The New Threat 9 (Patreon)

Chapter 9

Subject: Captain Helena Mazur

Species: Human

Description: Mammalian humanoid, no tail. 6'2" (1.87 m) avg height. 185 lbs (84 kg) avg weight. 170 year life expectancy.

Ship: USSS Perforator

Location: Inopet 2

"Got a call for assistance in the next system over, ma'am," Commander Ichabod said.

"Alright, we're just about done here. The USSS Sela... The carrier and her destroyers can take it from here," I replied.

"Selachimorpha, ma'am," Commander Venter said with a grin. "It means shark."

I glared at her playfully, "Just get us ready to jump."

A few of the bridge crew silently snickered as I sent a quick message to the USSS Selachimorpha to inform them of our departure. A bit of comic relief in the form of me forgetting whether the ch made a chuh or a kuh sound was fine by me. Some of the crew really needed the laugh. Especially Ichabod, his divorce was finalized just before this whole mess started and he hasn't been himself since.

We had been on the Quick Response Force for a month now, and that meant long shifts and plenty of fights with the OU. It's good for keeping your mind off of things, but it's terrible on one's mental health. Mostly the long shifts, the fights were pretty one-sided. Thankfully, in three more months we get reassigned to US space again. I've missed my leave dearly. I'd been flirting with a certain banker who's a real charmer. Tall, dark hair, and glimmering blue eyes awaited my return.

"Ready to jump, ma'am," Venter said.

"Weapons ready?" I asked. Lieutenant Issenhar nodded, his mandibles clicking. "Then let's go."

One of my favorite things about being on a battleship is how little you notice the transition to warp. Barely even get a tingle. The science behind it is a bit beyond me, but the smaller the ship the more you notice it. I seem to be especially sensitive to it, which made the beginning of my career hellish. Warping in a frigate made my skin feel like it wanted to crawl right off my body, and it made me nauseous as hell.

As we entered warp I checked the reinforcement request. The OU fleet in Inopet 1 consisted of 45 ships total, including eight battleships. The Republic forces had 30 ships and were able to handle everything except for the battleships, which is why they called for our help. Pop in, kill some battleships, and help with the cleanup.

"Exiting warp," Venter announced.

"Target the nearest battleship and let them know we're here," I commanded.

"Aye aye!" Issenhar chittered as he took to his task with glee.

The alumari weapons officer lives for this. He had been a weapons tech before joining the military, and he had enjoyed that job as well. The bigger the gun, the better the time. Not a completely unique sentiment among the alumari, but his revelry in his tasks probably was.

Issenhar had even put in a transfer to the USSS Nidhogg, but had red-flagged on the assessments. That's probably for the best. He had taken it pretty hard when he found out the Nidhogg had been fired for the first time outside of testing, and he missed it.

It took half a second for the tac-map to update, and what it showed was grim. The Republic had lost nearly a quarter of their ships already, and the Omni-Union battleships were rapidly increasing their casualties. I watched as our targeting system highlighted the nearest one and gained a targeting solution. We fired our two stern MACs at it.

"Get us in the thick of it, Venter. There's no planets around this star, so we can go wild," I said with a grin.

"Aye aye, ma'am."

We entered and exited warp much closer to the OU ships just as our projectiles rendered the first OU battleship inoperable by splitting it in thirds. I grinned as all the ships in the system seemed to lose track of what they had been doing. The sudden appearance of one the deadliest ships in the galaxy tends to have that effect.

"Get us into a starboard spin and fire at will," I ordered.

"DEATH ROLL, AYE AYE CAPTAIN!" Issenhar practically screamed with joy.

Unlike frigates, destroyers, and even carriers, a battleship was built for the sole purpose of housing as many powerful weapons as physically possible. Weapons that were designed to destroy every type of ship that you could run into in a standard battle. Unfortunately for the OU, this includes other US battleships, which have much better armor and shielding than their battleships do.

Our Magnetic Acceleration Cannons, lasers, chain-guns, and missile launchers all began firing at once, decimating target after target. I condescendingly shook my head at the tac-map while watching enemy indicators disappear rapidly. After twenty seconds, there weren't any OU battleships left. After one minute, there weren't any OU left. Forty five OU ships destroyed by a single US battleship. No, forty three. Looks like the Republic ships weren't sitting on their hands after all.

"All targets destroyed, ma'am," Issenhar reported with a mixture of satisfaction and sadness.

"Excellent, level us out and prepare to regro..."

"Ma'am, communication from fleetcomm," Ichabod interrupted me.

"Fuck's sake," I cursed under my breath as I opened it.

