The Fate of Terra Ch. 13

The Fleet Master sighed impatiently at the delay. "Very well," he grumbled, making notations on his display. "Open up the ranks here, here, and here... Let the rocks fly through and then get back into formation again. Tell the ships that anyone who doesn't move fast enough will be fed to the Rha'kovsk." Going back to watching the assembled fleet of this primitive race, he wondered who was responsible for helping them achieve such a feat. They had made many enemies throughout the galaxy. Perhaps the Rhemish or the Laksurcians could have been responsible. He supposed those pesky traders could have managed it as well...

As the asteroids neared the ships, the Sensor Manager frowned at his display. "I'm getting some odd readings about their composition. There are trace elements that faintly show up beneath the surface. I think-"

He stopped as alarm spread throughout the B'Amuf fleet like wildfire. The asteroids had suddenly accelerated madly, moving onto ballistic trajectories towards the unsuspecting ships. The B'Amuf ships all along their line began to open fire, but the incoming projectiles were already inside their formation. Many rocks split apart and began opening fire, others simply found a capital ship and attempted to ram it.

The sudden ferocity that ships began dying with caused fear and surprise to radiate through the B'Amuf as they were caught flat-footed. The attack was all the more devastating and psychologically traumatizing when they realized just how destructive the Terran nukes packed into the rocks were. At last, the rocks were expended and they managed to make it through the asteroid belt, leaving hundreds of hulks behind. However, the real damage was that their formation was now in complete disarray.

Wanting to capitalize on this, Michael had sent forth an expendable force of AI-controlled ships, like the peasants that had been sent before the knights in the Middle Ages to soften up the enemy. Following this force, the TDF had sent thousands of missiles that would hopefully be covered until they could reach their targets. The B'Amuf were so preoccupied by this surprise offensive, hardly any of them noticed the Terran fleet splitting into two ominous prongs.

The expendable force finally closed and began pouring light blue pulses of plasma onto their targets, their ion cannons firing full bore, knowing they wouldn't survive for long. Ships on both sides exploded. The B'Amuf attack craft weren't used to fighting anything larger than a fighter and thousands were shredded before multiple capital ships could concentrate their beams and get through the shields of the oncoming ships.

* * * * *

The sensor officer aboard the Intrepid intoned, "twenty-two thousand kilometers until enemy contact at the forward lines... twenty-one thousand... twenty..."

"Start the weave," Aurora ordered. All along their line, dreadnoughts began to move, exchanging places with those behind the front ranks. This was to allow their shields time to recover and would ensure they wouldn't be exposed for more than thirty seconds.

Battlecruisers supported individual dreadnoughts, switching places with each other. Destroyers would field enemy fire without exposing themselves -overlapped by the bigger ships' shields- and fighters would fill in the gaps and watch for enemy attack craft. The formation was pulled off with a machine-like efficiency that was impressive to behold.

The Council's attack prong was much different. For one, they had a great reliance on missile technology and released them by the hundreds of thousands, trying to simply overwhelm the oncoming B'Amuf ships. Their fighters actually acted as mules, releasing their payloads and then returning to their carriers to rearm. They didn't use dreadnoughts or battlecruisers, but battleships that tried to incorporate the armor of the former with the speed of the latter. The battleships would bear the brunt of the B'Amuf line while the destroyers, fighters, and their attached carriers would remain behind them and unload their missiles unhindered.

Finally, the organized Terran death machine crashed into the far larger but disorganized B'Amuf fleet. Michael knew the math said their shields ought to hold, but at magnitudes of this scale, that didn't mean much. If 5,000 B'Amuf rays all hit a dreadnought at once, it was going down no matter how much armor and shielding they'd provided.

All along the human fronts, ships began exploding as their shields were overwhelmed. Michael noticed the weave helped their chances of survivability, but in many cases thirty seconds was still too long an amount of exposure. He knew that if the B'Amuf formation hadn't been in chaos, they would have been easily overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

And then they were among the B'Amuf shuttlecraft and Kat was flying like a demon, Michael's personal guard struggling to keep up. As he was assaulted by g-forces, he tried to pay attention to their lines and reinforce points before they could collapse. Onboard the Intrepid, scores of tacticians did the same with capital ships, operating terminals on the lower level of the bridge. Pandora struggled to handle the math portion involved in carrying out their decisions.

