All That Glitters Ch. 07

All That Glitters Ch 7

Pirates!!, new discoveries...

The Piscium system gets attacked by pirates. The scientists make some significant research discoveries.

There is no sex in this chapter. I apologize to my Literotica readers who I know want to see all that sex but this chapter is mostly action.

Because of the amount of abbreviations in this story, I include a glossary:

Adm. Admiral, naval rank (see Cmdr.) -- above a captain

Capt. Captain, naval rank -- usually a ship's commander

CCO Chief Communications Officer, corporate position

Cdr. Commander, naval rank -- one grade below captain

CIO Chief Information Officer, corporate position

CP Confederation of Planets, referring to the losing side of the Terran Unification War, or just the War

Cmdr. Commodore, first of the admiral ranks (one star), it is followed by Rear Admiral (RAdm. two star), Vice Admiral (VAdm. three star), Fleet Admiral (FAdm. four star, in this story a Sector Commander or equivalent), and Admiral (Adm. five star, usually senior command positions such as Chief of the Navy)

Comp Communication device / personal computer, usually worn on the wrist. Everyone has one, though there are levels of sophistication above the ordinary

Coms O Communications Officer, naval position in charge of comms

CV Cargo Vessel (supply ship)

CPV Corporate Yacht, Corporate Private Vessel (i.e. CPV Liramor One)

CPO Chief Petty Officer, a naval rank, in this story it usually refers to the Boatswain, the senior enlisted rank of a ship, who literally owns the ship, he/she signed for it. The ship's captain commands, the Boatswain makes sure everything gets done

CSec Chief of Security, corporate position

Dir Director, as in Director of Operations, corporate position

EA/PA Executive / Personal Assistant, corporate position

Exec, Ex O Executive Officer, a ship's principal administrative officer. On small ships the 2^nd in command and Ex O can be one and the same. On large ships, they will be separate positions. Americans will tell you it's XO, but I'm not American

FTL Faster Than Light, referring to the multi-light year jump drive, military warships and some private/corporate yachts have a thirty-five light year jump capability, while large supply ships usually vary between fifteen to twenty light year capability

HR Human Resources, an administrative function

IFF Identify Friend or Foe, electronic identification system used between naval vessels to identify friendly vessels

JAG Judge Advocate General, military legal system of judges and lawyers

Lt. Lieutenant, naval rank, one grade below LtCdr.

LtCdr. Lieutenant Commander, naval rank -- one grade below Cdr.

Maj. Major, a military rank in the Army or Marines, equivalent to navy LtCdr.

NS Naval Ship (i.e. NS Wimple)

PSec Head of Personal Security, usually the team lead

PV Personal Yacht, Private Vessel

Ops O Operations Officer

SLO Senior Legal Officer, corporate position

SLt Sub-Lieutenant, a naval rank one grade below Lt. and one grade above Ensign

SOps Senior Operations Officer

Tac O Tactical Officer, naval position in charge of tactics

TGA Terran Union Governmental Authority

TUSN Terran Union Space Navy

VSC Veterans Security Company, a personal security company that Liea uses

There is little attempt to explain the back story, so it is necessary to read previous chapters to fully understand where we are.

As before, I claim sole responsibility for the story line. This story is a fantasy, with no basis in reality. Any similarity that you may perceive to current events, people, or situations real or imaginary is completely unintended. Look no further than the story line for its intent and purpose.

Once again, a big shout out to SaddleRidder for all the help she provided in editing. Without her help, this story would not have the impact it does.

Please rate and comment. But keep your comments respectful. If you rant and rave or are disrespectful in your commentary, it will be deleted.

'Nuff said...enjoy.

Central Ops, Liramor-23 mining Platform, Piscium Star System, 106 Light Years from Terra

The three captains, Capt. Liana Dostier, commanding the NS Kindalla, Capt. Bouye Whatt, commanding NS Wimple, and Capt. Raymond Clark Civilian Liaison Authority, newly returned from his high-level briefing visit, and Fiona Marsh, Director Liramor-23 Mining Platform, held several strategy sessions to determine how best to use the available assets to protect the platform the station and the system.

