Chapter 19, part 2
Two heavies, four medium escorts in a quincunx formation with one of the heavies and six gunboats tethered to that heavy and the mediums. Roughly even numbers and capabilities all things considered; the problem was the human scout ship that was with them.
“If the humans are friendly with us and will soon become our allies, what is one of their ships doing with the Shells, Mizol?” Torrai Mazeit Saber asked.
“As I already explained to you, their mission was to come in contact with either us or the Shells. After that they would bring a diplomatic representative to their relay ship for negotiations.” Shadowcloud replied while cursing the fact that she couldn’t sense what the Torrai had in her mind.
“So that’s one of their ships doing exactly that…” The Torrai said out loud as if she was thinking about it as she said it. A mannerism that humans used all too often and one that immediately crept into everyone’s mannerisms after being forced to work under a jamming field for so long. “And why shouldn’t I blow their ship up alongside the Shells since they are now openly associating themselves with them?”
“Because they are not a threat to this squadron and because their comrades brought everyone from
Silverspear and the cargo they helped us secure to the rendezvous point.” Shadowcloud replied, wondering if the Torrai was trying to joke by pointing out the obvious or if she really wanted an excuse to kill anyone who associated themselves with Shells.
“Wouldn’t be much of a kill anyway!” The Torrai said out loud and laughed, making Shadowcloud to curse herself for not realizing that the Torrai just wanted everyone in the squadron to hear why the human ship shouldn’t be targeted. An easy and discreet way to avoid certain mistakes from happening during the heat of battle.
“Does this mean that you will attack then?” Shadowcloud asked.
“Of course! The squadron has done nothing but stare at empty space while shooting up rocks for almost eight nanapis; all the while waiting for something to happen and now the Shells have finally deigned us with fresh targets that have just jumped in system.” The Torrai said in an obviously exaggerated, almost comical, manner before turning to face the two Mizols that were on the bridge. “Unless you Mizols want to let them pass by.”
“From a diplomatic perceptive it would be prudent to ensure that no Shell diplomat reaches the humans.” Shadowcloud replied.
“I agree with the Mizol Torimor.” Mizol Parat Clearsky added.
“What is this? Mizols saying that it is okay to kill Shells for diplomatic reasons?” The Torrai commented with the same exaggerated voice. “I now have the nasty suspicion that there is still hope for your caste!”
“Killing Shells is always a prudent action, regardless of diplomacy.” Shadowcloud added.
“There are two Shells alive on my ship you know.” Saber pointed out.
“Those are mine for later, the dozen boatloads are all yours to do as you wish.”
“For all your faults you Mizols do have a way with spoken words!” Saber said with a laugh.
“Somebody has to do it. Never know when talking might be really useful.” Shadowcloud replied.
“Now then, do me a favor and have your farseer drop the jamming field; We got Shells to kill and I want to do that as a proper Loroi.” The Torrai said and in turn Shadowcloud nodded to Clearsky who immediately typed in the necessary commands on her holographic console.
The rush of being able to freely use telepathy after so many days was overwhelming even to her while everyone on Dark Guardian’s bridge let out a telepathic sigh of relief that immediately cascaded into completely undisciplined telepathic chatter. Undisciplined chatter that was immediately drowned away by the angry telepathic shout of Torrai Mazeit Saber.
“This ain’t a diral and we got Shells to kill!” The Torrai added for emphasis and proper telepathic discipline was quickly established once again; taking that as a queue to leave, she walked to the back of the bridge and sat down at the couch available for any observers.
She was never assigned to a warship but she knew the drill in regards to combat protocol. She could personally convene with the Torrai and even give certain orders but when it came to battle she was an outsider. Parat Clearsky was
Dark Guardian’s intelligence officer and through that she was the lead Mizol of this picket squadron. As a Torimor she did outrank every other Mizol in caste matters and the authority granted to them by the admiralty but certain boundaries had to be respected in the same ways that she demanded of others when they intruded in her tasks. Combat was one such boundary and Shadowcloud knew from firsthand experience the damage outside interference could cause in the heat of battle.
