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Void Space near the tunnel warped and bended, threatening to break, releasing the Soloth fleet into the bubble of normal space surrounding the emitter station.
“Thirty seconds,” called Mischa Cain from navigation. Renwick watched the macabre scene on his display, watching as the two divergent forms of space fought to occupy the same position in the universe. Only one could win and Renwick knew which one.
“Ten seconds,” called Mischa.
Renwick watched as the Devi and Balrama closed to torpedo range on the Soloth cruiser formation. The Kali hung back a few kilometers, waiting for an opportune moment to launch a torpedo volley and then turn to attack the support ships that would undoubtedly be coming through the tunnel portal at any moment.
Suddenly the tunnel wall gave way.
“Breakthrough!” called Mischa. Renwick expected to see a swarm of war ships appear in the portal opening linking the tunnel to the normal space bubble. He was shocked at what he saw instead.
“Soloth Command ship at the tunnel opening!” he called. “I say again, Soloth Command ship has breached the bubble!”
“Shit,” said Yan, whipping around to scan her tactical console. The main display showed a multi-decked ship with a menacing looking tail, likely a heavy coil cannon. Yan swept over the scan a second time. “They’re holding back the small fry. Forcing us to take on their heavy ships with our torpedoes. I should have seen this coming,” she said, then smacked the console with her hand.
“Orders?” asked Mischa. Yan’s eyes whipped over the display.
“Maintain course and speed,” she said. “Engage enemy cruisers with a single volley of torpedoes, then make for the Command ship. The Devi and Balrama will follow us.”
“Just a single volley?” asked Renwick. “We can’t guarantee we’ll get them all.” A single volley from each of the three Void Ships would result in about thirty torpedoes hitting the cruiser formation. Not enough, considering they were spread out behind a unified energy defense field.
“Goddamn you Renwick! Can’t you just follow my orders once without questioning?” demanded Yan. It was true, he admitted to himself, he couldn’t.
“Captain, on this mission it is my job to function as the ship’s exec. Therefore it is also my job to bring you alternatives,” he said.
“Ten seconds to firing range,” said Mischa.
“I appreciate your input, Mr. Renwick, however-“
“However, thirty torpedoes will not be enough to disable that cruiser formation, captain,” he said.
Yan looked at him angrily. “I’m aware of that,” she said. “We’ll need the rest of the torpedoes to use against the Command ship. Amanda will have to handle the cruisers. Now, will you carry out my orders?”
Renwick contemplated the Soloth crew aboard the cruisers, knowing they were being doomed to a horrible fate at the hands of the anti-graviton field. He hated the choices they had.
“Preparing the volley, captain,” he said. She nodded.
“Coordinate with my board. Follow the volleys of the Devi and Balrama by ten seconds. Just long enough to make them think they survived the first shot,” she said.
“Aye captain,” he replied, his eyes glued to his display console.
The two automated Void Ships launched their volleys simultaneously, then broke off, their vector taking them away from the Soloth cruiser formation. The ten seconds of waiting was an eternity.
Renwick targeted a dense pack of nearly twenty cruisers furthest from the emitter station. The first volleys from the Void Ships would damage them. His follow-up volley would likely destroy many more than the ten ships he targeted.
The first volleys slammed into the approaching cruisers, their coil cannon fire ineffective in stopping the shielded torpedoes. Nuclear-thermal fire lit up the dark normal space bubble as explosions ripped through energy defense fields and melted the hulls of many of the ships. The initial volleys had been spread out to do maximum damage. Renwick watched as the second wave from his volley hit the dense pack of Soloth cruisers.
The resulting flash of the near-simultaneous explosions lit his display to the point that he lost both his tactical and visual feeds for a few moments. The display then corrected itself. The Kali was already breaking off her attack run and making for the Soloth Command ship.
“Tactical report, Amanda,” Yan called. Amanda’s voice echoed through the bridge.
“Twenty-one cruisers destroyed or permanently disabled,” she said. “Four enemy cruisers damaged beyond their capability to fight. Nine cruisers still operational and making course for the station.”
