The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series) (25 page)

From the War Table image, Billy calculated that the main body of Ganthoran Destroyers was now emerging. The Destroyers were emerging in their hundreds and slamming straight into a wall of gunfire.

To Billy, the death blooms of the Destroyers looked like tiny flashes of light in some distant galaxy; like twinkling stars. The tiny lights shimmered for a brief moment and then fell into the grey, misty darkness of the Wormhole’s mouth. But, there was nothing pretty or elegant about this particular twinkling light show. This was butchery. In the heat of battle, the gunners gave everything they had to keep up the relentless rate of fire that was required to cut down the emerging Destroyers. After a few minutes of constant firing, almost all of the gunners, and especially the replacements, were starting to feel the effects and stresses of combat fatigue. The heightened sense of fear was starting to affect their ability to fire their weapons.

For some crew members, their fatigue was physical, with aching arms and joints. For others, the fatigue was more in their minds than in their limbs. Their own fears, plus the realisation that the lives of others depended upon them, caused many to completely disengage from their circumstances. A few simply stopped firing and sat down at their posts. The Officers and NCOs in charge recognized the blank and glazed expressions on their faces along with the vacant look in their eyes that the Medical Technicians called the “thousand-yard stare”. There was nothing that could be done there and then, except to push someone else into the fatigued gunners’ battle stations.

For other gunners, the fatigue had entirely the opposite effect. The comm-links of many gunners began to ring with the maniacal laughter and the hysterical nonsensical chatter of people who had been pushed beyond their mental limits. They screamed in triumph and delight as they operated their trigger mechanisms, and blasted away at phantom enemy vessels that they imagined in their own minds. Some NCOs tried to pull the crazed gunners away from the trigger mechanisms. However, many Officers over-ruled them, and left the gunners to blaze away at the spectres in their minds; after all, the pulsar-bolts from their guns were still being fired at the Ganthorans. When the gunners actually dropped from physical or emotional fatigue, they would finally be replaced. Right now, the battle madness was upon them, and it was useful in this kind of battle. 

Billy Caudwell, only just aware that combat fatigue was starting to affect the gunners, had to do what all great commanders in history had previously done. He cleared the thoughts from his mind and focussed on the battle before him. People’s minds could take years to heal, but he needed gunfire right here, right now. The trickle of Ganthoran Destroyers that had begun to emerge only a few minutes before was now turning into a flood. The main body of enemy Destroyers was emerging from the Calyx Wormhole, and into the gun-sights of the waiting pulsar-cannon, where they were being torn to shreds in the incessant hail of gunfire.

After ten full minutes of smashing the Ganthoran Destroyers, the first of the Frontier Fleet Cruisers emerged from the Calyx Wormhole. The bottle-neck at the other side of the Wormhole had allowed the bigger and slower Cruisers to catch up to the smaller and speedier Destroyers. It took the Alliance high-yield pulsar-cannon gunners several seconds to register in their minds, the presence of the new and larger warship. The high-yield pulsar-cannon was the only weapon available on the battlefield that could deal effectively with the larger Ganthoran Cruisers, and it would take between three and five direct hits on each vessel to incapacitate or destroy it.

It also took Billy Caudwell several seconds to realise that the first of the Cruisers had emerged amidst the great swarm of Destroyers. And, to make matter even worse, by the time it had registered in his mind, another one of the large Frontier Fleet vessels was by its side. The high-yield pulsar gunners, accustomed to firing at Destroyers, stressed out by the constant action unfolding in front of them, and with their reflexes slowed by the combat fatigue, had failed to register the threat of the newcomers to the battlefield. The low-yield pulsar-cannon gunners of the Self-Defence Turrets and the Eagle pilots, however, were not so slow in their responses.

The first Cruiser had emerged almost dead centre of the Wormhole, and the low-yield gunners allocated to defend that sector had opened up as soon as they had realised the danger. Instinctively, several Eagle pilots and Self-Defence Turrets gunners had moved their attention away from the horde of Destroyers that just seemed to keep on coming at them, and moved their gun-sights onto the two large Cruisers. At short range, the Eagle pilots and Self-Defence gunners could hardly miss, and they began to pepper the hulls of the large Ganthoran warships with a storm of rapid-fire, low-yield pulsar-bolts.

