Chapter 27 – Twice the Trap
December 23rd 2204 – Magenta Nebula – 0109 hrs
Deep inside an exceptionally large dense pinkish purple nebula at the edge of the LMC, where a few asteroids drifted effortlessly in different directions, a pair of glowing yellowish green eyes slowly illuminated deep within the interstellar clouds one after another. Seconds later, the owners of these 'eyes' emerged from their concealment in the pinkish mist to reveal a single black Kripitera-class destroyer cruising smoothly and slowly in the dense pink fog.
Inside the bridge of the rebel destroyer, Two Alterian and three Zalti crew members were at their respective stations with two of them anxiously sweating in buckets as they navigated their vessel deeper into the dark pink mist.
"Approaching the outskirts of the Muertes System," reported the helmsman as he addressed his captain. "Nebula cloud density is decreasing rapidly sir."
"Very good," replied Captain Manuel before turning towards the comms operator. "Signal the Connemara: Entering perimeter of the Muertes Systems. No sign of any Garmillan or Gatlantean vessels detected. Continuing to proceed to Beta Pena and going dark as plan, ETA ten minutes."
"Aye sir."
As the radio officer went to work, the helmsman noticed the tactical officer was in cold sweat and visibly shaking.
"Relax," said the helmsman of the destroyer quietly to his companion. "Even if anyone was in the Muertes System, we'd be gone before they would have noticed us."
The other Alterian bridge crew member gulped, still unconvinced that it was a good idea for their tiny vessel to go out all alone into one of the most hazardous regions of space at the edge of the LMC.
A couple of light-seconds away and behind the Kripitera, seven other rebel vessels, painted in green and dark grey colors were cruising in a large clear void with ominous dark and pinkish clouds on both sides that briefly flashed bolts of lightning. The small flotilla consisted of four Kripitera-class destroyers, two cruisers of the Kelkapia-class and Destoria-class each, and finally a large Polmeria Class astro assault carrier, whose starfish like profile looked out of place among the sleeker hulls of its escorts.
Aboard the assault carrier Connemara, her bridge crew of Zalti and Alterians were at their stations monitoring the status of the lead destroyer that had went ahead to scout for their small fleet.
"Captain Diego," said the comns officer. "We've received confirmation from our scout ship. No signs of any Garmillan or even Gatlantean vessels at the outskirts of the Muertes System. As planned, she'll be going radio silent until they finish their patrol survey or find something."
"Noted, keep me posted on the situation," replied Captain Diego, a muscular dark skin Zalti, and a member of the Ehrenublar rebellion group that was still fighting against Garmillas for the independence of the second-class worlds. "In the meantime, have the rest of our ships hold position and await further news from our scout."
"Yes sir!" cried the rest of the bridge crew.
As they went to work, the Connemara's XO approached his superior.
"Sir, should we have sent out another destroyer? We could easily survey the Muertes System more swiftly with two scouts."
"Negative," replied Diego. "With our numbers of ships depleted from the end of the Gatlantean War, I rather have our escorts stick to our command ship. Especially in this treacherous region of space."
"As you wish Captain," sighed the XO before he walked to the radar officer to check on him.
"Anything on the scopes?"
"Nothing sir," the radar operator shook his head. "Damn interference from the iconic charges. Even in this less dense route, We're still only able to see half of our scope's maximum range and even then it still glitches out at random times."
"Hmph, who would have thought that one of our best hiding places from the Garmillans would come back to bite us upon our return," mumbled the XO sarcastically. "Either way, continue to keep an eye for any sign of possible contacts."
The radar operator nodded his head before turning back to his station.
As the seven Garmillan rebel vessels continued to slowly proceed forward, a lightning bolt flashed behind them briefly, illuminating a distant silhouette of a large tank-like shape cruising in the clouds.
"Beta Pena will be in our radar range in twenty seconds," said the helmsman of the scouting Kripitera-class destroyer as he steered his vessel past a couple of large asteroids. "Visual contact will be in less than fifty seconds."
"Understood," Manuel nodded promptly as he looked out the windows in an attempt to view their destination.
Despite the decreasing cloud density of the Magenta Nebula, the crew felt uneasy as the planets in the Muertes System were still partially hidden by multiple dark and crimson interstellar clouds that concealed most planetary features. There was no sense of warmth or serenity that the Muertes System gave off. Only dread and fear as a few clouds themselves look like large devilish skulls glaring at them.
On the radar console, the operator noticed on his scope a very faint contact on the starboard side of his ship. But before he could report it, the radar scope glitched for a moment and cleared to show that the contact had disappeared.
Frowning, the operator tried adjusting his radar scope. but tried as he might, the unknown contact was gone. Was it an echo or a false contact? The Magenta Nebula was notorious for giving off false radar echoes due to the intense iconic charges from the interstellar clouds which led to multiple sightings of ghost ships that were said to haunt these parts.
Shaking his head, the radar operator chose to ignore as it was detected away from the planet of Pena Beta which was now coming up within his radar's handicapped range. A couple of uneasy seconds later, a new contact appeared exactly right in the furthest orbit of Pena Beta. Then two appeared in the radar scope, followed by three, and then a dozen more.
The radar operator's eyes began widening as the number of contacts in his radar scope began to climb at a very worrisome rate.
"Er Captain?"
Two minutes later on the Connemara's bridge, the comms officer alerted Diego of their lead scout destroyer reporting a sighting. "Sir, emergency contact from our scout sir! Audio only!"
"Put it through!" said Diego.
"This is Captain Manuel, we have a sighting of a large fleet in orbit of Pena Beta!"
"How many ships and what nationality?" asked Diego, frowning as his suspicions were right.
"We haven't determined the numbers, but so far we've counted at least more than three hundred with the numbers still climbing!"
Captain Diego and the rest of the bridge crew gasped.
"More than…Three hundred?" muttered Diego in disbelief. "Impossible! No fleet of that scale should have gotten that deep into Magenta Nebula!"
"Are the ships Gatlantean or Garmillan?" asked the XO.
"We're trying to establish visual contact," replied Manuel's voice on the radio. "But their drive signatures don't look anything like the Garmillans or even the Gatlanteans- Oh God… They spotted us! Ugh! Get us out of here!"
The bridge crew of the Connemara could only listen in horror as the panicked cries of their fellow comrades tried to evade the unknown enemy.
"Captain Manuel, report status!" yelled Diego.
"Two black unidentified escort-type ships have attacked us from behind! We are sending some visual images to you right now! Shit they fired torpedoes! Intercept them with the rear guns! Damn, they're too fast! Take evasive-Ahhh!"
An explosion was heard for a brief second, followed by a monotonous tone of static.
"Captain Manuel, come in!" cried the voice of the comms officer. "KTD 2935 come in! Damn! We've lost their signal!"
"Comms did you receive their images of the enemy attackers?" asked Diego.
"Affirmative, but they're incomplete," replied the comms officer. "I'm downloading them now sir. Will take a few minutes to process it."
The XO turned to his superior with an expectant look on his face. "Sir, what are our orders now?"
Diego gritted his teeth in frustration and fury. "We have to turn back, who or whatever they encountered is probably on the alert and their forces clearly outgun and outnumber us. Signal the rest of the fleet!"
