Fourth Vector Ch. 15

Jack chuckled. "Never bet against a Javan marine to get the job done."

"You're not kidding there," said Greg with a look of pride.

That evening there were considerable sounds of celebration in the camp as the marines let loose to commemorate their victory. Jack had thoughts about getting them to quiet down but ultimately let them celebrate. They'd been cramped up in ships for the last three weeks to get to this island, about as far away from home as they've ever been, and they won an important battle on the day they arrived here. As far as he was concerned, they'd earned the right to some jubilation.

What wasn't a happy scenario was the delegation he received from the defeated clans just after sundown. This time, there were no deputies or warriors to salute their king when they arrived. Just about every able-bodied man had perished with the army.

That meant the only ones left of theGartala, theLapusa, and the other clans were the very young, the women, and the very old. It was a heartbreaking scene as the families of those clans presented themselves to surrender to Jack, many of them still crying at the loss of their husbands, sons, and fathers. They now looked to him for guidance in the absence of their men.

In that matter, Jack had no idea what to do with them. Without their menfolk, they would surely perish in the harsh Andalucian environment, but he had no heart for letting those clans die off after all they'd lost on this day. It was for that reason that he ordered the camps to be combined. His allied clans would absorb the clans of the defeated, and what had previously been two peoples would now become one.

There was one glaring change that he needed to make before that could happen. Before the peoples of the defeated clans could join with his, he next commanded them to free their slaves and cast their neck shackles to the sands. Between them, another two thousand slaves suddenly found their freedom, and Jack decided they would follow him back to Septhada in order to receive some money from the newly-minted public slave fund, courtesy of the mines that had been financed off the backs of the Swabians.

In that moment, it wasn't just the marines celebrating that evening. They were soon joined by all those former slaves, celebrating the momentous event that had just passed.

Jack listened from his tent late that evening as the sounds of celebration carried on. From behind him, Kat slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his back.

"Come to bed, will you? I'm sleepy, Jack."

He chuckled lightly and patted her hand. "I'm not going to be able to sleep with all this noise."

"Then just come to bed and hold me? And together we can enjoy all that this means for Andalucia?" she asked while tugging him to bed.

Jack nodded and let her drag him over. Once he was in bed, she curled up against his side and rested her head against his chest. As usual, her blonde locks tickled his face, yet he still found the feeling comfortable.

"We did good today. I still don't know how but we turned it all around," he whispered against her head.

"You turned it around," said Kat as she turned her head to look at him. "You did it, Jack. I knew you could do it."

Jack nodded slightly. "I just hope that Luke and Abigail can destroy that Occie fleet now. Before they become a bigger threat."

*****

The morning following the reunion with Jack, Luke was on the bridge of theValiant earlier than usual. He already had time to digest the message about the victory over the Swabians on land yesterday, and this meant he was looking to truly finish the job by forcing a decisive battle on the Occitanian forces that remained in the area.

According to the map they'd been given, the Occies couldn't have been too far away, assuming they hadn't moved. His force was rapidly closing in on their last sighted position while to the east, theDestiny was headed to the same coordinates. The hope was for both forces to converge on the Occie task force from two sides, preventing them from achieving fully concentrated fire on any one side. At least, that was the hope.

They had to find the enemy first, which could usually be the most challenging part when you have miles upon miles of ocean with which to hide in.

Around midmorning, Luke sat at his command station watching the horizon while Anna worked at her own. She'd heard all the news from yesterday, and at this very moment, she'd been asking about what they saw when they landed ashore.

"Nothing but sand as far as you can see. Bleak country," said Luke, describing the meeting with Jack. "At least it was good to see old friends again."

Anna nodded slowly before turning to look at him. "Speaking of which, how was Jack? How'd he look?"

"He's got a great tan right now," teased Luke, earning a look of annoyance from the younger officer.

"No, I mean how was he really? Did he look all right?"

"He was fine, Anna. No more worse for wear. Especially now that he's king."

