"I see two viable options here," Riseth began. "First, we could take the tracking beacon from the Kaiakos to the Artemis and temporarily jump out, luring the scout ship into an ambush without using the weapon emplacements. If we're lucky, the pirates or whatever they are will take the bait and jump into the system to try and attack us."
"This means we'll be down one ship temporarily, and it relies on the pursuers being aggressive enough to follow up on their loss," Simon pointed out, voicing the flaw that had been bothering him.
"True," Alistair replied, "but it would also mean we take out at least one of their ships with minimal cost. My intuition tells me they'll still take those odds, thinking we're overconfident or are under the misconception it's just that one ship trailing us."
Riseth nodded. "Exactly. The second option is to stay in place and wait for them to jump in altogether. We won't have to hide the mines in the asteroid belt if they jump into the Lagrange point. However, this carries the risk of them waiting for reinforcements or jumping in at the system's edge rather than directly into the ambush location."
"I think that's less likely as it would give us too much warning and the chance to escape," Simon pointed out.
Alistair nodded in agreement. Simon's tendency to focus on worst-case scenarios contrasted with Alistair's optimism. The second plan had the advantage of not splitting their forces and a higher likelihood of their mines doing damage. Prefiring based on spy drone transmissions promised to inflict significant damage in the initial volley. The AI core, which they had temporarily integrated into the Kaiakos, had run simulations that favored the first approach, as it was more likely for the enemy fleet to engage in the parameters they wanted. It would, at worst, still kill the scout following them while their enemy threatened.
"I think we should proceed with the first option," James suggested. "In the worst case, we destroy the tracker if they don't take the bait, and salvage their scout ship as a consolation prize."
Simon grumbled but acknowledged the strategic advantage of the first plan. Riseth also supported it, noting that while deploying the mines mid-battle would likely result in many being destroyed before they could be effective, they would still provide distraction and some damage. Jessica deferred to the group's decision, while Alistair affirmed his agreement with a nod as he to preferred the first option.
"Alright, transmit our battle plan to the Kaiakos. We're going with the first plan and hoping they take the bait," Alistair instructed.
"We'll need to hold back and intentionally miss some shots to allow the scout ship to send out a distress call and lure the rest of the fleet into a false sense of security," James added, outlining their tactical approach.
An hour later, the Kaiakos jumped into the system, leaving the initial kill box as it approached the Artemis. Alistair's eyes were glued to the second display, which showed a delayed perspective of the neighboring system where the Kaiakos had just departed. He counted a roughly 20-second delay between the Kaiakos disappearing on the footage and reappearing in front of them. Once communications were no longer delayed, Nessyra appeared on another screen.
"Ah, it's good to talk to everyone in real time again," Nessyra greeted warmly. I agree with the plan, but I'd suggest a few small additions. Alistair, Riseth, and James should come on board the Kaiakos. If they attempt to board, we'll need every strong fighter we can get to repel them."
James immediately interjected, "No, I won't leave Jessica's side," earning a kiss from her as she leaned over. "Besides, the Kaiakos has excellent targeting thanks to the AI core, but the Artemis could use my expertise."
Nessyra mulled it over as the two ships approached each other. The Artemis maneuvered into position to dock with the Kaiakos, whose hangar bay had been purpose-built to accommodate several crafts the size of the Artemis.
"Alright, you got a point," she admitted, "we already rigged the tracker with an explosive, so you will be able to eject it and return and blow it up later."
Alistair watched on the screens as a moderately sized ship, covered in half-painted metal plating, jumped into the sector the Kaiakos had just left. The spy drone registered a long-range message being sent out, indicating they needed to act quickly. Remaining stationary longer than usual could attract the pursuer's attention or signal that something was amiss.
Alistair observed Oconoe approaching with what appeared to be an explosive device. They greeted each other, and James inspected the device before nodding and taking it back onboard the Artemis. As Alistair hurried toward the bridge, Nessyra shared her vision with him, revealing the rest of the pursuing fleet jumping into the other sector, each ship arriving with an accompanying white flash. Annoyingly, they had a new addition, increasing the fleet size to 13 ships. Fortunately, the newcomer was small and lightly armed compared to most of the other crafts.
Their plan relied heavily on the success of their ambush and the fact that the Artemis had recently traveled to the other system. This would significantly cut down the jump drive's calculation time, ensuring that the Artemis would likely appear within minutes after the battle had started. The tension was palpable as Alistair sensed the powerful shields of the Kaiakos being activated. All non-essential parts of the ship went inert to save energy, causing the lights in the corridor to dim, leaving only the path on the metal flooring illuminated. Riseth and Alistair arrived at the bridge just in time to watch the Artemis, with the tracker on board, jump out of the system in a white flash of light.
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Immediately, Alistair noticed Nessyra sitting in the captain's chair, idly stroking Dexter, who sat on her lap, giving her a bond villain look as she oversaw the rest of the bridge. He also noted the number of demons and humans on board, manning different consoles. Despite the redundancy, he knew the AI core would handle most of the heavy lifting. The bridge crew's job was mainly to keep everyone apprised of any changes and support the AI as best they could. They were also prepared to take over in the worst-case scenario where the AI was damaged, though this was unlikely. None of them believed the pursuing ships possessed the magical or technological marvels capable of disrupting its functions.