"Attention all vessels," said the voice of Diego aboard the bridge of one of the four Kelkapia-class cruisers. "Our base at Beta Pena has been confirmed to be compromised by the presence of a large unknown fleet."
As the helmsman was lazily listening to the voice of Captain Diego on the PA, he noticed something odd as he glanced outside the bridge windows on the port side. For a moment, he thought he saw a large boxy shape with a thick superstructure on its top that was illuminated by another lighting flash hiding inside the wall of dark pink clouds.
"What is that?" mumbled the helmsman to himself as the voice of Captain Diego continued to speak on the bridge's PA.
"As our scout vessel has been destroyed, we've to assume that our position is being compromised. Thus, I am ordering all vessels to exit the Magenta Nebula through Heildis's Route. Be on guard for any potential pursuers."
At that moment, the helmsman noticed a rapid flashing of green light illuminated from the spot where the mysterious shape was spotted. Before he could comprehend what caused it. Five large green energy beams shot out of the dark pink fog and slammed through the light cruiser, blowing it apart.
"KTD 289 is destroyed!" shouted the radar officer just as the flash of the explosion began to fade from the viewscreen and windows of the Connemara's bridge.
"What!?" exclaimed the XO, confused, and stunned as everyone else from the sudden attack. "Where did it come from!?"
"Contact! A large enemy vessel emerging from the interstellar clouds bearing 265!" reported the radar officer.
The guilty aggressor emerged from the dark pink fog with its aggressive two-pronged bow cutting through the mist, revealing a massive five-barrel turret mounted forward and a large and compact superstructure behind it. Underneath and between the rectangular and edged prongs of the bow was a gate-like structure which enclosed the barrel of yet a larger cannon. There was no mistaking the identity of this feared opponent as the five muzzles of her main turret's guns began to glow with green energy as it was charging up another salvo.
"IT'S A MEDALUSA!" screamed the comms officer aboard the Connemara just as the said Gatlantean heavy battleship fired her main guns.
"Get us out of here! Full retreat" yelled Diego just as another rebel cruiser, a Destoria, was destroyed by the Medalusa.
Like sheep being scattered by a wolf in a thick field, the rebel vessels fled in terror as they tried to escape from the imposing Gatlantean battleship, firing a couple of wild salvos from their positron guns in an attempt to slow down the charging beast.
In response, the dark jungle green Medalusa fired another salvo from her large turret followed by a volley of torpedoes from its tubes. The second Kripitera cruiser fell to the heavy punch of impulse cannons while two other rebel destroyers split into pieces from the impact of the Gatlantean warheads.
"Somebody kill that monster!" screamed the panicking helmsman of the Connemara as he tried to weave the large four-arm starfish-like assault carrier to throw off the aim of the Gatlantean heavy battleship as another shot was fired at his ship.
"KTD 239 and 2789, provide some cover fire for our ships to escape!" ordered Diego. "Give those Gatlanteans hell!"
"Yes sir!" replied the voice of one of the commanding officers of the destroyers.
In the rear of the rapidly depleting flotilla, the rebel destroyers fired their rear twin turrets and missiles from their boxy launchers located between their rear guns and superstructure. The sole surviving cruiser also joined in the concentrated barrage with their rear positron turrets. The combined fire seemed to envelope the Medulusa in a cloud of black smoke and fire.
"Direct hits on target!" cried the radar officer aboard the Connemara. "Target is-"
Before he could finish his words, the Medulusa-class battleship emerged from the smoke completely unscathed.
"Undamaged and has not slowed down!" finished the radar officer as his face paled.
"Impossible!" muttered Diego in disbelief of the ineffectiveness of their counterattack. "We should have at least battered it's hull!"
In retaliation, the Medalusa-class battleship fired another volley from its cannons which destroyed the last remaining Destoria and let loose another spread of torpedoes which demolished another destroyer while one torpedo managed to hit the Connemara herself.
Diego clenched his teeth as his ship shuddered from the impact of the Gatlantean torpedo.
"Geschtam Drive is down sir!" reported the engineering office's voice from the ship's comms channel.
"Captain, I suggest we dive into the nearby ion currents to escape!" cried the navigator. "There's one right up ahead near the cloud boundary!"
"It's too risky!" protested the XO. "We could end up anywhere in the Magenta Nebula or get torn to shreds by the turbulence forces inside it!"
At that moment, the last sole surviving escort destroyer was struck by the Medulusa's forward cannons and disintegrated into a bright fireball.
"Do it!" yelled Diego frantically. "We're already dead anyway!"
The smoking Polmeria-class astro assault carrier dove head on into the wall of turbulent interstellar clouds just barely missing another volley of heavy impulse cannons from the Medalusa. Inside the ion current, the Connemara spun helplessly as she was rapidly dragged away by the sheer forces of the interstellar current, its thrusters firing in vain attempts to regain control of the assault carrier. After two minutes of riding inside the ion current, the Connemara was flung out into relatively normal space inside the Magenta Nebula and began to slow her seemingly uncontrollable momentum. Her maneuvering thrusters still fired in rapid bursts to stabilize the rotating ship.
Inside the bridge of the battered Polmeria, Diego and most of his bridge crew released a sigh of relief while one Zalti vomited on the floor.
"We're… In… The… Clear," gasped the helmsman as he caught his breath.
"Radar's still glitching," reported the radar officer. "I'm going to restart it. But I think we lost the Medulusa."
"Very well," said Diego as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I want a full damage report and get that Geschtam Drive back online."
"Yes sir," replied the XO.
"Er Captain," asked the comms officer. "We just finished processing the images from our scout. You might want to look at this."
Diego walked over to the comms console and gazed at the images that were on the screen.
"What the-?"
Diego's eyes lit up with confusion as his mind processed what he was seeing. But before he could further ponder, the entire bridge suddenly shuddered violently, throwing everyone off their feet.
"Report!" yelled Diego as he got back up to his feet.
"Something has latched on to our hull!" exclaimed the helmsman. "It's dragging us into that dense interstellar cloud!
"Damn! All engines back full!" barked Diego.
"I'm trying! But it's too strong!"
"All auxiliary power to the engines! Give it everything it's got!" ordered Diego, desperate to escape whatever had nabbed their ship.
"Captain… I'm picking up a large ship inside the interstellar cloud," cried the radar operator." It's the source of that beam that is pulling us in!"
"Put it up on the main panel!" ordered Diego.
As the viewscreen brought up the image, the entire bridge crew's eyes widened with shock as they fixed their gaze upon the monster emerging from the dark crimson clouds to seize their parlayzed ship. As it's shadow casted darkness over the Connemara, most of the bridge crew responded with the most appropriate reaction to their hopeless plight: screaming in terror.
December 23rd 2204 - Sulrethea Region – 0725 hrs
Somewhere in space, a UNCF flotilla, led by its flagship the Manchester, was screening on what appeared to be the crippled form of the Audacious.
The Andromeda-class battleship was listing fifteen degrees to port with two trails of smoke pouring from that side of the capital vessel. On the port side of the Audacious, the Kongo-class Thunder-Child had moored alongside the larger and modern battleship as if to assist repairs.
