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Admiral Cook leaned back in his chair and sighed. So many things happening at once. He wondered how Ezra was coping? He wondered how things were going on the planets? But most of all, he wondered where those damn ships were coming from?
"Wulver on channel nine sir," Shaffer said.
"Rosslea, what have you found?"
"Sir, we found over a hundred Gar ships just waiting. Two AU's out coordinates transmitting."
"Very good, now get back here."
"Yes, sir."
"Shaffer, Admiral Fitzgerald please."
"Yes, sir. Channel nine again."
"Lon, I'm transmitting coordinate of a large group, one hundred plus, of Gar ships about two AU's out. Would you have someone in your group take care of them?"
"Mil, I would be delighted. I'm also sending in two more K'lar fleets."
"That will be a big help. Thanks, Lon."
"Fitzgerald out."
"Cook, out."
Milford watched his screens as they filled with K'lar ships. Half around Rigel V, the other half around Rigel VI. Ten from each fleet broke off and headed for the planets. The rest stayed in orbit to deal with the Gar ships popping in every so often. They were lucky the Gar only sent in small groups. If they had sent them all at once, in the beginning, they might have overwhelmed the entire operation.
Dana Tracy watched as her group approached Rigel V. The battle on the ground was raging. There were fighters and K'lar vessels flitting over the surface. The fighters had been going at it for a long time. They were in need of refueling.
"Helm hold us here for the time being. Lonán, Fáelán, Rónán and Ó Cathaláin head on in. Comms, get me General Róisín."
"Comms, General Róisín, channel six."
"General Róisín, Captain Tracy of the Nóe. I am sending four destroyers down to help provide air cover for your troops."
"Captain Tracy, thank you, I will put them to good use."
"Aye, aye Ma'am, Tracy out."
"Róisín out."
"Comms, get me the fighters squadron leader."
"Comms, aye. Channel six."
"Squadron Leader Lieutenant Brendan Bray."
"Lieutenant, this is Captain Tracy of the Nóe, we are circling at ten thousand feet above the ground forces command section. We are ready to receive you for refueling and rearming. Rear shuttle bay. Four at a time."
"Thank you, Captain. We'll be right over."
"Mister Steel, ready the rear shuttle bay to receive guests."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Weapons, contact ground command. Get coordinates for our lower plasma cannon. We are now their artillery."
"Weapons, aye."
A short time later, the ship shook with outgoing plasma bursts. On her screens, Dana watched the four destroyers as they flitted like fighters around the world below. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the fighters come up four at a time for refuel and rearm. On the ground, the Marines surged ahead with the extra help she had brought.
Chapter 84
Abigeál Kerrin watched the fighting going on around her. Her ship, along with the Éidin, had just joined Fleet One. When she contacted Admiral Nichols, he told her to fight her ship and that he was glad to have her join him. Abigeál then told Conall to do the same. They were to support Warrior One and the other ships in the Fleet. Of course, Fleet One was missing half of its ships, they being in other parts of the system. The Pech was in orbit around the planet below, refueling and rearming its fighters there. The Seonaidh was covering. Glaistig was just outside the system routing all communication for the fleet. That left Warrior One with Selich, Caoineag, and Airne Mor. Two more battlecruisers were a welcome sight for Admiral Nichols.
Then space was clear of Gar ships. Missiles kept coming up from the planet, but the gunners had the rhythm of it. Very few missiles hit their target. On her screens, she could see Fleet Three hitting the Gar ships two AU's out. Two K'lar fleets joined the battle and immediately flew cover for the Marines and bombarded the Gar installations on the ground. Then Warrior disappeared and all hell broke loose.
One hundred and fifty Gar ships just appeared, it was uncanny, in and around the two planets. Abigeál didn't panic. At least she looked like she wasn't in a panic.
"Caoineag to all ships, formation Tau."
The formation was a familiar one and this was the first time any of the preset formations had been called for, except in training.
"Helm, come about, course one-three-four, thirty up, one-quarter sub-light."
"Helm, aye."
The ship started to turn and accelerate. Then the Gar were firing. Altan shook with each bolt of plasma that hit her shields.
"Weapons, fire at will. Torpedoes and cannon only. Helm, course one-four-zero, thirty down, dead slow."
"Weapons, aye."
"Helm, aye."
Altan shook as its weapons started to fire. It also shook with each impact. Looking at her screens, Abigeál saw that her shields were holding. Then the last K'lar Fleet was among them. Firing everything they had and actually flowing in and around Fleet One ships as they did. Gar ships started to go dark. They also disappeared as torpedoes started to hit their targets. Abigeál's only question was 'Where had Warrior One gone?'