Through the maelstrom of weapons fire and flying debris, the low-yield bolts searched out and struck the big warships like a tidal wave, amidst the exploding Destroyers. The pulsar-bolts struck the Ganthoran Cruisers’ hulls almost everywhere. There didn’t seem to be a square centimetre of hull surface that wasn’t hit by one of the low-yield bolts that seemed to blossom and mushroom from the very structure itself.

“WATO, get those Cruisers!!” Marrhus Lokkrien commanded.

Being a Bardomil, Marrhus Lokkrien had significantly sharper reflexes than most of the people in the War Room, including Billy Caudwell. Meanwhile, the low-yield pulsar-cannon were pitting and cratering the hulls of the two emerging Cruisers. The hail of low-yield pulsar-bolts sparked and burst on the superstructure of the Cruisers, providing at least some form of resistance to their progress. However, it was like trying to stop an armoured vehicle with slingshots. The low-yield pulsar-bolts would do little more than annoy vessels of such a size. But, the annoyance factor was enough to halt the progress of the two Cruisers, who responded with their own wave of Screaming Death to counteract that of Grobbeg’s ships.

With weapons fire being returned, the Alliance gunners became only too aware that the heavyweight warships had arrived.

Almost immediately, the high-yield pulsar-cannon of the Star-Cruisers allocated to defend that sector opened fire on the two Ganthoran Cruisers. The gun crews had recovered from the shock quickly, but their responses had been worryingly slow for Billy Caudwell and the senior Alliance officers. The gunners were going to have to be able to respond far more quickly if they were all going to survive this battle. Yet, despite the slowness of their crews’ responses, the high-yield pulsar-cannons quickly zeroed in on the Ganthoran Cruisers, with the first of the high-yield pulsar-bolts quickly starting to score hits on them.

However, those first few moments of indecision amongst the Alliance gunners were now coming back to haunt them. With the first two Frontier Fleet Cruisers now drawing the Alliance’s high-yield pulsar-cannon fire, more of the large warships began to appear at the Wormhole’s mouth. With the first two Cruisers already suffering under the withering fire from the high-yield pulsar-cannon, another three Frontier Fleet Cruisers had emerged. And, being shielded from the Alliance gunfire by the death-throes of their comrades in the first two vessels, their Captains were quickly able to size up the situation.

The Frontier Fleet Captains quickly realised that if they waited around at the mouth of the Wormhole, they were going to be blasted to pieces by the Alliance guns. There was only going to be one chance for survival, and that was to attack. The Captains also knew that the odds were heavily against them. The Alliance ships were in a strong position, and had the technological edge. But, it was infinitely preferable to die attacking, than to sit and wait for the relentless pulsar-bolts to smash them to eternity. And, if they didn’t succeed in breaking the Alliance position, then those vessels that followed on behind them might have a better chance of winning the battle.

Meanwhile, amongst all the flying debris, carnage, and devastation going on around them, they were, at least, able to distract the Alliance gunners away from the emerging vessels that were behind them.

All around them, the hail of low-yield pulsar-bolts were scything down the small and vulnerable Destroyers. Many barely had time to emerge from the Wormhole before the low-yield pulsar-bolts smashed them into destruction. Now, with the massive bulk of the larger Cruisers absorbing the Alliance’s low-yield pulsar-bolt fire, many of the Destroyer Captains were able assess their situation.

However, the window of opportunity for the Destroyer Captains was closing quickly, as the high-yield pulsar-cannon began to take their toll of the first two Ganthoran Cruisers. Their Captains had barely issued the orders to attack when the high-yield pulsar-bolts from the Alliance Star-Cruisers came hurtling through the mayhem, and started to hammer into their hulls. The Ganthoran Cruiser was a tough and formidable enemy, but the first Cruiser exploded after being struck by only three high-yield pulsar-bolts. The first pulsar-bolt landed in the centre of the main fuselage, just in front of the stalks for the weapons pod. The second pulsar-bolt smashed through the weapons pod itself, starting the chain reaction within the vessel, whilst the third bolt shattered through the fans that generated the electro-magnetic propulsion. The vessel exploded like a ripe melon, sending debris and destruction in every direction.

The second Cruiser was slightly more fortunate in that it was able to advance towards the hemispherical Alliance position with all weapons pods blazing.

