Attack: The Chohish Wars Read online

  Dreadnaughts were dedicated to either Missile or Beam weaponry to maximize firepower. These ships were more than twice the size of Carriers, and the firepower they provided was intimidating. But they paid for all their size and firepower in speed as they were very slow relative to the other ships in the fleet. But they were not meant to be fast but have enough speed to get out of the way of missiles shot at them from a distance beyond the missile’s fuel range. Adversaries had to get within the Dreadnaughts missile and beam envelope long before they could open fire. Rarely did they travel with a fleet, but here they were, a full dozen, six of both varieties.

  It was Hawke who saw the markings on these gigantic ships first. Howling in pride, he slammed his palms against the window. “AAaiiee Chohish, soon you will meet my brothers and sisters. They have not forgotten you!”

  Without warning, both communicators for Zeke and Jeanne buzzed. Both looked at each other in surprise before tapping to acknowledge.

  “Captains, you and your command staff are to report to the main conference room at the top of the hour. We recommend that your crews start boarding their ships to familiarize themselves with the new systems as quickly as possible.”

  Looking at her timepiece, Jeanne laughed. “Well, that gives us a good eighteen minutes. So much for getting changed.”

  Sighing, Zeke tapped Hawke on his shoulder and indicated Will to join them. “We have been asked to meet in the main conference room in eighteen minutes with both our command groups. Can you two head that up? I will head there with Jeanne now and try and save some seats for us.”

  Looking at Hawke, Will nodded while tilting his head in Hawke’s direction. “Getting him pulled away from the window may be the most difficult part of your request. But we will get it done.”

  With Jeanne’s arm hooked in his, Zeke pinged Ensign Caspian Raske and Ensign Selena Bonilla. “Ensigns Raske and Bonilla, can you please get the crews headed over to our two ships? The command staff wants our command group to join a meeting.”

  He finished with a chuckle. “And if you can, make sure they do not break anything. You know Jax and his engineering crew; they will want to take apart everything they do not recognize.”

  Zeke and Jeanne made their way to the conference room without waiting for a response. They knew where to go as they had attended meetings in the same room for several months.

  Entering the conference room, it was apparent something significant was happening. Attendees were rushing in, still tucking shirts in their pants or jackets hanging on just one arm.

  Finding enough contiguous seats for such a large group was always an issue. Zeke and Jeanne went down the aisles, searching for a free section. They were surprised when they found the entire front row open. It had to be reserved for guests or top-tiered officers.

  Resigned to standing, they were walking away when stopped by an attendant. The attendant asked for their names. The attendant smiled and told them the empty seats were for their group. Sitting in the middle, they were soon joined by the rest, who looked at them in puzzlement as they took their seats.

  The doors were closed precisely at the top of the hour.

  The chatter in the room rose suddenly when a small group of admirals, a mixture of both races, entered from a side entrance to sit down at a table on the raised dais facing the attendees.

  Silence quickly descended in the room, where a massive 4D video stream popped up over the admirals without a word. The images showed warships appearing through a slipstream, joining an already present fleet.

  Gasps of astonishment sounded throughout the room as the number of ships appearing kept increasing until a flood of warships was transitioning through the slipstream. It finally ended, but not until dozens upon dozens of ships were now present.

  Admiral Katinka Chadsey, in charge of the combined fleets, stood and raised her hands to quiet the low murmur that had emerged. The feet admiral stars on her shoulders, the only one wearing them, let everyone know who was in charge of the combined RGN fleets.

  “No need to tell you what we just viewed. You are looking at the data supplied by the RGN Frigates Cameleon and Immortalite. The Chohish have reinforced their fleet to well over two hundred ships. Breakdown on the ship makeup you can all guess based on prior deployments. They are consistent.”

  “Fortunately, our joint task force arrived at this time. So one on one, we should be able to manage this new force. But if we have to split the force, we would be at a disadvantage numerically. But this is all pure conjecture; this is an unknown enemy. Unknown weapons, unknown tactics.”

