“Always expect the unexpected.”

-Levvi Batlin

***Outer Rim***

***Levvi Batlin***

“The fleet is about to enter the system!”

I nod, affirming that I took notice of my officer’s warning. “Assistant, please give me a tactical overview with the usual layout. I want timestamps on every contact.”

Dialling down the lift-field which is installed in my belt, I allow myself to float a little lower in order to get a better view of my officer’s actions. The bridge's layout includes a high ceiling, which helps me in my function as an observer.

The captain of my flagship and the rest of the usual ten man command-crew are arranged around a round hologram module which allows everyone to see all the necessary information at once.

As the general of this expedition, I am a mere spectator. The captain of my fleet’s flagship and his crew know our plan perfectly well. Normally, I would stay in the home-system, but this is a special case.

My forces are about to engage the enemy for the first time in an encounter which can’t be called a mere skirmish.

A fleet of a thousand of our best ships is about to enter a major Cyber system. Judging by the reports, it must be one of their resource hubs, a gathering point for resources before they are shipped deeper into Cyber-space to one of their industrial bases.

We have yet to identify one of their core-systems, but our scouts identified enough major assets to justify this mission. An important rule of space combat is to limit the enemy’s ability to produce ships. They can control all the planets they want, but if they don’t manage to get out of their gravity wells, they are trapped.

“Fleet is entering real space! Kinetic weapons on their way!”

I regard the three-dimensional map of the system while I float above the bridge-crew.

There are five large planets and a few rocks. Nothing of real interest. It seems like the Cyber simply chose the area because the location was convenient.

The fact that there are just five planets was also a reason for choosing this spot as the first stage of our crusade.

We have to get a feeling for the Cyber’s capabilities. That means that we will test their reaction to our weapons, our ability to take their ships in boarding actions, and their defensive technology.

“Kinetic weapons are looking good. All five projectiles are on target, a miss is unlikely,” one of the officers reports.

The kinetic weapons which he is talking about are large asteroids which we prepared beforehand. They were chosen for their mass and density, and after making sure that they are able to withstand the structural stress, we accelerated each of them over the course of several days to a sizeable percentage of the speed of light.

All of this happened outside the Cyber system in order to make sure that our enemy doesn’t get wind of our intentions. I have no idea if they are capable of doing the same thing, but if their technological base is below tier-eight, then they shouldn’t be capable of taking large objects with their ships to warp-space.

The important thing about a warp-field is to make sure that there are no fluctuations. Size and form of the field play an important role, and the nature of warp-emitters makes it almost impossible to extend the field far outside a ship.

But where there is a will, there is a way. By arranging several ships in a formation around the object in question, and by having their emitters work together, it’s possible to take something far larger than the ships themselves to warp.

The exercise is a strain on the emitters and the math requires a thinking device like the Assistant. A device that’s very close to an artificial intelligence and trespasses certainly on the grounds of forbidden technology.

The G.S. itself didn’t master that particular trick until the A.I.-War made it a necessity.

An important detail about a warp-field is that everything inside retains its original momentum. So if we accelerate something on a certain vector, and then activate the warp-field, it will keep its momentum inside the new pocket universe. This allows us to aim a previously accelerated object anywhere we want. Once the field collapses, the ships and - in this case - the asteroid will continue on their original vector.

This means that we turned the asteroids into almost unstoppable projectiles.

I watch as the ships detach themselves from their payloads. While doing so, they release a full assortment of countermeasures to ensure that the Cyber won’t be able to mitigate the impact. Clouds of dust, self-guiding warheads, and probes for electromagnetic warfare ensure that there will be next to nothing which the Cyber can do about the attack.

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Once they are far enough away, the ships which accelerated the asteroids go to warp and disappear from the tactical display. They contributed their part to this mission and all that’s left for them to do is to warp a few lightdays out into empty space, where they are guaranteed to have the time to decelerate their ships.

Just as it took days to reach the necessary speed, it also will take them time to decelerate, which makes them useless for the current battle. They are far too fast for any of their standard weapons to be of any help, as it would be impossible to aim properly. The only thing that could happen if they stay, is for the enemy to put some obstacle in their path, with them being unable to evade in time.

This mode of attack would be useless if it was meant to hit any large installation. The Cyber would still have plenty of time to move their assets out of the way. But we are aiming for the planets, and that’s something the Cyber are unlikely to move. Our records tell us that the machines of the last large war were able to develop such capabilities, but I find it unlikely that they already have it here. If so, I would probably need to call for reinforcements from the homeworlds.

A few seconds later, one of the officers confirms that all asteroids are deployed and will hit their targets almost simultaneously within the hour.

At the same time, my flagship’s captain gives the order to synchronize our fleet’s arrival with the asteroids. For a short while, the crew is busy with managing the huge flagship. Making a mistake here would be a huge embarrassment since the rest of the fleet is relying on us to make the right call. They are using us as a reference point to position their ships.

