Second SF Story
The Great War
Chapter 1
The bridge of the Destroyer was alive with officers buzzing all around in an almost controlled frenzy. Every person knew their duties and that they all depended on each other, especially if they expected to survive the day. This particular crew had just finished training and was ready for the hardships of war.
Most of them had never even been in combat before, however they had exceptional training to help them deal with the near terrifying feeling of fear that came with it. Every person on the ship had volunteered for assignment on the Destroyer. The Reapers Revenge was after all the flagship of the Soban Force Clan fleet. It had been 5 months since the SF had gotten the asteroid base and the large shipyard production factory into full production mode.
New ships were coming off the production lines every 3 to 5 days. The SF, which had started out as a clan with only 4 old Taiidan freighters and 250 people, had swelled into a clan of over 15,000 people, and several dozen warships. The factory that had been salvaged had operated around the clock had been a God send to the growing clan in that it made the SF completely self-sufficient. They no longer needed to rely on others for anything.
Deaths sat in the command chair at the center of the bridge taking in all his surroundings. He watched the monitor examining the enemy forces arrayed against his ship and also noted how far his crew had come in their training. These were after all the best people he could find. Every one of the people on the bridge staff had volunteered to serve aboard the SF flagship. From all the volunteers that had requested to be stationed aboard his ship he had hand picked the people that he had thought to be the very best he could find. The problem though was that right now it might not make any difference who was onboard. They were in big trouble and they all knew it.
Reapers Revenge had been on a standard patrol pattern in the outer edge of the Kin’ard system when they had ran into a small battle group of Imperial Taiidan ships. Normally the Reapers Revenge would of had its own battle group to be attached to it but all ships in the fleet were each out on patrols looking for systems to set up listening posts around the Taiidan Empire so they could more easily get Intel on the on-going war between the Imperials and the recently independent planets of the Taiidan Republic.
Deaths was surprised at the presence of the Taiidan fleet. He couldn’t think of any reasons why they would have ships in this system. Let along a small battle group, but here they were and he was going to have to deal with them whether he wanted to or not. The display screen at the front of the bridge showed an Imperial Carrier, and an escort consisting of a destroyer and 6 assault frigates. Behind the battle group he could see 3 incredibly large super freighter vessels. By the looks of them it looked like they were setting something up in the system themselves, that was the only reason for the presence of the 3 large vessels.
Deaths first choice would of been to jump out of the system but a wing of attack bombers had taken out the hyperspace generators just a few minutes ago before they had been fully charged. He knew he couldn’t win against the odds stacked against him, but he also didn’t want to turn tail and run. By running he would have exposed the rear of his ship to assault from the enemy. The armor was the thinnest in the rear and his weapons had virtually no weapons arch in the back so he would be practically defenseless.
His only choice was to take a desperate gamble. He ordered the engines to maximum power and also all compartments across the ship were to be sealed. Damage crews were on standby because if they survived to punch through they would have lots of fires onboard to put out and hull breaches to patch. If this worked by the time the enemy ships slowed them selves down and got turned around the Reapers Revenge would have enough of a lead on them that only the fighters and bombers from the carrier would have any chance of catching them. He had to take the risk.
Deaths knew that in dire situations such as this he couldn’t afford to show any hesitation or let any one of the bridge crew know he was scared shitless. In a tone that would have reminded anyone who had served with him during the campaign to re-take Hiigara and anyone who was with him now, there was no doubt this was a great leader that was not to be questioned. This was not the type of man someone would want to screw with.
“Tactical, concentrate all fire on the carrier and her landing bay. Ignore all other ships. Don’t let that destroyer or those frigates bait you into exchanging blows with them.” “Yes Sir” came the reply from the officer at the tactical station. He relayed the orders down to the gun batteries that had independent fire control.
The first 3 frigates opened up on the lone destroyer as hundreds of plazma rounds filled the space around the ship. Many found their marks and started boiling armor off as they impacted on the hull. Reaper could feel the ship shack as the sheer kinetic energy from the plazma bursts hit his ship and left scars all across it. The destroyer emerged through the firestorm and rocketed past the 3 assault frigates.
