Internal Admiralty Memo
It has come to the attention of CI that several inactive research facilities are still part of the recipients list for un-redacted internal briefings and potentially other sensitive materials. All departments are hereby ordered to review their message filters and protocols to scrub these facilities from their lists. CI will be conducting an audit upon confirmation from each department of the completion of their review to ensure compliance with security protocols, or if it is deemed that an internal review is taking too long. Remember, the Colonials are as interested in our internal documents as most of the legitimate receivers of these briefings are. Do not give them the opportunity to satisfy that curiosity.
Vice Admiral Ivan Hoover
Director, Counter Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence, United Nations of Earth
Chapter 6: At All Costs
By the time Indomitable completed its micro-jump the Colonial forces engaging the UNE attack force were in shambles. Radek could see the wreckage of two frigates in the background behind his former flagship Será Victoriosa along with countless metal hulks that were formerly corvettes. And then there was the pair of UNE frigates fleeing towards him.
"Concentrate fire on starboard frigate," Radek ordered.
"Aye sir."
The battle should have been no contest. With Indomitable blocking their path and Será Victoriosa chasing them down, the frigates should have met a quick end. Instead the frigates were almost completely clear of any enemy light craft. Without such distractions, they were able to focus solely on the cruiser before them.
Massive bolts of plasma splashed over Indomitable's hull but the cruiser shrugged most of it off. Her own cannons were steadily tracking throughout this and opened fire simultaneously, landing three solid hits on the starboard frigate. The targeting was not quite perfect as the beams did not hit exactly the same spot. Nevertheless explosions ripped through the frigate's compartments as its armor buckled under the strain.
"Sir, Kanzeon approaching!"
Approaching in a wide arc, the ship charged Indomitable with nearly a dozen heavy fighters on its tail. Kanzeon came in low, doing its best to avoid flying straight into the cruiser's line of fire while still getting a clear shot at the beam cannons. A steady stream of rockets shot forth and smashed into the fore cannon, blasting it off the cruiser outright. Another salvo tried to do the same to the second cannon but Kanzeon was too close now and the plasma turrets spewed a torrent of fire at it.
Pulling up hard, Kanzeon bounced about as its shields absorbed the incoming fire. Somehow the ship emerged intact but several of its pursers were flaming wrecks, killed by fire from the same cruiser they were trying to protect. Radek grimaced at the sight but did not let it distract him too much.
"Sir, enemy frigates are firing torpedoes!"
There was little Radek could actually do with the frigates this close. Indomitable's light weapons converged and filled their approach vector with flak and fire, blowing apart several of the torpedoes. One got through however and smashed into the cruiser's side. The warship shook from the impact as her armor finally splintered and cracked.
"Heavy damage to the starboard side!"
"Hold position," Radek ordered. "We cannot give the frigates a path."
Indomitable's two remaining beam cannons opened fire again, burning deeper into the frigate. The crippled ship began veering to the side and slowed, apparently having trouble maintaining its heading and velocity. Her consort continued spatting plasma defiantly, focusing on the hole the torpedo had created. Explosions ripped through the cruiser's forward compartments, marking the frigate's success. That triumph was short lived however as plasma fire smashed into the frigate from behind. Será Victoriosa had caught up to the fleeing UNE ships.
"Incoming!"
Radek's own sense of triumph was as short lived as the frigate's as the cry reached out to him. Looking forward, his eyes widened as a single icon raced directly toward him. Kanzeon was back, taking advantage of the momentary distraction of the light turrets to break through the cruiser's defensive perimeter. Bright lights separated from Kanzeon and rained around the bridge. Men and women cried and shouted but Radek could not hear anything above the roar of the explosions. As he watched, Kanzeon finally settled into a vector pointed directly at the bridge. The following salvo smashed into the bridge, cracking the armor that gave way to the bolts of plasma in the missiles' wake.
"Status," Kosygin asked, perhaps somewhat unnecessarily.
"Captain Lavenko is reporting only minor damage to Será Victoriosa. Indomitable is dead in space, all of her heavy weapons are gone and she has multiple hull breaches."
Kosygin could not help but flinch as Taylor made his report. It was amazing he could sound so clinical about it, especially when one of those breaches was of the flag bridge that had killed Radek and his entire staff. Then again Taylor's ability to keep his cool and approach any situation with a clear head was one reason he was Kosygin's chief of staff.
"And our other losses?"
"Four frigates, eight corvettes, thirty-six interceptors, twenty-five heavy fighters, and twenty-two fighters," Taylor replied. "We also lost the freighters from Taranto, though most of the munitions had been distributed already."