No new tactics had been brought in by Capt. Dostier and her team to add to what had already been strategized by the others. However, one suggestion that had been made by her Tac O was to send FTL probes out to the edges of the system to see if other ships were there watching.

The ship only had a few of the probes available and they had immediately been sent down the expected lanes of assault by the unknown enemy. Over that last month, more than thirty FTL probes had been acquired by the system to use in their search.

Two had been dispatched to the outskirts of the planetary systems that the sixty-year old star survey indicated had planets that were possibly habitable for humans. No further exploration had been made on those planets in the interim, but it was expected that the original Pisciums were now living on at least one of them. So, the probes were programmed for a cautious approach to the planets. It would take several months for the probes to get close enough to confirm if the planets were inhabited.

The remaining probes had been sent out to look carefully at the edges of the system, looking for a ship sitting out there. About two months after they started, they found one. Only, it wasn't what they expected.

Capt. Dostier, Capt. Whatt, Capt. Clark, and Fiona Marsh were looking at the results of imagery sent back by a probe. The ship in the holo-vid monitor was rather battered looking, and it looked familiar.

"Forgive me for asking," Fiona started, "but isn't that a Ballaron Class Frigate?"

"Very much so, ma'am," Capt. Dostier confirmed.

"I thought all of those had been destroyed after the War?" She questioned.

"Not all of them. About twelve had not been accounted for. Some may have been destroyed and unreported during the War, but at least three have since been destroyed in the hands of pirates. Or rather, in the hands of ships crews that had turned pirate. The crews had not wanted to surrender to the Terra Union after the fall of the Confederation of Planets. There was also a smattering of lesser CP warships and supply ships that had not been surrendered after the war, a total of fifty-three ships of various types remain unaccounted for.

"As well, there are at least eight recent thefts of supply ships that were sent to mothball by the Navy and never arrived. We think they were taken by pirates, but we are just not sure as they have yet to be encountered," she finished.

"Right, first thing we need to determine is what are they here for?" Fiona asked. "Are they here to make a raid? Are they here to make claim to the system? Are they here because they heard of the aliens? Are they here for something else?"

"Well, this is an isolated mining platform," Clark mused. "From the looks of that ship, they are in need of material to make repairs with. So, raiding us would be useful to them. Additionally, we frequently have one or two supply ships in system that they would love to get their hands on as prize vessels."

"If I'm not mistaken, navy supply ships coming in on the navy lanes as per schedule do not use the IFF system unless we trigger it and when we do, we do so on a tight beam site-to-site transmission, correct?" Fiona asked.

"Correct, ma'am," Richard Fent, her SOps confirmed. "What is hatching in that rather devious mind of yours, ma'am?" he asked nervously.

"So, they would know then when navy warships are in system because of the general IFF broadcast but may not know that some of the supply ships are armed naval ships. Correct?" She asked, looking at Liana.

Capt. Dostier's Tac O, SLt. Dalish Heem suddenly perked up, followed immediately after by his boss. "Oh, that is sweet!" he exclaimed. "We could sucker them in and trap them or destroy them," he said, looking at Dostier.

"Both warships would have to leave the system temporarily. We would need some kind of signal to let them know when to come back to the platform," Dostier said, looking at her Tac O.

"An FTL comms probe. They go out multiple times daily and would not be of concern to the pirates if they see it going. The nearest naval base is three jumps away by probe. It would take upwards of twelve hours for the probe to reach it. They would know that," the Tac O continued. "If we set up a special probe to jump, say five light years to a parking orbit where we would place armed vessels, the probe wouldn't even have to broadcast a warning, it's appearance in the parking zone would be all that's needed to confirm an attack and the need for the immediate return of the warships," Heem said, still thinking.

A look passed between Fiona and Liana. The captain nodded to the commodore.

