to help! The Karacknids are bound to attack them as soon as they see the ship. They will feel threatened for sure!”

“Organize a COM call with Captain Kalong,” Christine requested, still not sure she believed it. She wanted to hear from Tranquility’s Captain herself.

“Right away Empress,” Fairfax responded as he gave Christine an over exaggerated bow.

Moments later the Kulrean appeared on her office’s holo projector. “Captain,” Christine said in her best formal tone. “I have just received a communication from Superintendent Hallock. He informs me that Tranquility has permission to accompany Home Fleet to the New Shanghai system?”

“That is correct Empress. I have orders to accompany Admiral Nogamoro when he leaves later today,” Kalong confirmed. “My ship is not to be used for offensive operations, but if the Karacknids threaten New Shanghai or Tranquility herself, then I have authorization to use my ship’s point defenses. I have also been tasked with attempting to open negotiations with the Karacknids. If the battlefleet does reach New Shanghai, I would ask your permission to speak to them before any fighting breaks out. It is Superintendent Hallock’s hope that our species’ direct intervention could put an end to your war, or at least bring about a ceasefire.”

Christine shared a glance with Fairfax, she was certain there was no hope that such an attempt would work but she was fine with Kalong trying. “Of course Captain, you may attempt to negotiate with the Karacknids. Neither I nor any of my commanders will attempt to prevent you. Though I would not get my hopes up if I were you.”

“Thank you, Empress. We have to try even if the Karacknids will not listen to us. If they will not, then Tranquility may encourage them to reconsider.”

“I hope that she does,” Christine said sincerely. She didn’t know if Kalong was overestimating his ship’s abilities, or if he seriously thought one Kulrean ship could turn back an entire Karacknid battlefleet. If he was right in his estimation of the balance of force, then she would be overjoyed.

“If you do not mind Empress, I have many things to attend to. I understand Home Fleet will be departing within two hours?”

“It will,” Christine confirmed. “I understand that you do not have any more time for me. I will inform Admiral Nogamoro that you will be joining his ships. Good luck Captain,” Christine finished as she gave Kalong a deep bow.

“Thank you Empress,” Kalong said as he returned the gesture.

As soon as the COM channel ended, Christine turned to Fairfax and shook her head. “Do you think one worldship could really tip the balance?”

Fairfax shrugged. “Your knowledge of naval affairs is as good as mine. I’m sure Nogamoro will be pleased one way or the other.”

“I’m sure he will,” Christine said as her grin returned. “Let’s give him a call and tell him ourselves.”

When Christine got Nogamoro on a COM line, she was still grinning. This time it was at his facial expression; he was unable to hide his shock and surprise. “Just how much of a difference do you think Tranquility will make?” Christine asked after updating Nogamoro on everything Kalong had said.

“Some,” the Admiral responded having got over his surprise.

“Just some?” Christine pressed, not entirely happy with his answer.

“We and the Alliance have had R&D teams analyze the Kulrean worldships as best we can. We still don’t know too much. Pound for pound I’d say the worldship is somewhere between two and three times deadlier than a Karacknid ship. But that’s really just an educated guess. It could be more.”

“Then one ship isn’t going to turn back the threat of this Karacknid battlefleet?” Christine asked, her hopes suddenly falling.

Nogamoro shook his head. “I’m afraid not, not on its own at least. But with Tranquility’s firepower added to everything else going to New Shanghai, it will help. And if the Karacknids attack the Kulrean ship, who knows what might happen? If the Kulreans are dragged into this war it could change everything.”

That hadn’t occurred to Christine. Though the Kulreans inhabited just one solar system, their industrial and technological base was far greater than all of Humanity’s colonies combined. It was probably greater than all of the Alliance species bar the Varanni as well. But it could be too late, Christine thought. Even if Tranquility was attacked and that stirred the Kulreans to join the war, the Karacknid battlefleet would conquer Earth before they could intervene. “Then our hopes still rest with Home Fleet and Admiral Somerville,” Christine said in a somber tone. Her earlier giddiness had evaporated. “Inform your officers and crew that the hope of all of the Empire’s citizens goes with you.”

“They are already aware of the responsibility we hold,” Nogamoro assured her. “But I will inform them of your words, nonetheless. They will give us courage for the days ahead. With your permission Empress, my fleet is ready to begin final preparations for breaking orbit?”

“Then you may proceed Admiral. Godspeed and good luck on your journey,” Christine said as Nogamoro saluted her. As the COM unit blinked off, Christine stood and glanced at Fairfax. “I hear many of the Palace staff and officers are gathering in the main foyer to watch the fleet’s departure. Shall we join them?”

“Of course Empress, if that is what you wish,” Fairfax responded.

Christine nodded and led him out of her office. It wasn’t really what she wished. What she wanted was to go with Home Fleet so she could be reunited with James. If he was going to fight and perhaps die trying to stop the Karacknid battlefleet from reaching Earth, then she wanted to be at his side. Yet she knew her place was here. There were still more things she could do to send aid to New Shanghai. Showing her face to her staff as their last hope of stopping the Karacknid battlefleet left Earth was just one of them.

Chapter 37

Even the best commanders can be caught out and tricked. Cadets have this drummed into them again and again in the classroom and in the battle simulators. Those who do not learn this lesson never rise above the rank of Lieutenant.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Slayer

“Exiting shift space in thirty seconds,” Slayer’s navigation officer reported.

Tanaka-lang didn’t bother to look up. His fleet was about two thirds of the way along the shift passage to the next system. Exiting shift space and reorienting down the next kink of the shift passage was a standard maneuver. Instead, he continued analyzing the feint the Humans had made on his fleet in the last system. If they tried again, he wanted to be ready to punish them. He was so engrossed in the simulation he was running that he didn’t even notice the slight jolt from his flagship emerging into real space.

“Something is wrong,” a sensor officer reported, his voice full of confusion.

Tanaka-lang’s head shot up in an instant. “What is it? he demanded.

“Our vanguard, half of them are not here. They didn’t jump out of shift space,” the officer answered immediately.

“Impossible,” Slayer’s Captain said. “Run a diagnostic on our sensors. We’re only thirty light seconds from the turn in the shift passage. If they didn’t jump out with us, the dark matter would have pulled them out.”

Though the sensor officer didn’t look up at his Captain, his voice grew in confidence. “The sensors are operating within normal parameters, there is no sign of them.”

“The Humans,” Tanaka-lang growled. “They have done something.” He had been waiting for one trick or another. But with four hundred of his lead ships nowhere to be seen more than a trick was going on! How did they do it? he asked himself as he searched for the answer. One of the reports he had read several months ago sprang to mind. When the Humans had raided the Jaranna system one convoy had been trapped within the system. Long-range sensors from the survivors on Jaranna hadn’t been entirely sure what happened. But for some reason the convoy, though it had fled, hadn’t jumped out of the system despite crossing the mass shadow. Something had kept them in real space. “They have a way to pull ships out of shift space,” he said. “It’s the only explanation.” And it explains a few other things, Tanaka-lang thought. He was still waiting to hear from two border fleets that had been stationed to the eastern end of the frontline with Human space. That they hadn’t attacked the Humans or made contact with him had been nagging at him. Now it made sense. If the Humans had prevented them from jumping into shift space they couldn’t have closed with the Human fleet or sent a message.

“How is that possible?” Slayer’s Captain asked as he struggled to get his mind around the possibility.

Tanaka-lang was already three steps ahead of him. “It’s not good enough that they can pull them out, they have to keep them trapped. Otherwise our ships would have jumped out as soon as their shift drives recharged. That means whatever they are doing, they are still doing it. Order the fleet to turn one hundred and eighty degrees. We’ll jump back into shift space along our previous course. Whatever they’re doing should pull us out of shift space too. We may have a chance to catch and crush them!”

For twenty seconds confusion reigned on Slayer’s bridge as previous orders were countermanded and new orders sent to the fleet. With almost four thousand ships still arrayed around Slayer, it took several minutes to turn them all. Then it took another ten to recharge the shift drives. All the while Tanaka-lang had to fight from grinding his claws into his command chair. He was certain the Humans had his four hundred ships surrounded and outnumbered. Every minute his fleet delayed meant more ships needlessly lost.

“The fleet will be ready to jump in one minute Admiral,” an officer reported.

“Do so immediately,” Tanaka-lang snapped back. Before anything could happen, new alarms blared. “What now?” he growled.

“We are reading a massive gravimetric force. It just appeared out of nowhere. It’s preventing our ships from entering shift space,” an officer Tanaka-lang didn’t know shouted over the din of the alarms.

“Show me,” Tanaka-lang ordered.

On the holo map a single point began to flash. Extending out from it was a massive bubble of gravitational energy. It engulfed Tanaka-lang’s battlefleet and stretched twenty light minutes beyond them. The Humans have something there. “Dispatch Talon squadron to that location. They are to make best possible speed.”

Just minutes after the squadron of light cruisers raced away towards the source of the gravitational energy, Tanaka-lang’s worst fears were confirmed. A small cluster of Human ships powered up their engines and moved in the opposite direction. Whatever the Humans were using to create the gravitational bubble, it was mobile, for as the Human ships moved, so too did the new source of gravitational energy. Tanaka-lang growled at the speed of the Human ships. They weren’t moving fast enough to prevent Talon squadron catching them, but then, he suspected they didn’t need to. As soon as Talon squadron got close enough, they’d drop their gravitational bubble and jump to shift space themselves. Worse, at the speed the Human ships were going, the gravitational bubble would keep his fleet trapped for another hour. “Dispatch two more squadrons after them,” he ordered. “I want them caught if we can. The rest of our fleet will begin a full acceleration burn in the opposite direction to the source of the gravity bubble. As soon as we pass beyond that we will jump to shift space back along our previous course.”

As his subordinates carried out his orders, Tanaka-lang gave into the urge to dig his claws deeply into his command chair. You have bested us for now, he thought towards his opponent. His missing four hundred ships were on their own, for now at least. And he suspected that the Humans had secured all the time they would need. But it won’t happen again. He was already working on ways to counter this new threat.

*

IS Drake, 29th April 2484 AD.

Without knowing exactly where the Karacknid ships would be pulled out of shift space, James had his fleet split into four large squadrons of three hundred ships each. They were arrayed around the edge of the gravitational bubble the gravity well cruiser was producing. Each squadron was spaced out so that it could support either of its neighbors. For an hour, he had been sitting on Drake’s bridge waiting and watching. Every warship in his fleet was at battle stations, for the fight could begin at a moment’s notice. Growing tired of staring at the holo plot, James pulled up a letter for Christine. Idly he scanned through it, looking for points where he could add something. Before he got too far, alarms pulled his attention back to Drake’s sensors.

“New contacts! Multiple ships exiting shift space,” Anderson shouted.

“Anchor is powering down her gravity well generator,” Miyagi said at almost the same time.

Only half a second passed between the first Karacknid ship being detected and Anchor switching off her gravity well generator. Yet in that time, four hundred Karacknid warships were pulled out of shift space. The rest of the Karacknid battlefleet, unaware of what had happened, would continue down the shift passage at hundreds of times the speed of light. It worked, James said to himself as he smiled. Lightfoot’s idea had worked. And it looks like he is front and center for the next part, James added as he assessed the situation. The Karacknid ships were directly in front of Lightfoot’s squadron. Even as he watched, Lightfoot’s ships moved forward to engage them. “Move us to support Lightfoot’s squadron,” James ordered. “We’ll take the Karacknids’ left flank, Jil’lal can move in and take the right.” As the three hundred ships around Drake surged forward, missiles shot from Lightfoot’s squadron and the Karacknid ships. “Signal Lightfoot, make sure he stays at optimal missile range. He is not to take any risks until we get there,” James said as he caught his COM officer’s eye. Lightfoot should already know that, but with the speed Lightfoot’s ships were putting on as they closed with the Karacknids, James wanted to make sure.

“Aye Admiral,” Martinez replied.

“Interdictor is powering up her gravity wells,” Fisher reported.

James nodded. Enough time had elapsed that the rest of the Karacknid battlefleet would have passed them by. Once shut down, it took twenty minutes to power up the gravity well generators again. Thankfully, he had brought five of the cruisers with him for Operation Counterstrike. Two were still operating to the east, barring the Karacknid border fleets from outflanking him, but they had managed to get three back in time to attempt Lightfoot’s strategy. As the Interdictor powered up her gravity wells, a new bubble of gravitational force enveloped the Karacknid warships. They would not be jumping to shift space any time soon.

“We’ll be in missile range in three minutes,” Anderson updated everyone.

“All right,” James said after glancing at a secondary timer that had started counting as soon as the Karacknid ships had appeared. “We’ve got eighteen minutes until the Karacknid ships exit shift space at the next kink. Then eighteen more for them to get back here. Let’s hammer them as hard as we can,” he said to his officers. “Every missile must count.”

As his and Jil’lal’s ships moved in to surround the Karacknids in flanking fire, James watched the first couple of missile salvos strike home as Lightfoot’s squadron fought the Karacknids. Despite being taken by surprise, the Karacknids fought like devils. They knew they were trapped. Lightfoot lost twenty ships to the first Karacknid salvo and eighteen to the second. In reply, his two salvos took out twenty-six Karacknids. Then James and Jil’lal’s ships opened fire. The two salvos were timed to perfectly coordinate with Lightfoot’s third. As all three salvos raced towards their targets, the Karacknids fired their own salvo. They were still targeting Lightfoot’s ships.

“They are not even trying to outrun the gravitational bubble,” Anderson commented.

“No,” Fisher responded. “They would rather fight.”

From her tone of voice, James sensed the same respect he felt for the Karacknids. They might be evil genocidal oppressors, but they knew how to fight. But that won’t be enough this time. As the three salvos from his ships crashed into the Karacknids, hundreds of missiles made it through the point defense fire. The first to get into attack range were the Human missiles. Detonating some distance from the Karacknid ships, they channeled their nuclear force into focusing lenses and released powerful grazer beams. Every beam that struck a Karacknid ship pierced deep into its hull. As the explosions and damage wrought confusion among the Karacknid ships, the Alliance missiles reached their targets. More than forty thermonuclear detonations bloomed within the Karacknid fleet. James immediately switched his attention to Lightfoot’s ships. What he saw made him grimace. Karacknid missiles were detonating there as well. In the space of just a few seconds twenty-two more ships were taken out or crippled by antimatter warheads.

When Drake’s sensors were able to get an accurate read on the Karacknid ships, eighty-four of their number had been removed from the fight. The Karacknid fleet was still a threat, but their numbers had been reduced by twenty-five percent. “Keep hitting them!” James ordered.

Over the next twenty minutes, three more salvos crashed into the Karacknids. Their ships were  beaten into something that resembled a scrapheap rather than a war fleet. Despite the losses, they kept firing as many missiles at Lightfoot’s ships as possible. Though as their fire dwindled, so did Lightfoot’s losses. When Drake’s sensors confirmed there were just forty-six enemy warships functioning, James glanced at the timer. “Time is up,” he decided. “Send the general order, all fleets are to disengage and pull back to the rendezvous point immediately.”

Though he was loath to leave the vastly outnumbered Karacknid ships without finishing them off, he had no choice. His fleet had a tight timetable to keep. For a couple of seconds he thought Lightfoot and Jil’lal were going to give into the urge to fire another salvo. But then both of their squadrons turned. Ya’sia’s fleet, unable to reach the Karacknids in time, was already moving towards the rendezvous point. Technically, even if the Karacknid commander had figured out what was happening, James knew his fleet still had ten more minutes before the battlefleet could retrace their steps and come to the aid of the ships he had ambushed. Yet he didn’t want to take any chances. He had just destroyed three hundred and sixty enemy ships for the price of eighty of his own. That was good enough for now. We just have to keep those odds going, James couldn’t help but think. If he could keep killing Karacknid ships at such a loss ratio, he’d eventually be able to whittle down the four thousand ships of the Karacknid battlefleet. He wouldn’t have a fleet left if he managed to do that, but neither would the Karacknids. And they would just send another four thousand once they have the supplies, he said to himself, further deflating his satisfaction and the victory they had just won.

“We are ready to jump out,” Anderson reported ten minutes later. “The Karacknids are not attempting to pursue us.”

“They may be willing to fight at very bad odds, but they’re not suicidal,” James commented. “All right, order Interdictor to power down her gravity well generator. Jump the fleet out.” As his fleet jumped into shift space, six warships were left behind. Too badly damaged to make the jump, they had been evacuated. Seconds later each detonated as their reactors were overloaded.

With the battle over, James watched as his officers set about analyzing everything that had just happened, coordinating the repairs that would have to be carried out and the supplies needing to be distributed throughout the fleet. For a few minutes James was happy to just watch them as he allowed his adrenaline to wear off. Then his mind turned to his next concern. According to Lightfoot’s plan and the timer he kept glancing at, they were perfectly on schedule. Yet he couldn’t help but feel nervous. The one problem with Lightfoot’s plan was that his fleet was now behind the Karacknid battlefleet. That was the last place he wanted to be. As a result, they were about to try something quite daring. This had been the key point of debate when the plan had been analyzed. Though Drake’s sensors couldn’t detect it, James could easily imagine it. Somewhere out in front of his fleet, all, or a significant part of the Karacknid battlefleet would be chasing his third gravity well cruiser. If his fleet ran into the cruiser’s gravity bubble, they would be pulled out of shift space, possibly right in the midst of the Karacknid ships.

The moment of truth, James said to himself as the timer hit forty minutes. His entire body tensed and he almost squinted as his fleet passed over the point where the interdictor cruiser was. For a couple of seconds James held the same pose. Then he forced himself to relax. Glancing at Fisher and Miyagi he smiled. They had done it! Waylayer had dropped her gravity well generators just in time for his fleet to pass by her. James hoped she and her escorts were already in shift space themselves as they escaped the Karacknid battlefleet.

With his fleet safe, James’ mind turned to the Karacknid commander. He wondered how his enemy had responded. It was possible the Karacknid battlefleet was already on its way to the scene of the ambush Lightfoot had so brilliantly planned. It was also possible that the battlefleet had been pressing Waylayer in an effort to continue towards the next system. If that was the case, they’d likely only be minutes behind his fleet in shift space. Thankfully, Lightfoot had thought of that too. As soon as she had her gravity wells charged, Anchor would drop out of shift space with a strong escort. This time she would pull the entire Karacknid battlefleet out of shift space. Then, if the Karacknids wanted to enter shift space again, they’d have to chase Anchor down and force her to flee in shift space. When they did, James intended to have Interdictor lined up and ready to take her place. Now that they were so close to the edge of the Karacknid empire, he had no fears that the Karacknid fleet would turn back towards Jaranna. Or at least, if they did, he could get back to Earth ahead of them. That meant he could use his gravity well cruisers to hold up the Karacknids all the way to the first Human colonies.

*

Drake, 30th April 2484 AD (one day later).

“Twelve hours,” James said in satisfaction as the first Karacknids jumped out of shift space. Their tactic of leapfrogging gravity well cruisers over one another as they slowed the Karacknid fleet had delayed the Karacknids by twelve hours. With nearly four hundred of their warships also destroyed, Lightfoot’s tactic had worked wonderfully.

“Twelve hours is good,” Miyagi agreed. “And we still have ten more systems until Alpha-two Fort. If we can keep this up, we’ll buy ourselves almost a week.”

“If we can keep it up,” James repeated. That, he suspected was going to be a hard task. Though he could give the order for his fleet to fall back immediately, James waited. An hour later, when the full Karacknid battlefleet entered the system, he nodded when he saw what he had been expecting. The Karacknid fleet had jumped in as one long line rather than as a ball. It meant that any attempt to pull their ships out of shift space would pull pretty much the entire fleet out. We’ll not be trying the ambush tactic again, James thought. Though he had expected it, it was still disappointing to see. The enemy commander had figured out what had happened to his missing ships. And that means we will see just how he plans to counter our gravity well cruisers, James thought. “Get the fleet moving,” he ordered, imagining what his opposite number might do. If he could figure it out, he could come up with his own counters. With only ten systems to go until Alpha-two Fort, he was all too aware that space was running out to buy more time for Christine and Koroylov.

Chapter 38

Whilst breakthroughs in naval technologies have transformed the nature of interstellar war a number of times over the last several centuries, ground combat has not gone through the same evolution. At least, not until we encountered the Antarians. The Marines had to adapt or throw out every tactic they used when it came to fighting our most fearsome enemy.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

New Shanghai.

“How many more Colonel?” one of Johnston’s cadets asked as he shoveled a final load of soil to fill the hole his squad had recently dug.

“Each squad has five more launcher holes and their firing lines for us to be finished up for the day. Then it’s back to the barracks for lunch and back to training,” Johnston answered as he walked past the sweating cadets.

“Five!” the cadet asked as he straightened up.

Johnston felt a hint of sympathy for the cadet. Each of his twenty squads had already dug four, and they had been at it for the last three hours, since 05:00 hours. His sympathy only lasted for a millisecond though and he didn’t let it show. “Every launcher you bury could be one less shuttle full of Karacknid soldiers. That’s forty less Karacknids. You can either fight with your shovel now or fight forty more of them in a month’s time cadet. The choice is yours.” Without waiting for the cadet’s response, Johnston walked past the squad and surveyed the work of the rest of his three platoons. Since the news had reached New Shanghai about the Karacknid battlefleet, all the system’s marines had been put to work fortifying the planet as much as possible. Even the cadets had to work half days on the defenses. Johnston’s three platoons were laying single AA missile launchers around the perimeter of Bozhou, New Shanghai’s capital. The launchers were only a couple of meters long, but they needed to be buried a meter underground. Once in place, a thin nano carbon camouflage was put on top and then a final layer of soil. The launchers wouldn’t be visible to even the most determined ground penetrating radar. With their communication lines buried underground with them, they didn’t even have any receivers or radio signals for the Karacknids to pick up. The first warning they would get of the launchers would be when they propelled their ordinance through the recently dug soil and up against any atmospheric craft the Karacknids intended to land on New Shanghai.

More than a few of his cadets didn’t seem best pleased by the manual labor. To an extent, Johnston understood, none of them had seen combat before. Every marine who had was happily doing whatever backbreaking work was called of them. Even the most menial hard labor was better than coming face-to-face with Karacknid ground troops. They will learn, Johnston was sure. And most of them won’t survive to benefit from the lesson, he was as equally certain. Amongst the Colonels and other senior marines there had been a lot of discussion about whether or not the Karacknids, if they came to New Shanghai, would try to land ground troops. As far as Johnston was concerned they would. At least in that much, he and General Wu were on the same wavelength. Yes, the Karacknids had nuked Earth, but that had been as their fleet had fled after being defeated. Everything they had learned about the Karacknids since told him that when the Karacknids took a system, they intended to keep it. And with New Shanghai and the rest of Earth’s colonies, that would mean boots on the ground. He had contested a landing on the colony of Holstein. Then, after being defeated, he had been forced to fight a long guerrilla war against the Karacknid ground army. Johnston had no desire to do so again, and yet that was exactly what he was facing. That was why, when he got to the end of the line of cadet squads digging holes for the AA missile launchers, he picked up a shovel and got stuck in.

Four hours later, covered in muck and sweat, Johnston sat down with his platoon to a well-deserved lunch of stew. He only managed a couple of mouthfuls when he heard the snap of someone standing to attention behind him. Taking one more spoonful, he turned. “What is it Sergeant?” he asked the marine standing before him.

“General Wu has requested all his senior officers report immediately to his headquarters,” the Sergeant informed him.

“The last I checked, I wasn’t counted as one of those senior officers,” Johnston replied, hoping he could weasel his way out of another planning meeting. Wu understood the basics of defending a planet from orbital invasion well enough. Johnston had already written him a detailed report from his experiences on Holstein. Despite their differences, Wu had shared it with his senior officers. Johnston didn’t think he had much more to add.

“Your name was on the list Colonel,” the Sergeant said without hesitation. “A replacement has already been found to take your cadets’ training sessions for this afternoon. You are requested immediately. That is all I know Sir.”

“Very well,” Johnston sighed. Turning back to his meal he spooned up as much as he could in thirty seconds and then stood. Stretching, he worked out the strain on his muscles as he rotated his shoulders. “Do I have time to change or shower?” he asked as he let the Sergeant see the condition of his uniform.

This time the Sergeant did hesitate, but only for a second. “My orders were to escort you immediately to the headquarters barracks,” he explained.

“Then let’s get going I suppose,” Johnston replied. When they stepped out of the mess barracks, he kicked his boots together several times and tried to brush off as much of the dried mud from his uniform as he could. He quickly decided it was a lost cause. Looking ahead again he saw a group of cadets standing together looking up into the sky. “What do you think it is?” One of them asked. “A battlecruiser maybe,” another answered.

Johnston glanced up as he followed the Sergeant. The large ship that was settling into a low orbit explained Wu’s meeting. “She’s a battleship,” Johnston said to the cadets as he passed them. “One of our newer ones.” Given that all but two of the battleships had been sent with Somerville’s fleet in Operation Counterstrike, it wasn’t hard for him to guess whose. “She’ll be Constitution, Admiral Koroylov’s flagship.” The cadets all looked down from the battleship. When they realized who had spoken to them, they quickly straightened and saluted. By then they were already out of Johnston’s mind. Doing a quick mental calculation, he reckoned Koroylov must have been in the Sol system when Somerville’s news arrived. Must have left the very day he heard, Johnston reckoned. That meant one thing. Empress Christine and Koroylov were betting the Karacknids would come to New Shanghai. It probably meant James had told them he was trying to lure the Karacknids here. Which means we are most definitely in for a fight. At least Clare has already left, Johnston thought. He missed her but knowing she would be safe was far better.

As he entered the HQ barracks and made his way to Wu’s briefing room, Johnston wasn’t in the least surprised to see a group of officers in naval uniforms standing at the front. One or two that he recognized nodded to him. A third nudged the only officer in an Admiral’s uniform. Turning, Koroylov caught his eye and gave him a wink. Johnston acknowledged the gesture and made his way to the back of the marine officers. When he slipped in between two colonels, they both turned and stared at him. Johnston didn’t know whether it was his attire or smell that had irritated them. He settled on it being both.

“Quiet everyone,” Wu’s Staff Sergeant called as the last senior commanders filtered in. “Admiral Koroylov and his command staff have just arrived from the Sol system. He has been put in overall command of New Shanghai’s defenses. He has come to fill us in on how we’re going to defend the system from the Karacknid battlefleet.” Turning to Koroylov the Staff Sergeant gave a slight bow and gestured for Koroylov to address the marine officers.

“Please, take a seat,” Koroylov said after clearing his throat. “I have already briefed the Navy’s senior commanders. Now I want to make sure you all know what is ahead of us. We are going to be truly busy over the next few weeks. I won’t have time to meet with you all like this again so listen carefully.”

