First Command (29 page)

New Helsinki System, Solarian Republic

RSNS
Titan
High Orbit

March 9th 841 AE  (2802 AD) 21:00hrs Haggerdam Local Time

The fight in orbit shaped up much slower than it did on the ground.
RSCRS
Nimble
had been running at flank for two hours at cruising speed to the Chaucer’s Gap wormway. Even though it made it through the wormway quickly.
Nimble
had been on a rapid outbound trajectory already at the system edge. Once it relayed the message, it would still take a day to mobilize sufficient forces, and move them across the system through the wormway back to New Helsinki. Jonathan pulled up his tac display and began issuing orders.

“Mr. Krishna, deploy recon drones at once, order
Swift
to do likewise. Let’s get a clearer picture, also begin issuing hails to Sierras and Tangos. Mr. Gopal is my ship ready for battle?”

“Aye sir, stations are manned and ready.”

“Sir, Sierra 1 is replying to our hails message reads:
TO UNKNOWN SOLARIAN SHIP WE HAVE BECOME AWARE OF MASSIVE CIVIL UNREST AND MASS RETALIATIONS CARRIED OUT BY SOLARIAN FORCES AGAINST CIVILIAN TARGETS; AS SUCH WE’VE BEEN ORDERED TO INTERVENE FOR HUMANITARIAN REASONS.
Si, it’s signed Commodore Adrian Lucean Colonial Confederacy Navy.”

Jonathan reclined in his chair as the pieces fell into place. The nuclear strikes gave the Confederates an opening to intervene on humanitarian grounds. It helped if there was enough circumstantial evidence to blame the Solarians for the strikes.

Jonathan had a decision to make, and he made it in a second.

“Bring us to speed Mr. Yower. Mr. Krishna set all our recon drones to EW, and have
Swift
fit theirs with a recon package. Get me as much recon data as you can. Mr. Gopal raise kinetic barriers and lower the guns. ”

The recon drones were really just oversized missiles loaded with EW equipment and scanners. CRS drones from
Swift
were close to twice the size of
Titan’s,
and lacked advanced EW countermeasures. They made up for this with far more thorough scanners than anything the navy could squeeze into their smaller units. Once launched, the drones met with the hostile force within two hours. Expecting this, the Confeds launched anti-drone missiles. Most of these went wide as the
Swift’s
drones engines cut out, and they went kinetic at the same time as
Titan’s
drones. The EW sweets began sending out as much interference and jamming signals as much as a possible. The Colonial ships split into two separate groups. The five Tangos preliminarily tagged as transports headed toward Helsinki primary. They would be able to put the star between them and the coming fight, and then could sling shot around it and land troops on New Helsinki.

On
Titan’s
bridge, the recon drones data began to flood back.

“Skipper, data’s coming up preliminarily designating Sierra 1 as a light cruiser
Felipe
class. EM signature paints it as CCNS
Warfield.
Sierra 2 and 3 preliminary designations are as frigates. Both
New Congo
class. EM signature paints them as CCNS
Brasilia
and
New Abidjan.
”

“Very good Mr. Krishna. Send this broadcast to approaching ships -This is RSNS
Titan,
Lt. Captain Jonathan Pavel commanding. You have violated sovereign Solarian space without reason or provocation, at the vanguard of an invasion force of traitors and exiles. We will defend this system. We will use deadly force if you do not repeat, do not withdraw immediately. Send message. Then if they try to reply, send it again.”

Yower spoke up from the helm, “Course sir?”

“Steady as she goes Mr. Yower, take us right at them. Mr. Gopal tell the
Swift
to fall in on our six, and trail us by two miles. Get me a firing solution on Sierra 1, and focus on its forward batteries. As soon as they are in range, you have permission to engage. Now, time to firing range?”

“One hour, thirteen minutes sir.”

The Colonial force moved into a wedge formation, which was a sound tactical, move all things considered. Jonathan studied the tac display methodically searching for a weakness.

The
Titan
and
Swift
together were only marginally outgunned by the Colonials CCNS
Warfield. 
It had 12 railguns - six forward and six aft, to
Titan’s
four forward four aft.
Warfield
also had fewer plasma cannons than
Titan
. Confeds designed their lightships to be missile heavy and gun light. This was a sound idea for anyone who needed to engage with fighter craft, launch orbital strikes or overwhelm other ships with superior numbers. The two frigates together outclassed
Swift
in guns, missiles, armor and barriers, but
Titan’s
big guns could shred them like paper if she closed range.

On
Titan’s
bridge, Jonathan Pavel relayed his orders.

“Mr. Yower, all ahead flank. Mr. Krishna, signal
Swift
to stay behind us at all cost, and prepare for my orders. Transmit this course I’ve programmed for them. Mr. Yower take us right down their throats.”

“Aye sir.”

There was no hesitation on
Titan.
Fear, yes. Doubt perhaps, but no hesitation. Across the ship, the crew stood ready. Many prayers were uttered, good luck charms asked for favor, as men steeled themselves for what was to come. The crew had trained for this, and they had trained hard. Their duties were in their very blood. They were ready.

On the bridge of CCNS
Warfield,
Captain Xula Pyke looked at her tactical display with growing distress while doing her best not to look back at Commodore Adrian Lucean who sat behind her in the flag chair. They had been briefed that there was a Solarian destroyer on station, but those idiots at NavInt had assumed it was the older more common
Demon
class, that while still tough in a fight had sacrificed armor for speed and greater firepower. This ship, however, was clearly one of the new
Olympian
class. All the intel on these was that the Solies had finally abandoned the idea of a fast interceptor destroyer, and opted instead to focus on firepower and armor. That meant that while classified as a destroyer by the Solies, she was really a light cruiser. Xula knew her ship
Warfield
might be able to beat the Solies in a straight up fight, but it would cost her.