After a half hour of fighting, clear distinctions between their forces became obvious. Every time the AI ships would retreat into the weave, the B'Amuf ships would follow and then become quickly enveloped by the ships that were coming up to replace them. This formed a very effective grinder that was chewing through the B'Amuf forces, actually requiring them to pull forces away from the Council's side to face them.

Having identified Michael's flagship, the B'Amuf would make suicide runs through their lines to try and take out the Intrepid. As the largest ship in the area by far, it was also the most capable. Not only did its rail guns bite into the enemy ships at an extreme range more than three times what the B'Amuf ships were capable of, but the oncoming vessels were absolutely shredded when under the full assault of the ion cannons.

No ship was able to come close to damaging the Intrepid as it had five shields that shut off before they overloaded. In other words, if the enemy ships took twenty seconds to break through one shield and another twenty to break through the next, before they could breach the third shield the first would reactivate and they'd need to do it all over again. They'd need to pour an insane amount of fire all at once to even think about getting through the shields. The Intrepid still had problems with ships trying to ram it though, and the crews worked feverishly to make sure that didn't happen.

"Master," Pandora informed him, sounding strained. "The Council's line is about to collapse. Their missiles are being negated by the tens of thousands of attack craft, while the battleships have to concentrate on all those individual swarms instead of the B'Amuf capital ships.

Michael grimaced and made some notations on his pad. "Reinforce them with our reserves in Quadrant II and tell whatever idiot is in charge of their destroyers to move them up to support the battleships. They must be about empty of missiles anyway and they can use their cannons to handle the attack craft."

"Yes, master," she responded, as if simply communicating was taking a toll on her. Just then, the strange B'Amuf ships in the back of the formation moved up. Four large ships formed a diamond with the B'Amuf flagship behind them. Between the four, there began to radiate a massive ball of energy that measured too high for their instruments to read.

"They seem to be building up a tremendous amount of kinetic force," Pandora exclaimed, sounding alarmed. "If they release that, I don't think we have a shield that can stand up to it. Luckily, I don't think they can fire it very far, so-"

Suddenly the ship in the rear fired a beam into the ball of energy and the four ships that made up the diamond exploded. From that, a beam of pure energy miles wide shot out on a direct path towards the Intrepid. They apparently figured it was worth the sacrifice to destroy the flagship of the force that was giving them so much trouble. Michael frantically made some calculations. Fifty seconds for the Intrepid to see it, another ten to be able to make any noticeable change in direction...

Pandora answered for him, sounding resigned. "Not enough time. I've sent the override orders on a tight beam for them to take the most effective evasive movements, but it will still hit them. They planned it perfectly to aim right where the Intrepid was going to be next in the weave. We were too predictable."

Michael began moving AI-controlled ships in between the beam and the Intrepid anyway, even though all of his readings said they'd only be torn to pieces. He felt fear for his loved ones and desperately stamped down on it before it could turn into hopelessness. "Back to the Intrepid," he ordered Kat. The beam was actually faster than them, but they had less distance to travel. Kat looked grim, but did as he asked.

* * * * *

"Good one, Reaper," Commander Cho congratulated him as he racked up another kill. "I think that just made you a 'real' Ace.

James smiled and shook his head. He looked over to see how their counterparts were doing and grimaced as he saw the fighters belonging to the Council's military used to ferry missiles. "What a waste," he muttered. The tactic made sense before the lines closed... but to do that while the fighting was going on? Who was in command over there? He was once again thankful that he'd gotten out.

Then a beam of energy blinked onto his screen and he stared in horror at what he was seeing. It was streaking towards his new home and he felt a brief prickle of hatred that it was going to be destroyed before he'd even gotten a chance to visit the beach area he'd heard so much about. Not one to hesitate long, he broke rank and flew at the approaching line of energy, doing rough calculations in his head. He really wished he'd paid more attention in his physics courses...

