The Colonel spoke, "Grange! The Milgari are on the move. We have reports coming in that they are massing ships at a point that can only mean there next target is the Grid. Our reports from both the Prassi and the Dakar say that a large number of ships that were parked on their borders have been pulled away. I’ve given my teams orders to prepare to fly out at short notice. I also sent a team to the grid with orders to make sure the gravity drive is held safe."
"This may be the big push we always thought would come. If that happens we will only have a short time to fight before hopping on the Grid for the ride out. As always, anyone who misses the boat is out of luck. There is no turning around to pick up stragglers."
Preparations were made, ships were packed and any needed repairs were patched and pushed through without testing. We had 126 new Hawks coming off the line that would have pilots that had only flown in simulation. We were not yet going to war, but it looked like all-out war was inevitable.
The following day Frig performed his test of the wormhole generator. At 40% generation capacity the cavity that developed was not sufficiently broad enough to accommodate the aerosol spray George had created. Gy would not have the full test ready for another week.
The following day we set out with our fleet towards the point where the Milgari ships were massing. We loaded the Swift into the docking bay of the newly commissioned cruiser aptly named the Injector. I would ride out with Frig until such time as the Injector could be fully tested. When we arrived near the Milgari position I would take the Swift forward to a point where our sensors could pinpoint a delivery location for the wormhole. Once established the aerosol would be forced through.
I sat on the bridge with Frig, he continued his work on the antenna array as we talked, "Just a couple more weeks and we could have fully tested this thing out. If this doesn’t work we are kind of screwed. Jarhead, the Suppressor, all the work we have done back there will have to be destroyed."
"And if this is the final big attack we will not have time to hop on the Grid. We have to clean up what is still out there. That means we get left behind. Of course the good news is that we should be able to travel the ten years to the new jump location. The bad news is that we may not know where that is exactly. We may have to roam around for a while."
Frig looked up from his console, "You are just full of delight this morning Sir. I don’t know how I ever got along without you." It took the good old verbal slap on the face from my best friend to break me out of my funk. He was right. I was not adding conversation that would lead to our success.
I left the bridge and went to sit in the Swift. I plopped myself down in my chair and kicked my feet up on the console. I talked to the Swift as I looked around, "Well old friend, this may be it. It has been one wild ride hasn’t it? Attacked by pirates, left stranded on a moon… a moon outside of the ion wall mind you, and repeatedly almost killed in battle. It’s almost too much for one man and his ship to take in."
"But if I had to do it all over again I would do it with you. You are my Swift, my fury, my ship…" A voice came over the comm, "That ship is half mine Sir. We had a deal." I had to chuckle as I reached up and turned the comm off.
It was a five day ride to the rally point and then another day out to where the Milgari were camped. When we arrived I hopped into the Swift and rode out to perform a scan of the Milgari fleet. From that initial distant scan a target would be selected and I would isolate its position and orientation. That information would then be used by Frig to deliver the first injection of the aerosol cure.
When the first scan was complete I beamed back the data to Frig, "Pick me out a target there my friend and I will move in for the heavy data. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed." Frig replied, Fingers crossed Sir?" I responded, "It’s just an old Human expression from back when I was a kid. It’s supposed to bring good luck."
Frig evaluated the data and the sent back a target, "I have selected the battleship at location 1044.2062.337 Sir, it should be selected on your screen." I replied, "Got it, moving in for a heavy now." I moved the Swift to within 50 million kilometers and began the deep scan of the battleship. The Swifts signature remained extremely small from that distance and the image projector only served to make it more so.
When the scan was complete I passed the data back to Frig, "Here you go. Let me know if it worked and I will scan another target." The comm was silent for several minutes. Frig then replied, "Sir, it appears to have worked. We cannot be certain of its outcome until that battleship makes a move with the others... or doesn’t. I’m sending the coordinates of the next scan your way."
When the second scan was complete Frig again started the wormhole generator with new coordinates. The second test ship was injected with George’s aerosol, we quickly moved on to the third. After the ninth ship I began to get the idea that it was going to be a long painstaking process. We were averaging two ships per minute. At more than 20,000 our efforts would take just over a week of non-stop injections. So long as the Milgari stayed put, our plan had a chance of succeeding. With no new ships arriving I was convinced they would move before we would be done."