She smiled when she saw Saber sitting at her own console, usually that’s a sign of either an inexperienced commander or even worse, an inexperienced bridge crew but she knew that this wasn’t the case from just the brief time she had been aboard the battlecruiser. Saber was a meticulous planner who spent every free moment in drilling her squadron in quite demanding simulated battles. Such extensive training when time permitted was the reason why she was a successful Tenoin flight leader in the early stages of the war; the same stages that saw Tenoin pilots massacred en mass, the few who survived those battles being either exceptionally lucky or exceptionally gifted. Saber was mostly the later although luck certainly favored her a few times.
“
Dark Guardian at quick for action!” The Tenoin executive officer bellowed, the ship’s systems carrying her voice throughout the ship, as the squadron dashed ahead at full acceleration; leaving behind the squadron’s remaining courier ship, the tanker and transport vessel assigned to it for its long mission. All three ships kept using the gas giant for cover while the warships darted ahead to intercept the Shell ships that had just jumped in system.
The mission of the picket squadrons that were positioned throughout former Tithric space and the charred steppes was to both provide advanced warning and monitoring of enemy movements and to launch hit and run raids against Shell support vessels and even the remnants of the various assault fleets after the fast attack groups and the defense fleets were done with them. For logistical reasons the Shells seldom attacked through this area but that didn’t mean that the squadrons posted here weren’t more than prepared to fulfill their mission.
Dark Guardian, a Vanguard class battlecruiser was the flagship of this particular squadron which was comprised of it, two Scimitar Mk3 heavy cruisers and five Warhammer class destroyers. All eight ships offered an impressive array of firepower backed by the great acceleration and nimbleness that their classes were known for.
Shadowcloud couldn’t do anything but stare at the bridge encompassing holographic display, which covered most of the bridge’s ceiling and walls, in order to see everything as it unfolded. The sight of it, as it depicted everything that happened around the ship always amazed her no matter how many times she witnessed it. Some did see it as an unnecessary extravagance while others said that it was an immense help to those in command to see the action as if they were the eyes and ears of the ship. She didn’t have any opinion on the matter but in this instance she was glad to be able to observe the battle as it unfolded in such a way.
She focused on the large holographic window which showed a zoomed in view of the small Shell flotilla, the lone Heavy ship which looked a lot like the one they got their prisoners from immediately catching her eye. She had wondered why the Shells would use such a ship to host a farseer and being honest with herself she wasn’t really convinced with what the Shell captain believed. Truly the ship was configured to have an extended range, a large complement of Hard-Troops and the four assault shuttles necessary for boarding; all of which amounting to a great long range patrol ship aimed to police civilian trade routes without any fear but she thought that such a class of ship was overkill for such a meager mission.
Multiple medium vessels, each with a detachment of Hard-Troops would be faster, cover more space at the same and could even be cheaper to produce while only having one of them carry a farseer if the mission planners really believed that a farseer would be necessary for such a mission. Furthermore such a heavy had no torpedoes or missiles, relying only on a handful of plasma focus weapons for protection which were already overkill for civilian patrol missions. If the Shells wanted they could put on some Morat particle blasters, less expensive and offered potentially greater firepower for such a mission. The saving graces of that ship class are its heavy armor and screens which were useless against civilian freighters to begin with. Unless the plasma focus weapons and the heavy defenses weren’t there for civilians but to protect the ship and its contents from proper warships.
She thought that perhaps these ships are meant to hunt down fleeing civilians with military escort, akin to the emergency evacuations of the Seren sector early in the war. Such a specialization isn’t beyond the Shells and that would explain the extra range and Hard-Troops as well. This didn’t convince her either and kept thinking about it until the realization finally dawned on her.