As Koroylov detailed the plan he, Nogamoro and Empress Christine had come up with, Johnston did just that. As a general outline, it was what he had been expecting. Though Humanity had far fewer ships than the Karacknids, being on the defensive gave Koroylov some options. Basically, any piece of equipment that could be used to fight the Karacknids was being shipped to the New Shanghai system. What impressed Johnston was the size and scope of what Koroylov laid out. It was clear that the senior naval commanders saw New Shanghai as the last line of defense. If the system fell, then Earth would be at the Karacknids’ mercy. There would be nothing left that could resist them. It’s all or nothing, Johnston thought. Though he had known that already, hearing it laid out in Koroylov’s plans made it hit home.

Koroylov then turned to what was expected of the marines. They were to prepare for a planetary wide invasion and ground campaign. Tens of thousands of more marines were to be shipped in to reinforce Wu’s command. That worried Johnston more. The Karacknids would only be landing troops if they had taken the orbitals. And they’d only take the orbitals if Koroylov’s fleet had been defeated. Which means they are already planning on losing. They’re shipping in Marines as a delaying tactic. If they lose the system, they want to bog the Karacknids down fighting so many marines that it will buy them some time. Though time for what exactly, Johnston wasn’t sure. There was no way Earth could be evacuated. There weren’t enough ships in all of Human and Alliance space to take off even a fraction of the populace.

“New Shanghai, Earth and the rest of the Empire need the Imperial Marines to do their best,” Koroylov said as he drew his briefing to a close. “You may be the last line of defense we have against a deeper incursion into our space. Empress Christine asked me to inform you directly that she knows her faith in you all will not be misplaced.”

Though no one spoke, Johnston noticed several backs straighten and heads rise. Koroylov’s speech hadn’t been designed to rally the marines on the eve of battle, but he had encouraged them, nonetheless. Pausing for a moment, Koroylov glanced around at the officers and then nodded, seemingly in approval. “I will speak to Wu now. The rest of you are dismissed. Make sure that your marines understand the sentiments I have shared with you.”

As the officers around him stood and shuffled out, Johnston was in two minds. He wanted to go over and speak to Koroylov. They had become friends over the last few years. But it was inappropriate for someone of his rank to interject between an Admiral and Major General. His dilemma was solved when the same Sergeant who had fetched him from his cadets’ barracks appeared beside him. “Admiral Koroylov would like to speak with you Colonel,” he informed Johnston.

With a nod Johnston made his way over to Koroylov and Wu. When he stepped up beside them, Wu cut off what he was saying and frowned. “What kind of condition are you in Colonel?” he complained.

“I was helping dig the AA launchers,” Johnston answered, biting back the insolence he was tempted to put into his voice. He didn’t want to undermine Koroylov’s confidence in Wu. As much as he disliked how Wu had treated him, distrust between senior officers would only end badly for the ordinary marines. “Your Sergeant told me I had to come right here. I was just in time as it was.”

“Don’t worry about it General,” Koroylov said as he smiled and clapped Johnston on the shoulder. “I know General Johnston is not afraid to get his hands dirty. He is a fighter.”

Both Johnston and Wu stared at Koroylov. Koroylov smiled at them. “I didn’t misspeak,” he explained. “That’s why I want to speak to you both. Given his experience fighting the Karacknids in the Holstein system, Empress Christine has given me permission to give you a temporary field promotion Colonel. You will assume the rank of Acting General and take command of all of New Shanghai’s ground forces.”

“But I am the ranking marine officer here,” Wu complained as he turned and squared up to Koroylov. “I have been preparing the defenses. This is my homeworld. Defending it is my duty!”

“You will remain the senior commander of all marine forces on the planet,” Koroylov assured him. “But Johnston will hold the title of Supreme Ground Commander. The Marines and Colonial Militia will be under his overall command. He will have free rein to form his own command staff from the Marines and Militia.”

Wu ground his teeth together as he looked from Koroylov to Johnston. Johnston groaned inside. Working with Wu was already bad enough. The Chinese General would hate him now. Then a thought occurred to him. It was something Clare would have pointed out to him. “I will only accept the field promotion on one condition,” he found himself saying. “That General Wu serve as my second in command. I will need his organizational and leadership skills if we are to form the Marines, Militia and all the reinforcements that are coming this way into one fighting unit. If I die in battle, I would want no one else to carry on the fighting.” Though he looked at Koroylov as he spoke, his words were for Wu. Up until his last sentence they were even true. There would be more experienced commanders headed towards New Shanghai, ones who would be able to run rings round Wu tactically, but Wu knew the planet and he knew the Marines and Militia already based here. He would just have to make sure to appoint the more combat capable commanders to key positions.

Koroylov turned from Johnston to Wu. “Well? What do you say? I guess it is up to you.”

Wu hesitated as he looked from Koroylov to Johnston. Johnston could easily imagine his thoughts. If he did accept, he would have to work extremely closely with Johnston. At the same time, he would have more authority and influence over the decisions Johnston made. On the other hand, if he didn’t accept, they wouldn’t be forced to work so closely together, yet Wu would be stuck having to simply obey every order Johnston issued. “You really want me to serve as your second-in-command?” Wu asked.

Johnston nodded. “I have seen your organizational and leadership skills over these last weeks. I need them.”

Wu turned away from Koroylov and Johnston, still deep in thought. Koroylov raised an eyebrow as he looked at Johnston. Johnston covertly gestured for him to be patient. Wu turned back just a few seconds later. “I accept,” he said, “I will remain as senior commander of all marine forces. That will smooth out the chain of command and limit any miscommunication.”

“That works for me,” Johnston said.

“Very well,” Koroylov said as he glanced between the two men. “As long as you two both remember what is at stake here. This isn’t the time for petty squabbles.”

“It won’t be,” Johnston assured Koroylov. When he turned to Wu, Wu nodded.

“Very well, I’ll put the orders in writing,” Koroylov said. “You may as well get to work immediately. Is there anything else I haven’t covered with you both?”

“There was one other thing I wanted to ask you about Admiral,” Wu answered. “In your briefing, you didn’t mention anything about the evacuation effort. Nothing official has been started yet, but every freighter and civilian spacecraft that can has been ferrying people out of the system. I think more than forty thousand have left already.”

“Aye and prices for tickets have increased by more than ten times what they once were,” Johnston added when Koroylov looked at him inquisitively.

“I will see to it,” Koroylov replied. “Any evacuation efforts will cease immediately.”

“Cease?” Wu queried as he took half a step forward. “There are many tens of thousands more who are willing to pay to leave.”

When Koroylov’s eyes flashed, Johnston gave the Admiral a slight shake of his head. He could imagine where Koroylov’s mind had gone. If Wu had been trying to profiteer from the population’s panicked attempts to flee, he would naturally be concerned about the evacuation being halted but, as far as Johnston knew, that wasn’t happening. Wu was just concerned about his people.

Drawing a deep breath, Koroylov shook his head. “There will be no more people leaving New Shanghai. Every freighter and civilian craft that is in the system is being commandeered by the fleet. We need them all. New Shanghai’s population will have to face its fate here. In the long run, it will make no difference. If New Shanghai falls, running to Earth or further afield will not save them.

Wu nodded. “I understand Admiral,” he replied in a neutral tone. Johnston knew him well enough to know that he wanted to say more, but he wisely held his tongue.

“If that is all?” Koroylov said, “I have much to attend to. My staff officers will send everything we know about the reinforcements coming our way to your staff.”

At the mention of staff, Johnston almost groaned. That was the first thing he was going to have to do; pick out a whole bunch of officers that would be able to meet his various needs. Coordinating the defense of an entire planet was going to be a colossal task. He would just have to groan quietly and bear it. Johnston reached out and touched Koroylov’s elbow. “I’ll walk you back to your shuttle.”

“Very well, thank you for your time General Wu,” Koroylov said as he shook his hand. “We’ll speak again soon. Tomorrow if not later today.”

Wu nodded and Koroylov turned and gestured for Johnston to follow him. “What is there between the two of you?” Koroylov half whispered as they left the briefing room.

“Nothing much,” Johnston said nonchalantly. “I don’t think he liked me being stationed here. Every marine knows who I am. Even the ones who don’t like me know my accolades and honors were deserved. I think Wu has been imagining me second-guessing every decision he has made and every word he has said. For my part, I’ve been trying to avoid him as much as possible. I guess that’s not going to be possible anymore.”

“He had you training cadets?” Koroylov queried.

“Technically yes, though that wasn’t his doing. Empress Christine made that a part of her banishment,” Johnston explained.

Koroylov unexpectedly laughed. “What is it?” Johnston demanded.

“I was the one who suggested your field promotion to Christine at the Imperial Palace. Let’s just say she wasn’t too keen on the idea. You’ve definitely rubbed her the wrong way.”

“I suppose I have,” Johnston said slowly as his mind went back to that room where Akhila had been handcuffed and on her knees. Try as he might, the memories were never far from his thoughts. “I fully deserve it.”

“Well, she got over it enough to come around to my way of thinking,” Koroylov said. He paused for a moment. “Just like you and Wu are going to have to get over your issues. If he doesn’t though, I want to know about it. He is far more replaceable than you are.”

“He will, don’t worry about it,” Johnston replied. “Now tell me, how do you see things playing out?” he asked, getting to the reason why he wanted to walk Koroylov to his shuttle.

“Not well,” Koroylov answered, not sugar-coating it. “The Karacknids may not bring all ten thousand of their warships here. They may divert some to Alliance space or not have the supplies to send all their ships forward immediately. Yet it would only take three thousand to blast through Somerville’s fleet and our defenses and then advance on to Earth. Even if they don’t have the supplies to advance as quickly as we fear, time is not on our side. They will be able to get enough supplies to bring warships into the fight far quicker than we can build our own or the Alliance can send theirs. Don’t forget, all across the Alliance front line they have been counterattacking in coordination with Somerville’s raid. It will take them months to pull ships back and redeploy them in our direction. They’re sending what they have nearby, but I fear it will not be enough. It is very likely that we will lose the orbitals. If that’s the case, then the longer the Karacknids are bogged down fighting for New Shanghai, the more hesitant they may be to advance further.”

Johnston nodded, it was as he suspected. “Well you can rest assured, you will get the best from the Imperial Marines.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Koroylov said as they drew close to his shuttle. He paused and shook Johnston’s hand. “I’m sorry to be putting you in this position.”

“We are both in the same position,” Johnston replied. He was certain that if the orbitals were lost, there was a fairly high chance Koroylov would already be dead. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Far better to be here and in command than back on Earth leaving our fate in the hands of others.”

“Agreed,” Koroylov said as he smiled. “At least we know what we are up against. We won’t go down without a fight.”

“Indeed we won’t,” Johnston said as he gave Koroylov one final nod. As the Admiral walked up the shuttle’s access ramp, Johnston turned. The shuttle landing pads were on top of a small hill. From it he could see the marine base that housed six thousand marines and cadets. All of it was now his responsibility. That and the thousands of other marines spread across the planet and in orbit. And the Militia, he reminded himself. Under the Imperial constitution, every colony was responsible for fielding and arming its own Militia. New Shanghai had twenty thousand permanent Militia and another eighty thousand reservists. They had been called up already, though there had been more than a few issues getting them equipped and to work. That’s going to be my first problem, he thought. But certainly not the last. Taking a deep breath, he started back down the hill towards the barracks. He needed to get to work.

Chapter 39

It was in the War of Doom that the first designs for Imperial dreadnoughts were drawn up. Their production was a must, for the Karacknids had the advantage in numbers, with hundreds of their own dreadnoughts, and they out massed nearly every Allied Fleet they fought.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Slayer

Not long now, Tanaka-lang thought. Not long now. To say his patience was growing thin was an understatement. The Human fleet had allowed his battlefleet to pass through two more systems unaccosted. But then, right on the edge of the border of his species’ Empire, just as they had jumped out of the system, their gravity bubbles had returned. Within half an hour of jumping into shift space, his entire fleet had been roughly pulled back to normal space. Since then, the Humans had resumed their game of tantalizing his fast squadrons with an easy target and then pulling it away at the last moment. Every time his fast cruisers were about to catch up with the Human ships that created the gravity bubbles, the bubble would disappear and the Human ships would jump to safety. Then, as soon as his fleet jumped into shift space, another bubble would appear, ripping his ships into normal space once again. For eight days now, Tanaka-lang’s battlefleet had been effectively stuck in normal space as it flew beyond the borders of their Empire into unclaimed space. Despite the delay and the frustration at having one’s enemy always just out of claw’s reach. He hadn’t given up hope yet. Not even close. Two weeks ago he had predicted what was happening. Soon his counter plan would reveal itself. And the more you delay me, the more supplies are gathering behind me and the more reinforcements are joining, Tanaka-lang thought towards his opponent. He had received more reinforcements than the Humans had managed to destroy with their fancy ambush using their gravity ships. As the days and weeks rolled on, those numbers would only swell further.

Though he did not know for certain when his plan would materialize, Tanaka-lang remained on Slayer’s bridge for six hours as he watched and waited. Finally, the moment came. A squadron of his warships suddenly appeared just in front of the Human squadron protecting their gravity ship. He had sent them ahead of his fleet more than a week ago via what should have been a much longer route through several other systems. With the extremely slow progress his battlefleet had made, they had easily got ahead of his fleet, and, crucially, the Human gravity ships. Having hidden themselves in the midst of the shift passage, they had waited until just the right moment. With the focus of the Human ships entirely directed towards Tanaka-lang’s fleet, they hadn’t seen his hidden squadron. Now they saw them though, for as Tanaka-lang‘s squadron powered up their reactors, engines, and weapons, they were unmistakable.

Tanaka-lang’s lips peeled back as he revealed his fangs and let out a growl of satisfaction. Missiles were already flying towards the Human ships. The gravity cruiser hadn’t even powered down its gravity bubble yet. Its own weapon was keeping the Human ships from escaping! It must take some time to power down, Tanaka-lang thought. That was useful to know.

“Gravity bubble is beginning to shrink Admiral,” the sensor officer he had tasked with constantly monitoring the gravimetric sensors reported. “Estimate it will disappear in forty-five seconds.”

“Prepare the fleet to jump in fifty,” Tanaka-lang responded as he raised his voice for all of Slayer’s bridge officers to hear. “We will jump on my command.”

On Slayer’s sensors, the Human warships finally fired back with their own missile salvo. Outnumbered six to one, Tanaka-lang knew they had no hope of winning. But they intended to take as many of his ships as they could with them. On this occasion, he was fine with that.

“Gravity bubble has disappeared Admiral,” the same officer shouted.

“Jump to shift space now!” Tanaka-lang ordered. It took just one second for the lead elements of his fleet to disappear. Within three, every one of the four thousand warships arrayed around Slayer entered shift space. Without waiting to see whether the Human gravity cruiser was destroyed, or how the small engagement played out, Tanaka-lang had his ships on the move. He knew the Humans had more than one gravity ship. Yet the squadron he had sent forward had been given strict orders only to engage gravity ships that were active. Without the gravity ship that was now fighting for its life to warn them, Tanaka-lang was counting on the others not being ready. If they weren’t, his fleet had a very good chance of making it all the way to the next system without being disrupted. And with luck, we’ll end up in front of their gravity ships, Tanaka-lang hoped. So far his fleet had encountered three of them. He suspected that as the one delaying his fleet jumped out when his fast cruisers approached it, it fled ahead and warned the next gravity ship to power up. This time, no such warning would reach the other Human gravity ships.

*

IS Drake, thirty-two hours later.

“James,” Fisher’s voice said over his COM channel. “You’ll want to get in here immediately,” she said in a tone that sent a shiver down James’ spine. Outside of informal engagements on Earth, Fisher never used his first name. Something was definitely wrong. Jumping up from his desk, he left his office and walked straight onto the bridge. He didn’t have to ask what was happening. It was clear on the holo display. Four thousand new contacts had just appeared from the end of the shift passage his fleet had passed through a week ago.

“They’re here,” Fisher said needlessly. “Something has gone wrong.”

James nodded to her as he moved to his command chair. “Any word from any of our gravity well squadrons?”

“None,” Lieutenant Martinez informed him.

“There was no indication the Karacknid fleet was coming,” Fisher explained. “They just jumped out without any of our squadrons giving us a warning.”

James swallowed hard. Something had gone wrong. For the last week, his gravity well cruisers had been keeping the enemy battlefleet in normal space. If they had been able to keep it up, it would have taken several months for the Karacknid fleet to reach the system Drake was in. He had expected the Karacknid fleet to double back and take another route into the unclaimed systems between the Karacknid Empire and the Human colonies. At the moment he had more than a hundred ships out scouting the nearby systems, on the lookout for an attempt to do just that. Instead the Karacknid battlefleet was right in front of him. Somehow, they had gotten past his gravity well cruisers. And they did so without our ships being able to warn us, James thought. That meant they had probably all been destroyed.

“What is going…” Commander Miyagi asked as he stepped onto the bridge. He stopped when he saw the holo display. Quickly he moved to his command chair. “What are your orders Admiral?”

That was the question James was trying to answer. He had no tricks left. Without the gravity well cruisers they couldn’t try another ambush. Nor could they hope to delay the battlefleet by any significant amount of time. Between his fleet’s current position and the Alpha-two Fort there were three different routes the Karacknid battlefleet could take. That meant there were no choke points or other possibilities where he could try something else. “We have no choice,” he said, reluctantly admitting there was only one answer. “Inform the fleet, we’re falling back to Alpha-two Fort immediately. Make sure messenger frigates are sent out to our scouting squadrons. They are to fall back as well.”

“Yes Admiral, understood,” Miyagi said. James caught him sharing a glance with Fisher. He knew what they were thinking. They had run out of delaying tactics. Now, the only way to slow the Karacknid battlefleet would be to fight over Human systems. Alpha-two Fort would be the first, but James was certain it wouldn’t be the last.

*

IS Drake, Alpha-two Fort, 29th May 2484 AD.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” James said to Rear Admiral McMasters when his ships got within two-way communication range of Alpha-two Fort. As per the orders he had sent back the day he had made contact with the Karacknid battlefleet, the vast majority of the ships from Alpha-one and Alpha-three had already assembled at Alpha-two.

“It’s good to see you too Emperor,” McMasters said as he gave James a salute. They had first met when they had both been captains during the Flex-aor invasion of the American colonies. Since then, James had kept an eye on McMasters’ career and since becoming Emperor, James had ensured he was given the responsibilities James knew he could handle. When he had recalled Lightfoot from commanding Alpha-two to join Operation Counterstrike, he had put McMasters in charge of the defenses there. “Though I suppose your appearance means the Karacknid battlefleet is not far behind you,” McMasters continued.

“I’m afraid so,” James replied. “They slowed their advance slightly over the last week, but not by much. They may be a day or two behind, but not likely more. What news do you have?”

“Not much, at least in the way of good news,” McMasters answered. “Admiral Koroylov has taken command of the defenses at New Shanghai. That is where he and Empress Christine have decided to make our stand. Every effort is being made to gather our defenses in the system. Half of the battlestations have already been towed out of the system here. I’m told it’s the same at the Alpha-one and three Forts. All of our fighters have been taken out of the system in freighters. We still have our mines, but that is it.”

James brought a hand up to rub his jaw. He had been half expecting what McMasters said. On Drake’s sensors he could see that there were still twenty battlestations in orbit. Without any other defenses though, there was no way his fleet could hold the system. All he could do was try and delay the Karacknids. Perhaps the mines would let him try something. But he was loath to simply abandon the system with twenty battlestations still present. The Karacknids would destroy them with ease if they were left undefended. “We will just have to make do,” James replied. “If you have any ideas, I’ll discuss them with you once we enter orbit.”

“There are one or two tactics I’d like to run by you,” McMasters responded. “Our supply stations are fully stocked and the crews for the repair yards are here as well. We can see to your fleet’s needs and then plan our next steps.”

“Thank you,” James replied. When the COM channel ended, the holo image of McMasters was replaced by an image of Alpha-two Fort. In orbit were McMasters’ three hundred and fifty warships. They were a welcome addition to James’ fleet. Yet their number looked tiny in comparison to the massive enemy fleet James had become accustomed to staring at. As he stared at them and the battlestations they were in orbit around, a thought occurred to him. As he turned to Miyagi, his Chief of Staff looked up. “How many heavy cruisers or battlecruisers do you think it would take to tow one of those battlestations through shift space?”

Miyagi glanced from James to the holo projection of Alpha-two Fort’s defenses. “I don’t know Admiral,” he answered as he looked back. “But I can find someone who does.”

“Do it,” James ordered. If it was possible, he wanted to get the battlestations out of harm’s way. Though it might cost him some of his largest warships, it would be worth it in the long term.

*

Slayer, 29th May 2484 AD (four days later).

Tanaka-lang had his battlefleet on the edge of Human space. With several potential routes through the unclaimed territory between his empire and the systems claimed by Humanity, he had advanced carefully. He didn’t want another sizeable Human fleet getting behind his lines. But now that he was examining the sensor data his scouts had just returned with, he saw that the entire fleet that had invaded his species’ territory was at their border world. And they have received reinforcements, Tanaka-lang observed. There weren’t many of them, but they had to be taken into consideration. Not much of a border fort, was his next thought as he examined the Human system. He had no idea what the Humans called the system, the best Karacknid data analysts still hadn’t broken their signal encryption, nor that of the Alliance. But it didn’t matter. Whatever it was called, he was about to conquer it. The only unanswered question he had was, where were the defenses his scouts had observed? Months ago, he had sent out scouts to covertly examine every Human system between the border of his Empire and their homeworld. He had expected to see forty-four large orbital battlestations. Instead there were only six. Either they have hidden them or removed them.

Mulling over the two options for several minutes, Tanaka-lang decided they had been removed. Hiding them was pointless. The Humans had to have guessed that he had scouted the system well before bringing his battlefleet to it. And hiding forty-four battlestations was hardly worth the effort. If they had four hundred hidden, that would be something. Forty-four would change nothing. No, they have removed them. Which means they don’t want to fight here, evidence to the contrary, Tanaka-lang concluded. The Human fleet was arrayed in orbit around their border system, evidently preparing to fight to defend it. Yet if they had removed their battlestations there was no way they would actually fight. And perhaps their fighters have been removed, Tanaka-lang thought as he looked at the orbital stations that were dotted with fighter launch tubes. If they were empty as well, then there was no way the Humans would try to stand up to his fleet.

It was easy for him to guess where the Humans had removed their defenses to. There was only really one choke point between his fleet and the Human’s homeworld. It also happened to be one of the largest colonies that his fleet would have to conquer as they pushed into Human space. As Tanaka-lang considered the strategic situation, he had no doubt the Humans were gathering everything they could in the system. Tanaka-lang flexed his claws as he thought about the prospect. If he wanted, he could pull his fleet back and attack along a different line of advance. One that avoided the system he suspected they were concentrating their defenses in. Yet it would take at least eight weeks to do so. By then the Humans could redeploy their forces to face him wherever he went. No, Tanaka-lang thought. Let them concentrate their forces. We will defeat them in one battle and then all of their colonies will be mine. Mine to hand over to the Imperator, he thought with glee. “The fleet will advance,” he ordered. It was time to see just what the Humans had in mind.

As his ships carried out one final micro jump into the system, Tanaka-lang watched his subordinates organize the four thousand seven hundred warships he now had in his battlefleet. They formed up in attack squadrons in a symmetrical formation arrayed around Slayer. Then they accelerated towards the world the Humans had fortified. Let them think we plan to attack, Tanaka-lang thought. Just as they want me to think they plan to fight. He was sure the Human fleet would run long before his ships got into missile range. Drawing his fleet into the center of the system was just another delaying tactic. It wasn’t one he could do anything about though, if he pressed on towards the next shift passage and ignored the Human fleet, they’d likely break past his battlefleet and try and engage his supply convoys.

For three hours Tanaka-lang watched the Human fleet as it sat in orbit around their Fort. As he expected, they didn’t show any sign of wanting to retreat. Time to put that to the test, he decided. He was close enough that they couldn’t try and slip past him to his convoys. “The fleet will alter course. Put us onto the heading for the shift passage to the next system,” he ordered. He had no intention of jumping out of the system, but as he moved that way, he would cut off the Humans’ line of retreat. Then they would have to fight him whether they liked it or not. Within a couple of minutes, every Human and Alliance ship powered up their reactors and broke orbit. Tanaka-lang’s claws extended and retracted. That’s right, he thought towards his opponent, I know you have no intention of fighting. As the Allied Fleet pulled away from their fort, Tanaka-lang was puzzled by their course. It wasn’t a direct line towards the shift passage they wanted to jump out of. They would almost come within missile range of his fleet. All he would have to do was change course slightly and he would get off a salvo or maybe even two at the Humans as they fled. You are not that foolish my friend, Tanaka-lang was certain. The Humans were up to something. Tanaka-lang’s mind went to a battle Under Admiral Shurlang had fought against the Humans when he had invaded their space. The Humans had defended one of their colonies with a large number of stealth mines. They had lured Shurlang’s forces into the mines and destroyed a number of ships. Is that what you have planned? Tanaka-lang asked. That or they do still have fighters in their orbital bases, he decided as he glanced back at the fort. If there were still fighters there, they could sortie against his ships whilst the fighters from the Human fleet did the same. With an attack from two different angles, they could do a lot of damage to his ships.

“Launch all our fighters, they are to take out the orbital stations in that fort,” Tanaka-lang ordered. One week ago the first two carriers he had been promised had arrived. It was time to put them to use. “Launch a wave of reconnaissance drones ahead of our fleet. I believe there may be a minefield between us and the Humans. Find it and map it out.” One way or another we’ll find out soon enough, Tanaka-lang thought. He had no intention of altering his fleet’s heading until he did. Though the Karacknid empire was superior to the Humans and the Alliance species in almost every way, he had to admit that the Human stealth technology was good. Better than any species he had fought before. He had no intention of taking any risks until he was certain of what his enemy was up to.

*

IS Drake

“Multiple new contacts,” Lieutenant Anderson reported. “Their profiles suggest they are fighters… Confirmed, it looks like they are launching fighters. The count is up to forty already.”

James shared a glance with his Flag Captain. So far, they hadn’t seen any fighters amongst the Karacknid battlefleet. Yet there they were there now. He knew the Karacknid fleet had been receiving constant reinforcements but he had been hoping that wouldn’t have included any carriers. When the count rose to eighty and stopped, James felt at least a little bit of relief. Commodore Chen’s forces could deal with eighty. When the fighters angled away from the battlefleet and towards Alpha-two Fort, James realized the Karacknid commander knew that as well. Instead of striking at his ships to prevent them escaping, he was going to take out Alpha-two Fort’s defenses. No doubt the remaining six battlestations would get some kills, but they’d be ripped to shreds by the particle beams the Karacknid fighters used. And he’ll see we have no fighters in those orbital hangers, James thought. That wasn’t ideal. For forty minutes there was almost complete silence on Drake’s bridge as everyone watched the fighters close with Alpha-two Fort. After a brief engagement, they destroyed the six battlestations and set about destroying every other station in orbit. Only nine fighters were destroyed in the brief engagement. When the last station had been taken out, the remaining Karacknid fighters turned and made to re-join their fleet.

