Command Authority, page 15
part #5 of Last Hunter Series
Commodore Romanoff observed the main screen as the information began populating. “This is definitely a military area, and it looks like they’ve got a lot of ships in orbit, but there might be a few stations as well. It seems unlikely they’ve had time to build them, but we’ll have to try and figure out what’s there. What are our chances if we try to sneak in, Derek?”
“I think sending Hunter would be a mistake,” Derek said, turning to look at his commanding officer. “There’s too great a risk doing that will get us trapped. We can jump to the other side of the system and pull in more passive data. That will give us two different sets of information to collate. If we do a third, we can triangulate the rough locations of everything we can see in the system. It’ll also give us a better opportunity to pick up things we might’ve missed on the initial scans. Once we have that, if we’re going to attack, I think that’s the time we should do it.”
Romanoff nodded. “Let’s do that, and we’ll set up the best location to draw out as many of the Tardan military ships after us as we can. If I had to make a guess, they’re going to send the motherships and drones to swarm us and follow up with their military ships. Our independent quantum drive has the same limitations as far as distance as their drives, but with the hyperdrive, we can sneak in a little. That may allow us an opportunity to sucker punch them.”
“We can utilize our ability to move around the system with the independent quantum drive just like we did in New Copenhagen and get everyone out of position,” Amanda said. “Depending on how they react, we might be able to eliminate quite a few of the ships without taking substantial damage in return. Unless they come as one coordinated front, we can outmaneuver and overwhelm them in specific areas of our choosing.”
“We’re going to have to start coming up with some new weapons,” Romanoff said. “Right now, we’re limited in what we can do because of what the Navy thought would be the best reaction to a force like this. It turns out they were both right and wrong. There are some historical weapons that might prove useful if we can figure out how to implement them. Mines, for example.”
“Mines, sir?” she asked. “You mean putting explosives in space that will detonate when any of the enemy ships come close? That seems pretty chancy, and it would be a hazard to navigation once everything is done. Even if they are effective, you have to use a lot to make a dent in something like the number of ships we’re going to face. I’m not sure they’d see them as an obstacle, either. They might just send a bunch of drones to blaze a path through it and then follow behind. It’s an intentional sacrifice, but they are machines.”
“If it were solely explosives, yes. Even if it were lasers, yes. What if it’s missile batteries? Let’s say we make something the size of a pair of pinnaces strapped together with a micro fusion plant to provide basic power. Right now, each of our missile batteries can draw on a magazine with two hundred missiles. That’s five launchers and forty salvos. That’s pretty significant. We’ve got a lot of nuclear warheads we can task for defensive purposes if we can figure out the best means to do so. The same would make tough mines if dropped in less traveled areas. We wouldn’t need the asteroids for those. Maybe mount the batteries on the magazine itself.”
The tactical officer pursed her lips as she considered that and slowly nodded. “If we can get some more mining going inside either Port Royale or another system to provide raw materials, it may be possible to mass-produce something like that. The problem is that it won’t happen quickly. We don’t have plans, nothing has been tested, and it would take forever without the infrastructure. That’s something to look into, but it won’t solve any of our problems right now.”
“What if we pulled a switch on them?” Derek asked. “We’ve already spoken about jumping around the system to come in from multiple angles to get the data we need. We’re going to lure them out to meet us, and that’s good, as far as it goes. All they’re going to see of us until they get close are our fusion plants operating and us moving at a high rate of speed. If we’re dealing with the motherships and drones initially, we may be able to fake out the military warships around the planet.”
“Go on,” Romanoff said in an interested tone.
“I’m thinking of using an exploration ship as a decoy. We need to draw the enemy out of position just like we did at New Copenhagen, but even there, we didn’t engage them directly. Not until we were ready. Remember how we snuck into the system from the far side and got most of the way to the planet before they knew what was going on? Why can’t we do something like that here?”
Derek put up a map of the system on the big screen and added a highlighted dot outside the jump limit. “Let’s say we decide to reveal the exploration ship here. That will start a general movement of motherships and drones to intercept it. If they head along this course, they’ll draw them away from the planet even more. We don’t know what the military vessels will do, but I’d guess some of them will follow the robotic vessels while others will remain in orbit. We can use that against them.”
Derek manipulated the screen to show how he envisioned the motherships and drones moving after the exploration ship. He based this on how the vessels had first reacted to Hunter. While it was possible they might act differently, he wouldn’t assume that had to be the case.
He also moved some of the vessels from orbit behind the robotic craft. He didn’t let them get too far behind, but he made sure there was enough space so that any actual military activity would affect only the robotic craft rather than the manned ones. He showed how they could draw them all out to the jump limit.
When the time was right, he’d have Hunter pop in near the warships and engage her hyperdrive to close even further. At the same time—roughly speaking—the exploration ship jumped out and came back on the other side of the system, though they’d do nothing to draw attention to themselves.
