Last
Stand
“Admiral
Fletcher.” The voice came over the intercom. “The enemy fleet is
arriving in the system, as expected.”
“Alright. Any
numbers yet? Types?” He asked, still leaning his head back on the
leather chair, his eyes closed.
“Looks like a
thousand sub-capital ships screening a large number of battleships
and carriers. They're still coming out of translation space, so we
don't know how large a force it will be.” The voice of his
assistant, Colonel Joel Jamison filled him in.
“Has the council
decided to fight or flee?” He asked, he knew they had already
decided to fight it out here in this system. Out of the tens of
thousands of solar systems, this one was of sentimental value for the
Pulse Alliance. They would send all of the forces they could gather
against this invading, unstoppable enemy.
The Noran were
right, humans were stupid. This was shaping up to be the biggest
battle of any war since humans spread across the galaxy. One would
think there was nothing to fight for when there were so many worlds
and star systems to choose from. They would be wrong, humans always
found a reason to fight.
Admiral Fletcher
stood, straightened his uniform and put on his cap. He would lead
this fight from the command center. It might be hopeless, but the
battle would be fought. The Pulse Alliance allies had all dropped
out, they had nothing at stake. They had joined the Pulse just
because they wanted to kill some of the Unitred.
The Union of Red, or
Unitred, a centralized tyranny that had grown to control a good fifth
of the galaxy and this wasn't enough for them. The Union of Red's
central government had become dependent on Uber-crystal sales for its
economy. Then the market for them collapsed as alternatives appeared.
They saw the Pulse Alliance as traitors since they had been allies
once.
Fletcher walked into
the command center, dominated by a giant round table covered with
holographic projections of the system. There were holographic
presentations of all of the vessels, the room had never been so
bright. Thousands of vessels on each side, the Pulse fleet gathered
around the Mother Station that had always acted as the seat of PA
government power.
Enemy carriers,
battleships, mixed fleets stretched all around the solar system with
swarms of sub-capital ships to screen them. “Swarms” was
descriptive to a point, for they were large in number, but these
Unitred formations were well-disciplined. They were much more
organized than the Pulse fleet, made up of free men and women for the
most part.
“We will lose this
battle.” Fletcher acknowledged, “But we will make a stand first.”
A holographic image
of Kurvin Wiesel, the Pulse Alliance Defense Director, appeared in
front of the Admiral. Fletcher would have liked to kick the man out
of an airlock. Wiesel was a replacement for Belinda Thomas, who had
made this battle and the downfall of the Pulse inevitable. She had
fled on one of the last Pegasus League ships to abandon the field,
rumors were that she had accepted an appointment in their defense
establishment. Wiesel was incompetent, but at least he hadn't ran
away yet.
“Admiral. All we
can ask of you is to do your best. Put up a brave defense of the
Mother Station, even if losing is inevitable.” Wiesel told him.
“Yes, sir. I
understand, sir.” Fletcher responded, amazed at his own ability to
hold his tongue. The council was asking him to throw away the lives
of thousands of men and women to make a statement, a waste of life.
It was not something he wanted to order them to do, but he would do
his duty even if he secretly hoped all of the Pulse crews ran away.
The hologram
Director of Defense vanished. The men and women around the command
center was waiting for his orders.
“Okay, show me
where our capital ships are.” He told them and they began
highlighting them over the table.
“Admiral, we've
been told to hold the capital ships back.” Colonel Joel Jamison
told him, “They want you to use the sub-capital ships first.”
They, the council,
wanted to save their precious capital ships until the last minute.
How many of them were under orders to escape after the first wave or
two? How many council members were already out of the system? How
many had fled with Belinda Thomas?
“Do I have any
bombers?” Admiral Fletcher asked and saw a few highlighted ships.
These could become very stealthy and make a hit and run attack on
some of the enemy formations. There weren't enough to make a dent in
an enemy fleet as large as this one, but it would make a statement.
Isn't that what the council had asked for?
