Chapter Thirty

Harbinger

Sometimes, small things make all the difference in the long run. A message sent but not received, or a call of warning that lets the right person duck or the wrong person become distracted at a crucial moment.

Little things are overlooked in history books but can mean everything at the moment. For the Harbinger, and more importantly, its Captain, that small thing was a warning from Captain Hellena. Instead of a request for contact, she sent two words.

Thirty minutes.

While it might not affect the outcome of events, Nellie knew that it would help. Orders were issued, and final checks were done as her fleet moved into position.

They were expecting the attack to launch from the two o’clock jump point, which Hellena said was in Sagacity space, so the Harbinger was headed there. The carrier Sparklight was sent to three, with the Cruiser Banjo’s Heart alongside.

To the One position, Nellie sent the Vey’s Charge under the command of Baz and Salem, with the Cix-El’s Reunion to provide escort.

That put the Bly and the Talon on the Twelve.

Automated Cruisers covered all of the other jump points, but Nellie assigned each one to one of the other groups. If needed, they had assigned places to switch to.

Overall, it was designed to cover the most likely attack points while the others appeared covered. Hopefully, that would be enough.

Even the Jump point to Hellena’s sector was covered, just in case they were ordered to attack.

Their four dedicated destroyers had been left to guard the station and the new dock in case anything got through.

Finally, with the ships assigned, orders given, checks made, and everything being planned, Nellie had nothing to do but wait.

She checked to see if Lucy had replied, but the cent on duty reported that nothing had been received.

Oh, well.

Nellie took long, deep breaths, crossed her fingers, and waited.

With five minutes to go, the reports of activity from the other jump points came in, and Nellie watched the other ships deploy, keeping a careful eye on the network to ensure no one was getting overwhelmed.

Each jump point activated one after another, with arrivals seeming imminent, all except the one they expected.

“Something coming through at the Nine,” Morton called, and Nellie focused on the scan in that area.

A small ship arrived, barely destroyer class. A second later, it exploded. The entire thing must have been packed with explosives, and the detonation wiped out most of the minefield.

One after another, the same thing happened at other jump points; the arrivals staggered and seemingly random. None of their own ships were damaged; their captains knew to stand off from a jump point.

When the Three lit at last, it was almost a relief. Anything was better than sitting here and waiting.

The half-hour timer counted down to five seconds as the Harbinger jumped into position.

As the down-jump turbulence cleared and their scans started to show clear once more, Nellie saw the massive flare of a large ship coming into the system.

A massive freighter appeared, the engines flaring as it shot straight ahead.

“Cartier, Shields to full on the bow,” Morton called, and then the freighter detonated.

The blast wave hit a fraction of a second after the flare blanked their forward cameras, and the Harbinger barely shuddered. The debris's impacts were not even felt in the C.I.C.

“All stations! All stations! This is the Admiral. Prepare to engage the enemy.”

Nellie watched the scan as her readouts reported ships beginning to appear through the jump point.

Her mouth dried as the near scan populated with six capital ships, their arrival almost perfectly in sync. More flashes came, and Nellie found there was no more time to wait.

“Mister Cabot,” Nellie called, carefully keeping her voice calm and level. “All batteries, weapons free.”

“Aye, Admiral!” Cabot called, but his voice was not exactly calm.

“Morton, bring the beam weapons online, shift their targeting control to me,” Nellie called.

“Aye, Admiral.” Morton nodded.

“Erikson, plot an elliptical course around the jump point; move us between them and the asteroid belt.” Nellie saw the beams light up on her weapons readout and smiled. It was time to even the odds.

Armored ports on the bow of the Harbinger slid open as the XL Beam batteries were brought to bear on the closest Capital ship.

“Fire One!” Nellie called, and the beam slammed into the side of the Capital ship. The enemy ship's shields held for a second and then failed. A flash lit the scans, but Nellie was already moving on.

“Fire Two!” Nellie called, and this time, the Imperial Line ship crumpled immediately.

“Incoming fire!” Morton warned, and Nellie braced as volleys of missiles and lasers raked their port side.

“Shields holding!” Cartier replied, her voice delighted.

“Enemy ships coming into battery range,” Cabot said with a dark smile as a rumbling spread through the Harbinger.

“Keep us moving, Erikson,” Nellie ordered as she targeted the largest Capital ship as it tried to maneuver clear out of the firing arc of the Beams.

“Fire Three! Fire Four!” Nellie called, and the Harbinger shook as the Beams on the Starboard side of the Bow fired simultaneously.

The Line capital ship took both hits, one on the portside, the other only hitting the bow.

Lights flickered, and then it went dark, a hole punched clean through.

“We have a trio coming in from twelve o’clock, high-angle, Admiral!” Morton called, and Nellie looked to see three capital ships moving in close formation. They had moved high and were coming almost from above.