It would take less than a minute for the battleship to come into missile range and engage the manned vessels. That fight would be quick and ugly because they couldn’t flee.
Once that was done, Hunter could lure the motherships and drones back into the system and use her hyperdrive to hop around them, unloading salvo after salvo of missiles until they were gone.
“Doing something like this would allow us to take out the more serious threats first,” he said. “The people that give the orders that are more dangerous. The machines are a threat, but if they’re acting on their own, we can predict what they’ll do.”
“That’s an interesting plan, and I think it’s got a lot in favor of it, but we can’t count on them doing what we expect,” Romanoff said. “They might not send any warships out to meet us. Or, the number may be significantly lower.”
“Or it could be higher,” Amanda said. “In any case, there’s only so much we can control about how the enemy reacts. This is a decent plan that gives us a chance to kill the people who give the creative orders. If we take out the warships near the Locusts, that means they’ll be operating autonomously when we engage them because the ships in orbit won’t be able to see what’s happening before we strike due to the lightspeed delay. This is a good plan, sir, and I think we should go with it.”
He watched as their commanding officer considered the options and slowly nodded. “Let’s continue moving around the system and getting what data we can. Once we have a decent picture of what they’re doing, we’ll head back to New Copenhagen and bring back one of the exploration vessels to act as our decoy. The plan might not be exactly what you’re proposing, but it’ll be close. Good work, you two. I think you’ve given us a plan that will really hurt them.”
Derek turned back to his console and gave Amanda a thumbs up. The two made a great team, and he was more than ready to see what they could do against the Tardans. It was time for some payback.
17
After spending half a day scanning the Argent system from various angles, Jack was satisfied they had gotten as much data as they could gather without revealing themselves. As expected, the only radio signals they picked up were from the Tardans. What they did next would get them more data, but it would also kick everything into motion. It was time for action, and that’s precisely what he wanted.
They returned to New Copenhagen, and he tasked India and the senior officers that had operated the exploration ship before to be their decoy crew. He needed his most experienced combat crew aboard Hunter if something went wrong. He knew India would do what was necessary to gather the data they needed and get out of there before things went into the crapper.
He’d already had the battleship jump close to Argent, and they were now lying in wait for the rest of the plan to kick off. They dropped their fusion plant to the minimum necessary output and were counting on the thick nickel-iron hull to keep from being detected by the numerous motherships and drones scattered throughout the Argent system. Everything he saw looked relatively orderly at the moment, but that would change as soon as India arrived.
“We’ve detected the arrival of the exploration ship,” Derek said. “They’re right on schedule and have appeared at the planned location. They’re not bothering to hide their presence, and they’ve just accelerated to maximum. It shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes before the nearest of the unmanned vessels detect them.”
“Very good,” Jack said. “Let me know if anything changes.”
The first part of the plan would happen slowly. India and her people would draw the enemy to them and, in the process, Hunter. The real trick would be getting the manned warships to respond the way they wanted. Jack would have to improvise a new attack plan if they didn’t. They’d worked out several options, but he’d much prefer if the enemy never knew he was there until it was far too late.
As per their plan, India gathered the attention of the motherships and drones, which began arrowing for her location the moment they detected her. It took significantly longer for the ships around the planet to be informed of their location and even longer to decide how to respond.
Jack was pleased to see that they reacted just as strongly as he could’ve hoped for. Even as every mothership and drone seemed to be directed toward the exploration ship, about two-thirds of the manned vessels in orbit began chasing them. They even called ahead and ordered the drones to slow their approach while they caught up.
India played the role of noisy scout as well as anyone could expect. She zigged and zagged while her active sensors picked up more data from deeper in the system. By the time the Tardans got to the point where they could engage them, they’d have even acquired some data from orbit around Argent.
Everything was being sent to Hunter via narrow beam. No one would be aware of the updated data, but Jack and his people would benefit from seeing everything as clearly as possible. Admittedly, it wasn’t nearly as good at this range as it would be closer, but it was still better than the passive data, even when gathered by the Novarite sensors.
“We’re coming up on point alpha,” Amanda said. “The closest of the motherships and drones will be passing us at long range in about five minutes. They’ve shown no indication of seeing us yet, and I don’t anticipate that changing based on our power profile. We look like another piece of debris floating in the outer system.”
“Then let’s hope they don’t see us,” Jack said as he shifted in his chair slightly. “That wouldn’t inconvenience us, but it would throw our plan into jeopardy. We’re going to get one shot at ambushing the manned warships, and I’d like to avoid screwing that up. Fate doesn’t like us sometimes, but let’s hope she smiles on us today.”
To his relief, none of the motherships or drones seemed to detect them as they continued into the outer system chasing after the exploration ship. It would take them about another half hour to reach the range where they could engage their hyperdrives, but by that point, everything would already be in motion if the warships continued to advance at their current rate.
