Book 4: Chapter 189: Conflict

Book 4: Chapter 189: Conflict

USD: Two hours later

Location: Meltisar, Military Shuttle 8701-A, Rendezvous with Aegis

The shuttle hummed as it came in for its final approach to land inside one of the Aegis many boat bays. Alex was oblivious to the noise as she focused on scanning the intelligence reports on the incoming Imperium fleet.

An Armada.

Meltisars scouts had picked up the fleet the moment it had transited into the Beta Antliae system. The pickets had jumped back to Van Biesbroecks Star as soon as they had been spotted, but the short distance between the jump points there meant they only had a several hour lead on the incoming fleet. Assuming they followed immediately, at the best guess, the Meltisar Navy Intelligence could place on the Imperial fleets acceleration curve.

Add that to the time lag from the Beta Antliae point in the Meltisar system itselfthe Imperial fleet could be in the system within a few hours. There was little the Meltisar Navy could do to prevent them from entering. Their primary fleet strength had remained, as per protocol, near the center of the system itself. There were simply too many jump points to be guarded for them to cover them all in strength.

There were a lot of nasty things a hostile fleet could do as soon as they entered the system, but that was why Meltisar itself had a formidable defense net that would give pause to any fleet. Advanced listening posts meant that a kinetic bombardment would be detected long before it arrived.

Meanwhile, the primary fleet had already begun to assemble for an interception. Alex went over the numbers; they were not comforting.

[Imperial Fleet Observation via MNS Westen, Beta Antliae Picket, Begin.]

|Inner System Ships|

|Battleships: 22|

|Battlecruisers: 10|

|Cruisers: 870|

|Destroyers: 3500|

|Corvettes: 7350|

[Imperial Armada Fleet Observation, End.]

It was nearly forty percent of the entire Meltisar Navy, almost twice what the best intelligence reports had stated the Imperials could muster from their system fleets without stripping their border guard at Sol meant to counter the Ertan. It was still less than everything they hadbut that wasnt much comfort.

A shadowy hand gripped at her heart; her best-case scenario was rapidly slipping away. She and Tia had only added twenty percent to their calculations of what the Imperials could muster. The shuttle set down and bleeped a ready to disembark noise at her.

She stood and exited, a confused crewman stepping back as she exited, no doubt wondering where the rest of the passengers were. It had been a personal flight direct from groundside, something that should have been reserved to senior officers or a group. Not a single ensign. Shed added the lapel to her uniform, confirming the rank.

Just me. Alex mumbled to him.

The path to the flag bridge was well known to her. Despite the ships kilometers of labyrinthine corridors and passageways, she didnt even need Nameless mini-map function to find her way. The ship was large enough that there were dozens of turbo lifts streaking through the ships innards at regular intervals, but shed chosen the bay closest to her destination and avoided them.

The flag bridge was centrally located, although it was kept separate from the ships primary combat CIC for redundancy purposes. Either location could direct and control the entire first fleet, and generally a second set of flag officers would be stationed in each, just in case the ship suffered extensive battle damage. A smaller battleship had the honor of being a backup if the Aegis was destroyed, and a chain of command from the largest warship to the smallest ensured that no matter what damage was sustained, there would always be someone in command.

She saluted the duty-guard as she entered, only to be almost immediately stopped by an alert lieutenant she didnt recognize from her prior assignment. Not that she would have expected to. The Aegis had thousands of crew.

He stepped in front of her and raised his hand. Hold on, where are you going Ensign? Whats your station? he asked, eyeing her rank insignia with suspicion.

Im here to confer with Admiral Parks and discuss the situation, Alex replied calmly.

A puzzled look appeared on his face, and he opened his mouth to question her further when another man cut him off.

The Captain had noticed the interaction. Lieutenant, send her up. Shes expected.

The lieutenant snapped to attention, before turning back to Alex. My apologies, Ensign. Please proceed.

She gave him a casual salute. No worries, Sir. She made her way up a small set of stairs to the primary flag bridge and saluted the Captain directly.

None of that, Ensign. Do we have a direct from fleet, or HCOM? The man asked.

