Warrior One Fleet Action Pt 03

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2015 - 2019 - This is an original work by Zeb Carter and is protected under copyright by U.S. copyright law. It is only submitted at Literotica.Com and any submission to any other site has not been authorized by the Author. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Author's Note

: Just a note to those who care or are looking for sex in a Sci-Fi setting. There is no sex in this story as told. No tentacle sex or normal human sex. Sorry, that's the way these things go. Have fun. This is one of the short parts, only 12,000 or so words long.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Warrior One - Fleet Action III

Chapter 66

Admiral Milford Cook sat at his desk in his in-port cabin in Mauthe Doog going over the after action reports from his fleet captains. He was proud of his fleet captains. He was proud of everyone in the fleet. They had kicked the Gar out of the Arneb system and destroyed every Gar ship that attacked them. There was a soft knock at his door interrupting his thoughts.

"Enter," he said loud enough for whoever was out in the passageway to hear him.

The door opened and Shaffer Steel, his command android, entered closing the door behind him.

"What is it, Shaffer?"

"Admiral Fitzgerald is on his way over. He didn't say why."

"I see. Well, go meet him and bring him here."

"Yes, sir." Shaffer opened the door and left, closing the door as he did.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Fifteen minutes later Shaffer opened the door of Admiral Cook's in-port cabin and showed in Admiral Fitzgerald. Milford stood, awaiting the Fleet Admiral's pleasure.

"Sit Mil, sit," Lonan told him as he too took a seat. "How have you been, old friend?"

"Fine, just fine. And you Lon?"

"Good. A little tired after our last mission, but good none the less."

"Can I get you a drink, something to eat perhaps?"

"No, thank you, I'm fine."

"What brings you around Lon?"

"I'm here to offer you a mission."

"How many of my ships will be needed?"

"No, you misunderstand. It's just you and your Doog."

"I see. What does this mission entail?"

"You will be taking command of the newly formed destroyer fleet. You met some of them in our last action."

"My Doog and six destroyers?"

"Actually, there are now ten destroyers... "

"Ten destroyers and Doog... "

"There will also be a command battleship shadowing you, for resupply and refueling when needed."

"You?"

"Yes and no, Tór will be the CB, but I will not be aboard. She will be accompanied by three more battlecruisers. But you will be in overall command. I will be transferring my flag to a newly built ship."

"I see."

"Intelligence will be provided to you. What you do with it will be up to you. You are free to attack where and when you deem fit."

"That's a hell of a lot of latitude. What happens... who will take over Fleet One?"

"You will still be listed as Admiral of the Fleet, but we will be promoting someone to take over for you. A temporary thing. I have already spoken to the officer and he is okay with the temporary promotion as long as he also retains command of his current ship."

"May I ask who will be commanding my Fleet while I'm on assignment?"

"Captain Nichols will become a brevet Rear Admiral until your return."

"Ezra?"

"Yes, Ezra. He will be in overall command of the fleet and still command Warrior One."

"Well then, I have no reason to turn this down, do I?"

"I was hoping that would be your conclusion. The destroyer fleet will be here in two days. They will need resupply and refueling and I have given them two days of liberty on the moon before you will have to depart." Lonan Fitzgerald pulled an envelope from his breast pocket, set it on the desk and pushed it toward Milford Cook. "In there are your orders to take command of the fleet, we really have to come up with a better name, along with your first action. This one you must prosecute. There are also instructions on how to contact the Fleet Intel section for further information on Gar movements."

Milford looked at the envelope before him. He cleared his throat, reached out and picked it up.

"Before I open this, sir, I formally accept your offer."

"I knew you would. Now, for your first mission, it's in there, but I can tell you now that you have accepted. You will be going to Melissa in the Hunter some 1,000 light years from homeworld. Intel from the Saxon's tells us there are three planets, only one of which is just barely habitable. Your mission is to hit the planet hard. Kill all the Gar you can in one pass. Destroy all the ships you encounter. The Tór along with the three battlecruisers, the Altan, the Éidin, and the Nóe, will be with you, in close support of your ships. They will participate in the fly by.

"After the first mission, you will have your choice of anything you can glean from the intel feeds you will have access to."

"Are the battlecruisers new ships?"