Renwick shook his head as she watched the two fleets diverge, the Void Ships to engage the Soloth Command ship; the cruisers to certain death at the hands of the anti-graviton field.
“They’re all yours now,” said Yan.
“Understood,” replied Amanda.
#
SEVEN MINUTES LATER and the Soloth Command ship was entering firing range of the trio of Void Ships. The smaller ships of the Soloth fleet; HuK’s, destroyers, and frigates, were hanging back, waiting in the tunnel to make their runs once the heavy weapons fighting was over. The Soloth cruisers were three minutes out from the emitter station.
“Triangular formation,” ordered Yan. “The Kali will take the point.”
“Understood, captain,” said Mischa.
“Mr. Kish, I’ll need all the power you have. We’ll have to punch a hole through her energy shields to get under her and fire our torpedoes,” she said.
“Affirmative captain, “ said Kish. “I’ll have one-hundred percent power available to the forward coil cannon batteries.”
“That’s you, Mr. Kish. Mr. Renwick,” said Yan, turning to the Senator. “We’ll need sustained, concentrated coil cannon fire while we try and bust her shields. Once we’re through, you’ll have to switch off the cannon and launch your torpedo volleys before they have a chance to target us with their torpedoes.”
“That’s assuming they don’t get us with their cannon fire first,” said Renwick.
“That’s my job, keeping us away from the cannon batteries,” Yan said.
Renwick nodded acknowledgement. He looked up to watch the progress of the Soloth cruiser fleet. Unknown to them, they would be entering range of the anti-graviton field in slightly less than three minutes, and facing annihilation.
“What do you think the Soloth commanders will do when they see their cruisers cease to exist?” Renwick asked Yan privately over the com.
“Launch everything at us. At least, that’s what I’d do,” she said.
“And we’ll be out of torpedoes and they’ll outgun us with coil cannon fire by a wide margin,” he said.
“Assuming their Command ship has similar armament to our ships of the same class, we can survive their torpedo volleys due to our superior shielding. But their energy weapons will wear us down. We’ll eventually have to retreat to the station, behind the anti-graviton field,” she said.
“Stalemate,” was his response. There was a pause on the line.
“That may be the best we can hope for.” Then she cut the personal line between them and called out “Stations!” for all to hear. It wasn’t really necessary, but it did help them all to focus on the job at hand.
“We are within firing range of the Soloth Command ship,” said Mischa.
“Commence firing, Mr. Renwick. Coil cannon fire concentrated on my coordinates,” ordered Yan. Renwick saw the coordinates as they fed into his console, and he rigged and fired the coil cannon. The cannons of both the Devi and the Balrama also fired simultaneously with him. The three ships maintained their firing angles even as they passed under the enormous Command vessel. The Soloth ship responded with similar weaponry. They stayed together like this, locked in combat, their weapons pounding at each other, each looking for the breakthrough that would tip the scales.
“Their anterior shielding is collapsing!” called Mischa from her station. “We’re through!”
“Advance and volley, Mr. Renwick!” said Yan. “Fire at will!”
Renwick switched off the coil cannon and brought his volley of torpedoes online. It took him only a second to launch.
“Torpedoes away!” he said. His volley was followed by similar shots from both the Devi and the Balrama. The torpedo volleys were countered by flak batteries from the Soloth Command ship, hundreds of orange lancets streaming out to take on the incoming missiles. The torpedoes bobbed and weaved, some even taking hits on their energy screens, but deflecting them away. One or two had their screens overloaded by multiple hits and were destroyed in bright nuclear fireballs while they were still kilometers from their target, but most of them got through.
The Command ship was enveloped in bright white light.
“Multiple hits!” called Mischa as Renwick loaded a second volley.
“Amanda,” said Yan.
“Reporting,” came Amanda’s voice. “Defense capabilities of the Command ship depleted by twenty-one percent.”
“That’s not enough,” said Yan. “Renwick-“
“Second volley away!” called the Senator from his station. Just then the tactical alarm went off. Renwick checked his board. “Multiple torpedoes and interceptors inbound!” he reported.
“So they do have another line of defense,” said Yan as she watched her tactical display. This time the interceptors and flak batteries got nearly half the incoming torpedoes before they detonated.
