[Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror (Completed)

[Jack]

Everything has a price. For coherence large forces have to pay.

Do not confuse the subordination, in Russian is a military term, and lack of initiative.

[peragrin]

A command culture that is too 'top down' is likely to really reduce or eliminate an army's ability to exploit transient opportunities.

Also, as Absalom was intimating, a military culture that has too much permission seeking is pretty vulnerable to disruptions of its command structure. Can't ask permission, won't do anything.

At one point i heard that a USA army lieutenant had more leeway in dealing with and executing orders than an Egyptian Colonel.

The USA military structure is very loose, in fact with drone feeds and live feeds from soldier mounted head cams, generals are having a hard time resisting giving the on the ground commanders live advice.

The very fact that it has been mentioned and they are working on it shows that the USA is going to continue it's independent streak for a while.

[Zakharra]

A command culture that is too 'top down' is likely to really reduce or eliminate an army's ability to exploit transient opportunities.

Also, as Absalom was intimating, a military culture that has too much permission seeking is pretty vulnerable to disruptions of its command structure. Can't ask permission, won't do anything.

At one point i heard that a USA army lieutenant had more leeway in dealing with and executing orders than an Egyptian Colonel.

The USA military structure is very loose, in fact with drone feeds and live feeds from soldier mounted head cams, generals are having a hard time resisting giving the on the ground commanders live advice.

The very fact that it has been mentioned and they are working on it shows that the USA is going to continue it's independent streak for a while.

Yup. Giving the lower ranks (officer and enlisted) some leeway in how they fulfill their orders gives that military a flexibility that is hard to overcome by a more rigid military. The US and other western nations trust their lower officers and enlisted/ non-commissioned officers to do the job at hand within the guidelines. Other militaries are more rigid and don't give their lower ranks that freedom. All of the power and control rests in the hands of the higher ranking officers. That limits those armies quite a bit.

This article =might be a little dated now, but it outlines the problems with some militaries, in this case, Arab ones. http://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars

[Jack]

You are confusing the army discipline and subordination, and the lack of initiative among subordinates.

It is known that the Arab modernity turns out badly with the construction of armies. However, Yemeni Huthis quite successful fight against the League of Arab States, despite the fact that the Arabs themselves.

Modern war size limit, they are called "local wars". They are, as a rule, there is no need for a concerted action of a large force. What makes the tactical flexibility to choose the optimal strategy junior officers preferred.

[Zakharra]

You are confusing the army discipline and subordination, and the lack of initiative among subordinates.

It is known that the Arab modernity turns out badly with the construction of armies. However, Yemeni Huthis quite successful fight against the League of Arab States, despite the fact that the Arabs themselves.

Modern war size limit, they are called "local wars". They are, as a rule, there is no need for a concerted action of a large force. What makes the tactical flexibility to choose the optimal strategy junior officers preferred.

It is all inter-connected and comes into play. It's never just one thing, but having trust in the military, well rounded cross trained soldiers/sailors and airmen and a freedom to work within orders from the bottom to the top and letting the lower ranking officers and enlisted, especially the NCOs have somewhat of a say and be allowed to use their initiative, makes for a superior and well motivated military. Being expected to slavishly follow orders regardless and keeping the lower ranks in the dark harms combat efficiency.

Of course even in the article, there were some exceptions, but with Arab countries, those are the exception, not the rule. The Yemenis Huthis look to be somewhat of an exception. To use another example: if the Arab countries had well trained and competent militaries, Israel wouldn't exist. However Israel has a competent military and more of the nations around them don't.

[majorminor]

There is also the internal issues that influence Arab countries as well, tribal and religious divides. A big complaint that I've heard is a lack of loyalty to the nation as a whole or more loyalty to ones family or tribe, even if that group is in opposition with the national government. Plus there is the issue as to how the military involves itself in the county's operation, such as the deep state in Egypt [removed statement since double checking research showed a messier situation in Iran with economic corruption]. This means that being in the military is a chance at the easy life and people are willing to bribe their way into service and overall general corruption issues related to such activities.