If they had been expecting the ship to stop and engage them they were wrong and caught off guard. By the time the frigates began to turn to get another firing solution on the destroyer it had already sped away building up more and more speed. When they did complete their turns it was too late, the destroyer was out of range. Faster then Deaths would have liked the Carrier and her escorts that had stayed close to her came into range.
The carrier had the destroyer and the 3 other assault frigates between itself and the Reapers Revenge. Those ships were pretty much sitting still as the destroyer charged down on them and came into their firing ranges. At almost the exact same moment the SF destroyer opened up with all her firepower the Taiidan ships also opened up. In the void of space between the Reapers Revenge and the remaining Taiidan ships the plazma burst and ions beams crossed each other silently in the vacuum of space.
Several plazma bursts impacted against each other as they crisis crossed each other at the mid-point between the ships. Small explosions could be seen, most though made it to there intended targets. Both of the ion beams the Reapers Revenge had fired found their target and struck the carrier near the front of the landing bay. Both beams caused impressive damage to the forward section of the ship.
As the beams winked out of existence to begin their recharging for another volley the plazma rounds followed right in behind them and struck the same area exploding their massive charges causing a multiplying affect. The shots couldn’t have been synchronized any better. The Reapers Revenge however wasn’t the only ship causing damage. The combined firepower of the 3 assault frigates and the Taiidan destroyer scored dozens and dozens of hits on the SF destroyer turning most of the front end of the ship into twisted metal.
Fires detectors and decompression alarms went off all over the bridge. Consoles all over the bridge exploded showering sparks everywhere and onto the people manning the consoles. One person was even laid out across the floor unconscious. Several people rushed over to help their injured crewmate.
“Sir we have lost one of the ion cannons and all forward plazma launchers are offline.” The desperate cry had come from the tactical officer. Without batting an eye Deaths shouted back “keep firing the remaining Ion Cannon.”
The second shot from the SF destroyers one functioning Ion Cannon struck the electromagnetic shield maintaining the atmosphere inside the carrier?s hanger bay. The beam slowly worked its way across the hanger bay detonating fighters and bombers that were preparing to launch. Right before the beam winked out it skirted across a cache of bomber ordinance and fuel. As the ordinance and fuel ignited the explosion sheared off the front right side of the carrier.
Deaths watched his screen and could see a section the size of a supply frigate disconnect it-self from the carrier and tumble away from the ship. Bodies could be seen tumbling through space flailing about trying too breathe. After a few seconds they went still like puppets having their strings cut. As the SF destroyer sped by the battle group more explosions ripped across the destroyer?s hull down the sides.
The once proud destroyer that was the pride of the SF fleet, now looked like a floating wreak that had glowing engines pushing it away from the battle group. Gas’s poured out into space from hundreds of holes across the ship creating a trail that would be extremely easy to follow if anyone decided to. The enemy fleet didn’t pursue because they had their own problems. The carrier had begun to drift and was listing to the side.
3 smaller ships did disconnect themselves from the large super freighters that had moved away from the battle area and accelerated after the Reapers Revenge. “Sir, sensors show 3 enemy salvage corvettes gaining on us.” Shouted out the con officer in obvious alarm.
“Tactical can we target them?” Deaths asked with tension in his voice. Shaking his head no the tactical officer responded giving Death his answer.
“Sir all weapons systems have been destroyed. We won’t be able to get them operational without a space dock. Over half the ship is depressurized.”
Deaths nodded his head in acknowledgement at his tactical officers report. Reaching down he flipped on the ship wide intercom switch; he addressed the entire ship. “Attention, we have incoming salvage corvettes, everyone prepare to repel boarders. Remember the Taiidan don’t treat prisoners well so we won’t be taken. Good luck people and long live the SF!”
Deaths switched off the intercom and looked at every member of the bridge crew long and hard. After a moment of silence he announced. “Ok people, arm yourselves.” Everyone on the bridge reached down under there consoles and retrieved their side arms. The tension and dread on the bridge was thick enough to cut with a knife. They all knew the chances of being able to repel borders. They would be facing trained commandos who would be very efficient.