“Command ship still sixty-five percent operational,” reported Amanda in her monotone after the volley. Then: “Soloth cruisers entering range of the station’s anti-graviton field.” It was a simple statement.
“Amanda,” said Yan. “If you can hold off using your weapon until the last possible moment, it will give us a slight tactical advantage. If the Soloth commanders think they can withstand our barrage and take out the station at the same time, they’ll likely hold back their support ships.”
“Understood,” said Amanda. Renwick watched as the Soloth cruisers passed into the twenty kilometer range of the anti-graviton field. They likely wouldn’t be able to launch until they got within ten kilometers. Renwick turned his attention to the incoming Soloth torpedoes, taking out the missiles with his own flak cannon batteries. He quickly switched back to loading the torpedo launchers.
“I’ll have another torpedo volley ready in ten seconds,” he told Yan.
“Hold your station,” she said, her hand whipping over her console. Abruptly a new display popped up on Renwick’s board.
“What do you make of that?” she asked. Renwick looked at two protruding anterior lobes on the underside of the Command ship.
“I’m no engineer,” he said.
“I am,” said Kish. “Captain, I’d make those for hydrazine fuel tanks, or possibly atomic waste storage, or diffusers.”
“A design flaw, then. And in any of those cases, the contents would be highly volatile,” she said.
“Agreed,” said Kish.
“Mr. Renwick, hold back your torpedo volley. I’m taking the Kali in close. Prepare to fire your forward coil cannon on my command,” said Yan.
“Yan, how close?” he said.
“Point blank range,” she replied.
Renwick took in a deep breath, then switched systems. “Ready when you are captain,” he said. Right on time the two automated Void Ships fired their torpedo volleys, but the Kali broke away, making a run for the fuel tanks as the Soloth defenders pelted her shielding with flak.
“Multiple interceptors fired at us, Captain!” said Renwick, watching as his screen filled with a swarm of the unmanned fighters.
“Keep us on course, Mischa,” said Yan, oblivious to the chaos around her as the Kali’s run exposed her mid-ship to the enemy. Alarms went off as the interceptors and flak batteries did their damage. The Kali stayed true to her run, and Renwick focused on his target.
“Three more seconds, Mr. Renwick... two... one... now! Fire the cannon!”
Renwick fired the heavy coil cannon as orange fire leapt out from the belly of the Kali, striking the exposed tanks and igniting a huge fireball in an instant.
“Get us out of here Mischa!” called Yan over the din of incoming flak, interceptor explosions against the Kali’s hull, and the sound of alarm claxons blaring. The Kali rocked as the Soloth Command ship exploded in flames, many of her decks spewing out escape pods as she listed disastrously from the damage.
“From the size of that explosion, I’d say we got her hydrazine store,” commented Kish from his engineering station.
“Soloth Command ship is at thirty-eight percent efficiency,” came Amanda’s voice over the din.
“That will give them something to think about,” said Yan.
“She’s still got her stinger, sir,” reminded Kish from his station. “That cannon is plenty to fire back with if she wants.”
“Reform the fleet,” said Yan. “Get some distance between us and the Command ship, back towards the station,” she said to Mischa.
“Will they bring in the support ships now?” asked Renwick. Yan nodded.
“Likely, after that bloody nose we just gave them,” she said.
“Captain,” said Mischa. “You should look at this. The cruisers are approaching the emitter station.”
Renwick moved from his station to stand next to Yan, watching the main display. It showed the flotilla of nine Soloth cruisers closing to firing range on the station.
“They’re locking torpedoes on the station,” reported Mischa.
“They just signed their death warrant,” said Renwick. They watched together as the lead cruiser closed on the station. Suddenly a wave of white energy swept out from the station, quickly enveloping the lead ship, then two more. It was like watching them turn to glittering dust in an instant. Seconds later the plasma wave spread over the remaining cruisers, enveloping them. Then the space around the station was empty. Renwick looked away.
“Soloth cruiser fleet eliminated, Captain Yan,” said Amanda’s voice, ringing hollow through the now-quiet bridge of the Kali. “The rest of this battle is now up to you,” she finished, then was gone. Renwick walked away from Yan.
