"Destroyed by a single shot!"
Bruce smiled; the AI and the new weapons were proving their worth.
But there were many enemies and only forty-nine Behemoths. Two had been already destroyed.
***
"Captain Kould," called the High Priest. "The Godless Others use AIs."
"I noticed," said Kould, frustrated, and cut off the communication. The last thing he needed was a High Priest commenting on the obvious.
"A hundred ships together!" he ordered the AI. "Destroy the closest Behemoth."
Captain Kould didn't know it, but he used the same tactics as the Hwzeenn had all that time ago in their final battle against the Strangers. A hundred ships moved as one, and destroyed another Behemoth.
The other Kaitians took notice and let the AIs form groups of ships ranging from just a few to hundreds of ships moving as one.
"Ha ha ha!" laughed Kould almost maniacally as he watched how several Behemoths were destroyed.
"Continue!" he shouted. "Kill them all!"
***
"Admiral!" shouted Marya, panicking as the Kaitian ships destroyed yet another Behemoth.
"Hell and damnation!" cursed Bruce.
"Fall back! To the edge of the system!"
They had no choice but to retreat and regroup as the Kaitians destroyed the Miccvan mining colony.
Bruce hit his fists against the console and the pain caused him to curse aloud.
He opened the intercom to all the ships. "Suggestions? Our situation is not good. Make it better!"
"The only thing what we can do is to use their own tactics," said one the Miccvan commanders. "We combine our ships and strike them one by one."
"Agreed," said another commander.
"Do it, then," said Bruce. "And fast."
It was fast; Bruce was still nursing his hurt fist when one of the commanders informed they were ready.
"Ready to attack," the commander said. "On your command."
"Make it so," said Bruce.
Nobody had remembered that when the AIs were given full command, they redirected all the possible energy to fight the Kaitians and so several systems that were unnecessary for battle were shut down.
One of the systems that was shut down was the artificial gravity.
"Whoa!" yelled Bruce as he started to float. "Grab on to something! We're on a hell ride!"
And so they were.
All the Behemoths moved as one and the Kaitians scattered before them. Dozens of Kaitians were destroyed before they could regroup.
"Ah!" shouted Marya in pain when the Behemoths made a tight turn and she twisted her arm.
"Marya!" called Bruce. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, sir," said Marya, although she'd hurt her arm badly.
"Sir!" she called, but Bruce already saw it. The Kaitians destroyed Behemoths much faster than Behemoths could destroy them. They'd already lost half of the Behemoths and nearly all the smaller ships.
Bruce had no choice but to retreat.
He yelled in frustration, "Retreat! To hyperspace!"
***
"Don't let them escape!" shouted Kould as the Behemoths turned around and opened an entry point to hyperspace.
But too late: the Behemoths escaped after half of them were destroyed. Kould could consider himself victorious.
"Well done, Captain Kould," called the High Priest.
Kould didn't respond. He ordered the fleet, still in very good shape, to advance to the next target. One by one, they moved toward the Godless Others' home world; there, the fate of the galaxy would be decided.
"Captain," one of his lieutenants called. "The Divine Command has ordered the attack on the home world of Godless Ooktians."
"Finally," grunted Kould. He'd advised them to start the attack simultaneously with the others, but the High Priests had decided otherwise. And only the Black Gods knew why.
32
"Admiral!" called Jeffery. "The scouts report that the enemy is moving. They're coming here!"
The Sea of Boston, along with most of the Human Empire Navy, were at the Ooktian home world and ready to defend it to the last ship.
"We are ready for them," said Jiao confidently--and with good reason. The human ships were equipped with new black energy ray weapons. The rumors said they were based on the Strangers' technology, but Jiao doubted that. In addition, the genetic weapons were ready to be used against the Kaitians.
Jeffery shared Jiao's confidence. "Yes, ma'am. We're ready."
"Open a channel to the fleet," she ordered.
"Ready, ma'am," said Jeffery.