Meanwhile, I watch the proceedings and wait for the updates of our sensor data. It will take the Cyber several long minutes to realize that something is amiss. No matter their capabilities to gather and to analyse information, they won’t be able to do anything as long as said information hasn’t reached them. No matter the medium, in real space, nothing moves faster than the speed of light.

Oh, they certainly know that a large armada just warped into their system, but that’s it. They won’t know which type of ship, or exactly how many until they have visual confirmation.

I try to relax, waiting for fourteen minutes until the light of our arrival has reached the enemy. Then, depending on their reaction time, it will take another fourteen minutes to see any noticeable change in their behaviour.

This gives me time to study the data.

Only one of the five planets shows clear signs of industry. It’s nothing more than a large rock with low, but mentionable, gravity. No atmosphere. Perfect for mining operations and to shelter some larger installations.

Maybe energy production and some research facilities? Some industry for maintenance for sure.

There is also a large orbital installation in the planet’s orbit, from the looks of it a large, cylindrical dockyard. Next to it is also a ring-like superstructure of unknown purpose. When I concentrate on it, Assistant automatically provides me with the best guesses of our analysts.

One opinion is that it could be a supercollider which is used to create antimatter on an industrial scale. A second states the opinion that the large pylons on the inside of the ring could be warp-emitters, and that the whole setup is intended to create a wormhole.

There are several more ‘guesses’, one wilder than the other, which tells me that our analysts don’t know anything about the thing. It seems to be one of those cases in which the reconnaissance-department decided to throw out some wild speculations in order to justify its existence, rather than to admit ignorance.

My patience is no longer tested when the light of the Cyber reaction finally reaches us. Throughout the system, we counted about eight hundred ships by that point, but most of them simply flee deeper into Cyber-space which makes me assume that they are freighters or mining vessels. Most of them don't seem to have their own warp-drive, so they won't get out of the system's gravity well before we reach them.

About three hundred ships are moving towards the planet with the orbital installations, assumedly to stage some sort of defence.

Our fleet keeps following the doctrine which already proved itself over and over.

Namely, gather all your forces and keep striking the weak points of your enemy until their economy collapses.

I take a quick glance at the tactical update of the support fleet which is following in our wake. Almost seven hundred ships and mobile shipyards which are able to produce defensive installations and new ships on site. Once we have destroyed the enemy forces, there will be plenty of refined resources drifting through the system.

A few minutes later our fleet spreads out and deploys electromagnetic countermeasures. Several huge ships which have no other purpose than to flood the system with radiation-noise spin up their generators, hopefully depriving the enemy of an essential part of their communication.

Then our planet-crackers arrive, as they are often called among navy grunts. They don’t outright destroy the planets in question, but flashes of energy and radiation momentarily blind our sensors, etching huge craters into the target’s surface. I find satisfaction in the fact that if the impact interfered with our sensors from this distance, then it will play hell on the Cyber's ability to gather information.

The impacts also release enough energy to throw debris up into the planets' orbits, causing huge trouble for any defensive installations which may be unlucky enough to be positioned there.

I watch in silence as our whole fleet lays down a barrage of kinetic projectiles, warheads, and plasma fire. Then we change course, avoiding any possibility of engaging the defensive force. The intention is to wear down the planet’s defences.

The whole time, I watch everything as if I am in a trance. One part of my mind knows that I have to stay vigilant, ready to intervene if something doesn’t go according to plan. Another part of me is already tired of this engagement, sure that it will take hours of dancing on ballistic trajectories around the system, visiting planet after planet, either to make sure that the Cyber don’t have a presence on the surface, or to destroy any orbital installations.

I roll my eyes when I realize that the defensive force around the ring-like installation still hasn’t moved. It seems like they are intent on defending the structure at all costs. Maybe they are able to do it if they focus all their point defence on this one task, but they are doing it at the cost of sacrificing everything else to us. If they don't challenge us outside their planet's orbit, then this battle is already over.

Their strategy allows us to slowly hunt down and pick off all their other assets, which means that we will get a huge head start in resources for our support-fleet.

It takes us hours to do a pass through the whole system before our course takes us back to the initial target.

That’s when the newest sensor update reports something strange.

Namely, that there are no more defenders around the superstructure which previously seemed so important.

I tag the information package and send it down to the captain’s interface. “Where did their ships go? Find out! Right now!”

There is a moment of hasty movement as the captain hands down orders to the other ships of the fleet. We were focusing our sensors in all directions, assuming that there might be mine-fields or similar surprises in a system like this one.

Now, all sensor platforms focus their attention on the superstructure. They add their information to the fleet’s network, which results in a better resolution of the inspected area. What shows up on the tactical screen forces me to straighten in surprise, as a long stream of Cyber vessels disappears through something that can be only called a hole in space.