Three Square Meals Ch. 100

Commodore Kuan Ming rose from the Command Chair and stepping aside, snapping off a respectful salute as he did so. "I stand relieved, Admiral Harris."

"Any updates for me, Commodore?" Charles asked as he returned the salute, then took a seat.

"Olympus' defence grid has been activated and all gun batteries are fully operational," Ming replied, his delivery formal and precise. "Strike craft squadrons have been deployed and Rear Admiral Dacres' fleet has moved into position as instructed."

Charles nodded his approval. "Excellent. What about the Kintark?"

Ming ran his fingers through his short dark hair, then glanced at the left side of the Sector map where a mass of red dots were highlighted. "The Kintark forces have split as Commander Fernandez predicted; we have a substantial fleet enroute." He pointed over to the upper section of the map and continued, "We're also tracking the Maliri warfleet, which is now on a direct heading for Terra. Finally, we've just picked up the Invictus on the sector sensor net, they're on their way here."

Charles studied the map and fought down a sudden onrush of panic. The Kintark Armada was awfully close and the Invictus seemed to be so far away. "How long until the Invictus arrives?"

"We have an ETA of 32 minutes," Ming replied, shaking his head in amazement. "Their hyper-warp velocity is astounding! I've never seen anything move so fast!"

"That ship's full of surprises," Charles said with a wry smile.

His smile faded as he glanced at the System Map depicting the Alpha Centauri system. With the Tactical Overlay activated, he could see the full extent of the forces they had deployed to defend Olympus Shipyard. While he knew that the recently upgraded ships from the refit were much more potent than regular Terran vessels, there seemed to be so few of them, numbering only ten battleships and twenty cruisers.

Their numbers were padded out by the remnants of Nexus' automated fleet, which consisted of the battleship Loki and fourteen AI cruisers. Also joining them were hundreds of Kintark vessels that had been captured after the Battle of Regulus. While all those ships might have appeared visually impressive, lined up in formation next to Olympus, none of them were manned and they had to be towed into position by a team of tugs. To compound their ineffectiveness, the Kintark ships had been stripped of heatsinks, which meant that all their Plasma Cannons were essentially useless.

Charles wasn't sure exactly what Calara was up to, but he'd followed her instructions to the letter. He knew John trusted the gifted Tactical Officer implicitly, but he really hoped she wasn't going to try and dupe the Kintark with a bluff. It would only take one active scan for the Kintark to realise the truth about those ships, but when they remained motionless during the battle, it would be painfully obvious they were little more use than a pile of scrap metal.

"What the hell are you up to, John...?" he muttered under his breath.

***

Grand Prelate Melkadian laughed with delight, his teeth rasping together as he looked at the holographic System Map aboard the repurposed Terran dreadnought. The Kintark Armada had just dropped out of hyper-warp on the outer edge of the Sol System, and following the Traitor's advice, they had launched a spread of sensor probes. When the probes began to send out their sensor pulses, thousands of tiny dots had appeared on the map, each circled in red.

"Very impresssive, Admiral Norwood! Thossse minefieldsss were jussst where you'd predicted they'd be. How were you able to anticipate their precissse locationsss?" he asked, genuinely impressed by the treacherous Terran.

"Caldwell's an excellent Tactical Commander, but not a very creative one. He mined the obvious entry points to the system, as well as the areas we would move to if we were deliberately attempting to flank his forces. By choosing a mid-point between them, we were able to avoid his trap," Norwood explained, a smile of satisfaction spreading across his face. He glanced at the Sector Map and his pleased expression changed to one of wariness as he continued, "I still have grave misgivings about you splitting our forces... why would you send so many ships to Olympus?"

"We merely intend to sssecure the Ssshipyard," Melkadian replied, as convincingly as he could. "That way we can prevent sssabotage or ssscuttling by Terran forcesss when they realissse we have conquered Terra. Asss you sssaid before, Olympusss is pivotal to the rebuilding of Terran naval forcesss, which will be the foundation of the new Terran Republic."

Norwood pondered that for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose that's a wise precaution, but as you can see, we'll be facing roughly even numbers in the battle for Terra." He turned and gestured to the Terran formations which were pivoting around to interpose themselves between the Kintark and the Homeworld.