"I'm still trying to digest that news," she said while she rubbed her arms. "It just seems too unreal."

"To me as well," he said with a knowing look. "I know why you're asking, but trust me, he's well. And after yesterday, he'll be doing much better."

Anna nodded quietly. "I hope when this is all over I might be able to see him again. Or at very least my sister. I've missed her all this time that we've been gone."

"Luckily for you, theDestiny is just over that horizon and should be converging on this position soon. If all goes well, you might even see her today," he said.

"I'm looking forward to that," she said solemnly. "I left so quickly that I wouldn't be surprised if she's still upset with me."

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to figure it all out soon," said Luke. "But first, we have to find the—"

Both of them were interrupted from that conversation by the chirping of the command radio. It was from the scouting channel on one of the destroyers directly in front of the task force. "Enemy spotted dead ahead!" What came next was the reading of the coordinates of the sighted position. Luke sprung up from his seat and grabbed his binoculars, scanning the direction of the sighting. Even though he could barely make out anything in that direction, he knew the time had come to finish the job they started back at Quiller's Cove.

"Sound the call to battle-stations," he said back to Anna. "Get word to all commanders, and find out how close theDestiny is."

Moments later, the warning system of the ship roared into action as the various sailors of theValiant put down their midmorning tasks to attend to their stations. The radio chatter exploded as well, as the various officers and commanders set about lining up their positions and how to approach the enemy task force.

Their current position had the three cruisers side by side and moving parallel to the coast, with theValiant the closest to shore. All the destroyers were in front of the task force, spread out widely to search the most ground but still being close enough to offer support to the cruisers if needed. It was the cruiser on the far left, directly ahead of theValiant, that spotted the task force.

It was only once they were close enough that Luke was able to see their line of four destroyers, wrapped protectively around the outside of the Occie task force, with the three other cruisers and the battleship in the middle. The position had the most protection for the battleship and meant they'd have to deal with any threats from the destroyers, such as torpedoes, first.

"Luke, can you read me?" came Abigail's voice from the command radio a moment later.

"Can hear you loud and clear, Abigail. Where are you?"

"Directly to your east and coming in hot. We're not far from the sighted position."

"Okay, all commanders listen in, here's what I want us to do," said Luke, ironing out a plan that had begun to take form. "I want theDestiny to sail on a northwesterly course and engage those cruisers on the northern end of their task force. The rest of us are going to sail on a northeasterly course, in the direction of the current position of theDestiny and rake our shells against the other cruisers. I want the destroyers to close in and try to get within torpedo range. And if one of those enemy destroyers gets too close, feel free to blast it out of the water. Any questions?"

"All clear, Luke," said Mike Dawson of theStardust. "Wishing you all good shootin' out there."

As Luke's orders were radioed to the engine room, theValiant assumed its new, northeasterly course while theHorton and theStardust took the same. On the horizon, the large, hulking forms of the enemy warships drifted further into view and based upon their earlier positions, they had started to move.

They were coming closer to the rest of the Javan force.

"Get those guns ready, Bill," said Luke to his chief weapons head. "We may have some element of surprise here, but I don't want to draw the attention of that battleship without getting a few hits in first."

"Will be ready soon, Luke. With this many ships, do you want to throw in one of those Sorellan fire canisters? We haven't had the chance to use one yet," said Bill.

Luke thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Let's do it. Time to see what that stuff can do. It might buy us enough time just based on their surprisal alone."

"Aye, sir, we'll get it loaded. We need another thirty seconds for the first volley."

Luke watched from the bridge as the task force sailed closer to the enemy. Between them, the destroyers rushed forth, many of their smaller caliber guns already barking and throwing up streams of water near the enemy destroyers. The two closest destroyers to his position swarmed against the southern most, a two-on-one struggle that looked to be the first to shed blood.

Luke watched as a large explosion rocked the small enemy destroyer, a good hit from his own side that sent a cloud of smoke into the air.