As they did, James refocused on the battlefleet. The Karacknid ships still hadn’t altered course to try and engage his ships, despite the opportunity he was offering them. There was only one reason why. “They know about the mines,” James said to his officers. “Either they’ve spotted them, or they have made a good guess, but they know. They’re not going to take the bait.” McMasters’ plan had been a slight alteration to one Lightfoot had used a number of years ago. Then, Lightfoot had arrayed the mines around one part of the planet he had been defending and lured the Karacknids to close with his ships. This time, McMasters had suggested the mines be moved as far out from the planet as they could. In open space, they would normally be far less likely to get close enough to attack an enemy ship, but the course the Karacknid battlefleet would take through the system had been predictable given they’d be chasing James’ fleet.

“Their current course will still take them close to the edge of the minefield,” Miyagi suggested. “Even a small course alteration may yet bring them into range.”

James shook his head. “No, we were too predictable. We’re just wasting time by staying here. Send word to the fleet. We’re altering course. We will turn onto a direct course to the shift passage. We need to fall back to Wuhu and prepare its defenses.”

Chapter 40

Even the best of leaders make mistakes. Sadly, these mistakes often come back to haunt them years down the line.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Mongoose, outer Rillelio system (same time).

Commodore Chambers surveyed the Rillelio system carefully. Everything seemed normal. This was the third run for fuel that he had made to the system. The last two convoys he had then escorted into the Karacknid empire to deliver the fuel to Admiral Somerville’s fleet. Both times, he had not been in any great rush to leave the Rillelio system for it had been the safest place his convoy would stop before entering Karacknid space. Now, the Karacknid battlefleet was in unclaimed space. Likely it was on its way to Alpha-two Fort, if not there already. Chambers had orders to load whatever fuel the Rillelio had and head to New Shanghai. Everyone was expecting the Karacknids to lay siege to the planet and stocking up on spare fuel would be essential.

“No sign of anything untoward Commodore,” Mongoose’s sensor officer reported. “Apart from a few more orbital stations and gas freighters, the place is just as we left it.”

“Let’s give it a few more minutes,” Chambers responded. He didn’t like to look overly cautious in front of his officers, but the Rillelio system could no longer be considered friendly territory. Almost before he finished speaking, alarms went off around him. Twenty new contacts had just appeared on the gravimetric plot. They were accelerating into the system from the opposite end his ships were at. Chambers glanced at his First Lieutenant. According to the intel they had, there were no reconnaissance squadrons in the immediate vicinity. It took just a couple of minutes to confirm his suspicions. The drive signatures were not from Allied ships. They were Karacknid.

“Signal the rest of the squadron,” Chambers said as soon as the identity of the newcomers was confirmed. “The freighters and escorts are to pull back. Have them travel down the shift passage for twenty minutes. They’re to wait for us there for four hours. If we don’t return, they are to head back to New Shanghai without us.”

“Aye Commodore,” Mongoose’s COM officer responded.

“Double check that our stealth systems are operating at maximum efficiency,” Chambers said as he turned to his First Lieutenant. As officers got to work, he turned his attention back to the Karacknids and the Rillelio. Just as they had done when the first Human ship had visited the system, the Rillelio were already reacting to the newcomers. Their small fleet of warships had broken orbit and were approaching the Karacknids in a defensive formation. Chambers desperately wanted to warn them, but there was no way for him to send a signal in time. Even if he did, he wasn’t sure what the Rillelio would make of it. If he admitted to knowing who the Karacknids were, they would know Humanity had lied to them. They probably wouldn’t trust anything else he had to say.

As the Karacknids came closer and closer, Chambers felt his sense of guilt grow. The Rillelio fleet was about to be blown away and he couldn’t help but feel responsible. As soon as the Karacknid warships got within missile range, a spread of missiles appeared on the gravimetric plot. They didn’t even try to talk to them, Chambers shook his head as his hands tightened into fists. The Karacknids were cold-blooded murderers. The Rillelio fired back as soon as they realized what was happening. Yet their military technologies were at least a century behind Humanity’s. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Rillelio warships’ point defenses only took out about half of the Karacknid missiles. The rest detonated. Every Rillelio ship was destroyed. Chambers felt shivers run down the palm of his hand. As he glanced down, he saw his nails had dug into his hand so hard that he had broken the skin. A small trickle of blood was dripping down his palm. Crunching his hands, he embraced the pain. It was better than the guilt.

When the missiles fired by the now dead Rillelio ships reached the Karacknids, they easily swatted all of them away. Then the Karacknids altered course slightly. They were going to enter orbit of the Rillelio homeworld. For an hour Chambers watched the Karacknid ships close with the planet in silence. He had nothing to say to his subordinates. There was nothing to say. As the Karacknid ships got into weapons range, his heart slowed. He feared that the Karacknids were about to nuke the Rillelio back to the Stone Age. He didn’t know if he had the stomach to watch it or not, but if they did, he knew it needed to be documented. When missiles shot out from the Karacknids, Chambers couldn’t help but let out a groan. Several other officers did the same.

“Wait,” Mongoose’s sensor officer called out. “They’re not targeting the planet. They’re targeting their orbital stations.

Relief flooded through Chambers. The Rillelio weren’t going to be wiped out. Yet a fresh sense of guilt hit him seconds later, many thousands of Rillelio were going to die in orbit around their planet. For fifteen minutes the Karacknids systematically destroyed everything the Rillelio had built up around their homeworld. Chambers couldn’t help but think of the handful of conversations he had had with several Rillelio representatives. Almost every one of them had been full of pride in what their species had accomplished and, even more so, full of excitement at what the future held for their first steps beyond their solar system. Now none of that would happen.

“They’ve stopped firing,” Mongoose’s sensor officer reported. “Several stations are still intact though.

“Which ones?” Chambers asked. Though he feared he already knew the answer.

“The fuel storage facilities,” the officer reported, confirming Chambers’ suspicion.

“Turn us about, jump us out of here,” Chambers ordered. He had seen enough. The Karacknids had taken the system. That was bad enough. He would have to live with what he had just witnessed for the rest of his life. Yet he had worse news to bring back to New Shanghai. The Karacknids had found a new source of fuel for their fleet. One that was right on the back door of Humanity’s colonies.

*

IS Drake, Wuhu system, 9th May 2484 AD (eleven days later).

“Admiral Somerville, the Karacknids have arrived,” Lieutenant Martinez informed James over a COM channel.

“Thank you, Lieutenant, I’ll be on the bridge momentarily,” James replied. He had been in his office reading through the latest messages from Koroylov. Now that he was back in Human space, he was getting regular updates from New Shanghai. As far as he could tell, everything that could be done was being done though Koroylov didn’t sound any more confident than James felt. It is time, James thought as he set the datapad down. The Karacknid fleet had reached the first Human colony. Though Wuhu had only been colonized eighty years ago and had a population of just under seven million, it was still a Human colony. That meant, despite the risk, James had to contest the Karacknids’ attempt to seize it. He couldn’t just fall back and abandon the people there. Not without at least trying to put up a fight. Before heading to the bridge he took a moment to take out his best dress uniform.

As soon as he opened one of the built-in wardrobes, his steward, Fox appeared. “I think this is the one Admiral,” he said gently as he presented James with a freshly pressed uniform. It already had all of his medals attached to it.

“Thank you, old friend,” James said as he took the uniform. “Once more into battle we go.”

“Yes Admiral, the odds are not great, but we’ve gotten through worse with you at the helm,” Fox replied.

James glanced at him dubiously. He wasn’t so sure about that, but there was nothing he could say to make Fox’s confidence in him waiver.

“If you need anything during the wait, just let me know,” Fox said as he helped James with his tunic.

“I will send for you if need be,” James replied. With a nod he left Fox in his quarters and crossed the corridor onto the bridge. All his staff officers were already present. Glancing at each of them, James moved over to his command chair beside Fisher’s. “They are all here I presume?” he asked no one in particular.

“Almost all Admiral,” Anderson replied. “Four thousand two hundred warships are in their main fleet. They are headed straight for us.”

James nodded; he didn’t know where the other five hundred warships they knew were now part of the Karacknid battlefleet were. He suspected he would see them sooner rather than later though. Before he could even begin to think about what the Karacknid commander might be doing with them, new contacts appeared on the gravimetric plot. A second fleet exited shift space and set course for Wuhu. As Drake’s computer analyzed the sensor readings, six hundred of them were identified as warships. Four hundred others were given a different classification. It was a ship type that Allied ships had rarely detected in the past year and a half. “Troop transports confirmed Admiral,” Miyagi reported.

James considered the new development. Estimates suggested that each transport housed at least a thousand Karacknid warriors. That was a heck of a lot of ground troops. “Those ground troops have probably come a long way to get here,” he said. “I imagine it is very cramped in those small ships as well. There’s no way the Karacknids will need that many troops to secure Wuhu. After being stuffed up in those ships for so long, those Karacknid warriors would no doubt like to get their boots on the ground and stretch their legs.”

“You think they plan to turn Wuhu into a military base?” Fisher asked. “It makes sense,” she continued. “They could carry out final preparations for their invasion of New Shanghai or even Earth.”

“That they could,” James agreed. “But whatever their motive, it gives us more options.” Suddenly there were two distinct targets for James’ fleet to attack. No doubt the Karacknid commander had no desire for James’ ships to be able to make contact with the invasion fleet. But if he could find a way, he could devastate the Karacknid ground troops. As he was certain the ground ships were eventually destined for Earth, that was a target worthy of taking a few risks to reach. Deep in thought, James pulled up a holo image of the Wuhu system as he assessed his options. The first thing that caught his attention were a handful of freighters breaking orbit from Wuhu. Several hours ago he had sent all of the empty freighters from his supply train to take off as many women and children from the colony as possible. They wouldn’t be able to be evacuated any further than New Shanghai for the freighters would be needed there, but even that was something. There were zero marines on Wuhu to contest the colony and only a few thousand Militia. If the Karacknids managed to get ground troops down to the planet surface, the civilian population would be entirely at their mercy. As the freighters set course for James’ fleet, he forgot about them as his focus shifted to the rest of the system. Ten minutes later he had an idea. After sharing it with Fisher and Miyagi, they ran a few brief simulations. When it looked like there was a chance it could pay off, James contacted Lightfoot, Jil’lal and Ya’sia. He had been willing to take a risk to show the Karacknids he wouldn’t just hand Human colonies over to them. Now, if he could, he was going to show them that they’d have to pay a price in blood for each Human colony. Once all of his officers were briefed, James settled into his command chair to wait. If he ran away too fast, the Karacknids might suspect something. Instead, he spent the next three hours watching the Karacknid battlefleet cautiously approach Wuhu. Only when the Karacknids were forty-five minutes from reaching missile range did he give the order. “Break orbit, full retreat.”

As all of his one thousand seven hundred warships powered up their impulse engines, James leaned forward in his command chair. The Karacknid commander could either chase his ships away or move in and bombard Wuhu’s meagre defenses. He nodded in satisfaction when the Karacknid fleet began to turn. “They want to make sure we leave,” Fisher commented.

“As well they should,” James replied. It was what he had been hoping for. The Karacknid troop fleet had more than enough warships to pacify Wuhu’s orbital defenses before any landing took place. That meant the Karacknid battlefleet could shepherd his fleet out of the system. For an hour James allowed the Karacknids to chase him. Then the time came to put his plan into motion. “Now,” he ordered. The ships of his fleet altered their heading. Together they turned their noses towards the system’s third gas giant. Specifically, towards its fourth moon. The Karacknids responded immediately and changed course to continue their pursuit. Do you see it yet? James asked his opponent as he rubbed his jaw. In reality, he had no interest in the gas giant’s fourth moon. But its second, that was another matter. When the Karacknids continued after his fleet, James looked over to Fisher. It was theoretically possible to use the gas giant’s fourth moon to slingshot the fleet back towards the shift passage. If that was what James was trying to do, then all he would really achieve would be to keep his fleet in the system for a couple of hours longer than if he simply fell straight back to the shift passage. It was possible the Karacknids would think that was all he was up to. That they hadn’t reacted yet told him that’s what they were thinking. But the enemy commander was too good to be fooled for long.

He figured it out ten minutes later. Suddenly the Karacknid fleet broke apart. “Multiple ships changing course!” Lieutenant Anderson shouted. “Half of their light cruisers and smaller ships are accelerating after us. That’s one thousand nine hundred ships. The rest are decelerating hard. It looks like they’re planning to turn back towards Wuhu.”

“Acknowledged,” James replied as he watched the Karacknids on the holo display. Projected courses appeared as the massive Karacknid battlefleet split in two. He held his breath as he waited to see if either Karacknid force could intercept his fleet; for alongside the projected course of the Karacknid ships, his plan was also on display. When they reached the system’s third gas giant, his ships would alter course to dive in towards its second moon. In a complicated breaking maneuver, they would slingshot around the moon, and then around the gas giant itself. After both revolutions, they would be able to pull out of the gas giant’s gravity on a direct course for Wuhu whilst still maintaining most of their momentum. As the escorts of the Karacknid troop squadron had slowed to engage Wuhu’s defenses, they wouldn’t be able to pull out in time. Their only hope was that the Karacknid battlefleet could cut off James’ maneuver. As the estimated courses of both elements of the Karacknid battlefleet finally updated, James punched his fist in the air as he smiled. “We have them,” he said as he looked from Miyagi to Fisher. His ships would only be able to get a couple of missile salvos off as they flew past Wuhu, but they’d be able to hit the Karacknid troop ships. As he eyed his targets, he pictured what the Karacknid ground commander would be thinking. “They’ll probably accelerate their invasion,” he said to his subordinates. “The more troops they can get on the ground, the safer they’ll be.”

Twenty minutes after the Karacknid light cruisers and other smaller ships had charged ahead of their larger consorts, they turned and decelerated again. “They were trying to bait us?” Fisher asked as she turned to James.

James nodded. “It is the only way they could stop us heading for their troop fleet. I guess the Karacknid commander values his soldiers more than his warships.” The light ships would never have been able to catch his fleet before he had been able to carry out his slingshot maneuver. The Karacknid commander had been tempting him. James’ fleet had the firepower to obliterate the Karacknid light ships. But he probably would have lost half his fleet in the process. James knew the time was coming when he would have to commit his ships against the Karacknid battlefleet, but the longer he could delay that the better.

As his ships charged into the gas giant’s gravity well, James forced himself to sit stationary. The maneuver was relatively complex for an entire fleet to carry out together. Such things were often practiced in simulated fleet exercises, but they rarely took place in real life. When his ships circled the gas giant’s second moon and then pulled up and allowed the gas giant’s gravity to grab them, James sat back in his command chair and rolled his shoulders. The most difficult part had passed without a problem. Ten minutes later his ships pulled up again as they accelerated hard away from the gas giant, their noses now pointed at Wuhu. As soon as the maneuver was complete, James returned his attention to the Karacknid fleet. The Karacknid commander had a decision to make. He couldn’t stop James hitting Wuhu, but he did have a choice as to what would happen next. With James’ ships heading in roughly the opposite direction to the shift passage that led further into Human space, the Karacknids could try and trap his fleet. Yet they would be trapping James’ fleet in their rear. The rear that was filled with supply convoys that James’ scouts told him were strung out through several systems. Though James was not a gambler when it came to money, when it came to his homeworld, the situation had forced his hand. His maneuver meant the Karacknids could advance straight to New Shanghai and take the planet before his ships could catch them. Yet if they did so, they would have to sacrifice their own supply convoys. He was betting the Karacknid commander didn’t want that. For more than forty minutes everyone on Drake’s bridge watched the Karacknid fleet. They all knew what was at stake.

Miyagi was the first one confident enough to predict what was happening. “They’re not turning back towards the shift passage.”

“They don’t want us completely obliterating their troop fleet,” Fisher agreed. “They’re not going to push on ahead without us.” She was smiling. “You think they’ll let us fall back after we hit their troop fleet? If they don’t, we could threaten to head after their convoys.”

“I doubt they’ll simply let us stroll right by them,” James commented. “But you’re right, if they make it too hard, we might just decide not to fall back.” He had no doubt the Karacknid commander was kicking himself for allowing James’ fleet to slip by him so easily. Yet nothing he had seen so far suggested his opposite number was hot-headed. He would analyze the new strategic situation and recognize that letting James’ ships escape was the best outcome. At least, he’ll let us think we can escape, James was certain. There was no doubt the Karacknid commander would bring the Allied Fleet to battle if he could. Before any of that could happen though, James gave orders as he prepared his fleet to engage the troop fleet. On the holo display in front of him Karacknid warships were already bombarding Wuhu’s surface with orbital strikes. Hundreds of landing shuttles were descending through the planet’s atmosphere. James doubted the local defenders would last an hour.

For ten more minutes the Karacknids landed everything they could. Then their ships broke orbit and attempted to fall back towards their main battlefleet. With a far higher momentum, it was easy for James’ ships to alter course to pursue the troop fleet. As the troop fleet moved away from Wuhu, the jamming they had surrounded the planet with faded. “See if you can contact any of the defenders. Get details on the Karacknids’ main landing zones. We can strike them with tungsten spears as we pass,” James ordered in a cold voice. He feared such an order would mean the accidental death of Wuhu civilians, but he had no choice. If they could catch Karacknid ground troops out in the open, he had to strike.

“We’re struggling to make contact Admiral, I think the Karacknid troops have brought some ground jammers down with them,” Martinez responded. “A Major Simmons has confirmed two landing zones though. I think that’s all we’re going to get.”

“Let’s see them,” James requested. Moments later the holo display showed a zoomed in image of Wuhu. James bit back a curse when he saw where the landing zones were. Both were right on the edge of large towns. The Karacknids had likely blasted whatever defenses they had had and then landed right beside them. No doubt their troops were already occupying the towns. There was no way he could strike the towns themselves. “Put the tungsten spears as close to those landing zones as we can without seriously damaging any of the town’s buildings,” he ordered. With luck they would catch some Karacknid troops and their heavy equipment still out in the open but that was all he could hope for.

“Acknowledged Admiral, we’ll fire as soon as we pass,” Anderson reported. “We’ll be heavily engaged with the Karacknid troop fleet at the time though.”

“Assign the job to someone else,” James ordered his tactical officer. As good as Anderson was, he didn’t want him distracted. “Make sure they know to be careful.”

“Yes Admiral,” Anderson replied.

“Here we go,” Miyagi said fifteen minutes later when the Karacknid troop fleet entered missile range. “Firing missiles now.” Eighteen thousand missiles shot towards the Karacknids. In reply they were only able to fire five thousand of their own. Five minutes later both fleets fired again. Then they switched their focus to defending themselves as the Allied Fleet’s momentum took them out of range. Seconds before the first Karacknid salvo reached his ships, twelve tungsten spears were launched from Drake. James was so focused on the enemy missiles, he didn’t see them strike Wuhu’s surface and send large explosive plumes into the air. Even most of the Karacknid and Human ground troops didn’t notice, they were just several more explosions among the hundreds that were going on as Karacknid troops washed over Human defenses.

With so many ships in the Allied Fleet, only eighteen missiles survived long enough to detonate near their targets. Twelve ships were destroyed. The Karacknid troop fleet was nowhere near as fortunate. Every missile in James’ first salvo targeted the five hundred Karacknid warships. Nearly half were destroyed or heavily damaged by the time the final missile struck its target. When the second salvo came in, the missiles ignored the remaining Karacknid warships. Instead they raced past them and sought out the troop ships. As they passed, the Karacknid warships were able to get off plenty of point defense fire, but not enough. Realizing the danger, the troopships scattered. It didn’t help them. Of the four hundred troop ships, two hundred and seventy were blown apart.

James grunted in satisfaction as the numbers came up on Drake’s holo display. He had no idea how many of them had been fully loaded with troops, but some had to have been. Now they would threaten his colonies no longer. After the second Karacknid salvo crashed into his fleet and destroyed a handful of ships, James turned his attention to the Karacknid battlefleet. He waited twenty minutes for his damaged ships to be repaired or evacuated then ordered his fleet to alter course. Predictably, the Karacknid battlefleet, after dispatching eight hundred of its ships to protect what was left of their troop transports, moved to intercept. For five hours a game of cat and mouse developed. With neither side having a significant acceleration advantage over the other, the Karacknids would be able to close to missile range with James’ fleet. At the same time, James couldn’t dodge past the Karacknids without risking an engagement. Twice he doubled back and threatened to raid the battlefleet’s supply lines. Eventually, the Karacknid commander relented. When James turned his fleet towards the shift passage out of the system, his ships did not move to cut off their escape. “He has calmed down enough to see reason,” James said to his officers. No doubt losing so many troop ships had hurt, yet from the Karacknids’ perspective, keeping the Allied Fleet in their rear was not a wise decision. For several seconds James considered doubling back again and continuing the back-and-forth. He knew every extra hour he bought Koroylov and New Shanghai’s defenders would increase their, albeit very slim, chances of victory. Yet if he kept up the duel of maneuvers with the Karacknid commander, there was a chance he would misstep. That would be disastrous. As his ships continued towards safety, the Karacknid fleet trailed them for three hours to make sure they were actually leaving. Then it turned and set course for Wuhu. By the time Drake reached the system’s mass shadow and jumped out, the Karacknid battlefleet had already settled into orbit. What was left of its troop fleet was there as well. On Drake’s sensors hundreds more landing shuttles could be seen descending to the planet’s surface. Soon the planet was cloaked in communications jammers. There was no way to know how the defenders were faring, or even if they were still fighting.

The sudden blare of an alarm informed James that more ships had been detected. On the gravimetric plot a small fleet of six hundred new contacts moved towards Wuhu from the shift passage on the far side of the system. It didn’t take long for his flagship to identify most of the ships as freighters or troop transports. Another wave of ground forces, James thought as he shook his head. He was staring at Wuhu. He had no idea whether he would see the colony again or not but he doubted that it would ever be the same. He was still shaking his head as Drake and the Allied Fleet jumped out of the system, it was now firmly under the Karacknids’ control.

*

IS Drake, Pattle system, 14th May 2484 AD (five days later).

It took five days for the Karacknids to consolidate their position in Wuhu, but when they did, they took no risks as they moved on the Pattle system. Like in Wuhu, James kept his fleet in orbit around the Pattle colony for as long as possible. However, this time there were no gas giant moons that would allow him to pull off a fancy trick. Nor did the Karacknids give him an opening. Instead of entering the system as two separate fleets, the Karacknid battlefleet formed a cocoon around the troop transports that were bringing the next wave of Karacknid soldiers. As one, they closed with Pattle and engaged its defenses. Long before Drake and the Allied Fleet jumped out of the system, James had to watch another colony disappear behind Karacknid jammers. He knew what would be happening on the planet’s surface. For the final hour it took Drake to cross the system and jump out, his hands were in fists. He had surrendered two Human colonies to the Karacknids almost without a fight. It didn’t sit well with him at all. Thankfully, there was only one more system between Pattle and New Shanghai. Apart from a few mining bases, it was uninhabited. Weeks ago James had sent orders for it to be evacuated. As soon as the Karacknid battlefleet had pacified Pattle, New Shanghai would be next. And then we’ll get to fight, James thought as Drake jumped into shift space and the images of Pattle disappeared. Whether they won or lost, at least he’d get the chance to take the Karacknids on. Constantly running before them was infuriating.

Chapter 41

Numerous Human colonies have been attacked, bombarded from space, and conquered since the formation of the Empire. Whilst every such instance is a tragedy, the loss of the colonies in the War of Doom was felt the worst. Today there are thousands of colonies within the Empire, back then, there were less than one hundred. To lose one, two or even three sent shockwaves racing through the Empire’s citizens.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, shift space near New Shanghai system, 21st May 2484 AD (seven days later).

For the duration of the seven days it took Drake to reach New Shanghai, James found himself fighting and losing a different kind of battle. He couldn’t help but be depressed by everything that had already happened. Between them, Wuhu and Pattle had been home to six hundred million Imperial citizens. Citizens who had voted to join the Empire he and Christine had founded on the promise that they would be protected. How many of them were now dead? How many were mourning the loss of loved ones? The answer was sure to be in the tens of thousands if it hadn’t already grown to hundreds of thousands. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when he wasn’t thinking about the lost colonies, his mind turned to the Karacknid battlefleet. In the Pattle system its strength had risen to five thousand. James was sure it would rise again before they arrived at New Shanghai.

With his mind so focused on the Karacknid battlefleet, he wasn’t surprised when he started dreaming about finally getting a chance to face them in open battle. Yet his dreams betrayed him. Each night he had to relive New Shanghai’s fall and conquest. Despite his best efforts, there was no way he could avert the disaster. When his dreams carried over into the various simulations he ran with Fisher, Miyagi, Ya’sia, Lightfoot and the other commanders of the Allied Fleet, his spirits really sunk. As hard as they tried, as far outside the box as they could think, they were unable to overcome the Karacknid’s numerical superiority. Well aware of his state of mind, James was sitting on Drake’s bridge trying to look in control. In reality, his thoughts were racing as he thought through all the variables that would influence the coming battle.

“We will arrive in five minutes,” Lieutenant Ivanov reported for the benefit of Drake’s bridge officers. Her announcement pulled James out of his thoughts. At least he’d be able to distract himself for several hours as his fleet entered the system and approached New Shanghai. No doubt there would be hundreds of reports for him to sift through.

“Exiting shift space in five, four, three, two, one,” Drake’s navigation officer counted down. As soon as she finished, a slight tremor ran through the battleship as she reverted to real space. Seconds later the holo image of space around James’ flagship filled with hundreds of other ships as the rest of the Allied Fleet arrived.

James watched them for a few moments then turned his attention to New Shanghai. What he saw took his breath away. Hope stirred within him. Glancing at Fisher, he found that he was grinning like a schoolboy. “Would you look at that?” he said, his voice betraying the fact that he hardly believed it. “It has to be doesn’t it?”

“Confirmed Admiral,” Ivanov said before Fisher could reply. “That is a Kulrean worldship in orbit.”

“What on Earth is it doing here?” Fisher asked. “Do you think they have given up their pacifist stance?”

“If they had, I’d like to hope there’d be a whole bunch of their worldships,” James answered. “I’m guessing they’re here to try and broker some kind of truce. But I’d say it’s a safe bet to say the Karacknids will attack them. That worldship is bound to be worth a couple hundred Karacknid warships.”

“There are eight hundred other warships in orbit,” Miyagi pointed out. “That will bring our number to two thousand five hundred.”

“That’s not all there is,” Anderson followed up. “Look at the lower orbits. There must be a couple hundred battlestations. No, wait, I think it’s closer to three hundred. And look at all the freighters, there are thousands of them.”

