The Lost Fleet – Dauntless

Geary gave a quiet sigh of relief as he saw the ships responding to orders. No one seemed to be pushing into an unassigned station, no one was charging off to be first to engage the Syndic force. Geary grimaced as he reviewed the formations, though. There was another command he had to send, to confirm the command arrangements for the coming battle, and he’d had to make a decision in that respect that he feared he’d regret. “All units, this is Captain Geary on the Dauntless, confirming the command structure for the upcoming engagement. In addition to exercising overall command of the fleet, I will exercise direct command of the main body.”

He looked at the display as he continued speaking, focusing on the powerful formation forward and above the main body. “Formation Fox Five One will be commanded by Captain Duellos on the Courageous.” His gaze shifted, looking at the lower jaw of the fleet. “Formation Fox Five Two will be commanded by Captain Numos on the Orion.”

Desjani gave Geary a sympathetic look. “Captain Numos is a senior captain.”

“Yeah. I didn’t have any choice but to give him command of that formation.” No choice since I had no grounds for dishonoring him by bypassing him for that responsibility. But if he screws this up, I’ll have those grounds and damn the consequences.

Geary activated his communications again. “Formation Fox Five Three is under the command of Commander Cresida on the Furious. Formation Fox Five Four is under the command of Commander Landis on the Valiant.” That took care of the light forces in the cheeks of the formation. “Captain Tulev in Leviathan is in command of Formation Fox Five Five.” The auxiliaries had needed someone in command of their escorts that Geary could count on, and he felt sure Tulev was that man. A dashing commander, even one as reliable as Duellos, might be tempted at some point to leave the auxiliaries unguarded in order to hurl the escorts into the battle. Tulev, steady and calm, should stick with the lightly armed auxiliaries to the death.

Geary took another satisfied look at the display, pleased to see the disparate elements of the fleet going exactly where they all should go. Then he noticed some concern on the face of Captain Desjani. “What’s the matter?” Geary asked quietly. She hesitated. “I need to know your thinking, Captain Desjani. Candid and direct.”

“Very well, sir.” Desjani spoke half-apologetically. “I know we’ve done simulations using this formation, but I’m still concerned about the distances between our forces. We seem to be spread out far enough to invite defeat in detail.”

He nodded. “That’s a legitimate concern. Dividing the fleet and remaining passive would allow the enemy to hit each piece in turn and have local superiority when they did so. If we didn’t move, that’d be exactly what would happen. But we’re not going to be sitting still waiting for the Syndics to hit us. Or rather,” Geary corrected, “the other formations won’t be sitting still. The main body is going to offer itself as a target for the Syndic assault.”

Oddly enough, the assurance that her ship would be charging straight into contact with the enemy clearly reassured Desjani. “Dauntless is to hold this course until contact?”

“Right.” Geary smiled again. “We’re going to adjust the course as necessary if the Syndics don’t head right for us, and we’ll modify our speed at the right points. But when the Syndics get to us they’re going to have a lot of other things to worry about, too. Trust me.”

She smiled back. “We do, Captain Geary.”

For some reason, having that said almost rattled Geary again. The trust some of these people had in him was so absolute, it was unnerving. But he focused back on the maneuvers of his ships, seeing the individual discs forming up nicely. On a whim, he pivoted the display in front of him so he could look sideways down the ranks of ships in the main body oval centered on Dauntless. Normally such a formation would have destroyers to the lead, cruisers behind, then the grim, steady mass of battleships and battle cruisers. But since Geary had sent the lighter units off to the other pieces of the Fox Five formation, the main body consisted of just the heavy hitters, battleships and battle cruisers arrayed in an open formation with interlocking fields of fire in front and to the sides. Have the Syndics seen what I’m doing yet? Do they understand?