Every eye on the bridge watched the corvettes form up around the destroyer and then as they moved in and attached themselves onto the sides of the hull. No on was surprised as system after system across the ship shut down as the corvettes brought their power disrupter systems online. Lights across the ship went out to be replaced by the low glowing red emergency lights that came on. Visibility was cut down and the crew readied themselves.
The Marine commander sat looking through the forward window on the salvage corvette at the floating wreak of a ship they were approaching. The ship was obviously a destroyer vessel but by the look of the damage the ship had taken the destroyer wouldn’t be seeing any more action anytime soon. He could see gases expelling from all over the hull and flames raging all over the ship from atmosphere leaking out into space feeding the flames.
They would have to go in with environmental suites on, who knows how much more damage might be caused when they boarded the ship. 3 marine teams had been dispatched for this mission. The commander examined the other 14 men in his team. Each vet carried 15 marines in all. 3 teams should be able to deal with the destroyer after all the ship was also heavily damaged and many of the crew was probably dead. As the salvage corvettes moved into clamp onto the damaged destroyer the marines from all the vets readied themselves for combat.
The commander felt the ships come together and knew the dampening fields had been activated thereby robbing the destroyer of its primary power. The 15 marines readied their weapons and they could hear the corvettes cutters at work opening a hole in the side of the hull. The pressure door slid open reveling a small-pressurized hallway and an opening into the side of the ship.
At the same time 3 different teams rushed into the damaged destroyer with their guns at the ready prepared to shoot their way to their primary targets. The commander?s team had the objective of fighting their way to the bridge, while the other two teams would take engineering and help pacify the ship. The commander also knew that this was a do or die assignment.
The opportunity to take an enemy destroyer made him tremble with anticipation. If he did this right it would impress the hell out of his superiors at home. The team moved quickly down several corridors unopposed, the commander knew that this didn?t feel right. He was also the type of person who always listened to his instincts. That habit had saved his life on a number of occasions.
He ordered his team to slow down and start a covering leapfrog movement. Half the team would stop and go into a kneel covering the other half which would race ahead. The commander?s instincts saved him again as they ran right into a waiting ambush near the ships mess haul. Some of the marines who were covering their teammates saw the attackers a few seconds early, fire erupted from the well trained commando?s and 5 people from the destroyers crew went down before they where ready to spring their own trap.
Only 11 of the destroyers personal remained alive by luck. Many of the marines where exposed out in the open but they also trained for these type of scenarios all the time so they where able to respond almost without thought. Flash/Bang grenades went off all around the ships personal; it was extremely disorientating when one went off right next to you. The noise was deafening and the concussion from being to close to one when it went off would usually knock anyone on their a**.
The marine commander could see his marines where gaining the upper hand but if he them order to push through this mess it would probably cost him a couple of his men. He also knew that it was also his job to help insure as many of his own men came through the mission as possible in one piece. He motioned for two of his men to break away from the fight and relayed orders to them through the headset in his helmet.
Both men retrieved special torches from their packs and rushed down a side hall they all knew was a dead end. As they came to the dead end took out their cutting torches and they started cutting the shape of a large hold in the wall. After 3 minutes of cutting the two men disappeared through the hole in the wall. The commander ordered his men to increase their rate of fire and to start throwing smoke grenades to give the impression they were going to try and break through the bottleneck point.
The mess area and all the corridors around the area were choked with dense smoke making it nearly impossible for anyone to see. Plus for the crew of the destroyer they were finding it difficult to breathe, as they didn?t have any sealed environmental suites on. As the destroyer crew became increasing disoriented all the marines switched on their thermal imaging visors in their helmets. Their view changed from smoke filled corridors to a clear view down the hallways and bright thermal images of all their enemies.
Receiving a signal from his two men who had cut their way through the wall, he knew they were in position now behind the destroyer personal. The commander gave the orders for everyone to advance and both groups of marines moved. The destroyer defenders were completely unprepared for the marines who attacked them from behind. Six men went down before they knew they were being attacked from their rear. The whole thing was over in less than 30 seconds.