"Ah, yes, they are. Their captains are, Abigeál Kerrin commanding Altan, Conall Ó Riagáin commanding Éidin and Dana Tracy commanding Nóe."

"Is there anything I should know about them, Lon?"

"All three are very competent commanders and will follow your orders. Abigeál and Conall are steady as can be and will fight until told to stop. Dana on the other hand... Mil, if I didn't know better I would say she's Ezra's twin."

"She's that good? Or should that be bad?"

"She is... should be two ranks higher than she is. If she can control herself, she could have my job in three years. But, she always seems to have a fit of rage... "

"I understand... Ezra was the same way... until he took command of Warrior One."

"Yes, I remember the early days when he was your second... "

"Is Dana any good at tactics?"

"She can probably plan tactical maneuvers around both of us, in her head, on the fly. It's strategic planning where she lacks. She can win a battle but never a war."

"Any hacks against her?"

"None pending. She was put in hack by Admiral Adair before she got her own ship. And the only reason she got that is that I received a letter of commendation from the Admiral. All their files will be uploaded to your command android."

"Very well. Is there anything else I should know about them and the destroyer captains?"

"All these ships, except yours and the Tór, are untested and... well except for those first six destroyers, they were with your fleet at Arneb, are new. Their captains and crew are a mix of recent graduates and experienced crew. Is there a MacKenna in there? I don't know. I don't have enough data, old friend."

"I know, I know. Ezra had less than I had when... that incident occurred."

"Indeed. A sad day in our history... "

"Yes, it was. Well, I guess I have everything I should."

"You do. Now go down to the moon and take some time off."

"I will, but first I have to... "

"I know."

"All too well."

Lonan Fitzgerald laughed. Rising he said, "Well Mil, I'll be going... no don't get up, I know the way back to my shuttle."

"Yes sir," Milford Cook replied as Admiral Fitzgerald closed the door behind him.

Chapter 67

Two days later, Milford Cook was in the Doog's command conference room awaiting the arrival of the captains of his newly formed fleet. Fifteen men and women whom he would be responsible for. Of the fifteen he knew two. Mealla Bree in command of the Tór and Donal Kelly Captain of the Doog. The rest were unknown entities. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Milford shouted.

The door opened and Mealla Bree stepped in, followed by Donal. Milford smiled at them both as Donal closed the door.

"Take a seat... Mealla, here to my right, Donal to my left."

"Yes sir," Mealla answered. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," shouted Admiral Cook.

The door opened and thirteen captains filed into the room. Three of them would have to stand.

"Find a seat or a place to lean," Admiral Cook told them.

He watched as they found a place to sit or lean. The leaner's where Scolaí Dillon, Nóise McKinley, and Dana Tracy. He found it interesting that Dana chose to stand. Once everyone was seated Milford cleared his throat. There was a soft knock at the door which opened immediately. Shaffer Steel walked in and around the table to where Admiral Cook sat. Leaning down he whispered in the Admiral's ear.

"All command androids are present and accounted for, except Commander Kerrin's."

"Thank you, Shaffer, please remain here."

"Yes sir," Shaffer replied stepping back a pace.

"Commander Kerrin, why didn't your command android accompany you?"

"Ah... "

"You are a commander of the Fleet and Captain of a prominent ship of that Fleet. Now return to your ship and fetch you android."

Commander Kerrin, jumped to her feet, knocking over her chair, turned and just about ran from the room. Everyone watched her as she hurried away. Everyone started to talk at once.

"Belay that," Milford shouted. The room quieted immediately. Turning to Mealla, Admiral Cook asked. "Mealla, anything I should know about?"

"Sir," Mealla said in hushed tones leaning toward Milford, "her mother just passed away the day before we arrived. From what I know from traffic from Earth, she was on the comms the whole night talking with her father."

"Ah. Shaffer, have Commander Kerrin meet me in my in-port cabin before she returns to her ship. If you ladies and gentlemen will excuse me. Shaffer, have lunch brought in for them," the Admiral said rising and heading for the door.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Abigeál Kerrin was standing outside the Admiral's in port cabin door when the Admiral arrived.

"Abigeál, please," he said, indicating she should enter the room before him.

"Admiral, I would... "

"Stow it Abigeál. You should have immediately requested leave."

