7 Days Later. October 6th, 2265. 11:00 CNS Waukesha
The Waukesha’s primary drives were burning angrily. She was hugging an asteroid tightly, both as a way to increase her speed and to shield her from attacks. This maneuver would give the engineering crews precious time to bring back several kinetic shielding arrays that were damaged slightly during the task force’s initial attack.
While they were successful in rendering the station's bases impotent, the pirates in the system caught the Naval vessels in a trap. John couldn’t help but be impressed with the degree of coordination and leadership shown. But their trap failed unexpectedly because the Naval attacks on the base defenses were so much more effective than even John thought was possible.
“ETA on fixes?” John asked.
“EM shields are back to full. Only one kinetic shielding array is not back to full function, but is operating at ninety-two percent of optimal capabilities,” Monique said.
“And the rest of our ships?”
Emily spoke up, “Similarly and thankfully minorly banged up. However, the Frederickson is dealing with a fluctuating power core.”
John shook his head, “Can she fall back out of combat safely?”
“The short answer is yes, sir,” Emily hesitated a bit when she spoke those words.
“Order them to fall back out of combat, if they have to jump into slip space to avoid enemy contacts do so,” John said firmly, “We don’t need to waste lives needlessly. What’s the status of the pirate defenses?”
“Forty-five seconds until we clear this asteroid,” Barbara Lipsky, the chief helmsman, said.
Brian spoke from one of the weapons terminals, “Damn near all of their ships have received some form of damage. Captain, Lieutenant Cohen drew a fair number of pirates on her maneuver around the base. We are going…”
“Understood, prepare all forward-firing weapons. Get those missile frigates to launch another salvo of micro-missiles after we launch our first salvo.”
“Advising them now, sir,” Emily said as she hastily typed away at her terminal.
Heartbeats later the Waukesha and her escorts crested the asteroid. They were screaming back into the engagement. Brady’s wing of ships sped past the westernmost point of the base before reengaging with pirate ships off their bow. The pirates that were trailing them were neither aware nor prepared, for the assault on their flank.
The Waukesha’s triple-barreled rail turrets began firing as rapidly as they could. Lances and plasma blast guns also lit up the void in anger. Her thrusters began to fire pitching her down, which prevented one of the forward turrets from firing but the spinal mounted turret was now able to fire. The rear-mounted blast guns were also now able to engage the enemy.
What was a somewhat evenly matched fight had shifted dramatically in favor of the Confederate Navy. The Waukesha destroyed managed to destroy eight pirate vessels, the largest being an old Alliance frigate, while the trio of missile frigates was able to eliminate another six enemy vessels.
“Come about, let’s punch those assholes behind us in the teeth,” John said calmly from his seat.
“Captain,” Damian said quietly, “When are we going to launch the Marines?”
“Soon, my guess is once we slim down their numbers a bit more they will fall back into the void to lick their wounds,” John paused and then spoke in his normal tone, “Emily, status on Confederate detainment vessels and reserves?”
“Six to eight hours out, but slip space is getting choppy for them.”
“Targets locked!” Brian cried out from the weapons station.
“Blast ‘em,” John said calmly.
The missile frigates continued to fly toward Brady’s wing to assist them in eliminating the remainder of the pirate ships he was hunting down. Vanessa’s wing had deftly taken care of her targets and was now in a perfect flanking position for the pirates that were rounding the asteroid.
The Waukesha’s lances fired first, followed by volley after volley of hate-filled rail turret fire. The pirates were flying in a tight formation. Most of the rounds just decimated the lead two or three ships. Vanessa’s wing annihilated the remainder of the ships.
John was impressed with his squadron. They had gone from being entrapped to turning the tide in the span of several minutes. No serious damage was done to their ships and their munition levels remained quite healthy. He let out a deep breath and allowed himself to enjoy a moment of pride. Then he was back to business.“Barbara, come about and bring us closer to the station.”
“Firing thrusters now,” Barbara said.
John pressed a button on his chair, “Captain Taylor, you have a go. Your transports are green-lit for the assault on the base once we get to the red line.”
“Hoorah,” Bart said.
“Captain, I need to remind you, women and children are to not be harmed. Any armed resistance should be dealt with as quickly as possible. The lower the body count the better.”
“We will attempt the kid-glove treatment, sir,” Captain Bart Taylor said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Godspeed,” John responded.
