(TCOTU #2) No Way to Start a War, page 18
“I doubt they’ll try for them, Stacy,” Heskan answered as he rested an elbow on his right chair arm. “We can’t ignore that missile fleet or it might try to close on us and we’re not exactly outfitted for a heavy laser engagement. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if our fighters visit those ships on the next strike.”
The minutes passed slowly until the Brevic fighters reached their launch point. Six hundred fifty-six missiles leapt off the rails of the snub-nosed Pups, which immediately spun in half circles and began to return to the carriers. Four fighters lagged behind the main group’s deceleration, encumbered by hung ordnance on their wings. With a closure rate of .5c, the fighters were 1lm from the carriers when their missiles breached the point defense shell of the Hollaran fleet.
The missiles raced in as one, colossal wave. Heskan sat on the edge of his seat as he watched the eight-minute-old battle. Earlier, Kite’s sensor section had identified the Hollaran fleet composition as Lombardi’s damaged heavy cruiser, three light missile cruisers, two missile destroyers and the six-ship escort squadron that had previously guarded the late Hollaran carrier, Onesti. Interestingly, while the ships of the escort squadron were top-of-the-line units, the missile ships were older models. Have we hurt the Hollies that bad? Heskan pondered. Although he was hopeful, he suspected the appearance of the older classes was more likely a result of Bree’s swift push into Helike than the Hollaran Commonwealth beginning to run low on front line units. Still, those older ships won’t have near the throw-weight the newer ones do. I have to confess I thought rushing into Helike was a mistake but perhaps I was wrong.
Heskan knew the outdated missile ships would have lesser point defense capabilities against the latest generation Brevic ASMs, and while the escort squadron was a modern unit, its six ships faced a veritable wall of over six hundred missiles. Heskan was surprised that rather than feeling the elation of impending victory, he felt something closer to dread. I guess it’s just that I’ve been in that position myself, facing an attack I knew I couldn’t stop but knowing I had civilians to protect. Heskan sighed quietly. I know they’re the enemy and I know they’d kill us if they could but I sure will be happy when this war is over.
The missile wave began to wash over the Hollaran ships. Kite’s count on the tactical plot reduced quickly as the Hollaran escorts successfully engaged missile after missile. In the ten-second interception window, an astounding ninety-three percent of the Brevic missiles fell from space. However, the surviving forty-six missiles avenged their brothers. Heskan watched the time-delayed optical as the escort squadron intrepidly took the brunt of the hits. One escort light cruiser disintegrated under eleven nearly simultaneous strikes. Not even an ELTI from it, Heskan thought grimly as he watched a second escort light cruiser vomit a short-lived inferno of debris under the combined assault of seven missiles. The stern began to crumple inward as its inertial compensators failed and the drives of the light cruiser, still operating, pushed themselves into the ship’s internal structure. Seconds later, a bright blossom of light erupted from its center. At the same time, an escort destroyer staggered from the onslaught of six missiles streaming into its side in nearly perfect sequence. Its hull tore open from bow to stern. After the initial gush of flame, blackened debris poured from each chasm. Closer to the center of the enemy formation, an escort frigate simply vanished as five missiles ripped through the little ship.
Despite being sheltered by the escort squadron, the Hollaran missile ships were not spared from the carnage. The remaining seventeen Brevic missiles streaked toward Lombardi’s damaged heavy cruiser, positioned between the incoming missiles and the older ships. Its GP lasers lashed out desperately to swat four missiles away even as a fifth cratered into the cruiser’s side. Although over 8lm away, Heskan winced as the missile savagely gashed another wide hole amidship.
The last twelve missiles streaked past the heavy cruiser, locking instead on a destroyer and light cruiser behind it. Each elder ship managed to intercept two missiles apiece but then weathered a quartet of blows from the remaining missiles. The ships buckled and rocked at the assault but remained under power as they sailed, sides burning brightly, out of their own debris fields.
Almost immediately after the missile assault, Heskan watched the surviving ships begin to rotate away from the Brevic fleet.
“It looks like they’re running, sir,” Truesworth said exultantly. “As soon as they stop trailing debris, I’ll get you damage estimates on the fleet.” The young lieutenant began talking excitedly into his helmet’s mic.