Thinking fast, he knew he had ten drones. He also knew that if he overloaded their reactors they could create a much greater explosion than any sort of missile. He was well aware that he couldn't hit the beam straight on as it wouldn't have any effect. However... He jerked his fighter on a parallel course and began giving instructions to the drones. One by one they sped off and exploded at precise points along the line at a distance, but close enough that the resulting shockwaves would blow into the beam. At first, it didn't appear to have any effect, but as he watched his readings, they showed the trajectory of the beam had changed by a few percentages of a degree.

As he continued to send out drones, his heart sank as he realized he needed one more drone than he had. James sighed and looked at the picture of him and three friends, all of which were dead now. He touched the laminated material and smiled, knowing he'd join them soon. He did, after all, have one more reactor he could use. He accelerated...

* * * * *

"Catch him!" Michael shouted to Pandora. They'd reached the beam --or rather it had reached them, and they were able to observe what James was doing. Pandora yanked his fighter back, saving the young Lieutenant yet again, and Kat released two drones to hit the beam at the last possible point they had available to them to direct it away from its planned course.

The beam screamed past the Intrepid, actually scorching some of the plating and causing the ship to shudder mildly from both the contact and the fact that the beam had cut through all five shields like a warm knife through butter. The nanites worked furiously to reform the damaged layer of ionized metal. A white-knuckled Aurora let out a relieved breath. She turned to her pad and reserved a place at the officer's bar, knowing tonight would see it packed and then some.

All throughout the fleet, cheers rang out from the reinvigorated defenders and the AI ships slammed back into the B'Amuf lines with a vengeance that bespoke their fury. "Who was that?" Michael demanded.

"The pilot I told you about," Pandora replied with no small amount of satisfaction. Michael nodded, not nearly as surprised as she might have thought. He'd come to trust her insight more than his own over the years.

"We'll just have to find some way to reward him..." he thought aloud.

Kat listened to what he had in mind and burst out laughing, "That's not a reward, that's a punishment." Michael just grinned unrepentantly.

An hour later, there was a noticeable tension in the air as both lines slugged it out, neither side seeming to give any ground. Michael was more perceptive however, and he recognized the shift in the B'Amuf ranks. If they could push them now, their lines would fold. He leaned back in his chair and told Pandora, "Release the Phoenix."

* * * * *

The Fleet Master narrowed his four eyes in confusion as he saw a change in the line of their enemy. 'Could they finally be weakening?' he thought, more hopeful than he wanted to admit. These humans had proven themselves to be far more resistant than anyone had predicted. Suddenly a human craft zipped past the viewport and he laughed at the size of it. How did they expect to damage them with something barely twice the length and width as he was tall? He didn't even see a shield on it. More flew past the viewport.

Slowly, he stopped smiling as dozens turned to hundreds, hundreds turned to thousands, and thousands became hundreds of thousands of small flyers. Soon his entire ship and those around him were fully encompassed by the tiny attack craft, their light blue balls adding up terrifyingly fast. He did some quick calculations and realized that just like that, it was over. He didn't have time to retreat and he could not be supported as those closest to him were in the same predicament. He sent out an order for those ships under attack to self-destruct, knowing the ensuing blast would almost certainly take all these pests with them.

* * * * *

All across the battlefield, everyone watched as a good chunk of the B'Amuf fleet facing Michael's line lit up suddenly as over a hundred capital ships exploded at once. Fully expecting that to be the end of it, they went back to fighting. They were all jarred from whatever they were doing as a keening, ear-piercing wail was blasted out of every speaker in all three fleets of ships as well as those on Earth and Lunar Base.

Every screen and display that Pandora had managed to hack showed the blast area, littered with melted hulks. Out of the destroyed mass of ships exploded millions of tiny craft that began reforming themselves out of the metal using nanites. These craft came together in a formation depicting a giant bird of prey that looked like it was on fire as they blasted continuous red beams at the B'Amuf line.

The alien ships desperately fired back into the mass of ships with no observable effect. Those attack craft that were hit were replaced by others and the damaged ships simply reformed and trailed after the formation, making it seem as if the bird had a long glowing tail. The Phoenix simply 'ate' ships --completely engulfing them and overwhelming their shields. It traveled along the line leaving behind nothing but death.