Five minutes later ten transport vessels left the Waukesha’s shuttle bay. Their target was the pirate base built into the small moon of the asteroid it orbited around. Eight thousand people were known to live on that base. How many could, or would, fight was not known. The odds at first glance would appear not in the Marine’s favor.
Thanks in no small part to John’s insistence and other means, those very overwhelmed numerically marines were going wage into war with the latest variant of the Broadsword power armor. Two-thirds of the marines were going to be over armored juggernauts. Bart and John both agreed resistance ought to be futile against them, but John insisted the Marines take over the base as methodically as they could.
13:15 Folly of Icarus – Bridge
Rene DuBois sat in his elaborate and ornate captain’s chair. The leader of the pirates on the base was pleading for their assistance. Deep inside Rene was fuming at the request. So often the real pirates said the Folly and her crew weren’t real pirates. That they didn’t behave like normal pirates.
“Their marines are going sector by sector and eliminating any resistance. They are capturing large swathes of our families,” the pirate said, “If you were in our fleet, it’d turn the tide.”
“And yet according to you and yours, we are not pirates. Why should we stick our heads into a mess of your own making?”
“You would ignore our pleas for help?”
“Would you accept were you in my shoes? You and your kind spurn any attempts at brotherhood. You only talk to us when you need something.”
“Which you are quite well compensated.”
Rene nodded, “As we should be. You’ve never reached your hands out and offered anything to us which hasn’t been covered in conditions. You’ve never asked us to have a friendly meal together. Your interactions with us have always been transactional.”
“Then what of the families the Confederate pigs are going to rip away from our crews?”
Rene shrugged, “The Confederacy does what it does. This is not the first time they’ll kidnap your families and send them off to reeducation camps. Nor will it be the last time they do that. Ever since piracy began in space this has been the way. In a way, it is the most effective thing they do.”
“You are impressed that we allow them to…”
“They are the power, we are not. The Folly of Icarus has stood the test of time by adhering to a very specific code of conduct. A code that you and yours don’t adhere to. We are not opposed to attacking the Confederates if the cause is just, to us. Just because you wish it does not make the cause just. We will not be helping you.”
Rene gestured to his communications officer to cut the transmission. The call ended and Rene just sighed loudly as he rubbed his eyes. He leaned forward and gestured to his helmsmen to speak.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t help? With our ship assisting the pirate’s second wave ought to be successful.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Rene shook his head, “Fighting the Confederacy will increase the amount of attention, which is already too fucking high as it is, paid to us. Besides, the pirates of this system are a most disagreeable sort. I’m not above saying fuck them and their problems.”
The weapons officer braced himself on his weapons console and leaned forward, “They are planning something. The pirates have way more ships than they should have. If these readings are correct something major is going down.”
“Cloak the ship, let’s get a front-row seat to watch the festivities. I’d like to see how the Waukesha’s young Captain handles the next fight.”
14:35 CNS Waukesha – Bridge
John was bordering being exhausted. He was staying in the captain’s seat for one more shift after this one ended. His normal bridge crew was less than a half hour from ending their shifts. Though it was doubtful any would get rest anytime soon.
The ship had shifted down to yellow alert because they weren’t in void combat any longer. Everyone needed to be focused on their tasks. Anything could happen, and they knew pirates were still out in the system someplace.
“How are the marines doing?” John asked.
Emily tapped her console and scanned the communique, “Thirty-nine percent of the base has been searched. They are driving the pirates into a corner. Transport vessels for the women and children are several hours out, they are no longer broadcasting an ETA.”
“Alert, slip-wake detected at two-niner-five. Distance four hundred thousand klicks. Reading numerous ship signatures,” Monique said, “Sir, among those ships is a contingent of the local militia.”
John scanned the long-distance signatures for but a moment before he shoved the weariness away and refocused on the task at hand, “Red Alert. All hands to battle stations.”
Barbara spun her chair around and looked at John, “Sir, those are friendlies.”
“Why are there pirate ships flying in formation with them?” John asked pointedly, “Emily, are their IFF transponders turned off? If so, try the security bypass channel to see if we can shut any of those ships down.”
Emily worked while the tension on the bridge grew and grew. Her body language clearly showed she was frustrated when command after the command was rejected. She shook her head as she stared at her console before she took a deep breath.
“We are receiving no signal from our identify-friend-or-foe transmission. The lockout channel has also been closed on all ships.”
