Warrior One - Fleet Action Pt. 05

"It does seem impossible," Lonan answered.

"When Fleet Services gets here...have them work on the destroyers first."

"Why Ezra?"

"They will be the most vulnerable in the coming conflict. We will need them so they can't be destroyed. Then do everything in the reverse order...Warrior class last."

"If you think that is best."

"We will also need Chicago here, with half its bays filled with maintenance pods. The other half with MedServ pods. Is there another Chicago Class ship available for homeworld?"

"There are three more ready. Why?"

"Good. I want an extra here filled to the gunnels with ammo and food. I would suggest that homeworld does the same with the other two."

"What about our Command Battleships? Can't they do the supply job?"

"No, they will be too busy fighting the Gar. We are going to need every ship that can fight to fight. Even those Scouts will have to come in and fight." Ezra slumped in his chair as he watched Admiral Fitzgerald.

"Mil?" Lonan asked.

"He's thinking along the lines I am. Everyone fights. If the supply ship weren't so slow and under armed, they would be fighting too."

"They still might," Ezra cut in. "They have torpedo tubes. They can launch them, while another ship controls them. That way any ship that runs out doesn't have to get more, they just take over any and all that the supply ships can launch. Same for Chicago and its sister ship."

"Well, I didn't mean for this to turn into a planning meeting but you two seem to have a plan already in mind."

"We still need to hash out some things, but yes, I think we do. Whether it does any good..."

"I will notify FleetServ of the change in plan on re-fit and such. Now when do we get together for planning?" Lonan asked smiling at everyone.

"Day after tomorrow," Ezra said looking a Milford who nodded agreement.

"Very well. Dismissed."

Chapter 97

Fifteen days later, the plan for the defense of Rigel had been hammered out and many parts put into action. Other parts were waiting until the Gar showed up. Re-fit of the armada's ships were progressing. Chicago had come and gone, dropping pods, picking up empties. Her sister ship Wauconda arrived with supply pods, which she dropped around Uasal and its sister ships. There were three altogether, homeworld had recalled one home for their preparations.

The admirals, along with ships captains were meeting on the Donegal, the only ship with a room large enough to accommodate them all. One hundred twenty plus captains sat in the auditorium. Six admirals and one K'lar captain sat at a table on the stage. Admiral Fitzgerald rose. The big room was suddenly quiet.

"Gentlemen, ladies, this is the first meeting of many we will have over the coming weeks as we wait for the Gar to show up. I'm happy they have given us this time to plan and get ready for their arrival. As you all know, they outnumber us eight to one. If the Saxons get here on time those odds will be reduced to four to one. I'm pretty sure our, the Federation, vessels can each handle four Gar on their own. I know the Saxons and our close friends the K'lar can with ease.

"What worries me are the Gar dreadnoughts. Those may take four or five of our biggest ships to take out. And what boredom will do to our efficiency, I don't want to think about. So, to relieve the boredom, we will be conducting a number of exercises and drills. You Federation captains, I want you cross training your bridge crew. I want you to have backups for your backups at every post on your bridge. When the fighting starts it will most likely last for days. Is that clear?"

"Clear sir." One voice called out.

"I asked if that was clear?" Admiral Fitzgerald repeated.

"Clear sir." The big room reverberated with sixty voices. The K'lar remained silent, yet every captain was nodding in agreement. M'lat and M'mal both nodded.

Then M'lat was standing yelling in his native language. Every K'lar Captain stood and yelled back at him. The translator buttons didn't translate the words. Ezra was sure M'lat was using a dialect that the translator buttons didn't know on purpose. M'lat sat. All the K'lar Captains sat. Admiral Fitzgerald turned to Captain M'lat who smiled at him and nodded his head. Lonan grunted, smiled and turned back to the group.

"All right then. This meeting will be short, in fact, it is almost over. Just a brief update on the Gar. Both groups are stalled down toward galactic center approximately twelve thousand light years from us. So far our scout ships haven't spotted the dreadnaughts they are waiting for. We now have sixteen scout ships out there on a watch on watch cycle. They have the most sophisticated detection gear available to them. Much more efficient than ours. They will keep us informed on the movements of the Gar.

