Star Force: Shiva (SF98) (Star Force Origin Series) Page 7

  Then again, leaving themselves with so few ships of their own…only 483 to cover the Mach’nel…was inviting a fight. Ethan knew they wanted to be hit or left free to destroy the Sentinels, and the only reason he could think for that was a distraction so their other fleet segments would face less opposition or because they wanted a chance to hit the jumpships. This fight was going to be messy and he was going to lose far more than they were, but he was going to do damage. As arrogant as they might be, after that first confrontation both sides should have learned what the other was somewhat capable of, meaning that either they uncharacteristically didn’t care about taking losses or they were so incensed by the ambush they just wanted another fight that badly.

  But there was a creeping sensation on Ethan’s spine that he couldn’t shake that said something else was in play, but the only way to find out now was to engage…and in a few minutes from their departure jump they would be.

  Drones and jumpships were moving around the star system constantly, repositioning from planet to planet to counter the V’kit’no’sat movements, leaving him with a drone count of just under 400,000. That was nearly a thousand drones for every V’kit’no’sat ship ahead of them, and if this battle turned into a slugging match with no one running he could possibly lose them all.

  The good thing about having a fleet of ‘tiny’ ships was that the big enemy ones couldn’t chase them all down. Order them to scatter and run and almost all of them would get away, so Ethan had the option of cutting and running more than the V’kit’no’sat did…and he intended to surround them in a way that would cut off their escaping jumplines so they couldn’t run except through his drones, damaging themselves on the way. The Mach’nel could weather that, so he doubted he was going to get a chance to pin it in place even if the rest of its escorts were not there, which was yet another reason why it was such a pain in the ass to counter.

  But it was one ship and could only be in one place at one time, so right now he needed to thin the V’kit’no’sat ship count so Star Force would have the upper hand in fleet movements rather than having to scramble to cover multiple targets simultaneously.

  Ethan had the smallest drones, the cutters, flying in ahead of the rest. They were easy kills, but if the V’kit’no’sat ships targeted them it would spare the larger ones a bit longer…which was why they completely ignored them and targeted the heavy cruisers and scattering of battlecruisers first off.

  But those he had with their shields full forward and nearby auxiliary shield ships to help soak up damage, taking the brunt of the incoming weaponsfire and surviving it in the first few seconds save for the Tar’vem’jic that ceased firing on the Sentinels and started hitting multiple drones with single shots as Ethan tweaked their alignments along where it was shooting to help avoid overlapping targets, for the beam was so powerful it punched through shields, armor, hull and kept on going to whatever else was behind it.

  With the cutters and corvettes being ignored, Ethan’s pilots drove them into the defensive formation the V’kit’no’sat were sitting in and shot between the gaps, drawing fire from the lateral weaponry that otherwise couldn’t shoot at the approaching ships, but also forcing the V’kit’no’sat to even out their shields a bit. They couldn’t put them full forward like most of the drones were, otherwise the smaller drones could hit them in the rear…and they were coming in such high numbers that their combined weaponsfire would be able to punish them if they did.

  When the approaching bowl-shaped formation slammed into the V’kit’no’sat sphere and merged with the outer edge, the Mach’nel near the top began to move through it to the front where it could engage with all its weapons and soak up damage by making itself an easy target, but the Star Force drones didn’t fall for it. Not a single shot landed on it as they flew around the big shark like schools of tiny fish…as the Era’tran ships on the backside of the formation quietly repositioned to the flanks and made microjumps away from the fight.

  “Here they come,” Ethan said unnecessarily, transmitting only to his group of jumpships so the lag wouldn’t cause any confusion, for the Era’tran were accelerating so hard this close in to the star that they covered the distance in seconds, braking just as hard against Sol’s gravity and coming out remarkably close to 36 different jumpship clusters, including Ethan’s, with two or three ships each.

  Immediately Ethan detected jamming fields popping up and 3 of the 11 means he had to control the drones failed. All he needed was one, so there was no disruption in the combat, but it was now obvious that the V’kit’no’sat were testing the strength of the control signals in an attempt to find the Achilles heel of their fleet structure even as they opened fire on his command ship from a Kafcha and a Domjo.

  Ethan immediately had his ships make a jump of their own, which disrupted their control ability momentarily, though other ships would pick up the slack if needed and the drones would continue on automatic commands issued just prior to the jump by Ethan and the others who reacted instantly to the appearance of the Era’tran. Almost as soon as the enemy appeared the Star Force ships vanished as a lateral jump was made, keeping their distance from the Mach’nel the same but not letting themselves get baited into fighting.

  The Era’tran ships pursued, however, and their speed was at least the equal of the jumpships and his command ship, though not so superior as to give them the ability to close to weapons range easily. Ethan kept redirecting his group, hampering their ability to direct the fight and relying on the jumpships groups that were not being engaged to carry the load…which was why he’d had them split up into so many groups earlier.

  And as long as these Era’tran ships were pursuing them they wouldn’t be killing drones, thus making those currently engaged live a bit long and take some more V’kit’no’sat ships with them as Ethan called for a section of those engaging to pull back, some 630 drones, and brought them out to him as the other jumpship groups continued evading as planned.