John nodded as he looked at the viewscreen, “They don’t appear to be in any hurry. They are either waiting on reinforcements or giving us an opportunity to fuck off.”
“At their current rate they will be here in two hours,” Barbara said, “We could get the Marines out and vacate this space in about that time.”
“That’s a tough pill to swallow,” Damian said, “Especially knowing the locals are in with the pirates.”
“Emily, open a channel and broadcast to all in the system please,” John said calmly.
“Dare I ask what you’re going to do?” Damian asked.
John smirked, “Picking a fight.”
Emily was working at her console and spoke, “Channel is open for you sir.”
John stood up and took a step towards the viewscreen, “This is Lieutenant Lief of the Confederate Naval vessel Waukesha. To the local militia, all of your ships have been flagged. Fall back now and you will face sanctions for allying with pirates against the Confederacy. Continue moving in concert with the criminal element and you will be declared traitors. To the pirates I suggest going to some other system to infest, your kind is no longer welcome here.”
“Failure to heed my orders will result in several things. The first, and most obvious, will be my task force will engage with your ships and annihilate each and every one of you. We are, at this time, taking prisoner any who engage in violence with my Marines on your station. Engaging with my task force will result in the Marines killing all hostiles they encounter.”
The eyes of the bridge crew bulged at that. The latter order wasn’t technically illegal. But it wasn’t the norm. Typically, the Confederacy’s policy is to take prisoners instead of simply killing pirates. John’s mind, that the best way to have fewer pirates is to eliminate them, was made up and shared by a substantial portion of the fleet.
“In the unlikely event that you somehow escalate things with us, I will order this precious base of yours to be destroyed. I’d prefer to avoid butchering your families but make no mistake, I am not only able but willing to pull the trigger. This is your final warning, stand down,” John gestured to Emily to kill the transmission.
“I hope that last line is a bluff, sir,” Damian said, “We are clearly not authorized to destroy that station.”
John walked back to his seat and sat down, “I’m not entirely bluffing. I had a mark-twelve fusion warhead was loaded onto one of the Marine transports. If the Waukesha goes down, so too does that base. After our Marines get out, of course, leaving that transport behind. And no, the Marines aren’t going to be killing anyone unless they have to.”
“Sir…” Damian was going to protest but John cut him off.
“Never bluff unless you’re willing to follow through with the original threat,” John’s focus shifted to the viewscreen, “They’ve increased their speed. Fifty-eight ships. Only four frigates. The local militia is contributing six destroyers and thirty corvettes.”
“Corvette guns wouldn’t get through our armor, let alone the shields,” Brian Haugen said from the weapons station, “But those destroyers could, at least in theory, hurt us. Same with the frigates.”
“Those frigates are old,” Damian said, “Ticonderoga class, that puts them between forty and fifty years old.”
“Pirate vessels too, no telling what kind of weaponry they really have,” John said, “I want the Salween and Kolyma to dock with us ASAP. They will aid in our defenses. I want a third of the remaining cruise missiles and micro-rocket missiles launched, slaved to us, and set to run silently. The Waukesha will go to engage those vessels by ourselves. The missiles will flank the hostiles from all angles.”
“How do you want to handle targeting?” Brian asked.
“I want the missiles to target everything. As for our guns. Target the militia ships first, I want to knock those fuckers into next week. We have to show them we aren’t fucking around. When we can get those frigates then we will. Emily, if this goes south advise Brady and Vanessa to get the Marines out of there. Transport Tango-Four-Alpha is to remain behind in the event of an evacuation.”
“Sir, I must insist that the warhead be deactivated. We aren’t monsters.”
“No, you are most certainly not. The ship's record has already been notated that I chose to do this myself over your objections. Barbara, when our pair of corvettes are docked, full burn towards them.”
Moments later the corvettes attached themselves to the spine of the ship just behind the two turrets. The ships would impair both turret's ability to fire backward, relative to the front of the ship, but that was a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Power conduits were being connected with the Waukesha, which meant their power cores could send excess power to the Waukesha to use. The diminutive ships added a substantial amount of close-in fire support against drones, missiles, and fighters.
The Waukesha’s main engines flared to life and sent the ship angrily at the hostiles. Numerically it sounded like a suicidal charge. The Confederate cruiser was both well-armed and armored. She could take a punishment and keep chugging forward. Only ten ships out of the sixty-eight could really do damage to the big girl. There were legitimate questions on how well-armed four of them were at this point.