As the bird flapped its wings, the horrible haunting sound chilled its listeners. In his fighter, Michael waved his hands around like a conductor as another hair-raising banshee shriek pierced the air in the cockpit. The B'Amuf, unable to turn the sound off or even lower the volume, felt their fear mount as the approaching swarm neared their ships. Gradually they turned and fled in ones and twos. Soon, there were hundreds of B'Amuf ships fleeing and the lines collapsed, the Phoenix pursuing them relentlessly.

Still, it didn't really register for the humans that they had won, so stunned were they by the sound and the frightening display of destruction. Michael allowed himself a self-satisfied smile. The small ships really weren't all that difficult to counter if the opponents kept their heads and used coordinated barrages. But then, like the Draco, the real value was the psychological effect they had.

The sound in his cockpit was muted as Pandora spoke, "Master, it seems someone onboard the Intrepid tried to send data on some of our weapons and shield capabilities to the TDF flagship. I managed to isolate the feed and prevent a leak. Stacey tracked down the operative and ordered Marcus to take her into custody. Unfortunately, because the feed was suddenly cut off, it is probable that the Council's Intelligence Agency knows we now have one of theirs.

Michael shrugged. "I don't really have the patience to feed them fake information anyway. Very well, I'll see to it when I get back."

Kat piped up with, "Was the operative male or female?"

"Female," Pandora replied in an amused voice.

"Is she hot?" Kat asked, ignoring Michael's groan.

"I don't think I can objectively say," Pandora evaded smugly.

"What do you think?" Kat asked, directing her question to Michael.

He sighed. "I'm not too impressed that she would think to do this in the middle of a battle. Technically, she jeopardized billions of lives... and for what exactly? A promotion?"

Kat scoffed, "Quit making it sound so sinister. She was just doing her job and this was the best chance she had at pulling it off. You're making it sound like she tried to upload a virus when we were at our most vulnerable or something."

Michael chuckled, "How 'bout I just let you 'interrogate' her and then you don't have to convince me one way or the other..."

Kat brightened and she started to get wet thinking of all the devices she might get a chance to use. "I can do anything to her?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"So long as I get to watch," Michael smirked. Finally, as the Phoenix traveled beyond the orbital plane of Mars, the sound died down (for the humans anyway).

On his display, Admiral Johnson appeared shouting, "What the hell was that? What do you think you're trying to pull here? How dare you jeopardize our communications with that- that-"

He was interrupted as Vice Admiral Song came on and without formality said, "I think if you send your division furthest to your left now you can catch the fleeing ships. They seem to be running back towards where they came into the solar system which isn't the most efficient route out."

Michael looked at the calculations and nodded his head, impressed that he'd thought of that. "It's a good plan, but they'll be taken care," he said enigmatically. In fact, even without the plan that was in place or Song's strategy, his ships' superluminal capabilities were better than that of the B'Amuf. They couldn't outrun his forces if it came to that. Vice Admiral Song narrowed his eyes, but accepted that there was nothing he could do.

A set of linked probes was set up between the Intrepid and Earth. As he neared the Intrepid, the Council tuned in, their delayed image showing up next to those of Johnson's and Song's. The string reminded him of the early chat rooms he'd used when talking to hackers in other countries. There was often a delay between the time you posted and the time they saw the message and it added an extra challenge in communication.

Johnson's angry blustering filtered in for all to hear. "I want to know what the hell you were trying to accomplish with that stunt!" he roared. Nothing fuels anger like fear and the admiral didn't want to admit just how much the tormented melody had affected him.

Michael glanced at the red-faced image and cocked his head. "Wasn't it obvious?" he wondered aloud. "I was making a statement." Admiral Johnson's eyes just about popped out of his head and his image faded as Pandora cut his transmission. The Council and the Vice Admiral remained silent. They had been become used to Michael's blunt manner so him coming out and saying that the Phoenix was every bit as much for their benefit as it was the B'Amuf's wasn't all that surprising. He didn't try to hide what would happen if anyone went against him and just like any other pre-invasion superpower, every once and awhile he needed to flex his muscles to remind others that they needed to toe the line.