Fourth Vector Ch. 23

"That one was for Vicky," he muttered under his breath.

What Luke didn't realize was that one of the other destroyers had sighted theValiant with their five-inch guns. While they weren't large enough for a killing blow, a well-placed shot could still be devastating.

And that's exactly what they got.

One second, Luke was looking out the port side of the bridge closest to Kim's position. The next, the world went black and the force of the explosion sent Luke flying backwards, only to have half his body hit against the steel controls behind him. The impact of the steel behind him and the explosion in front nearly rendered him comatose.

The next thing he knew, he was struggling to breathe as his head spun. Even the tremendous thunder of battle appeared to be drowned out, and a faint ringing in his head just would not go away. His entire body ached, especially his leg, and he was almost glad his eyes were shut so he couldn't see the damage.

When his hearing finally came back, Luke became aware that the sounds of battle were much louder than they were before. He opened his eyes briefly only to see the real reason for it. The enclosed area where the bridge had been had been completely ripped away. What had once been a steel covering now only showed the darkening clouds overhead.

What was worse was that he was pinned under a piece of steel that he could barely budge. Part of it protruded out from the beam, ripping a deep gash into his leg. Luke gritted his teeth as he tried to free himself, feeling the jagged metal tear through his muscle as blood gushed from the wound. Only with the last vestiges of strength was he able to free the bar, pulling his body out from under it to survey the damage.

"Can anyone hear me?" he called out weakly, his lungs weak after inhaling all the smoke from the destroyed machinery.

The silence on the former bridge of theValiant was deafening.

He could hear the faintest hint of radio chatter amongst the ship's officers below deck but there was no movement on the bridge.

"Anyone? Anna? Bill? Kim!"

The realization that Kim hadn't yet been found had him finding a new reserve of strength in order to do just that. Of all the officers on the bridge, she'd been the closest to his position before the blast and now he was desperate to find her.

Luke ripped away part of the damaged ventilation system, the steel exhaust blocking his position from the rest of the bridge. In doing so, he thought he heard a cough, renewing his vigor.

"Kim! Kim, are you there?"

"Luke," came the feeble reply a moment later.

Luke found her crumpled against the back wall of the bridge, the blast having pushed her into a seated position as debris fell into her lap. Her legs were bloody messes that he could scarcely manage to look at but the most promising thing about the situation was that she was alive.

He crossed as quickly as he could and put his hands on the sides of her face. "You're alive!"

"My legs are broken," she whispered. "I can barely move."

"Let's get this stuff off of you." Luke helped pull the steel debris from off her shattered legs, surprised at just how much her little body had absorbed in damage. Kim hissed in pain as the last piece was brought off her legs, her tattered trousers stained with blood.

"We're going to get you help," he promised, looking her in the eyes. Her face was dirty and her hair was disheveled but her gaze locked on his. "We're going to get out of here."

Kim shook her head. "I don't think we're going to escape this one, Luke. I think this fight is going to be the end of us."

He looked around for a way he could get her off the exposed position but there was no easy path. He'd have to drag her through heavy piles of broken steel, all the while the gash in his leg would prevent him from moving off the bridge.

It would appear they were stuck.

"There isn't any better place to die," said Luke as he cradled Kim's exposed body.

"I love you," she said finally before gesturing to his left. "At least they both had quick deaths."

Luke reluctantly followed her finger, his heart sinking as he saw the broken bodies of Bill and Anna.

Both of them were dead. Blood stained the sides of Anna's mouth as her stare took on a vacant quality not seen amongst the living.

Perhaps Kim was right.

Perhaps their deaths were merciful?

*****

Nobody from amongst theValiant's senior officers were answering Jack's radio request. All of them had seen that shot that impacted the bridge of the light cruiser. Abigail seemed to be taking it the worst of all of them, and tears could be seen running down her cheeks at the unknown fate of her sister.

"Anna, Luke, anyone please come in," she pleaded through the radio only to not get a response. The only saving grace was that the ship continued to move through the water, drifting further away from the Occitanian line.