Kosygin nodded. It really would have been disastrous if they lost another supply convoy, especially with reports of the UNE fleet gathering in orbit of the moon.
"Do we have a count of the Unie fleet?"
"Scouts indicate at least three frigates, two cruisers, and a carrier so far," Taylor said. "There are at least eight additional groups of capital ships en route, though we do not know their force composition."
"But at minimum we're looking at eight more capital ships," Kosygin said.
Taylor nodded.
"Then we can't wait. We're taking out that Unie taskforce before they can be reinforced."
"We could threaten to fire the Relic and demand the UNE's surrender," Taylor pointed out.
"No, not yet. These stragglers don't seem like they'd give up that easily. If we want to force a surrender, we'll need to break them first."
"Yes ma'am."
As Independence moved away from the bleeding Indomitable, Kosygin reflected on the losses the CIN had already suffered. Ackers, Manning, Radek, and Suvorov. Over half of the CIN's flag officers were dead, all of them to this single UNE taskforce. Whoever was in command on the other side was obviously very good to have held the taskforce together this long. At the same time, Kanzeon's contributions could not be overstated. That ship's destructive ability bordered on the surreal with both light craft and capital ships being brought to their knees. The tactical advantages the CIN previously enjoyed was now gone. If the UNE survived long enough to put Kanzeon into mass production, the war would be all but lost even with the Relic in their possession. After all, the Relic could only be in one place at a time and there were dozens of colonies for the UNE to hit in retaliation if Earth was destroyed.
"Admiral, it's looking like the Unies were a bit busy while their frigates were hitting us," Taylor said. "We're detecting a massive minefield between us and their fleet."
Clucking her tongue, Kosygin brought up a more detailed projection. The size of the field's coverage was impressive and going around would simply give more time for UNE reinforcements to arrive. Going through on the other hand was likely to cost her a few capital ships in the process, unless the minefield could be cleared somehow.
"Extend the storm," Kosygin ordered. "Have our interceptors start making a sweep as well."
"Do you think the storm will still work, ma'am?" Summers asked.
"At this point, probably not. But we might as well try. Who knows, we might actually get lucky."
Neither Summers nor Taylor said anything as they relayed the orders, but the silence was enough to let Kosygin knew they did not believe in luck any more than her.
"Have our fighters, heavy fighters, and missile interceptors move in immediately," Kosygin continued. "They're small enough to avoid triggering the mines."
"Any change to target priorities?" Taylor asked.
Kosygin shook her head. "Nothing's worked on Kanzeon so far, so we might as well focus on targets that we have actual experience killing."
A nearly solid cloud of points started moving on the plot and soon made contact with an equally solid mass separating Kosygin's fleet from the UNE ships. The mass that made it through was noticeably thinner but still felt overwhelming in comparison to the signatures they were now approaching. That feeling proved false as signals started dropping the moment the two groups came into contact.
"Estimate a hundred plus UNE light craft," Taylor said. "Interceptors and fighters, no bombers."
"They'll probably launch once our capital ships get through," Kosygin said. "Status on the mines?"
"A few thin corridors have been cleared. Not large enough for our capital ships, but corvettes should be able to make it through."
"Have them move in. Focus on the enemy cruisers first."
"Aye ma'am."
On balance, Kosygin held a better than three to one advantage in both light craft and nearly ten to one in capital ships. That should have meant she was guaranteed victory no matter how hard the UNE taskforce fought. Kanzeon's presence however made the numerical advantage much less overwhelming than it should have been and the minefield meant she could not bring the full measure of her forces to bear. There was simply not enough time to clear large enough paths or go around before UNE reinforcements were expected to arrive. Even worse, the restricted vectors that her ships could travel through would allow the UNE capital ships to concentrate their fire in localized zones. Her best bet was to cripple or destroy as many of the UNE capital ships as possible before rushing in her own ships as quickly as they could fly and make sure they had the firepower and armor to smash the survivors.
"Move the Independence to join the first wave," Kosygin ordered.
"Ma'am?"
"I'm not going to sit back here and wait," Kosygin said. "The Unies are willing to risk it all in this battle and we aren't going to win by playing it safe."
"Ma'am!"
That was the closest Kosygin had ever heard Taylor come to outright voicing disapproval of her orders. Like any good aide, he knew when to point out to flaws in her decisions but he never undermined her by outright questioning her judgment. Now however Taylor was looking at his admiral in outright surprise and disapproval.
"I know what I'm doing Vincent," Kosygin said softly. "We need to end this here and the only way I can do that is to be at the front. This battle won't be won playing armchair admiral and you know it."