"Sir, I didn't want to miss the mission."

"I know, but you just lost your mother... "

"All the more reason to go. My father agreed."

"I see. Okay then... I want you to return to your ship, have your ships doctor give you something to put you to sleep for fourteen hours and that's an order. You can have your second in command join us here along with your command android. Then tomorrow, I want you on Earth to attend your mother's funeral. Is that clear Commander?"

"Aye, aye sir," Abigeál snapped to attention.

"When you get back from Earth you can have your second brief you on the mission. We will be gone a long time Abigeál, are you sure you will be all right?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be just fine as long as I'm doing something. If I had to sit around and wait for you and the fleet to return, I would go crazy."

"Very well. Now go, go get some sleep. I'll see you on the moon in the Blue Moon Tavern day after tomorrow for a final fling before we leave."

"Aye, aye, sir! Thank you, sir." She turned and left. Milford sat for a minute trying to remember who her second was. Shaking his head, he knew Shaffer would know.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Shaffer did know who the first officer of the Altan was. He sent for him via the ships command android. Lieutenant Neil Coulter was waiting in the shuttle bay when his Captain's shuttle arrived. The two stood face to face as Captain Kerrin explained what he was to do on the Doog.

"Of course ma'am. Mr. Steel will record everything and I shall take copious notes."

"I'm sure you will Neil, I'm sure you will."

"The entire crew extends their condolences on your mother's death."

"Thank you, Neil. Now go, they are waiting for you and Mr. Steel to arrive."

"And you ma'am?"

"I've been ordered to sleep. Now go. That's an order, Mister Coulter."

"Aye, aye ma'am," Neil said saluting.

Abigeál just turned and walked away. She was sure Mr. Coulter had a crush on her and that just couldn't grow beyond what it was now. She felt as if the air around her was thickening, making it harder to walk. She eventually arrived at the ships Doctor's office.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Lieutenant Coulter arrived on Doog less than fifteen minutes after Abigeál had left. Mr. Steel showed him the way to the command conference room.

"Just knock and wait to be asked in," Mr. Steel told him. "I will be down the passageway with the other command androids, sir."

"Very well." Neil knocked hard on the door frame.

"Come in," a voice bellowed from the other side of the door.

Neil opened it and stepped in, closing the door behind him. Turning he spotted the Admiral at the other end of the table and snapped to attention.

"Lieutenant Coulter reporting as ordered sir," he snapped a salute and waited.

"Stand easy Mr. Coulter, find a place to lean."

"Yes, sir." Neil looked to his right where two junior officers now stood at ease. Nodding at them he moved to the other side of the JG and leaned.

"Now that we are all here. In two days we will be leaving for Melissa in the Hunter. Intel has three planets in that system. Only one able to support life, just barely. The Gar are there and our orders are to destroy the base on the planet and all the ships in the system. Melissa is one thousand fifty-five light years away. It's a relatively short hop from the ones we have done in the past. It should only take three days to get there at full military acceleration.

"We will arrive in-system at fifty-six percent of light speed. You each will be given data drives with the plan of attack. The Tór will have the center of the formation. The four battlecruisers will be around her. You destroyers will be in a globular formation around the big ships. You will be our fighter escort, but you will be tasked with knocking out as many Gar ships as possible.

"The battlecruisers will knock out the planets settlement and any and all ships we can. Tór will be there for weapons resupply and for refueling after we have passed through the system. Times and coordinates are on the data drives. Your command androids will also be uploading the information. Any questions?"

No one spoke. The Admiral looked around the room.

"Come on there has to be some questions?"

"They are all too afraid," Dana Tracy said.

"Well, do you have any questions, Captain?"

"No sir, it's a well thought out plan... "

"But?"

"Well sir, since you asked... "

"Get on with Captain."

"Sir. If we were to slow down by ten percent, we would be in-system a little longer, ensuring our destruction of the Gar forces."

"Shaffer?"

"Sir we discussed speeding up, but not slowing down. We thought it too risky. But in light of the Gar defeat at Arneb in the Hare... "

"Yes, we stopped dead in space there and managed to annihilate them. Very well, Captain Tracy, we will implement your strategy. Make it so Shaffer."

"Very well sir. Data sets will reflect the new operational parameter."

