Book 4: Chapter 194: Line Battle (One)

Book 4: Chapter 194: Line Battle (One)

USD: Thirty-Six hours since hostile fleet incursion.

Location: Meltisar System, MNS Aegis Flag Bridge

Alex didnt need Nameless to provide her psych eval reports for her to notice the undercurrent of fear and stress on the flag bridge. The flag lieutenant reporting to Admiral Parks had small beads of sweat forming on the side of his face, a signals officers voice cracked slightly higher than was usual, and the tone of the line section commanders was entirely grave as they reported their readiness.

Captain Young had retreated off the flag bridge to the MNS Aegis secondary CIC. As long as one of the two critically important compartments remained intact, the flagship would still be capable of continuing to fight.

Admiral Parks had already pushed the fleet into action, mirroring the 2nd and 3rd fleets as they met the Ertanites. Distance has disappeared between the intruding ships as the intruding ships dug deeper into Meltisar space to meet the response.

The Imperial Fleet loomed large as the 1st Fleet came closer, both sides heaping more and more sensitive and powerful sensors upon the other in order to discern the slightest advantage or new information. On the flag bridges primary tactical display, dozens of ships were highlighted hinting at individual weaknesses or issues.

Different combat plans were offered in real time to the Admiral who had an instant estimation and appraisal of any move the fleet could make. Traditional Line Battle, Decapitation strike, a wedged breakthrough all were moot. There was only one option called for by the strategic plan that Alex herself had helped form: tactical retreat.

She squeezed the arm of her seat. Now that things were in motion, she wasnt truly in command or have any way to steer events except for a very limited role as one of the flag communication officers, specifically relating to NAI coordination and with FHQ. Nameless took care of almost everything on his end without needing any prompting. With nearly a twelve hour round trip for communications back to Meltisar itself, there wasnt much chance for her to doanything but watch.

Captain Youngs voice crackled over her ear comm, his tone serious but calm. Ensign, I need you to double-check the ships NAI link between the ship and the rest of the formation.

Alex nodded to herself and flipped her HUD to the relevant screen that Nameless had made. This was one job that pretty much only she could handle, since the NAI links for the Meltisar ships were brand new and there wasnt a regular interface for the crew to utilize them.

Nameless had been running cyclic simulations of point defense calculations she realized was akin topractice. All the links were fine though, and she opened a channel back to the captain.

Confirming all links are green, Sir.

Keep an eye on them, Ensign. Let me know if anything disrupts the links so we can fall back to the standard PD net, Young ordered before closing the comm link.

Admiral Parks noticed the interaction and gestured toward the tactical map. I could use a confirmation that the links are correctly propagated to the rest of the line sections as well, Ensign.

Alex nodded and started calling the various captains of the battleships that were in control of their various local combat groups. Confirming those connections had to be done on both ends, and it took a lot longer.

That wasnt actually a problem. It mercifully gave her something to do instead of sitting and feeling useless.

She relayed each status report as they came in. Everything was operational. The Admiral acknowledged with a nod but continued his briefing to the section commanders. There would be a missile exchange before falling back. The time it would take for the fleet to completely arrest their momentum and reverse course would allow for three or four full missile salvos despite the fleet having already bled off most of their momentum.

They were only going to manage to avoid an Imperial Fleet fly-by because the enemy, like themselves, was limited by their ships capabilities when approaching a considerable fraction of light speed. The acceleration curve of the Linear Drive meant that reaching .4c or higher was entirely possible, but at that rate of movement sensors and targeting systems struggled to make sense of the red and blue shift.

Which meant if the Imperial fleet poured on more speed to chase them, theyd ruin their ability to shoot while presenting themselves as easy targets for the Meltisar fleet. Well, fast moving easy targets, anyway. Kinetics would be nearly useless, but lasers and missiles were more than capable of intercepting fast-moving targets.

A soft chime sounded in her ear, indicating she had received a message from Thea. Oddly, the notification was in the emotionless tone of her Main Computer, rather than Theas usual Avatar voice.

[Update: Moonlet Wormhole Transfer project is nearing completion. Estimated time until operational: 3 hours. 6th Fleet in compliance with navigational orders.]

