The Ganthoran Gambit (The First Admiral Series) (24 page)

It took two minutes for Olympus and Colossus to reach the Calyx Wormhole. And, by the time the two huge Star-Destroyers had reached their destination, the slaughter of the Ganthoran Combined Frontier Fleets was only just beginning. The deception on the far side of the Wormhole had been successful, and Frontier General Sal’nor had launched his Destroyers at what he expected to be a disorganised Alliance position beyond.

But, unknown to General Sal’nor, his worst fears were already starting to come true. With the Ganthoran communications systems rendered useless by the Wormhole radiation, Sal’nor was unaware that the lead elements of his Destroyer formation were already being torn to shreds as soon as they emerged. Instead of a disorganised, jostling rabble of confused and panicked vessels, the first of the Frontier Fleet Destroyers fell straight into the carefully organised trap set by Billy Caudwell and executed by Second Admiral Parbe’an.

Watching on the War Table image, Billy could see the first of the Ganthoran Destroyers exploding beneath the pitiless hail of pulsar-bolts. Fixed in their positions by the waves of “Screaming Death” from Grobbeg’s Cruisers and Destroyers, the Frontier Fleet crews were only able to count their survival time in seconds, before the thousands of high and low-yield pulsar-bolts sought out their vulnerable and fragile hulls. From the same image, Billy could see the combined Star-Cruiser formations from First and Third Fleets in a circular formation, choking off the exit from the Wormhole.

The Star-Cruisers were stationed side-on to the Wormhole to allow all of their high-yield pulsar-cannon, and the Self Defence Turrets of that flank, to bear on the emerging targets. They were accompanied by formations of one single Ganthoran Cruiser supported by eight Destroyers, each one arranged in a diamond pattern. Surrounding the Star-Cruisers, the Alliance Eagles had been successfully launched, and were adding their low-yield pulsar-cannon fire into the avalanche of weapons fire that was directed at the emerging rebel Frontier Fleet ships. The low-yield pulsar-cannons from the Eagles and Self-Defence Turrets would provide the bulk of the Alliance’s weapons fire. Hundreds of thousands of low-yield pulsar-bolts being unleashed every second would create a nightmare fire storm in the mouth of the Wormhole.

Frontier General Grobbeg had suggested using a mixed formation of Cruisers and Destroyers to combine their Screaming Death weapons in a type of area denial strategy. With the Ganthoran weapons pods set on the widest possible field, the large Cruisers, supported by the small but powerful Destroyers, could project a wave of Screaming Death over the maximum area that would disrupt the hull and systems of an enemy ship, but not enough to immediately destroy it. The low and high-yield pulsar-cannons of the Alliance ships could bring a much more powerful and immediate punch to bear against the Combined Frontier Fleets vessels. The small clusters of Ganthoran vessels would be able to lay down overlapping fields of fire that would block the exit to the Wormhole like a cork in a bottle top.

To that end, Second Admiral Parbe’an had ordered the mouth of the Wormhole divided up into sectors. And, having created sixteen sectors of fire, Parbe’an had then given the overall responsibility for defending, and blocking, each sector to one Alliance Star-Cruiser. With a full complement of twenty-eight Star-Cruisers from two Fleets, Parbe’an then allocated the remaining twelve Alliance Cruisers to the fire support role. Several Star-Cruisers from Second Fleet were replacements for the losses incurred in the earlier battle with Frontier General Grobbeg. The fresh, and untried, crews of the replacement Star-Cruisers were allocated to support more experienced vessels.

The most inexperienced crews were tasked with the fire-support duties at the peripheral sectors of the Wormhole’s mouth; where Parbe’an expected there to be less traffic. The more experienced crews were allocated the duty to the more central sectors. Still, with only twelve Star-Cruisers to support in sixteen sectors, it meant dividing the fire of some vessels over two sectors at times. It was a situation that worried Billy Caudwell. He would have, ideally, liked to have had the additional Star-Cruisers to plug the gaps in the fire support network, but warship and crew resources were still scarce in the Universal Alliance Fleet. And, the allocation of new replacements to Second Fleet had almost completely absorbed the latest batch of graduates from the Alliance’s growing number of Training Centres.