By this point in battle, the gap between the two forces was starting to widen. As many of the Occitanian ships managed to get out of the narrow fire-slick channel, they started to make for the exit of the bay. In doing so, their broadsides became exposed to the rest of Jack's force, increasing the danger on both sides.

"We need to keep up the fight," said Jack, grabbing Abigail's shoulders. "We could be next. Let's keep fighting! For Anna."

She nodded reluctantly and wiped the tears from her face, resuming her former position a moment later. In the meantime, theDestiny and theStardust took turns raking a nearby enemy cruiser, and they watched as all electronics on the ship soon went dead.

"Great shooting, Mike. Your team has a lot to be proud of," commended Jack, taking stock of one of the only small victories they had left.

While theStardust secured her next kill, theHorton took her last blow. Jack still hadn't been able to reestablish radio communication with Pete since that last devastating salvo and it was two enemy battleships that fired on the beleaguered cruiser next. The killing shot hit right on the starboard quarter of the ship, sending in a rush of water into the lower decks of the ship.

Meanwhile, another blow raked the superstructure of theHorton, and Jack could see sailors abandoning ship as the stern started to sink. With the recent blow to theValiant, Jack watched helplessly as two of his cruisers were rendered all but impotent.

The sinking of theHorton continued until the stern section was almost completely underwater. Then the pressures exerted on the hull from the one side forced the ship to flip onto its side, its structure crashing into the water with a tremendous roar. It didn't last on its side for very long, and soon it capsized and went down stern first into the shallow waters of the bay. In its wake, the survivors could be seen floating just above the surface, finding any piece of debris large enough to cling to. Jack could only take solace in the high number of survivors floating in the water, and he hoped that many of them would live to fight another day.

"Pete," cried Abigail from his side. "All of them."

"There are a lot of them in the water," said Jack, getting her attention. "There will be survivors. Now, we have a cruiser to sink."

There would be a time for mourning later. At the current time, they had to finish the battle. Jack turned his attention back to crippled enemy cruiser, now drifting somewhat aimlessly on a northwesterly direction. TheStardust and theDestiny raked it with another volley before they were soon joined by salvos from the south.

"It's the battleships," said Jack with pride as he watched one of the blockaded Javan battleships finally coming out into the bay. "They're finally free."

It was a majestic sight as the pride of the Javan navy emerged from the fire-slicked channel and began to push its weight into the fleeing Occitanians. In doing so, they were finally able to take some of the heat off of Jack's task force, his battered and broken ships getting the reprieve they so desperately needed.

"Kyle, let's finish off this cruiser," said Jack at last, watching the cruiser start to smoke heavily. "One more to the bottom of the harbor."

"Aye, Jack, the next salvo will be in ten seconds."

Jack counted down in his head until theDestiny's twelve-inch guns came back to life, raking the hull of the enemy cruiser. It was the last measure needed. The cruiser's superstructure suffered a devastating explosion, causing the ship to list to its port side. In a matter of minutes, the bottom of the hull was visible and survivors could soon be seen trying to float on either side of the wreck before it slipped beneath the waves.

The rest of the battle, Jack's force seemed to take a backseat to the action, much to the disappointment of the Carinthian/Picard ships, who missed most of it. As darker skies continued to float in over the bay, the pride of the Javan fleet began to pursue the remnants of the Occitanian fleet, many of their ships smoking and in poor shape. On the complete far side of the bay, Jack could see a similar process taking place, the full enemy force on a complete retreat back to home waters.

It was around midafternoon that the sky finally opened up, and a hard rain began to fall. What was left the fire on Prescott Island slowly started to burn itself up, the flames extinguishing with the heavy rainfall. Even the fires on theValiant were soon put out, although Jack still hadn't heard of survivors from the bridge. He made contact with some of the more junior officers on the ship, and all rescue efforts were underway to find Luke and the senior officers.

Out in the bay, Jack watched as the rest of the Javan fleet pursed the Occitanians while his task force started to hang behind, having played their role in the battle. Finally, a little after four in the afternoon, Jack lost sight of the last Occitanian vessel, and all rescue efforts began for those sailors still left in the waters.

