5 Days Later. March 31st, 2267. 06:00 In Orbit Around Struve 3
Despite jumping into slip space minutes behind the Icarus, the Confederate forces under the command of Lieutenant Lief arrived in the Struve system nearly ten hours later. It seems nothing is predictable when it comes to that red-hued nightmare scape of a dimension. John was far from the only annoyed soul in his squadron.
Tensions were high, everyone knew they were jumping into a trap. No one knew what kind of a trap it was and how many if any, additional ships would show up. Even John, despite his steely exterior, was uncomfortable with the unknown. He, probably more than any others, desperately wanted to know what the Icarus was planning on doing.
“Woah,” Willy said from his operations terminal, “Twenty ships from their fleet aren’t there anymore.”
“Hiding in slip space?” John asked.
Deb then spoke from the front of the bridge, “That’s a negative. They broke off immediately after entering slip space according to the Basilone. We just received a coded message. Captain Conners sent over a brief summarization of the intel they gathered.”
John leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, “Alright Rene, it’s your move. How are you going to entrap us? Barbara, all ahead flank, begin evasive maneuvers.”
“Aya aye, sir. All ahead flank.”
The tip of Waukesha’s primary engine cone glowed orange as she was throttled up. The large ship was the first to surge forward. The rest of the fleet followed suit.
“Incoming message from the Icarus,” Deb said, “Do you want to respond to it?”
“No, respond by telling them that we still have enemy combatants onboard and there will be no quarter given to any pirates this day,” John said calmly as he watched the tactical screen.
Ingrid was standing at a station above the captain’s chair, “Captain, may I remind you that if any ships, pirate or otherwise, wave the white flag we are duty bound by the constitution to render aid to them?”
“Consider me reminded. Deb, send the message please.”
Brian then leaned in and whispered, “You know what happened to Ahab right? I presume you read the book?”
“I do. It’s a cautionary allegory for being too tunnel-visioned on the goal. Worry not,” John smiled as he spoke quietly, “We won’t be losing the Waukesha today.”
“But you’re still going to ignore the pirates.”
“I am.”
Deborah had already sent the message. While the executive officers needed to remind John of his duties, most of the command crew agreed with John. The Icarus needed to die. None, not even John, believed the Waukesha needed to be sacrificed to accomplish that task though.
John was more than willing to make them a bigger target and even put the ship into harm’s way. He had to risk the ship in order to accomplish their mission, his mission. But deep down John knew that somehow, some way, they would achieve it successfully.
“Distance to…” John asked, “Willy, increase scan resolution to the max, link with the other ships. Are we dealing with a hard light array?”
“Scanning now…” Willy said as he quickly worked on his console.
A pair of enlisted were working on either side of Willy’s console. They nodded at him. Alone the scanning resolution of the Waukesha’s sensors couldn’t distinguish if they were seeing a hard light drone or not. Linking their sensors with other ships in the fleet improved the resolution to a degree that they could confirm that.
“That is not the Waukesha,” Willy said.
“Does the Basilone have eyes on the…” John wasn’t able to finish his sentence.
“The Icarus is hiding in a hard light-cloaking field,” Deb said, “Coordinate’s being shared now.”
“ETA on firing range to the new targets?” John asked.
“Twenty seconds on my mark,” Walter said as he paused speaking to stare at his console, “Mark.”
“Deb, make our evasive maneuvers rise a bit towards those new coordinates, but do it casually.”
John smiled. They knew a trap was incoming. Now it was time to alter their odds back in the Confederate's favor.
“Walter, coordinate with the rest of the ships. I want all ships to hold fire until we get to the optimal range,” John said as he leaned back in his chair, “The ship is forced to move at a snail’s pace. That bodes well for us.”
“Understood. What if slip space apertures appear?”
John pressed the button to speak to his main engineer, “How are our secret weapons coming along?”
“The gravimetric pulse array is tested and ready to fire, but I don’t think anyone is going to get more than two charges off,” Marty, the grizzled engineer said, “Our systems aren’t exactly set up to allow for these types of modifications.”