"What would you do to take this platform, SLt. Heem?" Fiona asked him, already knowing the answers.

"Well, ma'am, I would either jump into one of the navy or civilian inbound lanes and simply act as another ship, but not reduce speed until I was on top of the station," he mused.

"I could also jump into the ionosphere of the nearby gas giant. Are the Limpet mines that were used to capture the NS Wimple still in place?" he asked of no one in particular.

"They are," SOps confirmed.

"Do we have more available?"

"We have around two hundred deployed near the Piscium-8 gas giant, we have an additional three hundred deployed around the station, specifically around the inbound lanes. At last count, we have just over 3,500 Limpet mines." SOps stated.

"Mr. Heem," Fiona began looking directly at Capt. Dostier, "you have two days to figure out how to prevent capture of this platform by this pirate vessel. Assume three things; one, this is the one we see, are there others? If so, how many would you use to take this station?

"Two, the pirates are not going to want to surrender. We need a failsafe defense against them that ensures their destruction if they cannot be brought to stop at a suitable distance from the station.

"Three, this platform has a number of defences that can be used. We have Mk-48 guns, we have Limpet mines and barricade mines, we have specialized Rockhounds, we have the warships, and we have armed navy supply vessels. That's a lot of surprises for these pirates.

"We will need at least two viable plans with options that can be deployed with the minimum of fuss. We will need back up options if the main plans go bust, with plenty of 'what if' scenarios thought out.

"You can ask any of my senior personnel how the platform's defences work. You can ask any of the pilots of the specialized Rockhounds, how they will use their vessels. You can ask anyone in your crew, other than your Ex O or your captain. You can ask questions of Capt. Clark in regard to how his mines and the Rockhounds he helped prepare are expected to work. You cannot ask him about tactics. He will inform me if you do.

"The NS Wimple is due back tomorrow. You can strategize with the Jr Officers of both ships. But again, you cannot ask tactics of the Wimple's Ex O or Captain. You may use conference room two to do strategy sessions with the others.

"You will brief this command structure in fifty-two hours, after the platform's morning brief. Do you understand, Mr. Heem?" She demanded.

SLt. Heem looked bemusedly at Capt. Dostier, who simply nodded to him. He stood smartly and snapped out a "Yes, Ma'am," to Fiona and practically ran from the room.

Fiona smiled at Liana. "How'd I do?" She asked.

"If I didn't know better, I would have thought you studied directly under Admiral Thenton." Dostier returned grinning.

***************

Fifty-two hours later, a very nervous SLt. Heem stood in front of a commodore, three captains, two Ex Os, and several members of the platforms senior staff to present his brief.

"Ma'am," he began nervously, "We have determined that a vessel that is probably a pirate ship is lurking on the edges of this system. We suspect that it is waiting for the optimum opportunity to raid this platform for its mineral wealth, and possibly to capture some of the supply ships that frequently skip into system.

"We have to assume several things: first, that the vessel has been there for at least a month and knows some of our habits, especially the arrival and departures of the warships and the supply ships.

"Two, that the vessel does not know that some of the supply ships are navy supply ships and is therefore unaware that they are armed.

"Three, though they may know that this platform is armed, the repairs to the guns on this platform are new, caused by the needs arising from the suspected ongoing alien presence in this system. Many platforms were once armed, but most of those guns have been allowed to fall into disuse since the end of the War, major repairs being required to bring them back to a functioning state, as was the case on this platform. They may assume the platform's guns are non-functional, especially with navy warships in system to act as protection.

"Four, they are not aware of the Limpet mines or barricade mines in system, as their presence has not been broadcast since the 'capture' of the Wimple." And here Mr. Heem bowed to Capt. Whatt and said, "No offence, sir."

"None taken, sir." Capt. Whatt returned with a smile, "but it seems I will never live that incident down." That comment drew some chuckles from around the room.

"Five, they are not aware of the modifications made to some of the Rockhounds.