Encircling the two space battleships from both sides at a relative snail's pace were the Fubuki-class frigates Javelin, Monssen, Ikazuchi, and Shinonome. As for the Edinburgh-class cruiser, the Manchester was hovering just a dozen meters higher above the flotilla near the center, where the two battleships were to get the best radar coverage over the area.
Inside the bridge of the frigate Ikazuchi, Lieutenant Commander Suzaki Kudo, a young Japanese woman with short reddish-brown hair, gazed upon the tactical display that was up on the viewscreen with a sense of nervousness.
"Captain, the Audacious has been continuing to transmit her distress signal on all frequencies," reported the comms officer.
"Noted," Kudo nodded, already aware that the mentioned battleship had been doing so for the past two hours. "Status on the Audacious herself?"
"It's erm… Not good Captain," replied the comms officer whose tone sounded slightly off for such a serious situation. "Repairs on the ship have been slow, her WM engine output is only at forty-five percent and she's… still venting smoke…"
"So much for the additional assistance from the Thunder-Child," commented Kudo with a chuckle. "Knowing Captain Wells, he rather be on the offensive than baby-sitting a 'wounded' Andromeda-class battleship."
"I don't like this," muttered the XO. "We're out in the open and practically dead in space. We are a sitting duck for anyone who has overheard us. Even if this crazy-"
"Relax, Manchester's got us covered with her advanced radars if anyone tries to get the jump on us," Kudo cut in reassuringly. "Besides, we've got the entire situation under control."
"Captain," their radar officer cut in. "We're picking up contacts from Manchester's radar."
"Where and how many of them?" asked Kudo as she walked over to the radar officer's console.
"Four or three of them, I can't exactly tell," replied the radar officer. "Bearing 213, range 0.4 light seconds
"Friends or bogies?"
"Definitely not friendly," the radar officer shook his head. "But they do have a faint ionized signature."
Kudo clicked her tongue in recognition. "So, they've finally come."
"Let us hope the Fighting Audie's luck doesn't run out today," added the radar officer with a hint of concern as he stared at the Audacious' IFF blip on the tactical display.
Captain? Captain Lee? Earth to Jonathan!
Jonathan slowly opened his eyes to see who was calling for his name only to see Anika's face right above his own.
"Ugh!" cried Jonathan as he fully snapped out of sleep which also caused both himself and Anika to flinch back in fright.
Taking a quick glimpse around the bridge, the bespectacled captain soon noticed that the lighting inside the bridge of the Audacious was still in the reddish orange emergency battle mode with flashing alarms and alerts on the engineering display screens.
"Oh Anika, it's just you…" gasped Jonathan as he took a breather while remembering what was going on. "Damn you scared me."
"And rightfully so," replied Anika with a frown. "We've been trying to wake you up for the past minute!"
"Not exactly ideal for a CO to be sleeping on duty is it?" added Josiah from the tactical station with a look of disapproval. "Especially since we have enemy contacts inbound."
"Sorry guys," replied Jonathan as he yawned. "Didn't get enough sleep again last night. So, what's the situation?"
"Manchester's picked up three Gatlantean stealth submarines approaching us on our starboard flank at a speed of 14 space knots," answered Eddie.
Jonathan's eyes lit up for a moment. "Bearing and distance?"
"263 at around 0.39 light seconds and closing," replied Eddie. "We think they'll be in range of deploying their missiles in about three minutes."
"Very well," replied Jonathan before turning to Johanna who was broadcasting the distress signal. "Ensign Gibson get me Fujimoto in engineering."
Inside the wave motion control room of the Audacious, Fujimoto was calmly observing the silver blue wave motion engine from a window as the copper-colored flywheels spun to generate power. A buzzer on his intercom sounded and he pressed a button to answer it.
"Engineering here."
"Fujimoto, we've got the expected company coming here," came the voice of Jonathan. "What is your status down below?"
Fujimoto sighed nonchalantly and replied almost monotonously. "Wave motion engine output is only at forty-seven percent, I can only give you either shields or shock cannons. But either way, power to either system will be less than normal, and it will take four minutes to get it up and running."
"Copy that. Just get ready for the-"
But before Jonathan could finish his sentence Fujimoto cut him off by ending the call.
"Yeah yeah, I know," he grumbled to himself. "You already told me that ten times before an hour ago."
Back on the bridge, everyone was watching the tactical display on the main panel as it showed the three faint signatures creeping closer and closer to the right flank of the Cosmo Navy flotilla.
"Stealth subs seem to be slowing down to five knots," reported Eddie. "They seem to be getting into position to unload their missiles."
"Looks like they don't know that we're detecting them," replied Anika with a small smile on her face.
"Should we inform the Thunder-Child to detach off our port side?" asked Josiah.
"No, not yet" Jonathan shook his head. "Do that and they'll know something is up. I just hope Vivian knows the right timing to-"
Suddenly, another pair of ionized trails were detected off their starboard flank and appeared on the tactical plot at a range slightly further than those of the other three Gatlantean stealth subs.
"What the-!?" exclaimed Anika in surprise.
"Damn, there's another pair of Gatlantean subs flanking us from the other side," cursed Jonathan before he swung over to Eddie. "I thought the Manchester had the entire area covered!"
"She did, those ones must have been using their ion engines on an extremely low burn," said Eddie. "Probably didn't detect those two till they were close enough for weapons range."
"Don't worry," replied Josiah, who was still confident in Otto's new algorithm. "As long as we're able to track them at that range we're fine for now."
"I hope so," replied Jonathan with a worried look on his face. "Or else it would be Otto's head if this doesn't work out."
"Achoo!" sneezed Otto as he was inside the Manchester's CIC helping with the radar operators.
"You're alright mate?" asked the tactical officer.
"Yeah," sniffed Otto as he blew his nose on a handkerchief. "Just nervous from all the tension. That's all."
"Cheer up Gamy boy," chuckled one of the radar officers. "So far your new anti-stealth ship algorithm is working fine. If this crazy plan works, we'll give you a bottle of Scotch for you to enjoy!"
"Alright men, quiet down," said Vivian flatly as he tried to get everyone back to their tasks. "Keep an eye on those Gatlantean subs. Mr Geiszler, what are starboard flank bogies doing?"
"Looks like they're crawling to a dead stop," replied Otto as he observed the radar tactical display. "I think they're going to unload their missiles in a minute or two."
"What about the ones on the port flank?" asked Vivian.
"Judging by how long they've remained motionless for the past…" Otto paused for a moment to look at the radar's readouts. "Minute or two. I think they're in the middle of unloading their missiles. And I think the other subs have just started as well…."
Otto turned to face Vivian with a determined look on his face. "Sir, I think it's time."
Vivian glanced towards the XO and both of them silently nodded at each other. The bulky Brit commander turned towards the comms officer to issue an order.
"Open a channel to the rest of the flotilla."
"Yes sir."
Inside the bridge of the Audacious, everyone was waiting expectantly when suddenly the PA speakers blared out Commander Vivian's voice on the open channel.
"Manchester to all vessels, call the ambulance,"
A huge and almost sadistic grin formed on Jonathan's face as he completed Vivian's final words of his command as if he were waiting his whole life to say it.
"But not for us!"
Jonathan nodded at Josiah who was also smirking in glee.
"Now!" yelled Jonathan.