Heskan did not need a damage report to know the remaining nine Hollaran ships, while still dangerous up close, were finished. If they set a course toward us, we’d just run from them while we recovered and rearmed the fighters for a second strike. I guess they’ve decided to make a last stand at the doorstep of Salus. Either way, they’re as good as dead. The only question is whether we strike the planet next or finish the Hollie ships first.
Task Group 3.1 pursued the Hollaran fleet as both groups sailed toward Salus. After forty-five minutes, Heskan received word over the fleet command channel that the fighter strike force had been successfully recovered and would be launching for Salus in ten minutes. The fleet would be 40lm from the planet when they launched. Admiral Hayes’ orders were to follow the fighters toward Salus to reduce their return time to the carriers, unless the surviving Hollaran fleet, now 8.5lm away and still running toward Salus, came about in an attempt to close with the carriers after the fighters launched.
* * *
Inside Eagle, Ensign Gables watched her ground crew chock the landing struts of her Pup and then duck underneath her fighter’s stubby nose to begin the after-sortie checklist. The ASM mission had been pulled off with textbook efficiency and she was quite pleased in general. The new pilots are fitting in nicely and with us veterans around to give them advice, even the recovery took only fifteen minutes longer than anticipated. Gables’ own landing had been rated satisfactory and she was beginning to believe that she might be developing into a suitable pilot.
Oblivious to the chaos in the hangar around her, she looked at the next mission profile. Although the information was only half-complete, she could tell they would be conducting strikes against Salus next. Specific targets were not yet designated but the ingress of the fighter strike force and the launch profile suggested a maximum range attack. That should keep us well clear of any planet-based attack craft. Any atmospheric craft that can also travel in space won’t have the speed or range to reach us, she thought happily. It was unknown if Salus had received dedicated fighters with AFMs but apparently fleet leadership was not taking any chances. Gables smiled as she reviewed the cautious approach. It looks like the admiralty is looking out for us this time. Maybe we’re not so expendable after all.
From the corner of her eye, Gables saw Rhodes passionately gesturing at the weapons load crew approaching her Pup. His fierce, almost violent, motions denoted a deep dissatisfaction. He was in animated discussion with a red-suited petty officer third class when he shoved the ordnanceman away from the F-3. Gables punched the canopy release button and could hear Rhodes’ hostile voice as the cockpit seal was broken.
“Pull your head out, man!” Rhodes was screaming as he pointed at nearby LAM-22 fusion-warhead missiles. “You’re not putting those things on my Pup,” he insisted. “Check your orders again!” Rhodes’ ground crew had taken up positions on either side of him and looked equally stern, arms crossed below faces of stone.
Gables’ stomach lurched at the sight of the fusion missiles. Over C-flight’s communication frequency, she asked her flight leader, “What are they putting under my wings, Twenty-one?”
While she waited for an answer, the situation around her Pup calmed as the ordnancemen moved away from her stall. She strained to see into the fighter stall across from her own and thought she saw twin fusion missiles being attached to Ensign Lane’s F-3.
“Zip it, Twenty-five,” Lieutenant Walker admonished over her headset. “We’re getting a mixed load of conventional and fusion missiles but the release of fusion weapons has not been authorized.” Realizing the entire flight was listening, Walker continued, “Relax, mates, we’ll get an explanation once we receive the rest of our briefing after the launch, but right now the CAG has ordered communications silence.”
That’s a load of crap, Gables thought as she shook her head. They can’t possibly want us to turn that planet into a cinder ball. Gables’ ground crew was still standing idly near the Pup while Rhodes talked into his headset, shaking his head emphatically. That’s comforting. If Rhodes has anything to say about this I won’t even have them on my bus. The comfort was short-lived as the redsuits reappeared with an armed marine escort.
* * *
A moment after his sensor console beeped, Truesworth announced, “Uh, we have an incoming double-encrypted message from the admiral, sir.” He quickly ran the decoding algorithms before reading it. “It says the fighter launch is delayed. Avenger and Eagle will launch in another twenty minutes.”
Odd, Heskan thought. Why bother to slap double-encryption on that? He shrugged. “Okay, Jack.” Heskan looked over at Selvaggio. “Maintain our position in the formation, Diane.”
Lieutenant Selvaggio was about to reply but was interrupted by Truesworth. “Bearing change on the Hollie fleet, Captain.”