James sat back in his command chair as he took everything in. Koroylov and Christine had been far busier than he had imagined. It looked like every starship in the Empire was in the New Shanghai system. Every starship, and battleship, and fighter, James thought. This is it; this is where we throw everything at the Karacknids and we stand or fall. Taking in the view in front of him, he was sure that if his fleet and the force in front of him were defeated, there would be nothing left to defend the rest of the Empire. Nothing but Rear Admiral Becket’s fleet, and there was no way they will have received the news in time. James was certain she would be furious that she was going to miss the fight at New Shanghai. Yet there was nothing he could do about it, the news he had sent to Earth of the Karacknid battlefleet would only be reaching her now. When she returned from her raid into the Karacknid empire, she would either find the battlefleet defeated or Earth conquered. However, for the first time in days, when James thought about Earth, he wasn’t filled with despair. The firepower on display around New Shanghai was nowhere near enough to guarantee the Karacknid battlefleet would be defeated, but there was enough to make him think they had a chance.

A series of beeps from the gravimetric sensor console made James’ head spin towards it. They can’t be here already, he groaned to himself, fearing that Karacknid scouts were already entering the system.

“New contacts,” Drake’s sensor officer reported in response to the beeps. “They’re ours,” she updated seconds later. “Confirmation codes coming in now. It’s Task Force Seven led by the light cruiser Mongoose and Commodore Chambers, they have returned from the Rillelio system.”

“Very well,” Fisher responded. “Inform them they can follow us into New Shanghai.”

“Sorry Captain,” the sensor officer said before Drake’s COM officer could acknowledge the command. “They’re transmitting a priority message for Admiral Somerville.”

“Send it to my command chair,” James responded. “Then transmit them a course for New Shanghai.”

As he waited for the file to be transmitted from Mongoose, James wondered what it was about. It only took a couple seconds for his heart to start to beat faster. There was one obvious answer. Forcing himself not to jump to conclusions, he waited patiently. As soon as the file was in front of him, he scanned through it. Within moments his fears were realized. The Karacknids had discovered the Rillelio system. They had attacked and conquered it. Guilt washed over James. Guilt and shame. Commodore Chambers made it clear that the Karacknids had come for the Rillelio’s fuel extractors and refineries. They needed a source of He3 close to the front line as much as we did, James realized. Which meant his offer to trade for the Rillelio’s fuel had been the very thing that had attracted the Karacknids to them. The rational part of his brain told James that the Karacknids would have conquered them anyway. Even with half the fuel production the Rillelio now had, the Karacknids would have wanted it. Yet he didn’t think the Rillelio would see things that way. He had lied to them. Lies that had ended up attracting the Karacknids to them. For all James knew, Karacknid scouts had detected some of the fuel convoys that had been supplying his fleet and tracked them back to the Rillelio system. We led them right to the Rillelio, James thought as he ground his teeth together. And we didn’t tell them about the threat. They will blame us, James was certain. If anything is left of their civilization when the Karacknids are done with them. The Karacknids would want to punish the Rillelio for helping Humanity, even if they had been duped into doing it. James’ mind tried to tell him that even if he had been truthful with the Rillelio, there was nothing they could have done to prepare for the Karacknids. Nothing would be different right now, he tried to say to himself. Yet that was not true, we could have told them the truth. We could have helped them evacuate some of their population. We could have fought alongside them. They would yet see us as their friends. Not as a species who sold them out to the Karacknids.

With his emotions a rollercoaster, James sat in his command chair in silence as Drake continued into the New Shanghai system. Hope from the view in front of him fought back-and-forth against the guilt and sense of dishonor he felt for what he had done to the Rillelio. With the system already conquered by the Karacknids, there was nothing he could do for them now. Nevertheless, their fate distracted him from New Shanghai. They had been conquered because of him. For the first time since finding out about the Karacknids, James wondered if he deserved what the Karacknids wanted to do to his species. Am I any better than they? James asked himself as he pictured the images he had seen of other species the Karacknids had conquered. In every instance, the Karacknids simply used such species as slave labor. Had he really done anything different with the Rillelio? No clear answer would come to him. That in itself only swelled his sense of shame.

*

IS Drake, New Shanghai orbit, 10 hours later.

“Welcome,” James said as he shook Nogamoro’s hand.

“It’s good to see you back in one piece,” the Vice Admiral replied as James stepped back to allow him into the briefing room. “Home Fleet is ready to play its part in the coming battle.”

“I expected nothing less,” James said as he released Nogamoro’s hand, nodded to him and then turned to the next officer he had invited to what he was thinking of as their final briefing.

“General,” he said as he even more firmly gripped Johnston’s hand. “Given the lack of bad news, I trust my wife and son were safe in your hands?”

The look that came over Johnston’s face was not what James had been expecting. “It’s actually Acting General now,” Johnston replied. “But yes, the terrorists who threatened your family are no longer a cause for concern.

James frowned. “Acting General?”

“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later if we have time,” Johnston replied.

That only deepened James’ frown, yet Rear Admiral Suarez was already approaching. “Later then,” he said to his friend and gestured with his head for Johnston to head into the briefing room. After greeting Suarez and congratulating him on getting his squadron back in one piece, several other officers filed into the room. When no more appeared to be coming, James turned and glanced over his commanders. Happy that everyone was present, he tapped the door’s control panel to close it and moved to stand in front of them all. “Let me welcome you all to what I am calling our final briefing,” James began. “I hope it will not be our final ever, but we must be realistic. Many of us may not see each other in the flesh again. If we are to defeat this Karacknid battlefleet, it will take everything we have got. Including our lives.” Pausing briefly, James looked around at the gathered naval officers and marine commanders. He wanted them all to realize that they might be called to make the ultimate sacrifice. Understanding was written across every pair of eyes that were looking back at him. James nodded at what he saw, No one misunderstood the seriousness of their situation. “Very good,” he said and then paused for a moment to let the seriousness of their situation sink in. “Admiral Koroylov has been here the longest. He best understands New Shanghai’s defenses. He will brief us on the general plan. Then it is our job to pull it apart and put it back together as best we can.”

“Thank you, Emperor,” Koroylov said as he stood and came to take James’s place. With a tap on the room’s holo projector, an image of New Shanghai appeared. “Our preparations have been based around addressing two scenarios. First, a prolonged siege. It is our hope that we have gathered enough strength here to make the Karacknid battlefleet think twice about engaging us in a straight up fight. At least, until they are reinforced to their full strength. Given the smaller fleet that pursued Emperor Somerville’s fleet, we believe the Karacknids did not have enough supplies to send forward all ten thousand of their new warships. However, some have been trickling in over the last month or so. We expect that to continue or even accelerate. In the short-term, we hope to dissuade the Karacknids from directly assaulting New Shanghai. That is where our battlestations and orbital defense satellites come in. With their firepower added to our fleets’, the Karacknids will know they will suffer heavy losses if they try to attack us without waiting for further reinforcements. Our own reinforcements are on their way from Alliance space. A fleet of one thousand warships has been promised to us in two months’ time. Behind them, at least another one if not two thousand are coming. If we can hold on that long, then we may be able to stop the Karacknids’ advance here.

“However, whether we can achieve that or not will not be in our hands. The Karacknid commander may choose to attack the moment his fleet arrives in system. To that end, we have been preparing to engage his fleet in an open battle. If that eventuality arises, our strategy will revolve around our battlestations and these two moons.” In the holo image the two hundred and ninety-four battlestations in orbit around New Shanghai began to flash, so too did two of the planet’s four moons. “All of the ground-based missile launchers from Earth’s moon and Mars have been relocated to these two moons. With their mark V missile launchers and those of our battlestations, we will be able to put up a large volley of long-range missiles. Those missile salvos, combined with Commodore Chen’s one thousand two hundred fighters, will form the focus of our offensive capabilities. The goal of any fleet engagement will be to protect these key weapons platforms at all costs. To that end, we will be splitting our fleet into what we’re calling battle squadrons. Each squadron will be commanded by one of our senior Admirals. It will consist of three hundred warships and four hundred armed freighters and civilian ships. The freighters and civilian ships have been equipped with enough point defenses to roughly match the defenses of a destroyer. In any engagement they will be used to soak up as much Karacknid fire as possible. In addition to our seven frontline battle squadrons, Admiral Somerville will command our reserve force of four hundred warships, six hundred freighters and eighty missile pod freighters. He will direct them to where they are needed most as the battle develops. Each of our battle squadrons will be designed to fight independently if need be, but we will strive to support one another. With both moons and the battlestations in orbit to protect, we will have to spread out our forces, however, if the Karacknids wish to attack us, then so will they. With our long-range missiles and fighters we hope to achieve numerical superiority in certain areas on the battlefield at key moments. In this way we will reduce the Karacknids’ overall strength, hopefully to the point where actually taking New Shanghai will become too costly for them.”

James half listened while he watched his officers. The overall plan was familiar to them all, it was something they had simmed many times, only Earth had been the planet being defended. Since the attack on Earth three years ago, James, Koroylov and Lightfoot had instigated a change in battlestation design. Rather than be armed with missiles essentially the same as those carried by warships, they were now armed with what Scott had designated mark V missiles. Borrowing an idea from the Flex-aor, the missiles were far larger than mark IVs. Essentially, they were nothing but booster rockets that carried a payload of six multistage missiles. Once released, the multistage missiles could then use both of their engine stages to propel themselves even further. As a result, mark V missiles had a maximum powered missile range three and a half times that of mark IVs. Combined with the long-range strike capabilities of Spitfire fighters and Lancaster bombers, the idea was that Earth’s, or now New Shanghai’s, defenses would be able to hit an invading force hard long before it got into range with its own missiles. The job of the Imperial Fleet was one of protection; the longer they could prolong the engagement, the more damage the battlestations, moon-based ground launchers and fighters could do.

Once Koroylov was done, James wasn’t surprised to find several Admirals wanting to speak at once. What followed was a lively debate around the specific delaying strategies Koroylov had laid out. Within minutes there were several ideas about how the fleet could be best used to buy time and defend the orbital battlestations. For three hours, James allowed the discussion to go on. At several points he joined in with his own arguments. Eventually, a consensus formed after several simulations had been run. One he was entirely happy to approve of. Then, when Commodore Chen spoke up with his own suggestion, James couldn’t help but smile. It was downright sneaky. Something he should have thought of! Quickly it was added to the general plan as everyone agreed with James in their assessment of his idea.

“I think there is nothing more to discuss,” Ya’sia said as the conversation started to die down. “At least until we have each taken command of our battle squadron and begun to simulate our part of the overall plan.”

Koroylov gave the Crian Admiral a nod. “I think you’re right. I know I am getting hungry, even if no one else is.” Pausing, he glanced at his datapad. “There has been no report of any Karacknid scouts entering the system. I think we should have some time to eat together on Drake before we return to our ships. Our subordinates can handle the division of our ships into their battle squadrons for now. What do you say Emperor?”

James smiled at Koroylov. A part of him was still cut up about the Rillelio system. The thought of having to engage with his friends in small talk was not overly appealing to him. Not when he knew the topic was likely to come up. Yet as he looked at his commanders, his own words hit home. This was probably the last time he would see many of them. “Yes of course,” he said as he stood, “though I won’t make it mandatory. If you want to get back to your ships, then by all means. Otherwise, it would be my pleasure to host you all.”

“Then let us dine together and prepare to fight together,” Koroylov said solemnly. “May we all do our duty for the Empire… And for the Alliance of course,” he added as he nodded to Ya’sia and Klack.

“May we all do our duty for the Empress and Emperor,” Fisher said as she stood and locked her eyes with James’. “Without him we would not have survived even this long.”

“For the Empress and Emperor,” everyone around James repeated.

At a loss for words, James simply gestured with his hand for Koroylov to lead the way from the briefing room to Drake’s officer galley. He still felt a deep shame for what had happened to the Rillelio. The discussion about the mark V missiles had also stirred up his sense of loss at Scott’s death. Yet for several moments he was full of pride at the respect and love on the faces of his friends. “If we are to die in this coming battle,” James said as he found his voice and everyone paused where they were. “Then we could do so in no better company.” Each of the officers in the room looked to one another and nodded in agreement. James smiled at them and shook each hand as they passed him. Each face brought back so many memories. Some were only a handful of years old; others went back decades. Try as he might, James failed to keep the emotion from his face as they each embraced him warmly. He was suddenly afraid that the coming meal was not going to be an easy one, and not just because of his shame about the Rillelio.

As his officers filed past him, Johnston was the last to leave. The look on his face wasn’t what James had been expecting. If James hadn’t believed it impossible, he would have said the marine General was nervous.

“There is something I have to tell you,” Johnston said, still standing where he was without coming any closer. “Before you hear it from anyone else.”

“Ok,” James said slowly, concerned about what was about to come.

“I was at New Shanghai when your warning about the Karacknid battlefleet arrived here,” Johnston explained. “I was actually here for a number of weeks before that as well. Clare was with me too.”

James’ frowned. “Did you and Koroylov guess what was going to happen?” Even as he asked the question, it didn’t make sense to him. How could they have known?

Johnston shook his head. “No, I wasn’t here as a General. I held the rank of Colonel. Technically I still do, I’m only an Acting General now.”

James shook his head as he moved to take hold of the back of one of the conference’ room’s seats. “You better explain, you’re not making any sense,” he requested.

Johnston nodded and told James everything that had happened. As James listened, his anger rose and kept rising. When Johnston described finding out about the plot to attack his wife again, his hands clenched into fists. When he got to his interrogation of Akhila, James felt torn. A part of him was glad of what had happened. Akhila deserved everything she had suffered and worse for what she had done to Christine and Jonathan. And yet, as Johnston told him how Christine had responded, he understood. Akhila was evil, what she had tried to do to his family deserved the death penalty. But she had been helpless when Johnston had tortured her. Unable to resist him, unable to fight back, she had been at his mercy.

As Johnston finished his story, he paused and looked at the ground. James knew what he was waiting for. He had seen the shame Johnston felt at his own actions as he had described them. Technically James should add his own reprimand to Christine’s. Johnston had betrayed everything James was supposed to stand for. Instead James moved over to Johnston. Then he did something he never would have expected to have to do for the toughest man he had ever met. Putting his arm around his friend’s shoulder, he began to lead him out of the conference room. “You kept your promise my friend,” James said in a low voice. “You protected my family. I will not forget what you have done for me.” Right or wrong, James was not going to rebuke one of his oldest friends. Not on the eve of the battle they would soon face. “The past is the past,” he added as he removed his arm and they turned towards the galley. “We have a battle to fight now. A battle for the survival of Christine, Jonathan and Clare; that is all that matters.”

Chapter 42

The Battle of New Shanghai has been analyzed thousands of times over the centuries. Many an Admiral has suggested strategies they would have employed. As they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty. We will never know if they would have proven more effective.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, New Shanghai system, 29th May 2484 AD, (eight days later).

Finally, James thought as the Karacknid battlefleet appeared on Drake’s sensors. His opponent had waited eight days before bringing his fleet into the New Shanghai system. As much as he knew the longer the Karacknids delayed, the closer the promised Alliance reinforcements got, the waiting had been fraying his nerves. He had no doubt the Karacknids had been busy as they had waited, but so too had James and his Admirals. They had made all the preparations they could. Apart from the small trickle of warships that might still be expected to come in from Earth, there was nothing more they could do. Everything that could be arrayed against the Karacknids was in place. The ball is in your court, James thought towards his opponent. As the Karacknid fleet jumped into the system, James brought a hand up to his chin as he waited to see what the final count would be. It took five more minutes to find out, but eventually the Karacknid fleet formed up and moved towards New Shanghai. On the gravimetric plot, the count had risen to five thousand eight hundred warships. For an hour James watched them slowly approach as his subordinates analyzed every ship in the Karacknid fleet. “All right,” James said to his officers, “signal Tranquility. Inform Captain Kalong he may make his attempt.”

“Right away Admiral,” Lieutenant Martinez responded as she tapped on her COM console. “He has acknowledged,” she said moments later.

“Tranquility is powering up her engines,” Lieutenant Alfaro reported.

James nodded to his Flag Lieutenant. Several days ago Kalong had requested that he be allowed to move away from New Shanghai’s defenses before contacting the Karacknids, he wanted to at least give the appearance of neutrality. For ten minutes the giant worldship accelerated away from New Shanghai. Then she braked and broadcast on an unencrypted channel. Martinez sent it to the bridge’s main holo projector.

“Greetings Karacknid commander,” Kalong began in an overly friendly tone. It made James roll his eyes as he shared a glance with Fisher. “I am Captain Kalong of the Kulrean species. I understand that your Empire sent scouts to our sector of space several decades ago. No doubt you are aware of my species. I can assure you; we are aware of you. As well as attacking our friends, agents of your Empire armed one of our neighbors and pointed them against us as a weapon. Without the intervention of the Humans, a great many of my people might have been killed.

“However, all of that is in the past. My species have long considered ourselves pacifists. It is in that capacity that I wish to speak to you. My species wants nothing to do with your war. The ship you see before you is one of only a few warships that we have ever built. It is our desire to broker a peace treaty between the Humans, Alliance species and your Empire. The galaxy is more than big enough for all of us to coexist together. Please, hold your fleet’s advance and send a delegation to speak with me. I’m sure we can come to terms that will be agreeable for us all.”

James had to fight back a groan as he listened to Kalong. Telling the Karacknids that his species didn’t like war, that they only had a few warships, it was like waving a red flag in front of a raging bull. Miyagi, clearly thinking the same thing shook his head as he turned to James, “If anything, Kalong’s speech is going to encourage the Karacknids to attack Kulthar as soon as they conquer Earth.”

“You may be right,” James admitted. “But he has to try. He has his own orders to follow.” And he does believe it, James thought. He had only spoken to Kalong twice since coming to New Shanghai. Given the Kulrean’s desire for diplomacy, he hadn’t wanted to waste any more time with him. Even in those two meetings, he had been more concerned with confirming that Tranquility would stay in the system even if attempts to open talks failed.

“The Karacknids are sending a reply,” Martinez said moments later, her voice full of amazement.

James found his eyebrows rising in shock. The Karacknids never communicated with their enemies. For a split second, James thought that Kalong had gotten through to the enemy commander. That perhaps the Karacknids knew more about the Kulreans’ advanced technologies than he had thought. Then the Karacknid commander appeared in front of him. Sitting in a large cold looking metallic command chair, more akin to a throne than a seat on a warship, the Karacknid bared his fangs, his claws unsheathed and pointed directly at the recording device. He looked the furthest thing from someone who wanted to open diplomatic talks. “Captain Kalong,” the Karacknid commander began, speaking so slow it had to be mockery. “You’re right, we know of your species. You are next in our line of conquest. I welcome you here to this system. Your ship can die with the rest of those who have gathered here. Then we will pick through the wreckage and take your technologies for ourselves. We will take great delight in using them to conquer your species’ homeworld. You will make excellent slaves for my Emperor.”

“The Karacknid fleet is accelerating,” Anderson reported before anyone could respond to the Karacknid commander’s words. “Several hundred ships are breaking away from them as well.”

James swallowed hard. His hope that diplomacy might actually work had evaporated as soon as the Karacknid commander had spoken. Now he feared that Kalong had goaded the Karacknids into attacking right away. That was the last thing they wanted. “Signal Tranquility, tell Kalong to get back here immediately,” James snapped. “Where are those other ships going?”

“It looks like they’re heading for the shift passage that leads deeper into our territory,” Anderson answered moments later. “There are three hundred and sixty of them, it looks like they have already split into three smaller squadrons.”

“They’re going to raid our colonies,” Fisher guessed. “While we are all trapped here, they’re going to run riot behind our frontlines.”

James let out a deep breath as he calmed himself. “There’s nothing we can do about that now,” he reluctantly admitted. He had scouts positioned on the edge of the system. Some of them would power up their shift drives to jump out and bring a warning to the other colonies. Beyond that there was nothing he could do. At least with all of our warships and freighters in New Shanghai, they won’t have too many targets, he consoled himself. Though with so many of our battlestations here, maybe they will. Nearly half of the Empire’s colonies had had most of their orbital defenses stripped. They would be vulnerable. Yet if New Shanghai fell, they would be conquered eventually anyway. As much damage as the Karacknid raiding squadrons might do, letting them go was the best of a bunch of bad outcomes. And we won’t have to fight them here, James thought.

“More ships are breaking away from the Karacknid fleet,” Anderson reported. “They’re not going towards any shift passage though… I think they’re heading towards two of the outer asteroid fields.”

“They’re going to use our own strategy against us,” James commented. He actually felt relieved when he saw the warships and freighters head towards the asteroid fields. It meant the Karacknid battlefleet wasn’t going to attack New Shanghai immediately. They were going to mine as many asteroids as they could and then hurl them at the colony. James had been worried that the Karacknid’s delay meant they had been mining asteroids in other systems. The sudden increase in the Karacknid battlefleet’s speed had made him think they were ready to launch asteroids right now. “It means we still have some time,” he said to his officers. “Stand our ships down from battlestations. Though keep everyone on high alert.”

Over the next three hours, James’ prediction was proven correct. The Karacknid battlefleet of five thousand warships split up into five large fleets and surrounded New Shanghai. Keeping well out of missile range, they enclosed the colony in a tight blockade. All of Humanity’s warships and many of those of her allies were trapped. There was no way for them to break out without being surrounded and destroyed. Yet so too was the Karacknid battlefleet, it could not advance further without taking out James’ fleet. If they gave him an opening, James was ready to break out of orbit and destroy every supply convoy the Karacknids had trailing behind their battlefleet. And so the stalemate begins, James thought as the Karacknid fleet settled into stable orbits around New Shanghai. His ships couldn’t escape, but the Karacknids were not ready to attack yet. The question now was, how long would it be until they were ready to crush his forces?

*

Orbital Hanger Twelve, New Shanghai system, 3rd June 2484 AD (five days later).

“Wing Commander, Drake has just sent us a flash alert. They think one of our stealth drones detected fighter launches,” a Flight Lieutenant called out to Chen.

“Let’s see the data,” Commodore Chen requested. The C&C center in the orbital hanger was far smaller than what Chen had grown accustomed to, yet with all of his carriers elsewhere, it was the best place from which to command all of the fighters and bombers under his charge. As the sensor data appeared in front of him, Chen tightened his lips together as he considered what he was seeing. Admiral Somerville had positioned hundreds of stealth drones all around the approaches to New Shanghai. The Karacknids had been hunting them down and destroying them, but many were still operational. Even so, the drone had only captured thirty seconds worth of data. Either another ship had moved in between the drone and what it had been detecting, or the Karacknid carrier had turned away. In those thirty seconds, four small power fluctuations were picked up. There were only three things they could really be, missile launches, shuttle launches or fighter launches. As he replayed the data, he decided the latter made the most sense. “Let’s assume they have launched all the fighters we know they have,” he said to his command staff. “Where will they try and hit us?”

Seconds later, several targets flashed around New Shanghai. Chen and his command staff had been trying to predict where the Karacknids would launch their first probing attack. Everyone had been expecting it. Given the skills the Karacknid commander had shown, there was no way he would launch a full fleet battle without testing New Shanghai’s defenses and getting a sense of what he was up against. “Let’s see the angle those launches were from,” Chen asked next. Though it was only an estimate, the angle from the sensor data narrowed the list of targets down slightly. “Taitou,” Chen said as his gaze settled on one of New Shanghai’s moons. The Karacknids had no way of knowing the kind of weaponry and defenses the moon had. Probing the moon’s defenses to find out made the most sense. But what to do about it? Chen asked himself. The entire point of a probing attack was to test an enemy’s defenses. That meant he didn’t want to give anything away he didn’t have to. At the same time though, the mark V missile launchers on Taitou needed to be protected. “Slow launch one squadron from each of our orbital hangers,” Chen ordered after taking several moments to think through his response. Slow launching fighters meant that they would drop out of the hangars’ landing bays rather than be launched from their launch tubes. Such launches would have no energy spikes to give them away and there was enough time for the fighters to get up to speed using their own engines. “Have another squadron on standby ready for immediate powered launch. Signal our bulk carriers as well, have them prep all of their fighters for immediate launch. Have our squadrons that slow launch remain in stealth and maneuver to this location,” Chen said as he entered the coordinates for a point not far from Taitou. “If we need them, we’ll bring them into play. First we’ll wait and see just what force the Karacknids are sending against us,” he ordered. Within seconds his officers were busy contacting every one of the orbital hangers and the bulk carriers that housed most of his fighters. We’ll keep the ground-based fighters in our back pocket for now, Chen said to himself.

Ten minutes later contact alarms blared and three hundred Karacknid fighters appeared as they powered up their engines. They were halfway from the Karacknid fleet to Taitou. They are testing us, Chen thought. If they had wanted to, the Karacknid fighters could have gotten a lot closer before revealing themselves. The Karacknid commander wants to see our response.

“Commander, shall we order the fighters we have prepped to launch?” one of his tactical officers asked.

Chen shook his head. “Not yet, let’s wait a moment.” Slowly in his head he counted to thirty. “Okay, have every other hanger begin to launch. Wait two minutes and then give the order to the other hangers. Our bulk carriers can begin launching now as well.” Such a delay wouldn’t allow the Karacknid fighters to get their attack in before he could counter them, but it would make his reaction times look a lot sloppier than they actually were. 

On the holographic display, many new contacts appeared as several squadrons were launched from each bulk carrier and one squadron from each hanger bay. It took ten minutes, but eventually they formed up into one large formation of two hundred and forty. It wasn’t even a quarter of Chen’s force, but combined with Admiral Lightfoot’s battle squadron, it would be enough to see off the Karacknid fighters. His fighters rendezvoused with Lightfoot’s battle squadron who were already maneuvering to put themselves between the Karacknid fighters and Taitou.

“You think they will still try and strike the moon base?” one of Chen’s officers asked.

Chen paused as he assessed the new tactical situation. Unless he sent more fighters, it was possible some of the Karacknid fighters would get through. Even just a squadron of their fighters with their particle beam cannons would wreak havoc among the surface missile launchers. But the Karacknids would have to sacrifice all of the fighters in their attacking force to do so. “No,” Chen said as he shook his head, “It’s a probe. They’ll decelerate soon and turn back.” That, or they’ll try and lure our fighters out, but that is not happening, Chen knew. Even if Admiral Somerville already hadn’t drummed it into him, he had no intention of risking his fighters until the real battle began. Then another thought popped into his head and made Chen pause. He had heard more than one of the senior fleet Admirals talking about the caliber of the enemy commander. They were all impressed with the tactical abilities he had displayed. Still no one knew what had happened to the gravity well cruisers Admiral Somerville had used to slow the Karacknid battlefleet. We are expecting this to be a probing attack, Chen thought, it’s what every competent commander would do. But what about a more than competent one? “Show me a map of all the stealth recon drones we’ve lost over the last five days,” Chen requested. “Focus on the approaches to Taitou.”

