Battle of The Wilds, page 41
Georgia smiled as she was filled with relief. “I am glad to hear that.”
Reverus' expression then grew more serious as he leaned forward once again. “Now, as much as I appreciate all this, tell me the real reason why you are here?”
Instantly Georgia tensed. She didn’t speak for several long seconds. In a very human-like gesture, Reverus raised a single eyebrow at her. He then fixed her with a level gaze and waited. Georgia saw no other option but to dive in. She took a deep breath and came straight to it.
“I’ve come to ask for help. I didn’t tell you everything before. The most recent information I have from Earth is that the Karacknids were expected to have begun their advance towards our borders several months ago. It’s quite possible that they have already passed through an unclaimed area of space we call The Wilds and are assaulting the border forts we have constructed to defend our colonies. The truth is their numbers are even greater than we anticipated. We may not have the strength to stop them. I know our species have no formal defense agreements. Yet we face a common foe. You know that once they have conquered us and the Conclave species, the Karacknids will focus their full strength on you. For my species' sake, and our allies, and the fledgling friendship you have developed with my father and I, I ask you for help.”
Reverus clucked his beak together repeatedly for several seconds as he shook his head. “Of all the things I expected you to ask for, this was not one of them. But, you have already spoken of over one hundred and sixty thousand warships. In the face of such might, I can certainly understand your fear. The question is, what am I to do?” Sensing he was speaking to himself as much as to her, Georgia waited. After a few seconds, Reverus closed his eyes and tilted his head back. The feathers on both his hands ruffled several times.
Nearly a minute passed. Then his eyes suddenly shot open and fixed upon her once more. “My scouts and intelligence agents estimate your fleet's strength to be about forty thousand warships, is that correct?” Surprised at his accuracy, Georgia could only nod. “And with your various allies, that might rise up to one hundred thousand.” Georgia nodded again. “The problem is, you and your allies will be on the defensive. You have many systems on this side of your wormhole to defend, and all your worlds on the other. So the chances are very high that Tanaka-lan will be able to bring far superior numbers against a handful of targets. It seems he has chosen your species' worlds to be where he will strike the hardest.”
Reaching forward, Reverus tapped a few buttons on his desk’s console. An image appeared that Georgia quickly recognized as a star map showing the Farvul’vian system and several other nearby systems. “I have two thousand eight hundred warships here, along with another couple of thousand based at two smaller fleet bases nearby. If we pick up the garrison at Dudllias, that would give us another four hundred ships. It is hardly an armada. But it would be a vanguard. If I lose the entire force, it would only dent my combined strength in Rasmorse and Tolodon space. I could delay and gather more, but I imagine time is of the essence.” Again Reverus fixed Georgia with a piercing stare.
It took Georgia a moment to realize he was speaking to her again. She was still trying to comprehend what he had been saying. Was he actually contemplating saying yes? Giving herself a shake, she quickly nodded. “It may be that our forts have already come under attack, perhaps have even been breached. My information is over two months out of date.”
“Then time is of the essence,” Reverus said with a nod.
“So, you will help?” Georgia asked, her voice rising far higher than she intended.
Reverus smiled. “You’re offering me the opportunity to bring a fleet through your wormhole and through all your most highly protected systems, where I can get a good look at your fleets, your fortifications, and your industrial base. Then you give me a chance to fight the Karacknids and see their military capabilities with my own eyes. How can I say no to that? I imagine my superiors would happily trade five thousand ships for such intel.”
Georgia frowned and Reverus laughed. “Changing your mind, Wing Commander? Do you wish to rescind your request?”
Georgia shook her head vigorously. “Certainly not, Vice Admiral. I will accept whatever help you can give us. It will be most welcome. Even if you have ulterior motives.”
