Fleet Admiral P’Mar was in the Fleet Control Center of his flagship, Raging. He craned his neck around to study the disposition of nearby space shown on the Battle Plot. The display reflected the might of the Kthpok armada, which was an impressive array of ships, as it neared the star systems outer asteroid belt. Most of the icons he saw represented vessels which were automated, controlled by computers and overseen by operators in special center rooms buried within the bowels of the ship. All the other vessels, while run by crews of Kthpok, had been refitted with automation as well allowing for a reduction in the size of that crew.
The automation of the new vessels and in the refits was only one of the items they’d picked up from the Iidx. They’d also found that their ‘hosts’ had weapons more powerful than anything the Kthpok had. There were also metal composites which increased the strength of the armor coating ship hulls.
And that brought him to the reason of this exercise: The new technology in the Kthpok ships had to be tested and his people needed to be drilled with their new weapons. Although all of that was necessary and important he had an additional compelling reason for this little excursion into the outer system.
Another check of the tactical plot showed that only Kthpok vessels were in the immediate vicinity. That was what the plan called for but he had to be sure. It wouldn’t do to have unwanted eyes seeing what the Kthpok had done with the Iidx tech that’d been so willingly given.
P’Mar swiveled on his perch, long neck craning towards the scanning station. “Scanning!” the Admiral called, “go long range. Is space clear?”
Lieutenant D’Pan in the Scanning Suite paused before answering. The hesitation was long enough for the Kthpok to adjust the calibration on his equipment, run a couple of sweeps of the surrounding space then confirm the results. “Long range scans show space is clear, Admiral,” the officer reported.
P’Mar bobbed his head in satisfaction. It appeared the Iidx were complying with the restriction placed on this region of space by the Kthpok for the duration of the exercise. He paused as a suspicious thought came. Perhaps the Bugs were just giving the appearance of compliance but had probes in the area using stealth technology. That would give them the ability to observe the Kthpok without being observed themselves. It’s what he’d do if he were in their position.
The Admiral gave a slight shake of his tail. It was possible the Iidx were spying on the Kthpok but he didn’t think it was probable. The Bugs had been too willing to share their technology for there to be a devious plot to eliminate the Kthpok. If they were going to destroy his people the Iidx could have blown the Kthpok ships apart as they entered the Iidx system. P’Mar knew that with his damaged ships and depleted supplies he couldn’t have prevented it. No, he decided with a wry smile, the only devious plot was the one the Kthpok had dreamed up.
The Admiral brought his thoughts back to the needs of the moment and swung his head away from the plot. “Communications,” he called, “contact the Commander of Deception. They are to activate, proceed as outlined.” He swung around to another officer. “Have the main viewer adjusted. I want to see the Deceiver.”
In response to the Fleet Admiral’s order the view of the main wall screen changed to show a large vessel. A closer examination revealed this craft was different from the others of its class. There were fewer missile launchers and laser mounts than what was considered normal for a capital warship. The reason for the modifications soon became apparent. Three sections of the hull opened to reveal unlit bays from which several dark gray frigates emerged.
As soon as the new vessels cleared their bays the doors shut. Gasps and mutters came from members of the Fleet Admiral’s staff as sunlight and computer enhancements revealed the small vessels strange configuration. The Admiral ignored the disturbance and turned to face Scanning. “Lieutenant, confirm Deception has been released and track,” ordered P’Mar.
Lieutenant D’Pan in Scanning forced his gaze away from the images on the screen and worked his equipment. “Deception is con…,” the Kthpok began then stopped. Craning his neck for a better view of his console, he made more adjustments and checked the results. He glanced up at the main screen as if to confirm the ships were really there. By this time all three vessels had taken up formation in between the Raging and Deceiver. D’Pan turned back to his console shaking his head. More adjustments were made to his equipment and the results checked once again. The Kthpok began muttering as he continued to work his board.
Seeing the officer’s obvious discomfort P’Mar had to struggle to keep his face impassive. He hoped the twitch of his tail that was beyond his ability to suppress was interpreted as irritation. “I asked for a confirmation, Lieutenant,” said the Admiral in a flat tone. “Why hasn’t Deception been confirmed?”
The Lieutenant’s expression never changed as he glanced once more at the screen. Only his tail revealed his agitation as it twitched from side to side. He turned to face the Fleet Admiral. “I can’t electronically confirm, sir,” he reported and shrugged. “I can visually confirm those ships have launched but they don’t appear on my scope.” The heads of other Kthpok in the room turned in surprise at the report. D’Pan continued, “My equipment is working because it shows the main fleet is there.” He gestured at his station. “I can account for everything out there but those three ships.”
P’Mar waved his tail at the Kthpok. “I understand, Lieutenant,” he said, “keep watching your equipment. Inform me if we have any visitors.” After getting an acknowledgement the Admiral turned to the rest of the Center Room Pack.
