Alpha One - Chris Burton [77]
Battles in space are more than three-dimensional. A commander has the flexibility to move his vessels both up and down as well as back and forth and left and right. In this environment it was clear General Yoshi needed to act quickly to prevent Alpha from running away with victory. He didn’t have the initiative, but he did have the numbers and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Yoshi moved the main body of the fleet forward and upward sufficient to maintain a viable distance between the two fleets. In doing so he removed the threat from the sub-space void, which was in ‘no man’s land’ between the main Alpha Fleet and their sub fleet. Ironically this would act as a defensive buffer and would prevent the mini-fleet commander from attacking from the rear. He then gradually bolstered the defenses around the right and left flanks of each of the newly created sections of his fleet, and gradually built up a new front line. Once again, his fleet was whole and he could engage Alpha, albeit with currently-limited operational shield capability.
Throughout this process he continued to deploy a mass defensive strategy against Alpha’s probing attack. He was losing ships fast, and he needed to create greater cohesion to prevent losses from accumulating too quickly. He still had Dark ships and atomic weapons and they represented the best chance of stemming the tide and creating equilibrium long enough for the shield imbalances to be resolved.
He gave the order for a further deployment of Dark ships and their deadly cargo, almost exactly twenty-four hours after the original atomic attack. Ten more Dark ships deployed and made their way toward the Alpha Fleet. This time they were sighted before they could get close enough for accurate penetration, but they were still able to deploy their atomic yield before they were outgunned by the Alpha vessels that surrounded them. The dark ships and the pursuing Alpha vessels were caught in the mass of the nuclear explosion and were destroyed instantly. A gas cloud began to permeate the battle scene and, once again, an enforced ceasefire existed.
Commander Schneider was handed, in his opinion, by far the most difficult task of the three fleet command subordinates. His brief was to deal with the media and the crew in the aftermath of the sub-space detonations. He had just sent out a fleet-wide crew briefing which explained, in summary, that sub-space weapons were deployed and that they were effective. In this communication he had made no attempt to explain why these weapons were deployed. He merely reported the facts. Now he must face a more difficult task.
He previously spoke to the Fleet’s Media Co-coordinator and requested the scheduled daily briefing for the media who accompanied the fleet be brought forward. The meeting was now to be held aboard the flagship in one of the observation lounges in the lower decks. From here, the press could witness the battle, what little they could now see of it, as the newly formed atomic gas cloud began to take shape.
Schneider arrived five minutes before the scheduled start of the briefing, and was pleased to see that the media representatives were asked to wait outside while presentational aids were set up. This was standard protocol aboard Alpha fleet vessels, but unless controlled was frequently ignored by the media.
He was now ready and he gave the order for the media team to be allowed in.
Lieutenant Commander Mike Penance was the Media Co-coordinator for the Fleet, and was responsible for the welfare and overall management of the fifty-strong Media team. It was his responsibility to provide daily update briefings on the state of the battle as it unfolded. Today, just twenty-four hours into the conflict was due to have been his first briefing. He was not surprised when Schneider had contacted him and requested a special briefing. To coordinate the movement of the various Media personnel to the flagship was a logistical nightmare, but Penance took