Warrior One Fleet Action Pt 05

Copyright

©

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 V

The Battle for Rigel - Part 2

Chapter 93

Seeker, a two-man scout hung in space, silent, watching. With the most sophisticated electronic detection gear, the Federation had, the two men sat, each watching a different quadrant of space. They were six thousand light years from Rigel, down the spiral arm of the galaxy, watching the star systems farther down the arm. They were watching fifteen hundred Gar ships as they made their way up the spiral arm toward Rigel.

They were also watching a group of Saxon ships crossing the void between spiral arms. The Saxon's were headed toward the Gar ships. What their intentions were Commander Nolan Tóla did not know, but he watched them. After about two hours of watching, the blob of Gar ships started to break up. A small group had already broken off and turned toward the advancing Saxon ships. The bigger blob now broke into two blobs.

Nolan watched, while the computer tracked the blobs and calculated their headings. One blob never deviated from its course. The second blob was headed to Earth. Both groups of ships were still almost a month away...at least fifteen thousand light years from their destinations. The vastness of space made for long periods of inactivity and never-ending anticipation, but most of all, boredom.

Nolan typed his report into the computer for transmission to Rigel and Homeworld. He finally pressed the send key and listened to the comm unit hum as it came to life to send his message. It only took a microsecond, then the comm unit was once again silent.

"Are we going to move again?" asked Patrick Egan, Nolan's partner, and co-pilot.

"No, we can stay here a while longer. They sure aren't in a hurry to get here."

"No, they aren't. In fact, the computer says they have slowed significantly since we returned from Rigel."

"Could they too, have a scout checking us out?" Pat asked.

"I don't know and I don't want to go active to find out. Re-check all our passive scans," Nolan said, bending over his console punching keys and touching screens.

"Aye, aye," Pat replied.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Lieutenant Gillian Saraid sat in a corner of the mess hall aboard the Donegal, silently eating her mid-day meal. Several of the crew had approached her table to join her, but she either waved them away or scowled at them making them feel unwelcome. Then, when she turned back to her plate, there was an Admiral sitting across from her. She was shocked that she hadn't seen him coming. He smiled at her. She scowled back at him.

"You're not in the wilds of North America now, Lieutenant," he whispered.

Her heart started to beat faster as adrenaline was pumped into her bloodstream. She was shocked that someone, especially an Admiral of the Fleet, knew where she was raised.

"Excuse me, sir, do we know each other?" she asked trying to be as courteous as possible, for her at least.

"No, not personally, but I can spot a citizen of the NA from a mile away. I was once like you. I flew scouts back when they were all one man ships. I pushed them to the limit to get as far away from my fellow humans as I could. But it never seems to be far enough, does it?"

"No, sir. May I ask..."

"Ezra Nichols, Rear Admiral Ezra Nichols, Captain of Warrior One."

"Lieutenant Gillian Saraid, I can't really say it's a pleasure to meet you, sir..."

"I understand Gillian. So what did you see out there?"

"Emptiness. Vast emptiness. And Gar ships. Gar ships far, far away, headed this way."

"And what of the Saxon's?"

"They were there, headed for the Gar. Seeker would have better intel than I, sir."

"Ezra. Yes, she does. We just received another communiqué from them. It seems the Gar have split into three groups and slowed down too."

"Before I left to come here, I saw a small group split off and head for the Saxon ships."

"I read that. Well, I'll leave you to your meal and your solitude."

"Thank you, sir. If I might ask..."

"Of course."

"How did you..."

"Learn how to put up with people?"

"Yes, sir."

"I had a mentor who showed me how. You have taken the first step today. You have talked to a stranger. Keep talking to strangers no matter how much you want to run the other way. And a bit of advice, don't punch any of them, but if you have to, don't let anyone else see you. Then come see me. My door is always open."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

With that Admiral Nichols stood, turned and left without another word. Gillian sat staring at his back as he stalked out the mess hall door.

Chapter 94

"How in hell did those torpedoes get all the way across the system?" Admiral Cook asked softly.

"I don't really know. We have never had Gar ships do that. It would appear the computers in the torpedoes have a lot more logic in them than we thought. But how they accomplished...I just don't know," Commander MacDonald said.