“Mr. Kumba, has she diverted yet?”

Her tac officer turned shaking his head.

“No ma'am, and I’ve lost that Frigate. Their signatures have merged. She’s popping decoys like crazy too. We are having a hard time establishing missile lock.”

“Captain our orders are clear. As soon as she’s in range, open fire. Our missiles will overwhelm her EW, and then we’ll close and finish her off with the main guns,” Commodore Lucean said from his perch.

Silently, Captain Pyke cursed her superior. He wanted this to end quickly so they could start landing the Marines and deploying new ODs before the Solies showed up in force. If it had been up to her, she would have put her tail to the enemy, and slugged it out with torpedoes and missiles letting
Warfield
and her frigate’s missile superiority and greater speed work to their advantage. But she was a good spacer, and carried out her commander’s orders.

On
Titan’s
bridge, Jonathan smiled as his insight paid off. The Confeds were closing in. If he had been in their commander's position, he would have turned and made
Titan
chase them. Instead, they were closing fast.
Titan
was no sprinter. She was a boxer and Jonathan knew as a former boxer himself sometimes you had to take some hits to get in close and go for the KO. He turned his eyes back to the rangefinder as the numbers rapidly ticked toward missile range.

At missile range
Warfield, Brasilia,
and
New Abidjan
fired their SK-19 missiles and MK V torpedoes. Missiles were quick, but had smaller warheads meant to disable and weaken kinetic barriers and destroy systems before the torpedoes with their massive warheads closed for the kill. Together, the three Confed ships launched over three hundred missiles and twelve torpedoes.

Titan
lacked offensive missile batteries other than her orbit to ground strike pods, but she did have 12 defensive missile clusters and a dozen more decoy launchers. As soon as the Confed missiles were launched, Sandra Chan began plotting intercept vectors while Krishna and his men in the ship's EW station threw up as much interference as possible. More than a hundred Confed birds went wild, close to a hundred more vanished into the explosions of
Titan’s
interceptors. Fifty more were blasted from the sky by plasma cannons, and forty-seven more wasted their energy on the kinetic barriers. Three got through. One took out plasma turret seven, and another glanced harmlessly off the ship’s armor.  The third took out the lower aft gallery causing damage to life support in that sector.

On the bridge, Jonathan shook his head as he watched the torpedoes vanish off the display. Missiles had been terrifying weapons in the days before ship mounted plasma cannons or effective kinetic barriers, but as the Commonwealth wars had shown the future belonged to the big guns. The Confeds wasted two more salvos against
Titan’s
screens. Five birds got through and
Titan
sustained substantial damage to her non-vital systems, but her armor was whole and her kinetic barriers up and her guns loaded. After the third volley was taken out, the Confeds were in gun range.

Jonathan gave the order, “Fire!”

Though she carried four fewer rail guns than the Confed light cruiser,
Titan’s
guns were heavier, newer, and more accurate. First Gopal unleashed a volley of plasma fire, which struck
New Abidjan
and
Warfield’s
kinetic barriers. The expanding clouds of radiation blinded both
Titan
and the Confeds sensors rendering their long-range missile defense inert.
Titan’s
four forward rail guns fired at once. The targeting computer compensating for the Confeds positions based on last known coordinates and course. Four, one-ton titanium slugs were launched at the Confeds at a quarter light speed.
Warfield’s
kinetic barriers still maintained enough energy
to dissipate the slug’s impact.
New Abidjan
wasn’t as lucky. The first slug’s impact overloaded its already massively over-strained barriers. They shorted-out leaving the second shot to hit the forward gun battery, the third to impact amid ship, and the fourth to hit in the engine room.
New Abidjan
loss main power, and went into an uncontrolled spin.
Warfield
and
Brasilia
returned fire to the
Titan.
Jonathan ordered Yeoman Yower to roll the ship to her broadside, while Lt. Gopal rerouted all power to the starboard barriers. Together
Warfield
and
Brasilia
fired eight railgun shots, and twelve plasma guns. The plasma struck
Titan’s
broad side barrier weakening them. Three railgun shots went wide, five dissipated against the barrier. Four, struck
Titan.
One shot was slowed enough by the barrier that it failed to penetrate the armor. Three struck mid ship, neutralizing two more of
Titan’s
plasma guns, and one of her point defense nexus while smashing through the crew deck. Damage reports flooded into auxiliary control, where William Trendale was coordinating damage control.
Titan
was suffering from decompression on two decks, and already had scores of wounded. But, the endless drills Jonathan had put his crew through were paying off. Damage control teams were keeping secondary damage under control and evacuating the wounded.

Titan
got off a second salvo directed purely against
Warfield
. On
Titan’s
bridge, Jonathan gave the order,

“Mr. Krishna tell
Swift..
any time they please.”

Titan
got off her second volley, and this time fired her entire starboard armament including three of her torpedoes. The plasma burst blinded
Warfield’s
sensors, but she had reinforced her forward kinetic barriers allowing only two railgun slugs to penetrate, the rest going wide.
Swift
popped up from her position behind
Titan
firing both her rail guns at a downward angle, and firing a wide burst of plasma blinding
Warfield’s
top sensors and disabling her forward sensor node.