As the morning progressed I set up my end with a macro that allowed Frig to select and send which ship to scan. Once complete the data would be routed back for the injection. I had little to do to occupy my time. So I fell back on my old friend, a game of Bollox.
I started up a scenario and was soon enthralled with an impossible mission such as the one set before us. A base had to be defended from a superior fleet. After several attempts at flanking the enemy I decided my only option was to go around. I would instead attack their base, hopefully drawing them away from mine until I gained more time.
I had only put my bypass strategy into play when the first of the Milgari ships began to move. We had only had the chance to inject 122. The ships were moving towards the Grid.
"Frig! The Milgari are moving! Send the word out to the Colonel and Admiral. It looks like they are heading for the Grid!"
Frig replied, "Sir, have any of the injected ships moved?" I responded, "They have not moved yet, but that whole section has not started off yet so I cannot tell. I’m thinking you just bring that cruiser in here and do your own scans and injections while you can. If they spot you, you will just have to leave. I have an idea I need to run by the Colonel!"
I turned and moved slowly unitl I was out of the Milgari’s sensor range I then pushed the throttle to full. When I arrived back at our fleet the Colonel was preparing to intercept the Milgari. His voice came over the comm, "this looks like the big push. Remember the tactics that we practiced after that last encounter!"
I got on the comm to tell him of a new strategy, "Colonel, hold your command. I think we should try something different, something that might just throw them off and buy us some time. We are going after Torrus Colonel. Attack their base before they attack ours. Worst case is they continue on and the Grid jumps. But I don’t think the Milgari will abandon their precious Torrians. I think they will try to follow us back."
"Send a ship to the Prassi and a ship to the Dakar and tell them that the time to assault Torrus is now! With our speed advantage we should have two full days of assault on Torrus before the Milgari arrive. I did a little scouting of the star maps and there is a small nebula similar in type to the Fasture about 2.5 light-years from Torrus. If we are unable to eliminate the Torrians before they arrive we can run to it to fight it out there. Fighting in that negative field may be the only way we have a chance against those Milgari ships."
"One last thing, we need to take a path where we are easily detected by them as we go by. If we want them to follow we need their attention. And Colonel, start pulling up the latest data we have on Torrus and its defenses, we are going to want some type of plan to pass off to the Prassi and Dakar when they arrive."
The orders soon went out to every ship with way-points charted and defense data to study. The trip to Torrus would take twelve days. I landed the Swift in the hold of the Slaughter and made my way to the bridge. The Colonel was busy barking out orders.
I sat down in a chair near the Colonel and waited for him to finish with his men. I then walked to the console beside him and placed my hand on the edge for support, "Colonel, this is probably our last chance at keeping the Grid in this sector. We have to beat the Torrians or at least severely damage their planet. At a minimum we need more time."
The Colonel replied, "I have a good feeling about this Don. We are going to make this work. We always do. How did the injections go?"
I responded, "We had 122 done when the fleet started to move. Frig was going to continue to see if he could get a few more. We had nothing to report by the time I left. The data all pointed to it working, but we had no physical evidence. Doc said it did not work at the same speed on every Milgari. Some took an hour while others took most of a day. I guess that now we may never have the chance to know if it would have worked."
As we cruised along at 320 SOL I took the time to study the Torrus defenses. Our last scouting mission revealed three distinct layers. The outer layer consisted of Milgari ships. The latest data showed 1186 battleships and cruisers. The second level was 46 armed space stations. Each station had at least a dozen battle cannons, the stations were heavily armored. The third level was 408 floating defensive platforms in orbit around the planet. During our last scouting mission the platforms supported another 1650 battle cannons.
The attack of Torrus would be no easy task. Our fleet consisted of 3,412 Hawks of which 120 of them had the latest shielding updates, six battleships, 14 cruisers, 28 destroyers and 112 frigates from the Admiral's fleet, 97 Raiders and 8 Defenders. In addition we had five converted Milgari frigates and 11 converted Milgari cruisers. If the Torrians had the same grade of armor and weapons as the prior Milgari fleet we had tangled with we would have a difficult time.
