Thirty-Seven
"I never found the term ENDGAME fitting. War is not a game, war is deadly, brutal and sometimes completely unfair. Anyone who believes war is a game should have their head examined and take a good long look at life." - Flag Admiral Artan B Duinhir
Somewhere over Sector 56,
The winds buffeted the aircraft as it carried Flag Admiral Artan Duinhir over the Forsaken Seas. Sitting in the rear seat the Admiral was nothing but a passenger on this specially built aircraft. Shipped in pieces to the Enterprise it had been constructed for this one and only flight, it had no weapons to speak of, limited radar and radio equipment and one massive fuel tank. According to his engineers the aircraft had been lightened so much that it could potentially fly from Sector 1 to Sector 100 without stopping. Duinhir was very happy he didn't have to test that today, what he needed was in Sector 56.
"Admiral, we are over the target area" the pilot shouted from the forward seat Duinhir looked out the canopy and saw them below. In the centre was the Hornet, a sister ship to Enterprise, she was flanked Four Forsaken Floating Fortresses one of which would be the Electra his old trusty flagship, and surrounding them were ten Sea Wolf-type destroyers. All in all around 90% of what remained of the Admiral's surface fleet, the other two "Flat-top" carriers, more Sea Wolves and his salvaged Draconian Battle-cruisers and Battleship would still be in Sector 73 protecting his rebuilding Island and protecting the remains of his civilian population. I brought a glimmer of hope to Artan to see the old Electra back making a difference again, Joshua Holloway had kept her out of sight and out of mind for so long most had probably missed the fact it had not been in port during Kixeye's raid, it had survived intact and operational carrying out Holloway's commands. "I'm taking us down Admiral, I suggest you assume the crash position, this could get a little hairy." The pilot warned, Duinhir hated not being able to do anything but this was well beyond his expertise ducking down he braced himself for the worse. Moments later there was an impact and a screech from the aircraft's wheels as they impacted the Hornet's deck there was a strange but immediate sense that someone had grabbed the tail at the rear of the aircraft and was pulling back as the plane slowly slowed in momentum.
The landing was not world class but both Duinhir and the pilot were able to walk away from it which from what Duinhir had seen of his "great experiment" was not something to ignore. His people had done an awesome job in brining aircraft back to the forces of the Forsaken and the aircraft aboard Enterprise had been decisive so far in countering the aircraft deployed by Kixeye.
Moving deep into the bowls of the ship Duinhir was far more at home, after spending nearly a year aboard Enterprise as part of the UEF fleet he knew the corridors of Hornet like the back of his hand. The ship was nearly identical to Enterprise even after the battle damage both ships had taken during their service. He entered one of the main briefing rooms near the centre of the ship a marine guard shouted "Flag Admiral Duinhir entering!" As he moved into the room, at the table near the centre of the room he found Admiral Joshua Holloway and the ship's commander Captain John Ezchukwu the towering olive skinned man dwarfed both superior officers, both men saluted Duinhir as he approached which he smartly returned before extending his arm.
"Mr Holloway, it's been a long time." He greeted as Holloway met him shaking his hand. "I see you've recovered?" He asked looking at Holloway during their time apart Joshua had ran a few operations of his own using the Electra and Hornet as his main base of operations, staying away from Duinhir's island he'd aimed to minimising the association the ship had with the place trying to avoid retribution strikes. During one such operation the Electra had been set ablaze by Draconian boarding forces as the crew fought a brutal hand-to-hand battle, Holloway had been caught in an explosion and received extensive burns to his back and arms.
"Mostly, sir, although still tender in places." He admitted Duinhir nodded he'd known Joshua Holloway for a long time, sometimes the man acted on instinct before using his brain but more often than not he turned out to be one hundred percent right which gave Duinhir a lot of time for the man. "Sir, we're in position over the facility" he said turning to the table, Captain Ezchukwu manipulated the controls and a holographic representation of the Hornet appeared above the table Duinhir was impressed perhaps Hornet did have a surprise or two over the Enterprise. The image zoomed out showing the Hornet near the top above a moving line which represented the surface of the sea, under it four smaller images hovered over a structure. "As you can see our Predators are holding position over it acting as defence and as our eyes."
"Is our prize intact?" Duinhir asked feverishly this one question would determine the value of this operation and perhaps the outcome of the war.
"It would appear so, Admiral. There will be some work required to do but it should be ready." Holloway confirmed on the hologram the structure was now marked with a yellow trefoil symbol, the age old recognisable symbol for radiation, a nuclear facility.
UEF fleet, Sector 3,
All resistance from Kixeye appeared to have fallen to pieces with nearly all their forces abandoning their bases and operations falling back to Sector 1. The UEF had been allowed to continue on nearly completely unmolested gathering numbers as they moved. Unlike the outnumbered fleet that had faced Kixeye in Sector 6 the UEF now numbered nearly seven hundred fleets of ships over one thousand individual ships and their crews, it was a gigantic armada which the seas had never seen. Not all the ships would see the final battle, some were too badly damaged and would be forced to return home, others were supply vessels making their final runs before others were ready almost itching to deliver the final blow against Kixeye's Headquarters the massive ship known as Ocean.