The whole purpose of the ships is to carry farseers, everything else was deliberate misinformation meant to hide the fact from the Mizol caste. The farseer carrier classes she had seen so far could only be described as long range heavy patrol ships and fast medium blockade runners, if a Mizol learned of the construction or even refitting of such ships through interrogation she would never realize that they were meant to act as farseer carriers from the descriptions that the hapless Shells would give. Despite the extensive breeding programs that the Shells are running it is certain that they have a limited number of farseers at their disposal and thus it is logical that they would want to protect these limited assets to the best of their abilities. In order to protect these assets they would need specialized ships that are either heavily armored or so fast that they are able to outrun everything. The heavies are not part of a quincunx formation or even have gunboat tethers because they are not meant to fight in a battle but their size and armor means that they will be able to survive on their own should they be attacked while their long range and heavy class speed means that they can keep up with fleet movements for an extended amount of time without the need to refuel. The ultrafast mediums would act more like farsense pickets and emergency support in case something happened to the attached heavies while they would rely on their speed to keep themselves out of an enemy's gun sights. It is certain that the Shells have many more such weirdly specialized classes that wouldn’t draw attention should a Mizol learn of their construction and this must be the whole purpose of these classes, to hide the fact that these ships are meant to carry farseers and thus making them secondary targets in fleet battles. Horrified she recalled a human saying she heard while on Matveyev
'Don’t fight an enemy too often, or you will teach them all your art of war'. They have been fighting the Shells for so long that they have managed to find ways to hide such sensitive information from even the Mizol until it was too late.
The Shells know that they needed to hide their pet farseers for as long as possible and they took the measures necessary to do so. They know that the Loroi farsense is what gives the outnumbered Loroi fleets a key advantage and they know of the Union’s internal tensions as well as their own. The Shells need a clear and overwhelming victory to win this war and the combination of their new Lotai and Farsense would allow them to catch the Loroi interdiction, defensive and reserve fleets out of position and by complete surprise.
They would throw everything they could against Loroi defenses but such a major offensive would demand extensive logistical preparations and support, allowing the Mizol to predict such an attack even without farsense. That would leave the standing Shell fleets near the steppes, easily more than a thousand ships if the latest estimates she had seen were accurate, a larger number than usual but part of the course when a large number of their ships start suffering from declining efficiency and are rotated for an attack as their replacements take defensive stations.
With farsense even a thousand Shell ships would be cut piecemeal by the defensive and reserve fleets while the interdiction fleets would harass them and their logistical support to no end. Without farsense however… She pushed those thoughts aside, hoping that high command would find a way to make due if the emergency recall was a sign that such an offensive was already underway.
She got instantly perplexed when she saw the cruisers peel off the formation, each of them followed by a single destroyer; each pair rushing upwards and downwards relative to the main formation while the Shell flotilla had already turned towards an intercept vector after leaving the lone human ship behind.
She didn’t know much about space tactics but she thought that it was common sense not to divide one’s forces when the enemy had equal numbers with one’s own. It would only lead to the enemy concentrating their firepower on a single sub-formation while one’s own firepower would instead be divided between all sub-formations.
The Shell formation steadied up its intercept on a course that would allow them to intercept Dark Guardian’s sub-formation, the Shell commander obviously believing that the lone battlecruiser and its three destroyer escorts were targets that would shift the balance of power in its favor if they were destroyed first.
Shadowcloud easily sensed the smug satisfaction Torrai Mazeit Saber felt when the Shells launched the torpedo barrage which was closely accompanied by the six gunboats; the standard tactic that would allow them to come in range just as the torpedoes would be on their final approach.
Saber responded to this development by having her own sub-formation completely cut off their acceleration while the other two minor sub-formations pointed their bows to the Shell flotilla while still under full acceleration, a maneuver that when added with the momentum they already had would give their formation a parabolic like trajectory above and below the Shell formation as it would pass between them while racing to get to
Dark Guardian’s sub-formation.
A few solons later Saber’s sub-formation begun launching its own torpedoes while dozens more which were left drifting idle at the wake of the other two sub-formations lit up their engines one after the other, all of them seemingly aiming to strike the Shell formation at the same time in order to overwhelm their point defense systems. The Shells immediately responded to this stratagem by having their own acceleration completely cut off.
