Alpha One - Chris Burton [55]
Shenke pondered his next move. It was again a political decision, resting on his shoulders only. He could not take unilateral action against the Partacian ships, but he would most certainly take action if they fired upon him. This time he would not waste time with warning shots. He decided the best course of action was defensive. He would increase velocity just prior to entering the gas cloud. This could give the mini-fleet vital extra minutes when travelling though the anomaly. He rearranged the fleet so the least vulnerable ships were positioned at the rear of the fleet and all vessels set their shields to maximum. Any fire from the Partacians would have to be delivered head-on. The rear ships would deliver a salvo of teutonic torpedoes consecutively until supplies were exhausted or they left the anomaly, which ever came soonest. His team had calculated that, at 100,000 kilometers per hour, following roughly the established navigational path, it would take up to thirty hours to clear the cloud at its narrowest point. The teutonic torpedoes from the vessels deployed at the back would run out before they cleared the cloud, but they could revert to more specialist forms of weaponry.
There was never any question of troubles in the Partacian leg of his fleet’s latest voyage. The Partacians proved amicable and helpful to the extreme. Not so, he thought. He had the power to knock out their archaic vessels with ease, but politics was a greater power. He had no choice but to play the waiting game and see what happened.
Two hours later, the cloud became visible to the rear of the mini-fleet. Jonathan Hoskins briefed his crew, and the Halo 7 took its place alongside seven other Battle Cruisers. He transferred thirty percent reserve power to his rear-most shields and took his ship to Condition Blue. Fleet command issued the order to increase velocity to SD5, and he could already see the Partacians had not responded. They would try to match the speed, but their vessels’ acceleration was limited and they were too slow to increase to sub-stellar speed as they entered the nebula.
Hoskins was relieved that he didn’t have to call on his jump ships once again. The loss of his pilots affected him badly, probably because losses in this region of space was unexpected. It was not thought a bad thing to be anxious over the loss of his crew. It was best not to be blasé over such issues. You could never get used to the loss of human life.
The order to slow to sub-stellar speed came and the mini-fleet decelerated swiftly, the fleet shield system compensating for the minor discrepancies in velocity to ensure the fleet cohesion remained intact. Momentarily the fleet entered the nebula.
Almost immediately, the cloud yielded its deadly influence over the fleet. Gamma radiation levels increased tenfold, and the radiation made communications with Fleet command impossible. Hoskins was on his own, but he was ready for battle.
Admiral Shenke didn’t understand. He was certain the Partacians would follow his fleet into the gas cloud, but after forty minutes there was no sign of them. Surely the diplomats had not resolved the trespass issues?
Then reality set in. They entered the cloud, but by a different and faster route known only to themselves. The bastards were sitting on top of them, and they would shortly be in range for an assault on the Alpha fleet below. This made the fleet vulnerable. He must think quickly.
Their cunning will be their undoing, thought Shenke. The Partacian fleets position on top of the Alpha Fleet meant they were at risk from multiple warhead fire from over forty Alpha vessels. The fleet commanders had the foresight to arm all their torpedo tubes in advance, and instead of facing sixty-odd teutonic torpedoes in one go they faced hundreds.
Shenke gave the order to fire almost immediately. He no longer cared if his actions prejudiced the political situation.