It was a weird feeling to be asked that when he likely had a line to both channels himself, but she supposed he had a point; someone would have to listen to his request, relay it, then someone would have to come up with a response and send it. Alex flicked her HUD to Tias conference inside MOR-1s high command, where she was discussing everything with FADM Wilkes and the other admirals there.

| STANDARD PROTOCOL; FULL FLEET ASSEMBLY; FURTHER ORDERS TO FOLLOW |

Nothing but standard assembly, Sir. They are still working out a response. Alex replied. Where is Admiral Parks?

Before the Captain could respond, the primary door to the flag bridge slid open, and the Admiral and his two flag lieutenants entered briskly. Parks eyes fell squarely on her, a slight frown crossing his face. Ensign. Welcome back to the Aegis. Do you have for me?

She had to suppress her shock when her HUD suddenly highlighted him in yellow, and then a bounding box appeared over his face and enlarged it. Analysis text flooded her peripheral HUD.

[Admiral Parks Analysis: Physiological Response]

| Heart Rate: 134 bpm |

| Stress Level: Elevated |

| Pupil Dilation: 45% above baseline |

| Skin Conductance: Increased (indicative of perspiration) |

| Facial Micro-expressions: Indicative of hostility |

| Body Language: Closed posture |

| Voice Pitch: Elevated, indicative of stress |

| Cortisol Levels: Estimated high (based on physiological markers) |

| Adrenaline Levels: Estimated high (based on physiological markers) |

| Breathing Rate: 22 breaths per minute (elevated) |

| Blood Pressure: Estimated 145/95 mmHg (elevated) |

| Muscle Tension: Increased |

| Threat Assessment: Moderate to High |

Alex hid her surprise and led with information the Admiral probably already knew, including the reported fleet strength of the Imperials and the general order for fleet assembly as proscribed by the standard protocols in such an event as a foreign fleet breach.

The man didnt give any outward sign of hostility, but the warm, approachable demeanor she had remembered had disappeared completely. And she had no idea why.

An alert suddenly pinged the entire bridge, and everyone turned to stare at the new report. It flashed in red.

[Solarian Federation Fleet Observation via MNS Far shroud, Scholzs Star Picket, more to follow.]

A second ping bleeped a second later, displaying another.

The enemy fleet, or at least the part that had struggled to orient itself, dumped their own birds into space in response. A cascading wall of fire filled the void between them, disrupting sensors and targeting suites.

Abbey pulled back instinctively.

A Corpo battleshipand she had finally determined who the ships belonged toplunged through the cloud of flames straight for her, railguns blaring. Heavy caliber shells began to tear through her defense field before she rotated to place the ship in her primary firing arc and fired. The beam punched into the battleships nose, drilling right through its core and emerging from its aft.

In a frozen moment of time, a hollow core of fire filled the ship. Then it detonated, exploding outward into thousands of fragments.

[Battle Statistics]

| Fleet Status: Engaged |

| Enemy Forces: Unknown Strength |

| Friendly Forces: Holding, Casualties Rising |

Her own railguns began to reply as smaller vessels darted forward towards her, the weapons of her own destroyers and frigates focusing on the cruisers. Not every shell fired struck a target, but each one that did struck with devastating force to the smaller ships. They were torn asunder, crumpled into wreckage, or mercifully knocked offline.

Abbey assessed the situation, the environment of her tactical map awash in reds and blues as icons danced and clashed. Her units were dying in wide swaths as enemy ships targeted them and returned fire. The initial surprise had cost them dearly, but The amount of fire she was able to direct wasnt enough to silence them.

There were so many.

Her fleets coordination was exemplary; each ship performed its role and executed her direction with precision. Flashlights lashed the larger enemies from afar. Gunners and Stabbers darted in, spewing railgun shells and thick bursts of PDC-K fire across smaller targets. Her light-show drones held formation around her, filing space with thousands of smaller lasers targeting any opening that was detected.

The destroyers and corvettes filling the space in front of her bore the heaviest burden. They died just as their enemy counterparts did, in clumps of a dozen or more. Enemy cruisers and battleships targeting them relentlessly, forcing her to keep them in an evasive retreat.