The obvious choice for rescue were the survivors of theHorton. Those that were strong swimmers had already made their way to shore, but there was still a good portion of them floating in the water, many of them struggling to keep their heads above the waves by grabbing whatever debris they could to keep them afloat.

As soon as theDestiny was close enough, her launch boats were lowered to the water to pick up the survivors. Many of them had small wounds that would need to be treated. Unfortunately for some of them, their wounds were bad enough that they couldn't stay afloat, and their bodies were amongst the dead that were pulled from the waters.

In a small miracle, Pete and several of the senior officers of the ship were pulled from the wreckage, still alive but many of them grievously wounded. Pete had suffered a gut wound from being thrown into a sharp piece of steel during one of the explosions, as well as the busted arm he suffered from earlier on. It was only the quick thinking of his men that got him completely out of the water and onto what used to be part of the deck. He was pulled from the water and quickly sent ashore to the military hospital.

As night fell in Aberdeen harbor, just about all the surviving sailors, Javan and Occitanian, had been pulled from the waters. Jack was on hand to receive the message from Bancroft as the lights of the city soon started to flicker off the waters.

"Jack, you did great today," said Bancroft in a neutral voice through the radio. "How are your casualties?"

"We've lost the destroyerTiger and the cruiserHorton," said Jack. "TheValiant is heavily damaged but the rest of us have minor casualties." He shared a look with Abigail, whose face was still filled with worry about the status of her sister. So far, they would need to wait until theValiant would be able to dock, but the ship was moving slowly, much slower than the rest of the fleet due to the damage that she sustained.

"Understandable, Jack. And what in the world was that blaze you started on Prescott Island? You have the entire command talking about that."

"Just something we picked up from our travels in the Vector, sir," he answered. "I can tell you more about it the next time I see you."

"Please do. But for now, come back to the city. It's time for your force to rest," said Bancroft, his malice having all but disappeared. "You've done us all proud, Jack."

*****

Across the bay, Admiral Reynolds took stock of the broken state of his task force from his headquarters on theCharles IX. His force was in no better shape than Jack's, and it could be argued that it was even worse. Of the five cruisers he started with that morning, three of them were now at the bottom of the harbor. Half of his destroyers were gone too, and the other battleship under his command was heavily damaged. Although the most important aspect was that the battleship could be repaired, Reynolds' force was battered to the state of ruin.

None of that was made any better by the radio contact he received from Admiral Bancroft.

"Admiral Reynolds, how fares your force?" asked the fleet admiral as night began to fall.

"Not great, Admiral," replied Reynolds, telling him of the losses.

Bancroft's reaction was as he could expect. "That's a heavy blow to your force, Admiral. That's over half your command."

"I understand, sir," said Reynolds. "We ran into thick fighting drawing out the Occitanians."

"I was hoping you would have fared similarly to Commodore Easterbrook," said Bancroft with a disappointed tone. "He only lost one cruiser and a destroyer."

Reynolds felt his face flinch at being compared to that hack, Easterbrook. He was a little surprised to hear that the man was still intact, his smaller force having survived the brunt of the battle.

And yet again, Jack Easterbrook manages to make me look bad. Does it never end?

"In any event, come back to Aberdeen and let's take a look at your ships," instructed Bancroft. "We can't let any more slip beneath the waves."

Reynolds put aside his anger and obeyed the order, commanding the rest of the task force to head for the lights of the city. Their decks were completely full with Javan survivors, all of them sailors from the ships that had sunk during the battle. As he made his way closer to the city, he noted with alarm the battleship that had served as Kuntz's flagship was capsized just a short ways from the dock, her polonium fuel creating a large slick that took up half the harbor.

Reynolds radioed over to the Kuntz's headquarters. "Admiral, are you all right? I see theMagento has been sunk."

The admiral didn't answer. It was only after a few moments that one of his subordinates, Rear Admiral Block, radioed back to him.