“Erikson, roll us to bring starboard batteries to bear. Cartier, reinforce shields on that side.” Nellie called, putting the Beams into their recharge cycle.

“Rolling!” Erikson called, and the Harbinger began the roll.

“Focus fire on the lead ship,” Nellie ordered.

“Aye, Admiral!”

Nellie watched the railguns fire as the laser arrays on the portside beat the rounds to the target, weakening the shields significantly before the rail rounds tore the bow to pieces.

“Brace for impact!” Morton warned as the remaining two capital ships opened fire.

“Starboard shields are at twenty percent!” Cartier warned, “Ten!”

The two capital ships broke off their attack, one of them listing and struggling to maneuver.

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The slower ship was an easy target, and the Centrums targeting the batteries tore it to pieces, the ship drifting as it was cut into multiple pieces.

“Watch for—” Nellie began before a round struck the generator core and detonated it.

The shield readouts on the starboard went red as the Harbinger lurched from the explosion.

“Repair the shields on the starboard side!” Nellie yelled, seeing He issuing commands as fast as he could. “Erikson, keep the portside facing the enemy as much as you can!”

There were still ships coming through, and the near-scan showed three more Capital ships and over a dozen cruisers still operative while nanites worked to repair the damage to the starboard side.

“We have enemy cruisers moving to attack from the flank!” Morton called.

“I see them,” Nellie replied. “Launch the escort destroyers from the starboard hangers.”

“It won’t buy us long,” Morton warned.

“We won’t need long!” He snapped. “We will have basic shields back in twenty seconds!”

“Then let’s give them something else to worry about,” Nellie smiled as four indicators went green on her readouts. “Erikson, get me a line on those last three Capital ships.”

The Harbinger shuddered as some of the railguns on the starboard side were repaired and began to pepper the cruisers, moving to flank them.

Nellie tracked the two escort destroyers they had launched. They were able to avoid the cruisers' attacks, so they began to work together, focusing on the weaker standard cruisers.

One went down, while the others were forced further apart to avoid crossing fire with each other.

“Fire One!” Nellie called, the XL Beam hammering the lead Line Capital ship as it fled for the asteroid belt. “Fire Two!”

The capital ship buckled, tumbling as it lost control of its trajectory and lost power.

“Incoming!”

Nellie saw the third capital ship, the damaged one firing its engines on full as it charged the aft of the Harbinger.

“Putain!” Nellie swore. “BRACE!”

The Line ship rammed into the engines, weapons firing until it detonated.

Her board lit up with red, and alarms began to sound.

“Aft shields destroyed! Engines offline!” Morton yelled over the alarms. “We have thrusters only!”

“Understood,” Nellie nodded. “Keep those batteries firing, Mister Morton!”

Nellie accessed the active mode of the Captain’s chair, the alarms fading as she slipped into the network.

The system appeared around her, a tight cluster of enemy ships swarming around Harbinger as the batteries kept firing and the ship shivered from impacts.

The rest of the system was looking better than she had expected. They had clearly sent probing attacks from the jump points on either side of the main force, which her people were handling well.

None of the ships were in trouble as far as she could see.

The two big surprises were to be found from the previously quiet Nine o’clock jump point, where a ragged-looking group of ships had jumped in. It had been a poor choice on their part as it seemed the automated cruisers were more than a match for them, but the point was the alternate of the Twelve jump point, which meant they were currently dealing with Crush aboard the Talon, while the Bly under the command of Vey was moments away from finishing off the two Heavy Cruisers that had arrived from there.

When the Bly moved to assist the Talon, those ships were done.

Many had already turned and were running for the jump point.

The biggest surprise was the attack that came from the ore belt itself. The collection of ships hiding within had attacked the Rest and the new dock but ran headfirst into her four destroyers, along with fire from Paren’s Orbital Defence Array that circled the Rest.

They were not doing well, and a cruiser was already drifting while the destroyers were dogfighting.

In short, everyone was doing fine, with the exception of the Harbinger.

It was time to activate one of her little extras.

Nellie slipped back out of active use of the Captain’s chair, sitting up again as passive mode activated. She had only been under less than a minute, but the seconds mattered at a time like this.

Nellie targeted the nearest drifting capital ship and estimated the distance.

It was in range.

“Prepare to get underway,” Nellie called.

“Admiral, we are still attempting to repair the engines!” Morton called.

“I will handle that,” Nellie smiled and accessed the hidden controls.

Grav Tow turrets rose from the top of the Harbinger, locking onto several wrecks around it and reeling them in.

“Admiral?” Morton looked over at her.

“He, transfer repair controls to my terminal,” Nellie called.

“Aye, Admiral!” He nodded.

“We are the Nanite Imperium,” Nellie grinned. “Let’s show them why.”

The activation button was big, and it was red. She was only human, after all.

Nellie pushed it.

