Chapter 8
Commodore Wolff Geldens stared down at the white-green ball that he had been tasked to defend, wondering how much more he had to pay for the semi-terraformed planet he called home.
The tiny Fortunian defense force had succeeded where much mightier fleets had failed- they had held off the enemy fleets and prevented ground landings of invasion forces. However, long-range scanners detected an enemy fleet assembling at the outer fringes of Fortuna's effective gravitational field, and it was only a matter of time before that fleet brought itself to bear on the planet.
A signal from his sensor officer caught his attention. "Sir, we have a small group of enemy ships and long-range starfighters leaving warp-space, 002275."
Geldens checked his sensor board. Three patrol ships, three destroyers and two battleships, accompanied by two squadrons of long-range fighters, were coming down on his flagship at high speed from above.
"Raid!" The wolf exclaimed. "Helm, flank speed now! Evasive Maneuvers! I want all shields above us. Order the Renegade, the Swoop and the Buzzer out to intercept. Call the planet- I want fighters up here on the double! And bring in every frigate and destroyer in the area!"
Geldens' huge flagship, the Titan, the only battleship in Fortuna's defense fleet, accelerated away from the attackers while three destroyers formed a shield above it.
"Commence firing at maximum range. Go for their destroyers first."
"Sir!" The communications officer called. "We have one squadron of interceptors en route from the surface."
"Thank you, Communications." Geldens thought for a moment, sizing up his odds.
He had three destroyers to intercept the enemy's three, plus two frigates to aid in starfighter defense, but only one battleship to engage the enemy's two and one squadron of interceptors to deal with the remaining forces. They would be good to deal with the enemy's two squadrons of fighters, but it left nothing to combat the enemy's other battleship.
This one was going to be tight.
"Communications!" He called. "We had better go to plan Slingshot. Alert all ships."
"Aye, sir."
Geldens watched the enemy ships get closer, and could see that the enemy destroyers were outpacing the battleships slightly. In fact, they'd be in range within moments.
"Volley fire on the lead destroyer!" He ordered. "Focus fire on one ship at a time."
The laser batteries roared to life as the first shots were fired from the Titan's mighty guns.
The first volley laid only a glancing hit on the first destroyer, most of the shots having gone wide. However the second volley swept across the length of the smaller ship, blasting through the shields and rendering the bridge unusable. A last volley utterly destroyed the ship's remains.
The other two destroyers, their captains having seen the lead ship's demise, commenced evasive maneuvers. Another volley from the Titan dropped the shields of the second destroyer in the force.
Meanwhile the enemy fighters had come into missile range, and had launched their payloads at the Titan. Waves of projectiles converged on the huge battleship.
"Well, now we get to find out if those scientists back on the ground did their job properly." Muttered Geldens. "Engage the AMDS!"
A spray of accurate, rapid-firing light laser fire erupted from the front and rear of the battleship, striking a few of the missiles on the way in. Their violent deaths caused a chain reaction amongst some of the other missiles, leaving fewer than half of them remaining before the frigates joined in with their own defense systems. Only one or two missiles did get through, impacting the Titan's shields and causing the great ship to shudder violently.
"Damage reports!" Yelled Geldens.
"No reports so far." Said the communications officer. "They didn't breach our shields. Our destroyer force has engaged and destroyed one of their remaining destroyers, but they've copped some long range fire from the enemy battleships. They're returning to our main force now."
"Here come our boys!" The sensors officer exclaimed, pointing out the main viewport, as twelve fast I/F-300's streaked past the battleship's prow, missiles flying from their hardpoints. The speedy missiles crossed space and struck the enemy fighter force, decimating it completely. Of an original 24 ships, only 13 remained.
Well, things are beginning to go in our favour.
"All right, we've got them hurt, but there's still two battleships out there we have to worry about." Geldens declared. "What's the status of Slingshot?"
"Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity." Replied the communications officer. "The final course corrections are being made, we just have to box 'em in."
This is it, do or die time. "All right, engineering, reroute all weapon power to the tractor beams. Capture the lead battleship on my mark. Communications, order our smaller ships to do the same to their second."
The Titan ceased firing, slowing just enough to allow the enemy battleships into tractor beam range. The first shots from their heavy laser cannons exploded on the Titan's shields, weakening them considerably. Commodore Geldens grabbed onto a railing so that the shaking throughout his flagship wouldn't send him sprawling across the bridge floor. The guns of the second enemy battleship spat laser fire at his destroyers and frigates, but effective evasive action managed to keep his smaller ships reasonably healthy.
Just over Fortuna's horizon, an asteroid appeared, hurtling around the planet at great speed. Geldens did not give his order immediately. Though he felt shockwaves tearing through his ship, he kept his cool, waiting for the right moment.
Finally, the captains of the enemy battleships realized their impending danger. They began turns away from each other to avoid the huge rock.
"Now! Engage the tractor beam, full power!" Geldens yelled over the bridge sirens. The Titan was tugged backwards slightly as the enemy battleship attempted to swerve clear, but in the end, the Titan's greater mass and bigger engines prevailed, pinning her adversary in place.
The other battleship, meanwhile was pulling against the combined tractor beams of three destroyers and two frigates, and was reeling and turning as would a great beast ensnared by a group of lesser hunters. But it wasn't going anywhere fast, and the huge rock loomed closer.
A few final explosions on the far side of the asteroid accelerated it towards the target one more time, and it came on, unstoppable now by anything either fleet possessed. The gunners of the two enemy battleships fired upon the mass of rock in desperation.
Nothing could have saved them by that point. The asteroid slammed full into the side of the first battleship, bringing down its shields and deforming its structure. Secondary explosions began breaking that ship apart, rendering her a useless mass of twisted metal on the side of the asteroid.
The other battleship managed to break the tractor beams of the two frigates, but it was too late. The asteroid literally knocked off its superstructure, brutally removing the bridge, communications, the shield generator, two heavy laser batteries as well as large utility sections, one quarter of the ships mass.
When the huge rock had passed, drifting back toward the asteroid field from whence it had been dragged by Fortuna's scientists, all that was left of the enemy fleet was an ailing destroyer, the (now retreating) patrol ships, the savaged remains of a battleship and a few straggling long-range starfighters.
A collective sigh of relief came from the bridge crew as they watched what was left of the enemy fleet turn and run.
"All right people, I want a battle report." Geldens said wearily.
"All enemy ships retreating, except for that wrecked battleship, it's still firing with some weapons. Our fleet is still intact, except that destroyer Renegade is suffering severe atmosphere leakage, and needs to return to dock."
"Very well, she will withdraw for now. Recommence fire on the last battleship, wipe it out."
Geldens reviewed the battle in his mind as the main guns began firing again. He had gotten quite lucky this time, saving all his ships, but he had lost one destroyer temporarily, and each time that happened his fleet got weaker and weaker.
And as he looked out to where the enemy fleet was supposedly massing, he asked himself again;
"When will the Katinians arrive?"