Chapter 115 - Contact

(BSN Shinokage, Nuevo Edo System)

Standing on the Flag Bridge of the Shinokage, I was very happy to see the ships that just appeared through the Gateway from Confederate space. I was even happier when Raven piped through the communications we were receiving.

“BSN Breath of Hades calling Shinokage, Hades-Actual online.”

Well, since the captain of the Hades was on, I figured I might as well answer. “Hades-Actual, this is Black Star Prime on Shinokage. Glad to see you all. We were hoping you would be here in time to join the party. How are the folks back home?”

“Black Star Prime, we’re happy to get the chance to party. Since we kicked pirate ass, the whole sector’s been pretty quiet lately at home, and there are some gunners who were starting to get bored. We have all mobile elements of Second Group in play, though as per your instructions, Providence has switched Shinobi Squadron’s Raptors for Demon Squadron’s Dragons.”

“I know Shinobi Leader will be upset with me, but it will be good to have another squadron of Dragons here. Have your pilots gone over the data from the Amazon battle?”

“Yes, sir, there were a few strongly worded communiques from Shinobi Leader about not getting to go out and play, but that was mostly fighter pilots being fighter pilots. All Second Group officers and flight personnel have gone over the data from the engagements in Nuevo Edo and Amazon space, and we’ve been adjusting tactics accordingly.”

“Well done. What is the status of home defense?”

“Two squadrons of Thunderbolts and one of Raptors on station providing CAP and defense. We’ve shifted into military contracts for most of the yards, but reserved one slip for our use. The first gunboats of Fourth Group are providing coverage, but because we’ve played stealth games for so long, no one will really believe that there are only six of the gunboats there right now.”

“Between the Confed Navy and us having wiped out a majority of the pirates in the sector, that’ll have to be enough. Be aware, we have confirmation from sources in the Empire that the Empress will be making a state visit to Nuevo Edo, so we may get some backup if this turns into a worst-case scenario.”

“Do you really think we’ll see a True Hunt, sir?”

I nodded, proud that the Hades’s captain had kept the fear out of her voice, mostly. “Raven says there’s a one in five chance of it, so we’re going to prepare like that is absolutely what will be happening. Though to be honest I’m more worried about a Variant Hunt showing up.”

“Variant hunt, sir? I didn’t think the X’thari did variants?”

“Normally, no. But you know how every species has a few oddballs that just don’t fit the norm? Well, from what we can tell, in X’thari culture, those that survive and prove their skills as oddballs either become lone Hunter-Scouts, or they form Variant Hunts. Like the ones Confederate Naval Intelligence codenamed ‘Thrush Squadron’. Eight light cruisers, completely ignoring the normal organization of a Hunt or their base-nine numbering, but they scored several key wins against larger ships in the war. They sank several times their tonnage during the war, despite the fact that the old Mothak-class had the same issue our Shinokage-class and Assassin-class ships have with needing to face the enemy head-on to use our most powerful weapons.”

“So a Variant Hunt is whenever the X’thari start doing things outside their normal playbook? Understood, sir. We’ll keep an eye out for crazy.”

“Glad to hear it. Raven is sending you navigation data as we speak. Second Group is to go full stealth, and move to cover Strike Point Beta. First Group will cover Alpha, while Third Group will cover the planet. Do you want your carriers with you, or do you want to deploy them with Third Group?”

“Are we expecting Tarpits?”

“We will certainly be deploying them, but we don’t have any intel on whether the X’thari will be using them. It will likely depend on the level of threat they bring. These are predators. They know the danger of driving prey into a corner. Analysis suggests that the X’thari using tarpits breaks down to 5.2% for a Hunt, 36.8% for a Full Hunt, and 89.2% for a True Hunt. The larger the hunt, the less they worry about the prey being driven into a corner, and the more they worry about keeping any of the prey from escaping the trap.”

“Then, with respect, I would like to keep the carriers with me. It will mean trouble protecting them, but the fighters won’t be any good to us if they have to travel at sublight across the system.”

“Very well. There will be an all captain’s meeting at 09:30 tomorrow morning to finalize our plans for defending against the attack when it comes. Welcome to Nuevo Edo, Captain.”

“Thank you, Sir. Glad to be here. Hades, out.”

With that done, I let out a sigh of relief. Now that we had the reinforcements from Dimiya, with just Black Star’s forces we had two Cruisers, nine corvettes (eight of them Assassins), thirty-two gunboats, and eight squadrons of fighters (two of them bombers). The fledgling Nuedo Evo Navy had three assassins and ten gunboats to add to that.

Now, if the Hunt would just get here already so they could be done with this waiting.

(One week later)

Alarms woke me from my sleep. Shearah looked up bleary-eyed from beside me, and reached out to check her bracer on the nightstand by the bed even as we started getting up. “Master, it would seem that the outer pickets have detected energy spikes from X’thari drives. They look to be a day out of the system on sublight.”

“Hmm. That’s not like them. They usually either come in completely silently, or they drop in right in the middle of a system. Any further readings?”

“Uh, wait one. Okay, it seems that the initial detection was by one of those probes we fired off along the scout’s probable line. Raven is refining the data… looks like we have two days, actually, due to relativistic effects. The probe was still in motion.”

“So they came out far enough to avoid detection, but not so far that they’d dull themselves waiting to enter the system. All right, so far that’s standard X’thari. What are their numbers?”

