Song of the Void

"Battle tactics is an interesting subject. The admirals all swear by its importance and to a certain extent they are correct. A brilliant strategy can allow a smaller fleet to defeat a larger one, and the fewer ships there are in an engagement, the more important tactics become. However, after a certain point when the fleets become large enough, the tactics mostly boil down to bringing more guns to bear on your enemy while trying to minimize the number of guns they can use. That isn’t to say that kind of battle doesn’t require tactics, just that those tactics become simpler in many ways because it is impossible to coordinate complicated maneuvers with hundreds of ships on each side. It takes time for the numerous ships to get into position to react, and that’s assuming they are capable of doing so in the first place. You can still pull off maneuvers like having part of your fleet appear at the rear of your enemy and get an advantage that way, but those types of tactics are rarely seen.”

- High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

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“The Tetrarchy fleet seems to be using our own minefield to try and limit our mobility and divide us.” One of the Strategos commented. As the minefield prevented a direct approach, the tetrarchy fleet had moved as a whole to circle the minefield from one side and attempting to close the distance on the Illum’s flank. The existence of the minefield meant that the Illum line couldn’t just turn their line to meet the incoming threat because that would leave half of their fleet inside the minefield.

“Pull that flank back and readjust the line so that they are meeting us head-on. Have the center cover the retreat of the closest ships so that they don’t get fired in the rear while maneuvering.” The Duke commanding the fleet ordered.

The Tetrarchy’s strategy was not a bad one. It forced the Illum’s ships to either enter the minefield, in which case the Tetrarchy would fire on the mines in an attempt to detonate them, or they could split their fleet in two with half of their ships circling the minefield. While the Illum’s roughly spearhead-shaped vessels were more maneuverable than the Tetrarchy's more sturdy vessels, it would still allow the Tetrarchy to split their forces and focus on one half of their fleet for a short time. If the Illum had taken this option, then they could've caught the Tetrarchy in a pincer, but it was a risky maneuver for both parties.

The duke in charge of the Illum fleet chose a third option of pulling their line back to meet the enemy head-on. As the long but thin Illum vessels had almost all their armor and weapons focused on their front, this maneuver left the more vulnerable rear section of their ships open for the part of their line that had to retreat the furthest. The ‘hilt’ part of their ships held the engines and all the most important systems, so this was generally bad for them and they’d lose a few ships due to this maneuver. However, the Illum scientist had been working on the obvious weakness of their ships and their aft sections now had extra shielding to reduce damage, which would keep their losses to a minimum.

The duke decided that the loss of a few ships was worth keeping the situation well under control as they had the advantage in numbers, which would start to show soon enough. Risky maneuvers might allow the Tetrarchy to pull out a miracle that wasn’t available to them before. It was a very conservative decision but ultimately the one that was the most likely to result in a certain victory. The additional advantage of the decision was that it kept the enemy in front of the majority of their fleet, which meant that they could utilize their large reliance in forward facing firepower. There was another reason for his decision. “Once half of their ships have passed the minefield, activate plan B.”

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“They didn’t go for it.” One of the tactical officers on Manticore stated. “They are redrawing their battle-line a bit further back. Our faster ships are firing on the exposed rear of the ships that are pulling back the furthest, but we can’t expect to destroy too many of their ships.”

“Clever guy.” Admiral Gestalt grunted. They had gained a small victory, but not enough to turn the situation around. The minefield was also the only really relevant feature they could use to their advantage, so once that card was played they had limited options.

“Sir! The minefield is activating!” The science officer that was monitoring the minefield suddenly reported. “The mines close to us are moving towards our fleet!”

There was no rule that stated a minefield had to be stationary. Normally the various races only installed small thrusters for adjusting the mine’s position as proper engines were expensive, but there was nothing stopping someone from installing engines on the mines to turn them into a sort of slower but more dangerous missiles. "Good thing you had the idea as well Leon." The Admiral acknowledged the information calmly.

Leon had said that he had a bad hunch about the minefield and the sensors had been keeping a close eye on the mines as a result. They had also positioned the ships dedicated for point defense and anti-fighter combat on that side of their fleet, and now those ships opened fire with their rapid-fire weapons on the approaching small ordnance. Some of the mines eventually slipped through, but the damage was limited and centered on the ships that were not currently pressured all that badly. Neither of the sides had deployed their fighters yet as they would be torn to shreds without support. Because of that the anti-fighter frigates and cruisers could pull back a bit and let their void shields recover.

"That could've been much worse," Leon stated with relief. He just hoped this was the last surprise the Illum had in store for them. Not that he really believed that, but they couldn’t really deal with too many surprises considering they were already in a losing position.

“Well, both sides have pulled out a plan and both strikes have been successfully parried. Now it’s time to get into the real business of war.” The Admiral commented. “Pull our fleet into close formation and order all ships to move full speed ahead. We’ll punch through the center of their line while they are still reforming their line, and then we’ll wrap around on their exposed flanks. Now that they are still reforming their center is stronger than usual, but it is still in the middle of maneuvers so they should not be able to react perfectly.”