-----

FROM: Fleetcomm

TO: QRF

Immediate aid required in [Pinurm 3]. All available ships to gather at rendezvous point for coordinated strike. USSS Yopinapu commanding.

Enemy strength est: unknown

Friendly strength est: 1500 vessels

|coords920567.sec|

-----

Unknown enemy strength, and fifteen hundred Republic ships need a bailout? Talk about a red flag. Either they were too lazy to count the enemy, or there are too many enemies to count. Probably the latter. To distract myself from these gloomy thoughts, I opened the information on Pinurm 3.

"There are three planets and one's habitable. It's not inhabited, but SOP says we'll need clear firing solutions to engage the big guns regardless. This might be a tough one, so I want our shields and weapons fully charged and loaded," I said.

"Yes ma'am, the usual, comin' right up," Issenhar said with an exaggerated sigh.

"The FTLD too. If we're not in a good firing position when we jump in, we'll need to reposition fast. Once everything's fully charged, go ahead and make the jump."

"Aye ma'am," Venter said.

The Omni-Union had stepped up their game on this side of space ever since they decided to give Sol a break. As a result, our QRF was stretched thin trying to bolster Republic forces. So thin that oftentimes we were operating without the presence of other US ships. It made me wonder just how many of us would be able to make the rendezvous.

"Jumping now," Venter announced.

The jump was short and uneventful. I caught Venter checking on me. She followed me through the ranks, and is probably the only crew member other than the doctor in medbay who knows about my warp sensitivity. I grinned to ease her concerns as we exited warp.

"Admiral's on the horn, ma'am," Ichabod informed me.

"That was quick. Put them through," I replied as I stood.

It's not like they can tell if I'm standing or not, but it makes me feel more confident to do so. The comms gave their usual beep to let me know the line was live.

"Captain Helena Mazur of the USSS Perforator reporting as ordered," I said.

"Good on ya, Cap'n. Rear Admiral Newsome here. Form up and wait for further orders," a heavy Austricana accent said over the comms.

Rear Admiral Newsome is something of a legend in the fleet. He loved being a captain, and refused several promotions before command finally got fed up with it. The tale says that he agreed to be a Rear Admiral if he didn't have to get another promotion and was still able to command a ship, in addition to whatever other command he was given. Regardless of how accurate that is, he's a fairly competent commander and it's an honor to work with him. However...

"Sir, what's the tactical situation? We're too far out for scans and I don't have any intel," I said.

"We don't have scouts at the moment, Cap'n, and we gotta get movin'. If it's too heavy we'll jump out, but I want every single one of ours to down at least one of theirs before we do."

"Understood, sir. Forming up now," I replied.

The comm went silent and I nodded at Venter. She got us on course as I sat back down. I looked over our tactical situation once again. This system is at the center of our separated forces, which will let them all get to the rendezvous in a timely manner. Eighty of our ships had already arrived, and we were waiting for an additional ten before jumping. Only ninety ships, but hopefully it will be enough.

Jump in, assess the situation, jump out if necessary. It's risky, and definitely a move we wouldn't make against the insurrection, but against the OU it'll work. This is the fastest and most efficient way of rescuing any surviving Republic forces, assuming they can be rescued. Still, I have a knot in my stomach that I can't quite explain. Something's wrong here.

"Preparing to jump, ma'am," Venter said as the last of our ships formed up.

"Understood commander. I want an immediate scan, Ichabod, and then I want us in a position of advantage. Issenhar, you're clear to use the smaller guns until we're in a good position," I ordered.

"Aye aye, ma'am!" the crew replied.

We entered and exited warp a moment later, the tac-map updating to show a whole lot of red indicators. My blood pressure spiked a bit at the sheer number of the enemy.

"Found a spot!" Ichabod shouted.

"Getting us there!" Venter replied.

Issenhar simply cackled as he began firing at the contacts. Once we entered warp I took an extra moment to study the tac-map. I sighed as I realized there's probably too many for our forces to take out on our own. We'd been fighting steadily for months, our ammo reserves just aren't big enough for this battle. The OU's biggest clusters were orbiting the planets, with the largest cluster orbiting the fourth planet. No green indicators. Shit, we're too late. The Republic's forces have already been wiped out.

"In position!" Venter said as we exited warp.

"Fire at will!" I ordered.

Issenhar squealed with glee once again as our primary cannons began firing. I almost chuckled at his response, but then I noticed Ichabod's demeanor. He was staring at the tac-map with his head tilted in confusion. I glanced at the tac-map and back to him, confused by his confusion.

"Commander Ichabod, is there a problem?" I asked.

He turned to look at me, and his face matched his demeanor.

"Captain, aren't there only supposed to be three planets?"