The Lost Fleet – Dauntless

He checked the Syndic formation. Still about six light-minutes away, the time-late images showed the Syndic force hadn’t altered formation in response to the movements of the Alliance fleet. The Syndic ships were spread into the flat bar that thinned and extended forward toward the edges. In some ways, it resembled a hammerhead bearing down on the Alliance fleet. Geary recognized the general concept behind it. Simple, and effective against an enemy who didn’t take the right countermeasures, the hammer would concentrate the attacking force’s assault against a relatively small but critical area, allowing closeranked successive waves of warships to sweep through the center of the defending force and batter it repeatedly with no chance for the defenders to recover between waves. Very simple, indeed. The Syndic commander wouldn’t have to give any maneuvering orders to his or her fleet until it had swept completely through the Alliance forces, and then they could simply turn the entire formation to come back and repeat the battering if needed. Or release the formation into individual ships with orders to independently run down and overwhelm the scattered survivors of the first attack.

Unfortunately for you guys, I have no intention of letting you get in that kind of blow.

Geary waited until his ships had all reached their assigned stations. “All units assume full combat readiness. At time zero seven, all units accelerate to point zero five light speed and proceed along formation axis defined by Dauntless.” Two minutes later, the entire Alliance fleet accelerated in unison, pushing its speed upward. “Damn, that looks nice.”

“It does.” Desjani grinned as Geary showed his surprise. “Didn’t you realize you’d said that out loud?”

“No.” But he smiled again as he watched the display, showing the vast formation of the Alliance fleet rushing onward in perfect unison, while the Syndic force continued to charge straight toward the center of the main body, and thereby straight into the jaws of the nutcracker. It never hurts to have an arrogant or foolish opponent, does it?

And now the really hard part had come, making sure he ordered the next maneuvers at the right times and in the right ways. Geary watched the data and the displays as the two opponents hurtled toward each other, trying to let his training and instincts feel the right moments to call the next orders. The images of the closest Syndic warships were still five minutes old by the time the Alliance saw them. Five minutes wasn’t a huge amount of time, especially given the momentum of those massive warships, but it was enough time for the Syndics to make some last minute moves to mess up Geary’s carefully coordinated attack. Especially if he moved his formations just a little too early and gave the Syndics the warning they needed.

Minutes passed. At one point, he thought Desjani might’ve asked him something, but he stayed focused on the feel of the fleets rushing together, and she didn’t speak again.

A few more minutes. Just a few more.

Geary’s hand reached out and touched the communications control, his eyes never leaving the display. “Formation Fox Five One. At time four five accelerate to point one light speed and alter course down six zero degrees. Align your formation axis perpendicular to the Syndic formation. Adjust course as necessary to enter the top of the Syndic formation about one-third of the way behind its leading edge.”

He paused, wanting to get the timing right. “Formation Fox Five Two. At time four five point five accelerate to point one light speed and alter course up five zero degrees. Align your formation axis perpendicular to the Syndic formation. Adjust course as necessary to enter the bottom of the Syndic formation about two thirds of the way behind its leading edge.”

Forty seconds later came Captain Duellos’s cheerful acknowledgment of the orders to Formation Fox Five One. One minute after that, Captain Numos in command of Formation Fox Five Two acknowledged his orders with no apparent emotion.

Geary waited, trying to keep his mind in that place where it could operate with all the distances and time delays in play. “Formations Fox Five Three and Fox Five Four. At time five zero accelerate to point one light speed and alter course to intercept the leading edges of the Syndic formation on your sides. Align formations to maintain right angles to the Syndic formation.”

As the other formations began accelerating toward the enemy, he could almost physically feel the ships of the main body straining to leap forward at maximum acceleration and join in the attack. “Main body, hold your formation. Reverse headings and prepare to execute braking maneuver.”