"They actually limited their expenditure of fuel and utilized their hyperspace capability, adding distance vectors along with speed increases. A wonderful tactic. I wish I knew how they did it, so I could do the same thing with ships. We were accelerating at full mil-spec power and they almost beat us to the Gar ships."

"Easy there Eric," Ezra told him.

The impromptu meeting was taking place on Warrior One, inside Donegal. Admiral Cook, Fitzgerald, Lowery, and Ezra, along with Connor MacDonald, Eric Nolan, and several other officers, not only from Warrior but other ships, now inside Donegal. The Captains of Warrior Three and Four were present, along with Dana Tracy. There was one other person, a Lieutenant with a scout patch on the shoulder of her uniform. Her eyes were wide with what looked like fear.

"Gillian, easy," Ezra whispered to her.

"Why did you make me..." she whispered back hoarsely.

"You have knowledge we might find useful," Ezra said softly, leaning closer to her. "As you can see, this is a very informal meeting, so jump in whenever you think you might have something to contribute. Clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Gillian whispered.

"And who do we have here," Admiral Cook asked, now that Ezra and Gillian had finished their conversation.

"Milford Cook, let me introduce Gillian Saraid. She is a fellow countryman of mine. Gillian, Milford Cook, Lonan Fitzgerald, Kaylee Lowery, Eric Nolan, Connor MacDonald, and Dana Tracy."

"Gillian, what part of the NA are you from?" Milford asked. He just knew Ezra was itching to ask, but because of protocol back home couldn't.

Gillian cleared her throat, looked down at the table in front of her, shook her head, looked back up at Admiral Cook, knowing he knew better.

"I'm from four corners, sir," she answered.

"There are no sirs here today, Gillian, only friends. I'm Mil to my friends."

"Yes, si...Mil. I beg..."

"No, you don't, young lady. We are all friends. And friends don't beg pardon. Four corners, which state?" Milford asked.

"I grew up in Colorado, west slope, south of Pueblo."

"Ah, so how was the radiation there?"

"Not bad, same as getting a couple of x-rays a year. All the nukes fell down south in Arizona near Round Rock."

"Terrible business that," Connor piped up. "Terrible indeed."

"Yes, it was, but it was over long before I was born. I just had to put up with...the wilderness."

"Yes, you did. And an admirable job you did too," Milford said softly.

"Thank you Mil," Gillian replied. She suddenly started shaking. Then Ezra's hand was on her forearm, squeezing slightly. The shaking stopped and she exhaled visibly relaxing.

"Ezra, you were from..."

"Kentucky. You know that already Mil."

"Ah, but our new friend does not and she will never ask you."

"You're right again," Ezra chuckled. "Might we get back to the topics at hand...torpedoes."

"Yes, of course. Anyone else have any ideas how they did it?" Milford asked.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

Gillian sat in her scout ship, waiting for her turn to launch. She checked her belts for the umpteenth time. She scanned her screens and waited. She thought about her inclusion by Admiral Nichols to a meeting of high ranking fleet personnel. It was both frightening and exhilarating. She had enjoyed and hated the meeting. She just knew...

"Caster your are clear to launch. Hatch five just in front of you."

"Caster aye, launching," Gillian responded pushing the throttle forward and clearing her mind.

Caster responded, almost jumping out the hatch as it came fully open. Then she was in space. Free. Able to get away from everyone. Laughing, she pressed the hyperspace jump button and was gone.

Ezra stood looking out a port in Warrior watching Caster leave. Milford Cook stood next to him.

"Are you taking a pupil?" Milford asked.

"Not at all, sir, just helping a fellow countryman."

"I see. She seemed nice."

Ezra's eyes snapped around locking onto Milford a look of disbelief on his face.

"Well she did," Milford chuckled. "How were her scores?"

"Well into the range of mine and Dana Tracy's. She will make a hell of a Captain one of these days. If she can overcome that streak of isolationism."

"Good to hear, we really need more good tacticians as Captains or Rear Admirals."

"About that sir..."