The marines continued on to there objective giving no more thought to the lifeless bodies scattered throughout the corridors. As the marines entered the corridor outside the bridge the commander received signals from the other 2 teams that engineering had been taken and most of the ship had been subdued. Several pockets of resistance remained scattered around the ship, but they were no real threat.
The commander looked at the sealed door of the bridge and knew this was the last objective of the mission, once it was taken the ship would be completely theirs. 2 marines moved up to the door and started putting their cutters to work. Most of the marines averted their eyes from the blinding light of the cutters readying themselves for this final battle.
Deaths nodded to several of the bridge crew as they readied themselves for their last stand. Deaths had no idea how the rest of the ship had faired during the assault because ship wide communications were down. Two different lines of sparks appeared out of the door and started moving around the door leaving a cut path of metal in their wake. Sparks flew down and landed all around the area near the door. Deaths kneeled down behind the chair along with most of the bridge crew waiting for the moment the door was breached and the marines would come through to kill them.
Deaths raised his pistol up and rested it on the back of his chair taking aim at the door. The two jets of flame and sparks finally moved together and went out. At the exact same time the door fell over into the bridge. The entire bridge crew opened fire and filled the hole with as much fire as they could. 3 small grenades were hurled into the room, one of them landing right next to Deaths. All three grenades exploded simultaneously filling the room with dense smoke. The concussion from the one next to Deaths knocked him over and dazed him.
The Marines came pouring through the door shooting all around the room. The first 2 marines that came through the door went down in a hail of fire. Deaths opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground after being knocked down and saw that world around him in slow motion. Marines were filling the bridge and firing on his people, he saw people falling all over the place. Standing up and taking aim, Deaths fired his pistol and saw a marine fall.
The Marine commander saw his comrade go down as he came through the door and saw the person who did it. Firing his own assault gun, he put 2 rounds into the officer who from appearances looked to be the commanding officer. Seeing him fall to the floor the marines saw that the whole bridge crew was on the floor and no one was left standing but the marines.
Taking one last look around the bridge and surveying all the bodies the marine commander could see their objective was met. He switched his COM on and spoke into it. ?Attention command, target is neutralized.? The response was almost instantaneous, a computerized voice echoed through the entire ship as the lights all came back on, and the eerie red glow from the emergency lights disappeared.
?Attention all personal, Battle Simulation is over. Please report to your after action debriefing centers.? TWA took off his marine helmet and ordered his marines to the exit. Walking over to Deaths he reached down and took his hand to help him up. Deaths got up and looked at the ear-to-ear smile on TWAs face and knew the man looked like the proverbial cat that had just eaten the canary.
?Crap, did you have to have the stun setting so high?? Asked Death
?Sir, this marines knows that he would be in trouble if he hadn?t done his damndest to take care of his opposing threat in the most efficient manner as possible.? TWA barked out standing at attention stifling a grin.
?Bullshit, you shot me with that second shot because you were having fun and it?s the only time you would get to shoot at the old man.? Deaths retorted adding a slap to the back of the head of TWA.
TWA dropped the mock formality act and walked down the corridors next to Deaths making their way down to the destroyer?s air lock. As they reached the airlock it was wide open as crewmember made their way from the destroyer out into the hallway that was cut into the rock from the asteroid base.
Making a flamboyant bow TWA spoke to Deaths. ?Age before beauty, besides if the old man needs help, I could probably find a cane if you needed one sir.?
Deaths gave a long hard look back at the smiling marine and shook his head. ?You are going to milk this for all its worth aren?t you? I have a feeling I will never live this down will I?? Stifling a laugh TWA nodded his head in the affirmative. ?By the way, your marines did a superb job. I am sure glad you?re on our side.?
TWA lit up at the praise. ?Thank you, we have been drilling a lot. We only received our orders from Fleet Admiral Malone an hour before we attacked you. He told me he had a special engagement planned for your trainees. He said something about wanting to keep any crew that went with you humble.?
Deaths responded with a chuckle. ?Figures, he always is trying to get me, as if anything is ever going to make me humble. Yea right, that will be the day.?