"Good hit," he muttered under his breath.

"Luke, the guns are ready to fire on your command!"

"Good," he said, looking past that first destroyer to the nearest cruiser. "Fire now, Bill."

The ship buckled as the shots sailed into the air on its course to the nearest enemy cruiser. One shot in all of them connected, striking the bow of the ship and throwing up smoke.

"Got one hit, Bill. Dial in the next one, please," said Luke.

"You got it. Give us sixty more seconds, and we'll have the first Sorellan fire shot."

Luke watched the rest of the field while he waited. Overhead, a crushing volley from theHorton raced toward the same cruiser while theStardust focused on the western most one. While theHorton overshot just like theValiant did, theStardust made the first big blow of the day.

And what a shot it was. That particular ordnance must have struck a vulnerable spot on the Occie cruiser because the explosion was large enough to throw a mighty fireball into the air.

"Holy shit, look at that!" yelled Bill from behind him as Luke watched the remains of the enemy cruiser break nearly down the center, its hull totally crippled by the explosion. There was a further ripple of smaller explosions, but nothing quite matched the intensity of that first blast. That particular cruiser didn't have much life left to it. Once it's hull lost all integrity, it slipped beneath the waves several minutes later, the fastest that Luke had ever seen a ship go under in his entire career.

"One down, let's keep on going!" he urged through the radio as they prepared their next volleys.

"Luke, this is Abigail. We're sending out our first volley now!"

Luke looked out to the horizon to watch an arcing shot appear from the northeast of his own position. TheDestiny's shot focused on the third enemy cruiser, but in its position behind the battleship, Luke could barely make out whether the shots had connected or not.

"The Sorellan fire is ready, Luke," said Bill, pulling him back to the present.

"Let it go, Bill. Let's see what happens."

The ship jolted like it normally did, and Luke watched as the ordnance raced toward the enemy cruiser. The adjustments in the range made sure that it landed nearly right on target.

The Sorellan fire canisters exploded. A heavy coating of the bright yellow fire erupted from the spent shot and spread outwards in every direction, coating just about the entire cruiser in the unquenchable fireball. Luke's mouth fell open as he watched it consume the warship, leaving no part of the surface untouched by the flames. Every sailor who had been on the main deck found themselves covered in a fire they couldn't put out, and very soon, many of them rushed to jump off the ship, thinking the water was the only way to stay alive.

How very wrong they were.

Luke watched as men bobbed along in the waves, the flames still consuming their charred flesh as more of their comrades flooded overboard.

"That's horrifying," said Anna from behind him, watching as the ship burned rapidly. Luke could only nod silently in response as the rest of the battle raged on around him.

However, the effects of the loss of two cruisers within the opening minutes of the battle must have had a serious effect on the Occitanians. Even as the cruiser that was hit by Sorellan fire remained afloat (but dead in the water after the death of so many of its crew), the enemy seemed to lose heart and began to steam a course directly to the south, away from both sections of Javan forces.

"They are running to the south," said Luke through the command radio. "Abigail, turn theDestiny to match their course while Mike and Pete, let's bring our ships on a turn due east and then go back to the southwest."

What Luke couldn't see was that the last enemy cruiser afloat was already burning. TheDestiny had gotten several good shots on it, and the plume of smoke it left behind on their southerly course more than marked the way.

She would make short work of it soon after, leaving not one enemy cruiser operational. All that remained of the capital ships was the battleship.

At that point, it was time for the Javans to taste a loss. One of the destroyers that had sailed in to engage the enemy was caught up with fire from two other vessels. It sparked some flames briefly until a hole was punched under her waterline. Luke didn't notice the problem while he focused on the cruisers until he saw the destroyer with its entire stern below water. It wouldn't stay afloat much longer and soon slipped below the waves.

