Hero of the Republic (Chapter 19)

[CmdrWilkens]

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Chapter 19

Betazed, three weeks later

"First Fleet, status check," Admiral Jenner shouted. "Give me full update and a track on those incoming vessels."

"All lines report as ready no problems, sir" the comm Lieutenant reported from her station on the rear of the USS Farenheight, one of seven Sovreigns though only this one stood as the flagship.

"We have seventy nine confirmed tracks," an even younger Lieutenant called out from the tactical station even as he was joined by his crew chief, back from a speed tour of the ship to ensure all preperations for combat were completed. Above the rising din and commotion Lieutenant Commander Georges Flanders, NRN, stood passive watcher. He had been assigned as one of more than a dozen "advisors" to the Federation now that the Swift had made her way to the heart of that nation. He was here to offer what advice he could, and it was sorely needed.

While some of the officers, such as the XO, were competent even by the Republic's standards the crew as a whole and much of the bridge crew, in particular, were either green as a lizard or unskilled as a two year old. He would sigh if that wouldn't serve to depress them further, they were eager to please but almost unviersally unskilled at running a proper combat starship. Hopefully they would learn fast. Combat was Darwinian, those who didn't learn died and Flanders wasn't particularly keen on dying today.

"Check that sir, four hundred and thirteen tracks, we have smaller vessels launching from the larger ones."

In the depth of space beyond the tiny bridge the first moves of this battle began in the cold precise style of the Vong before they went for the kill. For now they held their raging passion for battle in check as each warrior knew that at the first command of Warmaster Carr he would be executed with no glory for his Domain should he stray from the plans laid down. Nonetheless the formations sethed as fighters and cruisers jockeyed for the positions from which they might best engage the enemy and turn his fancy vessels of steel into so much floating scrap...a bloated tribute to Yun-Yuuzhan patron of the Vong and the one who would bring them victory this day.

On the Federation side of the equation the First Fleet stood at perhaps a third of its nominal strength, it had been depleted by the battles of the Dominion War and had yet more vessels caught away from home on patrol duty. In all some sixty eight combatants from Akiras to Steamrunners to Galaxies stood ready to face the enemy they had been running from and fighting with little success for alomst a month now.

"Sir," Flanders stated. "Now might be the best time to counter with your own fighter screen, lest they get too forward and hold your fleet with their fighters."

"A sensible suggestion," Jenner replied. He was, perhaps, the most pliant of all the troops here though one could sense the ego dying to prove that he had learned. "Signal the Commodore to deploy his squadrons."

"Copy that sir. We have Peregrines moving into a screening formation,sir" the same lieutenant called out. One might indeed call it that though, in reality, it was little more than a lose configuraiton of squadron sized units. The Commodore of that group probably knew well enough that his piltos would be incapable of actually fufilling their role as a proper screen and instead chose to group them into compact ramrods to pierce the opposing screen and maybe...just maybe buy enough time.

"Very well," Jenner replied, turning to Flanders.

"That said, sir now mgiht be the time to form your fleet."

"Captain Hart prepare your ship for combat, Lieutenant signal the fleet...Red Alert, arm all weapons prepare to reform into Fleet Line."

"Yes sir," Echoed from both sailors, one male the other female. In fitting tribute to the Federation's politics the latter was Captain, now charged with fighting a flagship of the Federation. "Commander Vincent, man the battle bridge and have all sections lock down... Computer sound Red Alert, crews to Battle Stations."

Flanders was saddened again at the neccessary measure for the XO was a man who actually knew a thing or two about combat. Still if the battle bridge were called upon better him still alive than any of the others aboard. Even as these thoughts ran through his head teh bridge lights switched to that diffuse red the Federations was fond of using, as if the color would improve efficiency. Still the crew moved commendably, though not quickly, to take battle positions with extra crew flooding the bridge to man comm and tactical stations.

Overall they were well drilled, with quick efficiecy quarters were sealed, non-essential systems shut off with power diverted to shielding, the engineering staff doubled and the core itself was sealed off in case of coolant leak due to battle stress. All were precautions made neccessarry by the hard won experience of the Dominion War, sadly only a few ships could have such crews as this. The long term combat veterans were scare enough and Jenner had few enough to spare fighting his own flagship.

On the main bridge Jenner paced, silently fumming, while Flanders looked on as his own ship stood ready while the rest of his fleet was only now beginning to call in their own acknowledgement of orders and a switch to combat readiness. The movement of the fleet, despite its graceful nature, was still haphazard as the Federation, for the first time, tried its hand at true three dimensional combat formaitons in space.However doing things the right way for the first time takes time. Even as the commander of his screening force began clammoring for the release to engage with the Vong fighter screen coming into combat range Jenner still waited on two vessels.

"Sir if the fighters delay any longer the Vong will break through," Fladners prompted "Then we'd have a real mess on our hands."

"The fleet isn't ready," Jenner replied. "Without the fleet ready to move we could lose most of the screen before we close to engage."

The point was valid but overlooked the cruicial point. "If we don't let them engage now there won't be a fleet to close and engage with sir."

Jenner stared back at the screen weighing his own time fighting the dominions against this sailor, a veteran of fighting the Vong. "Screw it."

"Commodore Gerant," he said calmly. "Your screen is released, engage the incoming fighter units but remain grouped by flights. Maintain unit cohesion so as to be able to hold the enemy while the fleet advances."