The optical sensors focused on the Hollaran survivors and displayed each of the nine ships turning to starboard and veering away from the planet. The move was not unexpected. By changing course away from Salus, the Hollarans were forcing the Brevic commanders to choose openly between the two targets. It’s even possible, Heskan mused, that the Hollie fleet could open the distance enough to move out of our sensor range while we sail toward the planet. Will Admiral Hayes change his mind and decide to go after the Hollie fleet first?
No change in orders came during the extra twenty minutes needed to rearm the fighters. As launch operations commenced, Task Group 3.1’s course stayed true: direct for Salus.
Ten minutes later, the last fighter launched from the Brevic carriers. One hundred sixty fighters had sortied for this strike, with Avenger’s VF-19 and -20 remaining on board to serve as a CAP. In response to the Hollaran fleet’s course change, Heskan could see a pair of SEW-5s moving toward it. I guess those recon shuttles will pace the Hollies so we don’t lose sight of them. That’s a smart use of resources, Heskan admitted. Hayes is thwarting their every move; that Hollie komandor must be fuming on her bridge.
The launch delay had allowed Kite to crawl another 4lm closer to Salus. Task Group 3.1 was just under 36lm from the planet, still three hours sailing time at the fleet speed of .2c but only a two-hour trip for the faster fighters.
While waiting for events to unfold, Heskan agonized for ten minutes about whether to stand his crew down from battle stations. The Hollaran fleet, still on a perpendicular course to Kite’s own and moving farther away, offered no imminent danger of combat. However, having fighters out on an attack mission, having Hollaran missile boats within 20lm, and just being inside Hollaran space let alone the Helike star system, made it feel wrong not to be at battle stations. After internal debate, Heskan relented and placed Kite on a lower alert. The reduction in status allowed the removal of helmets and permitted crewmembers an opportunity for short breaks from their stations.
There simply isn’t a good enough reason to keep my crew glued to their stations in the absence of an immediate threat, Heskan decided. He knew the fighters would encounter any threat from the planet first and give Kite plenty of time to prepare, and the only other threat in the system, the Hollaran fleet, was running. Knowing who was commanding that force, Heskan was surprised. The unadulterated hatred Komandor Lombardi had expressed in Sponde did not match the current actions of the fleet. Oh, I bet she was relieved of command, Heskan surmised. That’s certainly what Brevic command would do. Heskan shuddered slightly. I can only imagine what Hollie leadership did to her when she returned that defeated, devastated invasion force to Helike. Is she even still alive? Although Brevic command had never ordered a firing squad for a commander solely for a failed battle, horror stories of the fickle and short-tempered Hollaran admiralty and their legendary punishments spread quickly around the Brevic Republic.
Heskan spent the next forty minutes unsuccessfully trying to contact Durmont. The squadron’s leadership situation had grown beyond ridiculous. While he was trying to think of a solution, Lieutenant Vernay returned to the bridge from her break. Heskan was about to turn over the bridge and visit his cabin when Truesworth cautioned, “Captain, we’re getting additional contacts from some of our Avocets.” His fingers glided around his sensor console to update the tactical plot.
On the screen, hostile red blips appeared 43lm to port, the opposite side of Kite from the original Hollaran fleet. Contact after contact sprung onto the plot as Truesworth’s dread-filled voice updated, “Eight ships… No, ten ships.”
“Heading?” Heskan asked. The information on the tactical plot only showed the increasing numbers, not heading or speed.
“It’s up to twelve ships now, Captain,” Truesworth continued. “Judging by their change in bearing, I’d say they are not headed toward us.”
“The tunnel point,” Vernay deduced.
“Yes,” Heskan agreed. “They can’t stop our attack on Salus but they can make sure we don’t leave without a fight. Half of those ships have to be escorts, which still gives them a full squadron of missile boats and I bet they won’t be older models.”
“Captain,” Truesworth interjected, “you have an incoming comm request on the fleet command channel.”
Heskan clenched. This is stupid, he thought. The Hollies just sprung a trap and I’m more concerned about Hayes asking me why Durmont isn’t present. He accepted the request and found the channel filled with several commanders. Hayes was already talking. “We’ve obviously been had but we’re not dead yet. Our SEWs picked them up early enough to give us time to get out of this trap if we act decisively. We should be able to beat them to the Kale tunnel point if we come about immediately and burn hard toward it.”