“We had to do it,” Yan said to him as he went. “We had no choice.”
“Yes,” he agreed without turning back.
“And now they’ll come at us with everything they have.”
#
RENWICK WATCHED ON his tactical display as the Soloth Command ship struggled to right herself. Now left bereft of any heavy fleet support, the hundreds of support ships came swarming through the tunnel opening towards the Void ships and the station like angry bees.
“We’ll beat them back to the emitter station,” reported Kish.
“Yes, but what will we do when we get there?” said Renwick. “We can stay behind our trench lines. They won’t come close because of the anti-graviton field. But we can’t win from there either.”
“We’ll have to engage them as best we can,” said Yan. Renwick looked at her, standing next to his weapons console.
“These ships are from another time, and made for heavy fighting. If we try and take on those support ships, they’ll cut us to pieces. Oh, it will take time, but they’ll do it,” he said.
“Do you have another goddamned idea?” she demanded. He shook his head.
“No,” he admitted. He checked his monitor, watching as the support ships spread out like a gray cloud against a dark sky, an incoming swarm. “Let’s get this over with,” he said.
“Mischa,” said Yan, “bring us about to face the Soloth formation.”
“Aye, Captain,” said Mischa.
The small formation closed on the Soloth swarm as the minutes sped by. Renwick recharged the flak cannon batteries, just about the only useful weapon against the smaller displacement ships of the Soloth fleet. Torpedoes would likely just fly right through the formation, the HuK’s, destroyers, and frigates being too swift and maneuverable for the torpedoes to track accurately. The main coil cannon would be equally useless, like trying to smash a flea with sledgehammer.
The Kali and the two automated Void Ships slammed into the forward lines of the Soloth swarm.
“Keep us moving, Mischa. Do not stop to engage, and keep us well back from that Command ship,” said Yan. “Mr. Kish, when my shield power gets below thirty percent I want to know about it. Mr. Renwick, lock your batteries and engage the enemy at will.”
“Yes Captain,” said Renwick. He set the flak battery trackers on auto-fire. They would stay in this mode, automatically tracking and firing at the support ships, unless he chose to override the system and take manual command. Somehow that didn’t seem likely as the auto-fire systems could track and hit the support ships with far more accuracy than he could. Set like this the flak batteries were basically defensive weapons. It was their one advantage, Renwick thought, knowing the Soloth had to attack to complete their mission.
The batteries opened up, firing a series of strafing barrages at the swarming enemy. Some shots found their targets, but all too few to make a significant difference. Eventually the batteries would burn through too much of the Kali’s energy. Then they would have to withdraw to the station, and the stalemate would ensue.
Thirty minutes into the battle and the neither side had gained an advantage.
“Something has to change,” said Renwick out loud, more out of frustration than anything else.
Then something did.
“Captain Yan,” said Mischa, “I’m picking up more scoop signatures! Or rather, one more scoop signature. It’s near the station.”
“Show me,” said Yan. If this was some rogue element of the Soloth fleet, there was no doubt Amanda would disassemble their atoms as soon as they appeared in normal space. The scoop signature pulsed with a dim golden glow against space, then suddenly burst open, clearing a channel into normal space.
“They’re only twelve kilometers from the station,” said Mischa.
“Amanda will handle them,” said Yan, turning back to her console, not willing to watch sentient beings, even adversaries, be separated from their atoms one at a time.
“One scoop ship, Soloth configuration,” reported Mischa. Renwick looked at his board. There were more ships coming through the tunnel opening.
Cruisers.
“We’ve got more cruisers!” he called from his station. This got Yan’s attention and she switched her monitor to visual mode from tactical.
“That opening’s barely big enough for cruisers!” she said. “How did they manage that?”
Renwick eyed his board again. “They’re moving away from the station. Coming in towards our position,” he said calmly. Then he noticed something else. “Wait, these cruisers... something isn’t right, their operating frequencies are off... configuration is... these are-“
Before he could finish the main com system snapped on with an incoming message.
“Void Ship Kali, this is Ambassador Makera. Raelen fleet is joining the battle. I repeat, Raelen fleet is joining the battle.”