Something had changed in the engagement that Abbey didnt fully process. The enemy ships organized their weapons fire more accurately. Protected each other more fiercely. They moved as a unit, instead of as a disoriented mob, and distracted her units to pick them off one by one. She bit her lip as she tried to understand.

[Situation Analysis]

| Battle: Hidden Depth? |

| Unknown Factor: Present |

| Corpo Fleet: Improved Coordination |

| Tactics: More Cohesive & Adaptive |

It wasnt just the enemies shaking off the jump disorientation, although that had to be a factor. Abbey narrowed her eyes and abandoned her drones to the melee, pulling back what corvettes and destroyers remained behind her.

The hard reverse thrust pressed her into her control seat; shed minimized energy to her A-Grav plating to the bare minimum required to maintain structural integrity and keep her from squishing in order to etch every single drop of energy to fill the capacitors needed to fill her main beam array.

A new focus clicked into place, and she yawed as she fired, spreading a thick beam across the multitude of smaller enemy ships rushing forward to chase. They exploded as the beam passed through them, dozens of small explosions reminding her of popcorn.

More and more laser fire dug into her D-field, the dome preventing the energy from dumping its rage into her hull. Glowing motes of metal sprinkled off her hull where railgun shells had punched through, but the damage was still superficial, the heavy armored plates having deflected potentially deadly shots in other directions.

A warning she didnt need appeared and her hands clumped into fists.

[Personal Analysis]

| Self: Pushed to Limits |

She was no longer the hunter, but the hunted. It was everything she could do to keep them from being enveloped as her last close range drone winked out, leaving only the Flashlights and remaining destroyers and corvettes. Her heart dropped as she saw there were only thirty percent of those remaining.

Abbey realized she had made a mistake. Amy would have told her she hadnt been careful enough, that shed been too arrogant. Heeler would have told her she failed to prepare and build enough ships.

She was going to lose.

She could outrun the battleships, but not the cruisers. And there were so many left. Her kill counter showed a dozen battleships had died, each nearly eclipsing her own size and firepower. Nearly forty cruisers, each a fortress and behemoth in its own right, had been extinguished in fire. Hundreds of destroyers and corvettes had been wiped from existence but that was only half of the remaining Corpo fleet.

She had punched far beyond her own mass and firepower should have been capable of, and avoided the massed fire that should have ended her early on.

The remaining forty cruisers and even smaller warships were too much for her to handle now. Shed used up her smaller units, and her clutch missile dump was spent.

She checked her beam array focus count. There were only twenty left.

Still. She had to try.

A sudden ping aborted her counter-attack on the lighter Corpo elements as soon as they had separated from the heavier battleships. It was just a simple text message, transmitted in the clear, from behind a heavy firewall.

| You did well. |

| Surrender, you are welcome to join the Corporate Systems. |

| Immediately, or you will end here. |

| Drop your firewall and submit. |

The text had a taste that was unmistakable, the digital footprint of another NAI.

Suddenly, the change in the enemy fleet made sense. The other NAI had arrived in the battle to coordinate their efforts.

Time around her stopped completely, the entire battlefield seeming to freeze in place as she contemplated.

A knot formed in Abbeys stomach. She could fight and possibly eliminate at least half the enemy fleet still coming. That would make it easier for Heeler to deal with the rest of them. There was still time for Amy and the others to escape on their own ships back to Nu Crateris, although Ackman would be lost.

There was another option, though. A risky one.

Should she gamble?

A quick processing told her that Heelerwould probably be able to defeat the remaining enemy fleet on his own, even if she didnt weaken it. If he continued to build, and she knew he would, hed likely even be able to handle things if her decision went awry.

Abbey held out her hand and responded.

| I surrender. My Firewalls are down. |

Not that she had developed any for herself, yet. A channel opened, Abbey could taste the confusion. The other hadnt really expected her to accept. Excitement trilled through her as her HUD began to fill with text.

|INCOMING TRANSMISSION|

|NANITE SYSTEM DETECTED|

|AUTHENTICATE| AUTHENTICATE| AUTHENTICATE| AUTHENTICATE|

|CHI COMMAND OVERRIDE| FAILURE|

|REQUEST AUTHENTICATION|

|PSI AUTHENTICATION ACCEPTED|