Multiple timers appeared, displaying the predicted jump times and the arrival of various parties and events. Alistair watched as the timers rapidly counted down. The silent anticipation was almost unbearable, and he considered activating his Akashic Soundboard. His offer to play some epic music was met with a snicker from Riseth and some of the crew, while Nessyra and the rest gave him disapproving looks. Seeing the fear in some of their eyes, he decided to lift their morale.
"Listen up! They may have the numbers, but we have the quality and the element of surprise. Don't underestimate the planetary-grade defensive emplacements we've put down. Our enemies will learn the hard way that the Ryser Clan is not to be fucked with!"
As if to underscore his words, the Kaiakos powered up its weapon arrays and confirmed readiness across the board, with predictive algorithms completing their tasks. The bridge erupted in cheers as the first countdown reached zero, and the enemy scout jump vanished in a flash. They waited as the minutes ticked down to the next timer. They watched as the Artemis ejected the tracking device, with a slight delay in the footage. Alistair knew they were already calculating their return jump.
"Get ready for a show. We're going to cripple that ship so it can call its parasite friends for help. I’ve ensured the AI will record all outgoing messages and decode them, so we may learn what these black-market wastrels are up to," Nessyra announced. Her words were met with enthusiastic cheers from the Neshan crew members and slight confusion from the human crew before they too joined in, cheering a bit delayed.
Alistair heard and sensed the laser weaponry powering up as the smell of ozone grew stronger. The ship seemed to brim with energy in anticipation of the scout ship jumping into their sector. As the timer approached zero, the crew's eyes were glued to the main screen, focused on the arrival point of the scouting craft. In a flash, the tube-shaped ship appeared, only to have its main weapon and half its engines shaved off by their laser fire, with other shots scraping across or hitting empty space as planned. Alistair noted the AI detecting an outgoing message and beginning to decode it.
The tube-like ship's shields activated as missiles arced out from the Kaiakos toward the much smaller craft. Though Alistair knew this was just a fraction of their missile pods, they needed to appear to be struggling with just one craft. On another monitor, Alistair watched the enemy fleet, his heart beating faster, hoping they weren't fleeing, willing them to do something stupid and take that bait.
The scout ship's return fire barely scratched their shields. Its shield flickered but held until the second volley of lasers penetrated it, incapacitating the craft. The crew watched with bated breath as the timer reached 0, and the rest of the fleet jumped out of the neighboring system one after the other, just within the margin the AI predicted. They cheered, knowing everything was going according to plan. Alistair's intuition told him they had the enemy hook, line, and sinker. The Artemis, jumping from the other system, would arrive roughly one minute after the attacking fleet if they chose to jump into their sector.
A demon at a console called out, "We got green light on all emplacements. They are ready to fire!"
A human woman at another console was next to speak, "Space mines are leaving the asteroid belt. ETA roughly 20 seconds after enemy fleet arrival!"
Alistair heard an intense humming sound and knew the Kaiakos's main railgun was powering up to shoot its devastating payload into the fleet, which was shortly arriving. It was followed shortly after by the main thrusters of the Kaiakos starting up as they approached the battlefield for a pass, which would allow them only one shot with the main railgun.
The timers approached 0, and Alistair watched as multiple missile groups they had preemptively fired out of their tubes and reached the kill box, which would shortly be followed by their lasers while the missile pods continuously cycled, sending new missiles streaming towards the predicted targets.
Another demon sitting on a different console was the next to speak up, "The main railgun is ready to fire at the predicted flagship location,"
Alistair watched the fleet appear on their main screen just as the missiles arrived at their location, impacting in a cacophony of explosions before their weapon emplacements on the nearby moons and stable asteroid satellites all fired upon the fleet. Alistair had expected there to be some rumbling, but there was only a bright flash of light as the main rail gun fired upon the largest and most elaborate ship, piercing straight through where they had expected their bridge. As soon as they confirmed the hit, the Kaiakos veered off course for a broadside. Their prediction turned out to be wrong as it hadn't been the bridge of the flagship but the main reactor location, which blew up in a blinding flash of light due to being sheered in half mid-fusion process, tearing the craft apart as it hurled toward the other crafts in the formation, which weren't fairing much better under the assault. Particularly, the asteroid ships broke apart and crumbled as they were hit by railgun fire from the emplacements.
The enemy shields flickered out of existence one after another, as they had to split their fire between the Kaiakos and the approaching mines. Despite their flawless execution, the Kaiakos' shields were also taking a beating and wouldn't hold much longer. Alistair watched the shield flash and crack on the screen as they flew closer, with their point defense weapons already overheating from shooting down the incoming missiles.
Then it happened. The Kaiakos' shield vanished, likely not to recover before the battle's end. The first attacks impacted their armored hull, causing the entire ship to violently shake under the assault from the remainder of the enemy fleet.