As we flew past the Milgari position we slowed and closed to a point where we would easily be detected, but not fired upon. Once the Milgari ships began to turn we accelerated back to our top speed. I was looking forward to the fight even though I was apprehensive about not having Frig by my side. I had a borrowed engineer named Garland Harr.
Garland was a recent retiree from the Grid military and he was eager to prove his worth. I sat with him over a cup of coffee in the mess hall. Garland spoke, "I served in the last war, but I never saw combat. I was back on the Grid in the construction docks as an engineer, buying off on the ships as they were being built. I'm not saying I am eager to go into battle Sir, but you do only live once and I would just like to feel like I made a difference."
I replied, "I know what you mean. I've had the same thoughts and feelings. But you can't let those be the ones that guide you or you will charge in where you should not go. Believe me, I've done just that and I am lucky to be here today. If you let your heart guide you along with your experience and intuition, you will do OK. Just don't get it in your mind that you need to impress anyone else, that will just get you and others killed."
As we talked I took note of the red shirt beneath Garland’s combat suit. I spoke, "Tell me that is not a red shirt you are wearing?" Garland replied, "You don’t buy into that mumbo-jumbo do you Sir?" I responded, "Wearing a red shirt in space combat is bad luck, you are just begging to get killed." Garland chuckled, "I read those same passages in the archives Sir. It’s all fiction. I’m not worried about it."
I talked to Garland for several hours. He listed off his duty stations in the military and I gave him a short history of the building of our force. When we left the mess hall Garland had a new appreciation for Defiant and for all those who had joined. It was a cause worthy of fighting for and he was now a fighter for the cause.
Eleven days later we approached the Torrus system and slowed to a stop. More than 9,000 Dakar warships and another 6,200 Prassi vessels were waiting for our fleet. The Colonel immediately began handing out battle plans and both fleets quickly agreed to the targets they were given.
When the fighting was done, and if we were victorious, the Dakar would reclaim Torrus and its vast riches while the Prassi took Barithia and 32 other systems that bordered their territory. Humans would have the prize of no longer being chased. It was a deal that all three species could live with.
With the battle plans set we lifted off into attack formation. Our targets were two Milgari cruisers and then an assist against one of the orbiting Torrian platforms. This time, all ships would be making use of the Yacabucci field generator. Milgari ships were to be frozen in place without their ion weapons while we attacked.
When the order was given our ships accelerated to a set speed and the image projectors were turned on. It would be a five hour ride before the fleet would decelerate and attack. The Prassi and Dakar would follow shortly after. I was once again faced with the hours of waiting before a big event was to happen. Garland sat mostly staring straight ahead.
When the deceleration happened there were nearly twice the number of Milgari ships as anticipated. The Yacabucci web quickly held them in place. Garland fired at the first cruiser on our target list, severely damaging it's ion cannon, but the cruiser fired back. The ion bolt clipped our port wing. If not for the reduced power it was able to direct our way it would have shattered our outer shield.
The negative ion web was holding the ships in place, but their ion generators were still producing internal power. I immediately got on the comm, "Those ships have power! Drop ion bombs if you have 'em. We can't sustain the damage they are dishing out!"
Garland unleashed one of our five bombs and the cruiser's gun went silent. With a single quick pass, its ion cannon was eliminated along with its engines. We moved on to target number two.
The second cruiser fired repeated shots as we approached. I flipped the switch on our multi-ship image projection and suddenly three Defenders were bearing down on the Milgari cruiser. We dodged the first two ion bolts but the third found its mark and shattered our outer armor. It was a hit that Garland was not prepared for. "Ugh-hic-ugh! Gaw-hic! GAW!"
Garland again made a pinpoint hit knocking out the cruiser's lone battle cannon. I spoke, "If nobody told you yet you don't fight with your mouth open. When those blasts hit this solid hull you really get knocked around. Keep your teeth together or you run the risk of biting off your tongue!"
Garland replied, "We never got that feedback in the simulators Sir, I'll be gritting my teeth from here on out!" I followed up with a roll and a pass of the cruiser's engines and once again Garland earned his pay, "Nice shooting Harr!"
