Echoes of War Box Set, page 84
part #1 of Echoes of War Series
Hanson nodded and glanced between David and Parks. “Yes, sir. As soon as we have an idea of the fleet-wide needs, we can come up with a list of what we’ve got, what we need, and prioritize from there.”
Kenneth leaned forward. “Sirs, if I may…” he began hesitantly before receiving a nod from David. “I’d like to create a triage list, and if possible, repair the least damaged ships first.”
David raised an eyebrow. “Explain that, Kenneth.”
“Well, sir, the objective is to get as many ships back into the fight as quickly as possible, correct?”
David nodded, wordlessly encouraging the contractor to continue.
“Fixing the least damaged ships and then pooling our engineering resources to tackle the ships left with major damage makes the most sense to me.”
David looked to the rest of those assembled. “Any objections?”
Thess spoke. “I have no objection, Colonel, but what of our ships? We have taken significant damage as well.”
Hanson frowned as he made eye contact with the Saurian. “We haven’t made much progress with interchangeable parts or procedures between Coalition Defense Force and Saurian Royal Navy vessels, sir.”
“Void Captain Thess, would you allow CDF engineers to assist in whatever way they can?” David asked.
“Of course. We would also like to discuss a memorial for the dead.”
By focusing on the logistical tasks and his duties, David had been able to avoid most internal soul-searching about the losses they’d suffered. So far, at least. “Of course, Void Captain. I’d propose we have a joint memorial service that includes your faith and ours. I’m sure you know there are several major religions active in the Terran Coalition. Is that agreeable?”
Thess inclined his head. “Of course. The Prophet taught us to bury our dead within a single day. We lack bodies to bury of our lost warriors, but I would still like to have the memorial within the next day.”
“That’s agreeable to us. Any objections or comments?” David asked of the room at large.
“I’d like to request we include a chaplain from the secular humanists, Colonel,” Ronald interjected.
“Of course. Now, before my senior officers and I brief the leaders of both our nations and the Supreme Allied Command, Space Force, I want to discuss what happens next. After we repair our ships and bury our dead, we’re taking another crack at Admiral Seville and his butchers.”
Ronald raised an eyebrow. “Have you figured out how to beat those mines, Colonel?”
“Not yet. I’ve got the brightest minds on this ship working on it, and I want every tactical officer in this fleet working that problem with every spare moment they have. Are we clear on that, gentlemen?”
“Yes sir,” Ronald replied crisply, while the others nodded their understanding.
“As long as we can defeat the mines, we still have the means to crush Admiral Seville and the League’s forces on site. CDF Intelligence believes they receive weekly reinforcements, so it’s vital we launch our next attack within the next forty-eight hours. After that, they’ll get another wave of new ships. We neutralized several battlegroups on our way out and took out at least one hundred and eighty ships. We’ll have a significant advantage in a rematch.”
“I would remind you, Colonel, the fleet’s small craft complements took incredible losses. Fifty percent nearly across the board. My carrier is the only one with something approaching a full load of fighters,” Alexander said with an edge to his voice. “It may be prudent to wait for replacement squadrons, at a minimum.”
“I’ll take that under advisement, Colonel. However, I don’t believe we have the time to wait. If we’re taking this station, it’s got to happen now. We’re not leaving here without the Terran Coalition flag flying proudly. Now I’ve got the leaders of our two nations in five minutes. We’ll synch up later today via vidlink. Any saved rounds?”
“None, Colonel,” Alexander responded curtly.
The Saurians shook their heads and began to stand, while Ronald leaned forward and looked down toward David. “Colonel, the opening move might have been a complete cluster, but I want you to know we have faith in your abilities. Can you conjure up one more miracle?”
“I’m not in the miracle business, Colonel,” David said with a small smile breaking onto his face. “Those are a bit above my pay grade. I’ll be praying to the one that makes them happen later. His name is a strong tower, and we’ll take refuge in it.”