At that instant, six missile hatches, three from the port and two from the starboard side weapons pod bulges, opened and let loose ten missiles into seemingly empty space. Fifteen seconds later, the warheads detonated to blossom into ten large white flares of light sending out EMP shockwaves which disabled the ion engines of the five Gatlantean submarines. Within a couple of moments, each of their cloaking fields began to dissipate leaving them completely exposed to the naked eye.
"Ikazuchi and Javelin, you're cleared to fire on your designated targets!" boomed the voice of Vivian on the PA of the Ikazuchi's bridge.
"Caught them like rats in traps," Kudo grinned to herself as she observed the helpless dark purple submarines' power fizzle out by static discharges on the viewscreen. She even noticed to her amusement that one of the submarines had one of its silos opened with a missile halfway sticking out like a cigarette.
"Captain, we have a firing solution on two of the Gatlantean submarines!" cried the ecstatic weapons officer.
"Commence firing!" nodded Kudo.
Ikazuchi's two forward twin 127mm shock cannon turrets rotated towards one of the crippled submarines and fired a salvo. The first two shots missed their mark instead passing right above the sail of their target, but the second salvo hit amidships through both their cylindrical hulls, causing an explosion which tore a huge hole within them.
The Manchester also joined in as she fired her shock cannons, and had better luck with her accuracy as her first salvo hits home on another Gatlantean submarine from the port flank. Due to her bigger caliber of shock cannons, the patrol cruiser succeeded in blowing the enemy stealth vessel into two.
"Splash one and two!" reported Eddie. "Ikazuchi is moving in to secure the third Gatlantean sub on the port flank!"
"Excellent!" chuckled Jonathan. "Operation Opossum is proceeding as planned. Hahaha!"
"You're really enjoying this are you?" said Anika with a sly grin on her face.
"You're damn right!" replied Jonathan.
"Uh oh, we got a problem," said Eddie as he noticed something off. "Sir, the Javelin hasn't fired her guns yet!"
"What?" exclaimed Jonathan as he turned to the tactical monitor. Sure enough, the portside Fubuki-class frigate hadn't fired a single shot and both enemy submarines on the port beam were still intact.
"I'm getting a message from the Javelin," reported Johanna from the comms console. "They say their electrical grid has malfunctioned and are unable to divert power to their weapons system due to previous battle damage."
"Damn," muttered Jonathan. "Inform the Thunder-Child to detach from our ship and intercept the other two submarines along with Monssen!"
"Aye sir!"
Cables began to disconnect between the Thunder-Child and the Audacious followed later by the former's starboard thrusters firing as the Kongo-class battlecruiser got clear of the larger Andromeda-class's starboard side.
But even as the two ships began to separate from one another, one of the Gatlantean stealth submarines was able to restore some power and turned it's bow to face the Audacious to fire off four torpedoes.
"Incoming torpedoes bearing 079!" cried Eddie. "The Monssen is trying to intercept them with shock cannons and pulse lasers."
"Fujimoto! Initiate full power to the wave motion shields!" yelled Jonathan on the comms button. "Focus it on forward!"
"Yes Captain," replied Fujimoto from the PA speakers.
"Lieutenant Welmer-"
"I know the drill!" Anika automatically replied to Jonathan as she steered the Andromeda-class battleship to face the torpedoes.
The Audacious' wave motion shields flared up in a shimmering light of blue which indicated that the Andromeda-class battleship was far from being crippled. The two torpedoes which made pass the barrage the Monssen had put up slammed harmlessly onto the wave motion barrier where it would have made impact on the hull.
The Thunder-Child, now being freed from pretending to assist the Audacious, focused her attention on the attacking Gatlantean submarine and fired off a salvo of four torpedoes of her own. But before the four torpedoes could impact on the Gatlantean submarine, the enemy stealth vessel let loose four more torpedoes before being destroyed by the Kongo-class's warheads. This time they were aimed at the Manchester.
"Enemy torpedoes inbound bearing 119!" cried one of the radar operators in the Manchester's CIC. "They've locked on to us! Impact in less than thirty seconds!"
"Oh my!" cried Otto in panic. "We're in for it now!"
"Fire cluster missiles!" ordered Vivian. "And concentrate the wave motion barrier on the port rear!"
The starboard missile hatches on the Manchester opened one by one before firing eight small missiles in rapid succession. The cluster missiles were able to take out two missiles but the remaining two got pass unscathed. Seconds before the torpedoes could hit the Edinburgh-class cruiser, a rapid burst of pulse lasers, fired from the Audacious' twin AA guns mounted on both sides of her towering superstructure, cut them down and blew up the warheads in two satisfying explosions.
"Enemy torpedoes intercepted!" reported Josiah as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good shooting Lieutenant Anton," commended Jonathan as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That was way too close for comfort."
Jonathan pressed a button on his own console to activate a call directly to engineering.
"Fujimoto, you can shut off those makeshift smoke generators now. Operation Opossum has concluded successfully!" said Jonathan cheerfully.
"Acknowledged bridge," replied the voice of Fujimoto. "So, your crazy trap actually worked?"
"I told you," said Jonathan with a victorious smirk. "Submarines can never resist the sight of a crippled capital warship."
"I guess I can't judge history for that," sighed Fujimoto before his voice suddenly became stern. "But I hope you're not going to pull another crazy stunt like that anytime soon!"
Jonathan chuckled. "Relax Fujimoto, once this is over, I don't think we'll be doing that sort of thing again for a while."
"Sir, we're being hailed by the Manchester," said Johanna.
Jonathan nodded at Johanna. "Put it on the main panel."
A moment later, the main viewscreen lit up with the visual of inside the Manchester's bridge with Commodore Vivian in the center.
"Thanks for the assist Audacious," said a grateful Vivian. "Looks like your trap worked as planned."
"Well, it could have been better," replied Jonathan with a chuckle. "The Javelin needs work on her power grid if we're going into combat again."
"I will ask her captain to get that fixed once she secures the other Gatlantean submarine," said Vivian. "About time we finally got a proper chance to capture a Gatlantean vessel and its crew hopefully. Maybe shed some light on what's their objective behind all their attacks."
"That depends on whether these are manned vessels," Jonathan pointed out before taking notice of Otto sitting in one of the radar consoles alongside Vivian's crew members.
"By the way, how's Sub Lieutenant Geiszler doing aboard the Manchester?"
"Oh, our guest?" said Vivian as Otto turned to face the viewscreen in response. "He's fitting in quite nicely. That anti-stealth algorithm program he created works pretty damn well. Hopefully, we could get the system to be uploaded to the rest of the fleet. Both ours and Garmillas' of course."
"It er… actually needs a few more adjustments and fixes to be done before I can… recommend it's deployment to the fleet…" stumbled Otto on the screen.
"Relax Gieszler," said Jonathan. "You did a fine job out there and should be proud of today's achievement. Besides, you might be the first Garmillan to examine inside a Gatlantean submarine!"
"I guess you're right," replied Otto with a small smile. "If I get a chance to do so."
"Captain, we're receiving an incoming transmission from both the Ikazuchi and the Javelin," announced Johanna from the comms station. "They're both in position to launch their Seagull transports with their boarding parties to secure the disabled stealth ships.."
"Very well, keep us posted on their progress," replied Jonathan, nodding in acknowledgement while keeping an eye on the tactical display. "Let's hope they won't encounter too much resistance from those green barbarians."