  The Admiral stepped forward until she stood before Zeke and Jeanne. ”So I would like to call upon Captains Kinsley and De Clisson. Captains, if you would. You are the only ones that have extensive experience fighting this adversary.”

  Surprised at the request, they looked at each other before replying; Jeanne smiled and indicated for Zeke to respond first.

  Zeke took a few seconds to gather his thoughts while looking around to get an idea of who his audience was. What he saw would have been intimidating without Jeanne’s presence; she looked at him confidently.

  Standing, Zeke stood at ease with his arms crossed behind him. “Admiral, Captain Jeanne de Clisson, and I have run simulations and discussed this at length. We always believed the Chohish, no different than us, would send a large force to fight over this system.”

  Zeke nodded to Jeanne, who had risen to stand beside him. “Our simulations were set up using the Chohish weapons and fleet arrangement we dealt with here. Since we had no concrete data on the size or makeup of either force, we started with a small number to work out data specifics. Once we had that, we increased numbers and changed makeup. Some had us outnumbering them, some same size, and others where they outnumber us.”

  Zeke continued his report. “Our simulations show we should be able to defeat a similar-sized Chohish fleet. Our technology is to our advantage. This would be true, even if we split our forces to cover both planets. That is only because of the heavy defensive platforms recently installed on the moons and planets.”

  Pausing, Zeke took a breath to gather his thoughts. “But if the Chohish does not split their forces, the fleet that has to fight the Chohish would take a beating. With a good chance, those ships would become ineffective for the foreseeable future.”

  Jeanne picked up the conversation without any delay. “If so, that one battle could lead to unacceptable losses. That would potentially stop your plans to force your way through any blockading Chohish fleet into the next-door system with a large enough force to take the fight to the Chohish.”

  “Captain Kinsley and I believe we should not split our forces. Instead, we should send the fleet through the asteroid tunnel.”

  Jeanne raised her hand to point at a planet displayed in the paused 4D video. “Towards Nocuous, now that it has been made safe for travel again. I will let Captain Kinsley finish on what our recommendations are.”

  “The citizens of Niflhel are still living underground; the majority will continue doing that for the foreseeable future. It will take years before they can rebuild their cities. We recommend leaving a small defensive force around Niflhel if the Chohish sends some of their forces there.”

  “But our calculated guess is that the Chohish will stay in one group and head to Nocuous. Especially since they have confirmed that Nocuous has the lendolium reserves they require.”

  “Your recommendation then is to position ourselves around Nocuous?” asked Admiral Chadsey.

  “No, it is not. Waiting there puts us at a disadvantage. What we recommend is meeting head-on. We had a plan in mind, but some vessels we just saw a few minutes ago have us rethinking those. So I would like to run some new simulations adding the new vessels in the mix before voicing them to this group.”

  Pausing to look at the Admiral directly, he changed his tone from reporting to his command voice. “I do not believe the Chohish will change their tactics now. Every time they met us has been head-on
, a slugfest, no special tactics involved. From everything I have experienced, that is the way they prefer it. There is no reason not to meet them head-on; let’s give it to them. They have not yet met our larger warships; we should use that to our advantage. We may only get this one opportunity to hurt them big time.”

  The silence that followed was palpable. Still standing, Zeke and Jeanne waited patiently while the officers on the dais discussed what they heard.

  A few moments later, Admiral Chadsey signaled quietly to silence the whispers that had started.

  “Captains, we agree with you.” With emphasis, the Admiral resumed. “We listened when you spoke these past several months. The data we retrieved from your two ships’ computers on the prior engagements support what you just told us. We have been running our own scenarios with this in mind. That is also why the Sorath high command sent the ‘vessels’ you mentioned if I am correctly guessing, that you saw earlier.”

  “I recommend that you, Captain de Clisson, and whomever you recommend join us in our strategy session to review our plans. With the arrival of the additional Chohish forces, we expect they will be making their move once they have had a chance to regroup. We will want to be underway before then.”