Also as probably stated before, it comes down to how top leadership (civilian and military) runs things and the issues they may face. Concerns for coup should the military be strengthened to a point (historically seen from military coups in Africa, Middle East, South America with and without support foreign support), How security is structured in the region (under full government control or are non government forces such as militias/freedom fighters/terrorists/separatists involved in security), Military history and training regime ( When was the last time they put their forces to a real test in both war and FTXs). There are alot of factors that can influence the abilities of any military force.

[Jack]

You send the unit to a frontal attack on the enemy, assigning a specific time of the attack. "No, to frontal attack, this is stupid!" - Decides the unit commander. The unit spends time on the bypass and attack the enemy from the rear. That's just the problem of this attack was to draw enemy reserves in this part of the front at the right time. And more effective attack from the rear, carried out later - the main task is not finished.

You tell the unit commander that his task to distract the enemy attack in a strictly called time. Unit again prefers to circumvent the enemy, but now the attack time. However, aviation officer was ordered to conduct a diversionary attack on their own immediately after the attack ground units. And highlight some of its forces to isolate the battlefield. As a result of attack from the rear unit comes under friendly fire of their own aircraft.

In large operations, while there are hundreds of units: ground, air, naval, support, supply. To ensure efficient operation of the joint is only possible implementation of stringent orders.

In small operations against the underdeveloped opponents may use the concept of "common information space of the battlefield." But as the experience of the conflict in Georgia in 2008 and some operations after a major operation in any forward units will fall under the influence of electronic warfare and fall out of the "CIS".

The level of combat capability of the army, and it adopted the concept of order execution - different concepts.

[majorminor]

That is why you inform your sub commanders your intent Jack. If you tell them your mission is to act in a manner that you are directly attacking a hardened position as to influence the enemy's actions, those sub commanders will be more willing to engage and plan their missions and usage of allotted resources to achieve that goal. Straight up telling a platoon/company/battalion commander "attack this hardpoint head-on apply directly to the forehead", don't be surprised to have alot of questions as to why is it being done this way from both your sub commanders but even the ones above you.

[Krulle]

The more units participate, the more coordination is necessary.

The less soldiers/commanding officers like their country, the more likely is a coup, and the stricter are the commanding lines and less initiative allowed...

[JQBogus]

Hm.. I posted a reply earlier, but it doesn't seem to have made it to the board.

Well, Majorminor covered part of it, but here's the other:


Could it be that countries that have short term conscription to fill out their ranks tend more toward "top down" command structures? If many/most of your troops have a 2 year obligation* then they're out of there, it might not be very efficient to spend time and effort training them for anything other than the most basic soldier skills of "here's how your weapon works" and "Do as you're told".


*Or less. In 2008, Russia apparently moved to requiring only 1 year of mandatory service. This could be because they're just shifting to a smaller military or it could be that they're shifting to a model that emphasizes retention and broader skills.

[dragoongfa]

Conscription doesn't really affect the decision between the top down or local initiative approaches in regards to leadership.

Training is what affects what approach the army will take, two years of service may not sound much but consider that six months is more than enough to train a soldier (basic training + expertise). Military training doesn't take a lot of time if done with the right mix of intensity and discipline. The problem then become the conscripted/reservist NCO and Officers (which is where the top down and local initiative doctrines live or die).

The Greek military used to have excellent courses for conscripts who volunteered to be NCOs and Officers (up to Lieutenants and rarely Captains in time of peace). They got extra training and served more time but they got other privileges and a reasonable salary. These courses have fallen from grace due to the shortening of the service time for men but they are still there.

Remember that all the armies in WW2 and the Cold War were conscripted, including the US and German armies which were exemplars in their low level initiative doctrines; both armies having a core of professional officers but the majority of NCOs and low level officers were conscripts.

[dragoongfa]

Chapter 19, part 1

Calmwater grimaced from the pain but that wasn’t enough for her to cry out in pain. The headaches had gotten worse lately, having already reached the point of her being completely disoriented whenever she got off from the amplifier; the side effects of its use becoming an issue once again. She knew that the headaches meant that she would again have to go through the whole ordeal of having parts of her skull removed and regenerated but she preferred the frequent surgeries over the alternative that other farseers chose for themselves.