With scarce Star-Cruiser resources, Parbe’an knew that he had to plug the gaps with low-yield pulsar-cannons of the single-seat Eagle fighters and the Self-Defence Turrets of the Star-Cruisers. The surviving vessels from Grobbeg’s Fleet were also allocated to sectors, but the broad coverage of the Screaming Death waves that they could generate meant that some groups were covering four or more sectors. Parbe’an had covered all of the bases with his deployment of vessels, but the lingering doubt still remained in Billy’s mind that the position was just not quite strong enough.

The weakness, once again, was the slow cooling process of the high-yield pulsar-cannon. With two hundred and eighty high-yield pulsar-cannon able to fire safely only once every fifteen seconds, the mathematical advantage was still with the Combined Frontier Fleets. If a large enough number of them could survive the initial barrage, they might well be able to break through the Alliance position. The Alliance trap would then fragment, allowing more and more Frontier Fleet vessels through the Wormhole to strengthen their position.

And, if that happened, then the technological advantages of the Alliance ships would be lost; swinging the tide of the battle against them. 

By the time Billy reached the other side of the Wormhole, the first Frontier Fleet Destroyers had already emerged from the buffeting and shaking of their journey, only to be annihilated in Parbe’an’s well planned and designed trap. And, with the first straggle of the lead vessels already passed through, greater and greater numbers of Frontier Fleet Destroyers began to emerge from the great, gaping maw of the Calyx Wormhole. The constant blast of Screaming Death from Grobbeg’s vessels tore and shredded relentlessly at the hulls of the emerging Frontier Fleet ships. And, so it was that for the Frontier Fleet crews, the shaking and turbulence of the Wormhole gave way to the hammering of the Screaming Death after only a moment’s respite. With very little chance for the Frontier Fleet crews to respond, the pulsar-bolts came hurtling towards the vulnerable Destroyers, smashing them to oblivion in short order.

As they emerged, the small but powerful warships began to lurch and weave drunkenly as the Screaming Death wave from their former comrades began to interfere with the hull structure and guidance systems. From that point onwards, it was simply a matter of moments before the high-yield pulsar-bolts from the Star-Cruisers, or the hordes of low-yield bolts from the Eagles, smashed them to destruction.

There was no need for the Tactical Computers to work out the Threat Potentials of the enemy ships. This was simply a case of firing the weapons to send out a blanket of death and devastation. Every gunner and Eagle pilot knew that they had to keep up the punishing rate of fire to hold off the enemy. Every gunner and pilot on the Alliance side could feel the cold, cloying sweat of terror, knowing that if the Combined Frontier Fleet ships broke through their cordon, it would be a free-for-all against the huge swarms of Axe-Blades and Destroyers. The Alliance gunners simply had to keep firing- there was no other way for them to survive.

In their turrets, consoles, and cockpits, their guns roared and flashed, sending an unending stream of death and destruction at a vulnerable enemy who was too strong and ruthless to offer any quarter or mercy to.

“WATO, keep them firing.” The anxious First Admiral stared intently at his War Table image.

Billy Caudwell, now that he had arrived on the scene, had to take charge of the battle as it unfolded. He knew that he had to keep up this murderous rate of fire on the enemy ships.

It was one of those frustrating times for Billy Caudwell, when he knew that he could have no further personal impact on the battle. He had created the situation, manufactured the strategy and tactics, and had brought the Combined Frontier Fleets to this place to engage his own forces. That was his job. Now, he had to leave the rest of his command to do their allocated jobs, whilst he stood back or paced anxiously at his War Table awaiting the outcome. The joy and celebration of luring the Combined Frontier Fleets through the Wormhole had now subsided, and had been replaced with the anxiety and worry of a battle commander defending a knife-edged position. It was a fundamentally sound strategy, and Parbe’an had organised the position well, but the lack of Star-Cruisers frustrated and annoyed Billy Caudwell.

It also annoyed Billy that he had two of the largest and most powerful warships in the entire universe, and they were completely useless in this battle. The two Star-Destroyers; Colossus and Olympus, like his Fleet Carriers, were too big to fit neatly into the Star-Cruiser formation that was choking off the Wormhole. The Star-Destroyers had no high-yield pulsar-cannon, and to use the Trionic Cannon so close to the Wormhole would have devastatingly destructive consequences.