“I hope for all our sakes, there’s one more piece of magic left in your bag. I’ll get my tactical officer on the mine problem.”
David stood from his chair, as did everyone else in attendance. “Thank you all for coming. I felt meeting in person was needed in this dire hour. Return to your ships, and I’ll be in touch with the fleet as soon as we’ve briefed the joint chiefs and our respective leaders.”
Watching his guests depart, David’s soul was hanging in the balance between dread and confidence. With the combined brainpower of this fleet, we’ll find a way through the mines… God willing.
14
Three thousand lightyears away, in one of the richly appointed conference rooms inside of Canaan’s main government complex, Justin Spencer walked through the doorway with Chief Minister Obe Sherazi. Spencer had been in office for seven years. He was in his second term, and it was the last he’d be able to serve, as prescribed by the term limits laid out within their constitution. As the two leaders strode into the room, all of those assembled, both civilian and military, stood in respect.
“Please take your seats,” Spencer said in a quiet tone. He took the chair at the head of the table while Obe sat directly at his right hand. Looking across the conference table, he saw General Andrew MacIntosh, Secretary of Defense Colton Dunleavy, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Fernandez. There were also members of the Saurian Royal Navy present, assigned to the Supreme Allied Command. “Ladies and gentlemen… I only have one question. What the heck happened out there?”
Nervous glances coursed throughout the room. Dunleavy leaned forward and looked down at Spencer. “Mr. President, we got caught with our pants down. There was a systemic failure of intelligence. I take full responsibility, sir.”
Spencer cut Dunleavy off in mid-sentence. “Colton, I’m not looking for a scalp. You know me better than that. What I want to know is how bad was it, and how do we recover?”
Dunleavy sucked in a breath. Spencer could see beads of sweat on his forehead. “Sir, we lost nearly twenty percent of our fleet, fifty percent of our small craft, and thirty percent of the Marines. Admiral Kartal’s flagship was destroyed, and he was lost. Mercifully, most of his crew were rescued.” As Dunleavy spoke, there were gasps and stares of disbelief. They had heard it was bad, but none suspected it was this bad. “Colonel David Cohen was placed in command of the fleet by the admiral before he charged the League fleet with his ship and inflicted significant causalities. It’s not all bad, though.”
Spencer snorted. “I’m all for being positive, but you’re going to have to explain that one to me.”
“The fleet had to punch through a strong League force to exfil the battle space. They performed exceptionally well, and the Lion of Judah took down several Alexander class battleships. The remaining ships were able to withdraw in good order, and according to flash traffic we’ve received, are performing repairs at this time. We’ll have Colonel Cohen up on the vidlink here in a few minutes. We had to configure our long-range communication net to kick out all other traffic so we could have a direct call with him due to the extreme range.”
Spencer nodded. “Thank you, Colton.” He turned to the right and looked apologetically at Obe. “Chief Minister, this is not how I expected our after-action briefing to go today.”
Obe shook his head. “Nor I. I mourn for those lost, but more importantly, I share your desire to understand what went wrong. Losing the admiral is a blow to our cause.”
A major in the back of the room punched at the control for the audio-visual equipment. “Sirs, I’ve got Colonel Cohen online now for you.”
“Put him up, Major,” Spencer commanded.
A moment later, the vidlink snapped on, the unsmiling face of David Cohen filling the screen. From Spencer’s perspective, it appeared that the colonel and his staff were in a conference room onboard the Lion. In addition to David, there were several others present, including a civilian that Spencer didn’t recognize. “Colonel, can you hear and see us?”
Through the link, David cracked a smile. “Yes, sir, we can see you. I’ve got a few people here with me, including my XO, Colonel Aibek, chief engineer Major Arthur Hanson, and Kenneth Lowe, who runs our contractor engineering support team.”
“Thank you for joining us, Colonel. We’ve received your reports, but I want to understand from you what exactly happened.”
