The Lost Fleet: Fearless

“Warhelm reports a Syndic system monitoring satellite close to its position. Warhelm reports it has destroyed the satellite. Ships located twenty light-minutes to starboard in system plane, assess all to be unarmed mineral carriers. No mines spotted or encountered. Six, repeat, six F-Class battleships identified at shipyard orbiting fourth planet. Only one appears operational. Eight, repeat, eight D-Class battle cruisers at second shipyard orbiting fourth planet. Operational status undetermined. Syndic military base located forty light-minutes away on a moon of the eighth planet, appears fully operational, nine, no, ten mass accelerators in defensive positions around base-”

Geary scanned his fleet display quickly and stabbed a control with one finger. “Captain Tulev. Have your ships take out that Syndic base near the eighth planet with kinetic rounds. I don’t want to give them time to get off a shot.”

Tulev’s voice took several seconds to reply. “Launching bombardment of weapons sites now. What about the rest of the base?”

There wasn’t time for worries or second-guessing, now. Just time to act and react before the enemy took the options out of your hands. “Take it all out. We can’t leave that kind of threat in our rear.”

The next closest base seemed to be near the fifth planet, over three light-hours away. “Captain Duellos, have your ships launch kinetic rounds at the Syndic military base orbiting the fifth planet. I don’t want it around when we get there.”

“Duellos, aye. Launching bombardment within two minutes.”

Geary bit back a curse as he saw his formation start to break, then realized he was seeing the ships of Task Force Furious faking an undisciplined charge just as planned. Hopefully the Syndics would be fooled as well as he had been. Ancestors, please stand by Commander Cresida so she’ll retreat when the situation calls for it.

“Syndic warship flotilla sighted between orbits of fifth and sixth worlds, distance five point eight light-hours from current fleet position. Ten battleships, six battle cruisers, twelve heavy cruisers, ten, correction, eleven Hunter-Killers. Current position shown time-late, estimated real-time location based on time-late trajectory data now five point six light-hours from our current position.”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Desjani noted, smiling unpleasantly. “Not nearly enough light escorts for those high-value units, either.”

“Enough that we can’t take them lightly,” Geary reminded her. “I’m guessing the big ships are conducting training, maybe with new crews or after extensive time in shipyards, so that isn’t really a combat-ready formation, even though the Syndics probably also assign it system protection duties.” His eyes were locked on the hypernet gate now. “There’s nothing there. They don’t have any ships guarding it.” Then symbols flashed into existence. “What are those?”

Desjani frowned, studying the data. “Stealthy defensive units around the hypernet gate. Limited maneuverability, substantial defensive screens and so-so offensive firepower.”

“They can maneuver some?”

She nodded to confirm her answer.

“That means we can’t send some rocks on ahead to take them out. They’d see them coming and dodge.” He checked the distance. Almost five light-hours to the hypernet gate. Even if they accelerated past engagement speed and slowed again when they approached the gate, the fleet was at least thirty-five hours’ travel time from the gate. Some dash. But then Task Force Furious is “charging” at a Syndic force even farther away that won’t even see them coming for almost another six hours. That’ll be a shock. Hopefully Task Force Furious will keep the Syndics’ attention focused on them.

But I don’t want to head straight for the gate if I can help it. He tried various options on the maneuvering display, running courses toward other Syndic targets, bending them back toward the gate partway through the track. By arcing across the system toward mining installations clustered around a gas giant located a light-hour out from the star Sancere, then curving back toward the gate, the journey would take roughly fifty-three hours at engagement speed of.1 light. But the Alliance fleet’s apparent objective wouldn’t change from the gas giant to the gate until they were less than two light-hours away, or a little more than eighteen hours of travel time. That wasn’t ideal, but it would leave little time for the Syndics to react if they hadn’t already positioned extra forces at the gate.

“Here,” Geary told Desjani. “We’re going to follow this track as if intending to wipe out the mining facilities at the gas giant and then continue in system, smashing other things, but instead shift our course to head for the gate.”

She nodded, studying Geary’s plan. “We can toss out a bombardment as we reach the closest point of approach to the gas giant and take out a lot of those facilities anyway.”