“Adjust our course on a regular basis,” John said, “I don’t want any of their railguns getting a good bead on us.”
“On it,” Barbara said.
“Brian, get those missiles taken care of?” John took note of the number of dots surrounding the Waukesha on the viewscreen.
“Just finished sir.”
John smiled, “Then, by all means, fire. The moment we hit our weapons range please start firing the railguns. The more rounds we fire the better chance we have of hitting something.”
“Aye aye,” Brian said.
Damian leaned in and whispered, “We really ought to be bringing more back up.”
“I’d agree with you if we didn’t have an active landing party. The Waukesha alone ought to be able to bloody their noses so badly that they lose the will to fight.”
“If we lose…”
“Then they lose as well,” John said quietly and coldly, “We aren’t going to lose. The absolute worst-case scenario is we get dinged up.”
“This is a dangerous game we’re playing.”
John shrugged as he was at a loss for words. His first officer wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t just a dangerous game they were playing. It was literally a game of life or death.
15:02 Folly of Icarus – Bridge
The bridge crew of the Folly of Icarus couldn’t help but be impressed with the CNS Waukesha. It was a bold strategy, bolder than any they had witnessed before. Confederate captains were not known to risk their vessels in such battles. Yet the evidence was right in front of them.
They sat and watched nearby as the initial volley of missiles damaged virtually the entirety of the hostile ships she was facing. Their initial rail fire was also accurate, scoring dozens of hits. Nearly half of the corvettes were dead inside the first minute of the attack. The local militia wasn’t just bloodied, they were gutted.
Two of the pirate frigates, the best armed and armored were destroyed by chance. A lucky break for the bold Naval vessel. The Waukesha didn’t have a large caliber main gun. But she had a lot of smaller-caliber ones. In war quantity often becomes a quality unto itself. The Waukesha reveled in its ability to unleash a massive broadside.
“That is a nasty little ship,” the weapon’s officer said, “Every single turret is firing.”
Rene stood up, “What is the status of those wretched curs.”
“I’ll need you to define that,” the operations officer let out a chortle, “The pirates or the Confeds?”
“The pirates of course,” Rene said almost sounding wounded, “That young captain is many things but a cur he is most certainly not.”
“Eight of the ships tried to break off and head to the station. Two destroyers and six corvettes. The corvettes ended up shattering to pieces when they took missiles up the tailpipe. The destroyers made it through, but I don’t see…” the operations officer paused and laughed, “They are being swarmed by drones. Tricky bastard, he had them hold far off from the main ship.”
The helmsmen then shouted, “Slip wake detected. Detecting a dozen ships. They are not Confederate ships.”
“Who are they?”
“Scanning them now,” the operations officer said, “What a surprise indeed. It is our old friends, the Celestial Talons.”
Rene smiled, “Fortune favors you, young one. To think we’d find the likes of them in this system. Lay in an intercept course. Bring all weapon systems online. Oh, and please raise the Waukesha for me.”
Rene stood up and leaned on the circular console in the center of the bridge. An evil grin formed on his face. Never did he think that he’d ever team up with the Confederates, but now here he was about to do just that. He’d earn a life debt of a military officer and, God willing, earn his revenge against a hated foe.
John then appeared on the viewscreen, “I’m a little busy here.”
“I know. Bravo by the way. Your hastily prepared battle plan was spectacular and even more impressively the manner in which you carried it out. I truly am impressed with the kill count you achieved. Twenty-one of the initial fleet buggered out, we’ll send you a listing of the militia ships that left the fight.”
John ignored the comments, “Divert excess power to the rail turrets. Keep them firing,” John then looked back at Rene, “If you don’t have anything else I have some pirates to kill.”
“Those reinforcements are too much for you to handle alone. As much as it pains my crew to say this, I’d prefer you not die today. How about we team up?”
John started to laugh, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Well, you have less than three minutes to get here and do anything about those reinforcements.”
Rene ended the conversation with a smirk.
The Folly of Icarus decloaked well inside the Waukesha’s optimal firing range. The pirate vessel began to open fire at the pirate vessels. Her aim was true, and several ships exploded or were killed. The first fleet had been defanged. But it was too soon for either crew to rejoice, the next fight was going to be a life-or-death fight.