“Your attention,” he called. “Those ships are a new development which are vital to our victory,” he announced when all the Kthpok in the Center Room were looking at him. “As you’ve just heard they are invisible to scanning equipment.
“Now, we’re here for more than sightseeing. I want to determine how effective our other weapons are. Let’s get ready for the exercise.”
As the Kthpok turned back to their stations the Admiral keyed in a combination on his intercom. “Yes?” the voice of the Kthpok Run Point was heard.
“Run Point,” said P’Mar. “This is Fleet Admiral P’Mar. I’m glad to report Deception has gone undetected. I recommend Decoy be activated.”
There was a brief pause as S’Cinf considered then he responded. “Approved!” The click of the intercom being disconnected was heard.
P’Mar gave a slight smile at the Run Point’s brusque manner. He stared down at the blank monitor for a moment then called out. “Communications, contact the Commander of Deception. Inform him that the initial stage was successful. I am putting Decoy in effect.” He turned to glare at Lieutenant L’Art. “I want that message confirmed!”
The communications officer repeated the Admiral’s message then moved to open contact with Deception. A moment later L’Art was reporting back. “Deception is acknowledging, Admiral,” he said, “and requests authentication.”
“Send ‘Targeting’, Lieutenant,” replied P’Mar and turned to watch the wall screen. A moment later he saw the drives on the three vessels of Deception flare to life. As the ships began to leave the fleet’s formation the communications officer relayed the acknowledgement of the Admiral’s orders. P’Mar watched the burn of the drives become stars and move off.
When he was sure Deception was out of the area P’Mar took a deep breath and announced, “now that we’ve got that over with it’s time to try out the rest of our new toys. Let’s close on the target sector.”
It took an additional day for the Kthpok fleet to reach a position above the plane of the second asteroid belt. At that point it came to a relative halt.
For this portion of the exercise S’Cinf had joined the Fleet Admiral in the flagships Center Room. P’Mar pointed at the Battle Plot showing the fleet and the asteroids. “As you can see, Run Point, our fleet is now in position for the final portions of the exercise.”
The Kthpok leader twitched his tail in acknowledgment. “From the reports you’ve had forwarded to me the damage inflicted by the humans has been repaired,” he commented.
P’Mar bobbed his head. He chose to respond to the statement rather than comment on his superior’s stating the obvious. “That’s true your Eminence. Hulls have been resealed and armored with the Iidx composites. Weapons have been repaired and upgraded or replaced. Power reactors have been reconditioned and given critical mass. Ship battle caches have been filled, as have the collier ships. We could return to Fairen and wrest our home nest from the talons of the primitives with this fleet.”
“That again?” riposted the Run Point swinging his long neck around to glare at his admiral. His tone was stern and uncompromising. “In order to succeed in destroying the animals we need a secure base from which to operate; a base the humans aren’t aware of. That base has been found here!” S’Cinf jabbed a finger at the deck. “We will take this system from the Iidx.” He jabbed again. “This will be our new home from which our attack on the humans will come. Is that understood?”
P’Mar dipped his head in meek submission. “Good,” said S’Cinf and gestured at the Battle Plot. “I see many more vessels than our original count when we arrived in this system, Fleet Admiral. Your reports also mentioned the increased automation in our vessels. In fact, the newer ships are almost entirely automated.” He took on a thoughtful look. “How will those automated ships complicate our attack?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” replied the Admiral. “Our simulations indicate there shouldn’t be any problems. But…,” the naval officer gave a resigned shrug from his tail. “There are no guarantees in combat, your Eminence.”
The Run Point grimaced. “I think we’ve all learned that principle the hard way, Admiral,” he said in a soft tone.
P’Mar gave a bob of his head. “Now, with your permission Run Point, we’ll begin.”
S’Cinf waved his tail in approval. P’Mar swung his long neck around so he could look at the Kthpok comprising his staff. “Notify all ships we’ll begin our exercise momentarily,” he ordered. “Bring the fleet to Battle Ready.”
He started to swing back to S’Cinf but paused as another thought came. Facing his staff again he said, “Remind the ship captains that this is a live fire exercise. We’ve worked too hard and have too few people to have casualties result from stupidity. Because we’re an endangered species I may not dismember and kill any who cause casualties due to incompetence.” He gave a light growl deep in his throat. “I may not kill the offending officers but when I’m done with them they’ll wish I had.”
“Nice pep talk,” said S’Cinf in a quiet tone when the Fleet Admiral joined him at the Battle Plot. A note of approval was heard in his voice.
“That wasn’t its intent,” replied P’Mar with a tight smile. “I know we’ll take casualties when we face the Iidx. We can’t avoid that. What I hope to avoid now is inflicting damage on ourselves.”
