The meeting point was shifting moment by moment. Without an information link, they were utterly lost. They could join with the other ships if they could just locate the flagship, but searching for it using one’s frocragh amidst a battlefield full of countless moving ships was next to impossible, and not least because the spatiosensory perception was hazy. And the ships’ sensors couldn’t work properly when the EM wave noise was this bad. They were practically caught in a fog. Nearby objects were clear enough to sense, but faraway objects were blurry and hard to grasp.
The enemy ships were hot on their heels.
“Prioritize acceleration over everything else,” Lafier ordered Arbohf.
“Permission to use the stern-side EM cannons?”
Shooting the two EM cannons jutting from the ship’s backside might come at the expense of acceleration, if only slightly.
“Granted,” said Lafier.
Arbohf couldn’t stomach the idea of just fleeing, and zooming away in a straight line wasn’t going to cut it anyway. Linear motion and uniform acceleration were as good as asking the enemy to blast them to bits.
Arbohf wasted no time employing the EM cannons. The enemy fired as well. Enemy and allied fusion shells passed each other by.
The largest possible jets of propulsor flames flared from the raid ship’s port-side thrusters, and the enemy rounds ripped past. Gnomboch knuckled down and concentrated the mobile turrets’ line of fire on the fusion shells.
At last, the meeting point came into perception. Yet there were no ships to be felt there. Or rather, the area was such a jumbled welter that it was hard to make out the ships that might or might not be at the coordinates.
“Communication circuit opened!”
Relief washed over Lafier.
“This is Squadron Command.” It was audio-only, but the audio was quite clear.
“Commandant,” said Lafier, saluting the screen despite the lack of a video feed. Perhaps they could see Lafier on the other end. More importantly, she couldn’t afford to look sloppy in the eyes of her subordinates. “I’m delighted to hear you’re okay.”
“If you lot don’t come soon, I might not be okay for very long,” said Atosryua. “As a full-on information-link is proving a challenge, I’m sending course specifications.”
“Yatesh?”
“Data received, ma’am.”
Lafier nodded at her Communications Officer. “We’ve received the data,” she told Atosryua.
“Good. I was afraid I might have to relay them verbally.”
“I’m just as relieved, ma’am,” said Lafier.
“Right now, the squadron... or rather, the ships that managed to gather together, are providing backup to the battle-line ship corps at the fore as they head to planar space for refuge. If there’s any stoppage in communication, use that as reference to relocate the squadron flagship.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Arbohf steered the ship in accordance with the newly-input orbital elements.
Lafier closed her eyes and concentrated on her frocragh. She figured they could join up with the rest in about twenty-five minutes — if, of course, nothing happened on the way there. Which was unthinkable. The enemy ships from before were still giving chase, and other enemy ships were also showing signs they were interested in picking a fight. The situation was dicey, to say the least.
They did have one thing going for them, and that was how allied ships were emerging one by one from within the portal.
“Arbohf, fly towards the vicinity of the Portal’s surface. Unless you can’t?”
“Are you winding me up, ma’am?” he replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Is that how that came across?”
“It depends on how far you allow me to go.”
“One thousand üésdagh.”
“You’re definitely goading me now, ma’am,” he said quietly.
“Are you game?”
“I don’t believe I have a choice.”
“Then make haste.” Lafier smiled. “Gnomboch, I’m giving you a new mission.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The young Linewing (needlessly) stood at attention.
“You must observe the surface of the Portal. Don’t overlook any frothing.”
“Roger that.”
“We’re counting on ya, rookie,” said Arbohf.
Froth on the surface of the Portal portended the arrival of some object into 3-space. Of course, in this case, that object could only realistically be a Star Forces vessel. They were all prepared to give their lives on the battlefield — but not if death came by way of colliding with an allied ship. It would be mortifying to have their names engraved in the memorial steles of the Hall of Remembrance over that.
Naturally, it was a dangerous zone for the enemy, too. Unlike allied ships, they might even get fired at. And at such close range, even feeble laser cannons could score fatal blows.
Ever since humans prowled about brandishing cudgels and bludgeons in hand, friendly fire had attended all combat, but now that the instruments of war had been refined to this degree, that danger was almost totally gone. But to the enemy, flying near the surface of the Portal required another sort of courage. As such, being here was reasonably advantageous, though that was of little consolation.