  “As for the rest of you, get to your ships and prepare for immediate departure. Make sure your crews know this is not a drill. We will send orders within the next several hours. All capital ships are to be ready to leave in two hours.”

  With that, the Admiral announced the meeting was over. Chaos erupted as everyone started contacting their ships while running out of the room.

  Turning to their command crews, Zeke and Jeanne ordered them to board the ships and verify the readiness of the two warships. Jax interrupted them to notify them his engineers had already started running system checks. Finally, with a big smile, he finished. “Oh, and Captain Kinsley, LS1 said to let you know that he is ‘impressed’ with the repaired ship. The Lucky Strike is cleared for service, just waiting on its Captain. Captain de Clisson, he said to tell you…..”

  After waiting a few seconds while Jax stood quietly, Jeanne frustratingly blurted out, “What?”

  “Nothing else, that was it. LS1 said you would understand.” They all started laughing upon seeing Jeanne roll her eyes.

  LS1 was the name given to the Lucky Strikes ship’s primary artificial intelligence (AI) by Zeke that everyone had found out in the past year had a wicked sense of humor.

  Everyone was still chuckling when Admiral Chadsey joined them. “Did I miss something?” she asked with a questioning look.

  “Just something from long ago,” Jeanne responded while waving the crew away.

  “Good, follow me, please.” Admiral Chadsey led Zeke and Jeanne out of the large conference room, only to enter another room next door.

  This room, tiny in comparison, consisted of a vast display table surrounded by workstations. Swivel chairs swung out from under the table on command.

  A dozen officers were standing around the table looking at a huge 4D Halo. Meanwhile, the chairs were occupied by technicians speaking into headgear, simultaneously working an array of gear balanced in their laps while entering commands one-handed into the workstations.

  A huge man, a good six and a half feet tall, with a shaved head topped by a body Zeke doubted had an ounce of fat. Huge muscles flexed in anger as he turned to frown upon their entrance. From the expression on his face, it was apparent the admiral was going to yell a reprimand for disturbing them. That was until he saw the fleet admiral. At that point, he nodded in recognition but did not relax his frown.

  In a deep gruff voice, he asked. “Admiral, we were going over our plans one final time before we sent out the orders. Do you care to join us?”

  “I do, thank you. I brought the two captains that I spoke to you about earlier. I want to get their opinion and recommendations before signing off on our plan. Let me introduce Captains Zeke Kinsley and Jeanne de Clisson. Captains, this is Admiral Nkosana Okeke. He brought the task force that had just arrived. Per my request, he jumped onto a Destroyer and arrived this morning. That was so we could work out our final plan, incorporating any changes if needed, now that we know all the resources that will be available to us. I doubt we have much time before the Chohish fleet starts deploying.”

  Making his way gingerly around the other officers surrounding the table, Zeke extended his hand out for a handshake. “Admiral Okeke, it is a pleasure. I have served under you several times in the past. It is my honor to finally meet you in person. Although I must admit, you are much smaller in person than has been rumored. The rumor has you over ten feet tall.”

  The bellow of the laughter that came from the throat of Admiral Okeke matched the breadth of his chest. “I see that the captain lives up to the description you gave me, Admiral; he has some spunk. I like that.” drawled the Admiral as he grabbed Zeke’s hand in an energetic handshake.

  Silently groaning in pain as his hand was slowly mashed, Zeke stared into dark brown eyes that sparkled with an intensity he rarely saw. “Upon further review, I may have been mistaken, and you may live up to the rumors.” visibly wincing as the Admiral released his hand.

  “Make room at the table for our guests and the fleet admiral.” Admiral Okeke ordered while he cleared a place for himself halfway down the table.

  “Admiral Chadsey, this is what we came developed. Only a few minor changes from what you saw before your meeting.”

  Over the table now appeared a huge 4D Halo image of the entire system with all planets and opposing fleets. The simulation started with the RGN task force leaving the vicinity of Nocuous en masse. The Dreadnaughts followed behind the main fleet in a defensive arrangement. The rest of the fleet headed directly towards the Chohish armada, which had left the vicinity of the slipstream except for the original guard force of several dozen ships.

