Book 4: Chapter 196: Line Battle (Three)

Book 4: Chapter 196: Line Battle (Three)

USD: Thirty-Seven hours since hostile fleet incursion.

Location: Meltisar System, MNS Aegis Flag Bridge

The tension on the bridge was palpable. Alex could feel it creeping up her spine, a prickling sensation that set her on edge. Admiral Parks had taken to pacing the length of the command deck, his pipe clenched between two fingers.

She had flipped the environmental fans to maximum to rid the room of the smoke smell, adding a low-pitched whine to the background noise on the flag bridge. Officers mumbled and confirmed orders and telemetry between the fleets various warships. Captain Young had retreated to the forward CIC to command the ship and sent an operational report on the MNS Aegis own status.

Alex glanced at the ship clockthirty minutes had passed since the Imperial fleet had pushed past their red acceleration line. Fifteen minutes until combat range, and then theyd run through the harrowing fire of a chase for another ten. Finally, theyd reach the 1st fleet, and the Aegis, nearly an hour before Theas projected ready time for the moonlet and 6th fleet's arrival.

There would be a pitched battle at point blank range when reinforcements arrived. The battle would likely be over by then. The Imperial fleet reduced to stragglers and singletons while the Meltisar fleet reeled and did its best to recover its losses.

Unacceptable.

Beyond the possibility of losing the Aegis and being blown up herself such an outcome would cripple Meltisars navy. Theyd never recover, and the other powers would force them to surrender, or worse, simply annihilate them if they decided subjugating Tia was too much of a hassle.

In a large part, the path that they had taken was her responsibility, her choiceeven if she had made it together with the others.

They were already locked in to utilizing the moonlets wormhole drivethat was a proscribed technology. What was the point in holding back all their cards?

Alex slowly stood up from her console.

Admiral Parks noticed immediately and froze in his path, looking at her with an inquiring glance. Ensign?

Alexs heart pounded in her chest as she ordered her thoughts. Finally, she turned to him. Admiral, I am resigning my Ensigns position immediately. As such, I am assuming operational command and responsibility for the 1st fleet.

There was an indistinct murmur from the bridge crew, although it was not a surprise to anyone that she was a Chi NAItaking over command wasnt something that was standard or planned for.

Alex raised her hand to the main screen, the main Order of Battle and chain of command appeared, modified with red lines where ships had been ripped out and lost, showing the complex web of seniority and command authority and how it would be passed down as each ship in the fleet was lost.

At the very top, Admiral parks stood alone, little lines weaving their way down from him to the various Battleship squadrons and their rear admirals.

She modified the screen with a thought, her icon and picture appearing at the top, a line going down to attach to Admiral Parks icon. Admiral, we need to fight. We cant run away from them.

He raised an eyebrow. I assume you have a plan then, En Chi Myers?New novel chapters are published on

Aboard the Aegis and the primary battleships across the fleet are specific ammunition crates not listed on the ships inventory and manifest. Alex waved her hand, icons for each battleship in the fleet appeared, the destroyed ones grayed out. The main screen zoomed in to their ammunition vaults and highlighted and lit up various storage locations.

Well wait for the enemy fleet to close to combat range, then reverse acceleration before they do, hopefully degrading their reaction time, Alex continued.

Admiral Parks frowned. That was likely the plan anyway, Cadet. I dont understand what you

Alex cut him off. Admiral. After our first volley, well begin mop-up operations. It will be a major benefit to have Nameless take charge of those.

He raised an eyebrow. He was silent for a moment, looking over the picture on the main screen. What kind of rail shells are these, Myers?

She met Admiral Parks gaze squarely, determination burning in her eyes despite the sick feeling she had clawing at her insides. There were a dozen things she could have called them. Technical name, designation number, their alpha NAI code string they werent sapient, not in the way of humans or NAI avatars, but

All of them had answered her when shed made them. There wasnt a single shell that hadnt reached back when she had touched it, sharing its own emotion with her.

The shells were sentient. Every single smart munition was sentient.

A second beam nearly grazed him, but he danced out of the way again. Every shell in the barrage began to zig and zag, weaving an intricate dance to avoid the enemy PDC-L fire.

A dull wave of heat slammed into him, impossible to avoid. It was a diffuse laser, set to maximum dispersion to cover a massive area. It was too weak to pierce his shell, and the effect was only slightly effective at hindering his targeting.

A sensor picked up a picture of A121s chassis, glowing a dull red as she streaked by him.

Left-Up-Down-Right, the evasive pattern changed with every cycle, the randomness preventing any laser powerful enough to do damage from hitting him.

The distance closed to another invisible line. Enemy projectiles began to spew out of their guns, joining the lasers in their angry defiance.

The enemys targeting was poor at best.

He activated his main thruster and began to course-correct as the optical feed of his target transmitted an image. Intelligence had been right; it was a battleship. A rapid search of the Approved Targets Database turned up no information on the class. A quick processing allowed A120 to estimate the vital points and possible interior locations of the ships vitals.

Crude caricatures of him and his siblings launched out of the enemy warships, attempting to home in on them. He let one come close, then jutted out of the way at the last second, sending it in a savage curve that would come back to its own fleet. It detonated itself when it realized the danger.

More and more lasers began to flash out, burning through the dispersed particles of the fleets main drives, creating a glittering light show that drew nearer and nearer to the ships themselves.

Space became littered with danger and noise, wreckage and spent chaff. A120 weaved between them like a ballerina. His course corrections became more intense and savage as he threw himself away from the path of the enemy projectiles faster than they could keep up. All across the battle space, the dance was repeated thousands of times.

A fake image of his target appeared. He feinted toward it and the weapons aimed at him went silent for a moment. He jerked back on course, but the weapons had moved on to new targets. The thick net of communication to his siblings began to wear and fade as shells found their targets or were lost.

Pride filled his circuits; his family was highly successful in their missions. Mother would be pleased.

Only the link with his sister remained. Their target had been near the rear line of the enemy fleet. The allied fire stabbing at them from the sides ceased until there was only the X2312 trying to eliminate them. The ship was massive, thousands of its own small weapons swiveling towards them and firing.

A121 pushed forward until she was nearly a tenth of a second ahead of him.

A single burst of communication rushed through the link, directed at him. Fly!

A laser cut her in half, and he flew through the discharging cloud of her anti-matter warhead.

There was no sensation of loss or pain, but A120 marked the turret that had fired the beam at her.

He marked the turret.

Then he danced.

His anti-matter warhead was powerful enough to threaten a battleship if it detonated within a few kilometers, especially if it was towards the rear of the vessel away from their heavy prow double d-layers.

He crossed that distance line, but he didnt detonate immediately. The damage wouldnt be enough. It had just been him and his sister assigned to X2312.

Pivoting around, he fired his main linear drive over maximum, threatening to burn out the thruster. It didnt need to survive long. It was a calculated risk. He had reached standoff range. A poor maneuver would carry him away. The second he started to slip away, he would

The trajectory was perfect. The guns and lasers chased him, but he flew in faster than they could target, spilling their death uselessly along his trail.

He hit the turret that had killed his sister directly. Detection sensors immediately winked out as his hardened penetrator shell dug through thick sheets of plating. Satisfaction filled him as he dug through compartments with ease, traveling through the length of the ship.

When his internal sensor picked up the telltale sign of active fusion, he did not fail.

Detonate!

The universe winked out of existence as X2312s spine cracked.