Inside the Manchester's CIC, one of the radar operators noticed a faint blip on the edge of his radar's scope followed by six more. Narrowing his eyes in curiosity, he decided to check their IFF signal to distinguish them from friend or foe. After all it could be some reinforcements from either the Garmillans or their own considering the fake distress beacon was broadcasted for nearly two hours.
Unfortunately for him, the unidentified vessels were still too far out to be easily identified. However, considering they were maintaining their position and had not bothered to contact his ship or the rest of the flotilla, an unsettling feeling came upon his gut.
"XO, we've got five unidentified contacts bearing 027 degrees, range: 0.78 light seconds."
The deputy captain approached the radar operator and bent down to examine the contacts on the screen. "Where?"
The radar operator pointed his finger at the seven blips on his radar screen. "Are we expecting reinforcements? Were the rest of our allies informed about this plan?"
"No we didn't inform Davenport or General Dolmen," replied the XO who frowned. "Nevertheless we're the only allied ships in this region-"
Suddenly an alert started to light up all the radar consoles and viewscreen.
"Spatial wave motion echoes detected!" exclaimed the radar operator as his eyes went wide. "Bearing 13 degrees to port! Range 18,000 km!"
"Bloody Nora!" cursed the XO, knowing what was to come. "Captain!"
"Evasive action!" boomed the voice of Vivian.
Just as the Manchester and Audacious began to veer to port, a very large blue spiral of energy appeared followed quickly by an eruption of a massive burst of plasma energy from its center which barely grazed the two ships. The huge burning stream of energy continued to charge on before striking the poor Javelin and the crippled Gatlantean stealth ship beside it, incinerating the two vessels in a fiery demise.
"What in the world?!" exclaimed Josiah as the entire bridge vibrated from the shockwaves from the explosions that had been the Javelin and the crippled Gatlantean submarine.
"Javelin has been destroyed!" reported Eddie.
Wave motion shields down to seventy-seven percent!" exclaimed Josiah.
"What's happening up there!?" came the voice of Fujimoto from the PA speakers on the bridge. "I thought you guys had it under control!"
"A Medalusa attacked us from long range," replied Jonathan through gritted teeth, angered both by the destruction of the Javelin and their prize. "Eddie can you pinpoint the enemy battleship?"
"The Manchester's got her in visual range," Eddie responded as he brought up the visual feed from the patrol cruiser. "But the Medalusa is at least 0.79 light seconds away which is beyond the range of our guns!"
The main panel brought up the video feed which displayed the Medalusa-class battleship far in the distance, flanked by at least six escort ships, three per side, and noticeably glowing a golden light which indicated that her firestorm direct strike cannon was charging up for another shot.
"Damn it!" Jonathan snarled as he glared at their new opponents. "Send a message to the Manchester! We're going to close the distance to those green bastards and kill them before they try to flee. Request support for at least two of our escort ships to assist us."
"Yes sir," replied Eddie as he relayed his SO's request.
"Lt Cmdr Welmer lay in an intercept course, maximum speed now!"
Anika hesitated, clearly taken back by Jonathan's sudden burst of anger but quickly complied knowing that precious seconds would be lost if she didn't act sooner.
As the Audacious fired up her engines to max power and made her turn to port to intercept the sniping Medalusa-class heavy battleship, Lieutenant Commander Kudo aboard the Ikazuchi began yelling orders to her crew to get their ship clear off the stricken Gatlantean submarine.
"Full power to RCS thrusters and engines! Get us out of here before the next shot comes!"
"Another Spatial wave motion echo detected! Aimed directly at us!" cried her radar officer.
"Hard to starboard!" yelled Kudo. "All hands brace for impact!"
The Ikazuchi made a quick hard turn to starboard just mere milliseconds before another huge tunnel of fire slammed through the crippled Gatlantean stealth ship, narrowly missing the Fubuki-class escort frigate. Most of the bridge crew including Kudo herself shielded or clenched their eyes shut from the blinding yellow glare that filled the bridge windows as the cylinder firestorm passed close by their ship like a relentless train of flames.
"Looks like the Ikazuchi is okay," reported one of the radar operators aboard the Manchester. "No sign of visible damage reported so far. The Thunder-Child and the Shinonome are rushing to assist the Audacious. But it seems like they're struggling to catch up to her."
Damn, she's going too fast, thought Vivian grimly as he narrowed his eyes at the radar tactical plot which showed the Andromeda-class battleship rapidly closing the distance to the small Gatlantean flotilla at 36 space knots. Despite knowing that the fast Andromeda could theoretically defeat the Medalusua and her escorts single handedly, Vivian preferred if Jonathan would have slowed down and waited for sufficient backup.
"Get me the Audacious."
The comms officer nodded and quickly got a line to the said Andromeda. "Channel is opened sir!"
"Manchester to Audacious, reduce speed and wait for the rest of the task force to catch up immediately!"
"Negative Commander Vivian, I'm planning to cripple their Medalusa and take it as a prize before it tries to escape," replied Jonathan's voice on the PA speakers. "I'm not letting another Gatlantean task force slip through our fingers again! In the meantime, keep dodging that direct strike cannon! Commander Lee out!"
Vivian sighed in frustration and gritted his teeth. "Tch… Inform Thunder-Child and Shinonome to pick up the pace. Hopefully, they'll eventually catch up before Audacious gets herself in a pickle."
"Captain, all six of the Gatlantean escort vessels are advancing forward to meet us," reported Eddie. "They'll be in range of our weapons within twenty seconds."
Jonathan nodded promptly before turning his attention to his tactical officer. "Lieutenant Anton, fire two volleys of shock cannons at the incoming Gatlantean ships followed by a spread of torpedoes. We'll just brush past them and let the Thunder-Child and Shinonome handle the survivors while we head directly for our primary target."
"Aye sir," replied Josiah as he prepared his fire control system on the designated targets. "Main turrets one and two armed and ready. Forward torpedoes prepped for launch."
"Fire!" barked Jonathan as he pointed his hand in the shape of a gun at the bridge's window.
The Audacious' forward two shock cannons lashed out six wave motion energy beams and struck a Lascaux-class cruiser and a Kukulkan-class destroyer, destroying both ships with ease. The salvo of torpedoes fired from the Andromeda however were mostly intercepted by the rapid-fire impulse guns of the remaining Gatlantean escort ships and only scored one hit on a Kukulkan-class destroyer.
The remaining Gatlantean ships continued to pour Impulse cannon fire at the rapidly charging Audacious but were unable to halt the rapid advance of the Andromeda-class battleship as another salvo of shock cannons cut down two more destroyers before whipping past the remaining two vessels that were soon dealt with by the Thunder-child and Shinonome.
On the bridge of the Audacious, Jonathan got a clearer view of the Medalusa-class battleship on the main viewscreen which had just fired another burst of her firestorm strike cannon.
Unlike the Medalusas he had seen in past combat actions during the War with Gatlantis, this one had its hull painted in a much darker jungle-green color. The superstructure and upper works had been painted in a lighter shade of jungle green instead of the usual white. And to finally cap it off, it had a radar antenna attached aft of the lower section of the superstructure which resembled the ones seen on the Calaklum-class.