“Sir, the League has a new type of mine. It's stealthy, undetectable in its inactive state, and we waltzed right into the middle of it. It’s a small miracle that our carriers didn’t get caught. Still, we took a lot of losses. However, I believe we still have an opportunity to win.”
Spencer’s eyebrows shot up. “Explain it to me, Colonel.”
“Simple, sir. If we can figure out a way to defeat the mines, we can catch Seville off guard. We’re still calculating how many League ships we took out, but my tactical officer believes we accounted for at least two hundred and fifty enemy ships destroyed or neutralized. That would give us a numerical advantage, not to mention the advantage of having the Leaguers relying on a new weapon that fails at exactly the right time. We could induce panic.”
Spencer glanced between MacIntosh and Dunleavy. “Do you have a new engagement plan?”
“No, sir. We’re working on the mine problem now, in addition to getting our ships repaired. Many of them, including the Lion, suffered serious damage.”
MacIntosh spoke up. “Colonel, what’s the plan for getting the fleet ready to fight? How long will it take?”
David nodded in the direction of Kenneth, who answered, “Sir, we’re making repairs now. Between the military engineers and my personnel, we’ll have everything that can be repaired done in forty-eight hours. It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort.”
“Why the focus on time?” Obe asked.
Dunleavy answered instead. “Because Colonel Cohen has seen the same intelligence reports we have. Seville will assuredly get more reinforcements in the next four days, which will reduce our advantage and make this fight far costlier. If we plan to strike again, we must do it before the next wave of ships arrive.”
“Exactly, Secretary Dunleavy. We’re on the clock,” David interjected.
“Colonel Cohen, you mentioned you don’t have a plan to reengage the League forces. When will you have a plan ready for us to review?” General Okafor, one of the senior general’s on the joint chiefs of staff, asked.
“General Okafor, my operational plan will be dictated by whatever means we devise to defeat the League mines. As of now, we don’t have a solution to that problem. Every tactical officer, technician, science officer, and engineering contractor we can spare in this fleet is reviewing the data we recorded during the engagement for a solution.”
“If there’s no plan, I must question the wisdom of keeping our fleet so close to major League force concentrations, Mr. President.”
“It would take days to get back to the nearest major shipyards, General Oakfor. Colonel Cohen is right; if we’re taking another bite at the apple, we do it now. If we take the time to have the fleet fall back and effect full repairs, we might never again get this opportunity,” Spencer replied. God, I hope I’m right. If I make the wrong choice here, the Terran Coalition will be screwed beyond all belief. We’d lose the war in one fell swoop.
“Exactly, sir,” David piped up. “The plan is simple; defeat the mines. Simple, but not an easy task. I propose we go to EMCON alpha and contact you all at a predetermined time tomorrow for an updated briefing on the situation.” EMCON referred to emissions control. Setting the fleet to EMCON alpha would disable all communications or electronic transmissions that could give away its location.
“Chief Minister, what are your thoughts?” Spencer asked Obe.
Obe was silent for a moment before raising his head. “Today has been a dark day. But I concur with Colonel Cohen’s assessment. To turn tail and slither away from the League now… no. We cannot. Regardless of the cost, we must press on and destroy the League installation and her fleet.”
“If we take another shot at Unity Station, and we’re wrong about whatever we come up with to defeat the mines, we might lose the entirety of the Terran Coalition and the Saurian Empire’s ships. As a professional military officer for nearly forty years, I can’t in any way endorse this course of action,” Okafor interjected with a raised voice.
“As you were, General,” Fernandez said with a firm voice of command. “Mr. President, what are your orders?”
I’m not sure why anyone would want this job. Because I had no idea how hard it was going to be. “Chief Minister, if you agree, I want the fleet to stay where it’s at, formulate a plan to defeat the League minefield, and check in with us tomorrow at 1600 hours. Do you concur?”
Obe nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Then that’s what we’re doing, General Fernandez.”
