***
"Are you ready, Captain?" asked the High Priest.
"Always," said Kould, who was preparing for the recon mission on the flight deck. They had reports about Godless Others massing their forces at one of their worlds. Kould's mission was to estimate the opposition force. His mission would decide whether or not they would attack them now or later.
"Excellent," said the High Priest, "but before you go, I want to you to examine an anomaly that we detected. We don't know what it was. Could've been a ship. Or just random disturbance in hyperspace."
"I'll check it out, sir," said Kould. "I will leave immediately."
Before finishing the sentence, Kould was already walking to his fighter and was on his way.
***
"I don't dare to go faster," said Rickey. "They might detect us."
"As fast as possible," said Catherine.
The seconds crawled and the frigate slowly moved away from the Kaitian fleet. Catherine started to breathe more easily and she was relieved. They remained hidden.
"Ma'am!" said Andrea, alarmed. "A ship approaching!"
"Damn!" said Catherine. "Has it seen us?"
"I don't think so," said Andrea, "and it's a small ship. Smaller than a cutter. Probably a heavy fighter-bomber."
"It's getting closer," said Rickey, and looked questioningly to Catherine about what to do. But options were limited and none were good.
"All stop! All power to cloak," she said.
Catherine and the bridge officers held their breath as the Kaitians came slowly closer. Seconds passed and it began to look like the enemy wouldn't notice them.
"It's turning!" whispered Andrea.
"It didn't detect us," said Rickey relieved.
But the relief was short-lived.
"Wait!" said Andrea, alarmed. "It stopped!"
***
"Why did you stop?" Kould asked his fighter's AI. They hadn't detected any disturbances here and Kould was eager to go back to his mission to recon the enemy forces.
"Something is not right, Captain," the AI answered.
"Everything looks right," said Kould as he checked the sensors.
"It is very subtle," said the AI. "Look."
The AI showed a display and filled it with moving vectors of all hyperspace currents around them.
"Everything still looks right," repeated Kould. AI sped up the display.
"A-ha!" said Kould. There was a small patch in hyperspace that some of the currents avoided. It was clearly visible if looking at the currents at high speed.
"What do you think?" asked Kould. "Is it a ship?"
"It's possible," said AI. "It's definitely not natural phenomena."
"And it's not moving," said Kould. "I'm sure they are monitoring us. Wondering what we'll do."
"And what do we do?" asked the AI.
Kould answered with a smile.
***
"Ma'am!" shouted Andrea. The Kaitian ship turned directly toward them. "It's firing!"
"Get us out of here!" commanded Catherine. "Return fire!"
But it was too late.
Kould fired a small projectile to confirm that the disturbance was indeed a ship and then he fired a single torpedo.
Catherine saw the torpedo in slow motion, and she knew they would die here and now. The torpedo penetrated the cloak and she felt the impact.
She wondered why it didn't detonate and almost sighed in relief.
But then Catherine saw alarms of hull breach and realized what had happened.
The last thought she had was that she had failed her mission to deliver vital information to the Coalition Command. She closed her eyes and died in the explosion that ripped the frigate to pieces from within.
***
"So it was a Godless enemy?" said the High Priest.
"It was," said Kould. "It was cloaked, but my AI detected them."
"Ah!" said the High Priest, delighted. "Send the information to the scientists."
"Already done, sir," said Kould.
"Excellent!" said the High Priest. "Let's postpone your recon mission until we get results from the scientists."
"Yes, sir," said Kould, and smiled. "Perhaps we can detect their cloaked ships with this new information."
"Exactly my point, Captain Kould," said the High Priest, smiling. "Exactly my point."
11
"What's the situation?" asked William. William was aboard his corvette, Lake of Nevada, somewhere between Gemono and Ooktian space.
"Calm before the storm," answered Milton, from his office aboard the Thoughtful Flame, the flagship of the Miccvan Empire. He was located near the Mopian Empire home world, where the Coalition was massing their forces to counter the Kaitian attack. "The Kaitians have nearly ceased their attacks after conquering most of the Arash and Mehar worlds. I guess they are building defense lines near the border and getting ready for the assault.
