Chapter Forty-Five
Battlefront
“All ships converge on Autumn’s Wind!” Hellena ordered.
“All ships converge on Autumn’s Wind!” Her first officer repeated the order, and the comm officer relayed it to the fleet.
Hellena looked around the bridge as she waited for the first contacts to come into range. Her people looked calm and collected, the battle ahead consuming their attention fully. As it should be. The time for nerves had finally passed.
For the last few days, everyone had been tense as they worked feverishly to organize the best defense they could. Every spare second had been spent going over and over the battle logs and hoping against hope that she would make the right call.
So much had rested on being in the right place from the start.
Cyrus was a good commander, but he suffered from the same condition every experienced commander did. He tended toward the same tactics that had worked in the past. For Cyrus, that was a pattern of behaviors that had served him well as a mercenary captain.
A few minutes ago, a set of shuttles had appeared briefly at the jump points in Forest’s Hush, Sand’s Embrace, and Aumtumn’s Wind. Each had been nearly instantly destroyed by the frigates guarding the points, but Hellena made sure the one in Autumn’s Wind lasted the longest. Certainly long enough for them to send a message over a relay.
The scan data they sent would show a lightly defended system with no larger ships waiting to ambush. The reason for that was simple. Hellena and her ships had been waiting on the other side of the jump point in Sand’s Embrace, while Berenice’s fleet was waiting in Forest’s Hush. The moment the shuttle was destroyed, they entered the jump points.
Cyrus had sent another shuttle to Aumtumn’s wind while they were in Transit Space.
“Send orders for Micro jump one,” Hellena ordered.
“Send orders for Micro jump number one!” Her first officer relayed, and the ship stuttered before the view from the bridge changed.
Cyrus had gotten his confirmation of a weak system and attacked immediately. His fleet was pouring through the jump point even now.
Running her eyes over her own scans, Hellena saw the flashes of her allies coming out of their jumps. In moments, the scan was full of ships. They had almost twenty capital ships now and nearly twice that number of frigates.
It was not quite equal to her father’s fleet, but it was close enough if their plan worked, which she really hoped it did.
By now, Cyrus would know he had been tricked into committing. The logical thing to do would be to disengage from the fight immediately and retreat through the jump point. Hellena wasn’t worried about that happening. Cyrus had never liked being tricked, preferring to prove himself the ‘superior’ commander by fighting out of the trap. She knew he would do the same here. More importantly, the news was out about his plan, and now the galaxy was coming to the Confeds. He had to win and win big if he wanted to survive.
“Civilian ships are in the combat zone,” her comm officer relayed.
Hellena looked over, seeing the convoy of twenty frigates frantically attempting to counter-burn and change direction. They were scattering in panic as the enemy fleet accelerated toward them.
“Enemy fleet moving to attack the convoy,” her first officer warned.
“Move us to intercept, full speed,” Hellena ordered.
Their micro-jump had positioned them for a flanking attack on the enemy fleet, which had left the civilian convoy open to attack, and Berenice’s fleet was similarly out of place. It was a critical error for any commander, and Cyrus had jumped on it.
The enemy frigates pulled ahead of the slower capitals, their lower mass allowing them to accelerate much faster than the larger ships. A flurry of comm signals went back and forth as Cyrus’ Captains ordered the civilian ships to cut power and surrender.
Her father had taught Hellena early on that the taking of hostages was a priority in any attack. Just a few dozen civilians was enough to make the defenders hesitate to fire on you. It wouldn’t be all of them, and it wouldn’t be for long, but it was an advantage, and a good commander took any advantage they could get. The civilian convoy was an absolute gift for the attackers.
A couple of them tried to run, and they were destroyed in a flurry of weapon fire from the lead frigates. That was enough for the others to surrender immediately.
The frigates drew into a tight cordon around the convoy, preventing any escape and ensuring any weapons fired at them would hit the civilians as well.
It was pure Cyrus, through and through.
“Send the order for jump sequence two,” Hellena smiled.
“Jump sequence two is a go!”
The fleet moved again, appearing on the high right of the enemy capitals as Berenice’s fleet appeared behind them.
The Capitals were unguarded thanks to their frigates accelerating away; the thirty or so enemy leads spread out and out of position.
“We are receiving orders to stand down, or they will destroy the civilian vessels,” her comm reported. “Admiral Cyrus is demanding to speak to you personally.”
“He’s trying to play for time,” Hellena said. She wanted to see him again, to look into his face and make him see what a mistake he had made in treating her so poorly. Cyrus was counting on that. While they talked, his fleet would move back together again. That was not something she would allow, even to assuage her own ego. “Battlesong.”
“Battlesong!” Her first officer yelled.
Hellena’s ships opened fire on the capital ships at the same time as the ‘convoy’ all turned to aim at the nearest frigate, slamming into the side of the enemy ships before the densely packed holds full of explosives were detonated.
One of the things about Ember’s Hearth being a mining planet was that it had vast stocks of explosives.
The tightly clustered frigates went off like a string of fireworks; only those on the far outer ring of the cordon managed to escape intact. Even then, their shields were flickering and failing. Hellena smiled at the readings on her scan.