“If it means we delay their reinforcements for a few minutes, then that’s a minor victory in and of itself,” John said.
“Captain, receiving a coded message from Fleet Command. A multi-fleet task force is seventy minutes out. Over eight hundred warships are inbound,” Deb said.
“Well, we either need to end this in an hour or hang on for dear life till then,” John grinned, “I think we’ll have things wrapped up by the time the cavalry arrives. Time to a firing range?”
“Five seconds,” Walter said tensely.
John watched the clock intently from the ship’s primary display. The seconds ticked over at an agonizing pace. When the allotted amount of time ticked over it finally happened.
Volley after volley of railgun fire erupted from the Waukesha and Baltimore. What they lacked in caliber they more than compensated for by quantity. Lance fire erupted throughout the fleet. The lances traveled only a few seconds before they reached their target.
There was a shimmer in the void when the beams crossed through the hard light. Something reacted beneath what optical sensors could detect. Electromagnetic shielding flared up to defend against the lances. The second round of lance fire triggered more reactions with EM shields.
This continued for several more volleys until the railgun rounds reached their destination. Several small explosions erupted through the hard light. A large one destroyed a cornerstone of the hard light array. The fleet had killed a pirate frigate.
The hidden pirate ships scattered like rats, desperate to avoid the much more accurate fire that was sure to follow. Kinetic shields flared left, right, and center on the Icarus. A hellacious amount of incoming fire was being received.
“Barbara, adjust course to three-one-eight. Flank speed. We’re diving at the Icarus. Deb, contact the Alps, I want them to have torpedoes ready for our flyby. We need to pound the ever-living fuck out of that ship. Walter, not to add difficulty to your job, but target that turret if you can.”
A trio of ‘aye aye’s rang out on the bridge. When was the trap going to be laid? Had they caught the pirates off-guard? Were they not ready? John was eager, perhaps too eager, to end this fight once and for all.
“Boo fucking yeah,” Walter said, “There goes another destroyer.”
“Five thousand klicks to target,” Barbara said.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Deb, tell our escorts to focus all fire on the Icarus,” John said calmly, “Advise the rest of the fleet to prepare for our plan.”
“Where are her allies?” Ingrid asked out loud.
“Damnit Lieutenant, why did you say that out loud?” Brian cursed under his breath as he gave his junior executive officer an annoyed look.
“Did they get sold out?” Ingrid continued to ask.
“Ignore the questions, focus on the now,” John said calmly.
How John could sound so stately was a surprise even to him. Beneath the surface, he was in turmoil. Worry, concern, eagerness, and anger boiled within. The big question that screamed within him was where was the trap?
The Icarus’ shields were hammered by the incoming fire. Two kinetic arrays had overloaded already. Virtually every last array was seriously stressed on the starboard side of the ship. More armor plates were chipped and damaged.
The first wave of drones rushed by the large ship. A massive amount of fire overtook the pirate ship. The first wave wasn’t capable of doing any damage to the hull or armor. But it did a number on the hull-mounted defensive systems, further eroding her defensive capabilities.
The second wave of drones was the deadlier and more dangerous of the two. Several drones were equipped with high-yield missiles. Half of the missiles were not intercepted, a number far too high for the pirates. But one of those missiles struck a weak spot in one of the Icarus’s two remaining turrets. Several secondary explosions could be detected before the turret itself rocketed off the vessel.
The Waukesha, Orlando, Boulder, and Alps peeled off and dove right at the Icarus. At that precise moment, dozens of slip-space portals opened around them. The pirate’s trap was finally activated, but unfortunately for the pirates, the Confederate forces were not only expecting this but prepared for it.
They split off into four more wings immediately. Each would aim for a different group of portals. Pirate ships began to pour out of the portals. Then a curious thing happened, several of the portals randomly closed.
Thankfully, for the pirates, none of their ships were caught transitioning during the closure of any of them. But a large and very noticeable number of vessels weren’t able to transition at that moment. To the pirates, it was almost like they knew where and when everything was going to happen.
