Captain's Resolve, page 3
part #1 of Luke Sky Series
Captain Archibald, the officer he now was, had, more than once in some cases, and he’d learned through unforgiving combat experience that to win, one must fight smart, not just bravely.
After a few more hits on the escorts, a few more fighters destroyed and the Destroyers virtually playing tag by switching their positions to keep their shields decent, the two groups split apart. The escorts broke and burned back to the convoy, with some of the more damaged ships limping along. The droids, meanwhile, sorted themselves out back into their formation with the Destroyers on the outside and the fighters between them, and then sped after the escorts and convoy.
A Corvette and Cutter who’d lost their engines were left behind, ignored by both sides.
Down three ships already, leaving the defenders with only four Corvettes and ten Cutters, against the droids two Destroyers and now seven fighters. I don’t like that math. Archibald frowned at the screen as the droids got ready for another attack run while the escorts caught back up to the convoy. The Destroyers have yet to even be scratched, and worse, even if the Cutters can finish off the fighters, their numbers will be so low that by the time they’re done, there won’t be any Corvettes left to fight the Destroyers alongside. The blasted Droid Destroyers block for each other too well.
The droids could see the truth as well as anyone, so they were taking their time lining up their attack, while the escorts and their convoy burned madly, or as madly as they could in formation with a slow as hell bulk freighter, towards the gas giants moons. Moons like the one whose shadow Archibald was hiding in, watching as they got closer.
“Almost close enough,” he whispered.
“Will we move after they’ve hit the escorts again?” Commander Estrella asked, sounding coolly professional, though Archibald could see a mixture of excitement and dread beneath her veneer. Nobody wanted to sit through another attack, just watching.
“Given the relative speeds and positions, I’ll think we’ll be able to hit them while they’re in the middle of tangling with the escorts again.” Archibald replied, looking the screen over carefully as he tried to run calculations and scenarios through his head as fast as possible. “That should break their lines up enough that we can take out one of those Destroyers. We do that, the rest of the droids will either run away or be defeated in detail.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Sir.” Estrella replied, a slight growl in her voice.
“We’re almost there Commander,” Archibald replied, eyeing the two fleets movements as they both, unknowingly, inched closer to his own position. “A few moments more, and the droids should attack, and then we’ll join the fray, and end this.”
More tense minutes passed as the convoy moved closer to their position, while the droids moved in for their next attack run.
From the looks of it, this time, the escorts were going to incorporate the converted merchantmen for their fight. Archibald supposed the added firepower would give them a chance, but he didn’t think they would be able to stand off the superior capabilities of the droids long enough for it to really matter. Most seemed to be joining the Corvettes to go after the Destroyers, with the Corvettes spacing out to the sides to try and hit them in crossfire, while the Merchantmen filled the center with fire to make switching out pointless.
The Cutters were again going up against the fighters, with a few Merchantmen backing them up as a sort of sniper position or artillery corps. Both sides were burning for the moons, the convoy hoping to use the stellar object as way narrowing the engagements and maneuverability of the droids, while the droids were heading here because their targets were heading here. Archibald had a wolf-like grin for a moment before becoming serious again.
He’d chosen his spot well.
“Inform Engineering that we’ll soon be burning hot,” Archibald called out, seeing that he had only moments left before the droids fell on the convoy again, and the moment to strike came at last. “Gunnery is to focus fire on the Destroyers, the fighters are targets of opportunity only, and tell them they’d better not hit anything other than the droids! Damage control and Shields stand by, you’ll both be busy soon.”
“Tactical, you heard the Captain!” Commander Estrella called out, while the other department heads called out affirmatives that they’d heard his orders and were relaying them.
“Sensors, we’ll be going active as soon as the Captain gives the order, and I’ll want far better pictures relayed to the screens and gunnery as soon as possible!” She continued, while Archibald focused on the screen showing the two groups as the moved to intercept each other. He had to time this just right; his ship was fast, but going from a dead stop to a sprint was no easy feat for a Heavy Cruiser, especially not against Destroyers that were already moving at fast speeds.
A little closer, and in the middle of their main pass, when they’re commited and out of position for a quick retreat. Just a little more patience. He forcibly reminded himself, feeling his heart rate beginning to climb up as the tense wait affected him as well. The ships almost seemed to stop moving just to taunt him, but he knew better, and stubbornly took calming breaths, as though nothing at all was going on.
Finally, the droids charged in, intent on finishing the fight and claiming their prizes.
The Droids opened fire, and began dodging as the escorts returned fire while they moved to try and intercept and pin the Droids down. He waited just a little more, until he saw the Destroyers begin to change out under fire while the fighters began swarming against the Cutters, and he smiled. Finally!