The headaches however weren’t an obstacle yet, she was still able to use the farseer class amplifiers and she had long decided to weather this pain the moment she agreed to be taught the techniques necessary to detect the Shell jamming fields and to create the jamming field that now hid an entire squadron of warships from the enemy farseers.

Both techniques were tricky to learn but she managed to attain them by the time the humans brought all of them to the rendezvous with the picket squadron she had contacted with an interstellar sending. Some said that teaching these techniques was a rush decision from Shadowcloud's part, as teaching such sensitive techniques to a Farseer could be seen as caste treason at the least and willfully breaking the laws regarding Farseers at the worse but the Mizol was desperate. In fact everyone realized that they could not waste time in order to wait for proper authorization; they needed a way to counteract the Shell farseers as quickly as possible, since there was no telling what the Shells could be doing with Loroi farsense being rendered useless while their own puppets being able to still sense Loroi fleets.

No one was surprised when the Torrai Mazeit and the Mizol Parat assigned to the squadron took some convincing before going along with Shadowcloud’s proposal. They reluctantly agreed in the end, if not after seeing the ‘classified cargo’ they certainly were convinced when they received the emergency recall orders via an other interstellar sending. Time was of the essence and Shadowcloud took the whole responsibility of the detour they took back in order to test her theory about the Shell Lotai. They had to see if the Shell jamming field could be detected and they had to see if a Loroi jamming field would be enough to hide their ships from the Shell farseers.

Calmwater hadn’t gotten much of a rest due to this but she still did what had to be done. She did manage to detect and follow a Shell jamming field from afar, she couldn’t say how many ships were hidden within it but it was there and it was slowly heading coreward. That was the easy part, the hard part begun when the Torrai Mazeit decided on an intercept point to see what the Shells were hiding.

It was hard because she had to maintain a jamming field to cover the whole squadron for days; an impossible feat for a single individual to do and because of this she and Shadowcloud had to take turns in order to maintain it. The Mizol couldn’t use a farseer’s amplifier but the combination of her telepathic strength and one of the larger portable amplifiers was enough for her to cover the squadron, provided that the ships were uncomfortably close to each other.

The crews didn’t like being under a jamming field at all because it made telepathy completely unusable but they are all warriors and they adapted by switching to vocal speech for most tasks.
The greatest hurdle however was the wait once they reached the intercept point, the wait for the Shells to arrive combined with the facts that they had no idea about the enemy’s disposition or if they would even travel through this particular system at the first place since she and the other farseer couldn't use farsense while the jamming field was maintained..

Perhaps seeing how the connection between the Shell and its farseer worked first hand would help them somehow but Shadowcloud was adamant that no connection would be attempted even if the farseer was kept sedated at all times. For her part Calmwater wanted to know how the Shell farseer managed to stop her from interstellar sending when Silverspear was pursued, both she Shadowcloud believed that the Shell farseer was able to somehow expand the Shell jamming field to encompass Silvespear which would be an amazing feat of concentration considering that their farseer had almost no training. This was just a hypothesis however, which meant that proper researchers would need to run numerous tests with the Shell and its farseer after connecting them but this was the only plausible explanation that she, a veteran Farseer, could offer.

Despite the pain and the mental grind that maintaining the jamming field entailed, Calmwater could help but find the help that she offered in setting up the trap mentally invigorating in its own way. After all Black Sword, the previous command ship she was assigned to was lost in a seemingly identical ambush that the Shells had prepared.

Shadowcloud was able to deduce as much from the Shell captain as its ship had previously taken part in shakedown exercises between fleets in former Tithric space in order to have their ‘new equipment’ tested and familiarized with. The Shell captain had heard that one such fleet had detected, attacked and destroyed a small Loroi flotilla that was deep inside former Tithric space. After that its ship, a dedicated long range patrol ship meant to police civilian trade routes, was hastily made part of an ad-hoc patrol network put in place in order to detect potential raiders, much like their own Farsense network.