"You will be keeping your rank. Others, who have the ability, will be promoted as quickly as we can without hurting feelings. You understand?"

"I do. When does Dana Tracy get her promotion?"

"Her promotion to full Captain came through this morning. Next time you see her she will be wearing the eagles albeit a little uncomfortably."

"And how soon will she be promoted to Rear Admiral, making her more uncomfortable?"

"Not soon enough, unfortunately. I'm afraid she will be assuming responsibilities long before she has the rank or the comfort level to go along with them."

"She can handle it. She did well during the engagement with her group of battlecruisers."

"That she did. Even though she lost a ship. But from what I understand, Commander Ó Riagáin didn't follow Dana's orders. At least that's what the Éidin's Command android reported. I'll be taking that up with Commander Ó Riagáin when he's out of the hospital."

"I see."

"Yes, it is quite a dilemma."

Chapter 95

The days turned into weeks and still, the Gar were more than a month away. The scout ships reported that both groups had halted twice in systems, along their routes, for days at a time.

"What the hell could they be up to?" Admiral Fitzgerald asked at the meetings all the Admirals had every other day.

"They are coming a long way. Maybe they don't have cold sleep chambers in their frigate class ships," Ezra posited.

"Did any of the Gar ships survive long enough for us to take a look inside?" Admiral Cook asked.

"Several," Ezra said tapping on the keyboard in front of him. "Several brave souls entered and took a lot of pics and vids."

A holograph appeared over the center of the table. A picture started to form.

"What are we looking at? Can you brighten it up?" Admiral Fitzgerald asked squinting at the projection.

"Crap. Candle?" Ezra swore at the controls in front of him.

"Excuse me, sir," Candle said bending over the keyboard.

The picture immediately brightened. It showed a passageway with hatches on either side. Another picture appeared in its place. This one was of what looked like it might be the bridge. There were what looked like bodies. All of them were burned so bad that they could have been any species.

"They don't wear armor aboard ship," Admiral Cook commented.

Then the still picture was replaced by a video. A narration started.

"As you can see, they are all dead, burned by the plasma blast that ripped through the ship. There are bodies everywhere. SpecOps will have a field day with these. This is what looks like their bridge. The Captain's chair is here," the camera steadied on what looked like a chair on a raised dais.

The camera panned around showing the destruction on the bridge. Then it was in the passageway.

"This is what we think crew quarters look like. It appears they sleep...in beds...and wear clothes and well you get the idea."

The video went on for another hour. The crew that took it filmed the whole ship. Including the hole in the hull where the plasma blast came through. The ship was small enough that except for a few rooms, everything was burnt to a crisp.

"Did anyone see what looked like cold-sleep chambers?" Admiral Fitzgerald asked.

"Uh," Ezra said looked around the table, "No sir. Nor did I see a lot of food storage. That one room with all the cabinets and then the other one just like it on the other side of the ship. It didn't look like they had a lot of space for anything, except power cells or whatever those things in the engine room were."

"I'll check with SpecOps after this meeting to see what they have come up with."

"Are there any SpecOps people in systems?" Ezra asked.

"Even if there were, you know they would never make themselves known to us. There have been all kinds of personnel going over those ships. They were taken down to the surface by a tug on Rigel VI. In an isolated area. The K'lar have been through them. Our people have been through them. SciCorp has been through them. I would bet my last shilling that SpecOps has been through them."

"I wouldn't take that bet," Ezra said.

"Let's adjourn for now. I'll make a few inquiries and we'll meet again the day after tomorrow."

Everyone nodded as Admiral Fitzgerald rose and left the room. Followed by the rest of his men.

Chapter 96

Gillian Saraid turned her scanners to watch the group of Gar ships as they met the Saxons. She really couldn't see much as the two groups got closer and closer. She had the magnification cranked up as high as it would go. Then the two groups merged. The little dots on her scope started to go out. More Gar than Saxon. Then the two groups parted as inertia took them past each other.

From what Gillian could tell, the Saxons had only lost two ships, where the Gar had lost over half of the twenty they began with. Now the Saxons were turning hard to give chase to the Gar. The Gar looked to be accelerating hard to get away. Then the Saxons were on the Gar again. It only took minutes for the Saxon to wipe out the Gar, without the loss of another ship.

