Gabatrix: The Shira Maneuver

Suddenly, the port bow railgun turret went off. The blue and purple particles rained out very briefly as a hypervelocity round was expelled directly into the boulder-sized rock ahead. The shell hit it almost dead center. The impact was enough to shatter it into three smaller pieces hurdling into various directions. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to completely destroy the asteroid as one of the pieces was still in the way of the Jian Seng's flightpath.....

"Eeek!" Marcelle screamed. Javier squinted his eyes in anticipation of the impact.

The chunk of asteroid went straight into the bow midsection of the Jian Seng. The force and impact of the collision drove the piece straight into it. The sealed bulkhead of the cargo bay was split open again. A large bang sound echoed in the interior of the ship as there was a massive hull breach. This time, nothing could be done as the atmosphere was being vented into space. Air rushed out of the cargo bay and throughout much of the interior of the ship. Additional interior bulkheads activated to seal off the remaining escaping air, but it wasn't enough.

"Hull breach, hull breach," Ramirez called out.

Javier opened up his eyes to hear the last of the smaller rocks that were hitting the hull. The Jian Seng had almost completely cleared the asteroid belt, but the cost was high. He could see air escaping into space from the bow section of the view screen's camera angle. New problems seemed to have arisen all at once. The power was fluctuating in the ship as well. The lights were dimming and barely functioning.

Marcelle could see that there were no dangerous obstructions ahead. She was having short breaths as her heart was racing. She was like a deer in headlights as her mind was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

"I just registered a large power surge from the batteries," Amelia called out on the comms. "Ramirez, did you fire the railgun?"

"Yeah, I did," he replied. "Blew that rock to pieces!"

"Ah shit. Damn it!"

"What?"

"You realize how much power that thing needs to shoot, you idiot!? That shot just drained the batteries. Our reserves are low. I have no choice but to power down the engines if we ever want to slow this thing down or keep life support from completely failing."

"Go ahead and power off the engines," Shira told her. "We will no longer need it."

"What?" Javier asked her. "What do you mean we will no longer need it? That scout ship is still going to destroy us."

"There is nothing more that we can do about it. We have done everything possible that this ship can give. We will need the remaining power just as Amelia has implied."

Javier had to admit that they were both right. The damage on the Jian Seng was incredible. There was still air escaping from the cargo bay, and there were numerous dents that perforated the front armor. Its front-mid interior was gutted by the impact. If Ramirez hadn't fired the railgun, the transport would have suffered even more damage than it was going to receive, but it might have still been a costly one. The railgun was a powerful weapon that drew enormous power to fire it. The engines had shut off as it was traveling on forward momentum.

The only cent of good news was the fact that the transport had cleared the asteroid belt. The smaller rock collisions dwindled and ultimately ceased. With no other power delivered to the engines, Marcelle relaxed her hold on the flight yoke. She almost practically passed out as the ship was sent hurdling into the empty void of space. In the vast distance was the star. The g-forces in the interior had fallen to nothing.

"Damn it," Ramirez said. "That scout ship has appeared again."

"No......after all of that," Marcelle replied.

Javier could feel it as he could see the camera footage. The scout ship immerged from the other side of the asteroid cluster. The remaining clawed arm was extended and aimed at the vessel. Its rear engines tried to work but only by so much. Only one of the rear engines was functioning. The damage it received seemed to have slowed it down.

There was one noticeable problem, though. Regardless of the amount of damage it received, the Itrean scout ship was still closing. The Jian Seng was limping in space and could no longer speed up any further. It was a sitting duck in the empty void of space, no longer able to fight and defend itself. It was an utterly helpless feeling that befell most of the crew.

That was, of course, most of them. Javier looked over to Shira to see her undo her restraints. She went and took off her earpiece and microphone when she stood up. Meanwhile, the digital clock on her timepiece had counted up. He turned his head to her while he would periodically look at the view screen.

"Fifty seconds before they reach firing range," Ramirez said. "I have lost all power to my console. Well guys......I did my best."

"No one is blaming you," Javier praised him. "If anything, I am proud of what everyone was able to do and more."