"Sensors, one hundred-fifty Gar ships are inbound... "
"From where?"
"Two-one-zero up twenty, five AU's out. There are more behind them. About two hundred, sir."
"Helm, hard to port. Navigation, I want a hyper jump to put us between the two groups of Gar ships."
"Helm, aye."
"Navigation, locked in."
"Execute."
Warrior was alone in space. Ezra watched his screens. Two hundred plus blips appeared, just in front of him.
"All Missiles fire at the group. All torpedoes fire. All cannon fire."
The ship shook as the missiles and torpedoes left their tubes.
"Navigation, hyper jump course to the two supply ships just west of the system."
"Navigation, what shi... never mind. Course laid in."
"Execute."
Warrior was slowly approaching the Uasal. Thirty minutes later Warrior was full up on missiles and torpedoes.
"Navigation put us back with those ships we engaged."
"Nav, course laid in."
"Execute. Weapons, fire at will."
They were among the Gar ships. Plasma bolts streaked through space. Torpedoes ducked in and out of hyperspace on the way to their targets. Missiles, thousands of missiles flared across space. They hit their targets. The Gar shields shook off the impacts.
"Secure Missiles," Ezra called out.
"Missiles secure," Mister Kinsella answered.
"How many left?" Ezra asked.
"Forty-five," someone answered.
"Put us back in-system, Mister Nolan."
"Aye, aye sir. Course laid in."
"Well, do it," Ezra growled.
They were back in-system and lucky they hadn't hit a piece of debris. Ezra immediately saw that his Fleet had been busy. He caught the call for Formation Delta coming from the Caoineag. Ossian had fallen back on set formations with half the regular ships somewhere else and a group of new ships under his command. It looks as if it had worked out well for them.
"Warrior One to all ships, fight your ships, kill any Gar ships remaining."
"All ships answering aye, sir," Candle said softly.
"Thank you, Candle."
Space was once more clear of Gar ships and Fleet Three was in-system. All the K'lar ships were down giving air cover to the Marines on the ground. Both Fleet One and Cook were orbiting their respective planets. The two supply ships had joined the two Command Battleships to resupply ships as needed. Long range sensors were clear of Gar ships. Gar ships were leaving the planet and going into hyperspace just as soon as they could. It looked like they were abandoning Rigel.
Chapter 85
The battle was far from over. Even though a huge number of ground troops, how many were actually civilian Gar no one knew, had left the system, there was still a large number of fighting Gar on the ground.
General Hanlon stood on the hill overlooking the last, well they had been told it was the last, Gar installation on Rigel VI. His Marine's were in a skirmish line crossing the valley below. About three hundred K'lar civilians, all ex-military - so he had been told - followed the skirmish line. Magnus could see Gar soldiers scrambling for cover on the hill opposite him.
Then there were three K'lar ships overhead. Plasma bolts lashed out at the enemy on the hillside. The Marine advance halted. Plasma bolts shot out from the fortification on the hilltop at the K'lar ships. Fighters from the Pech circled above the K'lar, covering them. Now small arms fire had joined the plasma cannon shooting at the K'lar ships.
"Colonel, tell the line to move up and attack those troops on the lower foothills."
"Yes sir," Colonel Sé Mal Eoin replied, bending over his comm equipment.
The skirmish line moved forward. The Gar in the low foothills started to fire. The Marines returned fire. Fire and move, fire and move. One by one the Gar were dealt with. The Marine line was now moving up the side of the taller hills. The K'lar ships stopped firing and moved on. Two fighters stayed behind to cover the Marines.
General Órlaith Róisín sat in a bunker recently abandoned by the Gar, looking at her tablet, trying to figure how to take the fortification that now stood before them. Fighters had been pounding it for the past couple of hours. Her tripod mounted plasma cannon had blown big holes in the walls and yet the Gar fought on.
Suddenly a shadow passed over her position. Looking up, she saw two destroyers float by, firing on the fort ahead. Plasma cannon fire came from inside the fort, painting the shields of the destroyers. Plasma fire licked the walls of the fort. The walls exploded. Then there were secondary explosions from inside.
The destroyers pounded the fort for the next five minutes. When the smoke and dust cleared, it was a pile of rubble. Gar soldiers poured out of what was left of the fort. The destroyers made quick work of them. The battle was over. General Róisín sighed, then looked around for her ship. She had other battles to oversee.