"We've sent several recon missions but only few have returned. Those who returned reported only light Kaitian presence. Or no presence at all. Although they've conquered most of the worlds, they don't bother to occupy all of them."
"That's what we've gathered as well," said William, "and I fear their attack."
Milton sighed. "So do I. I hope we hear from Nick and Louis before the next attack."
"And also from The Village of War," said William. Laura had selected targets for the super-cruiser and if everything had gone smoothly, they should be returning to Coalition space in the near future. The Village of War had their most advanced weapons; they had high hopes for it and for others like it still in construction. The Coalition had managed to accelerate their production, but it was not enough.
"Excuse me, Milton," said William abruptly, and his hologram disappeared from Milton's office.
"What is it, Udo?" asked William.
"Sir," Udo said, "a message from the Sea of Boston. They have just crossed the Ooktian border and are going full speed to SD-9. They report mission accomplished."
"Great news!" said William delightedly, and dismissed Udo.
"Milton!" he said, as he appeared back to Milton's office. "Good news! The Sea of Boston has returned to Coalition space and reports mission accomplished."
Milton was overjoyed. "Good news indeed!"
"They are going to SD-9 and I'm going to debrief them there," said William. "Would you like to come there?"
"No," said Milton after a brief pause, "I stay here. In case the Kaitians come."
William wondered why Milton wanted to be at the front lines.
"Suit yourself," said William, and his tone betrayed his thoughts about Milton's presence on the Miccvan flagship.
"Ha ha," laughed Milton. "You're worried about me, aren't you, my friend?"
"That goes without saying," said William seriously.
"No need," said Milton. "I'll survive. Besides, I long to see the battle first-hand. The last time I was in the front lines was in the War of Borders."
William nodded. Although he didn't like it, he understood well what Milton meant.
He disconnected the call and told Udo to increase speed. He wanted to be at SD-9 before the Sea of Boston.
***
En route to SD-9, William read the preliminary report from Jeffery.
He didn't dwell on the report and just scanned it quickly, as he wanted to hear the report directly from Jeffery. He took a sip of coffee and put his feet on the table. He yawned as he failed to concentrate and wondered why even the scanning of reports has always been so boring.
As he scanned the report, he noticed what Jeffery mentioned about a Marine sergeant. He had to read it again; his eyes widened and he dropped the coffee cup on his lap.
"Udo!" he called. Udo came immediately to the office.
“Sir?" he asked, surprised to see William standing with wet trousers.
"Order the Sea of Boston directly to the Mopian home world at maximum speed," said William. "And take us there, too. Maximum speed!"
"Yes, sir!" said Udo, although wondered why the course change.
***
"William!" called Milton as the Lake of Nevada exited from hyperspace near the Thoughtful Flame, "This is a surprise."
At the same moment, the Sea of Boston exited from hyperspace not far from the flagship.
"An even bigger surprise!" said Milton and didn't bother to conceal his pleasure since he knew Rachel was with them.
"Milton," said William, "I'm coming aboard. With Commander Jeffery Bainbridge of the Sea of Boston and Sergeant Caleb Simmons of 2-Delta-3 of the 9th Brigade."
"Oh," said Milton curiously.
"You're cleared to come aboard.”
William went to his shuttle and flew alone to the Miccvan cruiser. A shuttle from the Sea of Boston landed at the same time.
"Commander Johnson." Jeffery saluted.
"Commander!" Caleb saluted as well, and William could tell he was perplexed.
"Gentlemen," said William, "let's go to see Advisor Milton."
A Miccvan Marine escorted them to the Milton's office.
"Commander Jeffery Bainbridge," introduced William, "and Sergeant Caleb Simmons."
"A pleasure," Milton said, looking curiously at William. "Looking forward to hear what you have to say."