He reached his hand and gently grabbed Marcelle's shoulder to give her the needed complementary gesture as possible. She barely responded but eventually gave the nod in appreciation. Her attention was focused strictly on the screen. It just seemed that nothing more could be done, but then again, Javier's focus turned to Shira.

She was perfectly calm as she always was. She had looked at the digital clock and had a brief look of happiness. A gentle smile appeared and then quickly dissipated. Time was up on her watch as she clicked the button to turn it off before putting it in her back pocket. She then reached and pulled out her small tin box. She popped it open and pulled out one of her cigarettes. For a moment, she considered lighting it, but her working eye looked at her environment and then to Marcelle. Javier's lungs could easily handle the secondhand smoke and any additional smoke generated in the interior, but Marcelle might not. The Shal'rein woman considered her actions carefully and finally decided to light it with the small laser lighter.

"We are about to die, and you are still going to get your last puff of smoke?" Javier said with a faint of aggravation.

"No," she said as she took a drag of her cigarette. "Keep your eyes to the view screen."

Javier turned his head to the view screen. The scout ship was getting closer and closer. For a brief moment, he almost thought he heard Shira say something, but it was said under her breath. Perhaps it was just her talking to herself, but it was infrequent when she did so. He only recalled a few instances when she ever did that, which was during a time of victory. The cigarette was burning gently.

With one hand holding her lit cigarette, she had her other arm displaced slightly outward. Her four-digit hand was blossomed open. Almost as if she performed a play, the climax was quickly approaching. The distant asteroids were the audience now giving her a round of applause. It was like she was never in any danger at all. Nothing could hurt her or her crew, at least from what she could see. With twenty seconds left, that would quickly turn around. The scout ship had seemingly won this game of cat and mouse. The predator was finally going to get her prize, but it wasn't to be.....

Four anti-ship torpedoes slammed into the side of the Itrean scout ship. With little to defend herself, the first explosion rocked the armor and interior. The second shot penetrated deep within the interior of the vessel as it exploded inward in all directions. The blast wave went outward. The other two hit other areas exploding in unison. Finally, the entire ship went up in a pile of flames and debris before it quickly faded into nothingness in space. The shockwave was light when it finally reached the Jian Seng. All that was seemingly left was one of the ligament-clawed arms that quickly burned and went out in the fabric of space. The scout ship had been destroyed.

Javier couldn't believe it. Timed perfectly, every action made was done to slow down the Itrean vessel as much as it could. He turned to look at Shira that was relaxingly basking in her performance, at least from the little she showed.

Everyone was saved as a new hailing signal was being sent to the transport. He could feel nothing but shock and awe at first as he knew they were safe.

"You have command," Shira calmly told Javier as she took another drag of her cigarette. "I am sure that our help will need to talk to you about how to rescue and evacuate our crew."

A great sense of relief had fallen over everyone. Ramirez was cheering on the comms, sputtering Spanish words that even Javier didn't know. Marcelle put her hands to her face in sheer joy. She had barely looked at her console, which still had enough power to show that they were close enough to the proximity of the emergency beacon they had prior launched. The short-range sensor screen showed two dots on display properly labeled the UHN Chile and UHN Protectora.

Chapter 12: Accolade

It had been a couple of days since the Skirmish in the Picaro Asteroid Belt. Rumors had spread around the planet of Aphadus and all of the UWA worlds. While the attack was primarily mute due to the influx of on and off attacks from the Aksren and Shal'rein clans, there was something vastly different with this skirmish. Not only did a military transport survive the battle, but it was commanded by a prior defector of the Shal'rein clan. The media had been broadcasting this story over and over again the day prior. At first, people questioned the authenticity of such a claim, but the UHN did have veritable proof. It was shocking and something that almost brought the full attention of the population. Like anything, only time would start to devalue the story as new ones would come to replace it.

