(Flag Bridge, CNV Tribute of Gold, Coldana System)
As one, the Consortium Navy’s Seventh and Fifth Fleets, the Confederate Navy’s Sixth Fleet, and the Imperial Navy’s Ninth Fleet dropped out of warp, well away from Coldana, between the planet and the Harvester. They did not quite drop out of warp directly in weapons range of the X’thari fleet, but they would be in range very soon. All according to plan.
“All ships are on target and in formation! Tarpits active!”
Admiral Dhurdroda Ironbelt nodded grimly. This was the way it should be. Despite there being four fleets from three star nations in this section of the task force, she was happy to see everyone working together as professional naval officers were supposed to. There was no place in an operation like this one for petty rivalries.
Bringing herself to her full height, she began snapping off commands for her communications officer to relay to the fleet, “Launch all fighters! Commence active jamming! All ships advance! Attack pattern Alpha! Focus on disabling or destroying as many enemy craft as possible! The Starhunters have drawn off the escorts, now it is up to us to hold the attention of the main force! Every ship taken out of the fight is one fewer that can get in the way of our true objective!”
That done, she stood back, watching the screens. It was the Captain’s job to fight the ship, and the Admiral’s job to maneuver the fleet, responding to the enemy attacks. But the Swarm used no tactics, not even the normal X’thari ones. It was the numbers, of course. Even this section of the swarm numbered in the tens of thousands. It was impossible to maneuver such a fleet in any but the most basic ways. And a fleet like that wouldn’t need maneuvers, really.
“Enemy carriers are launching fighters.”
“Have the fighters intercept while the bombers make their attack runs. Tell the fleet to close to knife range, so we can limit our exposure to the swarm.”
It seemed paradoxical on the face of it. Charging into the swarm to reduce your exposure to it? But that was the truth. The X’thari couldn’t shoot through their own ships, so diving into the swarm, and making it a capitol ship version of what the fighter pilots called a ‘furball’, was the best way to limit how many of the swarm’s ships could target a ship at any one time.
It wasn’t a perfect defense, but it would allow them to keep their ships intact longer than they would have if they tried to keep the range open, and allowed the swarm to dictate the pace of the engagement. Keeping the initiative was their best defense. She just hoped that it would be enough.
(Main Bridge, CNS Dawn of Ten Thousand Suns, Coldana System)
Captain Venali Rona gripped the seat of her command chair as another volley of grav lances struck the shields. “Starboard batteries, concentrate fire on that cruiser, it is trying to make a run on the Vision of Purity! Port side, fire as they bear!”
“Captain, Enemy fighters incoming!”
“Point defense, pick them up!”
“Ma’am! We have a X’thari dreadnought on an intercept course!”
“Transfer power from life support to forward shields! Hold course and increase to flank speed!”
The ship shuddered under another barrage, the heavy cruiser taking hits that they were never meant to withstand. She ignored the mounting list of damaged systems. Her chief engineer had never let her down before. She trusted him to keep her ship in the fight as long as possible.
The cruiser surged forward as it increased speed, throwing off the firing solutions some of the swarm had on it as the Dawn barreled down on a X’thari dreadnought that outmassed it by at least five times. Venali kept her eyes fixed on the screens, trying to will the situation to change somehow. Her eyes turned to her helmsman. “Lieutenant Adzana, have you studied the records of the Second Battle of Nuevo Edo that the Black Stars provided us?”
“Yes, Ma’am. If you’re thinking about the Shinokage, I can follow that track, but I don’t know what kind of condition we’ll be in after that.”
Her tactical officer spoke up, “Captain, the Shinokage has those Black Star railguns. Even with our full forward armament, I don’t know if the Dawn has the offensive punch to break through the dreadnought’s shields in a single volley, even at the rear.”
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“The Luvon Gilrie and the Imra Aecyne are close, right? Those new Assassins have the Black Star guns. Comms, get me those ships! Tell them we’ll run cover for them against the dreadnought so they can get into position.”
“Captain, if we’re covering for the Assassins, we’ll have to slow down so they can get into position before beginning our run. That’s going to leave us exposed for longer.”
“Divert power from all nonessential systems to the shields! Anything that isn’t weapons, shields, and engines is secondary at this point!”
“Aye, ma’am!”
(Bridge, CNS Luvon Gilrie, Coldana System)
Captain Faylen Zylna ignored the medic hovering around her as she held on to her command chair. Her Assassin had been hit hard in that last exchange. The exploding power conduit had sent shrapnel flying across the bridge. She had been lucky to only get a narrow gash across her forehead. She nearly lost her eye. It could have been worse, much worse. She didn’t bother looking to the sensor station, where Ensign Umedi’s body lay, his head rolling a meter away after the shard of deck plating removed it from his shoulders. There would be time to mourn later, if they lived through this.
“Time to main weapon charge?”
“Thirty seconds!”
“Captain! The Dawn of Ten Thousand Suns is offering to cover us and the Aecyne on an attack run to take out that X’thari dreadnought!”
“Is the Aecyne still with us?”
“She’s battered, Captain, but she’s still with us. One minute to full charge on their primary weapon.”
Faylen took a breath to steady herself. As the Captain with the most experience in the new Assassin-class corvettes, she had been made the squadron commander for the first group of Assassins to join the Confederate Navy. They had been refining their doctrine and tactics ever since, building off what the Black Stars had done. This, however, was their first test under fire.