“Attack!” He shouted, his excitement getting the better of him. The bridge roared as the helmsman brought them out of their idle position and took them to full speed to bear down on the battling ships. Sensors began actively pinging while Tactical became alight with activity as they started powering up their guns and targeting the droids, which were only slightly out of range, and that wouldn’t last much longer.
On screen, the battle seemed to pause for a moment as everyone registered the new arrival, then the shooting resumed in a fury. The Harmony Destroyers had their maneuver thrown off a little, and both took hits from the Corvettes and merchantmen before sliding together. They seemed to hesitate for another moment, then both turned their ships tightly, doing an about face as fast as their inertia speeds would allow, and started running from the battle as fast as they could. It was the only move they had, since between the escorts, armed merchantmen, and the Gamer Gate, they didn’t have a prayer for victory, much less survival.
However, it was too late.
“Fire as soon as we’re in range!” Archibald called out to tactical. “Prioritize engines, we’re here to capture at least one of those ships.”
“Aye Captain!” Lieutenant Vane acknowledged, relaying his orders in the com-mike to gunnery.
“Sir, we’re being hailed by the Hydra’s Breath, a Commodore Potempkin is demanding to speak with you.” Communications informed him. I knew it! Archibald would’ve chuckled if he hadn’t been so focused on the battle. Last time they’d run into the good Commodore, he’d been on a Light Cruiser, but after the mess he’d made with Admiral Montagne, Archibald suspected he’d been give escort duty on a Corvette as punishment.
“Give him the standard reply Com,” Archibald replied offhandedly. “We’re here to help defeat the droids, we’ll take care of the Destroyers, they can focus on the fighters, and we can talk after the fights over.”
“Yes sir,” Communications replied, turning to relay Archibalds answer. That wouldn’t be the end of it he knew, but he had bigger fish to fry at the moment; they had just gotten in range of the Destroyers! It wouldn’t last, the droid ships were just too fast, but they only needed it to last just long enough.
“Fire!” Shouted his Aunt-in-Law into the com-link.
Archibald suddenly felt the slight shuddering as his ship opened fire on the nearest Destroyer with all three gun batteries, focusing their fire towards the stern, where the engines were. The advantage was still just temporary; the Destroyers were already beginning to pull away. For a few seconds, the Destroyers shields held as the gap opened up, and it looked like the droids were going to try and swap places again, but then several shots from his far more powerful guns suddenly hammered through!
“Droid Destroyer shields spotting badly over the engines sir!” An excited sensor tech shouted, earning him a glare from his sections head.
“Excellent news,” Archibald replied, deciding to let the section head deal with the outburst as he saw fit. “Now we just need the engines to give out, and we’ve got our prize!”
The Destroyers engines took blow after blow of turbo-lasers, but continued to pour on speed into their ports, before several small fiery eruptions burst out around the main engine ports, and the ship abruptly stopped accelerating under its own power.
“Engines on Destroyer One down, shifting fire to Destroyer Two!” Called out Tactical, while the bridge cheered.
“Communications,” Archibald called out. “Invite the Corvettes to join our pursuit of the second Destroyer, and to finish this fight.”
“Yes sir!” The comm tech replied, sounding almost jubilant as she turned to relay the request.
“Generous of you Captain,” Commander Estrella remarked, giving a him a sly look as they continued to focus fire on the remaining Destroyer, while the Corvettes all enthusiastically took up chasing after it and adding their own payloads to it.
“Not really,” Archibald replied, smiling slightly. “I just don’t want them entertaining any bad habits, like shooting the Destroyer we’ve already disabled.”
“So you’re offering them the chance to get in on the action, and they’re already so caught up in the chase that they won’t stop to focus on the wounded ship we’re actually here for.” Estrella smirked at him. “That’s presumptive Captain, for shame!”
“Not if I have experience with their forces commander, which I do, even if it’s indirect experience.” Archibald replied with a chuckle before focusing back on the fight at large. The remaining Destroyer was charging out of the fight for all it was worth, and with the speeds the droids were able to achieve, it would soon be out of range of most of their weapons. However, it’s shields were spotting badly and it was taking multiple hits from the Corvettes and Archibalds Cruiser, and the odds were against them. They wouldn’t be getting any help from their fighters either, Archibald noticed, since they were also retreating, with the Cutters hard on their trails blasting at the droids for all they were worth.
“Helm, begin backing off slowly,” Archibald ordered, not wanting to loose track of the actual prize they’d come for. “Let the Corvette’s outpace us. They can finish off the droids, it’ll make them feel better, unless gunnery beats ‘em to it. Once the Destroyer’s out of range, or destroyed, make best speed back to Destroyer One, and take up a defensive position around it.” He turned to Tactical while helm was still acknowledging his orders. “Tactical, inform gunnery that when we reach Destroyer One, I want it’s offensive capabilities dealt with, carefully, and a path opened up for our Lancers to begin boarding operations.”