"High Admiral M'mal has graciously offered four of his ships to travel down galaxy to keep tabs on the Gar. Thank you High Admiral, Admiral Nichols will get with you after the meeting."

"Of course Admiral," M'mal replied.

"That's about it for today. Our next meeting will be in three days. At which time we will have a series of exercises for you and your crews. Questions?"

There were none. Well, none of any substance. A few whispered off-color remarks.

"Belay that!" Admiral Fitzgerald yelled. "Attention!"

The captains rose as one. Even the K'lar captains rose and stood stiffly.

"Gentlemen if you would join me," Lonan Fitzgerald said to the Admirals on the stage. They all nodded and stood, following Lonan out the side door of the auditorium. "As you were," Lonan shouted as he stepped through the door. The captains relaxed and filed out.

Over the next four weeks, the combined fleets of the Federation and the K'lar practiced. Five more K'lar fleets had joined the battle to protect their adopted homeworld. An extra one hundred twenty-five ships relieved the commanders of the fleet. The odds without the Saxons were now down to 3.6:1. With the Saxons, 2.5:1.

"Gentlemen, ladies, we are now within a margin of 3.6 to 1 against us. I know, I have seen, a destroyer take out two Gar ships single-handed. I have seen K'lar frigates take out five Gar ships single-handed. Again, our worry is the dreadnaughts they will bring with.

"Our scouts have spotted them, slowly working their way up the spiral arm. There are two separate blips coming. One blip is ours. The other is Homeworld, Earth's. Preparations here are complete, we have but to wait. In Home-system, preparations continue. Their plan is our plan. I have received word that four K'lar fleets have joined the Fleets of the Federation around Homeworld. Thank you High Admiral M'mal," Admiral Fitzgerald said, nodding to the High Admiral, who nodded back.

"From this point on there will be no more exercises, no more drills. We must be rested and clear-headed when the Gar get here. Estimates still put them two weeks away, but they could speed up at any time. Estimates also put the Gar here first. The Gar going to Homeworld are lagging behind and won't get there for at least five days after we are hit. We think they are doing this so we are tied up with the battle here in Rigel when they hit Earth.

"Any questions," Lonan concluded.

"Yes, sir," Captain Tracy spoke up, rising from her seat.

"Go ahead Dana," Lonan told her.

"Do we know what the Gar tactics will be? Will they send in small groups as they have done in the past or come at us all at once?"

"We don't know. They have changed their tactics several times since we have been in the Rigel system. So we must be ready for whatever they may throw at us."

"Thank you, sir." Dana sat back down.

"More?" Lonan asked waiting. "Well if there is nothing further, then you are all dismissed. Those ships in the Donegal that have completed upgrades and repairs must get their ships out within the hour," Lonan shouted as everyone was making their way to the exits.

"They have all been told," Ezra said.

"I know, just reinforcing it," Lonan quipped.

"Of course. We are all on edge. This has been the longest, without going into cold sleep, we have waited to go into battle. But once it starts, they will be just fine."

"Is that your expert opinion?" Lonan asked chuckling.

"It is," Ezra replied also chuckling.

Chapter 98

The days dragged by. Every ship in the combined fleets stood watch, waiting for the enemy to arrive. Gillian Saraid, sat in her command chair, staring out the port in front of her. Her sensor screen would have given her a clearer view of the surrounding space, but like all pilots of small ships, she likes to see what was out there with her own eyes. Of course, during hyperspace jumps, the port was opaque to keep her from going crazy, but in normal space, she could see into the darkness out there.

The Gar ships heading toward Rigel were on the move again. They had dropped into hyperspace a scant five minutes ago. Their speed was no different than all the other times and they were still a long way away. But the tiny hairs on the back of Gillian's neck prickled and a shiver ran down her spine. Something was about to happen. What she couldn't tell. The fleet now headed for Rigel included seven huge, monstrous ships.

Gillian knew that the two-man scout Seeker, farther down the arm, would have a better view. Typing furiously she flashed them a message hoping they would take her feeling seriously. It was all she could do now. Supplies low, she jumped into hyperspace and headed to Rigel.

"Hmmm...message from Caster sir," Lieutenant Patrick Egan said to his Captain.

"What does she have to say now," Nolan said sounding exasperated.

"She says that the Gar have jumped into hyper as if we couldn't see that, and she has a bad feeling about what will happen in the next couple of days. She also says she is headed back to Rigel for resupply."

