The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series) (22 page)

However, Sal’nor was moving far too quickly to launch his Axe-Blade fighters. The Ganthoran Scanners would be showing the last of the Alliance Star-Cruisers passing through the Wormhole, and the tactician in Sal’nor would want to catch at least some of the enemy ships away from the rest of their Fleet. Time was now of the essence for Sal’nor.

He had seen the space fortresses shaken by the “Screaming Death”, and he had been encouraged by the success of the Cruisers. Now, he was going to throw everything at the Alliance ships and sweep them away in flaming and exploding ruin. But, Billy Caudwell had other ideas on the matter.

“Enemy within range of Trionic Cannon, sir,” the WATO announced.

“Open fire, WATO,” Billy said, “target those Cruisers in the centre!”

The Trionic Cannons aboard Olympus and Colossus both fired at exactly the same moment, and scythed their way through five Ganthoran Cruisers. The explosions of the Cruisers lit up the centre of the Ganthoran formation like a massive sunburst. But, already, Billy could see the horde of Destroyers quickly moving to cut off the line of retreat for the two Star-Destroyers. Grim faced, Billy stared at the War Table image and the dancing numerals on the margins. The numbers weren’t going to add up. The Ganthorans would reach position of the two Star-Destroyers before the Star-Cruisers were clear of the Wormhole. That meant that Colossus and Olympus would have to stand and fight, and that meant taking a pounding from the Ganthoran “Screaming Death”.

“Coming into range of enemy weapons, sir!” the Scanner Officer called.

“Very well,” Billy replied, “WATO, full Force Shielding, and activate the Self-Defence Turrets and link them to the Tactical Computers, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Comms, I want to know the instant that the last of our Star-Cruisers reaches its designated position on the other side of the Wormhole.”

“Very good, sir.”

Billy knew that the last time he had tied the Self-Defence Turrets to the Tactical Computers, it had ended up being a battle of movement, where had had used the offensive capabilities of the Star-Destroyers. Now, it was going to be a static battle; he would have to hold his ground and deny his enemy the space that he occupied. It was a defensive battle, and this would show up the major design flaw of the Star-Destroyers. For thousands of years, the Garmaurians had been the masters of everything that they had surveyed. There was no one to challenge their military dominance, until the outbreak of the Garmaurian civil war.

When the civil war had broken down into a stalemate, both sides began to build massive battle fleets. And, sound military logic told the Garmaurian commanders that you could only deal with the enemy’s massive fleets by using your own massive fleet. The Star-Destroyer had been created as a colossal Force Shielded fortress to house the Command Structure of the Fleet and to combat the enemy’s Star-Destroyers. They were the only vessels large enough to carry the Trionic Cannon whilst being the anchor point for the rest of the fleet. Everything was designed to revolve around the Star-Destroyer.

No one had considered, in the days of the Garmaurian civil war, that the Star-Destroyer would be a stand-alone warship. The huge fleets had been built around the Star-Destroyers and the awesome destructive capacity of the Trionic Cannons that they carried. No one had considered the possibility of arming the Star Destroyer with high-yield pulsar-cannon. The weapon took over a minute in its cooling cycle, and produced very little increased destructive capacity. And, with a substantial fleet of Star-Cruiser escort, the Star-Destroyer did not need to carry high-yield pulsar-cannon.

Now, out here in front of the Combined Ganthoran Frontier Fleets, Billy Caudwell knew the weakness of his seemingly-indestructible space giants.

He was attempting to engage an enemy fleet without a fleet of his own, and he knew that he could not survive in that kind of battle environment indefinitely.

“Enemy ships firing!” the Scanner Officer shouted.

“Hang on, everybody!” Marrhus Lokkrien tried to keep himself from tumbling over, as the War Room personnel sought whatever stability they could find for the oncoming wave of “Screaming Death”.

The shimmering haze of the “Screaming Death” from over one hundred Ganthoran Cruisers smashed into both of the Alliance Star-Destroyers at a distance of over five hundred kilometres. Aboard the two Star-Destroyers, the force of the Ganthoran weapons hit like a tidal wave. Crew members were flung off their feet by the sheer ferocity of the sonic blast, causing injuries to people and damage to systems throughout the Olympus.