“Danger close formation. We will fly as close to the Dawn and each other as we can. I want us practically touching shields with each other. Merge our sensor shadows with the Dawn’s. Once the primary is charged, divert all power from weapons except point defense to the shields.”
“Aecyne responding. Captain Sylven says he’s with us, you call the play.”
“Right. Get us into position with the Dawn. Match course and speed. Helm, when we pass the X’thari dreadnought, I want a fast one-eighty. Pick your axis, and send to Aecyne’s helmsman so we don’t hit each other. Weapons, the moment we make our turn, the X’thari are going to pick up our sensor shadows again, and they are not going to be happy about us being there. Set the primary for computer control. As soon as the vectors line up, I want it to take the shot.”
“Dawn and Aecyne confirm. Beginning the attack run now.”
Faylen nodded. It was time to show the galaxy that the Black Stars weren’t the only ones who could use the Assassins to their true potential. Corvettes taking out dreadnoughts wasn’t a thing that was supposed to happen. The Senators that had fought against the idea of the Navy taking ship designs from a mercenary company would finally have to shut up and admit defeat.
She smiled to herself as a thought popped into her head. Maybe, when this is over, they’ll let us get some of the Reapers?
(Flag Bridge, INS Vindictus, Coldana System)
Admiral Han Moon-Hee watched the strategic plot, watching the disposition of forces. This was a battle unlike any she had been in before. What drew her eyes, however, was the sudden disappearance of a X’thari dreadnought from the center of the Confederate area of responsibility. The only ship nearby was a heavy cruiser. Had they gotten a lucky shot?
Her eyes widened as two Assassins appeared as sensor shadows for just a moment. The Confederate version of the Black Star’s Assassins were just as stealthy as the original, even in the middle of battle, but the Imperial Navy, especially those who were on the loyalist side during the war, were probably the one group with the most practice trying to detect Assassins under combat conditions than anyone else in the galaxy, save only Nuevo Edo or the Black Stars themselves. But, even as stealthy as the ships were, they shouldn’t have been able to sneak into a firing position on the X’thari dreadnought like that! Not at that range!
Of course! They used the cruiser as a hat, using it to hide their sensor shadows! She recognized the maneuver only because, during the Civil War, then-Captain Mollen had said that he developed their tactics based on old, wet-navy submarine tactics, so she had researched them extensively.
But the Confederates weren’t the only ones that had bought ships from the Black Stars! She searched the plot, looking for the IFF signatures she knew would be there. There! And they were close enough to make a difference.
“Flash transmission to battle group Silver Dawn! New orders for all Imperial Navy Assassins! Each cohort is to partner with a traditional model heavy cruiser to make attack runs on the X’thari dreadnoughts. Have Admiral Catallia split her ships as she will.”
She paused, and then said, “Mark all Assassin cohorts on the plot. Superdreadnoughts closest to the Assassins are to divert fire to taking out the enemy cruisers. We need to take these ships out fast!”
“Admiral, the Glory of Terra!”
Moon-Hee searched the plot, and found what she was looking for. The Glory of Terra, the first Wrath-class battleship purchased by the Imperial Navy, was surging forward into a group of three X’thari dreadnoughts! What was her captain thinking?
Suddenly, all four of the Glory of Terra’s rail guns fired as one, at a range where the middle of the three dreadnoughts couldn’t hope to evade in time. The attack shattered the dreadnought’s shields, and looked like it crippled the ship. Follow-up attacks by the Glory’s energy weapons ripped into the X’thari vessel. As the two healthy dreadnoughts moved to flank the smaller battleship, the Glory unleashed a double broadside of torpedoes, ten Dragonbreath torpedoes slamming into each of the healthy dreadnoughts, setting off sympathetic explosions across the ship. The first dreadnought exploded as the energy weapons blew through where the reactor had to be located, masking the Glory for a moment until it emerged victorious from the other side of the blaze.
“Status of the Glory of Terra?”
“Captain Abentre signals that shields are at 28% and climbing, minor hull damage. Several systems damaged, and are being repaired, including Transition Drive, long-range sensors, and main life support.”
Stunned, it was all the Admiral could do to keep her composure. “Commander, make a note. After the battle is over, I wish to talk with Naval command about procuring more Black Star vessels.”
“As you wish, Admiral.”
(Flag Bridge, CNV Tribute of Gold, Coldana System)
Six X’thari cruisers targeted the Tribute while she was engaged in a slugging match with one of the X’thari dreadnoughts. Their grav lances overwhelmed the flagship’s shields for only a moment, but that was enough for a graser blast to penetrate into the heart of the superdreadnought. Damage control teams went to work immediately as systems were rerouted, and Commander Rustfoe took command in the secondary bridge as communications cut out to the main bridge.
The main bridge was a charnel house, with exploded panels and conduits turning the entire compartment into a bloodbath filled with the dead and maimed. Right now, Technician 1st Class Kurnim Graniteforge was concerned with the adjoining compartment, the Flag Bridge. As he forced the door open, he heard a brief whistling of air before the emergency forcefields snapped into place.
The main bridge was a charnel house. The flag bridge was a completely different affair. There were signs of slagging on the deck, caused by energy weapons, but there was no scene of carnage here. No, other than a bit of charring, the flag bridge looked remarkably pristine and sterile. Just as one might expect from a compartment looking directly out onto space.
“Graniteforge to Secondary Command. Alert the Commander, we’ve reached the Flag Bridge, but it is open to vacuum. No survivors. The Admiral is dead.”