“What about when we get to Kale? Can we stay ahead of them all the way through that system?” Captain Ramirez asked.
“I think so. We can spend the fighters we’ve kept on Avenger as CAP to give us some breathing room during the transit across the system. The SEW’s early detection may have saved us.”
“Admiral, what about the strike force that’s currently out?” Eagle’s CAG questioned.
“I don’t know if we can recall them,” Hayes replied.
“Sure we can,” Eagle’s Captain Grey responded. “They’re six light-minutes out. Even with the slower closure rate, they have the endurance to make that gap up and land before we make it to the tunnel point.”
“That’s not what I meant, Elly,” Hayes answered. “I know both of Eagle’s VFs are out there but so are four of Avenger’s. As much as I’d like to order them back, I can’t scrub the planet assault. We won’t get another chance at Salus.”
“Admiral,” Grey persisted, “we have one hundred sixty pilots out. We can’t throw them away.”
Hayes growled, “That’s enough, Elly. Why is it so difficult to follow orders all of a sudden?” Although not shouted, the weight of a rear admiral speaking those words hit with the impact of an iridium round. The silence afterward was deafening.
What the hell is Hayes talking about? Heskan wondered.
Captain Grey, unwilling to capitulate, pressed forward with a different approach. “With great respect, Admiral, you’re right. We cannot lose Avenger, she has to make it back to Sponde. However, Avenger has all the remaining fighters so Eagle won’t be helpful at all. Why not order Avenger back to the tunnel point but let Eagle continue toward Salus?” Grey paused.
When Hayes did not respond, she continued, “Eagle can recover the fighters and the Hollies won’t be able to ignore her. They’ll either have to divert their surprise force toward us or split up. Either way, we can buy more time for Avenger and if you plan on trying to take Avenger above point two-C, Eagle will slow you down anyway.” Avenger could temporarily sprint at greater speeds than her smaller sister. The light carrier only had two-thirds of Avenger’s propulsion capability and could not maintain its inertial dampening fields at the levels required to sustain the higher speeds.
Hayes sighed unhappily. “Elly, you know what might happen to Eagle if we split our forces.” He had asked a question but stated it like a fact.
There was a slight pause. “Of course, sir.”
“And you’re still willing to continue forward and recover those fighters?”
No pause this time. “Yes, Admiral.”
“Commander Durmont,” Hayes said, “I want CortRon Fifteen to escort Eagle. Avenger shouldn’t need you.”
Oh boy, here we go. “This is Heskan, Admiral, and Fifteen is honored to do so.”
“Let the record reflect that Lieutenant Commander Durmont has been relieved of command and his vice commander, Garrett Heskan, assumed command of CortRon Fifteen at this date and time,” Hayes instructed coldly.
Heskan was not sure what to say but was spared any verbal fumbles when Hayes continued, “Captain Grey, I am detaching Avenger from the task group. In my absence, you will be the group’s commander. Good luck and Godspeed.”
Seconds after Hayes ended the meeting, the mammoth heavy carrier began to rotate to face the Kale tunnel point as the rest of Task Group 3.1 continued toward Salus.
Heskan opened CortRon 15’s squadron command channel and waited until he was sure that each ship in the squadron including Tomahawk was listening. “This is Lieutenant Commander Heskan. By order of Admiral Hayes, Avenger is detaching from Task Group Three-One and making way for the Kale tunnel point. The rest of the group will continue toward Salus.” He let that sink in a moment. “Our mission is to defend Eagle as she recovers our fighter strike force and then make our way back toward Brevic space. Admiral Hayes has given command authority over Three-One to Captain Grey.” He paused again to think of the right phrase for his next statement. And, Commander Durmont, you’re fired. “Additionally, Admiral Hayes has instructed me to assume command of the escort squadron.” He paused again but quickly added, “Until such time that command is passed back to Commander Durmont.” Maybe that will soften the blow a little and technically, I could pass command back to him. As CortRon Fifteen’s commander, I can relieve myself of command any time I wish. “Lieutenant Kelly Gary is the squadron’s new vice commander. Acknowledge that, Kelly.”