Three hours. That was in line with the previously offered estimate, and Alexs eyes lit up. Thea was really going to manage the impossible. The plan was going to work.

His eyes narrowed. She didnt blame him. They hadnt discussed it or planned it. Doing something like that across what amounted to hundreds of ships and causing a minor panic when everyone should have been laser focused wasnt ideal.

He didnt yell at her, though. He nodded, then pulled up the comms and relayed the information and instructed everyone to focus on their tasks. Even if Nameless had stolen control from a good portion of them.

Parks looked back at her. Are the NAI PD links still operating correctly, Ensign?

Alex nodded quickly. No change, Admiral. Everything is working properly and Nameless can handle the additional strain from handling the systems. As long as the Aegis sensors, communications, and computronics stay online, that shouldnt change.

The admiral nodded, then turned back to the sensor. Alex caught what had fixed his attention. Both fleets were nearly out of range, but the time for reload for the fleet had also nearly reached zero. He picked up the fleet comm and pressed the transmit key.

All ships, fifth strike authorized. Launch all ready munitions, simultaneous strike, 12:56 Universal, 22 seconds, Parks ordered.

Alex flipped the tactical screen to present a map of the fleets missile readiness. Each ship was represented by a tiny square, black for not ready and green for ready to fire. Most of the ships were black with a small swath of green representing ships with faster reloading missile tubes. The order had only left 22 seconds for ships to become ready and fire, but that was necessary because beyond that, their missiles would be out of range.

As it was, if the Imperial fleet accelerated away to build distance faster, the missiles would likely miss completely. But if they continued on their course, theyd smack right into them.

Squares flashed green rapidly as ships reloaded, dozens then hundreds coming online in the last ten seconds. When the clock reached zero, nearly eighty percent of the fleet fired. It wasnt a full salvo, and it had been launched at maximum range, but it was one that the Imperials wouldnt be able to mirror.

Alex rubbed her temples as her head began to throb. Nameless didnt tell her what was going on, but she didnt need him to. She could feel it, although it was just a fuzzy sensation of concentration on the incoming missile volleys. She switched her personal screen to a detailed view of the incoming salvos.

Each cluster contained over a hundred thousand missiles. It was a mindboggling number, and no human had any business trying to do more than tweak their computer aides in how they were going to be dealt with. The fleet had given up most of that control to herto Nameless.

Each swath of red icons was highlighted, every missile given a projected threat level and estimated target. Those wouldnt be firm until they entered a final target lock and interception burn. Due to the missiles onboard evasive software, the missiles spent tons of reaction mass and acceleration in the final throes to avoid defensive fire.

The first wave entered long laser range, and a concentrated volley of deadly light lanced out, first from the heavier battleships and then a second later from the smaller forward picket ships. ECM and decoys erupted from both sides, but it was evident that Nameless had the upper hand in a serious way, as nearly all the enemy units remained locked.

The same couldnt be said for the missiles, which veered off toward ship sized sensor ghosts and targets that had moved from their previous positions.

The volley was squarely targeted on the main line of cruisers and battleships. It gave the pickets extra time to engage with their point defense lasers and thin out the cloud of deadly munitions before they arrived.

And that was definitely needed because despite the long-range laser fire, there was still over half of the volley remaining and they were only seconds away from impact. Anti-missile missiles launched from the fleets defensive cruisers and heavier battleships, the guided projectiles shooting out to meet their counterparts.

On the tactical screen, different ships of the fleet were highlighted in different colors, but the Aegis and the other section leaders had their icons resized to be larger with warning icons underneath. Alex felt her breath catch. The enemy had gone for a decapitation strike. The targets on all the missiles suddenly rerouted at once to only target the Aegis and the other battleships acting as fleet coordinators.

She was on the Aegis.

They were aiming for her and everyone on board. The last few officers that had still been standing found their seats and clicked into place. She copied the gesture, sitting up a bit straighter and made sure her skinsuit was locked into her seat bracing.

Alex took a deep breath and released it. It wasnt the first time shed been under fire on a warship. But it was the first time when she wasnt in command.

Something about being part of a massive fleet, with a smaller role to play, had disarmed the feeling of just how tenuous the situation was.

The next few seconds could be her last.