Another custom painted Gatlantean battleship? A modified variant perhaps? pondered Jonathan with curiosity, before quickly brushing the thought as he realized that the Medalusa had just retracted her superweapon back into the hull and began to turn to starboard.
"Damn, she's getting away," muttered Jonathan as he watched the Medalusa's engines begin to fire up and made her hasty retreat from the combat zone. "How long till our shock cannons are in range?"
"Seven seconds sir!" replied Eddie.
"Lt Cmdr Welmer, I need more speed now!" Jonathan ordered, desperate to prevent the Medalusa's escape.
"I'm giving all she's got Captain!" replied Anika with a concentrated look on her face.
"Enemy battleship is accelerating for a warp jump!" reported Eddie.
Jonathan gritted his teeth in suspense, it was going to be close if they're able to get off one shot before the enemy battleship could flee.
"I've got a lock! Targeting the engines and firing!" exclaimed Josiah.
The forward turrets of the Audacious shot off six bolts of blue energy which sprinted after their target like a cheetah to its prey. As the seconds ticked by, the six beams of pure wave motion energy came closer and closer towards the Medalusa. But just two seconds before they could make contact on their target's large stern, the Medalusa's engines roared into full power and the Gatlantean heavy battleship successfully jumped into warp, leaving behind a spinning jagged light in its wake which the Audacious' shots flew harmless through.
"Enemy battleship has warped out," said Eddie with a sigh.
Aboard the Audacious' bridge, groans of disappointment and frustration could be heard as the most bridge crew were utterly gutted at their failure to stop the enemy battleship from escaping. Mostly notably their livid captain.
"Damn it!" cried Jonathan in anger as he bashed his fist hard on the armrest of his captain's chair. "It was so bloody close! Get a bearing on those jump coordinates, I want to know where that Medalusa fled to!"
Both Anika and Eddie turned to Jonathan with a look of bewilderment.
"Sir?" asked Eddie. "You do remember we have strict orders not to pursue ships that warp out right?"
"We can't let it get away!" protested Jonathan. "It's a Medalusa and we can easily take that one down!"
"Even if we pursue it, we might end up in a trap," argued Eddie.
"But even so-"
"Commander, as your XO I am also in charge of the safety of this ship," said Eddie firmly. "You would be putting the lives of the crew in more unnecessary danger than we already have in your plan. Do you want that to happen?"
Jonathan hesitated, his eyes widened in terror as if Eddie's words triggered something unsettling in him. As he processed his words, he looked towards Anika whose face also expressed the same concerns as Eddie.
"Eddie's right Jonathan," she softly added. "We can't abandon our allied ships either."
Jonathan grimaced but realized that both Eddie and Anika were right.
"Very well," sighed Jonathan as he sank back into his chair. "Come about and rejoin the rest of the flotilla."
"So... let me get this straight gentlemen," started off a very livid Commodore Davenport on the viewscreen inside the Audacious' meeting room, whose image was split with a group call that included Commander Vivian from his meeting room inside the Manchester.
"In hopes of luring and capturing a Gatlantean submarine," Davenport continued as he shifted his razor sharp gaze between the data tablet he was reading to both Vivian, Jonathan and Eddie. "You decided to use the Audacious and acted as if she had been crippled in an earlier battle. And to create this illusion, you use makeshift smoke generators, run the wave motion engine on low power and broadcast a fake distress signal on an open channel for two whole hours in order to deceive said Gatlantean submarine wolfpack into thinking that this was a free kill, which I might add was not told to any allied ships that wasn't part of this ridiculous scheme."
Jonathan noticeably grimaced as Davenport emphasized the last two words clearly as the latter placed his tablet down and turned his glare towards him and Vivian.
"May I ask who was the one that came up with this preposterous plan?"
After a few silent moments, Jonathan slowly raised his hand in acknowledgement.
"Of course," muttered Davenport, shaking his head in disapproval. "Why am I not surprised… Care to elaborate on why you chose such a risky and dangerous plan by putting your ship so bluntly in harm's way, Commander Lee?"
"With all due respect sir," Jonathan started slowly. "In light of our recent contacts with Gatlantean forces where they tend to retreat and avoid combat immediately upon the sight of my ship. I thought it would be best if we could deceive them into thinking they got the upper hand if the Audacious herself was seen in a vulnerable state. Thus, tempting them to engage in battle and giving us the ideal opportunity to hit and capture them before they got the chance to flee. As our history books have proven the ideal targets for submarines has always been-"
"I'm aware of the history lesson Commander Lee," Davenport cut back sharply. "And you should also be reminded that the last time the old British Navy used a fleet capital ship to hunt down submarines it backfired spectacularly."
"The HMS Glorious didn't have wave motion shields," Jonathan remarked.
"That's beside the point!" replied Davenport angrily. "Do you realize we only have three Andromeda-type ships left operational in the LMC again after the Neu Schderg got crippled last week!? Even with the Neu Lambea finishing repairs at Voss, we have effectively no available first-rate WM capital ships to spare until the Yamato and Ark Royal arrives in two weeks' time! We can't afford to have our sole fast Andromeda be crippled beforehand!"
"We're both aware of that sir," replied Commander Vivian. "In defense of Commander Lee and my approval of his plan, we did actually practice this entire scheme a dozen times before initiating…"
Vivian paused as he had to control himself to speak the mission's name seriously. "Operation Opossum, to see whether all the crews could execute it flawlessly with all the risks and scenarios taken into account."
"Tell that to the crew of the Javelin," retorted Davenport. "Considering how that Medalusa spectacularly crash gated your meticulously planned trap."
Jonathan bit his tongue and lowered his head in guilt upon hearing the loss of the Javelin.
"Commodore with all due respect," said Eddie, stepping forward as he came to the defense of his CO. "Though the loss of the Javelin was regrettable, the plan did work. We were able to not only lure the Gatlantean stealth vessels but also successfully crippled them as well. A tactical victory was still achieved as we took out five more of those pesky space submarines and proved that Sub-Lieutenant Geiszler's new anti-stealth algorithm program works. Sure, it was an unorthodox first field test, but it worked. We've proven that the Edinburgh-class cruisers can detect them long before the Gatlantean subs can even lay their missiles. When we install it to the rest of the fleet, it will make the Gatlantean space subs just as ineffective as the Medalusa's long range direct strike cannon is to our prediction system."
Commodore Davenport paused to think about Eddie's words for a few moments. "I can't exactly argue with the results of this operation, but I hope that you won't pull something off like this again unless you come to me first for approval. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir," replied Jonathan
"Yes Commodore," added Vivian.
"Good, now back to when the Medalusa attacked your flotilla," said Davenport as tone became serious. "Is it true? Was it targeting the disabled Gatlantean submarines specifically?"
"It seems that way sir," Vivian confirmed. "We've double checked the coordinates of each of the three shots the firestorm direct strike cannon was aimed at and all of them were locked on the exact positions of all five Gatlantean submarines. Considering that the third shot never even came close to any of our ships, we can firmly conclude that they were intending to destroy their own stealth ships to prevent them falling into our hands from the start."
"It's not just that Commodore," added Eddie. "The shots that they fired were also aimed to incinerate the wreckage and debris of the other submarines that we destroyed earlier. It seems they were keen to keep any piece of their stealth vessels from falling into our hands."