"Good riddance," Nolan said, although he really didn't mean it. Gillian Saraid had been right a number of times when she had, what she called, her feelings. "But, just in case, I'm going to move us ten light years to the east, just to get us farther out of the way."

"Okay boss," Pat chided.

"Oh, do be quiet," Nolan said laughing, as he pressed the jump button.

Lieutenant JG Doyle Farrell sat watching his sensor screens. The Gar ships were speeding up. His computer kept spitting out arrival times as they did. He scratched his head as he typed his report to Fleet. He pressed the send button. The comm system whined for a split second, then was once again quiet. Then the computer was squawking at Doyle to move his ship. Doyle hit the jump button and was in hyperspace heading up off the galactic plane by twenty light years. He hoped that would be enough.

His screens showed that six other scout ships were on the move out of the way of the Gar ships headed their way. Soon. It would be real soon that a battle would take place. Real soon.

Commander Cass Pól watched as the last of his scout ships move out of the way of the Gar. The last ship, of course, was Finder. That know it all Lieutenant Carlin was always getting herself and her ship in trouble. Nothing really serious, but enough that Cass had to take notice even though scout ship Captains had a lot of leeway in what and how they did things out here in the deep. Cass just wished Bridget would get her act together before he had to write a letter to her next of kin.

Cass counted the scout ships still on station. Ten. The other six were either at Rigel or on their way there for resupply. His sensor screen squawked at him. The Gar were increasing speed. The computer placed them in the area of the scout ships in two days. Scanning the systems in the area, Cass found one that may be a supply cache. It was sixty light years away. A short hop by scout ship standards. Cass set up the jump and pressed the jump button.

No one noticed him jump, except Gillian. Shaking her head, she dropped out of hyper and turned her ship around. Typing in coordinates as fast as she could, she pressed the jump button and pushed her throttle to half speed. That would place her just behind Commander Pól.

K'lar ship Metron watched as two Federation scout ships jumped into hyperspace. Then the first one dropped out and then back in, heading for the second ship. Scanning what appeared to be their destination, the K'lar captain grunted. A Gar supply depot, unmanned. Giving orders to his helmsmen the Metron jumped into hyperspace headed toward the supply dump. Captain M'son didn't know how big a dent destroying the dump would do to the Gar fleet, but anytime he could participate in destroying one, he would jump at the chance.

Three ships came out of hyperspace at the same time. Cass Pól was surprised to see Caster on his port side and even more surprised at the K'lar ship on his starboard side. All three of them were diving on the supply dump nestled in a valley on the small planetoid. All three ships fired at the same time. Almost as if they were all reading each other's mind. The large cache of material exploded violently and continued to explode as all three ships pulled up.

Caster was a little late and her ships belly was singed as she flew low over the exploding supplies and ordinance. All three turned to make another run. Plasma bolts licked the already burning supplies, causing more explosions. Caster pulled up in time. Scout and Caster took a turn around the valley. The K'lar ship hovered high above them, waiting.

As the two federation ships climbed up out of the valley, the K'lar ship launched two missiles into the center of the dump. The explosions were huge. Both smaller ships were shaken as they climbed higher.

"Well, that should put a dent in their supplies. I wonder if there are any more on some of these other planets and moons?" Cass said into his comm mic.

"Well have fun looking for them, I'm off for resupply. Thanks for that bit of fun Commander," Gillian replied.

"Yes, thank you for the fun," the K'lar ship replied. "We will look around this system. There is another system fifty light years to the west that looks promising."

"Yes, it does. I'll take that one," Cass said pressing the hyperspace button.

Both Caster and Scout disappeared. Captain M'son smiled as he turned his ship to check the other planets and moons in the system.

Chapter 99

"Sir, we're getting reports that several Gar supply caches have been found and destroyed by our scout ships and the K'lar ships helping them," Captain Tracy said.

"Good for them," Admiral Fitzgerald replied. "But, of course, now the Gar know they are out there."

"Not all of them have made themselves known. Commander Pól kept some out of the supply hunt."

"Good man."

"Yes, sir."

"So, is everyone clear on their parts in the plan?" asked Lonan.