“Yes, sir. In that case, we’ll need to brevet Colonel Cohen to brigadier general for the duration of this mission. We don’t have a flag officer on site, and if Admiral Kartal felt he was the right man to lead the fleet, I have no objection.”
“I’m happy to approve, General,” Spencer replied.
“Very well sir. Colonel Cohen, consider yourself breveted to the rank of brigadier general until the fleet returns to Canaan. Formal orders will be transmitted to all ships in the fleet. Before we sign off, is there anything we can do for you?”
“Sirs,” Kenneth began. “I have a request, if I may.”
“Mr. Lowe, was it?” Spencer asked.
“Uh, yes, Mr. President.”
“Go ahead.”
“Well, sirs, I believe we have several mobile raider tenders within Lawrence drive range. I’d like to request they be tasked to jump in and help support the fleet. They’re the closest thing we have to a mobile shipyard.”
Spencer glanced quizzically at Fernandez. “Is that accurate?”
He, in turn, looked behind his chair to the row of colonels and majors sitting in the second-tier chairs. “Major Andrews, do you know what he’s talking about?”
“Yes, sir. He’s right; they’re parked in deep space. If we move them, we’ll disrupt logistical interdiction missions.”
“If they’ll help the fleet in its repairs, that is the paramount objective above all else. General, task them to support our fleet,” Spencer said.
“Aye aye, sir.”
“I think there’s only one thing left before we sign off. Ladies and gentlemen, would you join me in prayer?” Spencer said as he glanced around the room.
Spencer was a devout Christian, and he found himself on his knees daily, begging for God’s intercession on behalf of the entire Canaan Alliance. After he held his hands out, Obe and Dunleavy both took his hand in theirs, while they reached out their hands in turn. After a few seconds, the entire table was holding hands together. He bowed his head. “Lord, please hear our prayer. Today didn’t go the way we thought it would. I can’t know your plan or your will, but I beg you to guide us toward it. Please help us in our battle against the League of Sol. We can do all things through You, who strengthens us. Bless the men and women who go into battle, shield them and help them to defeat this foe. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.” God help us all.
There was a chorus of amens throughout the room and from those on the vidlink. “Godspeed, gentlemen. We’ll see you again tomorrow at 1600 CMT.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President, and Godspeed to you too,” David replied.
The vidlink cut out, leaving the room very still. “Thank you for coming, everyone. I’m sure we all have jobs to do, so I’ll let you all get back to it,” Spencer said, standing from his chair. The rest of those assembled stood with him and began to walk toward the exits. Spencer looked toward Dunleavy. “What do you think our chances are, Colton?”
“If General Cohen and his team can figure out a way to defeat the mines, I think they’re even. If not, there’s not a snowball's chance in hell of cracking that nut. This is a game-changer, Mr. President. God help us all if they can make them in high enough quantities to seed the space around our main planets. We’d lose the war in a matter of weeks,” Dunleavy replied.
“Then General Cohen had better succeed,” Spencer stated with some level of false bravado. “Carry on, gentlemen.”
15
“Master Chief, where’s that network specialist?” Kenneth Lowe yelled out of an engineering tube on the CSV Juno, an Ajax class destroyer. He’d taken the last team out himself to help with repairs. It was everyone on deck for the push to repair the fleet.
“She’s on the way, sir,” Harold Billings called from outside the tube.
“I can’t remember how to recouple these relays back together.”
“Ah, for the days we did real work.”
“May they never be departed.”
Kenneth heard another voice, a female one outside of the tube. “Yolanda Cooper, network specialist. Did someone call a nerd?”
“I did indeed,” Kenneth shouted. “Remind me what the pattern for an RJ-813 connection on the tactical network is?”
“Orange, orange-white, green, blue, purple, purple-white, green-white, blue-white, brown, brown-white. Make sure that brown is properly seated… it's always the hardest to get in there.”