"Sergeant," said William, "tell us about how you applied to the special assignment before joining 2-Delta-3 of the 9th Brigade."
Both Jeffery and Caleb were surprised and wondered whether that was really the reason why they were here. Caleb cleared his throat.
"Yes, sir," he said and told about how he applied to the special assignment.
"Hold!" interrupted Milton as Caleb said Michael's name.
"Did you say 'Michael'?" he asked. Caleb nodded, unsure what was going on.
"William?" Milton looked questioning at William.
"Jaeger Sergeant Michael Angelos, commander of the human infiltration team on the Kaitian home world. Before that, assigned to the Jaeger Brigade in the 7th Fleet," said William. "Lots of special missions all around the galaxy."
"Do you think what I think you think?" asked Milton.
"I do," answered William. Caleb and Jeffery exchanged looks and Jeffery shrugged. There was definitely something here but neither Caleb nor Jeffery had a clue.
"Thank you, gentlemen," said Milton to Caleb and Jeffery. "You're dismissed."
"Thank you," said William and confirmed Milton's order. "Go back to your ship. I'll contact you."
Jeffery and Caleb saluted and left the office.
"I had no idea Michael was in your military," said Milton.
"No one did," said William. "If he indeed is our Michael."
"If he is, yes," said Milton. "I think he is. When Nick and Louis return, order them directly here, so they can give their report in front of the group. And we can drop this piece of information to the group, see what others think."
"Agreed," said William. "I'll contact you soon."
With that, William left Milton's office and flew back to his ship.
"Udo," he called immediately after exiting the shuttle, "meet me in my office."
"Yes, sir," answered Udo. He went to see William, who told him what they'd discussed with Milton.
"But I don't want anyone to see the Lake of Fairwater," said William, "Make sure they transfer to a regular corvette as soon as they are in Coalition space . . . in a safe place, of course," he added.
"Will do, sir," said Udo. "I know just the place."
12
"Another mining colony, ma'am?" asked Matt.
"Agriculture this time," said Jiao, looking at the colony information. The colony was the Mehar Empire System 18, ME-18, and it was their last target before returning to Coalition space.
The colony was one of the largest agriculture colonies in the Mehar Empire and also one of the largest of the entire Coalition. The system and three planets were fully dedicated to agriculture; if the war was going to be prolonged, loss of agriculture colonies would be felt throughout the Coalition as the food reserves started to diminish.
No doubt, that was part of the overall Kaitian strategy.
"Send the scouts," ordered Jiao.
"Yes, ma'am," said Matt.
Soon, three scouts left the ship and entered the ME-18 system, far from the farthest planet.
The scouts relayed sensor data to The Village of War. Arnold ran analysis as the data streamed in from the scouts.
"Looks like the colonies before," he said to Jiao. "Orbital stations around the three planets. But no cruisers, nor any other ships. We must make a more thorough analysis after the scouts return."
"Hmm," said Jiao thoughtfully. She had an odd feeling that something was not right here.
"Are the orbital stations similar as before?" she asked.
"Looks like they are," said Arnold.
"Hmm," said Jiao, "and no sign of ships?"
"No, ma'am," he said.
"I have bad feeling about this," said Jiao. "Recall the scouts. Make a thorough analysis and I'll decide what to do."
"Yes, ma'am," said Arnold.
After the scouts returned, he started to analyze the data; because Jiao had sounded worried, he analyzed the data very, very carefully.
He found, almost accidentally, the reason why Jiao was so worried.
***
"Come on in," said Jiao to someone at her office door.
Arnold had called her first thing in the morning and insisted to see her as soon possible.
"I assume you found something?" she asked.
"I did, ma'am," said Arnold, "and I must commend your intuition."
Jiao smiled. "Thank you, Arnold."
"Ma'am, the three planets each have an orbital station. Just like the systems before. Take a look.”
He projected a system map with graphical orbits of stations around the planets.
"Do you see anything odd?" asked Arnold.
"No," said Jiao, "Planets and stations."