The Screaming Death wave that it generated managed to neutralize the wave from the Grobbeg Cruiser that was stationed nearby, and bought a few seconds of respite for its comrades who were still struggling in the mouth of the Wormhole. The first Alliance high-yield bolt struck the lower lip of the fan intake, causing the Cruiser to shudder for an instant. The crew of the gallant Cruiser, however, managed to hold their course and also keep the Screaming Death wave activated. The huge wave, slightly more focussed than that of Grobbeg’s vessels, pushed the opposition wave backwards and spent itself on the Force Shielding of an Alliance Star-Cruiser. The Star-Cruiser crew felt a slight shaking and tremor running through their vessel, whilst several Eagles were shaken from their station around the Alliance warship.

However, whilst the Star-Cruiser was being slightly shaken, her high-yield pulsar-cannon were dealing the death blows to her attacker. In short order, a second high-yield pulsar-bolt tore a massive black, scorch-edged gouge along the entire left flank of the Cruiser, whilst another slammed mercilessly into the top of the fuselage just between the two Screaming Death weapon pod stalks. The damaged Ganthoran Cruiser then banked to the right. Two high-yield pulsar-bolts narrowly missed the stricken Cruiser, speeding on into the maelstrom of carnage and debris to find other targets. All along the great livid gash on the flank, the sparks and tiny explosions from the power cables and cells sparkled against the black scar down the flank. A third pulsar-bolt slammed brutally into the top of the fuselage, just forward of the first strike, whilst the fourth struck on almost the same place. The fourth high-yield pulsar-bolt, hitting so close to the third, broke the back of the brave warship. As if someone had grabbed the front and rear of the vessel and broken it like a dry twig, the two parts of the vessel slowly sheared away from each other, with flashes and explosions to accompany her death-throes.

But, no sooner had the fourth bolt struck the vessel, and she had begun to break apart, than the coup de grace; the fifth pulsar-bolt had slammed mercilessly into the great open wound of the back portion of the dying vessel. Smashing through the bulkheads to shatter the electro-magnetic generators, the pulsar-bolt had finally broken into the heart of the courageous warship, which erupted in a great fountain of violence and flame, killing all those aboard her. 

The Alliance crews, however, had no time to celebrate or savour their victory. The first two Cruisers may have been dispatched to oblivion, but the three that had followed them had been joined by two more in the time it had taken for the Alliance gunners to destroy them. The Alliance was now faced with five Frontier Fleet Cruisers in the mouth of the Calyx Wormhole. Amidst the devastation and the debris, a powerful force was taking shape. The low-yield pulsar-bolts hammered into the growing force of Cruisers from the Self-Defence Turrets and the Eagles.

But, once more, the smaller yield weapons made very little impact on the larger Frontier Fleet warships. The low-yield pulsar bolts from the Self-Defence Turrets and Eagles pattered on the hulls of the Frontier Fleet Cruisers like hailstones, and with about as much effect.

The high-yield pulsar-cannon, with their slower turnaround times, were starting to score hits on the new targets, but could not keep up the rate of fire required.

Targeting the existing five Ganthoran Cruisers was, unfortunately, allowing even more Cruisers and Destroyers to emerge from the Wormhole, and into the battle area. With the Cruisers came more Destroyers, adding to the growing pressure on the exhausted Alliance gunners. Billy Caudwell, watching the developments with growing unease, knew that he might have to make some hard decisions, and take some decisive action in the very near future.

Looking at the War Table image, Billy could still take heart from the fact that the low-yield pulsar-cannon of the Self-Defence Turrets were effectively and efficiently shredding the Ganthoran Destroyers to space dust. The problem was with the high-yield guns; if he ordered the Star-Cruiser crews to engage rapid-fire on the high-yield guns, there was a very strong danger of the overheating weapons failing entirely, or damaging their Star-Cruiser platform. In a worst- case scenario, the overheated guns could completely destroy the Energy Transfer Systems for the Star-Cruiser or, worse yet, create a massive feedback all the way to the Proto-Star Reactor and destroy the entire vessel. The Star-Cruisers of First Fleet had only just completed their raid against the Combined Frontier Fleets using rapid-fire with the high-yield guns. They would barely have time to complete the full inspections and begin any repairs. As for Third Fleet, Admiral Parbe’an’s Star-Cruisers had been given time to re-fit and repair, but it was unlikely that full testing had been completed. Increasing the firing rate of the high-yield pulsar-cannon was a very risky option indeed.