"To attack Kixeye's Headquarters enmasse would be detrimental to our success." The Captain explained, "we need to approach Ocean just like we have approached Blackheart and the others that have stood and fallen against this fleet." He said around the table were the senior commanders of the fleet minus Admiral Duinhir who had chosen to leave the fleet with Enterprise instead of remaining as a passenger aboard another ship. The Captain had been sorry to see him leave but understood his choice.
, he'd privately wondered if he could serve on a ship under another's command. "Instead we will break into individual battle groups each with an assigned task. If each of us attend to our duties we will be successful." He promised, there was few things in war that could be guaranteed but the Captain was certain that they could not be stopped. "Task Force Alpha, commanded by the Commodore Rick will strike at these two Battle Barges and their defences." The Captain said circling the Battle Barges attached one end of the massive ship Ocean he said glancing at the first forsaken pirate he'd met all those months, no years ago.
"Not much of a target." Rick complained although the Captain knew he was probably wanting to complain more about the honour UEF rank than the mission, the Captain smiled.
"Trust me, Commodore" he said making Rick as uncomfortable with it as the Captain himself felt "there is more to it, your forces will then rally here with the Legionaries as a ready reserve force." He said circling another part of the map turning to Admiral Johnson. "Admiral, we haven't fought with you much, I'd rather your remaining forces were in a position to go with the flow of combat. If any particular Task Force is struggling you are free to assist or you rendezvous with Rick's people. As an official member of the UEF, I'd ask you to defer to his judgement."
"Of course Commodore" the Admiral said using the Captain's UEF rank. "We have been ordered to do anything that you command." He said neutrally glancing at Rick "I have heard of Commodore Rick by reputation only, an honourable man for a pirate, I believe from your Sector 73 also?" The Captain nodded "we will support his efforts where possible.
"Task Force Beta, commanded by Commodore Simon Hell will do the opposite of Rick's forces and eliminate these two Battle Barges and draw their defences out of position." He said drawing a third map circle creating a third reserve point.
"Why have three reserve points?" Hell asked "shouldn't we all go on the offence, once our objectives are made."
"I'll explain" The Captain said continuing "Task Force Gamma, under command of Admiral Alacamenous Duinhir will be stationed here." He said drawing yet another position on the map this one far from battle.
"Commodore, please my father may have been forced to retreat but my people are fully ready for combat and committed to this cause." The younger Duinhir protested the Captain knew that Alacamenous had offered his father a position aboard his vessel which he'd also refused.
"I know Alan" he said using Alacamenous' given name "your force will be committed to one thing, anti-air protection. Ocean is a floating airstrip far larger than the Enterprise or her sisters. This thing is a monster more than likely full of aircraft. Your ships are covered in missiles with extended fuel cells and sophisticated targeting systems perfect for anti-air defence, I need your people to keep those fighters off me." The Captain stressed, Ocean was the site of KIXEYE's power he knew it also had to be the home of their air forces and these forces would be capable of turning the battle against them without a counter.
"If we have no evidence of aircraft may we join you in the main assault?" Alacamenous asked almost pleading, he was young and needed tempered by time. The Captain intended on giving him that needed time.
"Negative you will rendevoux at this point and form reserve four, and if able provide counter fire against Ocean's guns." The Captain said raising his hand to forestall an argument. "Gentlemen, all of KIXEYE's forces have recalled to Sector 1 but Todd has a force smaller than that he had in Sector 6. I smell a rat, a trap bigger than we've encountered so far. I don't intend on falling into it." He said drawing a final circle around the largest of the ships on the table "this is Task Force Omega, it will be under my direct command. We will assault Ocean directly and counter this formation of ships." He said pointing at a small group of ships closest to Ocean.
"How do you know they won't be drawn away by either Rick's or my own attack?" Hell asked.
"Because this fleet is commanded by the same man who led the force in Sector 6 and he doesn't want to face us in combat." The Captain said being more polite about his opponent than he had been previously on the bridge of his Fortress.
"Commodore, I do not mean to offend but there are others in this fleet that has more fire-power that may be able to complete this mission better than you." Rick said trying to remain diplomatic, he was right the Captain's ships were not the toughest but this was something the Captain had to do.
"Two more Floating Fortresses and two Leviathans with extended cell missiles arrive with the fleet tomorrow. They will augment my current Fortress and Leviathan force." He said two of his Leviathans were already on their way home due to battle damage although this would take the Captain's personal force to seven ships. He wasn't looking forward to coordinating them but the numbers would make up his fire-power nicely. "We will be ready, Ocean will fall in two days time."