“He’s fired too soon!” Billy smiled as he struggled gallantly to hold onto the edge of the War Table.

Billy knew, at that moment, that General Sal’nor had made a huge mistake. And, that with the Ganthoran Destroyers approaching in their “claw” formation, he was about to compound that mistake. Sal’nor had made the fatal error of targeting both Star-Destroyers with his concentrated “Screaming Death” wave. If he had hit only one of the massive Alliance warships with a sustained and concentrated wave, he would probably have likely shaken the vessel apart. But, Sal’nor had played the gamble, as all battlefield commanders must, and he had guessed wrong. Olympus and Colossus would be severely shaken by the Ganthoran weapons, but they would survive. And, with the Ganthoran Destroyers in such close proximity, Sal’nor would have to cease fire on the “Screaming Death” wave to allow his smaller ships to engage the Alliance’s space fortresses.

With Olympus still shaking from the massive bombardment from the Ganthoran Cruisers, Billy saw one of the two-dimensional Tactical View Screens to his left shatter in a cascade of sparks and debris. Part of him was terrified at the constant danger he was now facing from the sustained Ganthoran weapons fire, and yet, there was also a part of him that felt excited and exhilarated. He was now facing the same dangers and perils as the rest of the crew members of Olympus and Colossus. Typically, his position set him in the comparative safety of a War Room, far from the scene of the action and danger.

Now, for Billy Caudwell, the danger was up close and personal. He had felt the same anxiety and excitement in the Time Warrior Ritual, and he had to admit to himself that it was not that unpleasant a sensation. And, as the two Star-Destroyers lurched and staggered in their positions in space, the Ganthoran Cruisers piled in the pressure. With their weapons pods starting to glow from the constant firing to maintain the “Screaming Death” wave, the Cruisers were moving closer and closer to the Alliance ships. The Ganthoran crews, who had soaked up so much punishment from the huge space fortresses, began to see that their enemies were starting to suffer under Ganthoran weapons, and started to feel more confident. Now, they felt like they had the measure of these titanic beasts of the Alliance fleets. Now, they were going to give the Alliance some payback for what they had suffered.

“WATO, open fire with the Self-Defence Turrets as soon as their Destroyers are within range!” Billy made the call from his vantage point on the floor of the War Room.

The constant shaking and lurching of Olympus had persuaded him that he was safer kneeling on the floor.

“Yes, sir!” The WATO’s voice rang through the chaos of the shaking and shuddering of the great warship’s trials and tribulations.

Meanwhile, on the flickering image of the War Table, Billy could see the four pincers of the Ganthoran “claw” closing in around the two Alliance Star-Destroyers. In a few seconds, the great horde of Destroyers would be surrounding and attacking Colossus and Olympus from every quarter.

From the frying pan, and into the fire
, Billy thought.

The major relief for the crews of the two Star Destroyers was that with the Ganthoran Destroyers closing in for the attack, the Cruisers would have to cease fire. The bone-jarring shuddering and shaking under the constant onslaught of the “Screaming Death” would subside to be replaced with another form of peril. When the Cruisers stopped firing, it would be time for the Destroyers to attack.

Within a few seconds, the Ganthoran Cruisers had ceased fire and the Destroyers began to make their attack runs. With the War Room only just coming back to a semblance of order, the Self-Defence Turrets began to open fire on the Destroyers. The four pincers, having surrounded the Star Destroyers, now broke up into smaller attack units. And, from every angle, they attacked the huge space fortresses that stood before them. Working in small groups much like their Axe-Blade comrades, the Destroyer crews launched their attacks at the huge, solid, and immobile Alliance ships. Like angry insects buzzing around an animal that was attacking their colony, the Ganthoran Destroyers swooped and dived into their attacks. And, at that moment, they ran straight into an avalanche of low-yield pulsar-bolts from the Self-Defence Turrets.

The Tactical Computers aboard Olympus and Colossus churned the numbers and made the calculations as to the Threat Potential of each of the thousands of individual Destroyers that were throwing themselves relentlessly at the Alliance vessels.