The Fleets regrouped, orbited their respective planets lending support to ground actions where needed. Admiral Fitzgerald sat in his chair just behind and to the right of Captain Bridget Brogan in Warrior Three. He now felt what other Admirals felt when they had their flag aboard a Warrior-class ship. Awestruck. That was the word that came to mind. Awestruck. That a ship so big could maneuver so well. That a ship so big could fight so hard. Awestruck. Fleet Three was now orbiting Rigel V while Fleet One orbited Rigel VI. Fleet Cook had regrouped and was spread throughout the system.
The four K'lar fleets were down on their planets. Two on Rigel V and two on Rigel VI. The Marines on Rigel V were still clearing holdout Gar. They were being assisted by the K'lar ships and K'lar civilians. Rigel VI was all but subdued. Only a handful of Gar remained. And they were being hunted down by the civilian K'lar with assistance from their fleet personnel. General Hanlon and his Marines were regrouping at the only spaceport on Rigel VI for dust-off.
Ezra was watching the sensor screens when a huge blip appeared.
"Comms, AVM Chicago arriving."
"Are we expecting her?" Ezra asked wondering.
"Not that I know of sir," Ensign Flannery answered.
"Candle?"
"I have no information about the Chicago, sir."
"Comms, get me, Admiral Fitzgerald, please."
"Comms aye. Admiral Fitzgerald on channel four, sir."
"Admiral I guess you noticed the Chicago has arrived?"
"I have indeed. I have the Captain on another channel. I'll get back to you."
"Of course sir. Well, it looks like Admiral Fitzgerald didn't request their presence. Comms can we listen in on the Admiral and ... "
"We can, but... "
"Perhaps you're right."
"Comms, Admiral Fitzgerald on channel four."
"Admiral, what's the word?"
"Chicago reports over five hundred Gar ships headed our way. ETA ten days. She has supplies for everyone, including the K'lar ships. I'm sending our supply and command battleships to her for resupply and refueling. Then we should rotate our ships there to do the same. Why don't you contact the K'lar?"
"I will sir. Warrior One out. Well, that tears it. The Gar aren't giving up Rigel. Comms, get me M'lat please."
"Comms aye." This time it took a while for M'lat to answer. "Comms, Captain M'lat on channel six."
"M'lat, Ezra."
"Admiral Nichols, my friend. Is that huge ship yours?"
"It is. It is the AMV Chicago, a supply ship of great capacity. Listen. The Gar are coming. In ten days, over five hundred Gar ships will arrive. We must prepare a welcome for them."
"Ah, yes we heard rumors, yes, rumors. But it is now confirmed."
"Good. The Chicago has supplies for your fleets. Fuel, Food, Missiles and whatever else you will need. Evidently, Chicago found a settlement of yours and stocked up."
"Ah, good. We were running low on food. I didn't want to burden the planet's resource so soon after they had been freed. I will notify the High Admiral. We will start to rotate our ships up immediately."
"Good. I must tell you to include crew to unload the supplies from Chicago as they run on a skeleton crew. You can contact them on channel twelve."
"Very well and thank you. Our people are rejoicing with their freedom."
"Glad to have helped. Warrior One out."
Chapter 86
Four days after the Chicago arrived, it departed. Its stores had been all but depleted. Most of the containers had been dropped planetside. The now dark empty slots gapped as Chicago jumped into hyperspace with a promise to return as soon as she could with more supplies.
Admiral Fitzgerald, Cook and Nichole's sat in the conference room on Warrior Three planning the coming battle with the Gar. Admiral Cook had included Dana Tracy in this meeting along with several other Fleet Cook personnel. Admiral Fitzgerald had Bridget Brogan at his side. Ezra had brought no one.
As they sat to begin, M'lat and High Admiral M'mal arrived with several of their fleet captains. After greetings were over they sat.
"Gentlemen," Admiral Fitzgerald said. "In six days a massive fleet of Gar ships arrives. Chicago plans on being back here in four days with more supplies. We, this group here, must come up with a strategy to not only engage the Gar but to defeat them as well.
"I have asked Home World to send us Fleet Four. They have agreed. It will arrive the day after the Gar get here. It is my hope that we will have destroyed at least half of the Gar by then. High Admiral M'mal, will there be more K'lar fleets joining us?"
"If only there were... I'm sorry, but... "
"High Admiral, may I?"
"Of course M'lat."
"I have taken the liberty of contacting some old friends. There will be three more fleets joining us in two days."