  Ethan stopped his fleeing when they met up with the drones and his jumpships popped out their own that they’d been holding onto, increasing the count to 1054, as he quickly brought them into a battle formation and dared the two V’kit’no’sat ships to strike.

  To his surprise they did, with the big dreadnaught heading straight in to fire on a jumpship but having drones partially block it. The Var’ko sliced through the open conduit and hit the jumpship’s shields that were focused heavily into that corridor as it fired back with its bloon launchers and green Bra’hems…then the Kafcha got rammed by four drones. The impacts were so slow that no dampener shields activated, or maybe the Era’tran got caught off guard, because when shields met shields the gravity drives on the drones pulsed and did a ‘one inch punch’ version of naval warfare, sacrificing their structural integrity as their shields breached and they physically pushed against the Era’tran’s shields until they popped…though there wasn’t much left of the drones after they did to hit the hull.

  The impact shoved the dreadnaught off its trajectory and one of the cutting beams sliced through a destroyer rather than hitting the jumpship as Ethan’s command ship shot forward, drones parting to make way, and unloaded every weapon it had on the now unshielded behemoth before it, targeting specific points on the 36 mile wide monster and plucking weapons and shield generators before the return fire could eat through the command ship’s shields…specifically those that held the V’kit’no’sat dampening generators.

  Ethan knew he was putting himself and the jumpships in danger, but they only had two ships to contend with and had the advantage of movement…plus he needed to know what the fat Era’tran ships were capable of. With the command ship and the surrounding drones peppering the exposed sections of the hull and ripping apart defense mounts rather than randomly shooting the thick armor to break through to the interior, they utilized the blueprints on file that exactly matched the Era’tran ship before them…telling them exactly where to strike.

  As soon as enough of the dampening shield
emitters were destroyed, Ethan had drones flee the engagement only to turn around and jump through corridors in the beehive surrounding the enemy ships. They impacted the dreadnaught fast enough that Ethan couldn’t even see them, only the huge reverse direction mushrooms of debris that splintered out as the drone masses hit the armor and punched through it.

  More drones came in on kamikaze runs, hammering the Era’tran ship so hard that it turned and ran despite its massive size advantage. The Domjo, which had been mostly ignored as it tried to get to one of the jumpships and was being kept at bay with a wall of drones catching fire in between, flew up into position over top one of the largest holes and extended its shields to help cover the dreadnaught as it moved out through the surrounding drones, having to push some out of the way to get clear, but Ethan ordered the others to give it room…for he didn’t actually want it to stay and fight to the death, for it could probably take some of his people with it.

  The Era’tran vessel managed a slow jump out, hurt badly but still with navigational options as the untouched Domjo, about half the size of the jumpships, kept pace with it as if it expected Star Force to try to land a finishing blow.

  But Ethan didn’t send the drones after it or pull others away from the main fight, though he did keep an eye on it as he relinked with the main group and his pursuit was no longer interfering with their ability to direct the fight…though he noticed that the ships in the main brawl were now all emitting jamming fields trying to disable the drones. He just hoped they didn’t get clever enough to detect and interfere with all 11 channels, though the 11th was really a short range last option, in that it required a direct line of sight beam that needed the precise coordinates of both to operate on, meaning there were really 10 channels for this type of combat that would have to be blocked, and right now the V’kit’no’sat were still letting 7 through.

  Apparently they figured that out as well, because they were not committed to losing the bulk of their ships in this fight. After doing a good amount of damage to the drones the escorts began jumping out closer to the star with the Mach’nel staying behind to provide cover fire. It was the last ship out, but before it left it fired on the remains of several partially destroyed V’kit’no’sat ships, completing their destruction and insuring that no prisoners could be taken. Once it completed the cleanup while shrugging off the weaponsfire now totally directed towards it, the J’gar vessel made its own jump out and left the rubble field behind.

  Ethan did not order a pursuit, but rather sent drones out to assist the still evading jumpship groups that the Era’tran had not completely let go yet. The trailblazer sensed some frustration on their part, for the Star Force ships wouldn’t stand their ground and fight, continually evading them with just enough navigational prowess to avoid the Era’tran getting targeting locks, but they did finally break off when scores of drones came towards them, perhaps fearing a repeat of the tactics used to damage the other Kafcha.

  Regardless, they jumped away and reformed with the Mach’nel…only to see that fleet split up into even smaller groups that then headed towards the spreading Sentinels.

  “So be it,” Ethan said, realizing they weren’t going to give him a chance to catch his breath. They were going to hit the Sentinels directly now that they couldn’t overlap their fields of fire to such a degree as before. This was what he’d hoped for, but now he had to move quickly else all he’d gain from it was some shield loss or light damage to the V’kit’no’sat ships…and the Mach’nel was heading towards a target of its own.

  That one he’d have to let go, but the others were going to be hit and probably done so quickly, not allowing the drone fleet to fully engage…and Ethan was going to have to split them up, reducing their numerical advantage, which was more a threat to the controlling jumpships than anything else.