Kosygin held Taylor steady in her gaze and the commodore simply stared at her for a few moments. He finally nodded, a bit stiffly perhaps, but made no further protests and gestured to Summers.
"Orders relayed," she said. "Reconfiguring formation to accommodate Independence."
"Thank you Vincent," Kosygin said and turned her attention back to the battle.
The attack runs on the UNE frigates were not working out very well. Several waves of heavy fighters and missile interceptors had already been smashed and the corvettes were just starting to make their attack run on the cruiser. This soon proved near suicidal as Kanzeon's signature appeared amongst them. The ship proceeded to systematically pick off torpedoes before racing over and wiping out a squadron of corvettes. This pattern repeated continuously but even Kanzeon could not keep up with all the incoming fire. Torpedoes started getting past it and while many were stopped by its comrades and the cruiser's own guns, some smashed into their target and ripped gaping wounds in the warship's hull.
The tidal wave soon crested however as the sheer number of losses depleted the corvette numbers. As fewer and fewer torpedoes threatened its charge, Kanzeon had more time to go after the ships firing them. Now it was the corvettes that could not keep up as Kanzeon swept through their formations, blowing apart ship after ship. Here and there some got off a few more torpedoes but those were almost contemptuously swatted aside after Kanzeon dealt with their firers. By the time it was done, every single corvette committed to the engagement was gone.
"Withdraw our remaining light craft," Kosygin ordered.
"Ma'am?"
Kosygin's eyes were cold and her tone was even colder. "We've already lost a third of them and all of the Unie capital ships are still flying. They need support but until the minefield is cleared we can't get in there to give it to them. So get them out of there, now."
"Yes ma'am."
Once the order was relayed and the Colonial signatures began disengaging, Kosygin allowed herself to relax ever so slightly.
"Status on the minefield?" she asked.
"The interceptors are still working at it, but they estimate another hour before we can start moving our capital ships through."
"I see. And the storm?"
"The Relic is still too far away for us to try it."
"Tell the techs to hurry the hell up," Kosygin snapped. "Even if the storm is ineffective, we can still use the Relic offensively."
Her frustration did not subside at the outburst but there was little else Kosygin could do. Her nerve was tightening with every passing second and while she was in no danger of panicking the mental drain was exhausting. The campaign to take Earth had begun with the greatest victory in the short history of the Colonial Independence Navy. Now even if she won this battle, it was looking to be more and more pyrrhic. There was little doubt the research seized at Prometheus had been disseminated to all surviving UNE forces, meaning the Relic's tactical usefulness was significantly reduced. With the losses suffered by the CIN, the surviving UNE fleet might actually be strong enough to achieve an outright military victory. That would make all the sacrifice, all the death, and all hope invested in herself and the CIN meaningless.
The hegemony of Earth would continue and the next chance for the colonies to gain their independence could be decades away. In the meantime, Earth would do everything possible to prevent the colonies from ever rising again and Kosygin did not doubt for a moment their measures would cause untold suffering. This would guarantee the next war for independence would be even bloodier, even more desperate, and even more tragic. If that was to be prevented, Kosygin had to win here and force Earth to acknowledge her daughter colonies as equals to be respected, not vassals to exploit.
The lone UNE cruiser guarding the endpoint of the corridor opened fire even before Bartholomew was clear of the minefield. The cruiser responded in kind and the frigates flanking her joined in. The two sides were quickly locked into a duel to the death even as light craft danced between them in their own enactment of this exchange. Scores of hits landed on the UNE cruiser but she continued pouring fire back. The frigates soon began unleashing salvoes of torpedoes and at this range at least some should get through. The rules were different now however as Kanzeon once more appeared, standing guard over the cruiser with all her thousand arms.
The first wave of torpedoes vanished, consumed by the storm of missiles unleashed by the ship. With this reprieve, Kanzeon charged forth and fired a second wave at the cruiser. With her target so close, the results were almost immediate as the foremost beam cannons exploded. The plasma turrets quickly turned to track Kanzeon but the ship flew over the cruiser, moving behind and outside of their field of fire. The lone flak turret spat defiantly but was silenced a moment later.
UNE bombers followed in Kanzeon's wake, hammering Bartholomew with nearly a dozen torpedoes. The impacts shattered the ship's hull, nearly snapping her in two. As Bartholomew listed to the side, its last beam cannon got off one last blast before it was consumed in the expanding inferno.
