Read Siege of Titan (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 1) Page 28
* * *
The battle between the two great naval juggernauts continued and it appeared that the older battleship was taking slightly more damage. The battle was hardly one of skills and tactics. It was simply a battle of engineers, gunners and firepower as each ship tried to put out more firepower than the other over a given time. The old battleship was starting to inch its way back to the Naval Station but with the damage both ships were taking neither could move quickly.
“Admiral, she’s moving, we can’t shield the Station from this range,” said Commander Anderson.
Admiral Jarvis examined the tactical screen in detail as well as the engineering section. She had her hand raised to her face and it looked as if she was trying to mentally crunch a large volume of numbers.
“How many marines do we have on board?” she asked.
The Commander was taken aback for a moment, as his brain seemed to block the answer to such a simple question. He shook his head as the numbers returned.
“Uh, three companies of marines, most of them are assisting in the medical bays,” he replied.
“What do you think of our reports on the experimental Sanlav Rounds?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sanlav Rounds? The experimental canister shots, Admiral?”
The Admiral nodded as she waited for his thoughts.
“Well, from the reports they seem excellent at damaging or destroying light to medium armour at range. What they lack in depth penetration they gain in a wider damage pattern. What are you thinking, Admiral?” he asked unsure what to expect.
“We need to keep her from the Station but we won’t do it with guns alone. My suggestion is a simple one but it has been done well enough in the past. We double-charge batteries, use our speed to close the distance and give her a broadside at point-blank range. With that amount of fire we should be able to reduce her crew numbers, if not her weapon system, and clear the way for a boarding party,” she said.
“Boarding party? You mean to take her?” he said incredulously.
“No, no, we don’t have the time or the manpower for that. All we need to do is disable her engines.”
“Or her power plant, Admiral. Without power she will be dead in the water and weaponless,” he added.
“Excellent, so we rake her flank, board her and then cripple her power plant. Outstanding!” she said with a grin.
The Admiral turned from her executive officer and towards Lieutenant Nilsson.
“Lieutenant, get me Lieutenant Erdeniz, I believe he is on the gun deck,” she ordered.
* * *
Deep in the fighting decks of the Crusader the gun crews maintained the weapon systems and kept the ship in the battle. Lieutenant Erdeniz, although still wearing his bandages from injuries sustained in the attempted revolt on the ship, was standing at his post. Though there were metres of armour and two more decks between him and the CCS Victorious it was still a terrifying experience. In the last twenty minutes there had been two major breaches and the second one had vaporised one of his gunners before his eyes. This part of the ship was superheated and everybody working there was dripping in sweat.
His information on the rest of the ship was limited but he had seen the medical figures and it was clear to all onboard that the medical bays were to be avoided unless absolutely critical. His best guess was that they had already sustained two or three hundred dead with about the same number injured. It was high losses and as each member of the crew was removed from action the workload for those left increased. His crew of twenty-four engineers, gunners and loaders had already been whittled down to nineteen with one battery knocked out of action, three dead and two badly wounded.
“How are we doing?” he asked as he moved along the gantry checking on the three remaining gun batteries.
“Third battery is running hot, we’ve got maybe four or five volleys left and I’ll need to swap the rails out,” replied Gunner Thomas.
“Are you sure, can you reduce the power and keep them running?” asked the Lieutenant.
“Well, we could but that will cut the velocity down to half, Sir,” he replied as he turned, waiting for an answer.
“Do it, we can’t afford to take any chances in this fight. Maintenance can wait, right now every gun needs to keep firing!” he gave the order.
The wall-mounted intercom alarm started to blare, indicating that the command staff needed to speak with him. He moved off the gantry and down to the main command terminal.