"Admiral Reynolds, Admiral Kuntz has been seriously wounded in battle. He's been taken the naval hospital ashore to try to stem the bleeding."

Reynolds swallowed heavily. "How bad is it?"

Block didn't mince words. "It's not looking good," he said quietly. "I doubt he'll live through the night."

"We'll come ashore right away," promised Reynolds. "We have lots of survivors from the other ships that will need tended to. Basic aid and the like."

"Aye, Admiral. Bring them ashore. What's left of Admiral Kuntz's command will be giving chase to the rest of the Occitanians. We'll see you in a few days."

As Reynolds led his battered force into the harbor, Javan naval personnel swarmed them, carrying off the wounded to the hospitals and the dead to a mass pile for identification.

After seeing how many ships he'd lost, Reynolds almost thought it might be easier if he was among them.

*****

On the other side of the world, Magda arose one morning to take an early morning scouting walk of the Swabian position. They were about five days outside of Zarah, moving along the northern road, when her initial scouts reported that the rocky and mountainous country of southern Picardy had started to open up into broad, rolling plains as they moved closer to the interior.

She'd given the order to halt, wanting to inspect the ground for herself. Her own training in the matter recognized ground of military importance when she saw it, and knowing that it wouldn't be much longer before the Picard army came down from the north, she was determined to pick the spot of their next battle on ground of her choosing.

Magda walked alongside a rolling hill as the sun tried its hardest to burn through the midmorning fog. Her boots were slick with dew, and in several places, she tried hard to maintain her balance as she came down the hill. Despite the difficulty, this was some of the best ground she'd seen in the entire country.

"This will be perfect for what I have in mind," she muttered to herself as she once again crested the hill and looked northward.

There were a few variables that she had to keep in mind for the coming battle. For one, she was slightly outnumbered in terms of men when compared to the Picards and their allies. She estimated the current Picard army was about double her size, which in itself wasn't terrible odds (the men in Burwick had faced worse and survived longer) but it cast serious doubt to their long term plans in the country.

Another variable was the enemy's ability to observe matters from the sky. More than once, Magda had heard the rumors of flying contraptions on the enemy side, knowing their worth in terms of reconnaissance. They would be able to see any movements the Swabians made while in the process, greatly eliminating their chances at surprise. It was the sole reason why they moved off the road even now, preferring to march under the cover of the treetops instead of out in the open.

Knowing their temporary superiority in men and machinery, it was all but inevitable they would come down to flush them out of the rest of the country, and Magda needed good defensive ground to maintain their foothold.

She also knew that aid was on the way.

At this very moment, a ship had docked in Zarah straight from the island of Cormfeld, promising an offensive weapon the likes of which the world had never seen. Lord Avila had assured her it would turn the tide of battle, and in doing so, he'd sent her four more regiments of his own men, bringing her numbers up to ten thousand strong. What was even better was that Lord Avila had amassed regiments from other Swabian lords to aid them. The total force would be fourteen thousand to contest the Picard army.

Magda knew this would give them near parity in terms of men, and this new invention would give them an edge of machinery. She just needed the right ground to unleash hell on the natives.

After threatening terrible consequences for the logistical team should those inventions not arrive sooner rather than later, Magda settled into her camp with Colonel Meyer to plan the next battle.

"They'll come down this road right past us," she said while gesturing to the map of the surrounding territory that they had pilfered from an abandoned Picard army building in Zarah. "This is some of the best ground we've seen since we left the city. This small amount of wooded area opens up to this rolling hill right here."

Meyer nodded as he observed it. "Not bad at all," he said in a completely unpretentious way. His level of respect for her had risen since he'd found out who she was. The sneers and comments had long ago went by the wayside, allowing for a somewhat healthy working relationship between the two.

It also didn't hurt that the man seemed to be frightened of her reputation, something that always had him rushing to complete an order just as soon as it left her mouth.

"What's nice about this ground is that it can draw them in by the way the road turns slightly here," she said while circling the road north. "A small force here can draw them into the open fields while we make our position along the high ground on the hill."