Alpha One - Chris Burton [70]
Yoshi realized early on, that Alpha intended to split the Sentinel Fleet. He bolstered the defenses surrounding his command ships to try to stop this tactic from working. Yoshi knew Alpha looked to prey on the Sentinels’ perceived weaknesses and, in particular, battle strategy. Yoshi smiled. They may have been successful against General Timona and his Northern Fleet, but they won’t out-tactic me, he thought. then sat back and sent out a sequence of reactions to Alpha battle strategies. Yoshi would take the battle to Alpha.
At the outermost flanks at both ends of the Sentinel front line, ten Dark Ships stood silently. Right now they were undetectable, and they were ready to launch their deadly offensive. General Yoshi had positioned the Dark Ships, so that they would be invisible and yet they could strike the enemy fleet within moments of Yoshi issuing the command.
He briefed them before now, Each Commander would want to carry out their own preparation before commencing their offensives, and, what with the large Betanica Sect presence in his fleet, he didn’t wish to antagonize the Sect, with the inevitable backlash that would follow. The Sect controlled the power lords, and ultimately they controlled General Yoshi. Protocol must be observed.
He was ready and his fleet would soon gain the upper hand.
He gave the attack signal to the Dark Ships’ Commanders via remote sub-space relay transmission, with the signal bouncing off strategically placed remote comm boosters which surrounded the Sentinel Fleet. The signals would not be detected, nor would the Dark Ships as they carried out their silent attack.
The Dark Ships eased forward and set a course for the Alpha Fleet. Undetected, they slowly gathered pace and brought themselves into position inside their tactical atomic weaponry range. They were too close for Alpha to destroy the missiles before they hit their targets.
The brutal destructive force of eighty low-yield atomic missiles hit the center of the Alpha Fleet. The impact was immediate, with a huge fireball rising up from the epicenter of the mass explosion, instantly obliterating everything in its range. A huge gas cloud engulfed the whole fleet and suddenly there was silence.
The Dark Ships had done their jobs for now and they returned to their posts, primed and awaiting the call from Yoshi to attack once again.
Yoshi smiled. He knew he had the upper hand, but there was not much he could do to press that advantage home. Visibility was zero, with the gas cloud having engulfed the entire battle scene and both fleets. He would be ready to strike again with equally devastating force when the time was right.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Devastation
The attack was unexpected. They were aware of the potential for a nuclear attack and that some vessels within the Sentinel Fleet possessed dark shield characteristics, which rendered them nearly invisible. What Alpha had not expected was that Yoshi would use this tactic so early on and to such ruthless effect.
Admiral Rose stood in front of his team of commanders and listened to the damage assessment. Commander Schneider was tasked with summarizing the damage and was now drawing his speech to a close.
“In summary, we have lost fifty two vessels, including twenty-eight ships of the line, with a likely death toll of ten thousand plus. In addition, thirty-five vessels have reported significant damage, with eleven likely to have to retire from the main fleet to conduct extensive repairs. Two ships are adrift and await salvage.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Rose scratched his forehead, sighed and sat down.
“Okay…We are probably fortunate that the gas cloud has prevented the Sentinels from forcing home their advantage.