Admiral Fletcher
highlighted one of the enemy Carrier-Command vessels near the far
side of the solar system. “Have we any deep scans of these ships?”
he asked. The sensor arrays had been destroyed by some of the first
Unitred forces to enter the system.
“Interesting. I
don't recall a capital ship being among the first in, but the scans
do show one.” Colonel Jamison told him. The image appeared in the
air in front of him.
“Could this be
that same vessel?” He asked, “The antenna array and this
appendage underneath is different than the other carrier-command
ships.”
It was subtle but
the difference was real. Possibly this was their main command ship,
maybe there were high-ranking Unitred officials there for the final
battle. It would be their style to want to watch the final
dispatching of their foes.
“Have the bombers
target that ship.” He ordered, “Let's move around some carriers
and see if the enemy responds. This waiting game is annoying.”
“Have groups A1
through C25 move outward from here for a million kilometers. Let's
see if they'll move inward in response.” He watched as the forces
moved outward from Mother Station, freeing up some room to maneuver.
There were just so many ships on both sides that once the fighting
started, it would be one huge incomprehensible mess.
“Maybe we should
ask the Director one more time about letting everyone translate out
of here. There is no need to sacrifice so many lives for a statement.
There's a million solar systems we can go to instead of fighting for
this one.” He had told Colonel Jamison a day ago, the answer came
quick. In no uncertain terms he was told to make a stand.
A flash of red on
the holographic representation got his attention. “What was that?”
he asked but he already knew that one of the stealthy bombers had not
made it to the target. There were a few more, all of them taking a
different route.
“Advise all ships
to power up and prep all weapons.” He told one of the people around
the command table. “Looks like we are committed to this.”
Colonel Jamison
walked up next to him and whispered. “There was a stealth transport
docked with Mother Station a while ago, it seems to be moving away
now.”
Admiral Fletcher
nodded. The council, or at least some of it, would escape while
leaving everyone to die. Cowards. There were a dozen other alliances
and federations that would welcome them all as members. Why commit to
this pointless battle?
“Have these forces
move out another million kilometers too.” Fletcher indicated some
two hundred sub-capital ships near Mother Station. Thirty of these
were rigged to deploy torpedoes, which would move toward enemy
formations and then drift until something came close and then they
would explode like mines in the ocean.
The vast majority of
those would be easily destroyed by any space vessel, but sometime sin
the heat of battle one might not notice these weapons.
“Commodore
Wilkie.” He addressed a man on the other end of the table. “Have
you task forces start their fast approach at the enemy concentrations
as planned. Now.”
Two groups of
twenty-six vessels started moving in different directions. They built
up speed rather quickly as they accelerated towards the enemy swarms.
None of the main formations had yet fired a shot. The common accepted
rules of war state that destroying the stealth bomber ships don't
really count as offensive but defensive.
The hologram of the
Defense Director appeared next to him again. “Admiral, this is
taking too long, is there a problem? Do you need to be replaced?”
Fletcher looked at
the holographic display of the man with disdain. “I am studying the
layout of the enemy forces and considering our best options for
attack.”
The holographic
director rolled his eyes. “Meaningless, you'll never find a
weakness, the Unitreds are far too powerful, the Pulse Alliance won't
defeat them, look at how many there are! Just attack them and get it
over with.”
“Director. There
is no honor in a frontal, uncoordinated attacks. That is lunacy. You
are asking me to order all of these men and women to commit suicide.
At least let me make their deaths as effective as possible.... sir.”
Fletcher responded.
The holographic was
starting to fade. As if it was being sent from farther and farther
way. He glanced at the colonel who nodded and went to a work station.
“Listen Admiral,
we need to make this happen as soon as possible. It is pointless to
try and formulate a winning strategy against these odds.” The
Director said, “If I do not see progress in five minutes, I will
replace you.”
The connection ended
and the holograph winked out.
“Admiral, he's on
board that stealth transport that just left the Mother Station.”
Colonel Jamison said.