"But how?" M'mal asked.
"They owed me, sir."
"Ah, I see. We will have three more fleets joining our ranks Admiral Fitzgerald."
"Good, good. Now we should probably go over the damage reports... "
For the next six days, the great ships of the FOP and K'lar Conglomerate settled into orbits around the planets of Rigel. Strategies and tactics had been discussed and set into motion. Primary and secondary watchstanders were replaced by the most junior of officers in the department. The primary and secondary would have to be fresh when the Gar arrived. K'lar ships were sent ten AU's out toward the way the Gar were approaching to alert the fleets of their arrival.
Four days later as promised the Chicago arrived with full cargo pods. Most of which were sent down to the planets for the K'lar and the Marines who would hold ground emplacements and protect the K'lar using them. The rest of the cargo pods were offloaded next to the supply ships of the fleet. Tethered magnetically to those ships they were now available for the fleets use.
That evening, the Chicago signaled fair well. Ezra sat at his desk, Admiral Cook across from him, as they ate their evening meal.
"It's too bad that we don't have the shields the Chicago has," Ezra said.
"Fleet Four has been fitted with those new shields. When they get here, we'll see just how effective they are."
"Has Fleet Two also been refitted?" Ezra asked.
"They have. There are also two new Warrior class ships and four battlecruisers accompanying Fleet Four. I just wish they could get her faster. It would be nice to have five Warrior class ships to meet the Gar."
"It sure would. What's the holdup? They should be able to get here in a day, knowing they have a gas station at this end."
"They should, but the powers that be don't want them to." Admiral Cook shook his head. "You know as well as I that the top brass is a conservative group when it comes to all those assets."
"Ah, yes. It's too bad that we can't delay the Gar one more day?"
"It is. I've been racking my brain to come up with a way to do it, to no avail."
"Well, they are here day after tomorrow. The day after that Fleet Four arrives. Twenty-four hours. Twenty-four hours is all we have to hold out for."
Everyone was surprised when Warrior Four, along with the two other Warrior Class ships, arrived two days early. Captain Carey, with Admiral Lowery, shuttled over to Warrior One. Waiting in the command conference room was Admiral Fitzgerald, Admiral Cook, and Rear Admiral Nichols. As Kaylee entered she snapped to attention.
"At ease Admiral," Lonan Fitzgerald said. "Welcome, Kaylee and take a seat."
"Thank you, Admiral, Lon," Kaylee said taking a seat next to Ezra.
"So tell me, how much longer 'til the rest of your fleet gets here?" Lonan asked.
"Late tomorrow. The bigger ships could have been with me, but the destroyers don't have the fuel capacity to run balls out for that long."
"Yes, Milford has found that out. How did you get around that Mil?"
"We docked the destroyer on the battlecruisers. Each of them could carry four of the little ships." Everyone was shocked at the solution.
"Really?" Lonan asked in disbelief.
"Yes. The four hard pads. Two above amidships and two below. Also, the load points on the sponsons could hold at least one each on the inside plane. And with each fleet having two battle cruisers, they could easily carry the three destroyers in each fleet."
"And we could easily add a fourth destroyer to each fleet," Lonan Fitzgerald said gazing into the distance. "Or five more, couldn't we?"
"If the Admiral is planning on revamping the fleets, might I suggest... "
"Of course," Lonan interrupted.
"..doing away with the cruiser class." Ezra finished.
"Why? They are a formidable ship."
"Yes, sir. And they might serve with distinction as homeworld protection."
"What do we replace them within the fleet?" Lonan asked, very interested in what Ezra had to say.
"Another battlecruiser or battleship. I know I wouldn't mind having another like the Caoineag alongside me in battle."
"Interesting." The faraway look returned to Lonan's eyes.
"Admiral?" Milford Cook said, reaching over and touching Lonan's arm. "We have more important things to discuss at hand."
"Yes," Lonan said shaking himself out of his reverie. "To the battle. Five hundred Gar ships are due here day after tomorrow. Fleet Four will be arriving just before them now. Mil, you are the strategist, help me out here."
"Right. The five dreadnought class ships will lead the fight. Flanked by the three battleships, backed up by the thirteen battlecruisers... "
"See what you did there Admiral? You forgot the three cruiser class ships," Ezra said.
"No, I didn't. They stand back and protect the three carries, along with the command battleships. In that group will be the supply ships and troop carriers. The seventeen destroyers will be split among the battle group meeting the Gar head on and the group standing back.