?Sir, I know they are only rumors but do the crews you train have a cocky arrogance about themselves like they are the best and no one better mess with them or they?re in for a s*** storm?? TWA asked in an inquisitive manor.
Deaths laughed at that comment. ?If they don?t I will be riding their a**?s to get them that way. My trainees have great combat records; I stress training more then anyone else I know. I drill my people constantly.?
Both men made their way down the corridor to the Simulation Command Center. Always after a simulation all ship commanders would report in and get all the recordings of the battle to review and go over with the trainees. Deaths and TWA entered the simulation command center. The room was many time the size of a destroyer bridge. Deaths remembered the command center on the old mothership and this place was even bigger then that had been.
Dozens of computer tech?s scurried around computer displays monitoring other simulations that were in progress. Counting them up Deaths could tell that 5 other simulations were currently in progress. He was absolutely amazed at what had been produced here. Back 4 months ago when the factory section had become operational and had started producing ships they had realized it was going to be a problem crewing those ships with trained personal.
Most people who were joining the SF had never seen combat, they had been asleep during the trip to Hiigara. They couldn?t just put them on a ship and train them. That would have been a disaster waiting to happen. So Paranoid and Mantis had started working on a plan that would help them out. After a week of planning and going over design ideas with the engineers they had come up with a brilliant plan.
Paranoid and Mantis decided to make an SF Naval Combat Academy. Anyone in the SF who wanted to be stationed on a ship would have to go through an eight-week school to teach them what to do. Paranoid realized that since they were in an extremely large asteroid they could bury the whole thing deep inside the rock and use the colony ship and its factory to build replica ships for training.
They would be very easy to make because no real engines or weapon systems would be needed. Life support systems would be handled by the bases main environmental systems. They would only have to cut out the sections of the rock they wanted to and build the interiors of the type of ships they wanted and hook up battle computers to them. Unless someone was trying to look out a window which they wouldn?t find anyway they would only see solid rock.
If they wanted to they could even tie systems between simulating ships together to work in mock fleet actions. It was decided that the academy would consist of 9 replica ships. A carrier and heavy cruiser plus a destroyer and missile destroyer would be needed. Plus two ion and two assault frigates would be used adding on one support frigate.
The corridors leading to the ships would circle around and at the center buried in the rock would be a large simulation command center. There they could monitor all the simulations and also control threat forces to array against them. Beneath the simulation command center was the main training area with classrooms and instructors for new raw recruits first starting their eight-week courses.
To even add another degree of difficulty and training replica salvage corvette compartments had been set up on each ship to help train the crew how to deal with boarding parties. The only problem was because TWAs marines trained so often and were so good a crew had yet to beat them back. They were the finest marines Deaths had ever seen. Many of them had seen action during the campaign home.
Malone was standing over by one of the simulator stations watching how another crew currently in simulation and how they where doing. He looked up and noticed Deaths and TWA approaching him. TWA snapped off a salute.
Shaking his head Malone let out a sign and responded. ?How many times do I have to tell you not to salute me?? Turning his gaze over to Death he raised one eyebrow and a laugh. ?Aren?t you Dead??
?Funny, just wait until your carrier trainees go in. I will give you an impossible mission.? Deaths shot back.
?Does that mean I get to shoot you to sir?? Responded TWA with a gleeful look in his eyes.
?You can shoot him only if you set your stun setting to maximum. I also want to be in charge of that simulation.? Deaths said looking at Malone with an evil smile. Malone Groaned but didn?t respond to the bait. After all someone had to keep an air of authority in place.
?Ok TWA get out of here. You and your men have earned a rest. I do have a training mission for you tomorrow. Your team is going to go after the greenhorns in frigate simulator 8 at 07:45 hours.?
?Aye aye sir.? TWA snapped off another salute and left the room.
Malone rolled his eyes and Deaths let out a laugh. ?Face it buddy, we are the old men around here. No matter how many times you tell him not to do that he will keep it up.?
?I know it just makes me feel old. I remember when we were saluting the war counsel back on the mothership. All we had to worry about then was our own individual ships. Now I feel like the weight of the world is on me.? Malone looked tired as he spoke the words.