Jack watched the large swarms of robotic vessels and was more than a bit intimidated. If the invasion force hadn’t been split up into numerous systems by the destruction of the quantum gates, he’d be in a lot more trouble. It was possible to defeat an enemy like this in detail, but not if they showed up in overwhelming force.
As much as he hated to admit it, Vice Admiral LaChasse had done him a favor by destroying the gates. It had been the right tactical decision, and he was big enough to admit that, even if she had been part of the conspiracy that had tried to kill him as they went after Sara Nastasi.
“The enemy warships are approaching point beta,” Amanda said. “In five minutes, it’ll be time for us to engage our hyperdrive and go after them, assuming they don’t detect us first. We’ll be coming in from an oblique angle, and that should keep them from being able to retreat. They might not even see us coming if they’re not watching their hyperspace detectors.”
Jack shook his head. “We can’t count on the enemy making mistakes like that. If we get lucky and that’s what happens, that’ll be fabulous, but we won’t assume anything. The bet is that they’ll spot us the moment we start moving. Before we enter hyperspace, I’d like to have the most up-to-date information about their ships that we can get with our passive sensors. To this point, we’ve seen six of the enemy warships at close range, and I want to know what we’re dealing with. Are these the same class vessels, or do they have anything bigger?”
“All of the warships I’m seeing are the same size as the ones we’ve encountered before, sir,” Amanda said. “We have a dozen vessels. That’s a lot of firepower if what we’ve been told about their capabilities is correct. The only thing to our benefit is that we should be appearing outside their weapons range, and they’re not going to have long to decide on a course of action.”
“Understood.” He watched the timer at the corner of the big screen and spoke when it hit zero. “Take us in, Derek. Amanda, fire one salvo as soon as we drop out of hyperspace. They don’t have missiles to fire back at us, so if we can keep them coming toward us or circle around them using hyperspace, so much the better.”
They’d waited until this group of warships was deep into the band where Hunter could use hyperspace and they couldn’t, so this would be a very unpleasant surprise for them. Once word of what they were doing got to the other groups of Tardans, they wouldn’t be able to do this reliably, but this group had no idea what his battleship was capable of, so it would be an ugly surprise.
They would be in transit for forty-two seconds and then pop out in the middle of their missile envelope. That would allow them to fire and see the results before they had to duck back into hyperspace. Since Hunter could maneuver faster than light speed while they couldn’t, he had the advantage here and intended to use it ruthlessly.
They popped out of hyperspace on schedule and saw the warships scattering. Based on their movement pattern, they hadn’t detected Hunter until at least halfway through their approach. Somebody had been asleep at the switch, and he was pleased to take advantage of their lapse.
“Fire pattern Charlie,” he said. “Open fire.”
They weren’t firing an overwhelming number of missiles this time. They’d had an entire month to get missile systems back into operation and could fire an unbelievably large number of the darned things, but that wasn’t necessary at the moment.
They’d have a thousand missile batteries with five launchers if fully operational. That meant five thousand missiles could be fired per salvo. They’d finally hit the fifty percent mark, so they could launch twenty-five hundred missiles at a go. To be certain of overwhelming the enemy defenses, they’d decided to allocate two hundred missiles per ship in each salvo. That was almost certainly overkill, but it meant they’d end this fight right here.
Twenty-four hundred missiles flushed from the launchers and streamed toward the Tardan warships. The Tardans had to wait until the missiles entered their laser range to try to take them out, which minimized the time they had to work with. By the time that salvo washed over the enemy warships, it had been cut in half, but that left more than enough to finish the job.
The space ahead of Hunter was lit up by nuclear explosions. When all was said and done, twelve enemy warships had been reduced to component atoms and energy. They were dead before the motherships and drones would have had a chance to even detect Hunter’s presence. It would still be almost four hours before the ships remaining around Argent would know something had gone terribly wrong.
Hell, by the time the forces around the planet knew, they should have already eliminated most of the motherships and drones sent out to attack them. That would leave the forces around the planet with a lot of poor options.
“Take us in pursuit of the motherships and drones,” he ordered. “We’ll go with fire plan Alpha. I don’t want them to have an opportunity to figure out we’re even here before we’re among them.”
This particular battle plan meant they would enter hyperspace and run right out to point-blank range before exiting. Then they’d fire a full salvo of missiles and duck back into hyperspace. Since the motherships and drones were dealing with information that came at the speed of light, they’d get there before the mechanical minions even realized their masters were dead. They wouldn’t even know they were in danger until it was too late.
Hunter entered hyperspace and ran on course for almost a minute before it dropped back out to get a final sighting of the enemy. Once they had them locked in, Derek took them into hyperspace again and dropped them out almost on top of the robot warships. Once Amanda fired, Derek took them back into hyperspace and continued on so they’d pop out on the other side of the enemy formation. When they came out a few seconds later, Amanda fired a second salvo, and then they went back into hyperspace and headed toward the exploration ship.