"Warriors!" said Jiao in loud voice. "Human Empire and Coalition warriors! The enemy is coming and we must defend the Ooktian home world at all cost! And I do mean all cost! The Human Empire will defend our Ooktian brothers and sisters to whatever end awaits us! Because if we do not, the Coalition will fall and we will not allow it!Are you ready to fight?"
The loudspeakers relayed roars from the ships.
"Today we will be victorious! Tomorrow we are legends!" said Jiao.
Again roars were heard in all the ships. Jiao smiled and closed the channel.
"Good speech, Admiral," said Jeffery. "Short and to the point."
"Thank you, Jeffery," she said. "How long until the enemy is here?"
"No more than thirty minutes," said Jeffery.
***
"They're here," said Jeffery, as the Kaitian fleet emerged from hyperspace at the edge of the system.
"Looks like they mobilized all their forces for this one attack," said Jiao.
"Confirmed," said Jeffery. "The count is almost exactly the all the known enemy ships in Coalition space."
"Order all ships to hold," said Jiao. "Let's see their move first."
Jeffery acknowledged the order and the human and Coalition ships stood still. But so did the Kaitians.
It felt like an old fashioned stand-off that Jeffery had read about in war history classes back in the Academy. Two armies standing still, just beyond the weapons range, each waiting the other army to move first.
"No reaction," said Jeffery.
"Continue to wait," said Jiao. "They're the attackers; they will move first sooner or later."
"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery, and sent the same message to rest of the ships. He knew that many captains were eager to attack first.
Seconds and minutes passed. Several minutes became ten minutes, then twenty minutes, an hour. Two hours.
"They're testing us," said Jiao to the fleet. "They're testing whether we can stand the pressure. I can stand the pressure! We all can stand the pressure!”
"Jeffery," she said as the wait continued. "Send a message to fleet to stand down from full alert and let the crews rest while we can. But they must be ready to react in an instant when the enemy attacks. And make no mistake, we will wait them to move first. Their move will reveal much of their tactics and it may well be that we'll win, or lose, this battle based on their tactics."
"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.
After several hours had passed, Jiao had to work to maintain her calm appearance; she, too, was feeling the pressure. She made a mental note to use this kind of tactic herself when attacking someone. It was sure to pressure the defender.
"Ma'am!" called Jeffery after more hours had passed. "We are picking up increased comm traffic."
"Full alert!" said Jiao. "They must attack soon."
She was correct. In ten minutes, the first wave of the Kaitians started the attack.
***
Just as Jiao had hoped, the first attack of the Kaitians revealed something of their tactics.
"They are trying to wear us down using multiple waves," she commented.
Before she could say anything more, she was interrupted by Jeffery.
"Ma'am!" he called. "Message from Command. The Behemoths failed their mission and lost half of their numbers! They are retreating to the Miccvan home world and Command orders us to destroy the enemy here and rein
force the Miccvan home world as soon as possible."
"Command orders us to destroy the enemy?" said Jiao mockingly, angry to receive such a message.
"Well." Fire burned in her eyes. "That's exactly what we're about to do! Commander! Send half of the fleet to hyperspace and order them to attack the enemy from the rear. Spread the other half in one long row." Jiao waved Jeffery to her. "Here. This is what I have in mind."
She drew her plans to the map projection in front of her and Jeffery smiled. "Excellent plan, Admiral."
She nodded. "Make it work."
"Gladly, ma'am," said Jeffery and relayed orders to the fleet.
The first wave of the Kaitians advanced fast, and the humans welcomed them as soon as they were in weapons range.
The black energy rays had a long range and were effective regardless of the distance. The Kaitians were surprised by the weapon and scattered all around after a dozen of their cruisers were cut in half. Jiao's tactic proved to be successful--whichever way the Kaitians turned, there was at least one ship waiting to fire on them.
"Pursue them!" ordered Jiao after the Kaitians started to retreat. But the enemy ships were faster and managed to retreat back to the rest of their fleet; Jiao called the pursuers off.
"Are the others ready in hyperspace?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery.
"Tell them to exit behind the Kaitians and use the same formation as we are, a long, thin wall of ships," she said. "Then we'll advance and crush them between us."