As soon as the images appeared, a pattern stood out. If it wasn’t for the approach vector of the current Karacknid fighters it wouldn’t have looked like anything. But it did now. A channel of destroyed stealth recon drones had been carved out. A channel that led straight to a point in Taitou’s orbit. A point that would be at the rear of the moon when Lightfoot’s battle squadron and his fighters would all be at the other side of the moon facing off against the probing attack. “Send this data to Admirals Somerville and Lightfoot immediately,” Chen requested.

“Somerville is requesting a COM call with you and Lightfoot,” Chen’s COM officer reported moments later.

“What would you like to do?” Somerville asked as soon as his and Lightfoot’s face appeared in front of Chen.

“Time is in short supply,” Chen replied. “If there is a surprise attack coming, they’ll hit Taitou in fifteen minutes. I have ten squadrons in stealth off Taitou at the moment. I can order them to prepare to intercept. Though if the Karacknids have more fighters than we know about, they could be outnumbered. We could lose them and the Karacknids would still be able to hit Taitou.”

“What if Chen pulls his fighters that are with my fleet back?” Lightfoot asked. “We’d be giving away the fact we figured out their sneaky tactic, but we’d stop them from hitting Taitou.”

“Unless they turned their probing attack into an actual attack,” Chen countered. “If I pull my fighters back, several squadrons will likely get past your ships. They could do a lot of damage before my fighters get back to drive them off.”

As Somerville brought a hand up to stroke his jaw, Lightfoot and Chen paused and stared at him. “We play safe,” Somerville said. “Launch the squadrons you have prepped from your hangers, have them move to cover the rear approaches to Taitou. Your stealthed fighters can join them. We’ll be giving away more of our strength than I’d like, but we’ll keep Taitou safe and we won’t risk any engagements where we don’t have the numerical advantage.

“Understood,” Chen said at the same time as Lightfoot. The image of the two Admirals disappeared. “All right, you heard the Admiral,” Chen said, “Launch our second squadrons from the hangers. Get them moving towards Taitou immediately.”

The image on the holo projector returned to New Shanghai’s orbitals and new squadrons quickly appeared as they launched from the orbital hangers. Forming up, the one hundred and twenty fighters accelerated towards Taitou. The one hundred and twenty Chen had covertly moved there also revealed themselves as they powered up their engines and moved to rendezvous with the new fighter group. As soon as they combined, they set themselves on a course that led up through the channel of destroyed recon drones. When nothing happened for nearly thirty seconds, Chen began to doubt himself. It was possible the Karacknids had more than two hundred and forty fighters coming in to strike Taitou’s rear. Perhaps they were still planning to go ahead with their attack. He opened his mouth to give orders for the rest of the squadrons stationed on his bulk carriers to launch. Before he could, one hundred and sixty contacts appeared. Karacknid fighters were heading straight for Taitou. However, instead of accelerating towards the moon, they had already flipped end over end and were breaking hard. Seconds later, the larger force of Karacknid fighters carried out the same maneuver and?”|began to break as well. “They’re pulling back,” Chen said to his officers, careful to keep the relief out of his voice. “We thwarted them,” this time, he thought. The Karacknid commander was wily. They were going to have to watch him carefully.

Five minutes later Chen’s thoughts echoed through his mind again. Three hundred warships had suddenly appeared on the hangar bay’s sensors. They too had flipped end over end and decelerated. They had been travelling in stealth towards Taitou. When Chen saw that they were all destroyers and frigates he knew exactly what the Karacknid commander had been thinking. If Chen had of ordered his fighters to pursue the retreating Karacknids, they would have run into the screening warships. It would have been a massacre. Round one is a draw, Chen decided. The Karacknids had got a glimpse of how many fighters he had, but the Karacknid commander had failed to hit Taitou or take out any of Chen’s force. Round one, Chen repeated, what is in store in round two? 

Chapter 43

Waiting always feels like the worst part of any battle, that is, until the missiles start racing towards you.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake, 13th June 2484 AD (ten days later).

“Admiral, I think you will want to come to the bridge to look at this. The Karacknids are up to something,” Fisher said to James over a COM channel as he sat in his office.

“On my way,” James replied. Over the last ten days the Karacknids had tested New Shanghai’s defenses four more times. Everyone was on a knife edge. Everyone’s sleep patterns were thrown off and no one knew when the next attack would come. James was certain that was exactly how the Karacknid commander wanted his people to feel. The last attack had been yesterday. A squadron of one hundred frigates had rushed into missile range, fired a salvo and pulled back before James’ ships could return fire. James could have given pursuit and destroyed the frigates, but he had been certain the Karacknid commander had more ships waiting to ambush him if he tried. He hadn’t been expecting another attack so soon but that in itself made sense. The Karacknid commander was always doing the unexpected. “What is it?” he asked his Flag Captain as soon as he stepped onto Drake’s bridge.

“It wasn’t me who noticed it, but Lieutenant Anderson,” Fisher replied as she nodded towards James’ tactical officer.

“It’s the Karacknid fleet’s movements,” Anderson explained as James raised an eyebrow. “Look at this,” he said as the holo image in front of James changed. James studied it as he moved to his command chair. The image showed the courses of each of the five Karacknid fleets that were besieging New Shanghai. In a seemingly random pattern, they crisscrossed back-and-forth with each other as each fleet slowly rotated around New Shanghai in a high orbit. The random course changes were so that James and his fleet couldn’t plan any kind of surprise attack on the Karacknid ships. “Now look at this, this is the last seven hours,” Anderson followed up.

When the plot changed, James frowned. Nothing untoward was jumping out at him. “You may have to be a little bit more specific,” he replied.

“These two fleets here, look at their projected courses,” Anderson elaborated. “In one hour, they will be close enough to Sanji that each would only have to carry out a minor maneuver to bring the moon and Admiral Suarez’s battle squadron into missile range.”

As soon as it was pointed out, James saw it. “You’re right,” he replied, “good spotting. What do you think he is planning?”

Anderson hesitated for a moment as he turned from James to the holo plot. “It looks like another probing attack,” he suggested. “With so many ships coming against Sanji we’d almost have to use our missile launchers there to defend the moon… Or,” he continued after a moment’s pause. “It could be a precursor to a full-on attack. Those two fleets could close with Sanji, combine with one another, and destroy Suarez’s fleet and the weapon emplacements we have on the moon. Then a similar attack could take out the other moon we fortified. That would clear the way for a final push against New Shanghai’s defenses.”

“What about the freighters they have mining asteroids?” Fisher asked Anderson. “They are still out there gathering the asteroids to hurl at us. They won’t attack without them.”

Anderson screwed up his face as he thought about Fisher’s counterargument. “Unless the asteroid mining freighters are a ruse themselves,” he said, suddenly looking pleased with himself. “They could be there simply to make us think a larger attack is not imminent.”

James turned from Anderson to share a look with Fisher. Her expression said the same thing. Neither of them had thought of that. It was a worrying idea. Very worrying. But we haven’t detected any more freighters amongst their fleets, James said as he tried to reassure himself. It didn’t quite work. “Have our analysts go over every ship in their fleets again,” he ordered. “Make sure there are no freighters pretending to be warships amongst them.” The Karacknid ships were so close that there was no way a freighter could pretend to be a warship for so long. At least, not if his officers were specifically looking for it. “What else could the Karacknid commander be up to?” James asked Anderson as he turned back to his tactical officer.

Anderson glanced from the holo display to James and back again several times before admitting defeat. “I’m not sure Admiral,” he answered.

“Anyone else?” James asked as he drew the rest of his staff officers into the discussion. He wasn’t in the least surprised when Ivanov answered immediately.

“It could be a ruse to draw us out of position,” his operations officer suggested. “The movements of those two fleets is subtle, but it is something we might be expected to notice. If that’s the case, the Karacknid commander could have done it intentionally to make us commit our reserve forces towards Sanji. It may be another probing attack is going to hit us somewhere else instead.”

“Exactly,” James said as he gave Ivanov a brief smile. “So either it’s a probing attack, a fake probing attack to hit us somewhere else, or the beginning of a full-on battle. The question is, which one is it? That is something we better answer, and fast,” he said as he shared another glance with Fisher. Though he knew his staff would do their best to figure out the answer, at the end of the day, he was the one who would have to make the decision. “Send what you found to the other Admirals,” James said to Anderson, “Let’s get their input as well.”

For twenty minutes James waited as patiently as he could. As soon as it was confirmed there were no freighters amongst the Karacknid warships he ruled out one possible scenario. A full-scale attack wasn’t coming. Unless the Karacknid commander doesn’t intend to use asteroids at all, James thought. That was still a possibility. Though how much of one, he wasn’t certain. The Karacknids had the numerical advantage to win without hurling asteroids at his defenses, but if they could, why wouldn’t they? There was no other reason why the Karacknids had delayed their attack as long as they had already. Unless they’re waiting for more reinforcements, James told himself. We’ll have to be cautious, he decided. “If this is a real probing attack, how would we most likely respond to it?” he asked his officers.

“Most of the simulations involve us dispatching Koroylov’s battle squadron to reinforce Suarez’s,” Miyagi answered. “If the threat is more serious we would also send half of our reserve fleet. We’d have to use Sanji’s missile launchers, but between them, Suarez, Koroylov and our defenses would stand a decent chance at holding off two thousand Karacknid warships for a limited time.”

James nodded as he considered the moves. They were the most obvious. If he pulled Koroylov’s battle squadron out of position, it would leave one quadrant of New Shanghai’s defenses significantly weakened. It was possible that the Karacknid commander was hiding a different probing attack that would seek to hit New Shanghai itself. That way, he’d get a real picture of just how much we fortified the colony, James thought. Of course, he was still leaning towards the possibility that the probing attack they were expecting was the real one. “If that’s how we might be expected to respond, let’s change things up a little. Have Commodore Chen slow launch all the fighters the Karacknids have already seen us use. There should still be enough time to get them over to Sanji. Start moving all of our missile pod freighters that way now, disguise them as a supply convoy to Suarez’s battle squadron. Also, prep all of the light ships in our reserve battle squadron. As soon as the Karacknids make their move towards Sanji, we’ll rush them over there to boost the colony’s defenses. Inform Suarez he has permission to use the moon’s missile launchers, but only if deemed absolutely necessary.” If at all possible, James wanted to keep the extra range of his mark V missiles a secret until the Karacknids committed their entire battlefleet against him.

“Acknowledged Admiral, we’ll get those orders put out immediately,” Miyagi responded.

James nodded. “Make sure Admiral Koroylov has his battle squadron ready to move in case Suarez needs the backup,” he added.

With things set in motion, James was once again relegated to the position of observer. Just as Anderson had predicted, twenty minutes later the two Karacknid fleets altered course. At once one hundred and sixty light cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes broke away from their positions around Drake and raced towards Sanji. They arrived just as the Karacknid fleets got into missile range. From each fleet, a salvo of ten thousand missiles was released towards Sanji. From Suarez’s ships and the weapons stations in orbit around Sanji, though crucially not from the moon itself, seven thousand missiles were fired towards one of the Karacknid fleets. Already decelerating hard, both Karacknid fleets quickly moved out of missile range. There would just be one exchange of missile salvos. “It is just a probing attack,” James said to his staff. “But they could be up to something else. Launch a spread of active drones. If there is another surprise out there, I want to know about it.”

As hundreds of drones were shot out by many of his warships, the space around New Shanghai was filled with electromagnetic energy. While the sensor data was analyzed, the three groups of missiles continued on towards their targets. Long before the Karacknid missiles got close enough to attack, four hundred and eighty fighters appeared on the gravimetric plot. Already perfectly positioned, they accelerated along the course the Karacknid missiles were taking. With their far higher momentum, the missiles quickly caught them, as they passed however, the fighters opened up with their small plasma cannons. The Corsair interceptors also added their anti-fighter missiles to the mix. One of the Karacknid salvos was reduced by more than a thousand missiles. Then Suarez’s force opened up with its point defenses. Warships, converted freighters, and orbital defense stations and satellites all hurled the new long-range AM missiles at both Karacknid missile salvos. Hundreds of targets were destroyed. When the rest of the force’s point defenses joined the battle, thousands more were taken out. As James expected, however, not every missile was destroyed. Soon antimatter detonations bloomed amongst Suarez’s defenders. Then two erupted on Sanji’s surface.

James bit back a curse as he saw the two Karacknid missiles punch through the moon’s thin atmosphere and detonate. The surface launchers were well spread out, but anti-matter warheads could devastate a wide area. “Get me a rundown of our losses immediately,” he demanded. As time ticked by, his concern grew. Watching Suarez’s missiles strike home and take out eighteen Karacknid warships did not lighten his mood any.

“We’ve got concrete reports coming in now from Sanji,” Martinez finally informed him. “Suarez lost twelve warships, twenty freighters and a handful of defense satellites. The ground strikes took out four mark V launchers.”

“Just four?” James asked, thinking he had misheard. Four was far better than he had been hoping.

“Confirmed Admiral, four destroyed,” Martinez responded. “The ground technicians are actually more concerned about what the loss of mass might do to Sanji’s orbit. They’re still assessing that at the moment. It may impact our defensive plans though.”

“Thank you,” James replied, “Inform the technicians I want to see their analysis as soon as it’s complete.” That was something James hadn’t thought about. If Sanji lost enough mass it could fall into an unstable orbit and be pulled in by New Shanghai’s gravity well. The results would be catastrophic for everyone on the colony. Alternatively, the planetary body’s current momentum could allow it to escape from New Shanghai. If it did, he would lose all the defenses built around the moon. Either outcome could lose him the battle before it had really been fought. Was that the Karacknid commander’s plan along? James asked himself. If it was, then it was very likely the Karacknids would try another attack. And they are getting bolder, he told himself. The probing attacks were coming quicker and quicker and were involving more and more of the Karacknids’ total strength. “Get me a COM channel to Commodore Chen,” he requested. “I think it’s time we put his plan into motion,” he added when Miyagi looked up from his command console. “When is our next window of opportunity?”

Miyagi checked his console before answering. “It looks like it might be in nine hours or so Admiral.”

“Very well, begin the preparations we need to make on our end,” James said as he looked back at the holo display of the Karacknid fleet. His gaze quickly moved past them towards the group of mining freighters that were collecting asteroids from the ring of the system’s solitary gas giant.

*

Slayer (eight hours and forty-five minutes later).

Tanaka-lang altered a few variables in one of his simulations and started it running again. He was fine tuning his next attack against the Humans’ defenses. Multiple times he had threatened their moon bases, and yet not once had they used the weapons they had placed on the surface of the two moons. They were hiding something, of that he was certain. The question was, just what kind of surprise had they prepared? He wanted to find out before committing his forces to a full-scale attack. Being subtle had not worked, he was now toying with something more substantial.

“Admiral,” a bridge officer said, “a messenger ship has just arrived from Gayla, the message is for you only. It has the Imperator’s seal.”

Thoughts of his attack vanished as his head whipped around towards his officer. “Send it to me at once,” he ordered. Messages from the homeworld were rare; ones from the Imperator himself even more so. When the data file was transferred to his command console, it required the unique access code the Imperator had given him personally to unlock. When it did, he quickly scanned it. After reading the first two paragraphs he paused. For a moment, he almost thought it was a joke. If it wasn’t for the Imperator’s seal he would have been certain it was. And yet the Imperator did not jest. He read on. What he found made him snarl. Then he smashed his fist into his command chair. The fighter reinforcements he had been expecting had been delayed. Rather than arriving within the week, they wouldn’t arrive for another month. Worse, he would be receiving less than half of what he had been promised.

“What is it Admiral?” Slayer’s Captain asked in a conciliatory tone, it was clear he feared Tanaka-lang would take out his anger on his subordinate.

“It’s nothing,” Tanaka-lang lied. The Imperator’s seal meant that what he had just read was being kept a secret from the lower ranks of the fleet. He understood why. Somehow, the Humans and a group of other species Karacknid scouts had determined to be of no threat had penetrated to the far side of the Empire. They had attacked tens of systems and caused a colossal amount of damage. Tanaka-lang could hardly believe it. He had no idea how Human ships had gotten to the far end of the Empire. It should have taken a year and more to get to where they were. Yet somehow they had, and now the Imperator and his military advisers were up in arms. The brief report of the incursions included with the Imperator’s files was confused. No one knew quite what had happened. Yet it was clear it had only been a small force. There was no need for the Imperator to send four of the new carriers to re-establish control. Nor half of the one thousand brand-new warships he had been promised as well. “They are overreacting,” Tanaka-lang growled to himself quietly. “Badly,” he added as he turned his attention to the Human colony he now knew they called New Shanghai. Without his fighter reinforcements the Human fighters would outnumber his. By how much, he didn’t know yet, he was certain the Humans hadn’t revealed their full strength, but he knew they would outnumber him one way or another. That meant his capital ships would take unnecessary losses when he finally moved in to crush the colony. Losses that the Imperator would not be happy with. Losses that I will be blamed for, Tanaka-lang thought angrily.

As new contact alarms sounded, Tanaka-lang growled again. “What is it now?” he asked, frustration filling his words.

“We’re detecting fighter launches from some of their carriers and orbital hangers,” an officer reported as quickly as he could. When Tanaka-lang turned to him, the officer wasn’t even looking in his direction. “They’re forming up together now.”

Tanaka-lang forced himself to dismiss thoughts of the fighters he desperately wanted and focus on the matter at hand. The Humans were up to something. This was the first offensive move they had made since his battlefleet had entered the system. Though he tried, he still felt anger flowing through him as his claws sunk into his command chair. The Humans had found a way to frustrate his advance, and they had put the plan into motion months ago. Somehow they had anticipated his fleet’s offensive and counter attacked from the opposite end of the Empire. He had no idea how they had done it, but they had. And they are up to something else! “Launch all fighters,” he ordered. The Humans already knew how many he had, there was no need for him to try and hide his numbers. “Prepare them to intercept the Human fighters if they make a run at our capital ships. Launch more probes towards the colony, I want to know if they’re covertly launching any more fighters. Wait…” He said quickly as the last of his anger cleared and he focused more clearly on the problem. “Don’t just send probes towards the colony, spread the shell out around all of our fleets. If there is even so much as a single fighter out there trying to sneak up on us, I want to know about it.”

“Enemy fighters are breaking orbit,” the sensor officer reported three minutes later.

Tanaka-lang glanced at Slayer’s Captain. His subordinate waved a claw to signal a negative. No other fighters had been detected yet. Where are you going? Tanaka-lang asked the fighters as he watched them accelerate away from New Shanghai. They weren’t on a course that would allow them to attack any of his fleets. Which means what? That they don’t want to attack us? “If they remain on the same course, can our fighters intercept them?” Tanaka-lang asked his officers.

“At the moment yes,” a tactical officer answered. “But they’re not using their maximum acceleration. And our fighters are split up to protect all of our fleets. If we waited to combine enough squadrons to outnumber them, they’d be past us.”

His subordinates last words sent a new thought running through Tanaka-lang’s mind. The only thing past his besieging squadrons were the supply convoys and the mining freighters he had gathering the asteroids. The convoys were on their way out of the system having already delivered the fuel his ships needed. That left only one real target. An extremely valuable target, he thought, now certain that he knew what the Humans were up to. But one worth sacrificing one hundred and twenty of their fighters? he asked next. Unless they don’t plan to sacrifice them. “Their carriers!” Tanaka-lang said when it hit him.

“Pardon Admiral?” his Flag Captain asked.

“I want probes targeted at the carriers they have in their reserve formation stationed between their battlestations,” Tanaka-lang demanded. “Confirm that they are indeed carriers.” I know they’re not, Tanaka-lang said to himself as his subordinates obeyed his orders. It was the only thing that made sense. “Organize twenty scouting squadrons. Twenty ships each. Put one light cruiser in charge of each. I want them heading out towards the outer system immediately.”

“What part of the outer system?” The tactical officer asked.

“All of it,” Tanaka-lang replied as he stared at the carriers at the heart of the Human defensive fleet. They had to be fakes. Good ones, but fakes, nonetheless. He altered the display of the holo projector to show the rest of the system. Somewhere out there the Humans had hidden their carriers. That was how they planned to save their one hundred and twenty fighters. The fighters would attack his mining freighters and then land at their carriers. Then they’ll have a whole attack force of fighters behind my lines. They could raid incoming supply convoys at will. “Inform the ships escorting our mining freighters that they’re going to have company,” Tanaka-lang said as he let out a growl. The Humans were frustrating him again.

“What about our nearest fighters, shall we order them to intercept this Human group?” Slayer’s Captain asked.

Tanaka-lang was tempted to give the order. Even if his fighters were outnumbered, they’d take out some of the Human ones and disrupt their plans. “No,” he responded. As much as the Humans getting fighters behind his blockading fleets would be an irritation, he needed every fighter he could get for the main battle. Even more so now that his reinforcements were not coming. “The mining freighters’ escorts will have to fend for themselves.” And we’ll see just how well these Human fighters cope with surprises, he thought.

*

Captain Samantha Dee, commander of Black Squadron, watched the nearest Karacknid fleet closely as her wing of fighters and bombers zipped past them. She breathed a sigh of relief when they neither moved to intercept her nor launched fighters to give chase. We are clear, she thought, surprised by how easy the maneuver had been. Her primary target was the fifty mining freighters. Even without plasma anti-ship missiles, a single squadron of Spitfires or Lancasters could take out the freighters with their small plasma cannons. One hundred and twenty fighters were overkill. The size of the force had been designed to stop any Karacknid fighters from waylaying her. It seemed to have worked. With a tap of a button she flicked her COM over to her fighter wing’s COM channel. “Okay ladies and gentlemen, it looks like it will be plain sailing for the first part of our mission. Settle in and get comfortable. It’s going to take us two hours to reach our targets. When we get there we’ll hit the escorts first. Then we’ll move in for the kill. It looks like the Karacknids are going to let us take out every one of those mining freighters. We’ve all read the reports of how devastating asteroids can be in a siege. This will be a great boon for the fleet. Cut your engines now, we will coast to our target until I say so.” After each of the nine other squadron leaders in her attack wing acknowledged her words, she followed her own orders. Squishing herself down into her flight seat, she cut her engines and took her hand off the flight stick. After carrying out a few stretches she prepared herself for the wait.

Twenty minutes before her fighters were scheduled to reach their targets, she activated her COM unit. “Flight leaders, warm up your fighters. We’ll carry out three course changes to reorientate ourselves for the attack,” she informed them. Right now her ships were on the ballistic course they had taken from New Shanghai. If she didn’t alter course, the Karacknids would be able to predict exactly where she would attack from. Though there were only ten destroyers protecting the mining freighters, she wasn’t going to get sloppy.

As her fighters powered up their engines and followed her maneuvers, the ten destroyers, already in a defensive formation, moved to intercept her force. The mining freighters were hiding amongst the thick planetary ring of asteroids as best they could. If Dee planned to fire her plasma missiles at maximum range it might do them some good, but as soon as the enemy escorts were destroyed, she intended to send her ships in to get up close and personal with the freighters.

As she gently put pressure on her flight stick to begin the third maneuver, Dee’s senses were assaulted by the blaring of several alarms. Her gravimetric plot filled with new contacts. Eighty new ships had appeared. They were accelerating hard straight towards the mining freighters on a course that converged with her fighters. Dee swore as she silenced the alarms. The Karacknids have hidden extra escorts! For a second she froze as she stared at the ships. They had the firepower to decimate her force. Then her training kicked in. Focus on the mission, she told herself. Three squadrons could easily take out the ten destroyers protecting the mining freighters. Then they could use their plasma cannons on the mining freighters. “Scarlet, Wasp and Sabre squadrons, take the ten Karacknid destroyers and the mining freighters. The rest of us will engage this new Karacknid force. We’ll buy you time to hit those freighters,” Dee ordered over the COM channel to her squadron leaders.

She input a new course into her flight computer and sent it to the squadrons that would follow her. “Break towards the new Karacknid squadron in three, two, one,” she ordered as she twisted her flight stick. After making sure that her squadron was still in formation and the six others she had with her were as well, Dee focused on the new Karacknid fleet. She picked out the most dangerous ships and assigned them as primary targets to her fighters. Then she gunned her Spitfire’s engines and led her eighty-four fighters in against the eighty Karacknid escorts. Soon space all around her fighter was filled with Karacknid point defense fire. Twisting and weaving, she did her best to make herself as difficult a target as possible. In her peripheral vision she was aware of a constant eruption of explosions as some of her people were taken out.

As her rage at the losses built and her own fear swelled she erupted into a scream. It kept rising in pitch as she got closer and closer to her target. She only cut off when she smashed the missile control button on her flight stick. She pulled up and away, continuing her random jinks and twists. Though she was tempted to glance back towards the light cruiser she had targeted, she resisted the urge. The enemy fire zipping past her was too thick for her to break her concentration even for a millisecond. Only when it finally slackened and died away completely did she look back at the Karacknid squadron. Forty or more of its ships had been destroyed or were trailing behind the others, debris streaming from them. “All fighters form up on me,” Dee ordered as she allowed her fighter’s momentum to carry her away from the Karacknid squadron. On her sensor plot, only forty-eight contacts moved to close with her Spitfire. Thirty-six gone, Dee thought as she was hit by a stinging sense of loss. It made her turn her head to seek out the three squadrons she had sent after the Karacknid mining freighters. She nodded in satisfaction when she saw that all ten destroyers that had been screening the freighters were gone. The remaining fighters in the three squadrons were already amidst the gas giant’s ring, plasma bolts raining down onto the mining freighters.

For nearly a minute, Dee watched freighter after freighter be blown apart. Then a large group of new contacts closed in on the planetary ring. The Karacknid squadron had arrived. Suddenly the fighters that had been enjoying free rein against the freighters had to dodge massive amounts of enemy fire. Dee’s hand almost twitched down to grab her flight stick. She wanted to turn her Spitfire and join the battle. Yet none of her fighters had enough fuel to overcome their current momentum and charge the freighters. Not if they wanted to get back to the carriers Commodore Chen had hidden on the far outskirts of the system. We can hit them again, she said to herself as she watched the battle continue. We can refuel, rearm, and hit them again. It didn’t make her feel any better as she helplessly watched more of her fighter pilots be killed.

For another couple of minutes the fighters tried to avoid everything hurled at them and still hit the freighters. A handful more of their targets were destroyed. But their losses quickly mounted. When there were just sixteen fighters left, they broke away from the engagement. One more was taken out as it fled. The rest turned and put themselves onto a rendezvous course for Dee’s fighters. As they closed, Dee surveyed the Karacknid forces. Nineteen of the fifty freighters had been destroyed. More than a third of the Karacknids’ asteroids were gone. Yet they had been hoping to take out all of the freighters, or at least the vast majority of them. The attack had failed. This time, Dee thought as she tried to rally her emotions. It would take ten hours for her fighters to reach the hidden carriers and return to finish the job. But when they did, she promised herself there would be none left.