The lighting in the room switched and an alarm sounded cutting the conversation short. The ship’s captain was bringing the Raging to Battle Ready as ordered.
A moment later Commander R’Gon announced, “Fleet confirms Battle Ready Admiral. I show that all weapons have personnel and are powered throughout all ships.”
P’Mar checked the time then called out. “Stage one of the exercise is to begin now!”
The Admiral turned to S’Cinf as the orders were being passed. “Using technology from the Iidx we’ve reduced the personnel requirements,” he said. “Our ships have been refitted with an unprecedented level of automation. The orbital assault craft we’re about to watch are completely automated.”
S’Cinf bobbed his head. “I understand those craft have traditionally sustained the highest losses among all our military. With our numbers so reduced our population has to be conserved. But how will those ships be controlled?”
“The OAC’s will be handled from a control location in their nest vessel,” he replied. “One operator can monitor several ships but he isn’t expected to actually operate a particular vehicle. Although he could if the need arises.” P’Mar gestured with his tail at a suite in the Center Room where several operators were perched. A bank of screens was above the suite. “This set up allows us to monitor the next segment of the exercise,” the Admiral explained. “Each screen will show the view from a particular vehicle. The artificial intelligence installed in each craft should be able to fly through the asteroids and fire pulsers to achieve the objective. We anticipate it’ll be able to handle simple problems. But the complex difficulties that come with battle may be too much for an AI to handle.”
He gave a slight shrug from his tail. “We haven’t been able to assess the capabilities of the AI in a changing situation. This test is set to help us determine the limits of these weapon platforms. After our evaluation we’ll make what changes we have to in their software.”
“The OAC flight is away,” announced R’Gon from his post at Battle Control.
The Battle Plot displayed a series of twenty small icons that detached from a larger vessel. They took up a pre-determined formation with uncanny speed and precision then dropped into the asteroids. Cameras placed in the nose of the drone ships allowed those in the flagship to follow their progress. S’Cinf and P’Mar watched the bank of monitors which showed the dizzying panorama as craft swooped past rolling rocks. The Battle Plot showed the craft moving out of and back into formation.
The Admiral found he was getting nauseous from trying to watch the movement of all the monitors. He looked away from the displays to check the Battle Plot. The icons were now well inside the asteroids, performing an intricate dance to avoid destruction and reach their target.
“OAC’s nearing target,” announced R’Gon.
“One ship gone!” announced one of the operators in the monitoring suite on the tail of R’Gon’s announcement. An icon on the Battle Plot disappeared from the edge of the formation and a display screen dissolved into static. The operator reached over and shut the monitor off so he wouldn’t be distracted.
“Target acquired!” called Commander R’Gon. An asteroid was now framed in nineteen monitors. “Lock achieved and firing.” There was a tense moment as everyone waited for the next report. The screens showed laser pulses streaking from the surviving assault craft streaking towards the tumbling asteroid. Explosions covered the rock and all the displays blanked from the flare.
The Battle Officer announced, “Firing is complete. Flight is altering course to exit the belt and return to base ship.” The images came back online as the OAC’s turned away from the explosion of the target asteroid.
“Another ship lost!” called a tech. An explosion outlining a large rock was seen from a trailing drone ships view.
“Evaluate accuracy and effectiveness of the firing,” ordered P’Mar.
“Ten seconds until exit from the asteroid belt.”
“Ship lost!” For the third time an operator reached up and turned off a monitor that was showing static.
“Analysis of attack coming in,” called the Battle Officer. “It’s on your console, Admiral.”
The Fleet Admiral craned his neck so he could read the report beginning to scroll up his screen. “Formation held fairly well during the approach,” he summarized almost to himself. “Adjustments to that formation were made due to unanticipated asteroid course changes.” A soft cough interrupted his thoughts.
P’Mar looked over at S’Cinf. “Sorry, your Eminence,” he apologized then repeated in a louder voice. “The craft adjusted course to avoid danger and achieve the objective just like live pilots would have.” He shook his head. “But the changes occurred faster and with greater precision than what I’d’ve deemed possible. The targeting was phenomenal.”
The Fleet Admiral’s recitation was interrupted with another report from Commander R’Gon. “Flight has left the asteroids and is moving to dock with carrier.”
“As programmed,” commented P’Mar. “Now, as I was saying, Run Point, analysis indicates the pulses fired by the OAC’s hit within a five yard radius. The target asteroid was obliterated while the flight lost three ships. Projections of the same attack with Kthpok pilots show a loss rate of over seventy-five percent of the attacking force.”
The Run Point bobbed his approval. “The targeting and result of the firing is impressive. What weaponry was used?”
“The pulsers were Kthpok state-of-the-art,” replied P’Mar. “There was no augmenting with Iidx tech.”