?It?s ok, its not the world just the whole asteroid. Our entire clan and possible our entire future at risk.? Deaths said with a sarcastic grin.
?Oh great thanks. Makes me feel better already.? Malone responding with sarcasm thick in his speech.
?It?s the least I can do especially after giving me suck a cake walk of a mission. I thought for a while you might have it out for me.? Deaths said.
?Oh please, I have to give you something that would make you stretch your imagination in a tight spot. Besides I knew you would come up with something. I was also quite amazed with how you focused in on that carrier in the simulation. You did better then I thought anyone could have done under the circumstances.? Malone spoke with praise knowing it would help inflate Deaths over inflated ego as it was already to an even bigger one.
Malone motioned for Deaths to follow him as he started walking out of the simulation command center. ?Were we going?? Deaths asked inquisitively.
?The war room, we have a intelligence briefing to attend? came the response. Right outside the simulation command center were the lift transport tubes. Both men sat down in the chairs and strapped themselves in. The tube activated and raced away. The two men felt themselves accelerate away from the academy section of the base back up to the main area of the base were most everything was. Both men continued to be amazed at how much the base had grown since they had first stepped onto the base for the first time almost a year ago.
The base was nothing short of a city underground. It had been divided up into many sections. Blue sector was were all the living quarters were. Everyone especially families had there own residences. People were able to have fairly large size domiciles because of all the space on the asteroid.
Green sector contained all the hydroponics for growing the food necessary to feed all the people. They had even gotten the protein re-sequencers up so food that tasted just like meat could be eaten. This area of the base was by far the largest but not many people worked there because most of the systems were automated. Red sector contained the launch bay and the factory section. Brown sector contained all the entertainment facilities for the people to go to for entertainment and relaxation.
Finally gray sector contained the leadership of the base. There were even special living quarters for fleet command. Also the section housed the military communications and the war room. The war room was the heart of the base. All decisions of the SF were made there. Fleet movements and intelligence reports were all handled there. This room was the lifeblood of what happened in the SF.
The transport began to slow after a few minutes. Even though they had traveled a few miles from deep within the asteroid Malone could barely tell it had only taken a few minutes or so for the tube to make it to gray sector. The academy was far beneath the rest of the base. They had wanted it almost disconnected for training and isolation purposes. The transport came to a stop outside of the war room. The men disembarked from the transport tub and walked into the war room nodding to the marines who stood guard outside the nerve center.
This room was truly immense. All across the room we floating holograms of planets and maps of space with supply routes and potential threat assessments of garrison?s and fleet forces. Over ??s of the room was dedicated to intelligence personal and decoding computers. At the very center of the room sat a large round table and a holographic display showing a map of the Taiidan Imperial Empire and the Taiidan Republic.
The two governments had shared an uneasy peace for a year after the Kushan had returned to Hiigara. However that had all ended 6 months ago when the Imperials had decided to invade the Republic and bring it back into the Empire. The SF had thrown their backing to the Taiidan Republic because if they lost the Imperials would come after the Kushan people to exterminate them.
The table already had a few people sitting at it. Paranoid was sitting next to Mantis as usual the two of them were talking to each other. Misty sat reading a computer pad examining the latest reports from the R&D department. Zulu and Drew were going over training schedules for the fighter pilots they had been training. A dozen other ship captains sat talking about how their new crews were doing.
Deaths and Malone took their seats and the people at the table became quiet. The area around the table became dark as the lights faded making it easier to see the hologram floating over the table. With a node from Malone an intelligence officer walked over to the table preparing to address the group.
King had a remote in his hand that would allow him to change the holographic display. He had been practicing this briefing for the last 3 hours. The thought of him giving the Intel report had terrified him but he knew he had to do it. ?Gentlemen and my lady. Our Intel department along with co-operation from the Taiidan Republics intelligence services have brought us up to date about the status of the war.?
King made sure as he spoke to keep his voice even so as to hid his nervousness. He continued on. ?Imperial forces have kept extreme pressure on the republic. Their forces have mostly been relegated to holding or delaying tactics. In the last 5 months the Imperials have captured 8 systems and are currently blockading another. The Republic to its credit has finally been able to consolidate their ships for some counter strikes against the blockade. However they have taken heavy losses. We estimate 1/3 of their total forces have been destroyed.