Reverus laughed again. “Do not worry, Georgia, I was only teasing you. Of course, I will help, for the sake of our friendship, for no other reason. I will not lie, those other reasons I just mentioned would be good enough motivation as well. More than any of those, however, is this; I hope helping you will go some way in making restitution for the war our civilizations fought. The Karacknids are a grave threat, of that there is no doubt. Though I am confident if, or when, the time comes that the full might of the Eaglaton Protectorate must face them we will be victorious. Nevertheless, I would much rather fight them now than see your civilization conquered and then have to confront them.”
Georgia smiled. “I do not know how to thank you, Vice Admiral. My species will be forever in your debt.”
“Let us see if my few thousand ships can make any difference first, Wing Commander,” Reverus responded. “He then tapped the data chip Georgia had given him earlier. “And if, as it seems very likely, the Silizzarus turn out to be an even greater enemy, then it is still my species who will owe yours a great debt.”
Georgia nodded, only half listening. She knew in the grand scheme of things, another four or five thousand ships was not a massive force, but it was more than Becket was bringing back to Earth. And if we can pull the Eaglatons into this war, then tens of thousands more could follow. Suddenly Georgia’s fear for her family lessened. We may not be defeated yet. But only if we arrive in time. “How soon do you think your ships can depart?” She asked without thinking.
“Your species is certainly forward,” Reverus said with a smile.
“I’m sorry,” Georgia said as her cheeks reddened. “I meant no offense.”
“You fear for your father and your loved ones,” Reverus said as he nodded. “I understand. I would too if I was in your situation.” He paused for a moment as he tapped on his desk’s console again. “It will take two weeks for the squadrons I have stationed nearby to join us. In that time, we should be able to load up the freighters we have here with as much supplies as they can carry.” He looked back up at Georgia. “I presume your people will be able to provide all the He3 fuel we will need?”
Georgia nodded. “We have large stockpiles that we’ve been building for many years. I’m sure we will be able to meet your needs easily.”
Reverus nodded. “Then that will make things simpler. So, say two weeks for my new squadrons to join us. Then we can head to Dudllias. We’ll probably have to pause there for a few days to make our final preparations, but then we can proceed on to your wormhole. I presume you will accompany us to ensure safe travel past your wormhole forts?”
Georgia was caught off guard by Reverus’ question. Of course, it made sense when he said it. Yet all along she had been thinking she would take Rattlesnake and head straight back to Earth and the frontline as soon as she was done speaking with Reverus. She desperately wanted to get back in a Hellcat and join in the fighting. But if he was going to be departing in two or three weeks, there was no time for her to send word to Bastion and have other ships or officers sent out to go with him. “I will accompany you,” she said with a nod. “Though when we get to the frontlines, I would very much like to find myself a Hellcat to take the fight to the Karacknids in.”
Reverus brought a feathered hand up and stroked his beak. “I seem to recall you did quite well in the simulators of our fighters when we allowed you to train with my pilots. Perhaps we could adapt a fighter to meet your needs. I know my Wing Commanders will certainly benefit from your experience fighting the Karacknids. You have just returned from an incursion into their space, have you not?”
Georgia shook her head at Reverus’ knowledge. It seemed he was much better informed than she had believed. “I will do everything I can to prepare your forces to face the Karacknids in the short time we have,” she promised. And if it means I have to fly an Eaglaton fighter into battle, then I’ll even do that, she begrudgingly accepted. As long as we are in time to actually play a part in the war!
Chapter 35
The system of border forts the Empire built in the interwar era was a colossal undertaking. The Empire’s planners rightly understood that in any future war, they would be on the defensive. Further, the forts did go a long way in negating the disadvantages a defender usually has in an intergalactic war. Yet they had one fatal weakness, a weakness that could see them become tombs rather than a bulwark against the enemy.
-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.
IS Victory, New Shanghai, 24th May 2513 AD, (eight days later).
