Present
"You didn't honestly think we would put a worthless picket on one of our most treasured systems, did you?"
"That has to be at least a quarter of your navy!" Kaff was whiter than usual, even for a Caithan. "Intelligence never even dreamed..."
***
High Admiral Cheitz was one of the few Caithans who remained Ardenian citizens after the Emporer was banished. He was also one of the highest ranking officers in the ASN. Probably the highest, now that the Myrith fleet was gone. Cheitz glanced over to the temporary station set up for The High Priestess, Mer Maje Honness.
Cheitz was not happy about her decision to sit in on the engagement, but if your head of state, and religion, gives you an order you do not argue. Honness had taken over the political head after the exile, she had served as the religious head for nineteen years before.
Honness smiled gently at Cheitz. She knew he was un comfortable with her being here, she also knew he had placed himself at the center of the wall for a reason, and she was flattered.
"Admiral, the only Ardenian signals are those from the first task force. There are no Ardenian merchant signals," Commander Hash had just confirmed Cheitz' worst fears, this was a full out war, no restrictions. "Admiral, those Caithan frieghters are fighting!! They're throwing massive salvoes!"
"How's that possible? Shouldn't frieghters be unarmed?" Honness asked. She looked a little uncomfortable in a navy vacc suit.
"You are correct, ma'am. Or you would be if those were actually frieghters," Cheitz explained. "Pass orders for the Battleships to target those, have the Destroyers do so also. All others target their own class."
Cheitz went on, passing orders, and the prebattle chorus rattled in the background.
***
"Confirmation! That is Home fleet. sir, what do we do now?" Kinith was in horrible condition. When the ship broke the flag bridge had been opened to space, and ripped in half. Junach was lucky the buckle had swerved arond the command chair, but that luck had been worn thin by the rear half's fusion explosion. the searing plasma had nearly destroyed his vaccsuit, but it had survived. what the explosion had done was fuse him to his chair.
"Tell the main bridge to continue firing. We're not dead yet." Junach was determined, and even if he was stuck to his chair, he would continue to command his forceuntil thecall came in from that other fleet to stand down, or to transfer authority.
"Aye sir, passing orders." The rattle of battle communications and damage reports continued, and Junach relaxed. This was a fine day to die.
Yesterday
Kier had run into a group of repair techs headed to the brig. They had not lasted long. Kier knew navy vacc suits were not capable of standing against a plasma rifle, what he had not been prepared for was what it did to people. All that was left of the group was a few appendages that had been reaching for cover and escaped the center of the blast and a few kits and pads. One of those pads had been a map of the ship, just what Kier had ordered.Kier hurled himself towads Fusion 2, grinning like a madman.
***
"Ma'am, there are reports of a prisoner loose, he seems to be headed aft from the brig." Kaff frowned. As the officer that had ordered the captives taken, it was her responsibility, not the Captain's, for them. And one had survived that first hit.
"Send a the detached Marines to find him." Kaff's orders had been to send all her Marines to the surface, but no Admiral worth her rank left her flagship unguarded when prisoners were aboard. So Kaff had detached twenty Marines from the landing parties to watch her ship. She only hoped it was enough.