"Our forcesss are more than a match for theirsss," the Grand Prelate said with a snort of contempt. "You sssaw what a one-sssided ssslaughter it wasss in the Dragon March. We have sssuperior technology, sssuperior numbersss, and we're a sssuperior ssspeci-..." He rasped his teeth to catch himself and quickly corrected what he was about to blurt out. "...have sssuperior ssspecialisation of our ground troopsss."

"That reminds me... wouldn't it be more sensible to eliminate the Federation's defensive fleets first, before we consider launching a ground assault?" Norwood asked, darting a confused glance at the dense formation of green and gold vessels that were peeling away from the main armada. In their wake trailed a horde of massive troop transports, each one filled with thousands of Kintark soldiers.

Melkadian's lips peeled back in what he hoped would appear to be a benign smile. "Conquering the Citadel will be a crussshing blow to Federation morale. The psssychological ssshockwave that will sssend through Terran forcesss would prompt them to sssurrender, sssparing usss unnecesssary bloodssshed. After all, that'sss what we all wisssh for, isss it not? A sssmooth transssition from the Terran Federation to the Terran Republic with asss few livesss lossst asss posssible..."

Norwood bowed to him and returned the smile. "Once again, I'm reminded of your wisdom, Grand Prelate."

"My thanksss, but I can't claim the credit for thisss inspired plan," Melkadian replied, his reptilian eyes flicking to the massive Kintark flagship in the centre of the Praetorian Guard.

The holographic battle interface that loomed overhead showed the scaly faces of all the High Prelates in command of each of their subdivisions. On the far-right of the display, a Kintark commander in full body armour made a rasping click, drawing Melkadian's attention. Norwood glanced at the holographic portrait, which revealed that the Kintark wearing gold flashes on his armoured carapace, was called High Prelate Tekarin on the battlecarrier Jaleen'tohok.

"Grand Prelate, we will be jumping into the Alpha Centauri sssyssstem in moments," Tekarin informed them with a respectful bow of his head. "We ssshall begin our asssault on Olympusss."

***

"My God..." Caldwell muttered under his breath, gaping at the vast numbers of Kintark spacecraft that had just jumped into the Sol System. He could only watch in horror as the throng of shimmering green vessels were joined by even more, as wave after wave of Kintark forces left hyper-warp at the outer edge of the system. "Look at them all... How did they get so many ships?!"

His XO, Commander Milton, whirled around and grabbed the stunned Admiral's arm. "The mines, it's our only chance!"

Garfield turned in his chair and shook his head frantically. "They knew they were there! The Kintark missed all the minefields!"

There was a deathly silence on the Bridge as the Kintark ships increased their velocity to combat speed, with over a thousand green warships now heading straight for the Terran defenders. The lizardmen forces formed up into battle lines, with destroyers and cruisers forming a picket screen as they led the advance, the capital ships bringing up the rear.

Caldwell had arrayed his fleets in a loose cluster around Terra, knowing that the Federation ships would form up into their own battle lines when the Kintark arrived in-system. The Terran forces began to react to the Kintark's sudden appearance, one battle group after another moving into position as they readied themselves to meet that charge. Caldwell had chosen to engage with the Kintark forces well outside of heavy weapons range of Terra, to avoid stray shots from either side hitting the Homeworld.

"Sir! Part of the Kintark fleet is breaking away from the main Armada!" Garfield informed him, highlighting the scores of ships on the map. "Looks like they're going to attack Terra from a different direction!"

When the targeting overlay centred on those ships, Caldwell felt his heart skip a beat. It was the Kintark Praetorian Guard! He instantly recognised the feared ships by the golden flashes along their armoured flanks... but there were so many of them, far more than he'd been led to believe from the footage of the Dragon March battle. At their centre was a huge angular vessel, which bore intricate golden patterns along its 2km length, its armoured hull bristling with gun batteries. Following behind them was another easily-identifiable class of Kintark ships, the scores of heavy troop transports clearly identifying the purpose of this breakaway group.

Much as he loathed the idea, Caldwell was left with no choice but to commit his reserves to the battle before the first shot had even been fired. He selected the Praetorian Guard fleet with a sweep of his hand, then focused on the battle group interface. "Weber, Mishra, I want you to engage my target!"