As if waiting for that Saber’s sub-formation stopped launching torpedoes and instead all four ships pivoted and presented their sterns to the enemy before bringing their engines to full acceleration, using them to break the momentum they built before. For an instant Shadowcloud thought that the Torrai was insane as she clearly sensed a sense of victory from her as all four ships presented their vulnerable rear to the quickly approaching torpedoes and gunboats.
That was when the two heavy cruisers opened fire with their pulse cannons as the Shells got in range, to her surprise all four beams hit the lead Shell heavy from above and below. That was when this part of Saber’s plan revealed itself to her, all ships offered both a minimal target to the enemy and their strongest screens and armor when their bows faced the enemy. However if one attacks from above or below not only do they see a far bigger target but they also face less screen and armor protection. Saber wanted her two heavy cruisers to get these kinds of shots and she used her own flagship as bait to do that. The Shells cutting off the acceleration of their main formation to avoid the worse of the Loroi torpedo barrage also offered a greater window of opportunity for the cruisers to exploit.
The two cruisers fired a second volley, all four beams hitting the ship again followed immediately by secondary explosions as the screens and armor failed but the heavy kept going forward seemingly unfazed by the damage it took. A few moments after that Saber’s sub-formation cut off its breaking maneuver and pivoted again at the spot just when the Shell torpedoes begun their final approach to their targets while the gunboats were still some distance away. Point defense lasers fired in unison from all four ships while they all fired their AMM missiles as fast as their launchers allowed.
Shadowcloud knew that this wasn’t the regular deluge of torpedoes since there wasn’t a dedicated torpedo carrier in the Shell flotilla but was nevertheless surprised with how quickly all of the torpedoes were neutralized, leaving all six gunboats without the distraction they offered or the imminent fire support of the main force that had lagged further behind. Shadowcloud knew how dangerous the gunboats were in close range but she also knew that their purpose was to disrupt the defensive formation in order to allow their parent ships clear vectors of attack without having to face coordinated defensive fire. This combined with the initial torpedo barrage was usually enough to allow the main force to get in plasma focus range without suffering heavy casualties but she now realized that Saber’s plan was from the beginning aimed to cripple this standard Shell tactic.
Saber’s forces had launched their torpedoes in such a way that they would all strike at the same time had the Shell kept their course and acceleration. The Shell commander knowing that their point defense capabilities weren’t enough to stop all of the torpedoes from such engagement envelopes and in such limited time chose to cut off the acceleration of their main force in order to allow their PD systems far better chances as the Loroi torpedoes would come in range piecemeal. This maneuver should have allowed them to stay close enough to their torpedo and gunboat strike to exploit them but Saber’s breaking maneuver extended that time by several dozen solons.
This maneuver not only broke the combined timing of the enemy’s torpedo and gunboat strikes by having their travel time extended for a few more solons, thus forcing the gunboats to lag further behind the faster accelerating torpedoes but also left the Shell force open to concentrated defensive fire since the initial strikes inevitably failed in their task as all six gunboats were torn apart by defensive blaster fire and kinetic strikes from AMM missiles.
The battlecruiser’s eight pulse cannons all fired in unison at the wounded heavy, half of them scoring clear hits on it which were enough for it to be engulfed in a gratifying antimatter explosion when its reactors blew up. In turn the two heavy cruisers fired again at the second heavy vessel, scoring four clear hits on it that overloaded its screen projectors and without them it didn’t have any hopes to survive the barrage of particle blasters from the battlecruiser and the three destroyers the moment the Shell formation got into particle blaster range.
The four mediums were left alone to face one more barrage of particle beams before they could get in plasma focus range and Saber didn’t take any chance with them; choosing to launch one blister torpedo which darted ahead and deployed its cargo of 60 AMM warheads just after the blaster barrage knocked out one of the mediums while severely damaging two more. The kinetic warheads finished off the two crippled mediums and pulverized the last one just as it fired a plasma focus on
Dark Guardian, the ship shaking slightly from the impact but the screens and the armor must have taken the brunt of the strike as Shadowcloud didn’t pick up any telepathic reports of damage.