The Admiral nodded
and reached for his tablet computer, he touched a button that
activated the communications switch in all of the Pulse Alliance. The
Noran had always refused to intercede into human affairs but they
always sounded worried about this war. Fletcher wondered if the
coming slaughter would end their worries or shock them.
“This is Admiral
Jebediah Fletcher, Arch Commander of the Pulse Alliance Fleet. The
Council has ordered that we make a final stand here, at the Mother
Station. They want us to make a statement here at the last battle.”
He told all of those listening. “I want all vessels ready to
engage....”
“Admiral. Look at
the bomber target.” Someone alerted him. He checked the holographic
images over the wide table and saw that the one he chose as the
target had taken some massive damage. Then it flashed and showed even
more damage. Nearby flashes showed that the stealth bomber ships
which had conducted this attack were now destroyed.
“Order lines one
and two to engage the leading elements of the Unitreds, tell them to
retreat if there is any sign of a capital ship.” The Admiral
ordered.
“Open a channel to
the carrier Kayax.” He told one of the assistants. Quickly
it was opened. “The cowardly council is fleeing after ordering us
to commit suicide. There was a stealth transport leaving the station
a few minutes ago, I think you should make sure that they don't
leave.”
In response a voice
replied, “I understand, Admiral. Kayax out.”
The first
sub-capital elements of the Unitreds had engaged the forces that the
Admiral had moved forward. Both sides were losing ships at a similar
rate, but with the Pulse outnumbered by a wide margin this was not a
good thing.
“Order them to
withdraw.” The Admiral said.
“Admiral, the
Kayax has fired upon the stealth transport. Much of its outer
shell has been lost, it's not stealthy any more.” Colonel Joel
Jamison said. “Should I order them to take the council and others
prisoner?”
Fletcher shook his
head. “Negative. What would be the point of taking prisoners in
this hopeless situation? We have orders.”
The Kayax
fired again, a minor weapon that took out the main engines of the
transport, it would never be able to enter translation space now. The
transport was now drifting toward the enemy vessels arrayed and
prepared for battle. The Admiral opened a channel to the Kayax.
“Return to previous position.”
The floating
transport was soon surrounded by enemy vessels.
“We're receiving a
message from the transport, sir.” Jamison said. “It's not a
hologram. Just audio.”
The Admiral nodded.
Through static and other distortions the voice of the Defense
Director of the Pulse Alliance was heard.
“What is
happening? The council has been attacked, now we are surrounded by
enemy forces. Admiral, explain this!” The angry voice said.
“This channel is
not secure Director. I would advise you to surrender to the Unitreds,
or go down fighting, your choice.” Fletcher told the man, “Seems
like your situation is hopeless, better make a statement.”
He picked up his
tablet again. “This is Admiral Jebediah Fletcher of the Pulse
Alliance. The Unitreds have captured the council and other high
officials of the Pulse Alliance. The Alliance is over, I would
suggest those vessels with the ability to move into translation to do
it now. For the rest of you, I suggest you ask free passage out of
here.”
“Excellent,
Admiral.” he heard behind him. He turned to see the holographic
representation of a Noran with its triangular heads and long necks.
“The Noran leadership is impressed with you. We have also learned
that the Unitreds are under orders to give all of your vessels free
passage. Now that you no longer have a country, I have a proposition
for you.”
The holographic map
showed the Unitreds had opened up lanes for the Pulse Alliance ships
through.
“What kind of
proposition?”
“The Noran want to
have an official, what is the word, diplomatic contact with humans.
Your name is now being considered for this.” The alien holograph
was saying. “We believe that humans could use our guidance or
advice. Not that they will always listen, of course. We have no
illusions.”
“Took you long
enough.” Fletcher said. “I will conditionally accept the offer.
Although, I might be arrested and put on trial by the Unitreds.”
“The Noran will
see to it that you are free.” he was told, the Admiral was a bit
surprised, “Our separation has not benefited either of us. It is
about time that we start talking with our neighbors.”
end
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