Not seconds later the tactical display sitting where the viewsceen normally showed the vastness fo space lit off. Each of the squadron sized units (a mere five of them)burst, somewhat akwardly, into all three axes of space spreading themselves wide in front of the onrushing Vong spearhead. The sudden, seeming confusion, on the part of the enemy finally unleashed the Vong for their warriors saw a distracted enemy open to the kill and they moved in.

The manuever, however, was carefully planned to allow the now re-froming wing pairs and flight to engage the Vong with proximity burst micro-torpedoes. After losing more than a dozen skirmishes with these invaders, falling back constantly, the Federation had begun to rely on these near hits to garuntee damage despite the pseudo-black holes the enemy projected. The Peregrines lit off with ripple volleys of torpedoes that raced forward into the Vong formation. They saw it coming and, trusting to their Dovin Basals, they poured on the speed hoping to close to ranges where their own plasma canons might chew holes through these technological monstrosities. This would be their undoing.

Bruilliant white flashes flashed in the void as a near thousand mciro torpedoes burst into radiance like firecrackers on a string. Explosions enveloped the coralskippers, reaching around voids and burnign deep scars on the hulls of some craft..turning the cockpit into a molten fragment on others.

"That'll teach 'em"

"Peregrines, engage continuous, all flights are released to individual flgihts...go get 'em"

The remaining distance had clsoed in a hurry with the Peregrines each releasing perhaps one more proximity burst a piece before beam weapon range ensued. Here the odds now favored the still heavily outnumberig Vong...and they knew it. Gerant's was aware his force was here as a roadbump to distract the Vong until the fleet could move and engage, but he didn't plan on going out in a hail of gunfire...not yet. "Tally ho, bandits at 2 o'clock mark 5"

"Copy that skipper, right on your tail"

With his wingman tucked in Gernat took his somewhat clumsy craft into a dive into the thickst of the vong formation, managing yet another torpedo shot while raining a splattered stutter of phaser fire that connected with a distracted coralskipper and split it in two. His wingman took andvantage of that same earlier torpedo and carved out the back third of another damged coralskipepr as the two blazed "vertically" through the Vong formation.

"Shit Ice Man we've picked up bogies, looks like a flight of three trailing hot," the understatment form his rear seater comforting Gerant as liquid burning plasma errupted around the craft, her shields buffeting with the hammering being delivered.

"Highlander, on my mark wiggle left right engage...mark."

The wingmen split each looping out widely then pulling over tightly, straning the inertial compensators, flying back towards each other only now Highlander had three coralskippers in his sights that had been tailing his Squadron Commander through a less tight turn. Blasting out with a barrage of phasers and another precious micro-torpedo he caught two of them unawares of the manuever. They falmmed out and the third began an evasive dive that fell right over the cross hairs of Ice Man...Commodore Gerant.

"Good shooting Commo..."

Static burst the line as a new flight of coralskippers took their own turn balsting into Highlander, turnign his fighter into liquid metal. She fizzled and died even as Highlander's body slowly disintegrated from the massive energies poured into his ship. Ice Man had no time to waste, keeling over and then instantly stepping on the gas he lost one of the coralskippers while the otehr two hung in doggedly. Bracketing his Peregrine with a deliberate stream of shots, moving him back to the course they wanted Ice Man never even saw his death coming.

The Vong cruisers, vanguard of their attackign fleet were suddenly upon the fighter screens which had descneded into this bruttal slug fest. Now they spats vast quantities of energy destorying what little cohesion remiained of Commodore Gerant and of his screen.

Jenner watched all of this even as the Fleet manuevered into his modified Fleet line. Looking, to all the world, like a giant 'U' his foremost ships were just begining to flank the fighter battle when the cruisers had joined in. Now he ordered those wings to begin closing the trap, catching the fighters and cruisers in the middle. With most of his screen gone they were ordered to disengage however possible and with that he rleaeashed the Akiras.

With a dorsal torpedo pod the Akira was virtually purpose built to fight this battle and the dozen and a half present in the First now began showing why. Spitting out photon torpedoes like a bad habit they turned the exterior of the fight into a brilliant white ball of static. Ripple fire continued to pour more into the remnants of the Vong formations, cruiser and fighter alike. Blast after balst pounded in as Jenners arms drew to closer combat ranges and his other vessels joied the fray.

His victory was short lived because even as the wings closed the Vong attacked with their second wave of Capital Ships. In the great confusion of the brawl and slamming into the Vong spearhead Jenenr had closed his trap too quickly and while his crews were giving better than they got losses were being taken in that region. Yet worse came with that second wave as they had all swung starboard and now were able to attack only one of Jenner's two wings.

The onrushing fleet of Vong cruisers bore down on the fighting remnants of Jenner's starboard wing. All he could do was watch mouth agape even as Flanders shouted at him to order his ships to run the gauntlet through the center. Like a wave breaking onto the beach the Vong fleet began rolling thunderous waves of plasma at the now exposed and enveloped wing of the Federation's forces. Completely unacustomed to the speed and pitch of the battle Jenner had become lost and unable to focus on the tricks and feints the Vong had thrown at him, the unlearned dictums of warfare now came back to haunt starfleet as Jenner was left standing on his Flagship even as the battle raged around him wondering how the hell his nation had come to this.