“
Dark Guardian stand down from action!” The Tenoin executive officer bellowed and Shadowcloud could easily sense the jubilation everyone felt for what was a flawless victory.
“Congratulations on your victory Torrai Mazeit Saber.” Shadowcloud sent as she walked up to the Torrai who had yet to stand up from her station.
“It would have been perfect if that last one hadn’t scratched my ship!” The Torrai replied in agitation.
“I don’t know much about space battles but I think that this was quite an unorthodox engagement from your part.” Shadowcloud commented.
“Something that I have been working on since my Tenoin days. Why extend the engagement time by flying around the Shells like we are scared instead of having them come onto our waiting guns like the empty husks they are? Their tactics are all meant to distract our fire, the tricks I had my squadron practice are meant to make them irrelevant.” Saber explained.
“Understandable, I noticed that you didn’t launch any interceptors for point defense duties.” Shadowcloud added.
“Didn’t see a reason, the destroyers were more than enough to handle the torpedoes. Things would be different if there were more Shell ships though.” Saber replied.
“I also noticed that your gunners were very accurate as well.”
“I wouldn’t have tried this if I didn’t trust them to do their jobs properly. I also made sure that they would get some practice the last few nanapis. You will be surprised how accurate one can get after shooting at rocks and comets in battle speeds.” The Torrai then looked at a blinking icon on her console before continuing.
“The human ship is slowing down and… we just received a transmission from them.”
“That was quick.” Shadowcloud commented.
“I will handle this since I have experience with their kind.” She sent to both Saber and Clearsky, both Loroi nodding in response.
“Let’s see it.”
“This is Captain Mall of the ECS-102 Pellew to the Loroi Union warships. We are on a mission of diplomatic contact by the Terran Colonial Authority on behalf of the six worlds of humanity. We are not aligned with the Umiak Hierarchy nor do we wish to fight you.” The image of the human male froze in place as his message ended. He had similar age signs showing but this one had darker skin pigmentation than that of Captain Asteios, probably because he belonged to a different human race, perhaps Middle Eastern or Indian if she was to be a judge. It was obvious that he was trying to control his anxiety as he spoke, understandable considering what he had just witnessed while knowing that the Loroi Union didn’t look favorably to Shell accomplishes.
“I would expect them to surrender after seeing their friends getting blown up.” Saber commented as she in turn studied the human male that looked abnormal in her eyes.
“They are under orders to scuttle their ships by using their fusion torpedoes if someone attempts to capture them.” Shadowcloud replied.
“Figures after everything they must have heard. I just hoped that we could scare them a little.”
“There is no need to even get close to them.” Shadowcloud replied before turning to Clearsky.
“Is the farseer detecting any Shells on the human ship?”
“No, she detects nothing.” Clearsky replied after checking her console.
“Okay then, start recording the reply when I give you the signal.” Shadowcloud said as she mentally prepared her response.
“Now.”
“This is Mizol Torimor Shadowcloud aboard the Loroi Union warship
Dark Guardian. We are aware of your mission and the fact that the Terran Colonial Authority is not aligned with the Hierarchy. Due to a need of outmost secrecy we cannot provide you with an escort or a diplomatic representative for you to bring back to your relay vessel. My suggestion to you is to return to your relay ship in order to report what has happened here as your leaders will be aware of the implicated development. Be advised that your systems are susceptible to Hierarchy designed malware due to the Orgus software that you have adapted for your use. We do not detect any Hierarchy presence in the area that would complicate your return but I advise you to take measures to alter the identity of your ship in order for your government to deny any knowledge of what happened here should another scout bring another Hierarchy representative before proper diplomatic relations with the Union can be facilitated. Knowing the Shells they may have not divulged to you our physical similarity in which case I assure you that we Loroi do look like this and that this is not a telepathic trick. If you have any questions please ask them now before light speed lag makes communications awkward.” Shadowcloud said and telepathically signaled Clearsky that she was finished.