*

Tanaka-lang watched the Human fighters’ attack on his mining freighters closely. When nineteen of the freighters were destroyed, he dug his claws into his command chair. Nineteen was more than he had been expecting. The Humans had responded well. Yet he still had enough for his purposes. Not for the first time, he wished he had brought more with him. He had literally thousands of freighters in his supply train, yet none of them had the special equipment needed to mine asteroids and prepare them for what he had planned. There were tens of thousands of such freighters within the Empire, but they were all months away.

As the Human fighters broke away from their attack, he continued to watch, even more interested now than before. He wanted to find their carriers. He was hoping the direction they fled in would tell him something. For two hours he directed the twenty squadrons he had dispatched to the outer system. Methodically they searched every position he suspected the carriers to be hiding in. As they lost track of the fighters, and then failed to get even a whiff of their carriers, he gave up with a growl. First his reinforcements had been cut in half and delayed. Now he had lost a significant proportion of the asteroids he had been preparing. And the Humans will be getting reinforcements, he thought. He had no doubt that the Alliance would be racing fleets into Human space to save their neighbors. Right across the front line with the Alliance he had given orders to his commanders to begin offensives of their own but his enemy was wise enough to recognize that his battlefleet was the main threat. The longer we delay, the more ships they will get into this sector of space, he thought as he turned his attention back to New Shanghai and the Human fleet there. With his reinforcements delayed, there was no benefit to him prolonging this siege. With a tap on his command chair he brought up a file of the expected arrival time of the warships he had left behind to await enough supplies to push forward. Another squadron of three hundred warships was expected at any moment. Then we will wait no longer, he thought as he returned his gaze to the Human fleet. It is time to put an end to this. The Humans could sneak fighters behind his fleets all they wanted, once he crushed New Shanghai, it would make no difference. “Signal our mining freighters, order them to rendezvous with us immediately. Bring up the other munition freighters we have prepared. It is time to put our attack plan into motion.” He was done probing the Human defenses, whatever surprises they had, he would just have to blast his way through them with his superior numbers.

Chapter 44

Showing your enemy one easy target while you hide your real strength is one of the oldest tricks of warfare.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

IS Drake

After Captain Dee’s fighter wing was past the Karacknid fleet, James stayed on Drake’s bridge to watch their progress towards the Karacknid mining freighters. When the hidden escort ships appeared, he sat forward in his command chair. For a few seconds he thought the entire attack was about to fail. Then Dee split her forces and charged the new Karacknid ships. When the battle was over he sat back in his command chair. They hadn’t hurt the Karacknids as badly as he had hoped, but they had done some damage. He still had other ideas to reduce the effectiveness of their tactic, but he had been hoping Chen’s plan would have more success.

Though the skirmish was over, James remained on the bridge for another two hours as he watched the Karacknids attempt to locate the carriers Dee was retreating to. When it was obvious their attempts would fail, he gave Miyagi a nod and turned to his Flag Captain. “You have the bridge Captain, inform me if there are any significant updates.”

“We’ve got movement in the gas giant’s planetary ring,” Anderson announced loudly. James paused, halfway to his feet. He peered at the holo display. The mining freighters that had survived Dee’s attack were indeed moving towards New Shanghai.

“There’s no way they have mined enough asteroids to fill all their cargo holds already,” Miyagi commented.

“We don’t know how good Karacknid mining techniques are,” James reminded his Chief of Staff. “But whether they are full or not, something has changed. If they’re coming here, it means the Karacknids intend to fight, and soon.” There was no other reason for the change in behavior. Though James didn’t understand the motives behind it, what it meant was obvious. Somehow, Dee’s attack had sparked something in his opposite number. There was no way the Karacknid commander was afraid of a repeat attack. He could send triple the number of escort ships to protect the mining freighters before Dee’s force could return to launch another attack. No, something else had sparked this. What it was didn’t matter. The Karacknid fleet was preparing for its final push. “Alert all our warships and defenses, tell them to prep for a full-on engagement,” James said to Lieutenant Martinez. “Miyagi, prepare a squadron of our fastest frigates. Make sure they have the latest updates on everything that has happened. Make preparations for them to break through the Karacknid blockade and head to Earth. We need to inform them that the final battle is about to begin. Make sure everyone that has a letter they want to send home sends it to those frigates.” He turned to Fisher. “You may as well let your crew get a good meal in them. Who knows how long this battle may last.” Pausing, he looked at the five thousand five hundred Karacknid warships that were orbiting New Shanghai. “We have delayed them as long as we can. Now it’s time to see if we can hold them off,” he said to his staff officers. Though he poured confidence into his words, he felt very little. Standing, he kept the look of confidence on his face. “I shall retire now and eat myself. When I return I’ll relieve you Captain,” he said to Fisher as he gave her a nod.

“Aye, Admiral, we will keep a close eye on the Karacknids until you get back,” Fisher replied.

Aware that every one of his officers was watching him closely, James kept his back straight as he left Drake’s bridge. Only when he got to his office did he let the mask slip. “Fox, prepare me something to eat,” he called to his steward. Though he couldn’t see Fox, he knew the man would be hovering within earshot. “It doesn’t matter what it is, but make it filling. I fear we are about to face the biggest battle of our careers.”

“Yes Admiral,” Fox replied as he appeared in front of James. “I have a steak stored away for just the occasion. It will not take me long to get it ready.”

“Thank you,” James said as he locked eyes with his steward. He saw the same look on Fox that he guessed was on his own face. Both of them expected it to be his last meal. “If there are two of them, prepare one for yourself. I’d like you to join me if you would.”

“Certainly, Admiral, it would be my pleasure,” Fox replied, giving James a small smile. It quickly vanished as he turned and scurried away to gather what was needed.

James’ mind turned to Christine and Jonathan. He reached out for his datapad and pulled up his latest letter to her. He didn’t have long before the frigates he had dispatched to run past the Karacknid blockade would leave. Quickly he added an ending to the letter.

Christine, I believe the Karacknids are making final preparations to attack New Shanghai’s defenses. We cannot delay them any longer. No significant reinforcements will arrive in time to relieve us. We must fight this out with what forces we have. You know the odds we face as well as I. I hope this letter will reach you. Please, if things go against us, heed the advice Ya’sia gave me. I know you have had time to read the evacuation plans she shared with me. If we lose this battle, Alliance Command will put their plans into motion. You must do so as well. Flee Earth. Get as far away from the Karacknids as you can. Join the Alliance in starting again somewhere else. I know you will want to stay. You will see it as your duty. But that is a mistake. If the Karacknids win here, then none of our colonies will be able to stand. Nothing will stop the Karacknids conquering the Alliance and this sector of space. The only hope for our species is for some of us to run with what technologies and ships we have. With enough space and time our species can start again, we can better prepare to face the Karacknids. If such an endeavor is to have any chance of success, it needs good leadership. Our species has just been united for the first time in our history. It’s the duty of our Empress to keep this unity and lead our people. You must think of Jonathan. He is so young, so helpless. He deserves a chance to have a life. To grow up. If I cannot be there for him. You must. Please do this for our Empire and for our son. Know that I will do all that I can for you both here. You are always in my thoughts. I love you, now and always, James.

When he was done, James scanned what he had written and sealed the letter so only Christine could read it. With a couple of taps on his datapad he added it to the files that would be sent to the frigates. Then he set his hands on his desk and closed his eyes. After taking several breaths to clear his mind, he visualized how he saw the coming battle play out. He only opened his eyes again when Fox returned. With an effort he dismissed thoughts of the Karacknids and tried to enjoy the meal. Both he and Fox made several attempts at starting conversations. None lasted more than a few sentences. Eventually they lapsed into silence as they ate together. Both of them knew that once James left, they wouldn’t see each other until the battle was over. As he placed the last sweet potato fry in his mouth, James stood. He gave Fox a final nod of thanks and turned to leave.

Just forty-five minutes after leaving the bridge, he sat down in his command chair. A glance at the holo display told him that the Karacknid mining freighters were still making good progress towards the rendezvous with the Karacknid battlefleet. Also on the gravimetric plot were three hundred other contacts. Another squadron of Karacknid reinforcements had arrived. They were moving swiftly towards New Shanghai. James grimaced at the sight of them. Three hundred was a small number, but it tipped the balance of forces ever more in the Karacknids’ favor.

“The Karacknid fleet are altering their flight paths,” Anderson reported. “It looks like they’re beginning their preparations.”

“Agreed,” James said as he watched the five circling Karacknid fleets maneuver. An hour later it was clear what the Karacknid commander was thinking. Two of the Karacknid fleets were lining themselves up to make attack runs on Sanji, two others on New Shanghai’s second moon, Taitou. The final Karacknid fleet, reinforced to a strength of one thousand eight hundred warships, was settling onto a course to directly threaten New Shanghai. “He’s going to take out both of our moons’ defenses,” James informed his staff officers. “The fleet facing us is there to keep us honest. If we move too many ships to support either moon, their largest fleet will push straight at us and try and take New Shanghai’s orbitals.”

“What do you want to do Admiral?” Miyagi asked, “neither Lightfoot nor Suarez have the strength to defend themselves against two thousand Karacknid warships.”

“Indeed they do not,” James responded. The Karacknid commander was giving him a dilemma. If he sent too many reinforcements to either moon, New Shanghai would be vulnerable. Yet if he lost either moon, the Karacknid fleet could push in and envelop New Shanghai’s defenses in a circle of fire. And he’s keeping his mining freighters in reserve, James thought as he noticed the freighters had joined the largest Karacknid fleet. He knew that if he gave the Karacknid commander an opening, the asteroids would be hurled at New Shanghai’s defenses. “We cannot defend both moons,” James answered his Chief of Staff. “Not unless we’re willing to risk losing New Shanghai before the battle has been joined.” Aware of the significance of his next words, James took a moment to make a final decision. If he couldn’t seriously defend both moons, then he’d have to sacrifice one. Whichever one he chose to defend, he’d be putting the other moon’s defenders in serious danger. “Order Admiral Koroylov’s battle squadron to reinforce Suarez ships defending Sanji,” James said. “Inform both Admirals they are to hold Sanji for as long as possible. But they are not to risk losing their ships if the cause is futile. Make sure they know we will have no more reinforcements to give them. Then send orders for Admiral Jil’lal and Vice Admiral Klack’s battle squadrons to reinforce Lightfoot at Taitou. We’ll detach our missile pod freighters and a large escort of cruisers and destroyers from our fleet to Lightfoot’s command as well. I also want Commodore Chen to prepare all of his fighters for a strike. He is only to hold back enough to counter the Karacknid fighters in case they try to hit us elsewhere. If the Karacknids want to keep their fleet split into groups of one thousand, we’ll make them regret the move,” James said as he highlighted one of the Karacknid fleets that was preparing to hit Taitou. “We’ll focus all our long-range mark V missiles, Chen’s fighters, and Lightfoot’s firepower on this Karacknid fleet. We may lose both moons, but let’s make them pay a high price for Taitou.”

“Aye Admiral, understood,” Miyagi responded. “We’ll begin sending those orders now.”

James let out a deep breath as Drake’s bridge burst into a hive of activity. The Karacknids had made their opening move. He was responding. The battle would soon be joined. Though he was full of doubt and concern about the outcome, at least the waiting was over. “What do the simulations say about our proposed moves?” James asked a minute later, certain that Anderson would already have begun to play out his orders using the ship’s computer.

“We should certainly hammer the one fleet we’re focusing on,” Anderson replied without looking up from his console. “But it doesn’t look good for us.”

“No, I imagine it doesn’t,” James replied. “But we have a lot of warriors out there, they will make the difference.” They have to, James thought. With each of his seven senior commanders commanding one battle squadron consisting of three hundred warships and four hundred armed freighters, James had committed six hundred warships under Koroylov and Suarez ‘s command to defending Sanji. They faced two thousand Karacknids. With three battle squadrons assigned to Lightfoot’s defense of Taitou, he wasn’t much better off, but with Chen’s fighters the Karacknids numerical advantage would be significantly reduced. That left James with Ya’sia and Nogamoro’s battle squadrons, along with his reserve fleet and Tranquility. The Kulrean worldship was the one unknown in his fleet. He accepted Kalong’s assessment of the ship’s strength, but the ship was as yet untested. He intended to hold Tranquility back for as long as possible. She would be his last surprise for the Karacknids. Yet even if the worldship lived up to her hype, in each of the three sectors his forces were heavily outnumbered. Yet there was no way around that. The best he could do was to try and win a series of minor victories by gaining superiority over a Karacknid fleet. Yet even if we get those victories, we will be taking even heavier losses at the same time, James thought but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Our forces are moving to their assigned locations,” Miyagi informed James minutes later. “Both Koroylov and Lightfoot have confirmed that they understand your orders.”

James nodded to acknowledge Miyagi’s update. Then he focused on the Karacknid fleet. All right, you see my response, what is your next move? he asked. So far, the one key unknown factor was the Karacknid fighters. As best as his scouts and sensor probes could tell, no additional carriers had reinforced the Karacknid battlefleet. Yet the three hundred or so fighters the Karacknids were known to have were a serious danger. Their particle beam cannons could devastate warships and battlestations alike. Depending on where the Karacknid commander chose to commit them, they could tip the balance decisively either at Sanji, Taitou or New Shanghai. As the Karacknid forces drew closer and closer to their targets, James wondered if the Karacknid commander had any hidden surprises. For once it looked like his ships weren’t going to try anything fancy. They were just going to smash into the two moons’ defenses and destroy everything that was there. The lack of trickery made James eye the large Karacknid fleet that was facing off against his command. They had already slowed their approach. It looked like they were going to come to a halt just outside powered missile range. It’s as if they are herding us into one spot, James thought as he took in the cluttered display of space around New Shanghai. Though so many different fleet elements were on the move, the general pattern was quite clear. It looked like the Karacknid forces were trying to push the defenders at Sanji and Taitou towards New Shanghai. Once they have us altogether, what is the plan? Though he had no specific answer, James feared it would be decisive. Gently, he leaned towards his Chief of Staff. “Keep launching sensor drones towards the large Karacknid fleet, I want to know what they’re up to at all times. I can’t help but feel that is where the surprise is going to come from,” he said quietly to Miyagi, hoping his other officers wouldn’t hear.

“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi replied in a similarly low voice. “I’ll update you if anything unusual is detected.” James nodded as he straightened.

“Admiral Koroylov should be able to open up with his multistage missiles in five minutes,” Anderson updated everyone. “Admiral Lightfoot will be able to do the same three minutes after that.”

“Karacknid fighter launches detected,” Ivanov announced as soon as Anderson finished. “Multiple launches from each Karacknid fleet. It looks like the fighters are heading towards Taitou.”

“They’ve detected Chen’s fighters,” Fisher commented. “They’re moving to counter them.”

James bit his lip. If the Karacknids committed all their fighters against Chen’s it would reduce the impact of Chen’s attack. Yet it meant they wouldn’t appear somewhere else and surprise him. “Have the fighters Chen kept in reserve launched. We’ll keep them with us for now, if things go against us, we’ll have them to back us up if we need them.”

As the Karacknid fleets charged the defenders of both moons, first Koroylov’s and then Lightfoot’s forces opened fire with their multistage missiles. The Karacknids didn’t even flinch. As they accelerated as hard as they could, the one key weakness of defending a planetary body was made all too obvious. Neither Koroylov nor Lightfoot’s forces could disengage, not if they wanted to fight alongside the orbital defense stations and mark V missile launchers on each moon. The Karacknids could charge right into energy weapon range if they desired. It also meant the multistage missiles’ effectiveness was largely negated. Koroylov and Lightfoot would get off two salvos, but then the Karacknids would be close enough that standard anti-ship missiles could be fired from both sides.

Though James would have loved to hammer the Karacknid fleets with multistage missiles for longer, in one sense it didn’t matter. Neither his battlestations nor freighters had multistage missiles so the two salvos that were launched towards the Karacknid fleets were severely understrength. Even so, James watched them intently. He was desperate for them to do some damage to the forces that were closing in on his friends. Sadly, he was disappointed by both salvos. Across the Karacknid forces attacking Sanji and Taitou, only thirty ships were destroyed or seriously damaged. The Karacknids simply had too much defensive fire power.

“Vengeance has just signaled us, Lightfoot’s force is preparing to open fire with their standard missile salvo,” Martinez updated everyone.

“Acknowledge the communication,” Fisher replied.

Now it’s time to reveal our full strength, James thought as he watched events unfold. The first sign that something was afoot was when the two-hundred-and-fifty mark V missile launchers based on Sanji hurled their missiles through the moon’s thin atmosphere. Instead of targeting the two Karacknid fleets closing with Sanji, the missiles headed towards Taitou. A minute later, all the battlestations around New Shanghai fired their mark Vs. The three hundred battlestations that had been towed into orbit released two thousand nine hundred missiles. They too were targeted at one of the Karacknid fleets closing on Taitou. Second to last, the mark V launchers on Taitou fired their missiles. As the missiles hurtled through space and passed Lightfoot’s nine hundred warships, they added their missiles to the giant salvo. Boosted by the forty missile pod freighters James had sent to Lightfoot, they added another thirteen thousand missiles. Seconds after Lightfoot’s warships opened fire, Chen’s fighters revealed themselves. Alongside the five hundred that had been launched normally, four hundred more that had been slow launched appeared on the gravimetric plot. All nine hundred charged one of the two Karacknid fleets opposing Lightfoot.

James found himself leaning forward as he watched so many different weapon systems close with the Karacknid fleet. The entire battle hinged on the outcome of the overpowered attack Lightfoot had launched. To James’ surprise, the two Karacknid fleets charging Lightfoot didn’t try to close with one another. He had expected them to try to support each other given the weight of fire coming their way. They’re going to sacrifice one fleet to take Taitou, James realized. That or they were seriously underestimating the strength of Lightfoot’s attack. He rather doubted it was the latter. Though it was cold, James understood the calculation. The two thousand Karacknid warships closing with Taitou already had a missile salvo on its way to Lightfoot’s ships. As the minutes ticked by, a second salvo was launched. At almost the same time, Lightfoot’s ships and the mark V launchers fired again. However, without the missile pods that had been released around Taitou, the salvo was several thousand missiles weaker.

“Mark V missile separation in ten seconds,” Anderson reported. On the holo plot, the separation was easily identifiable. Every mark V missile disappeared off of Drake’s sensors. Then, barely a second later, each was replaced by six smaller contacts as each mark V released six multistage missiles.

“Karacknid fighters are moving to intercept Chen’s attack wing,” Ivanov announced. “It looks like Chen is detaching thirty squadrons to engage them.” On the sensor display, James watched as three hundred and sixty fighters accelerated ahead of the main body of Chen’s force. Then, from one quarter of them, smaller contacts appeared. The Corsairs had just fired their anti-fighter missiles. More than sixty explosions followed as Karacknid fighters were taken out. Then the two groups crashed into one another and a deadly dog fight broke out. Nearly a hundred Karacknid fighters tried to break out of the engagement. Twenty-five were quickly shot down. Three more squadrons broke away from Chen’s main force and intercepted the rest. James nodded at the outcome. Chen still had five hundred fighters and bombers charging the Karacknid fleet. It would have to be enough.

As the Karacknid and Allied fighters continued to engage one another, James switched his attention to the Karacknid fleet Lightfoot had singled out. He was just in time to see them open up with their point defenses. With twenty thousand missiles barreling towards them, every ship in the Karacknid fleet was under threat. For every missile closing with them, the Karacknids released thousands of point defense munitions. The giant missile salvo turned into an ever-advancing wave of fire as hundreds and then thousands of missiles were blown up. As hard as the Karacknids tried, the advancing wave kept going until it crashed into their ships. Then far larger explosions rippled up and down the Karacknid fleet. The holo image on Drake’s bridge gained and lost focus as the battleship’s sensors struggled to make sense of all the energies it was picking up. Turning slightly, James focused on the gravimetric plot. Hundreds of Karacknid warships had disappeared as they had stopped accelerating. Then, less than thirty seconds behind the missile salvo, the five hundred contacts of Chen’s fighters hit the Karacknid fleet. Though Drake’s sensors couldn’t see what was happening, James could easily imagine the fighters twisting and weaving as they desperately tried to avoid the Karacknid defensive fire. Then the Human fighters would release their plasma missiles whilst the Alliance fighters fired their two heavy laser beams. Just as James expected, more explosions appeared in the midst of the Karacknid fleet.

Realizing his hands were tightened into balls, James forced himself to sit back and relax. There was nothing he could do to speed up Drake’s sensors as they analyzed the Karacknid fleet. It took a whole minute for the image of the fleet to regain full resolution. When it did, devastation greeted James’ eyes. Four hundred and thirty of the Karacknid warships were gone or littered behind the fleet, crippled or severely damaged. James was sure many more had suffered minor damage. Minor damage that would hopefully turn more serious as Lightfoot fired more salvos at the fleet. A quick check of the gravimetric plot told him that Lightfoot already had two more salvos on their way towards the fleet. He was completely ignoring the second fleet closing with his position. It was what James would do himself. Taitou could never be held against two thousand Karacknid ships, but if Lightfoot could pummel one of the Karacknid fleets hard enough to take it out of the battle, it would be a worthwhile trade.

“Did we get enough of them?” Anderson asked as he studied the Karacknid fleet.

“I hope so,” James replied, he didn’t know what else to say. A total of twenty percent of the forces charging Lightfoot had been taken out by one salvo. But the rest were still approaching, apparently undaunted. “Only time will tell,” he added.

“We must have,” Fisher said, sounding more confident. “That fleet was just devastated. They must be in shock. It will give Lightfoot an opening to finish them.”

James hoped Fisher was right. Almost in defiance of her words, just as she finished speaking, the remaining six hundred Karacknid warships in the fleet Lightfoot had targeted fired their third salvo. It was significantly reduced compared to the first but would still prove deadly to Lightfoot’s ships.

Movement just behind the Karacknid fleet caught James’ attention. Chen’s attack force was reforming. Once again James was shocked by the losses fighters took in their attacks. Of the five hundred that had charged the Karacknid fleet, two hundred and ninety were turning on a wide arc to return to their carriers and hangers. “Ivanov, make it a priority to get those fighters refueled and rearmed. We are going to need them to launch another sortie as soon as they are ready. I’m afraid they’ll have no time to lick their wounds or mourn their losses.”

“Understood Admiral,” Ivanov replied. “I will inform Chen that anything he needs he can have.”

James nodded to his operations officer. As tough as he was sure it was for the fighter pilots to lose so many of their number, he couldn’t think about that. The fighters were one of his key tactical advantages, he had to keep using them.

With the first attack on the Karacknid fleet over, James switched his attention to Lightfoot’s forces. The first Karacknid missile salvo was just seconds away. The holographic display showed that thousands of their missiles had been taken out. Yet there were nine hundred still being tracked. In the space of five seconds that number was halved. But then they began to detonate. Alongside the nine hundred warships Lightfoot had under his command, there were nearly twelve hundred freighters. As Karacknid antimatter missiles detonated, the freighters moved forward to attract the Karacknid fire. Hundreds of ships were obliterated as antimatter washed over them and wiped them out of existence. Alongside the freighters, James saw warships, defense stations and satellites disappearing in clouds of antimatter. For several minutes, confusion reigned as the warships and freighters tried to reform themselves. Then, altogether they turned their missile tubes towards the Karacknid ships charging them and fired their fourth volley of missiles. They are fully engaged now, James thought. The battle had truly begun.

Chapter 45

A second is divide and conquer, yet it comes with more risks, for often in order to get your enemy to divide his forces, you must divide your own. In doing so you may find your own strategy used against you.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

Turning his attention to Sanji and Koroylov’s forces, James saw that they too were heavily engaged. The first Karacknid salvo had struck home against Koroylov’s ships. With less warships and freighters, their losses were significantly higher than Lightfoot’s. Even so, multiple missile salvos were racing towards the two thousand Karacknid ships closing with Sanji. Like the two fleets attacking Taitou, the Karacknids opposing Koroylov were keeping a good distance between each other. It was allowing Koroylov to focus his fire on one of them. Yet, at the same time, with their salvos coming in from two different angles, Koroylov was having to split his defensive fire and was suffering losses at an even quicker rate.

As the battle raged on, James struggled to keep track of what was happening at both Sanji and Taitou. So many salvos were racing between all of the combatants that every few minutes a new salvo was striking its targets. Though James wanted to focus on the fleet Lightfoot was trying to take out of the battle, he felt guilty for not watching Koroylov’s progress. He was the one who had decided Koroylov would face such difficult odds. As Koroylov’s force was slowly beaten into debris, his guilt grew. He found himself eyeing the Karacknid fleet of one thousand eight hundred warships that was hovering just out of missile range of New Shanghai. If it wasn’t for those ships, he could dispatch Nogamoro or Ya’sia’s battle squadrons to help Koroylov. Yet he couldn’t move them, not when New Shanghai was so seriously threatened. Each time he looked at the largest Karacknid fleet, he focused on the large Command Dreadnought. He knew that things were playing out just as the enemy commander wanted. James and his battle squadrons were stuck watching their comrades fight and die without them.

“The Karacknid fleet Lightfoot is attacking is down to four hundred and eighty warships,” Anderson announced excitedly as another missile salvo struck home, “he’s doing it, he’s going to take them out!”

Turning from the Karacknid Command Dreadnought, James thought Anderson was correct. But at what cost? he asked himself. Lightfoot’s losses were mounting. Nearly half of his freighters were gone and many of the defense stations and satellites in orbit around Taitou had been taken out as well. And that second Karacknid fleet is still completely intact, James knew. It was keeping up a constant rate of fire that was eating away at Lightfoot’s strength.

“Sanji is in trouble,” Fisher called out. “The Karacknids are targeting the moon’s surface.”

James spun to the display of Sanji. The Karacknid warships had got close enough to send one thousand missiles curving around Koroylov’s fleet towards the moon. Their target was obvious, they were going to take out the mark V launchers. As everyone on Drake’s bridge watched anxiously, Koroylov dispatched what ships he could to intercept the missiles. James almost ordered the fighters he had kept in reserve to rush to Sanji, but there was no way they could get there in time to try and engage the missiles. More than one officer groaned as the combination of Koroylov’s ships and the orbital defense stations around Sanji failed to take out all the missiles. Twenty-six punched through the moon’s thin atmosphere. A last-ditch volley from the few ground-based point defense weapons took out fourteen. Then the rest struck the moon’s surface and detonated. For a second, James stared in confusion. The customary antimatter detonations weren’t appearing. Then shockwaves raced across Sanji’s surface. They were quickly joined by mushroom clouds that shot high into the moon’s atmosphere and actually released dust and debris into space.

“They used nuclear warheads?” Miyagi said, giving voice to the same confusion James had been feeling moments ago.

