Thirty-Six
"Lord Deamonicus, some did not know if he was to be trusted or not others thought he was miss guided, the truth may never be known"
On the bridge of his command Floating Fortress the Captain watched events unfold. The final "fire-ships" sent by Kxeye had been destroyed the remaining Forces had begun to retreat towards a larger assembled force deeper in Kixeyes waters. The Captain watched silently as Lord Daemonicus' 30 ships accelerated beyond the UEF, the Draconian designed hulls faster than the majority of the UEF's forsaken hulls.
"Sir they are ignoring communications." One of his officers reported the Captain nodded watching the chase unfold. He must have watched for an hour then a second before as they reached the third hour contact was made. Extended range missiles and mortars from kixeyes massed fleets cut into Daemonicus fleets forcing the together as they continued to charge.
The Captain could imagine chaos on Daemonicus' ships as Kixeyes fire-power seemed to increase as the two opposing forces met. The Battleships flanking Daemonicus formation were first to fold cut down by the incoming fire, ship after ship seemed to crack, split and sink reducing Daemonicus numbers and reducing the Draconian's number of targets.
As more and more of Daemonicus ships disappeared from view the two opposing almost appeared to merge into one, the Draconian ships turning in on Daemonicus' surrounded ships.
One of the large Dreadnoughts and a pair of the nimble battle-cruisers appeared like they may make it all the way through the Kixeye formation however they disappeared like the rest near the rear edge of the kixeye fleet. The Captain wasn't sure if it was because they had moved beyond radar range or if it meant they were destroyed either way it didn't matter. "What a waste" muttered all Daemonicus had done was mess up the Kixeye formation, so much for the pirates wish to live a peaceful life. "All ships, prepare for imminent contact with the enemy." The Captain ordered "How many do we count..." He whispered looking at the numbers of enemy ships on the table it must have numbered about twelve hundred ships a little under twice as many as the UEF's forces. The Captain quietly questioned his earlier decision to send the Barges and Leviathans away when they met Daemonicus and changed course, the decoy attack had caused no real damage to the Kixeye formation there and most of his people had been forced to retreat and were now hopelessly out of position. "There's an old saying" he said louder so the bridge could hear "fortune favour the bold."
"Sir, incoming Forsaken contacts bearing 270 mark 3 speed 25 knots." The Radar operator shouted out the Captain looked at the map as it updated with the new information a significant force was moving into position off our eastern flank."
"Incoming hail!" The Communications officer reported moments later the bridge speakers came alive with a man's voice.
"UEF, this is Rear Admiral Alfred Johnson, we are the Legionaries. I bring you greetings from Admiral Lucy Campbell." The Captain also smiled she'd disappeared shortly after contact with Daemonicus he'd wondered when she'd appear again. "We want to assist you in fighting Kixeye Corporation, our forces have travelled from sector eight to one hundred."
"Comms, send in response, this is the UEF to Legionaries force, your assistance is most welcome remain on our east flank, hit the Kixeye forces there." The Captain said in response he watched as the fleets of the Legionaries moved into position, their numbers almost matched the numbers the Captain had sent as a decoy although their size and fire-power far outreached what had been lost. Instead of Barges and Leviathans
"Sir, Duinhir is sending up his fighters and bombers, ten minutes until contact with the enemy. Sealing all pressure doors, encrypting communications." One of his crewmen said. Now it was a waiting game... the clock counted down above the bridge door.
The first to engage Kixeye were Duinhir's fighters, high above the fleet Kixeye's advanced tilt-rotor aircraft against Duinhir's propeller driven aircraft it was the high technology of Kixeye against Duinhir's numbers. Missiles passed between the forces then machine gun fire as the two closed and aircraft began to fal from the sky. On the Ocean's surface combat was just beginning, missiles and mortar fire traded between the two forces. Kixeye's massed Fortress, Leviathan and Hammerhead type craft against all the forces of the UEF and the Legionaries.
The Captain's Fortress had taken a series of hits but it was still operational he stood on the command bridge watching the battle unfold his XO Commander Harsell directed most of the bridge commands while he had stood back and looked at things from a broader view. An hour ago Admiral Duinhir had reported his Enterprise had taken damage from torpedo fire, it was either a Kixeye vessel that had been missed or friendly fire but the carrier was damaged and couldn't stay with the fleet, it was now slowly slipping back in the formation. Duinhir had promised his fighters would cover the fleet for as long as possible as they continued to fight off Kixeye's tilt-rotor aircraft however the big flat-top would be a major miss for the fleet.
Off on the eastern flank a group of Legionaries Longboats supported by Battle Barges carrying long range missiles were running off a fleet of Kixeye Fortresses. The smaller Longboats equipped with torpedoes and upgraded engines allowing them to dart into and out of range of the Fortress' mortars and cannons while the group of Battle Barges provided covering missile fire, the Captain had to admit the inclusion of the Legionaries forces had evened the battle slightly. The Fortress rocked from another hit but the Captain ignored it his eyes instead caught something on the map table. "Magnify Section 62 by 14" he ordered the map took moments to change, the Captain still marvelled at the technology, captured from a destroyed Draconian vessels he sometimes forgot he used to stand over a table with paper maps.