The Tetrarchy ships were much more capable of firing on their sides, so if they could punch through the center, then their side weapons would be able to fire on the exposed enemy while they made a turn. In old naval terms it was called crossing the T on the enemy, and although the meaning had changed since then, it was still a rather effective tactic if pulled off correctly. Of course, it had downsides. The enemy would be able to enclose their formation from all sides for a short time. During this time their fleet would take horrendous punishment, but the admiral was counting on the fact that the enemy would be partially obstructed by their own ships and the fact that the Tetrarchy vessels were rather sturdy and would not be disabled or destroyed with small amounts of damage.

The tactic also took full advantage of the fact that their ships were best the closer to the enemy they were and you couldn’t get much closer than in the middle of the enemy formation. While they were punching through the enemy line they would also cause a lot of damage to the enemy, and a chaotic battle at close range favored the outnumbered Tetrarchy fleet. The Illum fleet was fully capable of pulling complicated and effective maneuvers due to the genetically enhanced officers on board the ships, but a great deal of chaos would also render that ability less important. The Illum officers were perfectly capable of independent operation, even more so than Tetrarchy Captains, but at least they would not be able to coordinate as well.

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The two fleets performed several maneuvers and counter-maneuvers during the battle. Due to the distances and numbers involved the maneuvers often took hours to pull off and as time passed the casualties begun to mount. The staying power of the Tetrarchy ships was well countered by the greater fire-power, speeds and sheer technological advantage of the Illum vessels. By the time the battle had been waged for over 24 hours, dozens of Tetrarchy ships had been cut down in the hail of beam weapons focusing their fire on few ships at a time. Not that the Illum vessels had all survived. They had also lost their fair share of ships in a storm of railgun shots. Especially the dreadnought Manticore had destroyed several enemy vessels.

In fact, it was largely thanks to the Manticore scoring a handful of direct hits on the enemy dreadnought with its main cannon that had kept the battle as equal as it had been. The Illum dreadnought’s shields were able to take those direct hits but it forced the vessel to keep a very defensive approach to avoid taking catastrophic damage. The Illum duke kept up his conservative approach all the way through the battle, as there was no need to take risks when they would win the battle with a bit of patience. That allowed the Manticore to focus on the rest of the Illum fleet much more openly.

Still, the greater numbers of the Illum fleet were starting to take a toll. Another factor was that damaged Illum vessels could pull back and escape thanks to their speed. Those ships were gone from the battle, but they could be repaired and the crews would survive. The same opportunity was not afforded to the damaged Tetrarchy vessels. An additional problem was that the Illum’s psions were taking this opportunity to join the battle and the earlier advantage was turning decisive with their support. Neither side had utilized a Deity level Psion yet, but that was mostly because they were focused on protecting the two dreadnoughts involved in the battle.

As the long battle went on, the crews on the ships had to be rotated to get some rest. Leon had just returned from four hours of sleep, and for once no one was complaining due to the fact that he was eating on the bridge, mostly because the others were doing the same. “Have we found any sign of the missing ship Vindicator?” He asked the science officer between bites. His ideas had bought a lot of good will from the bridge crew even if they were not always followed and the science officer had obliged him in trying to locate the missing vessel.

“I did find something that might be a hint at least. Our sensors picked up some debris inside the gravity well of the nearby planet. Unless I’m mistaken, the insignia indicates that it’s from the personal mech of the Deity that was sent along on the Vindicator. I can't be sure, but supporting that assumption is the fact that among the other debris are pieces that could match parts from the Vindicator. There’s not enough debris to suggest the ship was destroyed, but we can be pretty confident in that it was damaged in some way.” The science officer explained. The poor guy was rather well aware of their current situation and really liked having something else to think about for a short time.

“And judging by the presence of the Illum fleet we can be pretty sure of who is responsible.” Leon coldly stated what the science officer had left unsaid.

“It does seem so. It would be rather unlikely for a third party to have the time and opportunity to sweep in and leave without being caught by the Illum fleet we are now facing.” The science officer replied.

At the same time, the Admiral entered the bridge. Thanks to the situation needless formalities were no longer followed and no one got up to salute, though a marine did announce his presence, just to be waved down by the admiral personally. “Ladies and gentlemen. I see you haven’t pulled out some miracle in the last few hours I was gone.”

His words were met with discontented murmuring, which he ignored and continued. “It seems we have to pull off the last stops. The admiralty and Psicom have both decided that this mission is too important to fail. As such, I’ve been given permission to utilize our last resort option. Weapons officer. Signal the engineering that I’m authorizing the use of the Weapon X program and coordinate with them. Set the target to the enemy dreadnought.”