It only took him a second to figure out what it meant. “They want New Shanghai intact,” he said. “At least as intact as they can keep it.” One or two antimatter warheads detonating on the moon’s surface wouldn’t destabilize its orbit too much. But twenty certainly would. They are so confident of victory, they are willing to use inferior weapons, James concluded. “How many mark V launchers did we lose?” He got his answer when just four missiles took off from the moon’s surface twenty seconds later. James shared a glance with his Flag Captain. Lightfoot had just lost a significant portion of his backup. “Make sure Admiral Lightfoot is informed of what just happened at Sanji,” he said as he turned to Martinez. Amidst all the fighting, he didn’t want Lightfoot expecting more missiles coming to aid him than were going to. “Transfer the remaining launchers on Sanji to Admiral Koroylov’s battle squadron. Order him to pull back immediately. There’s nothing left for him to defend. The launchers can help cover his retreat.”

In his command chair, James activated his secondary holo display. Then, side-by-side, he projected the battles going on around Sanji and Taitou, zoomed in as far as he could. The strategic situation had changed dramatically. His next steps were critical. Koroylov’s ships were falling back. Yet the two Karacknid fleets that had hit Sanji were already on the move. Having hit the moon, they wanted to crush what was left of Koroylov’s two battle squadrons before they could reach New Shanghai. James could switch the mark V salvos from the battlestations in orbit around New Shanghai to help cover Koroylov, but then Lightfoot would be seriously short of firepower. For a couple of seconds James watched the progress of Koroylov’s ships. He is not going to make it, James decided. Koroylov had lost nearly two hundred warships. With the Karacknid fire now focused entirely on his ships, he would lose that many again in the next two enemy salvos. If James wanted to save them, he would have to pull forces from Lightfoot. Turning his attention to Taitou, James ground his teeth together. Lightfoot was achieving the goal he had given him. He was still hammering one of the Karacknid fleets. It had lost more than sixty percent of its original strength. You need to conserve your warships, James told himself. That was the only way he could prevent New Shanghai from falling. Sanji and Taitou could be lost if it meant the Karacknids hesitated in taking New Shanghai. “We have to cover Koroylov’s ships,” James said to his officers as he came to a decision. “Send orders to Admiral Ya’sia, she is to aid Koroylov’s retreat. Order Commodore Chen to commit our fighter reserves against the Karacknid fleet Koroylov has weakened. Coordinate our next missile salvo from our battlestations with Koroylov as well, they are to target that fleet too. I want Chen’s fighters hitting them right after that salvo strikes home. And get me a COM channel with Admiral Lightfoot.”

“I’ve got him,” Martinez replied thirty seconds later.

James gestured towards his COM officer and a moment later Lightfoot’s face appeared on one of his command chair’s holo projectors. “Admiral,” James began quickly, “we have to abandon our strategy. Koroylov’s ships are in real danger. Admiral Ya’sia and our reserve fighters are going to cover them. But that will leave New Shanghai unprotected. You need to pull back at once.”

Lightfoot didn’t reply right away. It was clear he wanted to keep fighting. Finally, he nodded. “We’ll begin pulling back right away,” he responded.

“Thank you,” James said, “here’s what I was thinking.” He sent a file to Lightfoot. “I want you to pull back along this course. I’ll move my ships out to meet you. We need to discourage the unengaged Karacknid fleet from pressing us. If they attack before we can get everyone pulled back behind the battlestations, we could lose the planet.”

Lightfoot glanced at the file James had sent him. He nodded. “I understand, we’ll do what needs to be done.”

James flashed Lightfoot a quick smile and ended the COM channel. Then he sent the course he wanted Lightfoot’s ships to take to Miyagi. “Inform Nogamoro and our battle squadron that we will be breaking orbit. We are going to cover Lightfoot’s retreat.” From the looks Miyagi and Fisher gave James, it was clear they were surprised. Lightfoot’s ships were still hitting the Karacknids hard. “I want to break orbit immediately,” he said more forcefully, he didn’t have time to explain himself.

“Aye Admiral,” Miyagi snapped. He began to give out orders to the rest of James’ staff officers. Within moments, Drake began to move. As she did, the battlestations all around New Shanghai released another salvo, this time the mark V missiles raced towards Sanji and Koroylov’s retreating ships. Ya’sia’s battle squadron and the reserve fighter force was already rushing that direction. James watched them go, hoping that they would be enough to save Koroylov’s command. Then he focused on the largest Karacknid fleet and the Command Dreadnought at the center of it. If that fleet advanced now the battle would be lost. He was betting everything on bluffing the Karacknid commander that he was willing to go toe to toe with his force. On paper at least, it seemed plausible. The defense stations, orbital satellites, and mark V launchers on Taitou were still engaging the two Karacknid fleets that were closing with it. With James’ and Lightfoot’s fleets attacking the largest Karacknid fleet together, they stood a chance of doing some damage. The course James had sent Lightfoot made it look like Lightfoot intended to charge into energy weapon range of the Karacknid Command Dreadnought. If they managed that, they could do a lot of damage.

As his ships charged their enemy, James watched the Karacknid Command Dreadnought for the smallest sign of movement. It took nearly thirty seconds for it to come, but when it did, James’ heart began to beat faster. He couldn’t tell what the Karacknids were doing. The ships all around the Command Dreadnought were reforming. But it wasn’t clear whether they were preparing to accelerate or fall back. As the battle hinged on a knife edge, James took a deep breath. Seconds ticked by. Still he couldn’t be sure what was happening. But then the frigates and destroyers along the leading edge of the Karacknid fleet began to flip end over end. They are turning! James shouted to himself. He let out a deep breath and gulped air in. He hadn’t realized how long he’d been holding his breath for. “We’ll fire one salvo,” he called to his officers. “One salvo and then I want us in full reverse.”

“Understood Admiral,” Miyagi replied.

“We’ll be in range to fire in five minutes,” Anderson reported. “They are taking their time organizing the retreat,” he added. “I’ve already liaised with Lightfoot’s tactical officer; we’ll coordinate our fire.”

James nodded to acknowledge the report. He was still staring at the Karacknid Command Dreadnought. His opponent had fallen for his bluff. With the damage the two Karacknid forces that were attacking Sanji and Taitou had taken, clearly the Karacknid commander wanted to keep his largest fleet fully intact. Even if they were to try it for real, it was unlikely Lightfoot’s ships would get to energy weapon range, but the threat was still there. They don’t know we don’t have another trick up our sleeve, or more fighters to throw into the mix, or maybe they are scared of Tranquility? James thought. Whatever it was, for once, he felt like he had actually outsmarted his opposite number.

A groan from one of the sensor officers pulled James’ attention away from the largest Karacknid fleet. When he checked the secondary holo displays, he saw what had caused it. Another missile salvo from the two fleets pursuing Koroylov’s ships had struck home before Ya’sia’s ships got close enough to provide help. Taking a page from the Human tactics, the Karacknids had focused all of their missiles on Koroylov’s battle squadron and left Suarez’s alone. James groaned when he saw what had happened. More than a hundred ships had been wiped out or crippled. Desperately he searched the display for Constitution, Koroylov’s battleship. But he couldn’t find any sign of it. “Where is Constitution?” he demanded as he looked to his command staff. Ivanov was already staring at him. A tear running down her cheek. Ever so slowly she shook her head as she closed her eyes. Two more tears escaped. James swore as he punched his command chair. Ivanov had served with Koroylov long before he had met her. Of course she had been keeping a close eye on his flagship. “Inform Ya’sia she is to assume overall command of our left flank,” James snapped. “She is to get her ships back here at once.”

“Firing our missiles,” Anderson announced, either unaware or unaffected by Koroylov’s loss. “Fleet is going into full reverse,” Miyagi added as soon as the missiles were clear. Though James knew he should watch the progress of his and Lightfoot salvos, he focused on what was left of Koroylov’s battle squadron. As the warships raced away from Sanji more and more had to be abandoned. Then Ya’sia’s ships reached them. They were just in time to help fend off another missile salvo. Even so, sixty more ships were blown apart by the Karacknid missiles. Beyond them, the reserve fighter force launched an attack run against the weakest of the two Karacknid fleets. They charged in right after the salvo of mark V missiles from New Shanghai. More than a hundred Karacknid warships, most of them capital ships, were taken out. It wasn’t enough. Less than a minute later what remained of the Karacknid fleet fired again. As another missile salvo crashed into the retreating warships, more antimatter detonations bloomed taking out many targets. Then what was left of Koroylov and Suarez’s battlefleets crossed the outer range of New Shanghai’s point defenses. They were safe. Though James wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he couldn’t. Far too few ships had returned. Koroylov’s battle squadron had been decimated. Only seventy ships and twenty freighters had made it back. Their losses had been nearly eighty percent.

With an effort, James turned from the battered battle squadron. He was just in time to see the salvo from his and Lightfoot’s fleet reach the largest Karacknid fleet. As he expected, the Karacknids blasted most of the missiles out of existence long before they got close enough to detonate. Less than a hundred actually reached their targets. Drake’s sensors counted forty ships destroyed and close to fifty more damaged. The attack had barely made a scratch on the Karacknid fleet. In contrast, also as James had expected, the large Karacknid fleet had targeted all of the missiles from the one salvo it had been able to fire at Lightfoot’s fleet. As those missiles crashed home, far more burst through the point defense fire. Nearly two hundred freighters and warships were wiped out as antimatter particles collided with normal matter and the two disappeared in a blinding flash of energy. “Get all our ships within range of New Shanghai’s point defenses,” James ordered. “I need an immediate status report on each battle squadron. We need to know what strength we have left and what our capabilities are.” The Karacknids had achieved their goal, they had smashed Sanji’s and Taitou’s defenders back towards New Shanghai. Even as he watched, the four fleets that had attacked the moons set about pummeling what little orbital defenses were left. The thermonuclear detonations on the moons’ surfaces finished off the final mark V missile launchers. As soon as they were done, the Karacknid fleets began to maneuver again. Each of the two fleets that had attacked one of the moons joined together to form a larger fleet. Then the Karacknid battlefleet, now in three large fleets, moved to positions where they could assault New Shanghai and put the defenders in a crossfire.

As the Karacknid fleets maneuvered, James assessed their strength. Of the two thousand ships that had attacked Lightfoot and Taitou, only one thousand two hundred appeared to be battle ready. A secondary squadron of more than two hundred was pulling back, clearly too damaged to fight on. Of the two thousand that had attacked Koroylov and Sanji, many more were battle ready. They had only lost three hundred and fifty warships leaving them one thousand six hundred and fifty. When Miyagi sent him a status update on his ships, James’ spirits sank even lower. Koroylov’s battle squadron was essentially out of the fight. In addition, between them Suarez, Lightfoot, Jil’lal and Klack had lost another three hundred warships and close to a thousand freighters. Essentially, his fleet was down two battle squadron’s worth of warships. Worse, Chen’s fighters’ strength had been reduced from twelve hundred to six hundred. And they haven’t even used their asteroids yet, James thought as he eyed the enemy Command Dreadnought. He was sure they would be coming soon. As soon as the Karacknids had reformed themselves, they would attack. There was no reason to wait. Our only hope is to bleed them even more, James said to himself. He had no hope that he could successfully defend New Shanghai. But if he could bleed the Karacknid fleet to the point where they didn’t have enough functional warships to advance any further, he could buy Christine and the Alliance fleets time. Even that was a long shot, James knew, but he had to try. He couldn’t give up yet. “Make sure Chen has his Corsairs prepped for launch. Their priority is to intercept asteroids when the Karacknids deploy them. We’ve taken out enough of the fighters that our Spitfires can handle any fighter attack the Karacknids launch. I want Chen’s bombers held in reserve. We’re going to hit that Command Dreadnought once the fighting gets intense. Perhaps if we can take out their commander we can disrupt their cohesion,” James instructed. He also hoped it might delay any advance further than New Shanghai when the colony fell, but he couldn’t say that to his subordinates.

“Karacknid fleets are advancing again!” Anderson shouted. “They’re moving into missile range. Their mining freighters are heading to the front of their fleet. There are far more of them than we tracked coming into the system from the gas giant!”

James’ head whipped round towards the holo display. More than a hundred freighters were moving ahead of the Karacknid fleet. “Where did they come from?” he demanded. “Trace their previous courses!” If all the freighters were full of asteroids cloaked in Karacknid stealth technology, his fleet was doomed.

“Working on it,” Ivanov responded before anyone else. “It looks like they came in with one of the recent supply convoys. We got a recon probe pretty close to them as they came into the system. There was no indication that they were mining freighters. Analysis of their acceleration profile suggested that they weren’t fully loaded. They certainly didn’t look like they were full of asteroids.”

“Thank you,” James replied as he studied the freighters. Was it another trick of the Karacknid commander? Had he found a way to make the freighters look like they were empty when they were full of asteroids mined from another system? James had no way to know for sure. “Target all those freighters with our first salvo of mark Vs,” he ordered. “Organize Chen’s first fighter wing to attack with our second salvo. The more freighters we take out far away from New Shanghai, the more time their asteroids will have to spread out. Maybe some of them will miss us.” James hated using fighters against enemy freighters, they were much better used against warships, but the asteroids were too big a threat.

“First salvo of mark Vs will launch in thirty seconds,” Anderson reported.

“Look Admiral, they’re bringing up forces to defend their freighters,” Fisher said as she pointed to the holo display. Nearly three hundred light ships and what James presumed were all of the fighters the Karacknids had left moved ahead of the central Karacknid fleet and took up positions protecting the charging freighters.

“There’s nothing we can do about that,” James replied. “Chen’s fighters will have to fight their way through the point defense fire.”

“Shall we add our multistage missiles to her second salvo of mark Vs?” Anderson asked.

James shook his head. “No, they would not have enough fuel to evade point defense fire. We’ll wait and see what damage Chen can do. We may need them to target asteroids.” As James spoke, the holo plot filled with more than a thousand contacts as the battlestations in orbit around New Shanghai opened fire. For ten minutes they accelerated towards the central Karacknid fleet. They easily caught up with and then passed Chen’s fighter wing. Then they disappeared for a split second. In the place of each missile, six multistage missiles appeared. Using their extremely high acceleration rates, they dove in and engaged the Karacknid freighters and escorts. Explosions filled Drake’s holo display as Karacknid warships and freighters were blown apart.

“Detecting hundreds of asteroids spilling from the damaged freighters,” Anderson informed everyone needlessly.

James grimaced. This was where the Karacknids had a distinct advantage. When defending from a similar attack, their antimatter missiles destroyed freighter and asteroids. His simply broke the freighter apart, spilling the asteroids out into space. Even as he grimaced, James’ eyes narrowed. There were far fewer asteroids than he had been expecting. “Analyze those additional freighters, what happened when some of them were hit? We’re not seeing nearly enough asteroids.”

“You’re right,” Ivanov said in excitement. “I’m not detecting any asteroids coming from the newer freighters that were hit. The asteroids are coming from the mining freighters that we managed to damage.”

“Are they decoys?” Fisher asked as she turned to James.

James didn’t know. It was a cheap trick if they were. There were three of the newer freighters for every mining freighter that was still left. If he split his fire between them all, he’d never take them out before the freighters got close enough to self-destruct and spill the asteroids out towards his forces. “I’m sure they have plenty of spare freighters that they can throw away a whole bunch against us like this,” James said. Yet he wasn’t sure. In the back of his mind he feared the Karacknid commander was up to something. It seemed too easy. But what could it be? They had no indication the freighters were any more of a threat than they appeared. “Focus all our fire from the next salvo on the mining freighters. Inform Chen’s attack wing to do the same.”

When the second salvo came in, it took out more of the mining freighters. Then Chen’s Spitfires and Corsairs joined the battle. Using their plasma missiles and anti-fighter missiles, they blasted apart more freighters, enemy fighters, and warships. Then, spinning round, they used their small plasma cannons to blow apart as many asteroids as they could. “Prepare Chen’s second wing,” James requested. One more good attack and it seemed like they might be able to negate the worst of the Karacknids’ asteroids. There were more than three thousand hurtling towards his defenses, but he had enough firepower to blast that many apart. If one of his officers acknowledged the command it was lost as more alarms went off. The three Karacknid fleets had just entered missile range. Between them, they launched fifty-eight thousand missiles towards New Shanghai. James’ had to fight to keep his face expressionless. He had only ever seen so many missiles before in simulations. Now he was about to encounter them face to face. In reply, New Shanghai’s battlestations fired their third volley of missiles. As the missiles passed James’ battle squadrons, all his warships fired as well. The number of Allied missiles totaled thirty thousand. It would rise to thirty-five thousand when the mark Vs released their multistage missiles, but even so, the response looked pitiful on Drake’s sensors.

With an effort, James dismissed the disparity in missile salvos. His immediate concern was the Karacknid asteroids. If enough of them got so close that he’d have to engage them with his ships’ energy weapons, they’d fill space around New Shanghai with millions of asteroid particles. That would make it next to impossible for his ships to track fifty-eight thousand Karacknid missiles as they closed in for the kill. As the third salvo of mark Vs and then Chen’s second attack wing engaged the freighters, more of them were destroyed. James grinned at the results. He shared a look with Fisher and Miyagi. All but four of the mining freighters were gone. Yes, most of them had broken up releasing their asteroids, but they had broken up far enough away from New Shanghai that many of the asteroids were on ballistic courses that would miss the colony. As if to confirm his victory, the remaining four mining freighters self-destructed. As soon as their cargo tumbled out, the remainder of their escorts ceased accelerating and allowed themselves to fall back towards the main Karacknid fleet.

Now all we have to do is deal with their missile salvos, James thought, unsure whether to feel relieved or not, for as soon as his mind turned to the Karacknid missiles, he was reminded of their number. “Tell Chen’s third attack wing to stand down,” James ordered, “they can join up with the bombers, we’ll use them to strike at the Karacknid capital ships if we can get an openin…” James didn’t finish his sentence. The Karacknid freighters, the ones that hadn’t been carrying asteroids, had suddenly accelerated ahead of the wave of asteroids. James knew something was wrong. The Karacknids were up to something! Then his mouth fell open in shock. Every holo display on Drake’s bridge turned bright blue. Then they went completely dark. Voices all around James shouted in alarm. Confusion and panic threatened to take over. For a couple seconds James failed to find his voice. Then he shouted as loud as he could. “Silence,” he demanded. “Those freighters were filled with antimatter warheads. Hundreds of them,” James explained, still shouting. “The anti-matter explosions have knocked out most of our active sensors. Increase power to all of Drake’s sensors, signal every ship in the fleet to do the same. The interference will clear. We need to be ready when it does! Get to it!” he added as he tried to shake his officers back into action.

“But Admiral,” Fisher said as he leaned over towards James. “We just lost all of our active tracking on those asteroids and their missiles.”

“I know,” James whispered through clenched teeth. “What else do you want me to do?” When he turned to Fisher he saw fear in her eyes. He guessed he looked the same. The Karacknid commander had tricked them! Sixty of his supposedly decoy freighters had survived the attacks James had launched against the mining freighters. Everyone must have been stuffed to the gills with antimatter warheads. Perhaps each had over a thousand in them. The massive wave of antimatter the detonation of each freighter had given off had crashed into the thick wall of asteroids. The mutual annihilation of so much matter and antimatter released a surge of photons and neutrinos that blinded all of his ships’ sensors. As the holo displays around him remained dark, James tightened his hands into fists. “Come on, come on,” he whispered as he rocked in his command chair. “Come on girl,” he said as he willed Drake’s sensors to reinitialize. “Yes!” he shouted as he pumped his fist. Images of New Shanghai had reappeared. “Begin tracking all incoming enemy ordnance,” he snapped. “All point defenses open fire as soon as they get into range.” When the image sharpened to the point where James could see the massive enemy missile salvo, he cut off whatever else he had been about to add. The missiles were already within range of his point defenses; and there were so many of them.

His sudden despair evaporated when Drake’s sensors detected explosions amidst the Karacknid missile salvo. Someone was already firing their point defenses. Glancing at his own fleet, James’ eyes were drawn to Tranquility. The energy readings from the Kulrean worldship were off the scale. Her sensors weren’t blinded, James realized as his excitement grew. Thousands of green energy beams were zapping Karacknid missiles out of existence. Drake’s sensors had no idea what the weapons were, but they were effective. In the seconds it took James to glance at Tranquility and then back to the Karacknid missiles, thousands had been blown away. The Kulrean defenses were smashing through the Karacknid missiles like a bull in a china shop. Wherever Tranquility directed her weapons, hundreds of missiles vanished.

Even so, the vast majority of the Karacknid missiles charged towards their targets. When the rest of James’ warships, battlestations and defense satellites finally opened fire, flak cannon rounds, AM missiles, laser beams, plasma bolts and electromagnetic arc waves filled space with color and explosions. Yet it was nowhere near enough. The Karacknid missiles had already gotten too close.

“All ships are to carry out evasive maneuvers,” James bellowed, his despair swelling once again. His order was far earlier than he would normally give it. It would impact the effectiveness of his ships’ fire, but the more maneuvers his ships carried out, the more chance they would have of shaking off the missiles targeting them. James needed his fleet to survive this salvo. If they could, then they could engage the next salvo properly. There was no way the Karacknids had enough antimatter warheads to repeat the same trick twice. If they did, they would have used it against Sanji and Taitou. At least, James hoped so. It was the last thing he had to hold onto.

As the enemy missiles closed with his ships, James resisted the urge to shut his eyes. If Drake was going to be destroyed, he was going to face his fate, not hide from it. As more than ten thousand Karacknid missiles closed with his fleet, point defense fire destroyed hundreds and thousands of them. Then the missiles reached his ships. Anti-matter detonations appeared all around Drake. Miraculously, or so James thought, no alarms went off to signal Drake was being targeted. Yet, as he watched the holo plot, many of his ships were destroyed, but not nearly as many as he had been expecting. For a second, his optimism soared. The Karacknid missiles had failed to hit their targets! Then he caught a glimpse of the gravimetric plot. There were still more than four thousand Karacknid missiles accelerating hard. Except, they had passed by his fleet. They’re going for the battlestations! James realized. Dismay filled his heart. Two thousand Karacknid missiles dodged every point defense weapon fired at them from the battlestations and defense satellites in orbit around New Shanghai. Then they detonated. The battlestations, so large and cumbersome, had no way of dodging the missiles. Every one of the two hundred and ninety-four battlestations that had been constructed in New Shanghai’s orbit or towed to the colony were targeted by missiles. Some had as many as a hundred missiles closing in on them. When Drake’s sensors could see through the wave of detonations that followed, James could hardly believe what he was looking at. New Shanghai’s orbitals had been decimated. Not just the battlestations, but almost every military and civilian station had been hit. The expanding balls of antimatter had enveloped anything they came into contact with and wiped them out. There was hardly even any debris left to fall into New Shanghai’s atmosphere. The only intact structures James could see were three battlestations. Somehow they had escaped unscathed. Yet they were barely even a shadow of the force he had commanded moments before.

Tearing his eyes away from New Shanghai, James stared unblinkingly at the Karacknid fleets that were closing with his fleet. Their intention was obvious. They would close to energy weapon range and destroy every single ship under his command. Without his battlestations to add their powerful plasma cannons to such a fight, the Karacknids’ numbers would ensure a swift victory. If there is even anything of us left by then, James couldn’t help but think. There were already two more massive Karacknid missile salvos on their way.

Chapter 46

As costly as the orbital battle for New Shanghai was in terms of lives lost, the ground battle was far, far worse.

-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

For nearly thirty seconds James watched the next Karacknid salvo approach his ships. There was no doubt in his mind as to who they were targeting. The only thing standing between New Shanghai and the Karacknid forces were what was left of his battle squadrons. We cannot win, James said to himself. We cannot even delay them now. The Karacknids would hammer his ships again and again until there was nothing left. The first full salvo all of his forces had fired at the Karacknid main fleet had already struck home. Less than one hundred ships had been destroyed. At that rate, it would take him eighteen salvos to destroy the fleet centered around the enemy Command Dreadnought. Except by then, he wouldn’t have a single ship left. For more crucial seconds, James watched the progress of the enemy missiles. Deep down, he knew the orders he had to give. They were the only ones that made sense. Guiltily he glanced at New Shanghai. There was nothing he could do for the colony. Barely above a whisper he gave the order. “Signal the other Admirals, they are to prepare to pull back.”

“Excuse me Admiral?” Miyagi said. His face was full of concern and shock.

“There’s nothing more we can accomplish here,” James said bitterly. “Except dying for nothing. Send orders to the fleet, we are falling back.” As he spoke his voice rose. He had decided what needed to be done. Now he was determined to see it through. “Order Chen to send all his fighters and bombers in with our next salvo. He is to target the enemy Command Dreadnought. If we can take it out, it might buy us time to pull back. I want every freighter and damaged ship that can’t match our maximum acceleration to form a new fleet. They are to charge the Karacknid Command Dreadnought fleet as well. The rest of us are pulling back around the planet and then we are getting out of here. Maximum acceleration. Begin moving us now, we’re not going to wait for the next Karacknid salvo.” Though James was disgusted with himself, he held Miyagi’s gaze. Yes, they were running away. But if he could extract even a handful of ships out of the disaster, they could try and delay the Karacknids’ push on Earth. That was more than what his ships would accomplish standing and dying in the face of so many enemy missiles.

“Sending the orders out now,” Miyagi responded as he finally nodded. James was certain his Chief of Staff didn’t like it any more than he did, but it was not their duty to like it. It had to be done.

As the orders went out, things happened quickly. Two hundred damaged warships along with the remaining five hundred freighters accelerated out of New Shanghai’s orbit. From all of his ships another salvo of missiles was launched as well. Chen’s fighters, numbering no more than one hundred and eighty, split across three groups and accelerated hard behind the missiles. The rest of James’ battlefleets turned and accelerated towards New Shanghai. With the planet’s gravity pulling them in, they quickly gained momentum. All of the battlefleets that was, except Nogamoro’s. “What is he doing?” James demanded when he saw Nogamoro’s two hundred and sixty warships join the damaged warships and freighters.

“I’m getting a COM message from Nogamoro’s Chief of Staff,” Martinez replied. “They’re reporting all of their ships are too badly damaged to jump into shift space.”

“Lies.” James replied. “Dam him!” He knew what Nogamoro was doing. He was trying to cover the retreat. Yet James didn’t want him to! They could have tried to retreat together. James almost sent orders for the rest of Nogamoro’s Captains to ignore their Admiral’s commands and fall back with Drake. He didn’t. He knew they would never obey. If they were going to their deaths, he didn’t want their last act to be one of insubordination. “Signal Nogamoro’s battle squadron,” James said reluctantly. “Inform them they are ordered to give a good account of themselves. No ship is to die without taking a Karacknid with them.”

“They’re acknowledging Admiral… All of them are,” Martinez informed him as he looked up from his command console. “They say they will do their duty.”

“Send one final reply,” James said. “Your Emperor expected nothing less from you.” As his message was sent, James watched Nogamoro’s battle squadron catch up to the damaged warships and freighters that were charging the Karacknids. As soon as they were together, they fired a salvo at the central Karacknid fleet. Then the next Karacknid missile salvo struck them. Of the five hundred warships, less than half survived. Of the freighters that had been making targets of themselves, almost none were visible after the anti-matter explosions stopped. One more salvo, and James knew they would be done for. Yet Nogamoro’s flagship remained, and within minutes the survivors were rearranged into a new defensive formation as they continued on towards the Karacknid fleet.

