The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (41 page)

“That is good to hear. So what brings you here? I thought you were in the middle of an exercise. “

“The fleet still is. And the exercise is the reason I’m here. I have a plan and in order to implement it i will need something.”

Simonson looked at his friend and at the small smile that was forming on his face.

“What do you need? You have the look that you always had when you thought of something good.”

Jennings smiled.

“You know me too well.”

“Well we are friends for how long?”

That comment brought a smile on both their faces. The answer was from kindergarten. Jennings was older but they were from the same neighborhood and they were friends from the first time they met. It was so long ago that it looked like ancient time by now. They both joined the military but took different pats. While Sam joined the Air Force, Jack chose the Navy. But they never lost touch. And now years after they both had the same rank and the same command. It seemed that their destinies were intertwined.

“I need a mine field of my own Jack. I will need at least twenty maybe even thirty fifty to a hundred megatons nukes.”

As Simonson looked at him with surprise he laid out his plan. As he spoke he noticed the same smile he saw on the faces of his officers appearing on the face of his friend.

Half an hour later they both laughed and Simonson looked at him.

“You will have them by the end of the day. We have several hundred left that we plan to place on approach vectors for Earth and through the Asteroid belt. I will give you thirty from them. It as a bold and a sneaky plan you bastard. And knowing our friends they will bite and bite hard. I knew you will think of something like that.”

“They killed my nephew Jack. That is a debt i plan to return with an interest.”

A short silence came after that comment. Simonson still remembered the day he brought the news of Pits death. Both Sam and his sister were broken. The young boy was the pride of his family, and he was an excellent officer. He was also a great science fiction fan, and he belonged to this future and the future they were fighting for.

“To his honor Sam…to that and to revenge…”

They both emptied their glasses.

“So how is Linda? She has her work cut out with you.”

“She is fine. She said to say hi.”

Simonson smiled. Linda was the second wife Jack had. The first marriage with Kate didn’t work out well. But this one seemed to be going well.

“Tell her that i said hi and that I’m waiting for her. I think I can find some free time for a dinner together.”

“I will. And I sure hope you do. It’s been a while…”

“Yea it has…”

They both exhaled and just stayed quiet for a moment.

Jennings was the first one to break the silence. He looked at the pile of papers on the desk at the other end of the cabin and his mind shifted towards their mission.

“So how is everything on this side? Is there anything new?”

“So far it is going well. The mine field around the warp point is finally finished. And the fleet exercises are going excellent. They are surpassing even the highest expectations.”

“Well the crews have more than enough motivation. And they are good all they needed was time to get used to the new surroundings. The rest is easy.”

“Sam did you see the performance reports for the corvettes?

“All I have are the reports from the two that are in my fleet but if I have to judge I’d say that they are damn good. They have the speed and the maneuverability that the other ships don’t have and they have a lot of firepower for a ship their size.”

“They already made an impact on the other classes that are in development. TNMC sure made one hell of a ship. You know they got the idea by working with an AI. I believe his name is Marius and according to Le Blanc he is one sarcastic bastard.”

Jennings smiled at the comment.

“Well he has to be when he has to work with miners. If he was alive I would bet that he would drink just as bad as them.”

“You know I think he actually said that.”

They both smiled again. Jennings stood up and so did Simonson.

“Thanks for the drink Jack.”

“I hope we’ll have a chance to do it more often soon.”

“So do i.”

Before he exited he turned and looked at Simonson.

“Don’t forget about my mines. I hope I will be able to bring them back with me. And give Aria the lay out of my plan. Tell her that I will wait on her judgment.”

At that moment the AI appeared behind him.

“Thought of leaving the ship without saying hi? Now that is rude from you.”

“Aria… I should have known.”

“Yes you should admiral…or should I say admirals.”

“You know we could order you to be quiet and not listen.”

The AI smiled.

“Yes you could but I could choose not to listen…”

“Hell Jack I don’t think we can win this fight.”

The younger admiral smiled at his colleague.

“No Sam I agree with you we can’t. I guess you owe the lady an apology.”

“O so now I’m a lady?”

Jennings smiled at the AI that at the moment made a sarcastic face.

“You certainly are my dear. And I’m sorry.”

“You are forgiven admiral. I will review your report have my recommendations in one hour. I will share them with Anaya as well.”

“Thank you Aria.”

“Just doing my job Admiral, just doing my job”

The Ai shimmered and disappeared after that. Jennings greeted Simonson and then headed toward the hangar. Simonson watched him go and after a moment he retreated to his room. As he did Aria appeared again.

“Aria I want you to send a request for twenty fifty megatons and ten hundred megatons nuclear warheads to be delivered to the Prometheus within the next couple of hours.”

“Already did admiral. The warheads will be delivered right after you call and give confirmation.”

“Thanks Aria. Give me a link to the base. And send shuttles to pick up the warheads.”

“Yes Admiral.”

He had the link just seconds later and gave the command. After that he returned to the reports on his desk.

As he sat down he exhaled. He had a lot of work ahead of him. And it was a work that he hated.

Several hours later the Prometheus transited the warp point back to the Proxima Centaury system and it carried on board the thirty warheads, and the confirmation about the plan from bot Anaya and Aria. Jennings smiled. He had a plan and the bastards were going to pay.