Their stunned reactions didn’t last long, their fellow peers’ or frenemies’ ships blowing up snapped them out of their temporary stupor. Dozens of smaller craft exploded in fiery explosions of plasma. More worryingly for the pirates though, several of their well-traveled and damaged capital ships were targeted.
The Icarus was not spared either. She rolled over to expose her other side, whose shielding arrays were still active. That quickly resulted in her losing her remaining turret, the Navy would never know if they had in fact repaired any functionality to them by this point in their campaign against the pirates.
Her helmsmen’s quick thinking enabled the Icarus to stay in the fight, but the truth of the matter was that there wasn’t much fight left in her. The initial salvo devastated her starboard side. And the incoming barrage would do the same to her port side. Barely twenty percent of her defensive weapons were functional, but none had great overlapping fields or could even defend from ideal targeting angles.
“Shit, she rolled over, those torpedoes aren’t likely to do much,” Walter cursed from his console.
“Can confirm,” Monique said, “But it looks like her kinetic shields are toast.”
John looked up at the tactical display, “Walt, fire off some rounds at her drive cones. Knock out her conventional drives. Order the drone bombers to do another pass at her. Barbara, take us near the pirate ship Kientzy, the Monaco is making a run at her now.”
“Aye aye,” Barbara said, “Loop around back towards the Icarus afterward?”
“Affirm,” John said.
“Monique, what do you have of any additional reinforcements?”
“It’s hard to say in this chaos, sir. Two new pirate organizations, “The Seventh Day Satanists and the Dusk Raiders are now present.”
“Highlight what ships of theirs are present on the tactical,” John said.
“Captain, four destroyers and two frigates are confirmed kills. Kill count on the escorts is high,” Brian said.
“Yet they are still fighting. We haven’t broken their will. Why?” John asked.
“That wasn’t all of their reinforcements,” Ingrid said.
“Deb, notify the fleet and advise them that more ships are incoming. We need to punch the shit out of them ASAP,” John said, “We’re in for a rocky ride.”
“Fuck yeah!” Walter shouted at the inappropriate time, “Well, captain, you see the Icarus’ main drive is disabled. She can still maneuver via secondary drive systems and thrusters but is substantially slower now.”
“Unsure of her slip capabilities,” Monique said.
“Walter, unleash hell, leave nothing unused.”
An evil-sounding humming could be heard from the weapons officer’s console. Every single weapon system that could fire began to fire. Missiles were launched without concern for silly things like budgets. The immediate goal was to inflict as much punishment as was humanly possible.
John saw as more and more enemy targets were eliminated. The more that they could eliminate the less likely the pirate reinforcements would change the tide of the battle. He did have the foresight to deny Walter the ability to fire four torpedoes, they needed to save those to eradicate the Icarus.
“SLIP SPACE RUPTURES FORMING!” Monique shouted from the rear of the bridge.
“Deb, contact the fleet, advise them to adjust course, and make way to the nearest rupture. Attack and kill anything that exits,” John said, “I want details on who is coming through. Deb, change course to two-four-three, down ten degrees.”
The Waukesha’s electromagnetic shields flared up. Dozens of enemy lance strikes impacted harmlessly. Her escorts took several hits as well as flew in tight formation to their larger lead ship. The four ships were lined up on a large slip space rupture.
Out came a heavy cruiser, new for pirates but about four generations older than the Waukesha. John and company were dangerously close to the ship. All forward weapons from the four Confederate ships were fired at the same time.
The pirate’s shielding was strong, but it failed immediately due to the concentrated combination of projectiles and laser blasts. The finisher was provided by the Alps, a pair of torpedoes sailed off and struck her midships, splitting it into two.
Celebrations were muted on the Waukesha as she was taking a substantial amount of fire. The newcomers to this fight were focused on them. Perhaps a bit too much as seven capital ships from the new round of slip space ruptures had been killed one after another.