In that time their missile salvo reached the Karacknid warships. So many point defense weapons opened fire that Drake’s sensors lost track of most of the missiles. James guessed it didn’t matter anyway, most of them would be blown apart before they reached their targets. He counted less than twenty explosions amongst the Karacknid fleet. Then Chen’s fighters came swooping in behind the missile salvo. With so much focus on the Allied missiles, Chen’s fighters had been able to get close. Not close enough to launch their missiles unhindered, but close enough. When the Karacknids switched their fire onto the fighters, explosion appeared in their midst. Even so, Drake’s sensors detected one hundred and fifty missile launches. Ninety reached targets and struck home. Every missile was targeted at an enemy battleship or dreadnought. James ground his teeth together when the wave of explosions at the heart of the Karacknid fleet didn’t get anywhere near their Command Dreadnought. The enemy commander was safe. Yet he had lost just over forty of his capital ships, and no doubt the others who had suffered hits were badly damaged.

Despite the attacks, the Karacknids quickly fired another salvo. With the Karacknid fleet and Nogamoro’s ships charging each other, it took almost no time for the missiles to cross the distance. With their point defenses completely saturated, Nogamoro’s ships stood no chance. Every single contact disappeared off Drake’s sensors when the Karacknid salvo attacked its targets. James closed his eyes when Guardian was blown apart. He had another name to add to his list of friends who had died at the hands of the Karacknids.

“Both flanking Karacknid fleets will round the planet any moment now,” Ivanov reminded everyone.

James forced the grey from his face. His ships were far from out of the woods. Retreating around New Shanghai had given his ships a moment’s respite. But the two flanking Karacknid fleets were still in hot pursuit. “All ships are to go to one hundred and five percent maximum acceleration,” James ordered. He knew such a move would cost him ships, but he had to get his fleet out of harm’s way. “Prepare to fire everything we have at the weaker Karacknid flanking fleet.” With only twelve hundred ships, the remnants of the fleets that had attacked Taitou equaled the size of the fleet James had left. He wouldn’t be able to harm the larger Karacknid fleet, but he could continue to hammer the one Lightfoot had already bled heavily.

As soon as the two flanking fleets appeared around New Shanghai, they fired a salvo of missiles. James’ ships replied in kind. Before either salvo reached their targets, the three fleets fired a second round of missiles. James swallowed as he stared at each Karacknid salvo. Both numbered almost thirty-five thousand missiles. His beleaguered fleet was in trouble, and he knew it. The only solace was that his first salvo would reach the smaller Karacknid fleet first. At least he’d get to see his missiles ravage their opponent before his fleet suffered. Despite the best efforts of the Karacknid point defense gunners, many of James’ missiles did indeed strike their targets. The twelve hundred contacts of the Karacknid flanking fleet were reduced to one thousand and thirty. However, nearly eighty of them fell back towards New Shanghai, too damaged to continue the chase.

“New contact!” Anderson shouted in excitement. “They’re ours! They’re ours! One hundred fighters closing with the Karacknid fleet we just hit.”

James could hardly believe it, some of the fighters Chen had sent against the Karacknid Command Dreadnought must have spooked around New Shanghai. No, he thought as he shook his head. There was no way that was possible. He had seen most of them die. Then, as the fighters turned on their recognition codes, James smiled. Captain Dee’s attack wing. They had found the hidden carriers on the far side of the system, refueled, rearmed, and returned. They weren’t in time to defend New Shanghai, but they might just help his fleet escape. As one, Dee’s Spitfires charged into the teeth of the Karacknid fleet’s defensive fire. With so many holes in their formation from James’ missiles, the fighters found weak spots in their coverage. Swooping in, they released ninety plasma missiles into the heart of the Karacknid fleet. Heavy cruisers, battleships and dreadnoughts were blown apart as plasma missiles burnt through the large warships. Seventy more of their number were taken out. Just as James began to wonder how Dee’s fighters would rejoin his ships, for he had no carriers in his fleet, the answer became obvious. Swooping round, what was left of Dee’s force set upon the enemy capital ships with their small plasma cannons. Then, to James’ amazement, every single fighter charged into the damaged sections of the ships they had attacked. As soon as the first fighter struck a battleship, both detonated in a massive explosion. One far larger than should have been possible.

“Kamikaze,” Miyagi whispered, though it pierced the silence that had descended on Drake’s bridge. Seconds later it was clear Miyagi was right, sixty more fighters rammed enemy capital ships. Every single one that was struck disappeared in a blinding flash.

“Admiral,” Martinez said softly as she looked up from her COM station. “We received a message from Captain Dee’s fighters before she rammed that dreadnought.” Turning slightly, Martinez nodded towards the main holo projector. She had changed its view to show a short text message. ‘For the Emperor,’ was clear for everyone on Drake’s bridge to read.

James closed his eyes as he fought back a tear. More people had given their lives for a cause he had led them to believe in. More people have given their lives for him, he knew. “Admiral,” Miyagi said louder this time. “Look!”

James sat forward in his command chair. The Karacknids were decelerating! Instead of firing a third volley, they were allowing New Shanghai’s gravity to pull them back in. He didn’t understand it. Yes, the weakened Karacknid fleet had been hit hard. The second salvo of missiles approaching it would hurt them. But his ships were about to suffer even more losses. And the second flanking fleet could chase him all the way to the system’s mass shadow and cripple what was left of his ships. It didn’t make sense. Searching for an answer, he zoomed out the holo image on his command chair to see the whole system. He quickly found what he was looking for. Two large fleets were moving in towards New Shanghai. They were similar to ones he had seen before. Troop fleets. Each fleet had more than one hundred troop carriers and was flanked by a couple hundred escorts. They are going to take the planet, he said to himself. The Karacknid commander was content with his victory. He’d crushed New Shanghai’s defenses, decimated James’ fleet and was now going to secure the planet. Then, once he’s licked his wounds, he will follow us to finish the job, James was certain. With all the battlestations and defense satellites Humanity had destroyed on New Shanghai, there was nothing James would be able to do to stop them. As soon as New Shanghai was secured, Earth would be next.

Before his emotions spiraled into despair, James was reminded that his ships were still in mortal danger as the sound of Drake’s point defenses opening up told him the first enemy salvo was about to strike. With a growing sense of fear he watched the missiles’ progress. His warships fired every defensive weapon they had at the thirty-four thousand eight hundred enemy missiles. Tranquility powered up her weapons and set about savaging the Karacknid missiles that neared her. Thousands were blown apart. As every ship in the fleet powered up their ECM, thousands more lost tracking on their targets. More than eight hundred still reached attack range. Last-ditch attempts to shoot them down or dodge them were partially successful. Three hundred found targets. Drake was one of them.

The first thing James knew about it was when he was flung around in his command chair as his flagship tried to avoid the missile. Then a shunt from a very different direction knocked the wind out of him. With the tightness of his restraints and the g-forces, he feared he was about to lose consciousness. The Karacknid missile had scored a hit. Then, as quickly as the rough ride had begun, it ended. It took a few seconds for his vision to clear and the dizziness to leave. When it did, he became aware that alarms were blaring all around him.

“Where were we hit?” Fisher half screamed towards her First Lieutenant.

“Starboard, amid ships, I think,” the Lieutenant managed to reply. “I think it was a proximity hit. Our gaseous shields in that section are showing that they’ve been vaporized. I think they took the brunt of the hit.”

“Starboard sections of decks four, five and six are reporting being open to space,” another officer announced. “There’s no reply from missile tubes fourteen, through to nineteen on that side either. Nor from any of their point defenses.”

James knew what that meant; Drake had a gaping hole in her hull. One that was no doubt venting debris and atmosphere into space. Not to mention some of the battleship’s crew. That was for Fisher to be concerned about though, James had to focus on his fleet. “Miyagi, how are we doing?”

“One hundred and ninety ships are not reporting in Admiral,” his Chief of Staff informed him. I’ve already got reports from sixty other ships that they’ve been badly damaged. We are working on reforming the formation now.”

James nodded and pulled up the same information Miyagi was working with. He threw himself into helping his staff officers organize the damaged ships into the middle of their formation where they’d be better protected. Then they prepared for the second Karacknid salvo. It appeared in front of them far quicker than James would have liked. Yet they had no choice. Point defense weapons opened up on the Karacknid missiles. Drake, now in the middle of the Allied Fleet, was able to bring all of her defensive weapons to bear on the enemy missiles. Yet with the losses James’ fleet had already suffered, their defensive fire was far weaker than it had been just ten minutes ago. As a result, even more Karacknid missiles struck the Allied Fleet. In a position of relative safety, James watched the missiles strike home. So many antimatter detonations erupted all around him that he lost count. He knew everyone was one of his ships being crippled or destroyed. With clenched fists and teeth he cursed the Karacknid commander again and again as his ships died all around him.

One extremely dense cloud of explosions caught James’ attention. It was where Tranquility had been. The Karacknids had targeted a sizable proportion of their missiles at her. For a few seconds he hoped the Kulrean worldship’s defenses had blown apart any missiles that got too close. But the rapid explosion of so many antimatter warheads put an end to his optimism. Nevertheless, he still expected the giant ship to emerge from the antimatter waves unscathed. Surely she would have shields or some advanced armor to protect her. As the explosions died James’ mood fell. Tranquility didn’t emerge. There was no sign of her. Her point in the fleet’s formation was simply empty. James shook his head in disbelief. The Karacknids had succeeded in taking her out. Thousands of missiles must have been targeted at her, and they had won.

As James looked at the rest of his fleet, he was greeted by many more holes in his formation. It took several minutes for his staff officers to get a full count of the destruction. When they did, James’ sense of defeat deepened. Two hundred more ships had been destroyed or crippled. As his staff set about evacuating and scuttling the crippled ships, James ordered his fleet to slow to their maximum acceleration and forced himself to assist, he needed the distraction. He didn’t trust his thoughts otherwise. He stopped when he saw that Admiral Klack’s flagship had also been destroyed. It had simply been listed among the missing ships, no one had told him. He checked for the flagships of his other Admirals. Thankfully, they were all there. Ya’sia’s flagship had suffered a proximity hit like Drake, but it was still functional. Suarez, Lightfoot and Jil’lal were all ok. Pausing, James closed his eyes. The fleet’s losses had been great but not all of his friends had been lost. Thinking of his friends, James’ mind turned to Johnston. When he looked back at New Shanghai, the main Karacknid fleet was already settling into orbit. Behind them, two large Karacknid troop fleets were rushing towards the colony. Drake’s sensors detected detonations all across New Shanghai’s surface. The Karacknids were bombarding Johnston’s defenses. James couldn’t help shaking his head. After everything Johnston had done for him and his family, he was abandoning his friend. Yet what choice did he have? There was nothing he could do to help. Fight well my friend, James thought as he ground his teeth together. There was nothing else he could wish for Johnston, the realist in him was already telling him that they would never see each other again.

*

Marine command bunker, underneath former Chinese Imperial Palace, Bozhou, New Shanghai.

A sinking feeling the likes of which Johnston had never felt before assaulted him as he watched Admiral Somerville’s ships flee for their lives on the holo display. He was no expert in naval affairs, but he knew he had just watched the Allied Fleet be soundly defeated. He also knew they were not coming back. Not any time soon. In their place, the Karacknid fleet was entering orbit. Behind them, several smaller fleets were moving towards New Shanghai as well. He knew exactly what they were bringing; Karacknid ground troops. Soon the Karacknids would be landing an occupation force. Once before Johnston had found himself trapped behind enemy lines defending against a Karacknid invasion. Then, he had known that if only his forces could hold out long enough, relief would come. That was not the case now. His fate lay in the hands of the Karacknid ships entering orbit. He had no idea how many troops the Karacknids had, but he was certain they outnumbered him by many factors. And once the Karacknids started to take down the adaptive dampeners his marines had set up across the planet, they would be able to launch orbital strikes against his forces.

Thoughts of orbital strikes brought up a number of memories. Several times in the past he had been in the midst of firefights where ships in orbit had launched strikes against his forces. Every single time he had been terrified. Now the one hundred and twenty thousand Marines and Militia under his command were about to experience the same thing. Including my cadets, Johnston thought, he could easily picture their faces. Doing so put an end to the wandering path his thoughts were taking. It was time to make sure his forces were ready. “Send the general order to all our forces, prepare for enemy orbital insertion and ground invasion,” Johnston ordered. Then he readied himself for what was to come. His defenses were already in place; he would throw every weapon he could at the Karacknids as they tried to land. Then, when he had nothing left, the battle would begin for control of New Shanghai’s surface. “Send one final alert to the civilian populace,” he added as he thought of Clare, thankful again that she wasn’t here. “They are to seek shelter wherever they can.” He had no doubt thousands if not tens of thousands of civilians were about to die, but beyond warning them, he could not afford to spend any other resources on them. It was simply impossible.

“General, we’re picking up energy spikes from a number of warships in orbit,” an officer warned.

“What?” Johnston demanded as he turned to the secondary display. The shaking of the command bunker gave him all the answers he needed. The Karacknids were bombarding the planet! They can’t see through our adaptive dampeners. Which means they are striking targets indiscriminately, he figured. That was actually worse, for their fire would be far less accurate. “Where are they hitting?” he asked his staff officers, afraid of the answer. If the Karacknids were nuking cities, there would be no battle. There would be nothing to fight over.

“Reports are coming in of major population centers being hit,” one officer announced.

“They’re not nukes,” another reported.

“I think they are striking the areas around our cities and towns,” General Wu suggested. “They’re trying to soften up our defenses.”

Johnston nodded as he grasped what Wu was saying. There was no way for the warships in orbit to get a clear fix on where he had deployed his forces, not until they took out the adaptive dampeners, but they could guess. And they have probably had scouts in the system for weeks, Johnston thought, they’ll have a good idea where some of our defenses have been set up. “Send the word to our battalions, as soon as the bombardment finishes, the Karacknids will begin their landing,” he said.

For exactly twenty minutes the bombardment continued. Johnston lost all track of how many orbital strikes there were. He guessed it had risen into the thousands. He had no idea how many of his troops or civilians had been killed, but the numbers would be high. Then, as suddenly as they began, the strikes ended. A calmness settled within the command bunker. It lasted only seconds as new alarms blared. Though a lot of sensor drones had been taken out, there were more than enough still watching the skies to see the shuttles appear. Johnston’s eyes widened at their number. There were literally thousands of them. In some of the sensor feeds being sent to him the sky visibly darkened as they descended through the atmosphere. With orders given for all of his commanders to engage at will, Johnston could do nothing but watch as events played out. The first attacks came from the one hundred marine atmospheric fighters he had guarding New Shanghai’s capital. Zipping in low from over the horizon, they pulled up just in time to release their two air to air hypervelocity missiles. Then they banked and raced away from the descending wave of shuttles. Karacknid atmospheric fighters suddenly appeared through New Shanghai’s thick clouds and gave pursuit. They released their own missiles, taking out a number of the marine fighters. Then both forces disappeared off of the sensors Johnston had access to. The missiles the marine fighters had fired blew apart at least sixty shuttles. Yet it barely made a dent in the Karacknid numbers.

The next wave of attacks came from the hidden SAM launchers that surrounded Bozhou and the nearby towns. With the push of a single button one of Johnston’s staff officers sent the order to launch every one of them. Small charges fired first to blow the soil off the top of the buried launchers. Then the hypervelocity missiles raced into the sky. The Karacknid shuttles scattered as they increased their ECM and opened up on the missiles with their point defenses. Other shuttles accelerated as they raced past the missiles and launched their own munitions against the launch sites. The weapons were wasted as they blasted apart the holes the marines had dug for the hidden launchers. In contrast, more than a hundred shuttles were blown out of the sky.

Before the main body of shuttles descended to make their final approach, armed shuttles and more Karacknid atmospheric fighters swept across the capital and the nearby towns. They blasted anything that looked remotely like a defense outpost or fortification. Then the remaining four hundred shuttles that were clearly intent on capturing the colony’s capital descended. From hidden foxholes, fortified bunkers and other hiding spots, Marines popped up to launch shoulder mounted hypervelocity missiles. Far less capable than their larger brothers, the missiles nevertheless downed a number of freighters. Almost to a man or woman the marines were blasted by counter fire, but they made their attacks count.

“The shuttles are not approaching the capital,” an officer announced. “They’re veering off towards the south.”

Johnston swore as he considered the Karacknids’ move. In previous battles he had watched them land right on the outskirts of major cities and rush their forces in to capture the civilian centers. Once secured, they pushed out to bring the rest of the planet under control. They know we have concentrated our ground forces here, he surmised. In Bozhou alone, Johnston had forty thousand Marines and thirty thousand militia. In almost every street he had blockades and ambush points prepared. If the Karacknids wanted to take Bozhou, he intended to make them pay a heavy price for every block. Which they have guessed, Johnston said to himself as he considered what the Karacknids were doing. They’ll take the outer towns and surround us, then push in from all sides. It’s what Johnston would do. It would also make sure no marines would escape into the countryside to fight a guerrilla war once Bozhou fell. All right, Johnston said himself, if that’s what the Karacknids want to do, then he would play ball. He would keep most of his marines within the city, but he had a number of battalions of tanks and Marines he could push out to occupy the countryside surrounding Bozhou. If the Karacknids wanted to approach Bozhou on the ground, they would have to fight for every inch. At least until the Karacknids started to take out the adaptive dampeners that surrounded Bozhou. Once the dampeners were gone, he’d have to pull his forces back for fear of being blasted from orbit.

As his forces moved out, Johnston watched the Karacknids’ landings. With so many ground troops, they quickly overwhelmed the Marines and militia defending the nearby towns. Once secure LZs had been set up, more and more waves of shuttles descended as they brought reinforcements. One wave was hit hard as his atmospheric fighters returned and launched another volley of missiles. Apart from that lone attack, the Karacknids were able to spend the next three hours landing thousands upon thousands of troops. From the broken reports Johnston received from the rest of New Shanghai, it seemed the Karacknids were doing the same thing everywhere. Each major city was being surrounded as the Karacknids built up enough forces to push in and take the major population centers. When it looked like the final wave of shuttles had landed, Johnson turned to one of his officers and raised an eyebrow.

“We estimate they have landed two hundred thousand ground troops in and around Bozhou,” the Major informed him. “We think that many again have been landed throughout the rest of the colony.

“All right,” Johnston said as he studied the map of the countryside around Bozhou and the positions his battalions had taken up. “Then it looks like this show is about to begin.” And we have our part to play, he thought. The biggest ground battle Humanity had fought in the last three centuries was about to begin. Despite that, he couldn’t help but feel that it was all for nothing. Even if he defeated the Karacknids, they would just bring up more forces. And, whether he succeeded or not, it would change nothing in the grand scheme of things. The three thousand warships the Karacknids had in orbit were the real threat to the rest of the Empire, and there was nothing he could do to them. But you are a marine, he reminded himself. Such concerns are for others. He had a battle to fight, and whatever the odds, he knew the Imperial Marines were about to hurt the Karacknids badly. It was what they had been instructed to do, and it was exactly what he intended to accomplish.

*

IS Drake

Still staring at New Shanghai as the fleet raced towards the system’s mass shadow, James fought and failed to stop his emotions spiraling down into despair. New Shanghai had just disappeared behind a thick wall of Karacknid jamming. Before it had though, thousands of Karacknid landing shuttles had been detected. Estimates of their numbers suggested Johnston’s forces were outnumbered four to one, and that was with the Karacknid’s first wave of troops. He might not last more than a few hours, James feared. A renewed sense of shame filled James as Drake fled from New Shanghai. Marines and civilians were dying in their thousands right in front of him and he was doing nothing to stop it. In an effort to avoid his guilt, he turned back to his own fleet. It only made things worse. Throughout his career he had suffered a number of defeats. But none as large as the one he had just suffered. He had started the day with two thousand four hundred warships. Around Drake, there were now less than nine hundred. Nine hundred beaten and battered ships. Ships he knew would never be able to stand up to the Karacknid fleet licking its wounds in orbit around New Shanghai. As soon as they decided they wanted to push forward again, he would be helpless to stop them. They would move on to the Beta system next and then Earth would follow. The Karacknids’ conquest was inevitable. There was no force anywhere nearby that could arrive in time to stop them. Despair filled James, as all hope left him.

Epilogue

IS Viper, Scalatar, Gramrian homeworld, 13th April 2484 AD (two months previous).

As Viper jumped out of shift space back into the system from which she had left to raid Karacknid space, Becket couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Yes, she had lost ships in her Valley Campaign, but she had hurt the Karacknids far harder. Not only had she destroyed more of their ships than she had lost, but the industrial might of the Karacknid systems and their economic infrastructure had been seriously damaged. Perhaps even better than either of those two outcomes, she had shown the Karacknids that they were vulnerable. They now knew the war against Humanity and the Alliance would not be won so easily. Having had the two months it took to return to Scalatar to reflect on her campaign, Becket was confident the Karacknids would have to scramble a sizable fleet into the Valley and nearby sectors to make sure she did not launch any follow-up attacks. Yes, she knew that would draw more ships closer to Conclave space but that could not be avoided. As Shraw had told her more than once, if the Conclave species were to be truly involved in defeating the Karacknids, they would have to defend their own colonies from attack sooner or later.

When her flagship’s holo display updated with the sensor data it was getting from the Scalatar system, Becket was pleasantly surprised. It looked like the Gramrians had gathered four hundred of their warships at their capital. She hoped they had all been upgraded with the new engine and weapon technologies she had shared with them. Then she saw something that made her frown. “Those two ships away from Scalatar out on their own, what kind of ships are they?” she asked Lieutenant Armitage.

“The computer is still working to identify them,” he answered. “Wait, it’s updating… they’re Kalassai,” he said as he turned towards Becket. His eyes were wide.

Becket turned from Armitage and shared a look with her Flag Captain. “What on Earth are the Kalassai doing at Scalatar?” she asked. “Signal Intrepid, inform Captain Kansas that I want her to proceed to the Kalassai ships, they may not speak to anyone else but her. Increase the fleet’s acceleration rate, I want to get to Scalatar as soon as possible.”

“Aye Admiral,” Commander Wilson replied.

As Viper and the rest of the ships in Becket’s fleet raced towards the Gramrian homeworld, Becket ran through a hundred different scenarios. Perhaps the Kalassai had decided to join the war against the Karacknids? Perhaps they were requesting aid against a Karacknid fleet that was chasing one of their Home ships? The possibilities were endless. As soon as Viper got within two-way communication range with the Gramrian warships in orbit, Becket was surprised even further.

“We’re getting a request for a COM channel Admiral,” Lieutenant Rondon informed her. “It’s a shared channel with Admiral Nalar and a Captain Moy-sol. They’re requesting Admiral Shraw and Captain Kansas join us.” Becket nodded, she knew Nalar, he commanded the Gramrian Home Fleet. Moy-sol was an unfamiliar name though. “Moy-sol commands the Kalassai ship Rest.” Rondon added. That piqued her interest even more.

“Put them on the main holo display,” Becket said as she sat up straighter in her command chair. When the two faces appeared, she bowed to each of them.

“Welcome home Admirals,” Nalar said. “I’ve already scanned the reports you sent ahead of your main fleet. It seems your mission was a great success though we all mourn the loss of Admiral Faroul. However, now is not the time for celebrating; I’m afraid there are grave matters that we must discuss. This is Captain Moy-sol of the Kalassai ship Rest. Rest and her sister ship Serenity entered our system two weeks ago. They were looking for Captain Kansas. When they didn’t find her, they passed on their news to us.” Turning towards the holo image of Moy-sol, Nalar gestured for the Kalassai to speak.

Unsurprisingly, Moy-sol directed her words towards Captain Kansas. “Emilie, Wal-sma sent us here to find you. She sends you her warmest greetings. We do not bring good news, however. I’m transmitting a data file to your ships now. This information was discovered by one of our scouts several months ago. As soon as Wal-sma heard about it, she sent us here to bring you warning. We have detected a large Karacknid battlefleet heading towards your home territory. The fleet was previously engaged in a war with another species. We believe the Karacknids have won that war and have now diverted their victorious fleet to join the war against your species and your allies.”

Becket could hardly believe what she was hearing. An entirely new battlefleet headed towards the main front line. There was no way the Imperial or Alliance fleets could cope with a sudden surge of enemy ships. “How many?” she blurted out.

Moy-sol slowly turned towards her. “Ten thousand was the number our scouts detected. Though we know there were closer to sixteen thousand engaged in the war against this other species. It may be that more of those ships will be diverted to the war against your species as well.”

Becket closed her eyes. Ten thousand was more than enough to overrun the Imperial forces. The Karacknids could concentrate their reinforcements on one spot and drive into the heart of Human or Alliance space at ease. “How long ago was this?” she forced herself to ask. It could already be too late; Earth and the Empire could already have fallen. For all she knew, James, Lightfoot, Koroylov and the rest of her friends and family could already be dead.

“Five months ago,” Moy-sol answered. “Though the battlefleet was only beginning to move towards the front line of your war then. It would have taken them some time to get there.”

“There may still be hope,” Nalar said. “You do not need to despair yet Admiral Becket. In fact, that is why we have gathered all the ships we have upgraded here. The rest of our Conclave allies are doing the same, we’re expecting their ships to arrive over the next week.” Becket had already opened her eyes, she was staring at Nalar, not sure she was hearing him right. “We know that our fate is tied with yours. If this Karacknid battlefleet invades your colonies and conquers your homeworld, then the Karacknids will conquer us as soon as they desire to. Since Moy-sol arrived, we have been preparing all the ships we have to depart for Earth. We intend to add our strength to yours to help defend your homeworld. It is imperative that we get your ships into our repair yards as quickly as possible. We must re-supply and repair as many of your ships as we can so that they can make the journey with us.”

Becket had almost stopped listening to Nalar. Keeping her face almost pointed at him, out of the corner of her eye she pulled up the information Moy-sol had sent to Viper. It included a map of where the Karacknid battlefleet had been spotted. In her head she did some quick calculations. The Karacknid battlefleet was likely to have already reached the front line. They had possibly begun offensive operations already. But there was a chance. If it had been delayed enough; and if the Conclave species could get their fleet moving quick enough, then she could get to Earth in time. There is still hope, she said to herself. There was no way the Conclave species would be able to field more than five or six hundred warships. Less than half of her fleet would be able to make the journey to Earth, not without far more than a week or two in a repair yard. Against ten thousand Karacknid warships, six or seven hundred would mean very little. But it will be something, she thought. Hold on, she thought to James and the rest of her friends. It was not hard for her to imagine the desperate situation they were facing. Hold on, she thought to her friends. We are coming.

The End.

The story of the War of Doom and James and Christine will continue in Empire Rising book 12.

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