Perhaps the squadron Black Sword led fell victim to this network, or perhaps they were just unfortunate in running into range of a Shell fleet that was ‘testing’ its ‘new equipment’. All Calmwater cared about was the fact that there were 6 Farseers aboard Black Sword when it was attacked, of which she was the only survivor. She felt giddy at the thought of Shell ships falling into the same trap, especially one she helped prepare; she just hoped that it wouldn’t be an entire fleet of them.

Chapter 19, part 2: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 064#p23064

[dragoongfa]

Yet an other small part.

Good news though: more than 50.000 views and the next part is a space battle

[Jack]

I advise you to read the statutes of the German army during the Second World War. If the officer it was ordered to die for the glory of the Reich at 13:15, then at 13:16 for the death he would have received sanction.

Since 2008, it began to increase the number of contract servicemen in the Russian army. Today, the military conscription service in the Army less than a quarter. In fact, today conscript service is needed only for reserve training.

How is it possible that Loroi, long-lived with telepathy, are not familiar with the ability to lock, if this phenomenon possible?

[Krulle]

Looking forward to the space fight.

But having gained/rediscovered these techniques does not give the Loroi a new advantage, it just re-etablished their previous advantage.
The advantage they have right now, is that the Umiak might think their new "equipment" works fine and that they trust it too much and become susceptible for traps and ambushes.
But once the Umiak find out that the Loroi can negate this advantage, they might stop installing captive-bred Loroi on their ships and instead try to install a sensor network in an effort to sense what is happening within Loroi territory, thus possibly finding out where most of the ships are produced, supply lines,...

[Absalom]

Looking forward to the space fight.

But having gained/rediscovered these techniques does not give the Loroi a new advantage, it just re-etablished their previous advantage.
The advantage they have right now, is that the Umiak might think their new "equipment" works fine and that they trust it too much and become susceptible for traps and ambushes.
But once the Umiak find out that the Loroi can negate this advantage, they might stop installing captive-bred Loroi on their ships and instead try to install a sensor network in an effort to sense what is happening within Loroi territory, thus possibly finding out where most of the ships are produced, supply lines,...

Loroi trade enough that they probably already know this. Also, unless you're talking about the captive-bred Loroi, light-speed lag makes that almost useless.

[dragoongfa]

Telepathy is FTL so the bottleneck wouldn't be there. The problem would be the fact that their farsense range is on average one third of the Loroi Farseers. This would mean that they would need more Farseers, more farsense outposts and pickets while also having less time to organize a fleet for intercept.

[dragoongfa]

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

[dragoongfa]

I will admit, I was a lazy git for a few days and that's why this part was late.

I will see if I can make up for it the next week.

In any case. Three parts left.

[Krulle]

SpoilerShow

Chapter 19, part 2
[edit] removed my proposals as you already corrected it all by the time of this edit [/edit]

As non-native a few things struck me oddly, and I proposed changes there. You may find that your version is correct, and I am in no position to tell you otherwise. At best I am giving suggestions, and you should ignore me wherever you feel like it.
I also use British Spelling, which you should definitely ignore, however much it annoys me...
I just hate the BBphp [colour] tag which does not work...

Wow,... just... WOW.

Also very nice to have added in Alex' Bellarmine incident.

Really, I love your story.
Thank you!

Now, if Arioch had such writing skills, the story would have moved much faster forward in a novel form. But then, the story may have moved so fast that you wouldn't have thought about putting this story here, and I would've missed this story.
I don't know what I want right now: Arioch moving his story forward at an increased speed (as I love stories more than page by page of a well-made comic), or whether he should just speed up a tiny bit (say 2 pages a month on average), so that you're still getting bored and writing more of your fanfic....
I cannot decide...


Also: lazy git? You?
This was a pretty long part. Included a full battle. Included a lot of story. Included wonderful references to the "canon story" of outsider.
If Outsider ever gets a printed version, I want this story in as an extra.