Looking at the map in front of him he saw a group of five Kixeye Fortresses turn away from battle heading across Sector 6 at great speed, so far they had remained out of the fighting and now they appeared to abandon the battle "I wonder where you are headed?"
Same time, Within the Kixeye fleet...
Aboard his Sea Scorpion Admiral Todd Dredge watched Jessica McGregor's Fortresses move he'd heard of the attack on her precious base, he'd hoped she would see sense and abandon it to support the destruction of the UEF but it appeared not. "Can we raise McGregor on comm?" He asked watching her speciality Fortresses accelerate designed for speed, so far they hadn't taken part in this fight but Todd could have used them later in the fight.
"No sir" the communications officer said. Todd watched as the ships pulled out of formation leaving a gap which UEF forces immediately moved towards he could do everything in his power to counter them but it was just one problem he'd encounter. His ships were unsupplied due to their long stretch waiting in Sector 10 for the UEF, some were damaged due to the UEF's decoy attack launched against the forces there others were low on fuel due to the long trip to Sector 6. Now he had ships abandon their posts he shook his head if McGregor survived this little trip he'd have her executed.
"Pull us out." He ordered "have as many forces as possible disengage with the UEF and fall back to Ocean's position." He said, his own fleet of Sea Scorpions would be easily able to disengage, some of the other units would as well but he'd lose ships in this, something else he'd have to thank McGregor for.
Same time, Jessica McGregor's Flagship
"Sir message from flagship, we are to return to our previous position and prepare for a frontal assault on the UEF."
"Disregard all communications from Mr Dredge" Jessica said from her Fortress' central chair "plot course for Black Box, communications send a single message to them 'it's time to pack'" She ordered "then take us to communications silence, rig for maximum speed." She ordered, her Fortresses were designed for speed it was time to show this accelerating as fast as a Sea Wolf the formation of five ships slipped into transport formation, one ship behind the next. Their Siege Cannons were able to dissuade any form of pursuit from the UEF and from Dredge's forces. "Intelligence, I think it is time for to open orders plan nine." She said looking over at the Intelligence Desk and the two crewmen seated there, she remembered when she used to sit there receiving the orders. She knew what Orders 9 was, few others did. This time next week her ships may be plying the shipping lanes as an independent pirate force, she could imagine worse fates.
Shortly after, Captain's Fortress UEF
The Captain stood on the bridge of his ship watching in amazement as the Kixeye fleet appeared to splinter then break, it had started with the five Floating Fortresses heading off on their own. The UEF had moved to take full advantage of this and charged to fill the gap splitting the Kixeye Corporation fleet, more UEF ships charged into the gap forcing the gap wider fighters from the Enterprise heaping further damage on the Kixeye vessels. This seemed to break up the Kixeye fleet, soon after formations of Leviathans, Wolves and Fortresses all began break away heading in their own direction courses all away from the UEF. Some were damaged enough to retreat but others were in almost pristine condition and could fight on for hours. He couldn't understand it the large Sea Wolf-type ships in the centre of the formation had been firing missiles constantly for the entire engagement but now even they had begun to retreat.
"You cowardly bastard" The Captain said trying not to smile.
"Captain?" Commander Harsell asked looking over at his commander, now the Captain did smile, for the first time in weeks one of his crew had used his true rank.
"That cowardly bastard at the centre of that formation" he same pointing at the now retreating Sea Scorpions "he can't match us. He can't even stand up to us or risk losing, instead he engages and retreats." The Captain said smiling "order all forces to regroup, salvage operations to commence on any and all damaged vessels, see if the Enterprise can stay with us, I'd like Duinhir to be with us until the end he's owed that much, if not offer him guest quarters if any survived the battle. And send word for our supply ships to make their runs as soon as they are able, I want to be repaired and ready to sail as soon as possible." He said making a series of orders he noticed that the Enterprise had fallen yet further behind the rest of the fleet, he doubted it could be patched up in time but it had served them well so far and its commander was due a seat at the final battle.
"The course? Captain" the commander asked again using the Captain's true rank, it was one of those types of days everything had its time and place and this was just such a time.
"We're going to end this war, pursuit course of those five ships, right to the heart of Kixeye held territory, no more road stops no more retreating we're going to end this." The Captain said triumphantly taking his seat at the centre of the bridge. The Commander stood there for a moment, bringing himself to full bearing he saluted the Captain holding the pose for almost a minute before barking a series of orders. The Captain sat there his eyes barely leaving the screens in front of him as he watched Kixeye's commander retreat again whispering a promise to low for anyone else to hear. "Only surrender, no retreat, it's you or me."