"Yes, ma'am," said Jeffery and relayed the orders.
"Ma'am!" called Tricia. "They are matching our formation and coming in fast!"
The Kaitians had examined Jiao's tactic; they had decided that it was good and they should match it. They sent enough ships to battle one-on-one against the human fleet.
"You have your targets!" called Jiao to the ships. "Destroy them!"
Easier said than done, as now the Kaitians anticipated the humans' long-range rays and evaded them with surprising ease. Soon they were within weapons range and fired their own weapons.
Many human ships met a sad fate, as even the computers couldn't evade the enemy weapons. Those Kaitians who managed to destroy their opponents joined together and there were suddenly many two-to-one fights against the human ships.
"Hell and damnation!" cursed Jiao. "We need reinforcements! Call the fleet in hyperspace. Order them to attack the Kaitians immediately!"
"Yes, ma'am!" said Jeffery; after a second, the other half of fleet emerged from hyperspace behind the Kaitians, who now had to scramble to defend themselves.
"Use the genetic weapons!" ordered Jiao. It was already past the time when they should have been used and now that they were fighting head-to-head against them, the genetic weapons should swing the battle to favor the humans.
As soon as the order was received, several cruisers launched their torpedoes with genetic warheads. The warheads were designed to penetrate the enemy hull using plasma rays to bore a hole to the hull and then release the nanoviruses--viruses combined with nanotechnology--to the ships inside. Nanoviruses would find their way to Kaitians and they would simply cut the signals from the Kaitian brain to rest of the body, including all autonomous functions like breathing. They would literally drop dead where they stood.
Some torpedoes missed, but most hit the enemy ships and penetrated the armor.
The effect was immediate. Most of the enemy ships that were hit simply stopped functioning and were left drifting in space. Others were taken over by ship's computer, but lacking full AI, they were no match for the humans.
Unfortunately, the Kaitians reacted much quicker than Jiao had anticipated and they started to destroy the approaching torpedoes before they could hit their targets.
"Status?" asked Jiao. She'd lost count of losses on both sides.
"We've lost a little over third of our forces," said Jeffery. "The enemy, about half of their forces."
Jiao flinched; a third of the forces was too much. The fighting continued mostly as one-to-one fights that could last for a long time. Both sides learned about the other as the fight continued and it made more difficult to devise a winning tactic. Battle fatigue was also creeping through the human forces. Perhaps the Kaitians felt it, too, but Jiao couldn't know.
"Call the fleet," she ordered. "Tell them to break the fight as soon as possible and regroup in the orbit of the Ooktian home world."
To the surprise of the human fleet, as soon as the Kaitians realized that humans were regrouping, they did the same. Jiao sighed, relieved; at least she got a little time to rest and think through the next move.
***
"Jeffery," said Jiao. "Go on and have a rest. Spend time with Ellen."
"But, ma'am," started Jeffery. They'd regrouped and were ready to attack the Kaitians, but Jiao had ordered a few hours of rest to the fleet.
"No buts, Commander," said Jiao firmly. "The enemy is resting, too, just like us. When we're ready, we'll fight. To the end."
"Very well, ma'am," said Jeffery. "As you wish."
He didn't want to leave, but now that he actually left, he realized he really needed the rest. And he wanted to see Ellen.
With a smile on his face, he hurried to find Ellen.
***
Jiao did not follow her own orders; she stayed on the bridge.
After another hour of inactivity, she sat in the captain's chair and closed her eyes for just a second--and she dozed off immediately and slept like a baby. It was amusing to the bridge crew to see their admiral so tired, but no one dared to wake her. Besides, the admiral needed the rest, too.
After several hours, Jiao woke with a start and her head turned all around as she wondered where she was. The crew respectfully concentrated on their work, barely containing a laugh.
Damn, thought Jiao and smiled; she had needed the rest after all and was glad to have dozed off. She saw from the behavior of the crew that they had had a good time looking at their admiral sleeping in the chair.
She smiled even more; the news had already spread around the ship and the fleet. She was sure it had lifted the spirits and the fleet was now even more ready to fight the next battle. And to win, Jiao was certain.