The Tetrarchy had a secret weapon that they had never used until now, as they had been waiting for the perfect opportunity. The weapon could help them secure a victory in a single important battle, but the problem was that once it was utilized, then it was no longer a secret and the enemy could come up with countermeasures. They had not used the weapon in this battle yet because they had been hoping they could win without it, but now that victory seemed impossible. The battle was too important to lose however, and might even help turn the war around. It would also give the Illum something to think about and set their current plans back until they could deal with the secret weapon.

"Yes, sir." The weapons officer acknowledged the order and spent a fair bit of time communicating with the engineering. "The weapon will be ready to fire in five minutes. The engineering estimates the full destruction of the target vessel, but they also suggest we should try to be in a position to capitalize on the opportunity if the enemy ship ends up only heavily damaged.”

“Make it happen but fire on my order and not before. Helms, slowly start bringing us closer to the target. Don’t spook them, but get us closer.” The admiral ordered.

Suddenly the science officer shouted in a loud voice. “Sir, we have multiple phase signatures from incoming ships. We have a lot of ships jumping into normal space!”

The admiral looked towards the intelligence officer and the above-head display was already showing over two hundred additional ships which slowly turned from just blips into silhouettes of the ships in question. The dark and menacing looking ships were familiar to everyone here, but they were still surprised by what they saw. “What are the Cybrans doing here?” One of the strategic officers demanded in a heated voice.

“Any signals?” The admiral skipped the confusion stage and went to action instead.

“None.” The intelligence officer replied. "Sir, the Cybrans jumped in so close that they could already open fire with their long-range weapons, but they are not firing. That’s a major Cybran fleet with three ships that could be classified as dreadnoughts. That’s either several fleets combined or the Cybran home fleet.”

“They seem to be approaching us, but for some reason they seem indecisive.” The admiral muttered which suddenly connected several dots in Leon’s head.

He quickly turned to the science officer. “Quickly send the readings we gathered earlier to the Cybran vessels!”

“Leon?” The admiral asked with a commanding tone.

“Sir I don’t have time to explain, just do it please!” Leon countered.

“I expect a good explanation later on. Do it.” The admiral said turning to the science officer. They saw a reaction almost immediately.

“Sir, the Cybran fleet is moving towards the Illum vessels and they are preparing to fire!” The intelligence officer shouted with a shocked voice.

“Leon, I like the rabbit you just pulled out of your hat, but I need an explanation and I need one now.” The admiral turned back to Leon.

"Sir, we just sent the Cybrans proof that almost guarantees that the Illum recovered the Progenitor ship that was in this system earlier," Leon replied.

"How did they know about the Progenitor ship in the first place?" The admiral was already figuring out what happened but needed a bit more help to get there.

“Sir, the Psicom didn’t share my report about a Cybran stealth shuttle being attached to the Vindicator when it made the jump to this system?” Leon questioned in return. He had sent a report but it had naturally been intercepted by Psicom.

“They did not.” The admiral grunted which suddenly turned into a smile. “I see what is going on. The Illum and the Cybrans might be nominal allies but the Progenitor ship changes things. That ship would give anyone a huge advantage if given enough time for study and that fleet is clearly here for that ship. I’m guessing the Cybrans are not going to just hand the Progenitor ship over to the Illum. Seeing that the ship is gone, taken away by Illum most likely, the Cybrans have no choice but to strike at the Illum before they get the chance to put the things they learn from that ship into practice.”

Suddenly a strategic officer started laughing. “You want to know the best part? Even if it turned out that the Illum didn’t have the ship, no one will believe their denials at this point. They clearly have the Vindicator and its crew, which means we don’t have it. Besides, the Illum already know the Cybran came here with a fleet big enough to battle anything they had in the system, which means their alliance would've already been forfeit. Their relations are fucked!”

The admiral slowly drew closer to Leon and spoke in a low voice. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that part about Vindicator’s crew. You’re hoping that the presence of the Cybrans could be used to pressure the Illum into handing over Vindicator’s crew, including Miyo. The Illum will most likely oblige that request and will try to plant false memories into their head about someone else taking the ship. That won’t do more than slow things down but you don’t really care about that part, do you?”

"Admiral, you give me too much credit," Leon said innocently. The thought had occurred to him, but only as a vague hope. He wasn't that good at estimating diplomatic intrigue.

"Be sure to keep saying that. If your little trick actually saves this battle for us and drives the Cybrans into war with the Illum then you'll be hailed as a hero. If they think you endangered everything on a silly bet over a girl…well, you better hope for a quick death." The admiral's words were softened by his smile.

“We still have a battle to fight sir. We should probably focus on that.” Leon suggested in an attempt to divert attention. Not that the battle held much interest anymore. The Cybrans had come in force and the Illum ships were already turning to escape. The only real question was what the Cybrans would do after the battle was over. They didn’t have the strength to fight against the Illum alone, but joining hands with the Tetrarchy seemed rather unlikely as well.