Even with the death of their comrade, the frigates pressed forward. They continued converging on the cruiser, unleashing wave after wave of torpedoes as quickly as their launchers could cycle. One or two actually impacted but Kanzeon was now completely focused on shutting them down and raced back and forth between the ships. The fighters and interceptors giving chase did not even slow it down, instead finding themselves under constant harassment by the squadron of fighters in Kanzeon's wake.
One of the frigates finally buckled as plasma and beam fire burned through her hull. The explosion however simply paved the way for a second cruiser to come forth. Moments later a third emerged followed closely by the Independence.
"Reading multiple hull breaches on enemy cruiser," Taylor said.
"Deploy heavies against the frigates holding position behind it," Kosygin said. "We'll finish the cruiser off with our guns."
"Yes ma'am."
The trio of newly arrived capital ships opened fire, hammering the enemy cruiser with their beam cannons. Explosions tore open the ship's hull and the engines went dark. Now little more than a drifting hulk, it was ignored by the Colonial warships as they moved onto their next target.
"Focus main gun fire on port frigate," Kosygin ordered. "Missile interceptors are to deal with the starboard frigate."
"Target priority confirmed. All ships acknowledge."
The frigate now receiving the attention of the Colonial warships was already showing severe damage and Kosygin did not doubt her ships could kill it quickly. That would allow her to move onto the other survivors and finally kill the blasted carrier. But the UNE forces had no intention of simply rolling over and the explosion to port side marked their successful kill of her own frigate.
"Enemy bombers are converging on us ma'am," Taylor reported.
Kosygin nodded but kept her eyes on the enemy capital ships. Her light craft were speeding towards them though a thicket of interceptors was doing its best to cut them off. To the starboard the beam cannon on the cruiser started lighting up in preparation for firing when it suddenly shattered in a violent flash.
"Kanzeon is targeting our heavy weapons!"
"Bring it down!" Kosygin snapped.
Dozens of fighters spiraled forth and seemed to almost wash over Kanzeon. Explosions blossomed as they were torn apart and from amidst the carnage Kanzeon emerged in its transformed state. The mech seemed to simply float there for a second before missiles poured out from its frame. The sight reminded Kosygin of the stories her father used to tell her, of fire and brimstone showering upon the unrighteous and wrathful angels scouring the sinful. Perhaps she deserved such damnation for what she was willing to do to Earth, but a part of her railed at the unfairness of it all. She was not the one that began this war by murdering thousands of innocent civilians. She was not the one that wanted to deny others freedom and the chance at a good life. If she was to be damned, then why were the ones who were as guilty as her not damned along with her.
There was no time to ponder an answer as the missiles came crashing down. The flag bridge of a carrier was better protected than on a cruiser and that armor held under the bombardment. It did not however keep the explosions from pulsing through the ship and tossing the crew about like rag dolls. Kosygin was out of her chair before she even realized what was happening and her helmet slammed into something sharp. The next thing she knew, a long scrap of metal was rubbing against her face. She tried to pull herself up but her body seemed to only obey her halfheartedly. And then someone took hold of her.
"Admiral!"
The volume was that of a whisper but its intensity was as strong as a cry. Unable to fully turn, Kosygin could only glance out the corner of her eye. Taylor was crouched over her and working frantically to pull her up. The effort seemed futile until Taylor ripped out Kosygin's sidearm and shot the metal shard. It snapped and the sudden release caused Kosygin to fall back. Taylor quickly grabbed hold of her arm and steadied her. Finally able to look around, Kosygin now bore witness to the carnage about the bridge. Bodies were strewn about, some bloodied while others simply broken. Slumped over her station was the still form of Summers and Kosygin tried to push over, to check on her subordinate. Instead, Taylor pulled her closer and pushed both of them toward the rear of the bridge.
"Vincent, let me go!"
Kosygin could not tell whether her chief of staff heard her and she tried to pull free, but the commodore's grip was iron tight. Her struggles soon ceased however as an ever brightening glare was cast upon the bridge. Looking up, Kosygin saw a light grow in intensity outside the bridge. She opened her mouth to say something but no sound seemed to come out. It was becoming harder to breathe, making her finally notice the air being sucked out along the edges of the hole the shard was stuck in. Before she could descend into panic however Taylor threw her into the escape pod. Kosygin landed with a thud and looked up just in time to see the commodore punch something, his form a mere outline in the bright light. The bulkhead snapped shut and the escape pod shook violently as it blasted free. And then silence fell, leaving Kosygin alone as she gazed at the space where a man once standing.
End of Chapter 6
Victory was always a shorter piece than Honor, so the main story is more or less done. The only thing left is tying up a few loose ends, which will be dealt with in the epilogue.