They were a good bunch, Milford felt it in his bones, but only Tracy, it seemed, had the intelligence to recognize not only a tactical flaw but a correction in strategy.

"I will be forming a command planning group. Captain Tracy, you are its first member. Captains Bree, Kelly, Ó Daire, and Mac Aodhagáin will also serve. Others may be added or subtracted as needed. Our first strike has been planned for us. All others we will choose from intel provided us from many sources. Captain Tracy will be our tactician, I will be the strategist, the others have their areas of expertise which I will put to good use. Any more questions?"

There were no questions for now, but Milford felt that there might be later, in private.

"Very well, return to your ships, brief your crews, datasets are on the right as you leave."

Everyone stood, snapped to attention then turned and left.

Chapter 68

The first day of leave, Milford remained aboard the Doog. He had work to do and intelligence reports to sift through. Plus he was expecting several visitors over the next couple of hours. He chuckled to himself as he wondered who would be first. His head snapped up at the knock at his door. It was open. He could see who stood there. Again he chuckled. He had been right.

"Come in Captain Tracy."

"Sir, Captain Tracy requests to speak to the Admiral."

"Of course, take a seat. At ease Captain."

"Yes sir," Dana replied taking a seat in the only chair in front of the Admiral's desk.

If any more arrived, Shaffer would hold them out of earshot. Milford smiled at the woman sitting across from him.

"Well?"

"Sir. I really don't think I will be able... I don't think I would be a good fit in... "

"Captain, it wasn't a request."

"I know sir. It's just... "

"Dana, you have the highest scores in tactics in the history of the academy, except for one other."

"Huh?"

"There is only one other officer in the fleet with more tactical ability than you. I don't even come close to what you have to offer the fleet."

"Who? If I might ask?"

"Captain... well now... Rear Admiral Ezra Nichols, commander of Warrior One and now Fleet Admiral of Fleet One."

Captain Tracy was speechless.

"Well, speak up lass," Milford said chuckling to himself.

"Sir, I don't know what to say."

"Tell me you made a mistake and you will be glad to serve."

"Sir, it seems I have made a terrible mistake. I will be happy to serve at your pleasure on the command planning group."

"Good to hear Captain. You are dismissed."

"Aye, aye sir," Dana said standing up and saluting the Admiral. Milford waved a half-hearted salute back at her. She was quickly out the door.

Admiral Cook had four other meeting that day that went along the same lines. They either thought they wouldn't help to be part of the group or they thought the admiral had erred by not picking them. He now knew who would need watching. By the time the first watch was over, he not only had flushed two prima donnas out of the woodwork but had found three potential systems for their next mission.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

The next evening at twenty hundred hours, Milford was seated at his table in the Blue Moon Tavern sipping an Irish. Shortly after he sat down, Ezra came in, waved and approached the table.

"Sit my boy," Milford told him.

"Only for a while, I have to meet several of my Captains here."

"Me too. So how are those stars feeling?"

"If I had only known back in the day what you were going through, I would have... "

"No recrimination my boy. You have made me proud."

"Thank you, Admiral... "

"Milford, we are almost, equals now... at least for a little while. But you never can tell."

"Of course si... Mil."

"That's better. Ah, here is a couple of my group... "

"I will be going then si... Mil. It was good seeing you before I leave tomorrow."

"I too leave tomorrow."

"Happy hunting, Mil."

"Same to you Ezra."

"Sir," Dana Tracy stood across from Admiral Cook. She was looking over her should at the Admiral who had left just before they arrived at Admiral Cook's table.

"Sit, all of you, sit."

A waitress appeared with a tray of drinks. All the same. Irish with a water back. The first arrivals were Tracy, Bree, and Kelly. They sat, sipped their whiskey and looked around. Well, Tracy looked around, the other two had been here a number of times as the Admiral's guest. The Admiral kept the conversation light and witty.

Next to join them was Lieutenant Coulter. He looked nervous as he approached the table. Milford waved him to a seat and he looked a little less nervous.

"Did Abigeál get off okay?" Milford asked.

"Yes, sir. She left yesterday morning. She should be back about twenty-three hundred this evening. She said she would try to make it here before the place is closed, but she wasn't sure. She sent me in her stead."