"Six, they are probably not aware that when one of the warships leaves the platform, it doesn't leave the system. The alien station is in a location that apparently cannot be seen from where the pirate ship is. They may instead believe that the ship does leave the system.

"Seven, that they do not know we are aware of them lurking out there on the edge of the system.

"Eight, they need to raid the station for the mineral wealth that this station produces so we can predict to a degree approximately when they would raid us.

"These assumptions are best guess but can give us a major tactical advantage over the pirates if and when they decide to raid the station.

"We have come up with three scenarios based on these assumptions.

"First and most likely scenario, twice a month, there are two supply ships in system. In the middle of the month, we have a navy supply ship and a weekly supply ship from Liramor Prime. The pirates likely don't know that one of the supply ships is navy. To them, it just looks like a juicy target. At the end of the month, we have two civilian supply ships in system a weekly supply ship and a monthly supply both from Liramor Prime. We can sweeten this by adding a third supply ship to end month by requesting a change to the navy supply ship's run to the end of the month, to coincide with the dual civil end month run. That would make a very significant target for the pirates. But that scenario is based on the assumption that the pirates have not been out there that long and will sit and watch for at least two more months.

"Second and less likely scenario, while the pirates would like to take a prize vessel or two, their primary concern is to gain access to the mineral wealth of the platform. In that situation, they would likely hit us just before the mid-month or end-month supply ships are due. They would assume that this indicates a rather significant need to haul minerals out of the system above and beyond the weeks with single supply ships.

"In both of these scenarios, the pirates would hit us with multiple vessels, from five up to eight vessels based on previous experiences with pirates in Sector Forty-Two. Incidentally, the pirates are likely in this system because they have been pushed out of Sector Forty-Two and believe that the Piscium system still belongs to Sector Forty-Three. They probably are not aware of the recent changes due to the Court Martial.

"Third and least likely scenario, the pirates don't care about the mineral wealth and just intend to raid the platform. In this scenario, they would be waiting for a time when there are no ships around the station, warships or supply ships, to make the raid. In this scenario, they would only need one vessel though they may hit the platform with two or three vessels.

"We can create a window by sending the warships out of system at a specific time of the month, say for ten days at the end of the month, enough for the pirates to establish a preferred attack time during the month.

"In all these scenarios, the pirates need to gain access to the system in a manner that allows them to get up close to the platform without creating suspicion. There are only a few of ways to do this:

"First, jump directly beside the platform. The problem with that option is that the pirates have not been to the platform, so they do not have exact coordinates for a jump. This is a mining platform and with all the work going on around it, jumping into rough coordinates would not be advisable. The risk of collision with moving rocks and small ships would be too high for a vessel to jump on anything but exact coordinates. Because of this, though this option is the most preferred by the Pirates, without exact coordinates, it is the least likely. But it is an option that we must be prepared for.

"Second, jumping into the inbound lanes. We have no idea how long they have been out there, but we have to assume that they may have mapped the inbound and outbound lanes by now. They don't have to have exact coordinates to jump into the lanes and they can simply not shed speed until the last possible moment. That would place them on top of the station before we could react, if we didn't know they were coming. While this is normally the second option, given our circumstances, it will be a highly probable option.

"Third, jump into the ionosphere of Piscium-8 to mask the presence of a vessel to be held in reserve as required. They could also jump into the ionosphere to gain detailed coordinates of the platform for other vessels to jump right on top of it. This too, is a highly probable option.

"In all these scenarios, we have counter measures that can be employed.

"If they jump on the platform, we have the Mk-48's that can cause some significant damage to their vessel or vessels. We also have the modified Rockhounds and navy is currently building 150cm launch tubes into the platform which will definitely come as a surprise to any enemy vessel.

"If they jump into the inbound lanes, we can identify them by the speed they retain, even if they do not respond to comms. In this scenario, multiple vessels could jump into the lanes, that too would be an indication of enemy activity as we normally only have one ship arrive at a time.