“The probe indicates eighteen ships… no, now there are nine. Probably scouts going to full stealth… probe is still transmitting in stealth mode. One of the ships got close enough to do a passive scan. Unclear, but it is tentatively identified as a X’thari frigate.”

I blew out a breath I hadn’t noticed I’d been holding. “Sounds like a normal Hunt. I really can’t believe we are that lucky.” Now dressed in my normal outfit for ship duty, I checked the terminal in my quarters, bringing up sensor data and a channel to Raven. “All right. Raven, I don’t want to let these assholes play around unsupervised. Scramble fighters. Dragons are to target enemy ships while Thunderbolts cover them and help them take out the trash. Ghost Squadron is to stay quiet and find those stealth ships. Tell all ships that we believe this is a feint to draw us out of position and slip stealth ships in close so they can cripple our support structures.”

“Fighters launching, Commodore. No tarpits active yet.”

“Keep me apprised of the situation. I’m going to loop in our allies so they know what’s going on.”

“Understood.”

(Outside Nuevo Edo System)

One moment, the Hunt was alone in space, silently stalking towards the world that had proven it was a worthy challenge. Unlike the worlds of the arm where these creatures had come from, this world had apparently gained a spine, and relied on hunting tactics rather than a simple wall of missiles and beam weapons, as the defenders used there. It was effective, but it offended the Hunters’ pride to trade blows with those who simply blotted out the local primary with missiles to ensure the destruction of their foes. There was no skill in that, no pride. It was simple destruction. That was why the Hunters had not returned to that region in some span of years.

Suddenly, nine nines and a triad of little craft appeared from warpspace practically on top of the Hunters. Almost one third of the little ships suddenly unleashed weapons at the Hunter frigates from the very edge of lance range. The little missiles moved with a speed that the Hunters had not seen from the Prey species before, and they were too slow in targeting their lances to intercept the missiles. Soon, the nine frigates of the Hunt were gone.

One of the Hunter-Scouts now became the Hunt Leader, and ordered two triads to engage the little ships while in stealth, to cut down their numbers, while his triad penetrated the system so that, when the real attack came, they would have the information they needed to properly cull this group. They were a worthy challenge indeed, to pull off an ambush in interstellar space.

The Hunt Leader bowed his head in respect to the fallen as his scans showed the six Hunter-Scouts become swarmed with the little ships. The scouts, designed to attack from stealth and disable foes before boarding, were ill suited to defending against many times their number in fighters, but the Hunt Leader was proud to see that several of the little ships were destroyed before the end.

And then from nowhere, alarms cried out as weapons impacted against his triad’s engines, crippling their maneuverability and ruining their stealth capabilities! How had they been detected while running silently? And then the Hunt Leader saw the truth on his scanners, four triads’ worth of missiles launching at his already crippled triad. The enemy had knowledge of Hunters, and their tactics. In the moments before his ship was destroyed, the Hunt Leader sent an emergency message to the fleet. They would need either a True Hunt or a Variant to properly hunt this species.

A worthy challenge indeed.

(Ghost 1, Ghost Squadron, Outside Nuevo Edo System)

Parca nodded silently as the last of the three scout ships died. The ships were impressive, but they were like the Assassins in that they were lightly armored to make up for their speed and stealth abilities. Even though the Raptors weren’t designed to target enemy ships for more than disabling strikes, against a scout vessel they were still deadly. Four Raptors to each Scout made the outcome a certainty, especially after the first missiles hit, crippling the ships and throwing them into confusion.

“This is Ghost Leader to all fighters. All bandits accounted for. Call out damage reports and status.”

“Phantom Leader here. No casualties. All fighters down two missiles.”

“Eagle Leader here. One fighter lost to gravitic lance. Good ejection.”

“Sentinel Leader reporting in. All fighters accounted for, two with heavy damage from enemy secondary weapons, but still flying.”

“Giant Two reporting in. Giant Leader is down from gravitic lance. Two other Giants also down. We have ejections from two, but Giant Leader failed to eject. Back half of his fighter is just gone.”

“Do you have eyes on the cockpit, Giant Two?”

“Wait one, Ghost Leader. Coming around now. All right, I can see the cockpit now. I can see blood on the cockpit glass, but Giant Leader looks like he’s moving. Request emergency S&R, sir!”

“Already on the way, Giant Two. First shuttle will go to Giant Leader. Just need to know how many we’re picking up. Continue reports. Inferno Leader?”

“Inferno Leader here. All bombers accounted for.”

“Hammer Leader reporting in. Four fighters down, two good ejections. We’ve lost Guru and Aspect. They got hit when the stealth ships turned back to open fire.”

“Demon Leader here. All bombers accounted for. Thanks to Grey Phantoms for getting us the target data so quickly, we were able to kill off the Scouts before they got more than a couple shots off.”

“Good work, everyone. I see that shuttles from the fleet are already exiting hyperspace at your position. As soon as all survivors are loaded, we’ll head back to base.”

“Black Star Prime to all fighters, all bombers. Excellent work. Analysis of the last ships taken out indicates they sent a transmission before being destroyed, so don’t expect it to be this easy next time. Your deck bosses have been informed that all fighters are due for twelve hours of down time, and there is a keg in each of your ready rooms when you’re back at base. I’m ordering all of you to return those kegs, properly emptied, before you step on a flight deck again, is this understood?”

Parca laughed, despite the losses. “Ghost Leader here. Speaking for everyone out here, orders received and understood, Commodore.”

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