A few glances were exchanged from around the table. Everyone knew that if the Republic lost the Kushan people were in big trouble. ?The main problem we estimate is not the fact that the Imperials have so many more ships then the Republic. It?s that the Republic military hasn?t completed their own shipyard facility yet. All 3 major shipyard facilities from the old Empire are in Imperial hands.
As the republic looses ships they aren?t replacing hem. The Imperials though are on full production mode. We estimate that if something doesn?t change soon the Republic will have no choice but to surrender inside of 7 months. It?s a mathematical certainty.? King paused to allow time for what he had said to sink in.
After a moment of pause he continued. ?We think it is critical that we act now. We have to find a way for the Imperials to divert some of their ships away from the Republic or somehow stop completely or at least slow down the production at their shipyards. The alternative is to join the Republic in their fleet actions but we fear that would only delay the inevitable by just the smallest margin. We would probably take horrific losses too. Intelligence was kind of hoping by getting you all together so we could brainstorm a way out of this.?
All eyes at the table turned toward Malone and Deaths. ?Can you display the current whereabouts of main Imperial fleets and locations of the shipyards?? Malone asked. King touched a few keys on the remote keypad he was holding and the holographic display changed over the table. Dozens of Imperial fleet symbols popped onto the display. 3 factory symbols winked into existence in 3 different star systems. It looked to Malone that one of the systems was the new Imperial Capitol where the survivors from the Emperors family had set up after he had been killed.
?What kind of defenses guards that system?? Deaths asked.
?Sir that system is pretty much out of our reach. There is a task force of two carriers and dozens and dozens of warships. Not to mention all the automated defenses around the shipyard. We estimate we would need a fleet of at least 50 ships and most of them would probably be destroyed. Perhaps one of the other shipyards.? King responded in a matter of fact manor.
Deaths with a hint of an idea on his face asked. ?What if we created a diversion in a nearby star system and pulled their fleets away. Could a strike force jump in and surprise them??
?I don?t know sir. Even if we took in all our capitol ships I don?t know if we could get through the automated defense systems and have enough firepower to destroy the shipyard. I don?t know if it would be a good idea to risk so many SF lives. Win or loose sir it would cripple us.?
Zulu spoke up. ?I think the goal is to strike them were they think they are safe. It would deal a massive moral boost to the Republic and also cause the Imperials to divert forces away from the front. We just need to put them on the defensive for once.?
Misty looked up and spoke in a concerned tone. ?I hate to play devils advocate but if we were successful at this strike, you do realize we will be stirring up a real hornets nest. Has anyone thought about what kind of retaliatory strike would come back to bite us??
One of the frigate captains piped up. ?This is a secret base. They wouldn?t know were to strike back at.?
Very much irked Misty responded. ?I don?t know if you remember this but my husband was captured by the Imperials. I know that he would never tell them where we are but they could be torturing him as we are speaking. Who knows what kind of drugs they may have him on.?
Shaking his head the frigate captain responded. ?Don?t take this the wrong way but how do we even know he is alive. You know what the Imperials think about us. He?s probably dead already. We can?t let one man dictate how we respond?
Zulu winced as he heard the frigate captain talk to Misty. Before he could word a response Misty leapt over the table and wrapped both hands around the captain?s neck while knocking him to the floor. Never had Misty been consumed with so much blinding rage. All she could think of was snapping this a******* neck. It took 4 people to pry Misty off the mouthy captain.
They were all surprised by Misty?s strength. After a few minutes everyone began to calm down. ?We all hope Coitster is alive, but we also have to assume they have learned the location of our base here.? Zulu said to help ease the tension in the room.
Heads all around the room nodded. Misty continued to glare at the frigate captain. His face went pail but he made sure to avert his gaze from her. Malone looked over to Paranoid and spoke. ?Paranoid can you give us an update on the defensive measures you and Mantis have been putting into place??