She had said the convoy was an absolute gift for an enemy commander, and Cyrus had forgotten one of his own lessons: If something was too good to be true, trust that feeling.
She only allowed herself a moment of smug satisfaction before turning her focus to the battle again. They were still outnumbered, and her father’s commanders were skilled. This was far from a done deal.
“All ships, engage focus fire protocols immediately,” Hellena ordered. “Set up a relay to the targeting computers on the F.T.C.S. Embargo.”
“Focus fire protocols are online! Relay to the Embargo,” Her first officer called loudly as the first shots sparked off their shields.
It was time to see which one of them was a better commander.
Hellena, or her father.
/===<<<>>>===\
Preparation was everything. That was Berenice’s personal motto. Well, it was one of them. Like everything else she had ever seen, Berenice considered mottos to be a commodity and hoarded them accordingly. At last count, she had accrued a healthy balance of over sixty-two personal mottos.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
However, in this situation, that was the one that fit the most.
“Launch the drone waves,” Berenice ordered from her seat in the very center of the former Forest’s Hush flagship.
“Yes, Merchant,” her captain answered immediately. He relayed the order and then hesitated, clearly wanting to say something.
“What is it?” Berenice asked.
“This seems wasteful.” The captain looked away as she looked over at him. “So many drones…”
“You have to spend money to make money in this galaxy, Captain,” Berenice said confidently as a wave of small black drones shot from every dock and bay on the massive capital. “Allow me to explain,” She pulled up the combat display on the large viewscreen on the starboard wall of the command center. It showed a veritable wave of signals flowing from her fleet of ships and towards the enemy lines. “The cost of these drones, while large, is only of import when considered against the chance of profit. In this case, we need to succeed only once, and we will have acquired assets far surpassing our costs incurred.”
“And if we don’t?” The captain asked as the enemy ships opened fire on the drones, wiping out scores of them every second.
“Then they will have taken hits we didn’t,” Berenice shrugged. “The worth of a life is always higher than the cost it takes to save it.”
That was a new motto for her collection. While Crush-Cha had never actually said the words, it was inspired by him nonetheless.
“Merchant?” The captain looked surprised.
“Credits are just a way to keep score, Captain. In the end, only lives matter. Remember that.”
“I will,” the captain said with a deep bow. “As will the people you saved with this move, I am sure.”
“Then we are in profit already,” Berenice beamed. “Now, let’s see if we can’t make a few more credits as well. After all, I do like to win.”
Her attack drones had an unexpected bonus to their use. Namely, several of the enemy ships panicked as the wave broke through their weapons range and closed. With even a few of them out of position, their firing line was disrupted, and the first opportunity presented itself.
“Target the exposed capital in sector six, fire beam and all forward arrays, and send targeting information to the Songbird command,” Berenice said calmly.
The drone wave parted like the sea breaking around a rock a split second before the flagship fired. The exposed capital lasted for three seconds before the combined fire overwhelmed the shields first and then the armor plating. It was holed seconds later.
“Permission to fire at—” the captain cut off as a blast from one of Hellena’s people collapsed the shields on a frigate. The drones swarmed the ship immediately. One by one, they slammed into the armor plating, spraying concentrated acid onto the hull that completely failed to affect their own ceramic armor. Gasses started to vent from all over before the ship began to drift.
“The moment it is clear, send the salvage crews to recover our first capture.” Berenice sat back with a satisfied smile.
“I wouldn’t have believed it,” the captain said with a smile. “Mining drones did that?”
“Designed purpose is not the sole use of a product, just the intended one.” Berenice offered. She really did need to add that to the next copy of her book. She made a quick note on her implant and focused back on the battle.
Ten minutes later, she lost her first frigate to enemy fire. The captain of the doomed ship had done nothing wrong; it was just bad luck and a cheap bit of plating. That was far from her only loss, however. The battle between the fleets was not like the ones the Imperium fought. Without the advantage given by nanite-powered technology, it was much more of an even field, which meant that as their first tricks ran out, it became a slugfest.
Three fleets sat in space, barely moving, and fired salvos back and forth until one side or the other lost a ship. They would reposition and fire again. The early moves by Berenice and Hellena had evened the odds, but that was about all.
Time crawled by as, one after another, ships were holed, critically damaged, or, worst of all, completely obliterated.
Hellena was also losing ships, but her side had the advantage of several Imperium-designed ships, which made all the difference.
“Berenice to command,” she called over the encrypted comm.
“Go ahead,” Hellena responded.
“I can’t keep this up much longer,” Berenice warned. “I’ve lost half my ships and have injured crew on every one. I won’t be able to survive if my front line crumbles.”
“I’m not doing much better over here,” Hellena replied. “I’m doing what I can, but those capitals in the center of my father’s lines are damn hard to hit.”
“Dah dah dah DAH dah!”
“What was that?” Berenice asked. “Who’s on this line?”
“Dah dah dah DAH DAH!”
“Just you and me, I thought,” Hellena growled. “Whoever that is, get off this fucking line!”
