Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand (10 page)

“No, not Dekarchos anymore, you’re lucky to still be a rank and file spatharios.”

The demotion was all show, but it had its effect. The Dukas was a hereditary title in civilian life, but out here in the Legion it was awarded based upon merit and seniority. Xenias had no actual authority over the other contingents, yet not one of them stepped forward to contradict his orders.

“Now, who is in charge here?” he demanded.

A man in the full panoply of a Komes appeared off to the side. He was armoured from head to toe and carried a stolen Laconian Asgeirr-Carbine. At his flanks moved six other warriors in an odd mixture of Terran armour. It wasn’t immediately clear which of the contingents they were all from until the shorter one spoke with a thick Thessalian drawl.

“Dukas, this isn’t your ship. We will not take orders from an Arcadian, especially one that lost his own ship!”

A heavy impact shook the vessel, and a number of those present stumbled and fell from the impact. Any that were still arguing, stopped and looked about as though they might find the source of the impact in that very room. Xenias glanced over to his comrades and stopped when he saw Xenophon.

“I need you,” he said quickly.

Xenophon lifted his head back slightly in confusion, but loud speakers fitted through the ship erupted into excited chatter. One voice continued barking down at them though.

“Sosis the Syracusan,” Xenias muttered under his breath.

The man called out to the warriors of the ship to move to their stations. Some listened, but many others argued about what to do instead. Xenophon looked at them and back to Xenias. The confusion was spreading like wildfire, and he had no idea of the state of the fleet.

“Okay, I have an idea. I know a way we can win this fight and get out in one piece,” he said finally.

Xenias looked at him, remembering the first time he’d met the inexperienced Xenophon. The young man had until recently been one of the lightly equipped stratiotes, yet even then he had proven himself a resourceful tactician. If he was going to place his faith in someone, it might as well be the nobleman from Attica with a penchant for fine wines, foreign women, and more importantly, for getting out of very tricky situations.

“Good, come with me to the command deck. We have work to do.”

* * *

The journey to the heart of the ship was just as eventful as their landing in the hangar. Two of Xenias’ guards had been injured making their way with them as groups of Terrans roamed the halls of the Titan’s cavernous interior. The impression given was that of a captured galleon being run by a group of drunken privateers, and it instilled little confidence in Xenias.

They finally reached the entrance to the command deck, and only one of the Terran guards moved to stop them entering. Glaucon grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him aside. The sight that greeted them immediately annoyed Xenias. Half of the officers were missing and only a handful remained to manage their stations. Komes Sosis marched about in the centre as he barked orders and didn’t even notice the arrival of the Terrans. Xenias moved right to him and then turned to look at the formation of ships around them. The VOB gave a perfect view of space and the scattered formation of Legion ships. Most had pushed on to attack the Zacynthian ships of Dukas Phalinus. An even smaller group had split off to block the approach of the additional forty ships of Ariaeus. The cruisers were hard to spot at this distance, but the larger warships and the Titan stood out like giants in comparison.

“Dukas?” asked Komes Sosis with a nervous look.

“Yes, it’s me.”

He took another step towards the Komes before finally stopping.

“What is your plan, Komes?”

“I...uh...we are preparing to send in our contingent to support Valediction in the centre of the line.”

“Preparing?” grumbled Xenias.

The Komes opened his mouth to speak, but Xenophon interrupted him.

“No. This is classic Medes deployment. They will not have sent in all their units. We need to drawn the rest in. Then we can deal with them properly.”

“Komes, Valediction has broken through their lines. They’ve destroyed six ships already,” said the Titan’s auletes, irritation clearly in his tone of voice.

Komes Sosis smiled at this news.

“As you can see, Dukas, the enemy cannot stand against us.”

Xenias turned to face the crew.

“I am the only Dukas on this ship. You will obey me. After this battle, you will vote on your officers, but right now, I am in charge.”

Komes Sosis looked as though he might move to block him, but Glaucon and Tamara closed in subtlety around the Dukas. Sosis sighed before finally lowering his head.

“Very well, Dukas, your suggestion?”

Xenias lifted an eyebrow as he looked at Xenophon.

“You’re on.”

Now every pair of eyes was on him, and Xenophon could feel his nerves kicking in. It wasn’t just the Titan that was at risk with his plan; it was the entire contingent travelling with the ship, fully one-third of the Legion. He looked at their disposition and wondered once more if his plan had any chance of succeeding. The Titans would never take orders from him or Xenias.

The captains of the escorts and light warships are nearly all Atticans, though. If I give the orders, will they obey?

“Give the order to move in around Larissa as though we are helping to withdraw ground forces.”

“What?” growled Sosis; “You would withdraw from the field of battle when we are in our moment of victory?”

“Get as many of the others in the Legion to do the same,” continued Xenophon, ignoring Sosis. Even Xenias appeared surprised at this idea.

“What happens if you’re right, and the rest of the enemy arrives?”

Lady Artemas intervened at this point and aimed her hand at the portion of open space behind the Legion.

“Once the Legion splits apart, they will have to commit or risk letting some of your ships escape. This plan forces them to act, and they will not give up the chance to strike while you wait to bring your troops back aboard.”