“But if Amanda thinks they’re Soloth ships-“ started Renwick.
“Not to worry, Senator,” came the android’s disembodied voice. “I have already identified the Raelen cruisers as allies.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Mischa, contact Makera and let her know they are free to engage any ships at will,” said Yan. Mischa acknowledged and sent the communication.
“You wanted something to change, Senator. It looks like we may not have a stalemate after all,” she said to Renwick. He turned back to his station
“Thank god for that,” he said under his breath.
Fifteen minutes later and all twenty-nine cruisers of the Raelen fleet had come through the scoop opening single file, with bare meters to spare. It was an impressive display of manual flying, and discipline. The Raelen were quickly on top of the engagement, scattering the support ships, pushing them into range of the Void Ship’s flak batteries, and even taking occasional potshots at the Soloth Command ship.
“Things have turned in our favor,” said Yan.
“Finally,” agreed Renwick.
Then they turned again.
“Captain,” said Mischa from her station, a tone of alarm in her voice. “I’m picking up some strange readings from the Command ship.” Renwick immediately turned to his board.
“Confirmed,” he said. “I’m reading multiple internal explosions aboard her. Overloads, internal dampening fields breaking down... it’s like... like she’s imploding.”
“Order the Raelen fleet to break off the attack!” said Yan, alarm in her voice. “Move this ship away from the Soloth, now Mischa!”
Renwick watched his visual display as the Command ship belched out escape pods and lifeboats, hundreds of tiny specks fleeing from the mother vessel. Suddenly a small ship, the size of a command yacht, broke away from her, then turned to flee the battle, speeding away from the fleet.
“Are the Raelen withdrawing?” demanded Yan.
“Affirmative,” said Renwick. “But a small ship, a command yacht or frigate, escaped and is heading back through the tunnel.” He looked at Yan.
“Zueros,” she said, practically spitting out his name. They shared a look of recognition, then an alarm took Renwick back to his display.
The Soloth Command ship collapsed in upon itself, deck after deck breaking down and falling inward. A monstrous explosion blew the ship to pieces, enveloping a large portion of the remaining Soloth fleet in atomic destruction.
“She’s gone,” said Yan. After a long moment of silence on the bridge she spoke to Mischa.
“Send out a general surrender call. I assume they have translating equipment on board. And suspend the attack. Began rescue and recovery operations,” she said.
“Yes, Captain Yan,” said Mischa.
With that, Captain Tanitha Yan turned away from the command console and headed for the galley.
#
TWO DAYS LATER AND Renwick had completed the surrender negotiations with the surviving Soloth fleet captain, a woman named Kai’Ina. He was glad to be back in a more familiar role, that of diplomat, and privately he wished he would never see battle again.
The Soloth themselves looked very much like Zueros, though Renwick doubted anything about him, most especially his appearance, could be trusted. They had light gray to white hair mostly, with some darker gray mixed in, and crimson tinged skin. Other than these obvious differences they appeared very much like the rest of the Successor races.
Kai’Ina revealed what Yan and Renwick had suspected, that Zueros had portrayed himself as a representative of the Preservers to gain their trust and had convinced her government that the other Successor races were an enemy who had created the ‘other Void’.
“What ‘other Void’?” Renwick had asked. The one that had encompassed Soloth space for the last three centuries, Kai’Ina explained. Their systems were far enough distant that the Void surrounding the Soloth home world wasn’t even visible from the Known Cosmos. Nonetheless, Zueros had convinced her government that the Void was an attack by the other Successor races, and had managed to gather the fleet to bring it across vast space to attack the emitter station, all for his own purposes. When all was settled it turned out the Soloth, the Unity, the Gataan, and the Raelen had much more in common than not.
On the third day after the battle Kai’Ina and the surviving Soloth fleet members, less than a thousand out of nearly ten thousand souls, were allowed to make their way home on their remaining ships, but without their weapons at Makera and Yan’s insistence.
Kai’Ina agreed to carry an offer of a diplomatic mission from the races of the Known Cosmos to the Soloth home world, though she did not promise how it would be received.
Renwick had to be satisfied with that.