Both Admirals were equally shocked by the size of the enemy armada, but they both nodded to acknowledge his order. They began issuing commands to their Bridge crews and moments later, the fleets under their control began to pivot, moving to engage the Kintark elite forces. Weber and Mishra's battle groups were larger than the other Terran fleets, reinforced to make a far stronger reserve force. Each Admiral's fleet consisted of over seventy destroyers and corvettes, followed by an assortment of forty cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battlecruisers, with fifteen battleships flanking a dreadnought to form the backbone of each group. At the rear of each formation were a cluster of light and heavy carriers, there to provide strike craft support.

"You heavily outnumber the Praetorian Guard forces, so you should be able to defeat them with ease. Once you eliminate their warships, destroy those transports," Caldwell ordered, focusing intently on the map.

The Kintark Praetorian Guard fleet had just over one-hundred ships, the most dangerous of which were twenty battleships, twelve battlecarriers, and the Kintark Flagship. Added together, his two reserve battlegroups outnumbered the Kintark nearly two-to-one.

"Moving to engage," Weber said curtly, before turning to listen to the captain of his dreadnought, Odin's Thunderbolt.

Mishra's attention was on the Tactical Map aboard her dreadnought, Shiva the Destroyer. "Adopting attack pattern fourteen delta," she said, sounding distracted.

Caldwell turned back to the rest of his battle line, issuing terse orders to the remaining twelve Admirals. He actually felt an odd sense of relief when he realised that Buckingham's stubborn refusal to assist Olympus might actually be a blessing in disguise... With the numbers of Kintark they were facing in the Sol System, losing Weber and Mishra's battle groups before the battle would have been a disaster. He watched the main forces closing together, bracing himself for the massive knock-down bloody brawl he knew this was going to be.

***

"Power up the ship!" Rear Admiral Dacres called out, leaning forward in his Command Chair on the battleship Nereus. "Fire at will, gentlemen!"

The Kintark had only just jumped into the Alpha Centauri system and were completely oblivious to the Olympus Defence Fleet lying in wait for them. At first glance the Terran forces looked to be in a hopeless situation, outnumbered as they were 4-to-1 by the elite Praetorian Guard fleet. However, with all the Terran ships powered down, they were invisible to sensors and caught the Kintark attack group completely by surprise.

It took nearly ten seconds to shunt power through all the Nereus' systems, with console after console flickering with light as the warship burst into life. Commander Bridgeport stared at the Weapon Loadout display, waiting impatiently for the icons representing the Beam Laser array to turn green. He hovered the targeting reticle right over the green armoured flank of a Kintark battleship, aiming in the middle of the diagonal golden flashes that decorated its hull. The moment his Beam Laser readout turned green, he squeezed the trigger on his weapon controls, firing off a full volley.

The Nereus' rear-mounted Beam Laser batteries blazed with a bright orange light, lashing the Kintark battleship with a dozen columns of energy. While the Kintark shields were far more resilient than normal, every Terran ship in the fleet had been equipped with top-of-the-range heatsinks, so those energy beams were also hitting 70% harder. It was difficult to make out how effective the individual shots from the Nereus had been, because those beams were joined by a blistering barrage of Beam Laser fire from half-a-dozen other Terran vessels.

The ten Federation battleships and twenty cruisers were in a wall formation, so that every vessel was able to hit the invaders at the same time. Dacres' fleet were positioned just within Beam Laser range and they greeted the aliens with a well-aimed fusillade, the salvos devastatingly effective against the stationary ships that had just dropped out of hyper-warp. The Kintark shields rippled with energy as the amber lances caressed their surface, until one shield after another was finally overwhelmed.

Lieutenant Commander Ridgeway pressed the thumb button on his weapon controls and the rear-mounted Heavy Cannons pounded shells into the shieldless Kintark battleship. He smiled with satisfaction as he saw explosions rippling across the flank of the enemy capital ship, reinforced plating blown to pieces by the armour-piercing shells. When the storm of debris had been blasted clear, the Kintark hull had gone from an immaculate shimmering green, to a mangled ruin of pockmarked craters and glowing trenches.

"That was an excellent start, gentlemen," Dacres said, nodding his approval to the Nereus' gunners. Glancing at his helmsman, he continued curtly, "Engine power to eighty percent and set course for Olympus. Begin snaking manoeuvres!"

