The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (48 page)

“
We do know they don
’
t need to have a gate in every system. We don
’
t know how the
Vicksburg
group is doing,
”
Yitzchak added.
“
If they
’
ve done a lot of damage, the Nameless might be having to concentrate repair efforts further up their supply lines.
”
Crowe nodded slowly as he considered the point.

“
We are burning endurance even sitting here.
”
Singer added,
“
I think the idea of sitting and trying to catch the repair ships was a good one but maybe they
’
ve already learned to be careful.
”

His two subordinates were looking at him. He
’
d asked for their opinions but the decision was his. There wasn
’
t enough information for a true informed choice, merely a guess.

“
We
’
ll wait another five hours. If it
’
s still quiet, we
’
ll make a move. If nothing else we
’
ve dropped off their radar screens for several days. That means we
’
ve had time to be potentially in a lot of different places by now. We might have even slipped back to Junction. So we
’
ll hit the next known gate, then move on to the next one quickly and hit that. That should allow us to knock an entire section of the gate system out before they can react.
”

“
And if we run into resistance?
”
Singer asked.

“
Gates are our primary objective. Obviously we
’
ll press our advantage if we find ourselves with the upper hand over elements of their mobile force. But if come up against anything resembling a fair fight we back off and look for easier targets.
”

___________________

The intercom trilled in the dark of the cabin. Crowe woke with a snort and reached blindly for the panel.

“
What is it?
”

“
Officer of the Watch, sir. A friendly scout ship has just dropped into the system. It is transmitting on a radio band, standard encoding.
”

“
How far away from us is it?
”

“
Two light minutes, sir. We
’
re decoding now.
”

“
I
’
m on my way up.
”

The Officer of the Watch handed him a reading pad as he entered the bridge. Crowe quickly scanned down the through the text. He was smiling slightly by the time he reached the end.

“
Are we close enough for a laser transmission to the scout?
”
he asked.

“
Close enough to try, sir.
”

As the laser probed out at the scout
’
s estimated position, Crowe sat down and read more carefully through the download. The scouts covering Junction
’
s portion of the front had been given a rough guide to
Deimos
’
s
planned itinerary for the sweep, so if they found something interesting, there was a chance of calling in an armed response quicker than if they went all the way back to Junction Station. Just like the scout had apparently now done.

“
Sir, we
’
ve got the scout on coms, response lag is four minutes.
”

On Crowe
’
s personal screen the face of the distant scout ship
’
s commander appeared.

“
Lieutenant Driscoll, sir, of the
K7
.
”

“
Lieutenant, we
’
ve received your report, good work on your discovery. What I need to know is whether you were spotted.
”

The lag was just long enough to be annoying but not long enough to make conversation impossible and four minutes later the distant Lieutenant nodded.

“
Unfortunately, sir, we were. We came under fire exiting and had to make an emergency jump out.
”

“
I see,
”
Crowe paused as he considered the options. The information on the pad in front of him was already seven hours old. By the time
Deimos
could get there it would be in the region of twenty-hours.
“
Lieutenant, I am hereby ordering you to abandon your sweep. We are going to make best speed to
…
system A, two seven seven dash, two eight three. I want your ship to make a follow up pass five hours behind us.
”
Crowe didn
’
t wait for the acknowledgement before turning to his own bridge.
“
Communications, download the information from the scout to a message drone and launch it to Junction. Inform the rest of the squadron to prepare for navigation data and that I will brief them once we
’
re in jump space. Navigation, give me calculations for a least-time jump.
”

The wardroom was cramped enough at the best of times but with two big screens to allow the command staff from
Valkyrie
and
Meili
to listen in, it was standing room only.

“
The following information came from the scout
K7
and potentially represents a lucky break,
”
Crowe started.
“
As you all know logistics has been a big problem for the Nameless since the very start of the war. Now they can try to keep their supplies moving - that
’
s the safe option - but it keeps transport ships tied up for weeks at a time. While the Nameless certainly have a lot of ships, they don
’
t have an infinite supply. Which makes this a find.
”
He paused to turn on the projector.
“
The scout sighted this: it
’
s an enemy supply depot, bigger than any previously sighted. We have two space gates, one in, and one out, which hasn
’
t been seen before. Interestingly, they
’
re linked by a central space station, small and fairly basic looking, probably the administrative centre. But surrounding it are these storage modules, at least forty of them. Assuming all the storage modules are full or nearly full, this would represent at least two full convoys worth of supplies. Finally there were at least a dozen transports, no jump capable vessels, just the basic transports that need gates to jump in and out. If we can take this facility out, it
’
s likely to leave the Nameless with supply problems that will hamstring their activities in this region far more severely than the loss of a few gates.
”

“
What kind of defences are we looking at?
”
asked Captain Singer.

