Chapter Eight – Guts and Glory

Crewmen raced to the crash site with water hoses. The ship's engines were on fire, and they needed to put out the fire before it spread to the cockpit and rear bay. They managed to get the fire under control, even as men ran into the ship to try and find survivors. One by one, the men came back out, carrying bodies. They loaded them onto repulsion stretchers, and took them down to the medical bay. The bow of the ship had broken through the wall and was partly sticking into the ready room. Fortunately, there had been no one in the room at the time.

One of the last to come out of the ship was Admiral Black. He was rushed to the medical bay. Doctors got to work on healing his grievous wounds.

On the bridge, Captain Fox had gotten word of Admiral Black's condition, and had assumed command of the task force. Following Black's last orders, he retreated back to the trade lane. He recalled all the surviving fighters, which were few in number, and took the trade lane back to Freeport 4. He hurriedly took the next lane back towards the California Jump Gate. The Bretonian fleet pursued him. When he reached the gate, he sent his fleet through one by one.

As he was about to go through, the Bretonian fleet came out of the tradelane. They opened fire, and the Jefferson's already weak shield collapsed. Finally, the ship got through the gate, and Fox took the fleet towards Planet Los Angeles.
They arrived, and Fox gave a quick report to the captain of the Battleship Yukon. Then, Fox was able to take an inventory of the task force. The Cruisers Glory and Providence were lost. The Intrepid was heavily damaged, but had survived due to Captain Morrison's excellent skill. The Reconciliation was also damaged, but Admiral Black's former ship had survived as well. As for fighters, there were few survivors. The cruisers' escort fighters had been decimated, with only one survivor. The Jefferson's fighters had had slightly better luck, with two survivors from Alpha wing, one from Beta wing, and one from Gamma wing. Delta wing, Black's chosen escort, had been completely decimated. Five fighters, two cruisers, and one battleship were what remained.

Fox called down to the medical bay. He wanted to check up on the condition of the crash survivors, especially Black. The chief doctor told him that Black was in critical condition, but was alive. There were three marines that were still alive, and one of the pilots had survived. It was good news.

Moments later, Fox was given orders from the captain of the Yukon. He was to report to Naval Headquarters on Manhattan and give his report. Then, he was to go to Norfolk and have his ships repaired.

Fox gave the needed orders, and the task force departed.

Two weeks later, Rear Admiral William Black awoke from his coma in a medical ward on Planet Manhattan. He had no idea what had happened. He was confused, since his memory was temporarily gone. After a few hours, it all started coming back. The ship, the dying admiral, the battle, the crash, the horrible things re-entered his mind. How long had he been out? What had happened after? Had Fox been able to save the rest of the task force?

As he was contemplating these things, Captain Fox walked in. Fox told him about everything that had happened since the crash, and Black approved of Fox's actions. They were on Manhattan, Fox told him, and the ships were at Norfolk receiving repairs. They had been granted three weeks of R+R, and then they would receive a new set of deployment orders, as well as new ships to fill out the fleet. Black had plenty of time to recover from his wounds.

After Fox left, Black switched on the tele-screen. It was on the Colony News Station, so Black decided to keep it there so he could find out what he had missed.

"In urgent news, Bretonia has moved into Omega-3, as well as Magellan and Cortez. They have officially declared war on Liberty and Rheinland after Liberty declared war on them because two of their fleets were reportedly attacked in Magellan two weeks ago by Bretonian forces."

"In response to the Bretonian movements, Rheinland has moved into Omega-7. This is likely to become a long stand-off, because both houses have large fleets. Wait… We have breaking news! Bretonia has moved into Omega-7, and is attacking the Rheinland fleet there! We have cameras on-station."

The view switched over to a camera feed from Omega-7. It was of the Omega-3 Jumpgate area. Five Rheinland battleships and dozens of smaller ships massed around the jumpgate. Then, one Bretonian battleship came out of the gate. Then another, and another. Soon, there were dozens of Bretonian battleships and a huge battle took place. Black watched in horror as the Bretonian ships overwhelmed the Rheinland ships and destroyed them quickly. Then, the Bretonian ships moved on. The feed cut, and it went back to the Colony News newsroom, where the anchors looked very distressed. Black switched off the screen, not wanting to see any more.

Three days later, Black was released from the hospital, and he felt great. He had an award ceremony to attend before he could return to his task force at Norfolk.

At the ceremony, Black, the marines, and the pilot got Purple Hearts. Black also got another Liberty Cross, for the valuable information he had provided to the Navy, and Fox got a Navy Star of Honor for his part in the battle. The three marines advanced to the rank of Sergeant.

A week later, the new set of deployment orders came in. When Black opened them, sitting in an office on Manhattan, he nearly dropped them from the surprise. Dresden! They were going to Rheinland space!

As Black read through the report, he grew more and more afraid. Things were far worse then he had previously thought. Black's task force was getting deployed abroad to Dresden, while Task Force 5, under Admiral Stafford, was going to Stuttgart. Things had really degraded in Rheinland. Piracy had run rampant, and the Rheinland Navy had to fight pirates while guarding their home against an impeding Bretonian attack from Omega-7. They had asked for help from Liberty, which had to protect two borders already. Liberty had sent the two fleets to try to help their allies.

Intel had reported that Dresden was a system plagued by piracy. The infamous Red Hessian pirates were believed to have a base there, and they were constantly attacking bases of both Daumann and Kruger in that system. Recently the attacks had stepped up, and Rheinland had considered abandoning the system.

His mission was to meet up with the Rheinland battleship Barbarossa, and it's fleet, and protect the Dresden system at all costs, from Bretonia, or from the Hessians. Black's lost fighter wings were getting replaced, and one cruiser, the Gettysburg, was going to join their task force. Also, since they were going abroad on an important mission, they were going to get one of the new Liberty destroyers to replace the other lost cruiser. The destroyers were similar in shape to the battleships, but were smaller, and had weaker armor. In addition, they could not carry fighters, but they had very powerful weapons, and a powerful engine. It would be a good addition to Black's task force.

The next day, Black gathered his force and headed to Dresden. Whatever waited for him there, he was ready. He wanted another crack at Bretonia, and he knew that this mission could very well be his best chance at that. If he failed, then Rheinland would fall, and then Liberty, his home, would fall to his enemy as well. It was victory at all costs.