Nanites poured out of the Harbinger, following the paths of force created by the narrowly focused gravity beams. They formed a link to the destroyed ships, and the lines thickened as they began to harvest the wreckage.

“Keep the turrets firing,” Nellie told her stunned crew. “We will be ready to move shortly.”

“Aye. Aye, Captain, I mean Admiral!” Morton turned away from the external feeds and started shouting orders.

The enemy quickly attempted to target the lines of nanites, targeting fire on them. The problem was, that stopped them from firing on the Harbinger itself. Which left the shields to recharge and the rail guns and laser arrays free to target the more damaged vessels.

“Engines back online!” Erikson cheered.

“Repairs complete, Admiral!” Morton reported.

“Good,” Nellie reluctantly deactivated the nanites, the lines thinning as they withdrew into the Harbinger once more. “Detaching Grav Tow locks. Navigator Erikson, we are clear to maneuver.”

“Aye, Admiral!” Erikson grinned at her across the C.I.C.

“Bring us to bear on the enemy capitals, then resume course,” Nellie ordered, sliding back into her chair with satisfaction.

The majority of the capitals were already down, and the flow of ships was slowing through the jump point.

“Fire One!” Nellie called. “Fire Two!”

Another Imperial Line capital was cut to pieces by the beam weapons before an alarm sounded.

“Enemy beam weapons locking!” Cartier warned.

“All Crew Brace for impact!” Nellie ordered. “Engineer He, shift interlocks on the cores to reinforce shields!”

The shields flared as the engines on the Harbinger cut out again. The laser arrays went dark, and all the ship's power was funneled through the shield generators.

Two Nanoforges, the generators from three capital ships, and two emergency backups taken from cruisers all poured their energy into the shields as the pair of beam weapons hit the exact same spot.

“Shifting starboard shields to port!” Cartier warned.

Nellie watched the shield power readings hit 600% before beginning to fall quickly.

300%

200%

100%

One of the beams winked out, the Capital ship breaking off.

80%

40%

10%

“Shields down!” Cartier warned.

“All power to weapons and repair!” Nellie commanded.

The laser arrays burst to life, and the railguns spat death into the void as the beam slammed into the armor plating, drilling through it and into the external hull before it cut out, the power exhausted.

“Return power levels to normal,” Nellie called.

The nanites flooded the breach, and an emergency shield flashed up over the area. The inner hull was intact, so they hadn’t lost atmosphere, but Nellie ordered all helmets fitted and locked just in case.

“Report!” Nellie called.

All departments reported no casualties on the ship, and Nellie kept an eye on the regenerating armor plating. The nanites rebuilt it inch by inch from the resources kept in a special hold on board, exactly for this eventuality.

The railguns and laser arrays reaped a heavy bounty as the enemy broke completely. They had just seen a ship stand up to twin XL Beam weapons designed for planetary bombardment. They were called shipkillers for a reason. To survive one was the mark of a great ship. To survive two at once? That was a ship of incredible quality. To survive two continuous beams and appear to only have minor damage?

That was something you ran from.

The Imperial Line turned tail and ran.

“Permission to jump us ahead of the fleeing force, Admiral!” Erikson yelled.

“Denied,” Nellie called with a laugh. “We don’t want them scattering into the system.”

“Aww,” Erikson looked crestfallen as she turned away.

“Morton, contact the other captains and find out if anyone needs a hand,” Nellie called.

“We are advised all forces have begun to retreat, Admiral,” Morton saluted. “I took the liberty of keeping in contact with them during the fight, Ma’am.”

“Good work,” Nellie nodded to him. “Well, if everything is in hand, I am going to the galley to get a HyperDrive before we begin recovery operations.”

“Aye, Admiral!”

As she walked through the ship, the crew lined the hallways, saluting as she walked by, pride showing in every one of them.

The Nanite Imperium was no longer hanging by a thread, and they all felt it.

The galley was empty, which was not surprising given that the entire organic crew was currently in the C.I.C. and busy running checks. Nellie went to the automated dispenser, filled a cup with HyperDrive, hunted down way more sugar than was healthy, and sat down at one of the metal tables.

There, alone and unobserved, Nellie allowed herself to feel the terror and anxiety of the battle at last. The moments crashed into her one after another as she sat there shaking and trying not to spill her drink.

She was struck by that first moment over and over again, seeing the space around her fill with capital ships and heavy cruisers while she and her crew sat alone in the Harbinger.

The ship and crew had performed better than she could have hoped in most respects, but Nellie would have loved to keep the nanite emergency repair a secret for the next battle.

And there would be a next battle.

While everybody celebrated the drubbing they had given the Imperial Line and its allies today, Nellie could only think of one thing….

How would the enemy react? Would they be more careful or throw everything they had at the Imperium in one go?

For the first time in a long time, Nellie hoped for a smart enemy—one smart enough to try to get more information before they launched an all-out attack.