“You Mizols talk a lot.” Saber commented with a chuckle.
“I have considered the possibility of letting a Teidar do the talking next time.” Shadowcloud commented.
“I would renounce my male visitation privileges for a Tozon to witness that!” Saber commented as she burst into laughter.
“That would indeed be a sight to behold.” Shadowcloud agreed before turning her attention to the seemingly motionless human ship in the distance.
“I find it odd that the Shells didn’t try to take over that ship the moment they realized that the Humans have a Lotai.”
“A species that looks a lot like us and has a natural Lotai? I would consider boarding them myself and I would do it if I knew about the new Shell trick.” Saber commented.
“The Mizol would probably want to talk to them first though.”
“Depends on the Mizol.” Shadowcloud commented.
“The Shells that attacked the humans that brought us here thought that the humans were telepaths. They attacked them in order to both protect their secret and learn as much as they could about them.”
“Yes, the mythical template species of ours whose mere existence would destroy the lies that we have been saying since we have drawn breath.” Saber commented with easily felt derision but Shadowcloud ignored her.
“But the human Lotai is a threat to the Shells as well now and knowing the way they think I find it odd that they would just play along with the diplomatic farce.”
“Maybe the Shells thought that the humans would blow themselves up when boarded and about to be overwhelmed. We do it, the Shells do it, it isn’t much of a stretch for the Shells to work with such an assumption and just try to get as much information about the humans as possible peacefully. Personally I would put as many Hard-Troops as I could on the ‘escorts’ and have them board the relay ship.” Saber replied.
“There is that possibility as well.” Shadowcloud agreed.
“Torimor Shadowcloud, the humans have sent a reply.” Clearsky informed her.
“This one is quick. Let’s see what they have to say.”
“Mizol Torimor Shadowcloud, I assume that you have met another scout ship and that ship has been allowed to return to the relay ship so I will be brief. The Hierarchy has disclosed to us the physical similarity that our species have and has insinuated that this very similarity is some short of religious anathema for your people and that our very existence as a species is under threat due to this. They have also provided a recording which shows a Loroi warship obliterating the remains of a scout ship that it had destroyed in order to negate the Hierarchy from taking control of the remains. I am attaching the recording to this message and I am awaiting for your reply.” The human captain said with the same anxiety painted on his face.
“Is there a recording attached?” Shadowcloud asked Clearsky.
“Yes.”
“Play it.”
A second holographic window opened next to the frozen image of captain Mall and it showed a recording of a Vortex class command ship launching an antimatter torpedo at the broken remainsthat were evidently those of a human scout ship. The resulting anti matter explosion leaving absolutely no trace of them.
“Isn’t Tempest the only remaining Vortex class ship?” Saber asked.
“Yes and it is commanded by Torrai Lashret Stillstorm.”
“She is a hero.” Saber pointed out.
“And partially broken inside.” Shadowcloud added.
“That’s…” Saber begun to rebuke but stopped herself when she remember something.
“…an accurate description of her.”
“Have you met her?” Shadowcloud asked.
“Twice in person. She… changed after the Tasinei Ways.”
“I have never come across her but I know that she is closely monitored and not only for her outspoken political opinions. She should know of these arrangements but I don’t know if that’s enough for her to show some necessary self-restraint as others do.” Shadowcloud commented.
“What are you going to say to the humans?”
“The truth.” Shadowcloud replied and signaled Clearsky to start recording her reply.
“Captain Mall, unfortunately things are far more complicated than what the Hierarchy has led you to believe but this doesn’t mean that we Loroi will seek to harm your species for our physical similarity and any other issues. We cannot linger here to explain everything but I assure you that your superiors should by now be aware of all the issues involving you and the fact that we Loroi do not attack anyone unless provoked by them. Although no Loroi trusts anything that the Hierarchy says I give you my word of honor that an investigation will be launched when we return to port, the results of which will be made available to your diplomats.”
Chapter 20, part 1:
http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 081#p23081