As the destroyers kept angling for position, Luke had all the cruisers now focus on the sole battleship as it ran to the south. It wasn't running without getting off its own volleys though, and several holes were punched into theHorton after a few good shots. However, it wasn't nearly enough to forestall the inevitable.

"Firing now, Luke," said Mike from theStardust as the mighty cruiser once more slipped out another heavy burst of ordnance. It was soon matched by theValiant shortly after, with theDestiny capping off the heavy round. All around the enemy battleship, their shots hit the mark. As it slipped past the still burning Sorellan fire, parts of its bow became consumed with the insatiable flames.

Its fate was sealed by the next shot from theHorton, repayment for the volley it had absorbed earlier. A smaller explosion opened up near the waterline of the bow, past the heavily-reinforced portions of the hull, and started to flood the lower decks of the ship.

Even as its bow started to dip into the waves, the battleship kept firing. TheHorton took another glancing blow before the next combined volley from all of them finally shut up its batteries. There was nothing left for the battleship to do now. With a fire raging on its deck, its batteries out of commission, and its bow beneath the waves, the ship slowly went dark, and the great Occitanian battleship slipped beneath the waves to rest on the sandy bottom beneath it.

At that point in the battle, only two destroyers remained of the enemy force. They had survived the initial engagements largely intact, but seeing the carnage against the other cruisers, they had attempted to make a run for it, escaping to the east as the rest of the ships had turned south. Once the battleship was out of commission, they became the new target practice. The ship closest to theValiant was the last to go after taking punishing damage from theStardust. It rolled over and capsized shortly after, going down not long after that long blow.

By some grace or miracle, the sole remaining enemy destroyer managed to slip through the waves even after taking a small blow from theDestiny. It managed to escape the carnage, quickly slipping into a nearby fog bank that soon prevented its detection.

"Go after that last enemy destroyer," said Luke into the command radio. "I don't want any of them getting back to Occitania. Great shooting to all of you."

He wanted to say more to them but Luke was still shocked. This Occitanian force that had so troubled them for the past couple months was now obliterated, with almost all the tonnage now laying on the seafloor beneath them. In a war that had seen little to no successes on the Javan side, it was a victory that they desperately needed.

It also cleared the seas and firmly established Javan control not only of the Fourth Vector but of its approaches as well. The Occitanians would probably think twice about sending such a force back into this part of the world again.

When all said and done, the casualties from their battle were very light for the damage that they'd caused. TheHorton would need some additional work, but judging by the reports he received from Pete, there was nothing that was life-threatening.

The loss of one of the destroyers was tough though and most of the work for the rest of the day was getting to the survivors. While they pulled out nearly one hundred survivors from the destroyer, they had nearly fifteen hundred Occitanians that were still alive in the water. A very tiny portion of those were from the cruiser that had been hit by the Sorellan fire, most of them being below deck away from the flames. Luke had to wait until the fire burned out toward the end of the day until those men could begin to be rescued. Once they were, the ship was abandoned and used as target practice since it was of no further use to them. It was just too charred.

"What the hell are we going to do with this many Occies?" asked Bill as they picked up another group of them. "We don't have the room to store their whole fleet."

"We may have to leave them here in Andalucia," said Luke. "I'm sure Jack can round up some prison camps for them, at least until the war is over."

"I'm sure this is going to put quite a thorn in their paws," said Anna with an amused laugh. She then turned to Luke as the laugh left her face. "That Sorellan fire is no toy though. It's as deadly as it sounds."

"Just be thankful that it's on our side," he replied. "Can you imagine that in the hands of the Occies? Or the Swabians?"

She shuddered in response. "No, I don't want to picture that."

Luke looked out and contemplated the results of the battle. They'd gotten lucky with those first few hits on the cruisers that seemed to have spooked the rest of their forces. While the battleship had put up the best fight of all of them, in the end, it was no match for the combined effort of all the cruisers.

"Jack will want all the details as soon as I can reach him," said Luke as he turned to leave the bridge. "And I really want to tell him all about this victory!"