Typing furiously, Gillian finished her report and pressed send. Her message flashed across the distance to Rigel, closely followed by the message from the Seeker and then Searcher. She knew deep down it wasn't a race, but she liked to be first.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

"Well, she beat us again. By milliseconds, but she beat us," Patrick Egan cried out.

"She types faster than me is all and not by much," Nolan replied.

"The Saxons sure made quick work of those Gar," said Patrick, still watching the Saxon ships.

"They did at that," Nolan answered.

"Wait a second...they seem to be slowing. Yes, they are almost stopped."

"Who?" Nolan asked.

"The Saxons. They are now dead in space."

Suddenly, their comm unit came to life for a split second.

"What the..."

"Incoming communication...no wait, it was sent to our ships around Rigel, we just happen to be in the path of the beam. I think the comm unit intercepted it."

"Well read the damn thing?" Nolan demanded.

"It's in French."

"Translate."

"Working. Holy shit..."

"What does it say?" Nolan almost screamed.

"I...I...you better read it," Pat croaked.

Nolan grabbed Pat's monitor and turned it so he could read the message. As he read his jaw dropped farther and farther.

<~~~ WO ~~~>

"I've limited the scope of this meeting to just Admirals due to the sensitive nature of the data I received from SpecOps. And the communication from the Saxons," Admiral Fitzgerald told everyone present.

Present were Admiral Fitzgerald, Cook, Lowery, Adair, and Nichols.

"As for the Saxon message. It reads as follows..."

"To Federation forces, the Gar are on their way to Rigel and your homeworld. They plan to annihilate you and the K'lar. The two fleets, each in excess of nine hundred ships, that are already on the way are waiting until fifteen dreadnought class ships catch up with them.

These bigger ships are mainly used as planetary defense installations, but can also enter hyperspace to other locations as support ships and formidable fighting platforms.

We will try to join you at Rigel with four of our fleets, about one hundred ships.

Good luck."

"That's the gist of the message...there were codes and headers that we don't need to know about. Thoughts?" Admiral Fitzgerald asked.

"Did the Saxons happen to include the size of those dreadnoughts, sir?" Ezra asked.

"They did. They're about half the size of the Donegal."

Everyone groaned.

"Yes, we are outnumbered. But we have been in the past. I do have some good news. FleetServ is on the way with new shield generators for all ships. If they have time to install them on all the ships. They will be starting with the Warrior class, then Command Battleship class and so on. Destroyers will be last to get them, I'm afraid."

"Ah..." Ezra started then stopped.

"What is it, Ezra?" Lonan asked.

"Just the inkling of an idea. It can wait until we are strategizing."

"Very well. Now for the SpecOps news. As far as they can tell the Gar do not have any cold sleep chambers. They do have, from what they can tell is a way to produce food from the raw materials they store. They don't store food, they store the basic elements and combine them to produce food."

"Well, that would be efficient. You could store a lot more of the basic elements in a smaller space than storing food as food. Ingenious," Ezra said.

"I also have some more good news. There are, or will be, three new Warrior Class ships able to join the battle here or at home world. Along with five Battleship Class and nine more Battle Cruiser Class. There will also be over fifty Destroyer Class ships ready. That gives us three new fleets and the odd number of other ships. Chicago is also on its way with five containers of fighters for the ones we have lost. Along with other things, we will need for the battle to come.

"Fleet Command wanted us to return home and leave our K'lar allies to fend for themselves, but I put an end to that talk. We have three fleets here. Homeworld currently has one. They will get the three new fleets minus carriers and cruisers. They will also get an extra battleship and three of the battlecruisers. We get the extra battleship and three of the battlecruisers, along with twenty-five destroyers.

"These ships are so new they haven't been named yet and will be referred by their FOP numbers. Questions?"

"If I have done my math right...we will have sixty-six ships plus the Donegal going up against nine hundred plus ships?" Ezra asked. "And maybe a hundred Saxon ships, plus the sixty or so K'lar ships." Ezra shook his head.