The Jian Seng had to be abandoned and towed to a base. The damage it had suffered was significant. Javier could only remember the rescuing personnel in spacesuits that had to transgress through most of the interior to get to each set of closed-off personnel. There was just enough power to slow the ship to a complete stop as the UHN Protectora would mount a rescue. Two-thirds of the vessel was vented into the vacuum of space, but it could have easily been far worse. In the end, of the 40 crew members of the Jian Seng, only 25 survived. Most died from the ensuing battle at first, but a few others would die from their wounds later on. The remaining UHN personnel was brought back to Aphadus for further treatment.

Javier had a quiet walk with Shira down the passageway to the Fleet Admiral's stateroom. Unlike the last several days, she was not in any trouble. The request from Anaya only seemed to have a glint of good news, but regardless, many things were on Javier's mind. He was not shaken up by the events of the last couple of days, but his thoughts did go out to the crew. What would happen to them was something that he did his best to not think about. He had only seen a couple of the crew but had little luck otherwise. Debriefings had become the highlight of arrival. Some he remembered gave a surprising look at Shira upon learning of her actions, which she, in turn, seemed unimpressed.

Regardless, Javier was genuinely curious as to what Anaya wanted. Shira's jumpsuit uniform was neatly pressed with her fin-like tail that delicately twitched and cut the air where she moved. The shark-like woman walked with her hands neatly clasped to her back. By the time they reached the sliding doors of Anaya's stateroom, he had to ask Shira the few questions that perforated his mind before speaking with the Fleet Admiral.

"That was close, wasn't it?" he asked her.

"In what way do you mean that? A victory is a victory," she calmly told him.

"I really wonder why the Fleet Admiral wants to see us. We already went through all of this. Now here we are again."

"I am quite sure as to what it is that she wants to discuss."

"And that would be?" he asked.

"She will tell us. It would become redundant information if I told you now."

"Hmmm......" he wondered as he had a smirk on his face. "I can tell that you are anticipating this."

"I do my best to never show my emotions. What makes you say that?"

"Your tail tends to wag a little bit, but I only see it a couple of times. I don't know. I might be wrong."

"It is good that you are trying to read me. Observation is a key to survival that few humans and Itreans tend to have. However, I would tell you that you need to observe my inflections further to properly read me. I could also just have a twitch in my tail as you claim with it having no conjunction whatsoever with how I am feeling."

It was not a quantifiable answer for Javier. She neither confirmed nor denied that claim. He waited by the door before he tapped the panel to gather the Fleet Admiral's attention. He could see enough of Anaya already from outside the door. A little beep sound erupted. It didn't take long for the door to slide open. Javier felt his hand briefly touch his officer's attire before they both stepped in together.

The interior of the Fleet Admiral's stateroom was the same as it was several days ago. The Fleet Admiral herself was still appropriately dressed as before. There was a sense of happiness on her face which made Javier immediately relax upon seeing. Regardless, the military profession still had to rule out.

"Lieutenant Javier, reporting as ordered," he addressed her with a salute. Shira did the same thing. For both, it was almost called to a halt as Anaya did a quick half salute.

"At ease, at ease," Anaya said as she gestured for both of them to come and have a seat closest to her desk. "I wanted to have a talk with the both of you since it is very important."

Javier could feel nothing but curiosity about what was going to happen. The thought of the unknown was the only thing putting his mind at unease, but he still wanted to know what was going to happen. Both Shira and Javier went and had a seat in their respected seats. Unlike last time, this felt like a calm and quiet gathering. Military protocol had little meaning, just as it was the last several days with these personal meetings. Javier knew how much Shira represented to the Fleet Admiral now. In fact, after the last several days, he was reminded of it constantly.

"I wanted to have a talk with the both of you in regards to the incident that occurred on the Jian Seng," Anaya addressed them as she rested her elbows on her desk. She clasped her hands together. "You may speak freely, of course."

"We had already given our debrief two days ago," Javier told her. "But.....I don't mind providing more detail of it."

Shira remained quiet but was ready to provide her input as usual.

"I have almost everything I need, and both of you have been more than cooperative when it comes to the Jian Seng. The tragic loss of Lifen and the other crew members won't be forgotten as we press forward."

"It was Ma'am," he replied. "We are going to the memorial service today."