Paranoid stood up and took the keypad from King. After hitting a few keys the map of the galactic area changed to a view of the asteroid and the surrounding area?s. Hundreds of little dots came up on the screen. Addressing the group Paranoid started speaking. ?As you can see we have been fortifying our position here. We have literally hundreds of auto guns orbiting the asteroid. Our computer systems have remote control of all the auto guns and can help zero in our fire onto any target we designate. Also on many of the surrounding asteroids we have set up missile batteries in the event enemy fighters fly in.?
Before Paranoid could continue Zulu spoke up. ?Excuse me Paranoid. I would like to make a recommendation.?
Paranoid nodded. ?Yes sir, be my guest.?
As Paranoid sat down Zulu continued. ?I would like to see us set up some outposts around the edge of the asteroid belt. We could take some of the larger asteroids and hollow out an area large enough for a good sized landing bay to hold a few squadrons of fighters and bombers with some corvettes. This would effectively extend the range of our patrols, also in the event that we are attacked if we lose out main hanger here we still have places to service and repair our fighters. Can we do something like this and do you all agree??
Drew was the first to speak. ?I know I am biased about this being that I am a pilot but this is a great idea. We would have an early warning system in place. It would effectively extend the range of our patrols and also they could be used as strike platforms. If our current landing bay was destroyed we are effectively crippled.?
?This is a great idea. From a practical standpoint it?s very sound. I would also like to add that we should be mining the space all around our base and around these hanger outposts. Paranoid, Mantis how long would this take?? Deaths asked sounding a little too excited.
Paranoid and Mantis talked between themselves for a few moments and then Paranoid responded. ?Well if we are just making a small hanger bay with refueling deposits and enough quarters for the rotating pilots and maintenance crews for the facility and fighter squadrons then it should be fairly simple. We aren?t going to put in any factory sections just a few repair and maintenance facilities for servicing the fighters and corvettes. Not to mention some living quarters for the guys to rest at between patrols. If we really get on this I would say we could give you one outpost every 3 weeks. So you want 4 of them right?? Zulu nodded.
Paranoid continued. ?As for the mine laying that?s actually easy but I am a little concerned because with all the auto guns we have out there and the regular fleet ships we are getting pretty crowded. I could see accidents happening. I do have a possible alternative. We could produce a capsule that would look like a very small asteroid and fill it with mines. These could be put strategically around the area and if we are attacked we could give the signal and they would open up and deploy their payloads. I think we could get up to 100 mines per capsule.?
Malone laughed. ?That would sure be a nasty surprise.?
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. Malone continued. ?Well it looks like we have a good defense plan in place, it would take a very large fleet to dig us out of here. Good job people. I want to cover one last thing before I dismiss everyone. Zulu and Drew we have talked about this before so I want to bring everyone else to speed. In going over all our Intel on the Imperial forces and their strengths and weaknesses we have found a few things.?
?First off the Imperials have an obsession with their capitol ships. They have thousands of them throughout the Empire. They also spend a lot of time training. We have found a weakness though. We have found that the Empire has lots of fighter?s squadrons but the training is nowhere close to ours. Our pilots are in most cases far superior.? Zulu and Drew both nodded in agreement.
Malone continued. ? I believe we have a massive case of pride on their part, they want the big guns and they have far superior firepower because of their numbers. Granted they have carriers but they use them in a supporting roll only as a back up to their other ships. Zulu, Drew and myself think we can exploit this advantage.?
?I believe we should concentrate on using our fighters and bombers as our main attack forces while using our capitol ships to defend our carriers. I propose that we use small light attack groups. Instead of large fleets and going toe to toe with them. I think we should concentrate on producing lots of carriers and put a small force of escort ships around them. Then we should concentrate on fast lightening strikes on their ships with our bombers.?
?Deaths, we will have one task force of large ships that you will command for selective missions but I believe we need to stay light. We only have 1 carrier now but we will have another coming off the production line in 2 weeks. We need to focus on producing more carriers. Any comments??
Most of the people at the table liked the idea of the strategy and over the next hour they continued to refine what the plans would be. Zulu also came up with a daring and desperate plan to take on the Imperial shipyard.