  It took several minutes, even fast-forwarding until the opposing forces were in range. It became a slugfest between the two fleets, other than a few ships repositioning. The RGN won only due to their superior technology making the final difference.

  Admiral Okeke looked around before he spoke. “Our best strategists confirm they believe this is the best plan for dealing with the Chohish fleet. Fancy flying took those forces out of the engagement window for the duration of the conflict, impacting our overall effectiveness. Our main concern is that if we do not meet them head-on, the Chohish will get around us and head to either of the planets while we turn around, giving them plenty of time to cause untold damage. Comments, anyone?”

  Seeing none, he then commanded. “No? Alright then, let’s pass the following orders on to…” when the Admiral was interrupted by a cough.

  Turning, he saw that Fleet Admiral Chadsey had raised her hand, gesturing for quiet. “Nkosana, one moment, please. I asked the captains here to get their viewpoint.”

  “Well, Captains, is this similar to your simulations? Any suggestions?” she asked.

  “Our simulations were severely limited as we did not know the extent of the forces we would have nor face. Like yours, we did many simulations based on different fleet sizes for both forces. I do have several questions I would need answering before I can answer your question with any degree of accuracy.”

  “We do not have time for this Admiral. We need to leave now if we want to get positioned with some time to spare.” a visibly angry Admiral Okeke exclaimed. “We have been running simulations since we put together this task force months ago using the information these same captains supplied. The captains even confirmed the basics of our plan just minutes ago.”

  Fleet Admiral Chadsey turned on Admiral Okeke with authority dripping from her words with steel in her voice. “I will not repeat myself, Admiral Okeke; you will wait as long as I tell you to. Now let my guests ask their questions so they can respond properly.”

  Sighing, Admiral Okeke nodded his acceptance with a smile on the corners of his lips. “As you wish, Admiral.”

  Glancing at Admiral Cha
dsey to confirm it was okay to start asking his questions, Zeke took a moment to review the RGN task force layout. Pointing to the RGN fleet, he asked no one in particular. “What speed are they making?”

  One of the technicians behind Zeke replied. “A bit under normal half speed for a capital ship. That is the maximum speed the Sorath Dreadnaughts can make.”

  Nodding his thanks, he then asked out loud. “Can anyone tell me how much time we have to deploy in the vicinity of Nocuous if we leave within the next several hours? Please confirm that we will be traveling through the tunnel now that it is functional.”

  “We will have half a day at a minimum, maybe more. It all depends on when the Chohish makes their move, which we expect to be within the next few hours. And yes, we will be moving through the tunnel.” Admiral Okeke looked at them thoughtfully.

  Everyone watched as Zeke grabbed the image of the fleets and moved them around so he could see them from all aspects. Then, turning towards Jeanne, he whispered and pointed here and there without indicating what they were discussing.

  It was undeniable that the two had worked together before. Zeke would move the image in one direction while Jeanne would grab it to move it in another direction without asking. Both whispered for long moments before Zeke looked at Jeanne and said aloud. “You agree?”

  Zeke slowly studied the personnel around the table upon her affirmative nod before he paused to stare pointedly at the fleet admiral before settling his gaze on Admiral Okeke.

  “Admiral, if you let Jeanne grab a terminal, she will program a simulation we would like you to view before running it through the AIs for feasibility confirmation. If we may?”

  Upon a glance from the Admiral, a technician allows her access to his workstation. Jeanne stopped beside him and had him answer a few questions before she sat down. “Wish we had Isolde here; she is much better at this than I am. But give me a few moments, ahh, there is your simulation file, now I need to change this, and this.”

  The tension rose as the minutes passed. Zeke looked at Admiral Chadsey to try and gauge how long her patience would last. He was relieved to see she showed no indication of losing her patience. That was not true for Admiral Okeke, who looked redder in the face as the minutes passed.