"So no loose ends from our Gatlantean friends huh," said Davenport with a look of apprehension before sighing in disappointment. "Damn... This makes the sixth failed attempt to capture a Gatlantean crew alive. Although I wasn't expecting it to be successful, given they tend to explode upon being captured."
"We'll get another shot sir," replied Jonathan with renewed determination. "The Audacious will be ready to-"
"That won't be necessary Commander Lee," said Davenport, interrupting before the younger captain could speak. "As of today, I'm ordering the Manchester task force to be relieved of duty until further notice. The Dublin's battle group will up take your station in the Sulrethea Region and then later the Defender's once the latter's arrives in the LMC in four days' time."
"Wait what?" Jonathan was taken back by this unexpected news. "If this is because of today's events I can assure you-"
"It's not just that," said Davenport, who raised his hand up to prompt Jonathan to let him continue. "Your flotilla for the last three months has seen more combat action than all of our battle groups in the LMC without taking a single break. Ten skirmishes tied to your ship specifically including your first contact with that mysterious mobile space fortress. Your crews deserve a well needed break. Especially you considering your eyes look bloodshot."
Jonathan grimaced, realizing that Davenport had caught wind of his lack of sleep.
"It's nothing you should be concerned about, sir," Jonathan insisted. "It's one of those nights where sleep is impossible especially before a risky operation."
"Hmm, is it?" Davenport narrowed his eyes at Jonathan before turning his attention to Vivian. "Either way, your orders are clear. Commander Vivian, you will take the entire flotilla to any planet in this region for some R&R. Until a situation comes up which requires the Audacious' presence, your battle group will be held in reserve near said planet for the next week and a half. But once the Yamato and Ark Royal's respective task forces arrive in the LMC the Audacious will leave for Earth as top brass wants a more experienced and battle hardened battleship to take the fight to the Gatlanteans."
At that moment, Jonathan's face went pale and his eyes widened. It was as if the mere mention of returning to Earth terrified the young captain to the core. But before Jonathan could speak up, Davenport continued his debrief without noticing the bespectacled captain's petrified state.
"In the meantime, the D-class task forces led by Dublin, Delaware, the inbound Defender and the Dauntless herself will continue to patrol their respective zones and hold the line."
"Understood Commodore," replied Vivian obediently.
"Are you clear on that Commander Lee?" said Commodore Davenport as he focused his attention back on the devastated CO of the Audacious. "Commander Lee?"
Jonathan tried to think of a way to protest the Audacious' removal from the battlefield. But realized it was hopeless to argue in front of both Vivian and most particularly Davenport as it would just continue to undermine his position.
With three versatile and powerful battle groups now patrolling in the LMC with three more on the way, the Manchester's little flotilla wasn't really needed anymore. Especially since they had now six D-class battleships in the small galaxy. The Audacious could still be called back into the front lines if a critical situation demanded her presence, but it was unlikely to happen with the Yamato and Ark Royal bringing up their own flotilla of ships.
"Yes sir," replied Jonathan with a despondent look on his face. "Also, I apologize for not asking for your approval for this plan of mine, sir. It won't happen again sir."
Davenport raised an eyebrow in response to the younger captain's response before replying to the latter. "Don't beat yourself up kid. You did your duty further than anyone else would these past three months with little support. Go and take some rest and maybe you can ask that Zalti girlfriend of yours to recommend a planet to visit for your R&R. Besides, your crews will get to enjoy this Christmas unlike the rest of us. So be grateful for that! A lot of Cosmo Navy sailors would be rioting to have that chance."
Jonathan chuckled weakly at Davenport's joke. "She's not my girlfriend sir. Just a particularly good friend. But I will take up your advice."
"Well enjoy your extended shore leave," replied Davenport who also slightly smiled in return. "We'll inform you if we need your ship. Dauntless out."
Outside the Dauntless captain's office, Lieutenant Commander Theodore Gregson was pacing back and forth nervously. He had been barred from the call due to his relationship with the Audacious' captain. He had not been briefed fully on what new drama his old academy mate had started but knew it was enough to get Davenport enraged. After twenty long minutes, Davenport called Theodore into his office. Upon entering inside, Theodore immediately inquired his superior about what exactly happened. Once Davenport finished his explanation, Theodore could not help but chuckle.
"Hahaha! So that was Operation Opossum?" Theodore chuckled uncontrollably. "Yeah, that is something Johnathan would have definitely come up with!"
"When you told me he was an enthusiast in regards to all things about naval warfare in World War II, you didn't tell me he would apply his knowledge in this manner."
"Well, that's his own unique style," replied Theodore with a shrug of his shoulders. "Although I've to agree it was a risky move for him to purposely put the Audacious in harm's way like that."
"Indeed," agreed Davenport with a worried look on his face before sighing. "The unorthodox and the unexpected seem to be a common trend these past three months. Even Iscandar seems to have jumped on the bandwagon with Queen Starsha making a personal request for Earth to dispatch the Yamato and even allowed a supportive fleet of WMG ships to assist in our current conflict."
Davenport let out a sarcastic chuckle to himself. "I never thought I'd hear the day that the pacifist queen would actually ask our ships for help."
"Quite unusual for her isn't it sir," added Theodore with a forced smile. "I wonder what changed her mind. Perhaps our good behavior for not firing a single shot of our WMGs?"
"It doesn't matter," said Davenport nonchalantly, ignoring Theodore's joke. "The reinforcements needed to win this conflict are finally on their way."
"But now another pressing matter has popped up three days ago that might threaten our future with Garmillas," Davenport's face took a dark look as he brought up a news broadcast about a recent disaster on his computer's display with an ominous headline: Flagship Aldebaran badly crippled by explosions!
Almost three months ago in response to the Gatlantean threat, the Garmillan government had called for the assistance of the Dessler faction to send ships to reinforce their exhausted forces in the LMC.
The Earth Federation criticized their decision but were open to negotiations on how their forces would work alongside the exiled Garmillan fleets that allied with the Dessler faction. In response, Admiral Tani on the Alderbaran was dispatched in secret a week ago to meet up with the Dessler fleet at an isolated corner of the Orion sector as the Yamato got ready to be redeployed to the LMC alongside the Ark Royal and their respective escorts.
Unfortunately, things went horrifically wrong shortly after the Dessler's faction representative boarded the Aldebaran.
"Does the top brass know what caused the incident?" asked Theodore, frowning in concern.
Davenport shook his head and opened a news feed on his computer regarding the incident which showed the royal blue Andromeda bathed in smoke and fire and clearly out of commission for a good year. The bottom headlines read: Vice Admiral Tani still in critical condition, 23 found dead with 59 still missing.
"They're still investigating but it's clear it wasn't an accident. From what I heard, the Garmillan transport which brought their representative from the Dessler faction exploded inside the auxiliary hangar, causing extensive internal damage that somehow started fires that detonated the second and third main turrets of the ship."
"Good God..." Theodore gasped in horror as he watched replay footage of the Aldebaran being rocked with four internal explosions one after another. Gasps of disbelief and confusion could be heard from the crew of an escorting Earth ship that was watching the disaster unfold. "I can't believe the crew of the Big Al was able to save the ship from that kind of damage. Or that Admiral Tani and that representative of the Dessler faction survived that inferno..."