Just as Lafier speculated, the enemy was maintaining distance from the Portal. It’s a good thing they have common sense, she thought. She must have been quite anxious; otherwise, she would have the latitude to deride them as boring.
With this, Arbohf only needed to focus on going in one direction, towards the other side of the Portal. And yet his moves were very limited. Drawing any nearer to the Portal was a disaster waiting to happen, while drawing away from it would nullify their sole advantage. He could only move in two dimensions.
Doubt flashed in her mind. Is this really the best idea? She couldn’t let that uncertainty show; however, keeping a stoic face was harder than she’d imagined, and she was as yet unaccustomed to it.
Her wristgear beeped. It was Jint.
“What is it?”
“It’s fine,” he said. The volume of his voice was low, so she had to bring her wrist up to her ear. “Your expression screams this is the sharpest idea in the known universe.”
“You idiot. Don’t twaddle at a time like this.”
“My bad,” he said, the mirth still in his voice, before cutting the line.
Then Lafier realized Ecryua was staring with an ambivalent look on her face. Lafier thought Ecryua was always expressionless, and this was doing nothing to budge that impression, but now she knew that there were several different types of expressionlessness. Or perhaps it could be likened to an almost imperceptible mask over the expressionless canvas. In any case, that second skin dissolved in an instant, giving way to what could be called pure blankness.
Is she seeing right through me? Lafier’s shoulders went slack.
Fortunately (or not), no one apart from those two had picked up on Lafier’s inner strife.
The raid ship glided over the surface of the Portal as it maneuvered left and right. Soon, they would arrive at the meeting point. Her frocragh could clearly make out what seemed to be the squadron flagship.
“Information link complete.”
“I see,” nodded Lafier.
Data had begun flowing in. Her frocragh indicated the position the Flicaubh was expected to be in, while her vision interpreted how the battle had progressed thus far.
“Follow the directions of the flagship at once. Gnomboch, your mission is fulfilled. Man the mobile turrets instead.”
There were six enemy ships, while the Flicaubh was the eighth of the raid ships to assemble. Moreover, the Commandant was stationing the mobilizing ships such that they could encircle the enemy.
She couldn’t spot any of the battle-line ships that were receiving backup. They had likely already escaped into the Portal.
The Star Forces were rebounding from the momentary turmoil.
“Welcome back, Flicaubh.” Atosryua appeared on screen. “Now, quick, correct the ship’s position.”
“Roger.” Lafier looked at Arbohf.
At present, the position designated by the flagship was slightly different from the position they’d received before the information link. An adjustment was in order.
Arbohf was given the same information, and he guided the ship toward the proper coordinate, which was a good place for bombarding the enemy. The ship arrived forthwith.
“All ships, open fire,” flew Atosryua’s orders.
“Fire!” commanded Lafier.
The EM cannons blasted their fusion shells. The main engines wrung out the maximum thrust. The lasers fired by the enemy ships’ mobile turrets grazed the bow. An allied ship’s stray round zipped by. The enemy ship before them exploded in countless fragments. The Flicaubh plunged into the bevy of shrapnel that was getting pulled by the Kemar System’s stellar gravity.
The magnetic shielding couldn’t repel debris, as it wasn’t composed of antimatter. The hull took some licks.
An approaching silhouette pushed its way through the antimatter brume that was once the fallen ship’s fuel. It was a consort ship, the Cœlcaubh.
The two raid ships passed each other by. By the time the eight ships of the Trample-Blitz Squadron 1 had finished their ensemble dance, the enemy ships had been reduced by half. And as far as her frocragh could tell, not a single ally had been lost.
It appeared the enemy ships were aiming to retreat from the battlefield.
“Damage report,” ordered Lafier.
“Three mobile turret clusters have been damaged,” said Grinshia. “There’s no serious damage.”
She checked how the consort ships had fared through the screen on the console of the Ship Commander’s Seat. All seven seemed okay.
Will we be pursuing them? Lafier awaited her orders.
Atosryua’s voice piped in. “Attention, all ships of Trample-Blitz Squadron 1. We are remaining here to secure the Portal. The enemy has seemingly lost the will to fight. We’ll be on standby until the big shots get here.”
Lafier heaved a sigh. Once again, they had survived.