“Monique, how many new ships? Who are they?” John said as he gripped his armrests, “Deb, roll over on our port side, go down hard, sixty degrees. We need to flank that big bastard over there.”
“I see it,” Deb said through gritted teeth.
“They are from the Infinite Void group. Three hundred ships just came in, all but thirty are small escort class vessels,” Monique, “More are entering real space.”
“Alright, who’s the command ship for these new fucks?” Walter asked.
“The Triple Hydra,” John rolled his eyes at the name, “What a coincidence we have. Deb, plot a course at her after we sweep the Exact Vengeance. Barbara, coordinate with Patrice, I want us to hit the pirates high and low.”
The fight, which had been dominated by the Confederates was now leveled. John knew the truth of the battle though; it had degenerated into an anarchic state. Without a statement being made there was no hope for any change in this battle. Both sides would fight until there was no more blood to be shed.
Her defensive weaponry was firing nearly constantly. Thousands of new projectiles were being launched into the void. Sometimes those close-in-combat weapons would fire at an escort vessel that got too close.
More and more impacts could be heard. John didn’t like those sounds, but there was little he could do about that now. He only hoped that his plan would work. Given the state of the Icarus, it was likely that they could end her.
But how much damage would his friendly ships take? Everyone, pirates and Confederates alike were getting battered and bruised. But the Confederates were giving far better than they were receiving. Just as the attack on the Exact Vengeance began the one hundredth pirate ship was destroyed.
Moments later the Waukesha added another kill when her four forward turrets volley fired into the pirate ship. No one knew that the Exact Vengeance’s kinetic shields weren’t functioning as expected. Nor did John know that some of the armor platings were just for show on the highly retrofitted old cruiser.
The rail slugs appreciated the lack of shields and armor. They penetrated deep into the ship. Had one of the rounds did not find an important plasma conduit it was still highly likely that the volley was more than enough to kill the ship. But the one round caused the hapless pirate vessel to blow up in a bright green ball of plasma.
“One more down, up twenty degrees, hard burn,” John said, “Walter, get everything ready.”
Barbara then spoke up, “The Salween has indicated they’ve received substantial damage. The Kolyma has lost her main gun and missile rack, though no internal damage is reported.”
“Advise the Mackenzie and Alleghany to cover their sister ships, make way for the nearest station, and full burn,” John said, “We’ll have to make do without our corvettes covering for us.”
Brian shook his head, “That is a hell of a lot of anti-missile and projectile firepower that is now just gone.”
“I’m not risking those ships and crews. We’ll survive,” John stared ahead at the tactical window, “Status of the pirate fleet?”
“Four more capital ships are down. The smaller ships are falling back to the capital ships. Several capital ships appear to be regrouping,” Monique said, “The division of our assets has seriously slowed down their tactical regrouping.”
“Time to intercept the Triple Hydra?” John asked.
“Sixty seconds and counting,” Deb said.
“Walter, make sure you kill that ship, I don’t want to give the kill to Patrice.”
“Aye fucking aye, sir,” Walter was already firing every weapon that had range at the large pirate ship.
Ingrid then leaned over the railing and whispered to the two senior officers, “Captain, the pirates aren’t breaking despite the losses. I’m not sure if we are going to be able to achieve your outcome.”
John shook his head, “In thirty-five minutes our reinforcements will arrive. We just need to hold out that long. If this big ship is killed, I think their unswerving focus will be broken.”
“Captain, this battle is pure chaos. They are lashing out without worrying about their own safety,” Brian said.
“So, we need to do something to snap them back into focus,” John said calmly as he stared at the tactical map.
That was enough for the executive officers. Brian knew that to be true. Something had to be done to pull back the bloodlust the pirates were suffering from. A shock to the senses, or in this case a heavy-handed punch from a heavyweight boxer.
The attack runs on the Triple Hydra had commenced. In fifteen seconds, seven Confederate ships would cross by the new pirate’s flagship. In fifteen seconds, the balance of battle could be shifted back to their benefit. In only fifteen seconds…