Just then the news feed soon switched from the severely damaged blue Andromeda to a PSA announcement of a bandaged high-ranking mustached Garmillan officer from the Dessler faction regarding the incident.
"Speak of the devil, there's that ambassador they sent over," chuckled Davenport humorlessly. "It seems that he has mostly recovered from his wounds rather quickly."
"Who do you think was responsible?" asked Theodore.
"Uncertain, but I heard that Rear Admiral Nishina of the security bureau is on the case," replied Davenport doubtfully as he continued to watch the news feed. "He suspects that it could have been the work of one of those rebel factions within Garmillas that opposes the followers of Dessler. The Yamato was attacked by one at Stravaze during her mission to Telezart during the War. And they didn't care who was in the line of fire."
"…Despite the lives lost in this tragic accident," continued Ghader Talan on the screen. "We still hope to return to our homeland to help our blood brothers and sisters who are fighting and dying against the resurgent Gatlantean threat. However before we can respond to their call for aid. It has been made clear from this incident that some of you, whether from Earth or even Garmillas, are still willing to play dirty in an attempt to exact revenge upon us for our previous grievances half a decade ago Frankly put we accept and understand that, none of us can change the things we done in the previous war-"
Davenport coldly closed the feed before Talan could finish his statement.
"Talking sympathetically isn't going to fix this bloody mess."
Davenport sighed and shook his head in disgust and disappointment. "Damn, for this all to happen at a time like this…"
"What about the rest of our officers and men from the other ships stationed here?" asked Theodore. "How are they taking it?"
"As well as can be expected," replied Davenport with a sigh. "Some tinfoil hat morons think the Dessler faction set this up to derail the alliance between us and the current democratic government in Garmillas. Others are getting accusations from regional governors that we are actually the ones who did it. We've already got enough problems to deal with out here in the front lines and it doesn't help that a few are needlessly putting themselves in harm's way."
Theodore grimaced as he guessed who his superior was referring to. "You mean Commander Lee?"
"He's not a bad captain," admitted Davenport. "He's smart and knows how to use an Andromeda well in combat. He is even honest enough to admit his mistakes. But it's his aggressiveness in a fight that worries me."
"How so?" asked Theodore.
"In my experience there are three reasons for why someone would want to put themselves deliberately in the line of fire regardless of the situation," said Davenport thoughtfully. "The first are the glory hounds, the ones that do whatever it takes to win and get all the acclaim in battle. Like a certain few captains I had the great displeasure of being acquainted…"
"Like Captain Antilles of Dreadnought," interjected Theodore.
"Yes, especially him," Davenport scowled as he recalled what happened during the Battle of Neptune.
In that skirmish with a large Gatlantean raiding fleet, he and his friend then-Captain Sladden of the Dublin had to reel in the egoistic Captain Antilles of the Dreadnought from rushing himself in battle in attempt to destroy the Medalusa in the Gatlantean fleet first. It was a charge that nearly destroyed his ship had it not been the Dauntless that was able to quickly cover the other flank and destroy the enemy flagship in a crossfire. As the original leadship of the D-class was currently assigned with Yamato, Davenport hoped Kodai the best to handle that glory-seeking moron, which was already a difficult task as Antilles, like most avid supporters of the WMG fleet, hated the Yamato's crew hypocritical stance against their ships' trump card and their direct involvement with the destruction of the Time Fault Factory.
"But I don't think Jonathan is a glory hound," replied Theodore. "At least not to the extreme as Antilles. He likes meeting and getting involved with famous people but is not blind enough to get involved in something that is clearly reckless."
"That may be true," said Davenport. "But there are also those that are overfilled with intense emotions that prevent them from thinking logically from both a tactical and strategic point of view. I don't need to give an example for that one, do I?"
"Hardly," replied Theodore. "Although I can clearly see Jonathan falling into that category as he does always want to prove himself in the field to his superiors and fellow colleagues. He's definitely the kind to worry about that more often than others. What's the third possible reason anyway? Commodore?"
Davenport silently paused for a while as a dark somber look came upon his face as he remembered Jonathan's forlorn expression in the earlier call. "The third comes down to a simple conviction to atone for a dishonorable defeat in battle. One where all other options for redemption aren't worthy enough."
Theodore grimaced, feeling disturbed and concerned about where Davenport was leading him on. "Wait, you can't possibly mean-"
"Yes Mr Gregson," said Davenport, confirming Theodore's dreadful conclusion as he puts his hands together in thought. "I fear it just might be that."
As Theodore stepped out of the commodore's office, he leaned onto the wall and clenched his fists in anxiety over his old academy mate's mental state.
He recalled that ever since Jonathan survived the Battle of the Mars Defence Line, he hadn't exactly been the same enthusiastic self until he was assigned as the Audacious' XO which seems to have gotten most of his sullen mood suppressed. Sure there were multiple cases where sole survivors have depression being the last one standing.
But surely by now Jonathan would have gotten most of it over due his success as the Audacious' current captain. He had every right to be satisfied with his combat performance. So why did he push himself and his crew further than necessary to fight Gatlanteans? What was he trying to prove?
"Damn it Jonathan," he mumbled softly. "Why didn't you ask us for help?"
A/N: Oh boy was this was pretty fun chapter to write! Especially the two battle scenes!
The entire horror Magenta Nebula skimish was inspired by the first five minutes of the film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Despite being arguably the worse installment of the franchise, it had one of the best openings to any of the Jurassic Park movies. Of course, instead of using a T-Rex attacking its prey/intruders in a stormy night, I used a Medalusa inside a creepy nebula instead... Needless to say, I played that particular soundtrack piece of that scene countless times when I was writing that entire sequence. XD
The outline of the submarine ambush was actually one of the earlier drafts of the original submarine arc that eventually became the Saving the Neu Lambea Arc. The obvious reason why it was moved much later was because it was just too easy for the allies to win against the stealth vessels in their first successful counterattack to Gatlantis' secret weapon. And yes, the code words use to start the attack is based upon the famous meme of the same words. XD
Well as of this chapter's release date, Yamato 2205 is just coming around the corner very soon. Honestly, I have very mixed feelings about the upcoming sequel to 2202 as I still have some issues with it. But nevertheless, I am excited about the ships appearing in this series. Especially the unexpected return of Berger's old command from the Battle of the Rainbow Cluster and the survivor of Ark of the Stars, the Lambea herself, the Guipellon-class carrier, not the red and black Apollo Norm that was already featured in the previous arc of my story. XD Either way, she really got a very interesting refit with those new positron gun turrets that are also used on Dessler's new flagship, the Desura III. Will I use most of the 2205's new/old ships? Eh... I can't really say because of spoilers especially since Neu Balgray is already Berger's flagship in my story.
In regards to the upcoming chapter releases, Chapter 28 is currently schedule to be released at least in three weeks time as of now. However that might be delayed as the other chapters that come after it are very linked together. So far Chapters 28-29 have completed drafts but Chapter 30 is still yet to be completed so please be patient.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter of the Audacious story and look forward to the next one!
Oh and I almost forgot... To a certain reader who is a big fan of the Aldebaran... I'm really sorry... (wince in remorse)