Our automatic targeting application then identified two new cruisers and a battleship on our target list. I did a long throw of one of our ion bombs towards a nearby cruiser as I headed towards our next target. I was sure it would help whoever had it on their target list.
I overrode the next cruiser on our list and instead headed towards the one after at a constant speed. I was banking on the image projection masking our approach. Garland yelled out, "We don't have the cloak any more Sir! I hope you are not counting on that!" I pulled up hard on the stick, "Crap! That got shed with the outer skin! You just saved our asses Garland. Remind me to buy you a drink when this is over!"
I again reacquired our original target and flew in fast in a random spiral. We took a hard hit to our underbelly and again we were shaken to the bone. Six layers of Tantric had been stripped away. Two quick shots from Garland and we moved on to the next cruiser target.
I took a moment to scan the battle console for a check of our casualties. Of the 1,186 Milgari ships 318 had been destroyed or disabled. We had lost 406 Hawks, five frigates, 12 destroyers, 16 cruisers and a battleship. The Raiders were holding their own.
As we approached the next cruiser we were joined by Jerry Shiller in a Hawk, "I got your wing Chief! Let's knock'em dead!" We split our trajectories and came in from two directions. Again the Milgari zeroed in on the Swift and again we took another hit. Four layers were singed from our tail as the shot came in from a distance. Garland and Shiller both had a positive strike and the cruiser's gun exploded in a bright flash. Shiller then nailed the cruiser's engine, taking it out of the fight.
I spoke, "One last ship on our targeting computer. Make those shots count as we are going to need all of our armor to get near that station we have coming up next. From what I can see the Dakar and Prassi are having a difficult time with them!"
We were soon joined by a second Hawk piloted by J.B. Sommers, "Wooohaw! Let's kick some savage ass!" Sommers swooped in with a first pass, taking out the port cannon on the battleship. Shiller moved in next taking a direct hit to his probe just as he popped the trigger on his cannon. The Milgari bolt entered the probe as the negative bolt was materializing on its tip. The Hawk disintegrated in an instant. Shiller was gone.
Garland was unable to get off a clean shot as we passed. I dropped an ion bomb. Sommers swooped back around and finished off the second battle cannon, "Move on to your next target Chief! I'll stay and carve this sucker up!"
The next target on our list was a Torrian station. Five Hawks and a Raider were already engaged. I selected a target sequence from a list, "Garland, we are hitting gun five on your console. If you can squeeze of a round at gun six as I cut away please do so!" As I spiraled in I released our fourth ion bomb. A shot from cannon eight eliminated the bomb before it had a chance to arm and go off. We then took another hard hit, this time it was our port wing, eight layers of Tantric were instantly burned away.
On the next run two of the Hawks met their end. Garland nailed our target but just missed his shot on our cutaway. With the two Hawks eliminated we now had three cannons on the station tracking us. Every attempt at a run was met with heavy fire, forcing us to break away before getting close enough to fire.
A Pilot of one of the Hawks then came over the comm, "This is Judd in the Derringer, my probe has been sheared off making my cannon inoperable. I’m asking for a pickup after which I have an idea that might just give us a chance at knocking out some of those guns."
I replied, "This is the Swift, standby for pickup." We came to a stop and the cargo door opened slowly. Dennis Judd floated in and the door was closed. He spoke, "Tap into my flight computer. I have a spiral in flight plan that will ram my ship into one of those guns, if it makes it. But what I was thinking was that we line three or four of us up right behind it and let it take the hits from those cannons until we can break off and fire on them on our own."
I replied, "I like the way you think Judd. Bingham and Reaper! Apply the flight plan from the Derringer to your nav computers. We are going in using the Derringer as a shield! Split off on my mark and hit the cannon that will be designated on your screen."
The four ships were brought in line and the attack began. As we approached the Derringer applied its multi-ship projector, she had one of the few that were still operational. We closed to the breakaway point just as the Derringer took a hard hit to her hull. The three ships following the Derringer, split away and fired on their designated targets. Three of the four cannons were destroyed. The fourth continued to fire at the incoming automated Hawk before it crashed hard into its turret. Four guns had been disabled.