  But this is what the naval division had been trained for, and if the V’kit’no’sat wanted to fight in the shadow of the Sentinels then so be it. With the drones spread they couldn’t threaten the Mach’nel, so it was going to kill all the Sentinels one by one anyway, but they’d have to keep the other ships engaged in order to prevent another massed assault just like the previous one…and the V’kit’no’sat now realized that Star Force was going for their ‘smaller’ ships and not the Mach’nel, and they intended to make them pay for it.

  But Ethan was going to exact a price for those destroyed Sentinels, and no matter how much of a navigational advantage the V’kit’no’sat had, he had more ships to move around and herd them with, meaning he was going to kill some more of them…regardless of how many drones he had to burn to do it. There were heavily guarded factories in this system producing more, not to mention other fleets in nearby systems on their way. It was the V’kit’no’sat that had a limited number of ships for this assault, assuming they hadn’t arranged for reinforcements, and thus far Ethan hadn’t seen them send a courier back asking for help…nor were any long range signals possible unless they’d reestablished a bit of their comm network this far out prior to coming here, which he doubted.

  All of which meant that they were probably on their own here and choosing to fight them without reinforcements, possibly to accumulate data on their new enemy, and probably at least a bit because they were irate. Regardless, they weren’t taking time to consider their options. Whatever plan they had, they were working it quickly and Ethan had to keep up else give them another advantage to work.

  And with them having so many already, any slip-up on his part would cost them a lot more drones and perhaps some ship crews, though so far they were clean on that count. None of the jumpships or command ships had been destroyed or damaged, save for a few scratches on his own hull where the shields had momentarily failed.

  Ethan didn’t know how long they’d be able to keep that clean record, but so far the trades in losses were acceptable…despite the carnage of drones and Sentinels now spread across two locations in this system, neither of which they had time to clean up, and there were about to be a lot more in the varied locations they were racing to now, all of which had to be tagged as ‘no flight’ regions on the battlemap so ships didn’t jump through them and kill themselves on the impromptu mines.

  8

  Rio’s fleet arrived at Titan prior than the Shiva ships, picking up the handful of command ships and jumpships that had fled when their drones had been overrun. Rather than stick around and do a little more damage as they died, they’d made the right choice of running and had even managed to draw off a few V’kit’no’sat ships to one of the nearby Sentinels, taking refuge there and getting the enemy to dive into their firing zone. One Brat’mar ship had been damaged before fleeing, but it had been unsuccessful in destroying any of the Star Force vessels…though a jumpship had its docking array half destroyed, but the crew inside were still safe.

  It repositioned along with the others in Rio’s fleet as they gathered, drawing in more and more drones from across the Saturn microsystem and surrounding the Ribbon that they were forced to watch get boarded, for if they engaged too quickly they’d be wasting drones. They had to gather their strength before they struck, and Rio wasn’t going to wait for the Shiva ships to arrive before he started doing some poking…taunting the V’kit’no’sat ships out now that their range limitations were nearly the same as their own.

  There were several short-lived scraps that did damage to both sides but with no V’kit’no’sat kills prior to the 620 Shiva arriving with their bulk still smaller than the average enemy ship, but far larger than the drones that reformed around them. Now Rio had vessels that could soak up damage, especially with the shield ‘element’ they were designed with. They also contained Ardent, given their larger hulls, while the best the drones and jumpships had were Bra’hem.

  Rio’s command ship had the smallest Ardent Star Force had built to date, but the Shiva ships had those of equal size to what the Sentinels carried, though less in number. When Rio brought all of his ships in towards the V’kit’no’sat in three differen
t groups and began firing at them from range they didn’t have the luxury of sitting back and weathering the storm…for while they could pick off drones fairly easily, the Shiva ships were not going to go down fast and the Ardent they carried packed a hell of a punch.

  Add to that, their shields had been configured to mitigate some 40+ percent of the damage from Var’ko, and could be adjusted to several other preplanned modes if needed to counter specific V’kit’no’sat weapons, making them even harder to take out…and if the V’kit’no’sat focused on them, the regular drones would be free to sting them to death en mass, leaving the assembled ships the choice of fighting it out and potentially losing most of their number or running away and leaving their boarding parties stranded while they called for assistance.

  They chose the former, but Rio wasn’t going to let them stall this out long enough to get reinforcements from the other attack groups roaming around the system and hitting a myriad of targets. He took his Shiva augmented fleets, tweaked their formations to his liking, and rammed them down their throats just above the Ribbon. Apparently afraid that weaponsfire might damage it and their troops inside, the V’kit’no’sat ships drew the battle away laterally and Rio obliged, coming in close enough with his command ships to enter the fight and drawing several I’rar’et ships around in a flanking maneuver to get at him and the other jumpships stationed further back.

  But they weren’t that far back this time and opened fire on the flankers, making them either leave Rio’s command ship alone and cross the distance to them or weather the storm of their Bra’hem and Bloon launchers as they tried to take out the source of the remote control signals. Seeing that the command ship was the smaller of the vessels they opted to go to it, but Rio just dove further into the fray and cycled back several drones, including two of the smaller Shivas, to cover for him while the jumpships pounded the I’rar’et, who had to come to an almost complete stop to target him.