James paused as he came to the end of his briefing. Before him were gathered over three hundred Admirals, Commodores, and senior Captains. All were crammed into Victory's largest briefing room. Alongside all those who were here in person, his words were also being transmitted to tens of thousands of officers across the New Shanghai system. He and several of his staff officers had given briefings on all that they had learned fighting the Karacknids in The Wilds over the last several months. “And so now you all know exactly what we face,” James said as he brought his address to a close. “Five battle fleets, over one hundred thousand warships. Soon they will reach our forts. They will probe our defenses and then strike with strength. Those who man our forts already are our first line of defense, but they cannot hold without us. We will move where we are needed and join those who face the fiercest fighting. Together then, we will either stand or fail. We will hold, or our defenses will be breached. Either we can beat back this tide that threatens to sweep over all of our colonies, or we will die in the trying.
“In this room and in this system, seventeen species are represented. All of our people face the same doom. From here on in, we cannot be separate fleets or squadrons. We must become more than allies. We must become one fighting unit, brothers and sisters who stand together, who will fight and die together. From this moment on then, we prepare for the greatest battles of our time. We will train like we have never trained before. We will become like the razor-sharp tip of a spear, ready to be thrust into the heart of Tanaka-lan’s battlefleets.
Pausing, James’ eyes swept over the officers gathered before him. Many he knew. Many he had trained personally over the previous decades. They all returned his gaze, jaws clenched and heads held high. Everyone knew what was at stake. Slowly James nodded. “A finer fleet has never been assembled. Those already at our forts and we here are the best of our species. We know our duty; duty to honor, duty to our people, and duty to ourselves. We have bloodied the Karacknids in The Wilds. Let us now prepare to finish them amidst our forts! I say, Death to our Enemies!” James bellowed. “What say you all?”
With one voice, James' officers repeated his cry. He added his own voice to theirs. “Death to our Enemies.” Then he repeated his words, joining in as the cry was taken up again. “Death to our Enemies!”
James looked out at his subordinates again, a smile on his face. Then he slowly nodded. “Let us be about it then! Dismissed.”
An explosion of noise and movement followed James’ final words as many started talking excitedly with one another and others stood to prepare to leave. James glanced at his Chief of Staff, Hawkins, and gestured for him to take over and organize everyone’s departure back to their ships, then he left the briefing room and retired to his office.
He smiled when he sat at his desk and found Fox already had a neat whiskey waiting for him. After taking a sip, he activated the desk's holo display. It projected an image of the fleet gathered around Victory. For several minutes, James lost himself as he took in the mass of ships. Twenty thousand four hundred and sixteen in total, the display told him. Some had been stationed at New Shanghai waiting for orders for over a month, many though had arrived in just the last couple of weeks. They represented the warships of every one of Humanity's allies. There were Kulrean worldships, Kalassai city ships, and fleets from the Varanni Alliance, Vestarians, Conclave species, and Mindus. All had come to New Shanghai in answer to his call for aid in response to Tanaka-lan's massive fleet build-up. Now they were here, ready to stand up to the Karacknids' attempts to conquer his worlds.
Over the last twenty years, every Navy represented in the image before him had adapted their organizational structure and command and control systems so they could all work together as one when necessary. Even so, many of the junior commanders had not fought with each other before, and so it was vital that James now forge them into one cohesive whole. He had little time to do it in, but if the response to his speech showed him the measure of his officers, they would be up to the task.
When the hatch into his office opened, James smiled at the first officer to step in. Once upon a time, Rear Admiral Anderson had been James' tactical officer during the Gayla campaign in the last months of the First Karacknid War. Now he was one of James' most accomplished fleet commanders. As other officers filtered in, their previous connection to James and the First Karacknid War became a theme. Rear Admiral Jourm, son of High Admiral Jourm who had fought alongside James in the first war, commanded half of the Varanni Alliance ships in formation around Victory. Admiral Maleck led the other half. He had been Ya'sia's Flag Captain in the first war and was now one of the Varanni Alliance's most senior commanders.