"Exactly," he said, "but look at the orbits."
"Just orbits." She shrugged and wondered what he was getting at.
"Right, they are just orbits," said Arnold, "but these orbits are physically impossible for these stations."
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"The orbits you see are impossible for stations with that mass," said Arnold.
"There are cloaked stations or ships that affect the orbits, then?" said Jiao.
"Right on, ma'am," he said. "Here are their estimated locations."
The projected map now showed additional stations, or ships, around the planets. In the orbit of each planet there was the station, as well as three other stations--or ships.
"These are approximate locations," said Arnold, "but their masses are near the actual masses."
Jiao looked at the masses. "They are three times bigger than the stations. Are you certain of this?"
"Seventy-five percent certain," said Arnold immediately. He knew Jiao would ask about certainty.
"What do you need to get it to hundred percent?" asked Jiao.
"Hundred percent certainty is impossible, ma'am," said Arnold. "I'd need another scouting run to be ninety, or perhaps ninety-five percent certain."
"You'll get it," said Jiao and ordered Matt to launch the scouts again.
***
"I'm now ninety-two percent certain," said Arnold, after he'd analyzed the sensor data from the second scout mission.
"The masses are accurate, error margin is less than one percent."
"Excellent work, Arnold," commended Jiao. "Are those stations or ships?"
"My guess is that they are ships," he said, "Heavy cruisers. Or even super-cruisers, given their mass."
Jiao sighed in relief in her mind. If she'd attacked, they'd be dead now.
She dismissed Arnold and looked closely at the projected map of the system with stations and super-cruisers. It would more difficult to clear this target than previous ones, but it that was no surprise. The Kaitians had surely felt
their strikes and had probably reinforced all the systems they considered potential targets.
This was not good for The Village of War, but it also meant that the ships here, protecting the conquered worlds against The Village of War, were not fighting on the front lines. Jiao called Matt to her office to discuss the attack with him.
"Nine super-cruisers," said Matt, "and the stations. This is going to be difficult."
"Yes, it is," said Jiao. "They know we might attack them, so they are prepared. They also know how we've attacked the previous targets, so they must anticipate that. I have an idea, though."
"Yes?" asked Matt.
"We exit hyperspace near one of the planets and strike the super-cruisers with everything we've got, and enter again hyperspace before they can react," she said. "Then the same for the second and third planets."
"And after that we mop up the stations and remaining ships," said Matt.
"That's my idea," said Jiao.
Matt smiled. "That's a good idea. Simple and efficient."
"Of course it is!" Jiao laughed.
"Get it done."
Matt went to realize the plan.
***
The preparation of the attack required nearly two days and it involved a program for the ship's computer to execute the attack as quickly as possible.
The development of the program itself was not difficult, but it required thorough testing that took bulk of the time.
"Too bad we can't do field testing," said Arnold, "We've had to rely on simulations."
"I have full confidence in you," said Matt. "Are we ready?"
"As ready as we can be," responded Arnold.
Matt nodded and called Jiao to come to the bridge.
"On your order, ma'am," said Arnold, ready to execute the program.
Jiao nodded and didn't waste time. "Start the attack."
The Village of War exited hyperspace on top of the first super-cruiser orbiting the colony farthest from the star; Jiao would have been happy to see the Kaitians' complete surprise.
The surprise was even more complete when The Village fired a single plasma ray with maximum power directly to the center super-cruiser and cut it in half.
The Village then moved at maximum speed to the second super-cruiser and before they could do anything, The Village fired heavy cannons followed by plasma rays and destroyed the second Kaitian super-cruiser.
By now, the third cruiser had reacted and decloaked. It had weapons ready, but before it managed to fire, The Village had already fired upon it and the cannons battered the enemy ship until the plasma ray cut it in half.
Jiao was overwhelmed at the speed of the attack. The first attack was over in a blink of an eye and The Village returned to hyperspace only to exit a moment later above the super-cruisers orbiting another colony planet.