The waiting, however, Billy suspected would not be too long. The Ganthoran Destroyers were still coming through the Wormhole, and being shot to pieces by the Alliance Eagles and Star-Cruisers. From the War Table image, Billy could see that the Alliance hemispherical formation blocking the Wormhole exit, whilst laying down a savage rate of pulsar-cannon and a barrage of Screaming Death. From the wide view of the battle, it appeared as if a constant stream of bright light was being funnelled into the mouth of the Wormhole from the formation of vessels that were clustering around it. The relentless bombardment seemed to light up the mouth of the Wormhole like a huge searchlight.

On a closer image, in Real Time, Billy saw one of dozens of newly emerged Ganthoran Destroyers lurch into the pathway of a Screaming Death wave from one of Grobbeg’s Cruisers. The targeted Destroyer lurched for a moment as the wave hit, and was blasted to the left as the hull began to fragment under the sonic wave. The crew of the Destroyer, however, had no time to react as low–yield pulsar-bolts from a cluster of Eagles around the Star-Cruiser “Ajax” slammed into the already-shredding hull. Billy counted four low-yield pulsar-bolts hammering into the vessel. The first slammed neatly into the front face of the Destroyer, just above the intake for the fans. A split-second later, another low-yield pulsar bolt sheared away one of the weapons pods above the main fuselage, throwing the doomed vessel to its right.

At the same moment, a third pulsar-bolt slammed into the main fuselage on the top centre, causing the vessel to begin to spit apart. An instant later, the final bolt smashed into the fan intake, causing a massive explosion. In less than one and a half seconds, four low-yield pulsar-bolts had smashed a Ganthoran Destroyer and killed its crew.

And, the scene was being repeated all over the mouth of the Wormhole. However, Billy noticed one Destroyer Captain who had reacted on pure instinct during this tense situation.

Emerging from the Wormhole with six other Destroyers, sensing the trap, the Captain pushed his Destroyer into a steep dive the moment he emerged. It was a brave and clever move on the Captain’s part, but, unfortunately, luck was not with his crew. Emerging into the Screaming Death wave from several of Grobbeg’s Destroyers, the vessel veered to its right as it began its dive. A low-yield pulsar-bolt from an Eagle caught the base of one of the three weapons pods, and pushed the vessel into a half turn where it ran straight into a high-yield pulsar-bolt from an Alliance Star-Cruiser. The other Destroyers that had emerged with the unfortunate Captain and his crew were all dispatched less than two seconds afterwards. Three of the emerging Destroyers ran straight into high-yield pulsar-bolts and were annihilated instantly in red, roaring fireballs of destruction.

The fifth Destroyer was strafed by several Alliance Eagles. With their pulsar-cannon set to rapid-fire, the group of five Eagles opened up on the emerging Destroyer. A rapid-fire salvo of low-yield pulsar-bolts hurtled through the great blizzard-like storm of white-hot weapons fire towards the newly emerged target. The emerging Destroyer was hit by three low-yield bolts at exactly the same moment; one pulsar-bolt glanced from the rear of the Destroyer, whilst the other two hit the main fuselage, just above the fan intake, and again on the flank, just in front of the left weapons pod. Having been struck thrice, the Destroyer veered to the left, where a further seven low-yield pulsar bolts slammed into its flank in less than a second, blowing it to pieces.

To add to the misery of the emerging Destroyer crews, the wreckage and debris from their fallen comrades’ vessels were starting to create problems. Emerging at high speed from the Wormhole, some Destroyers were colliding with large lumps of red-hot spinning space debris before the Alliance pulsar-cannon could seek them out. For some, the collisions were simply a nuisance; slight damage that was inflicted a few moments before the Alliance guns blew them to oblivion, whilst for others, the collisions themselves were fatal. The space debris, however, were providing no hindrance to the Alliance pilots and gunners. They just kept blazing away at any target that fell beneath their gun-sights. The high and low-yield pulsar-bolts made no distinction between a piece of space debris and an intact Destroyer. The streams of white-hot destruction lanced into the melee of destruction and struck down whatever they touched. 

In the mouth of the Wormhole itself, the great tidal wave of weapons fire was only going one way. Ganthoran Destroyers emerging from the Wormhole had almost no chance of survival. The high-speed dash following the two Alliance space fortresses had led to them plunging straight into the Wormhole in their pursuit. After several seconds of buffeting and shaking within the Wormhole, the Destroyers emerged and were promptly shot to pieces. Many Destroyer crews were completely unaware of the Alliance vessels before they were killed in the hail of pulsar-bolts. Some had only a few brief moments of realisation before death claimed them.