"As will I......as will I." The Fleet Admiral paused a little bit before she resumed her topic. "Javier, your actions in taking command of the ship and getting it out of the first period of the battle, and helping out with the evacuation are to be commended. This, of course, brings in the next thing that needs to be discussed, and that is you, Shira."

Javier's head turned to Shira as the Fleet Admiral was looking at her.

"What is it that has your desire to have me here?" she calmly asked her. She folded up her arms.

"It's obvious that looking at the news, you've made a name for yourself," Anaya explained. "In less than a couple days, the Jian Seng is attacked, and by careful political maneuvering, you've taken command and saved the ship and crew from destruction. I have to admit that despite the tragedy, you did a good job."

"You mentioned this last time when the debrief occurred. I am well aware of your praise towards me. The ship and crew were in danger, and I was tasked to eliminate the threat to the best of my abilities. As a prior Lesser Adjunct, I would have done nothing else differently than before if pressed with the same crew, resources, and equipment."

"Said as a true advisor," Anaya said as she leaned back and looked at the both of them. "I still wonder at times on what these other admirals claims on your hearing months ago that you were a traitor that was going to bring death and destruction onto all of us. Now I see this."

"I don't recall that any of the admirals saying that," Shira countered. "There was animosity towards me, however."

"That's what I mean. But, I called you for something other than just past actions. As a Greater Adjunct of the Shal'rein clan, what do they do exactly?"

"Their goal is to oversee the operational tasks of the fleets in general in an assault. As the highest rank that they are, they typically take command of a siege dreadnought and have fleets of warships that provide escort to it when they charge into battle."

"And when compared to a UHN Fleet Admiral?"

"The Greater Adjuncts have a plethora of responsibilities. While it is naturally shared with the other Adjuncts, for the Shal'rein, the strongest are usually the leaders. This includes both physical and mental aspects."

"Yeah, but what about you?" Javier asked, jumping in. "You are not exactly the strongest of the bunch.....ehmm, no offense."

"None taken," Shira continued. "Physical aspects does not always refer to just physical strength. For example, the Shal'rein place a high role in the aspect of the gun. The top sharpshooters are often the most likely to be put in a lead role. This even includes why there was a Lesser Adjunct in the role of the scout battleship we fought just recently. She was very likely operating the railgun turret and a professional marksman if pressed into ground combat. Strength would just be a part of those preferences. Intelligence is also a leading factor just as much as everything else."

"I see," Anaya said.

"To answer the main question that you had, the Shal'rein Greater Adjuncts can be placed in a defensive role or offensive role depending on the theater, location, and environment. Most usually request to have command of a fleet to avoid being placed in a defensive ground or underwater base. It appears.....as you would say..... 'less glorious' than being placed in an area that has more action. Politics does exist just as much as everywhere else. Greater Adjuncts have the ability to gain proper political support as anyone else. With enough motivated backers, these few members can actually challenge members of the monarchy in the grand tournament to try to become the next overlord of the entire Shal'rein clan."

"You were part of a fleet, though?" Javier asked her. "Even as Lesser Adjunct, you were able to command fleets of ships rather than just one."

"You remembered incorrectly. I had an Adjunct commanding the entire fleet that I was in. She was listening to my advice and plan until I deemed her insufficient of all future tasks."

"Ah.....yeah, that's right."

"Here among you humans, the Fleet Admirals take much comfort at having luxury. They become complacent and avoid putting themselves on a ship. While I am sure that not all would do this, my observations have led me to see otherwise. At home, they do the same tasks repeatedly and avoid mundane tasks. There is little gained and little lost as most Fleet Admirals avoid running for chairman or chairwoman. Their rather large retirement packages are often reflected of this."

"See?" Anaya told Javier. "This is why I have her as an advisor. She doesn't hesitate to say what needs to be said. Even I admit that if she weren't around, I would be doing the same things as Fleet Admiral Gray did. Right now, my paychecks are so high I can buy a yacht or go vacationing on every golf course on Aphadus and Mars. Now I'm donating it to help make a battleship or cruiser, something that most of the higher leadership needs to consider as well."