"Any activity from the Kaitian fleet?" she asked.
"Nothing, ma'am," answered one the officers. "They've even powered down most of their weapons."
"Really?" said Jiao. "I wonder what they are doing there."
At that moment, Tricia came back to the bridge after a much-needed rest. She smiled to see the admiral awake; she'd heard of her dozing in the captain's chair.
"Tricia," said Jiao, ignoring her smile but knowing what it meant. "Can you tell me anything about what the Kaitians are doing?"
"They must be resting, too," said Tricia. "Just like us. And perhaps . . ."
Tricia stopped in mid-sentence with mouth open. Her eyes widened as she got an odd thought out of nowhere.
"Tricia?" said Jiao and felt something turning in her stomach.
"Ma'am," said Tricia, quieter than usual. "What if they are not only resting, but reconfiguring their ships? What if they can alter their ships, their weapons, their armor, while traveling? It could be done easily if their ships were designed for that."
Now Jiao's mouth opened and she turned to look toward the Kaitian fleet far away near the edge of the system.
"Oh, damn," she said. Now that Tricia had said it, it seemed most obvious thing for them to do. The Kaitians wouldn't just rest in the middle of the battle. She should've understood it.
She cursed her blindness.
"Oh, damn," she repeated, and made a decision.
"Find the commander and tell him to meet me immediately," she ordered. "And signal the fleet. I want all in full combat readiness, but make sure the Kaitians don't notice. No powering up, no alarms, no nothing."
"Yes, ma'am!" said Tricia, and carried out the admiral's orders.
***
Jeffery woke up when Tricia cal
led and felt like he hadn't slept at all. He jumped up and left Ellen to sleep.
Tricia had said to hurry, so he ran quickly to the admiral's office.
"Come in," said Jiao, and Jeffery walked in to meet Jiao's smile.
"Admiral?" he asked and wondered why she was smiling.
"After you button your shirt again," she said, "I want us ready to attack the Kaitians."
Jeffery looked down and saw that his buttons were crooked; while he buttoned the shirt again, embarrassed, Jiao told about Tricia's suspicion.
"I agree, ma'am," said Jeffery. "It’s too risky to wait any longer if they are indeed reconfiguring their ships. Who knows what they have in mind against us."
Jiao told him what she wanted to do and they finalized her plan together.
"Make us ready, Commander," said Jiao. "I want to start the attack in one hour and want the enemy destroyed within five hours."
"Yes, ma'am.” Jeffery saluted and left her office to carry out the orders.
He needed to act fast and so he did; in fifty-five minutes the fleet was ready.
"Admiral," he called, "we're ready."
"Excellent," answered Jiao on the intercom from the observation deck. "I'm on my way."
***
Jiao came to the bridge where Jeffery was waiting for her. She looked around the bridge.
"This is it, Commander," she said so that only Jeffery heard. "We will either be victorious or we will be dead."
"So it is, ma'am," said Jeffery. "And I don't know about you, but I feel . . . I feel free because of the thought. We will not lose, Admiral."
"I understand, Jeffery," said Jiao. "I feel exactly the same."
Their gazes met and they felt as if they were forces of nature, doing only what they were meant to do.
Both smiled.
"We will not lose," said Jiao again.
***
The human fleet disappeared to hyperspace, which didn't go unnoticed by the Kaitians, who immediately understood that they were under attack.
Tricia's suspicion had been entirely correct, but the Kaitians had not yet finished all the configurations, so they were not entirely ready to face the attack.
But they were ready enough. Jiao and Jeffery's plan was simple. The entire fleet exited from hyperspace in the middle of the Kaitian forces and they used combination of black energy rays and genetic weapons against the enemy.
The boldest move was to use Marines to capture enemy ships where crew had been killed by the genetic weapons and use the captured ships to fight the enemy as well
The Sea of Boston was first to emerge from hyperspace and it destroyed the first Kaitian ship, a cruiser, with ease. The second ship, a frigate, was hit by the torpedo, killing the crew and immobilizing the ship.