“DAH DAH DAH DAAAAAH!”
Lights sparkled off to one side of the battle as dozens of new ships appeared off to the port side of Berenice’s fleet.
“Here come the fucking pirates!” A voice crowed, and Berenice laughed when she recognized it.
“Good timing, Tri,” Berenice called.
“Wait till you see what Quad found!” Tri cackled.
The new ships opened fire instantly, a bizarre collection of weapons that seemed almost deliberately nonsensical. The effect was immediate, with several enemy ships being heavily damaged almost immediately.
“All Ships, All Ships. FIRE AT WILL!” Hellena roared over the comm.
The balance of the battle had shifted instantly, with the enemy fleet drawing into a tight sphere to cover each other while Hellena and Berenice battered them and Tri’s pirates attacked from all angles, preventing any ship from being able to break away.
Time was on their side now. The enemy was surrounded, completely unable to move, and it was only a mistake on Hellena’s part that would allow them even to escape.
“Merchant, do we offer terms of surrender?” the captain asked nervously. Berenice didn’t blame him for the question. The longer this battle went on, the more ships and people they would lose. From the point of view of a merchant, it was a simple choice. Offer terms, maximize profit, and minimize losses.
If only she were still just a merchant.
“Open a line, broadcast to the enemy fleet in the clear,” Berenice said with a sigh as she stood and pulled off her Marchant jacket. Beneath, she wore her armor, emblazoned with a black shield crossed with silver gauntlets.
“Line’s open, Merch—Marshall,” her captain said anxiously.
Berenice took a deep breath, feeling that shift in thinking that always came with acting as a Marshall. It was like an echo. In her mind, she watched a brave young man fall all over again.
When she looked up again, the Merchant was gone.
“This is Marshall Berenice of the Tri-Clan Alliance. You have attempted to attack a system for the purposes of theft, murder, coercion, and in support of the terror acts planned by Cyrus of the Falling Waters. I have reviewed the evidence and found you guilty of all charges. The sentence is death. If you wish to appeal, launch yourself clear of whatever ship you are on in an escape pod. Mercy may be granted, but is not guaranteed.”
“We are receiving a reply,” the captain nodded, and the comm officer displayed it on screen.
“You are invaders in Confederated space. Remove yourselves, or pay the price.”
“Make me.” Berenice smiled. “You are trapped, surrounded, and going to lose. Choose wisely, whoever you are.”
“Never!”
“Proceed to carry out the sentence,” Berenice said to the captain and ended the comm call.
The call went out that a pair of new ships had jumped into the system, but Berenice was distracted by what had just emerged from a micro-jump.
“What the hell is that?” Berenice asked.
“That is Quad’s little surprise,” Tri said happily. “And they are exactly where we want them.”
Berenice brought up the scan data on the new ship and blinked. It was effectively an armored wedge shape with enough engines to power several capitals. The shield arrays were all tight against the hull, and not a single weapon signature showed anywhere on it.
“What the stars is that thing?” Berenice asked a moment before the engines lit, and it shot toward the enemy ships.
“RAMMING SPEED!” Quad’s voice thundered over the comm as the massive ship shot forward like a railgun round.
“Huh?” Berenice looked up in time to see it collide with a frigate. The frigate was split in half without the ship seeming to slow. A second later it slammed into another, which also split.
Finally, it struck one of the capitals in the center, and the sensors flashed with an explosion. Still, the thing kept going, plowing into the side of another capital before it finally came to rest.
For a moment, everything was silent, and then the first pirate fired into the hole smashed into the side of the enemy defensive formation.
“Please tell me Quad isn’t on that ship,” Berenice called to Tri urgently.
“No, he’s here with me. What kind of an idiot would do that with a ship they were in?” Tri replied before there was a hurried, whispered conversation. “I meant, what kind of incredibly forgiving tactical genius would do that?”
Berenice was laughing as Hellena called over the comm.
“What is going on with those two new ships?”
/===<<<>>>===\
Two strange ships arced through the system while the fastest ships from the three fleets did their best to catch up. Each one was a smooth, oblong shape with a single massive engine on the back. Each ship showed a single life sign, along with heavy armor and shielding but no weapons.
They both glowed with energy, however.
Several ships jumped ahead of them, trying desperately to cut them off. One even managed to clip the rear one, sending it careening off target. The other, however, never slowed or deviated from course as it plunged into the orbit of the largest habitable planet. It counter-burned hard, the life sign winking out under the extreme stresses that threatened to tear the entire ship apart. It held, if only just, and dove into the atmosphere, a trail of fire that ended in a massive explosion.
For a fraction of a second, a tear was visible, as if the universe had been pulled apart to reveal the chaotic, colorful Transit Space beneath. Then, the energy poured out, a wave of color that washed across the planet, filling the atmosphere entirely and spreading further, swallowing the two moons and then… leaking further.
The chaotic energy built and built until it seemed to reach a point of balance. As the fleets arrived, the energy finally started to recede, and a single message winged its way across the Tri-Clan alliance and out into the wider universe.
“We failed; the weapon has been used. Autumn’s Wind is gone.”