magic group of 100 vessels containing the Alpha command ship.
Hastelloy opened a comm. channel to the fleet. “Execute.” With the single word uttered, the fleet sprang into motion. The point of the sphere formation farthest from the Alpha command group moved at full speed directly at the targeted ships. The rest of the sphere followed like dominoes from back to front. On Hastelloy’s screen it looked like the Novi formation was completely turning inside out. The Novi fleet was on top of the Alpha’s command group in the blink of an eye and annihilated anything in its path without mercy.
Hastelloy didn’t have time to celebrate his tactical victory; the remaining Alpha ships were intent on following their commander’s dying order to engage them with every ship at every point. Their attacks would be far less effective, however, without the Alpha command ship keeping things organized. The Novi’s chances of victory were much improved from the start of the battle, but they were still outnumbered two to one, and the battle had now degraded into a disorganized melee. It was up to the individual attack groups to work together, and let the battle maneuver programs coded into the ship’s computers do their work.
Both the Alpha and the Novi learned long ago that managing close quarters space combat was better left to a computer. A ship’s central computer was the only thing capable of calculating speeds, angles of attack, locations of shield vulnerabilities, and paths of other ships around, all the while keeping the ship orientated away from an attacker to hide weaknesses.
All of these compounding variables were incomprehensibly complex but the central computer could manage them all in nanoseconds and react instantly. In the end, close quarters space combat came down to how well some tech geek thousands of light years away did his programming job. The crews were quite literally just along for the ride.
As it turned out, the Novi programmers earned their pay. After hours of fierce and relentless combat, the numerical advantage the Alpha fleet enjoyed was all but eliminated. The cost was great, however. Hastelloy ordered his remaining ships to form up at his rally point. The mighty fifth fleet was reduced from over 1,000 ships to just four: one Hastati cruiser, Two Onagers, and his nearly unarmed collector ship.
Hastelloy could see the Alpha fleet was in only marginally better shape with ten attack ships left plus the accursed twenty-five constrictor ships still trapping them there.
Considering how badly outnumbered the Novi were to begin the conflict, this was a significant victory, but it would quickly turn into a crushing defeat if the collector ship didn’t make it to safety. Hastelloy was out of options. He had one last trick lingering in the back of his mind, but he was loath to act on it.
During the battle, Hastelloy came to know two things for certain about his adversaries. First, they knew the remaining Novi ships would not stray from the collector ship. Second, the Alpha ships would do almost anything to destroy the remaining Onagers. Their long range weapons and wide spread destructive fire power achieved 90 percent of the damage in the battle. They desperately wanted these ships out of the fight and Hastelloy planned to grant their wish - for a price.
He opened a channel to the remaining ships. “Men, it’s been a distinct honor to witness the skill and bravery of this day. The Nexus has collected nearly 20 million lives. This collector ship must escape or these lives will be lost forever. The orders I just transmitted will achieve this, but it will require the bravest of all acts from the crews of the Onagers. To be able to die with purpose and for the greater good is all any soldier can ask. This noble death belongs to you. The millions of lives saved as a result of your sacrifice will honor you and your families until the end of time. I am
Hastelloy opened a comm. channel to the fleet. “Execute.” With the single word uttered, the fleet sprang into motion. The point of the sphere formation farthest from the Alpha command group moved at full speed directly at the targeted ships. The rest of the sphere followed like dominoes from back to front. On Hastelloy’s screen it looked like the Novi formation was completely turning inside out. The Novi fleet was on top of the Alpha’s command group in the blink of an eye and annihilated anything in its path without mercy.
Hastelloy didn’t have time to celebrate his tactical victory; the remaining Alpha ships were intent on following their commander’s dying order to engage them with every ship at every point. Their attacks would be far less effective, however, without the Alpha command ship keeping things organized. The Novi’s chances of victory were much improved from the start of the battle, but they were still outnumbered two to one, and the battle had now degraded into a disorganized melee. It was up to the individual attack groups to work together, and let the battle maneuver programs coded into the ship’s computers do their work.
Both the Alpha and the Novi learned long ago that managing close quarters space combat was better left to a computer. A ship’s central computer was the only thing capable of calculating speeds, angles of attack, locations of shield vulnerabilities, and paths of other ships around, all the while keeping the ship orientated away from an attacker to hide weaknesses.
All of these compounding variables were incomprehensibly complex but the central computer could manage them all in nanoseconds and react instantly. In the end, close quarters space combat came down to how well some tech geek thousands of light years away did his programming job. The crews were quite literally just along for the ride.
As it turned out, the Novi programmers earned their pay. After hours of fierce and relentless combat, the numerical advantage the Alpha fleet enjoyed was all but eliminated. The cost was great, however. Hastelloy ordered his remaining ships to form up at his rally point. The mighty fifth fleet was reduced from over 1,000 ships to just four: one Hastati cruiser, Two Onagers, and his nearly unarmed collector ship.
Hastelloy could see the Alpha fleet was in only marginally better shape with ten attack ships left plus the accursed twenty-five constrictor ships still trapping them there.
Considering how badly outnumbered the Novi were to begin the conflict, this was a significant victory, but it would quickly turn into a crushing defeat if the collector ship didn’t make it to safety. Hastelloy was out of options. He had one last trick lingering in the back of his mind, but he was loath to act on it.
During the battle, Hastelloy came to know two things for certain about his adversaries. First, they knew the remaining Novi ships would not stray from the collector ship. Second, the Alpha ships would do almost anything to destroy the remaining Onagers. Their long range weapons and wide spread destructive fire power achieved 90 percent of the damage in the battle. They desperately wanted these ships out of the fight and Hastelloy planned to grant their wish - for a price.
He opened a channel to the remaining ships. “Men, it’s been a distinct honor to witness the skill and bravery of this day. The Nexus has collected nearly 20 million lives. This collector ship must escape or these lives will be lost forever. The orders I just transmitted will achieve this, but it will require the bravest of all acts from the crews of the Onagers. To be able to die with purpose and for the greater good is all any soldier can ask. This noble death belongs to you. The millions of lives saved as a result of your sacrifice will honor you and your families until the end of time. I am
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