“Exactly,” added Xenophon, “It will encourage their arrogance and hubris. And when they show their numbers, we will know what to do.”

“Which is?” grumbled Sosis.

Glaucon laughed at this question.

“Fight of course, what else would we do?”

Xenias moved back to leave Xenophon at the front. For the briefest of moments, there was a silence. Xenophon looked to his comrades, who did their best to not call out at the absurdity of the situation. Xenias moved his hand out as if showing him the command deck.

“Dekarchos, your plan.”

Xenophon swallowed, his throat dry, and his nerves were at the limit. Everybody looked at him again, some with interest, others with scorn. There was no turning back now. He nodded slowly and then looked at the tactical screen that showed the deployment of their fraction of the fleet.

“Put me on with the other ships.”

The auletes looked to Sosis who simply nodded in agreement.

“You’re on, Dekarchos.”

Xenophon took one more breath before speaking.

“This is Dekarchos Xenophon, tactical advisor to Dukas Xenias and veteran of the Attican fleet.”

His service in the fleet was modest, but he knew its mention would carry weight. Although the Terran Alliance commanded by Attica had been defeated by the Laconians and her allies, there had never been any doubt of the skill and training of the Attican fleet. One for one, the Attican ships were the equal of any vessel from any race or colony, and Xenophon knew the Legion would understand this.

“I was the last one of us alive to speak with our Strategos. He told me to protect the Legion, and that is exactly what I will do. This is not a battle. This is a trap set by the Medes to pin our fleet and then destroy it before we are ready to fight.”

He paused for effect before moving to the most difficult part of his transmission.

“You all know what happened at Plataea, the great victory our ancestors fought in space and on the ground against this very enemy. Superior numbers meant nothing, even when we were disorganised. No enemy will unleash his full numbers against us while we stand formed up and ready. I call upon you to execute the Plataean Manoeuvre.”

Sosis and his comrades looked as confused as Xenias. Few were unfamiliar with the famous battle in the Legion, but as for the manoeuvre, not one of them had even heard of it, let alone understood its significance.

“Herakles and all supporting ships will fall back to the attached coordinates to continue a fake extraction of troops from the planet below. Escorts will spread out between our divisions. It is critical that...”

He was cut off by an angry transmission from Valediction.

“This is Chirisophus, belay that order. We will continue this fight. Only a coward would give ground to our common enemy.”

Xenias shook his head angrily at this before joining in.

“Dukas Xenias here. The Dekarchos is correct. This is but a fraction of the enemy forces. We have nothing to gain here by getting ourselves surrounded. We are conducting a feigned withdrawal.”

Again the commander of the Laconian Titan waded in.

“Leave if you wish, but not a single Laconian vessel will withdraw, under pain of death!”

A dozen red lights lit up on the tactical display behind the division of ships commanded by Ariaeus. Small flashes marked gunfire, but so far it was restricted to the combat between the two groups of Terran ships. Xenias showed a glimmer of doubt and grimaced as one of the Legion’s smaller escort vessels exploded in a blue flash.

“Are you sure about this? The Medes ships are not attacking.”

At least a third of the ships that had been positioned around Valediction had altered course, and the overall impression was one of a complete breakdown in communication. Valediction maintained her position as she broke through the Zacynthian line while Herakles had moved to watch the flank where the Medes waited. Half of the escorts had fallen back, along with most of the cruisers.

“You see the problem, Dukas. We have no leadership. Who is in charge?” said Xenophon. He pointed to the display and made sure the other officers were listening.

“It doesn’t matter what orders any of us gives. We have contingents from every Terran world here, and none like taking orders from the other. The Medes are weaker, but they understand discipline, and when Artaxerxes gives orders, they will respond.”

He then looked Sosis.

“If I’m right, you will see something incredible in the next few minutes. Get your boarding crews ready and move the small vessels out; give the impression they are on transport and resupply runs.”

Sosis paused but only for a moment and then turned away. Xenophon connected via the communication node over his ear to the commanders of the fleet still listening to him.

“The enemy will assume we are unprepared and will move in to stop us from escaping. Close range is our strength, but if they suspect we are ready, they will stand off and use their numbers against us. Prepare your vessels for encirclement and ready the warriors of the Legion. It is time to unleash the corvus.”

The mention of the corvus surprised all of them, including Xenias. Tamara seemed especially confused even though she knew the meaning of the world.

“The raven?”

Xenophon nodded.

“Kind of.”

Then Artemas spoke.

“Corvus? What is this? Some kind of fast missile?”

Glaucon grinned at her confusion.

“No, not really.”

Xenophon watched the tactical screen carefully, nodding to himself as the fleet began to fall apart. The three Titans were separated, and the cruisers and torpedo boats had scattered between them. It was a complete mess, and the orders coming from each of the Titans added yet more confusion to the audio channel, exactly as was required by Plataean Manoeuvre. On the outside it looked as if every ship was operating on its own, whereas in reality the non-Laconian vessels were conducting the perfect ruse. Xenophon closed his eyes, thanking the gods for the fact that most of the naval officers were Atticans. He suspected without them this plan would never get put into action.