As the Firing Solutions were developed, the tens of thousands of low-yield pulsar-cannon in the Self-Defence Turrets opened fire sending up a dense curtain of weapons fire at the courageously advancing Ganthorans. And, by the laws of mathematics, thousands of Ganthoran Destroyers should have been consigned to oblivion in a few brief seconds, just as their Axe-Blade comrades had been. However, the effective and brutally efficient Tactical Computers had one failing. Having worked out the Threat Potential of each and every Ganthoran Destroyer, the Tactical Computers had instructed the Self-Defence Turrets to fire on the most threatening of the Ganthoran vessels. Having opened fire at, hit, and in most cases, damaged the approaching vessel, the Ganthorans Threat Potential score would decrease based on that damage. The Tactical Computers would then immediately seek out another more threatening vessel for the Self-Defence Turrets attentions. Thus, a Ganthoran Destroyer might sustain one or two direct hits from the Self-Defence Turrets of the Star-Cruisers, and still be able to press home their attacks after the initial damage.

Billy Caudwell was aware of this failing, but understood that the Tactical Computers would still be far more effective than live crew members in trying to make sense of the swirling, scrambling melee that surrounded their ships. The Tactical Computers were also far better decision makers in the split-second instants that a Destroyer became available as a target for the pulsar-cannon. Very few species in the universe, let alone the Universal Alliance, had the rapid reflexes, plus the hand to eye co-ordination, that could outperform the Tactical Computers. And, with the Ganthoran Destroyer being more robust than the Axe-Blades, it would sometimes take three, four or more hits from a low-yield pulsar-bolt to finish it off.

The first waves of Ganthoran Destroyer attacks were just starting to work their way through the hail of low-yield pulsar-bolts. Having survived one or two direct hits, the Destroyer crews, still unable to believe their good fortune, let loose with their own “Screaming Death” waves at the huge Alliance ships.

With full Force Shielding, there was almost no chance that an individual “Screaming Death” wave from a Destroyer would get through. But, Billy knew that if enough of them attacked at the one time on the one spot, then things could prove difficult for the Alliance crews, especially after the pounding they had received from the Cruisers. That, however, was not the matter foremost in Billy Caudwell’s mind. On the War Table image, Billy could see the great swirling and dodging horde of Destroyers as they entered their attack runs or flew distraction courses. Like many good professional fighting units, the Destroyer crews were trying to maximise the results for their teams and formations rather than for individual glory. Their favoured tactic seemed to be to work in teams of five. One Destroyer would take the point position and make a feigned attack run directly at the Star-Destroyer. This would draw the attention of the Self-Defence Turrets. And, with some fairly violent twisting and turning manoeuvres, the lone Destroyer would draw the attention of the Self-defence Turrets away from the four vessels following the leader. The four attacking Destroyers would find themselves a great deal closer to their targets before the Self Defence Turrets could be turned upon them. For the decoying leaders, one or two hits from the Self-Defence Turrets were a price worth paying if four of his comrades could drive their weapons fire home. It would then be the turn of someone else in the group of five to lead as decoy in the next attack run.

What was of primary concern to Billy Caudwell was the situation beyond the Calyx Wormhole.

Standing as calmly as he could at the War Table, Billy watched the great swirling, darting, and scrambling melee of small vessels pushing home their attacks and being shot down by the Self-Defence Turrets. Anxiously, Billy prayed to hear that the last of the Star-Cruisers were in position beyond the Wormhole.

Meanwhile, the battle around the two Star-Destroyers was still raging. The first attackers, encouraged by their success and lack of casualties, were being joined by larger numbers of comrades to pour their weapons fire into the huge Alliance beasts. The crew of one such Destroyer picked their target spot, just above the Trionic Cannon gun deck of the Colossus. They could see the huge barrel of the Alliance’s terror weapon, and the captain had decided that if they could damage or even destroy the weapon, it would be a major blow to the Alliance.

So, falling in behind one of the other Destroyers in the group, the Captain took them forward to what he hoped was a date with Destiny.