“And the composition of the target?”
This time the Admiral had to consult his computer before answering. “It seems to’ve been a standard rock. There’s nothing extra-ordinary.” He paused for a moment as he continued reading. “Long range surveys indicate the presence of some iron.”
“The performance of this exercise was impressive,” repeated the Kthpok leader. “All the more so because the target wasn’t a ball of ice, easily fractured. And that was with Pre-Iidx weaponry?” he asked. P’Mar nodded confirmation. “I can’t wait to see what happens when our new weapons are used,” the Run Point added.
P’Mar used his equipment to call an image of an asteroid to the main view screen. The asteroid was actually a small moon reminiscent of those orbiting the gas giants back home. Two smaller rocks could be seen in orbit around the target. “This is the largest asteroid in our exercise area,” the Admiral told the Run Point. “Our scientists used the data provided by the Bugs to compute the destructive power of the new missiles. The next stage is to determine how well our computations match reality.”
He craned his neck around so he could look at the communications suite. “Orders for the Terranic,” he called. “This is the bombardment test. Three launchers in the forward section, port side are to target the asteroid designated as target Beta. Tubes are to be loaded, ready to fire on my command.”
P’Mar turned back to S’Cinf. “An asteroid of this size and composition is the mass equivalent to two dreadnoughts,” he announced. “We’re going to use three launchers to destroy the target.”
The Run Point’s tail stiffened in surprise and he stared at the image. “Our scientists think it’ll take only three missiles to destroy two dreadnoughts?”
P’Mar gave a twitch of his tail. “It’s the mass equivalent of two dreadnaughts,” he replied. “That’s what the scientists have computed. In real combat we’d have to beat down or confuse defensive fire before doing actual damage. But if our computations are correct all we’ll need is a hit or two from these missiles to eliminate the target.”
“Terranic reports the target has been acquired, launchers ready,” announced Lieutenant L’Art from communications.
“Have them launch,” ordered the Fleet Admiral. An instant later the acknowledgment was announced. Three capital missiles thundered from their launch tubes. The two Kthpok leaders turned to the screen showing the target.
“Ten seconds to target,” came the announcement from R’Gon.
“Augment main screen to show the weapons,” called the Admiral. In response the view screen flickered. The target still showed but now the computer had added the track of the missiles. S’Cinf’s tail began to switch back and forth as the weapons moved through the intervening asteroids and neared their target. Commander R’Gon kept an ongoing countdown as the distances closed. When the countdown reached zero three intense flashes were seen on the surface of the dark asteroid. Filters automatically dampened the blinding wave of light caused by the explosions of three nuclear warheads. A moment later the miniature suns died away leaving only the image of space dotted with distant stars.
“Results!” hissed P’Mar.
Lieutenant D’Pan looked up from his scanning equipment. “Target was destroyed,” he reported. “Scans cannot pick out any pieces at all.”
“That means nothing larger than a foot exists, your Eminence,” said P’Mar to the Run Point. “The bulk of that asteroid was probably vaporized by the warheads.” Then he turned back to the Scan officer. “What did the explosion do to the orbits of nearby asteroids?”
“The shock wave has thrown all surrounding asteroids into new orbits as anticipated,” D’Pan replied. “We’re showing impacts and scattering.”
“Fleet defensive weapons are to be ready,” ordered the Admiral. “As we continue the exercise there’s bound to be a lot of fragments flying around. The defensive stations are to use any incoming fragments for practice. Have the fleet deploy to their pre-assigned positions. Weapons are free in their assigned sectors. Confirm that recording is operational. I want efficiency reports on all stations.”
Orders went out and the fleet began to change its formation. As ships reached their assigned target sectors ranging scans intensified. Missiles erupted from launchers and pulses of light flew from laser mounts. Explosions began to dot the fringes of the belt and moved inward. A moment later smaller balls of fire appeared near the ships caused by fragments of asteroid being targeted by ship defenses.
S’Cinf and P’Mar watched the monitors as statistics showing the missile cache levels, power usage, missiles launched and confirmed hits scrolled up. The Run Point kept silent as the Admiral dictated observations and directions to his staff.
Two hours after it had begun the firing ended. The ship board missile cache levels had been depleted and the count of asteroids in that area of the outer belt had been reduced drastically. Of course, the gravel count had increased and any ship coming into the area would be at risk of being holed. It was anticipated that it would take several weeks for the gravel to disperse to a safe level.
As his fleet returned to convoy formation P’Mar turned to the Run Point. He adopted a respectful pose. “Your Eminence, our scientists will have to examine our records of this exercise in detail,” he said, “but preliminary observations show our forces are now ready for action.”
S’Cinf nodded his agreement. “That is my observation as well,” he replied. “Rearm. Begin assigning targets and priorities. It’s time we began the conquest of our new home.”