The four huge Trankaran engines on the back of the Nereus flared almost as brightly as the beam lasers had done, propelling the battleship forward at startling speed. The fleet veered forty-five degrees to port, turning just enough so that the fire arcs from their port weapon batteries clipped the Kintark ships. The Nereus trembled as it unleashed a ferocious broadside of cannons, missiles, and Beam Laser fire at the stunned invaders, creating a second storm of even greater destruction. In the space of fifteen seconds, the shields had been stripped from six Kintark battleships, their hulls then pounded by shells and thunderous detonations. Eight of the green and gold cruisers had been blown to pieces, unable to withstand the ferocity of that deadly ambush.

It took the Kintark forces a moment to recover, but they were manned by elite crews and they responded with impressive speed. Immediately giving chase, the Kintark ships powered up their engines to maximum and opened fire with every Plasma Cannon at their disposal. It was like the heavens had opened as the torrent of green plasma bolts sought out their targets, the Kintark eager to pay back their tormentors with equal fury.

The Terran fleet turned sharply to starboard, retro-thrusters lighting up along their hulls and executing a very rapid course correction. A surprising number of that plasma bolt hail missed, the Kintark gunners caught out by their target's abrupt change of direction. Even the shots that did connect were robbed of much of their strength, the plasma bolts losing their integrity at such extreme range.

Unfortunately for the Kintark, the Trankaran engines mounted on the Terran fleet allowed them to travel at over twice their top speed. That meant the Federation ships could keep the Kintark fleet at extreme range, even while making exaggerated zig-zagging manoeuvres. The Kintark ships did their best to chase after them, but received a withering starboard broadside to the bow for their trouble.

Dacres watched with rapidly mounting respect for the gifted author of this one-sided pummelling.

There'd been more than one nervous objection during Admiral Harris' pre-battle briefing, but he'd gently reminded the captains about Calara's role in the victory at Regulus and the way the Invictus had recently beaten incredible odds against the Kirrix. The Terran ship captains had been mollified and followed Commander Calara Fernandez's instructions to the letter.

However, it was only now when Dacres saw Calara's plan unfolding for himself, that he could finally understand the full scale of her ruthless genius. She had carefully orchestrated the Terran Fleet crossing-the-T of the Kintark invaders, exposing them to debilitating broadsides while they were only able to use their forward gun batteries in return. Not only that, but her plan allowed the Terran Federation ships to take full advantage of their faster speed and manoeuvrability, hitting the Kintark with alternating broadsides. While the gun batteries on one flank cooled or reloaded, the Terran ships were able to pound their enemies with freshly readied weapons from the alternate flank.

What made Dacres pity the poor bastards on the receiving end of this punishment, was that it would take over ten minutes for the Kintark to advance to Olympus shipyard from the outer edge of the system's gravity well. That meant they would have to weather the storm of over 60 full broadsides, while they would only be able to use their front-mounted Plasma Cannons in return, which were also woefully ineffective at this range.

The Terran fleet shifted course again, almost like they were tacking against some cosmic wind, the swing of the bow bringing the port batteries back into action. Ridgeway opened fire, launching Heavy Cannon shells streaming across space, before they ploughed deep into the nose of the Kintark battleship and ripped a massive hole through the mangled superstructure. Bridgeport had been waiting for that opening, and his dozen Beam Lasers cored deep into the lizardman battleship, melting through deck after deck and vaporising everything they touched.

The Kintark ship yawed to starboard, obviously out of control, and rammed into a battered cruiser. The vast bulk of the battleship caused horrific damage to the much smaller vessel, smashing it apart in a riotous shower of broken pieces with the impact. Turning like that exposed the battleship's previously damaged flank, so both of the Nereus' gunners hit it with a volley from the aft gun batteries this time. There were more explosions from deep inside the mortally wounded capital ship and it was suddenly ripped apart in a colossal detonation as the Power Core went critical. That blastwave enveloped half a dozen of the pursuing Kintark ships, knocking several cruisers tumbling and severely damaging their shields.

"I almost feel sorry for them," Ridgeway said quietly, voicing Dacres earlier thoughts as he watched the huge warship explode into a million tiny pieces. "They've got another ten minutes of this to go."