“
Several mobile units, but nothing heavier than cruisers, plus at least a dozen missile satellites.
”

“
We could take that,
”
said Captain Yitzchak.

“
Well, that
’
s where the good news ends,
”
Crowe paused to look round the wardroom.
“
The scout was observed. So unfortunately the Nameless know that at the very least someone is coming.
”

“
But they won
’
t know how long,
”
Singer said thoughtfully.
“
With us off the radar, the response might be a lot quicker than they expect.
”

“
Well, they know that they can
’
t stand off an assault when they can
’
t dodge out of the way. We have to figure on them trying to evacuate,
”
Yitzchak observed.
“
But we have to assume that they have reinforced with mobile units to protect the depot while that is being done.
”

“
No, we have to assume they
will
reinforce,
”
Crowe corrected.
“
Whether they yet have, that is the unknown factor and we don
’
t have the time or resources to carry out a reconnaissance sweep.
”

“
So, sir, what
’
s the plan?
”
Singer asked.

“
Our current jump will take us to the edge of the system, which is seven light hours out from the target. We
’
ll have to make a follow up jump to get close to the third planet, where the Nameless facilities are in orbit. So we are going to make a very fast translation from one jump to the next - ten minutes. We
’
ll use that period to observe with passive sensors and make final determination on whether to go or abort.
”

The two captains were both nodding their agreement

“
Sir,
”
Alanna raised a hand,
“
what fighter load out are we thinking?
”

Crowe paused to consider. The fighters had the edge in acceleration over the starships: they could close the range and knock out the gates far quicker. But of the three cruisers only
Deimos
could do without fighters.
Valkyrie
had received a pair of flak guns, but
Meili
still had her original railguns, which were the wrong weapon system for this war. Both really needed the extra layer of protection offered by their fighters.

“
The fighters from
Valkyrie
and
Meili
will maintain a defensive posture so they
’
ll carry a pure anti-missile load. Our two will be configured for strike, two anti-ship missiles each, the remainder of the load made up of anti-fighter missiles.
”

Alanna nodded.

“
On the subject of missiles, Captains, I want your launchers ready to deploy mines. If we have to make a quick exit, we need to make sure no one is following too closely.
”
Crowe looked round.
“
Any questions?
”
There were a few grunted negatives as heads were shaken.
“
Alright, we are four and a half hours out. Get some rest, we go to action stations in three and a half.
”

___________________

The five starships hurtled down the jump conduit, their engines now going full astern as they braked for real space re-entry. On the bridge of
Deimos
there was silence on the command net, broken only by the hiss of the carrier wave. At the rear of the bridge the pilots of the two fighters waited patiently for what would be a very quick briefing based on what was seen once they dropped back into real space.

“
Re-entry time now two minutes,
”
announced the navigator.

“
Understood. Sensors stand ready, flak guns, stand to,
”
Crowe replied.

Deimos
lurched back into real space and the sensors section erupted into activity. As
Deimos
’
s
jump drive spun down,
Meili
began to edge past. The heavy cruiser
’
s jump drive was spinning up, ready to create the jump conduit that would take them from the edge of the system to the third planet where the depot orbited. But before they could jump, they needed to know what they were jumping into.

“
Position confirmed. We are six and a quarter light hours from target,
”
called out the navigator. All five ships had now made communication link up, allowing them to share sensor data. The image on
Deimos
’
s
main display was little more than a few blobs of light sharpened into a clear picture as the computer married together information from the different ships. There had been changes since the scout left the system.

“
We are making it one capital ship, six cruisers and a dozen scouts or escorts. No change on defensive satellites,
”
called out Colwell.
“
Seven cargo modules are gone. We also have a dozen transports, they all appear to be gate jumpers.
”