Everyone nodded. The parts they played in the upcoming battle were burned into their minds. They all swore they could execute the plan in their sleep.

"Fine. No more drills from now until the Gar show up. No more meetings, they are too close for us to be away from our ships. Any more meetings will be via Holocube."

"Estimates now put the Gar here in ten days, unless they speed up, which they might do as we destroyed their supply dumps between us and them," Dana Tracy said. "I know I would."

"Would what?" Lonan asked.

"Speed up. Why take the long run, with supplies I was counting on destroyed? Jump into the system here and have at it. If I win, I get all the supplies I want. If I lose, then I won't be needing those supplies."

"Very insightful, Captain," Ezra quipped.

"Thank you, sir," Dana replied knowing Ezra wasn't actually complimenting her. She let the slight, slide.

Ezra chuckled. Lonan looked at the two and shook his head. The other Admirals and Captains just stared at them.

"Dismissed. Get back to your ships. We may have the Gar in our laps sooner than we think."

The men and women filed out of the conference room. Ezra sat, watching as everyone left his ship. Dana was the last to leave the room. She turned, looked back at Ezra, nodded and hurried away. Ezra smiled.

"Sir," Candle said softly.

"I'm going." Ezra rose and followed Dana out the hatch.

"Yes, sir," Candle said following.

Two-man Scout, Finder, floated in deep space, six thousand light years down the spiral arm. The mass of Gar ships was close. Close enough to reach out and touch. Almost. They were actually still eight hundred light years down the spiral arm from Finder. Even at top speed, it would still take them two days to get here.

Captain Carlin was standing watch. Her second was asleep down in her cabin. Bridget idly scanned her screens. She had widened her scan pattern to include more of the space around her. She knew where the massive Gar fleet was. She wanted to see who else was close to her.

There was a slight flare of a pip on her screen. Then it was gone. It was close. She modified the sweep to just that sector in space. The pip flared again. This time it stayed lit. There was a small ship closing on her position and the IFF didn't identify it as friendly. Bridget hit the panic button.

"What the fuck," Cassidy Tulla yelled from below.

She was up on the bridge and in her seat within a minute.

"Company," Bridget said pointing at the pip on the screen.

"Shit," Cassidy croaked, strapping herself in.

"I'm going to swing the ship so that whoever that is, is in front of us."

"Sure. Do you think they will notice?"

"Not sure. Maybe."

"Range to target, one hundred thousand kilometers," Cassidy said.

Bridget grunted, twisting the joystick to port to swing the nose of the ship around and point it at the unknown ship closing on them.

"Shields up," Bridget said.

"But that will let every ship around here know we are here."

"Would you rather die?"

"No."

"Then raise the fucking shields."

"Yes, Ma'am." Cassidy Tulla flipped the switches that brought the shield generators online.

And still, the pip closed on them.

"Son of a bitch," Cass Pól said as his screen lit up.

The Finder was now a beacon in this sector of space. Her shields made even the weakest of passive scans as bright as a supernova.

"What the hell is she doing?" Cass said to himself as he scanned the space around her ship.

He jerked back from his screens as a pip showed up closing on the Finder. He nodded as he sat back, watching. He was typing furiously. Then he hit send.

"Well at least she's not taking any chances," he whispered.

Chapter 100

Patrick Egan looked down at his comm screen and grunted.

"Message from Pól. Move to assist Finder. Unknown ship moving to intercept."

"Coordinates?"

"Included. Setting them up now."

"Execute when ready."

"They will see our flare."

"Yes, but they won't see us drop out. Go."

"Jumping." Patrick pressed the jump button.

"What the hell?" Bridget said softly.

"I saw that. Seeker?"

"Yes. There she is, now she's gone again. It will take the sensors a second to reacquire."

"There. Coming in behind the unknown."

"Pól you worry wart, I can take care of myself." Bridget flipped the cannon control up. "How far?"

"Fifty thousand kilometers."

"Yes, I see it in my gun sight. It's a small ship. Unlike anything I have ever seen."

"Gar?"

"Could be. It has the color..."

"It just raised its shields," Cassidy interrupted. "It's firing. Brace."

The small ship shook with the impact. Bridget squeezed the trigger on the joystick. Bolt after bolt shot out of their plasma cannon. Bolt after bolt struck the small ship with no effect.