He looked at the plan that he proposed and entered the changes that Aria and Anaya proposed. He was pleased.

The plan was simple. Prometheus along with four of the Orion class ships and five Los Angeles class will be positioned in orbit around the first planet in the system the one closest to the star. They would actually hide there. The other sixteen ships will hide in the asteroid belt on the other side of the system. It was a small asteroid belt compared with the one in the Sol System but small still meant millions of square miles and rocks. It was big enough to hide the small fleet inside it. The small change was proposed by Anaya and he accepted it.

The Orion’s carried 40 fighters each and the second squadron might have a need of fighter support. From the reports about the battle in the Mediterranean and from the reports from Anaya about the conflict in the past between the Alterans and the Dacarians they used fighters regularly. Earth’s defense net proved itself, especially the AEGIS system in the first battle. That gave him a huge hope that they will easily deal with whatever fighters the enemy will use. But the suggestion was good especially that the fighters might initiate a surprise attack before the enemy is ready.

He planned to make the trap halfway from the warp point and his troops. That is why he asked for the Intrepid. The second ship under his command was also retrofitted and it got additional armor and several plasma cannons, rail guns and point defense kinetic weapons. It was also faster than any of the newly built ships. That meant that it would be used as bait. The ship will hide on the third planet in the system and it will launch as soon as the main fleet transits from the system. He knew that the Dacarians will give chase. The ships design was changed enough that they won’t be able to recognize it as a ship from Alteran design, and considering that they will notice the life signs on Proxima he knew that they will be intrigued enough. They already knew that the probe that the dacarian scout fleet launched in Sol had data about Proxima. The bastards studied the planet before transitioning through the warp point and even took several specimens. The species was deemed unusable and to primitive and a note was made that it should be exterminated. That proved how ruthless their enemy was. And it made the determination to stop them even bigger.

The Intrepid will lead them towards the mine field where the warheads will be drifting. They were coded to recognize friendly ship so they won’t activate as the Intrepid passes through them. As the Intrepid flees his ships will exit the shadow and start closing in. That would make the Dacarians react. He guessed that they will send just one, maybe two ships after the Intrepid. But when his ships appear they will surely react. He knew that if they time it right it will look as if they are launched from Proxima. Especially considering that the Intrepid will run towards it. And when they hit the mine field…he smiled at the thought, even with their shields active they will suffer damage and he planned to hit them with rounds from the MAC guns before that.

And the best part of the plan was that his ships will be just the anvil. The real deadly blow was going to come from the second squadron. He planned for two eventualities about them. The first one was that the whole rearguard will give chase. In that case the second squadron will have an open route in to their rear. If they leave ships at the Warp Point than the second squadron will drift close enough so that it destroys them first and then move in for the kill on the first group. It was a risky plan but he knew that he can make it work. That it would work.

Two hour later he looked at the faces of the commanders of his ships. All twenty six captains were present. They all had the copy of the plan forwarded as soon as he transitioned from the warp point.

They had time to study it and to see and make some suggestions. For the past half an hour they had a discussion about what changes they should implement.

“Admiral it is a risky plan. The first squadron will have to hold until the second squadron arrives. And if they leave a rear guard at the Warp Point it will be even harder considering that they will have to pass through them to. I don’t know if we will be able to do it in time.”

Jennings exhaled. Elisabeth was nothing the same concerns he had. The plan had many unknowns but it was the best one he could come up with. He trusted her enough to place her in command of the second squadron with the Prince Royal.

“You make a good point Elisabeth. But I have enough trust in your capabilities and I think that this is the best course of action. We have several months to practice it to perfection and we will. There is much we don’t know about them but what we know is that they are arrogant. This plan will use that arrogance.”

“And while you hide in the asteroid belt Elisabeth and he hides in the shadow of the planet my ass will be on the line. Thank you for that Sam.”

The comment came from Eliot Sanders the commander of the Intrepid.

The small joke even with all the seriousness it held made everyone relax and laugh.

“You are welcomed Eliot.”

“If I have command of the second squadron I would like to use my fighters for the first strike in case there is a rear guard.”

“We will practice that too. We won’t have the numbers or the minefield that our fleets in the Sol System will have. We will have to fight a ship to ship battle even with the warheads we have. It will be bloody and it will be hard. We will have to use ingenuity and surprise, we might even need to have luck but we will win people. And we will strike at the asses of all those ships that will transition through the warp point when we finish with the bastards here. Mark my words.

You are dismissed. Return to your ships and study the plan. We will start the exercises tomorrow.”

His last words held a strength that inspired them all. Even Elisabeth who was almost always serious was lifted by them.

He looked at the faces on the table. They were different, from all colors and nations. He had captains from America, Canada, Britain, France, Russia, Germany, South Africa, India, Japan, China and Israel. It was inspiring. Before his eyes he had humanity united for the first time. They had differences and some arguments but they worked together, they functioned like a team. His crew had an influence on that too. The Prometheus had a mixed crew from several nations. Just as the Deadalus before it. The Intrepid was the same.

That unity was the real strength. Mankind achieved so much when it was separated into nations, when neighbors were enemies. It was hard to imagine how far they could go now that they were united.

As they slowly left the room he watched them go with pride. They were sure in themselves. That was good. That was something they will need in the days that were coming.

All humanity will need it…