Fug-sal had been a Captain in the first war too. He, alongside James' niece Emilie, had been instrumental in bringing the Kalassai into the war. Just looking at Fug-sal hurt. James couldn't help thinking of Emilie. He didn't know whether she was dead or imprisoned in some Karacknid cell. One way or another though, he was certain she would have been tortured before the end if she wasn't still being tormented by her captors. The very thought of it made James' hands tighten into fists. With a great deal of effort, he tried to push his rage down and instead focus on Fug-sal. Now he was a full Admiral and had led fifty city-ships and four thousand other warships to New Shanghai.
Rear Admiral Tak’ar, son of the Vestarian president, entered next, and he was followed by Wing Commander Sato. Next to his daughter, Sato was James' most accomplished pilot and Wing Commander. Both brought more memories back for James.
Vice Admiral Galica gave James a serious nod when he entered. At the start of the last war, he had led the Mindus resistance against the Karacknids. Then he had been elected President after the liberation of their worlds. More recently, he had stepped aside to take up his military rank again as the Karacknid forces had begun to build up along the border. Galica’s daughter had been a talented astrophysicist who had worked closely with Scott to make several breakthroughs in the first war. Yet sadly, she had been killed. James could still see the loss on Galica's face and the desire for vengeance.
Next to enter was Vice Admiral Taladan, commander of the Conclave species fleet. A Gramrian like Admiral Shraw, he came highly recommended by Shraw, and so James had no doubts about his capabilities. He was speaking with Captain Farsa, the senior Kulrean Captain. In mindset, the two species couldn't have been further apart. The Gramrians were the apex predators of their world, and it showed both in their raptor-like physique and in their aggressiveness on the battlefield. In contrast, though he was one of the most open of his people, Farsa was still an ardent pacifist at heart. Despite their differences, though, they were both smiling as they spoke.
The last two to enter were Vice Admiral Fang and General Johnston. Both brought even more memories swirling up in James’ mind. He had first met Fang when he had been a Lieutenant in Georgia Gupta’s command staff. James couldn’t stop the sorrow Fang’s face conjured as he thought of his friend, now long gone, but far from forgotten.
A moment later, though, Johnston made him smile as the marine winked at him. “A fine gathering we have here,” he said. “If Tanaka-lan could see us now, our array of uniforms alone would blind him. That would make the next few months go a lot easier.”
James rolled his eyes. “Just because you marines don’t get any fancy dress uniforms. Now, come and sit beside me and behave.”
“Yes sir, Emperor sir,” Johnston said with a grin.
Ignoring him, James looked around at his senior commanders as they continued their conversations. Hope and sorrow filled him. These were among the greatest commanders he had. Once Scott, Ivanov, and Jimenez joined them, only Becket would be missing. Yet each face conjured so many memories and reminded him of the many losses he had suffered facing the Karacknids. And there will be so many more, so many of us here now will soon be added to that list, James couldn’t help thinking.
He let them all continue to talk for several minutes as Fox brought each a drink. Then he cleared his throat loudly. “Thank you all for coming,” he said as he stood. “Along with the commanders already at our forts, you are the ones who will be leading us into battle. I thought it best we get to spend a little time together before we depart for Pattel. Plus, I have just heard from Ivanov, Scott, and Jimenez.” With a tap on his desk, a map of The Wilds appeared. Three dots represented the fleets each commander led. “All three are in full retreat. The Karacknids are now pressing them with overwhelming forces. I doubt they’ll have a chance to counterattack or slip past the forces moving on them to strike elsewhere. I estimate the battlefleets will reach our forts sometime in the next two weeks. After that, it may only be a matter of days before the fighting begins.”
“Surely they will have to pause and take stock of their supply situation,” Farsa said. “By then their supply lines will be long indeed. And they will likely want to coordinate their attacks.”
“I imagine they will,” James replied. “But probing attacks could begin right away. And if they sense weakness, then one battlefleet may move against one of our forts. Especially if Tanaka-lan is there to command it. We must be ready to face them immediately if that occurs. That is why we will be moving out to Pattel in two days. We will have everything we need there to keep our fleet in supply and continue training together.”