“Aye sir,” Lieutenant Vane acknowledged, smiling. “I’ll let the chief know he won’t have long left to blast that other Destroyer. That should help motivate the gun decks to aim better.”
“Communications,” Commander Estrella called out. “Inform Colonel Jones that his Lancers will soon be up to dance.”
“Yes Ma’am,” the comm tech replied, quickly relaying her reply. “Colonel Jones confirms his Lancers are all at the ready.” The young comm tech looked up with a grin. “He also says ‘it’s about damn time,’ Ma’am.”
“Of course he does,” Commander Estrella replied, rolling her eyes. Archibald merely grinned just as the second Destroyer, now getting swarmed by the Corvettes while the Gamer Gate slowed down, took a hit somewhere critical, and went up in flames! His grin became even bigger at that sight.
“Helm, best speed to Destroyer One. I don’t want our excitable friends out there blowing up the thing we actually came here for.” He called out as the bridge cheered at the sight of the Droid Destroyer going up in flames.
“Yes sir!” The smiling Helmsman replied as he turned their ship back towards the disabled droid Destroyer, and began moving to it at high speed before the rest of the escorts had even turned their ships towards it.
Checking sensors for the wider battle, he saw that the fight was pretty much over, with only three droid fighters left, and they were running for the hyper limit, far too fast for the escorts to catch them. The convoy ships and escorts seemed to slowly, almost sluggishly begin turning back to a formation, but looking over the much more detailed active scans, Archibald saw that most were damaged to one degree or another, and another two Cutters were practically flying wrecks.
“Sir, the Commodore is calling again, and he doesn’t sound very happy.” Communications informed him. Archibald ignored that for a moment as he looked at the map. His Cruiser was almost in position by the Destroyer, and his gun decks had already begun carefully cleaning off the point defenses and turbo laser cannons on the side facing them with precision shots. Soon he’d have an opening for Colonel Jones’s Lancers, and be in a position to provide cover for both of them, and the Destroyer if he had too. The escorts were in disarray, but were slowly forming up into something resembling a formation.
The droids were fighting back, for all the good it would do them, and they hammered as best they could on his shields.
“Shields taking hits from Destroyer One,” Sheilds called out. “Down to 94%.” Archibalds Heavy Cruiser was designed to take hits from multiple ships like Destroyers, and be able to give it back with interest. The droid fire was steadily decreasing as gunnery cleaned out the gun emplacements on the side they were facing.
Confirming that his position was where he wanted it, he nodded confidently. “I’m ready to take the Commodore’s call now Comm. Send it over to my personal screen.”
“You’re live Captain,” Comm informed him, just before the face of Commodore Potempkin popped up on his chairs personal screen, looking furious.
“This is Captain Miles Archibald of,” Archibald started before being cut off by the older officer, with gray sideburns and a uniform with several braids on it.
“Just what the hell are you playing at boy?!” He shouted at Archibald, somehow projecting both outrage and condescending arrogance at the same time through the screen.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Archibald snapped back, instantly angry. So far as he could tell, he’d just saved this whole convoy from a droid ambush, helped defeat the droids in detail, and was now capturing a ship. His movements and actions should be perfectly recognizable and understandable, including where he’d been lying in wait for an ambush, and why he waited.
“If you’d revealed yourself sooner, the droids would’ve retreated and we wouldn’t have lost any ships!” Commodore Potempkin snapped, looking at Archibald with what he could only describe as self-righteous fury. “We took losses because you wanted to play the hero and show up to blast droids at the last minute! And where do you get off ignoring a hail from a superior officer and giving orders to pursue an enemy in the middle of a fight?! You’re just a Captain! I’m a Commodore, and the ranking officer on sight!”
“Sir,” Archibald tried again, his patience rapidly depleting, but was again cut off.
“Now, Captain,” Potempkin snapped, condescension dripping in his voice when he stated Archibalds rank, he drew himself up to formally issue orders. “I am in command of this joint task force until we have reached safe harbor, and that will include command of you, since you were obviously here waiting for us. With that in mind, Captain, move your ship out of the way so we can destroy that last droid ship, and then you can assist in recovery and repairs before we head back out towards this convoys destination.”
Archibald waited a moment, his face hard, just to make sure the Commodore had finished, and to make a point. A petty one, but a point that needed to be made all the same. After getting a face full of it, he was stunned that the Little Admiral hadn’t just blasted this blustering, arrogant idiot out of the sky.
