Dark Fate, Chapter 91 (Patreon)

Dark Fate, Book 9 will be going to Amazon sometime this weekend. So it should be live by Monday or Tuesday.

Chapter 91 – After-Action

(Military Conference Hall, Ceres)

“It has been two days since the battle. Our first battle. Many of you were unblooded in real combat before this. Now, each of you can hold your heads up high, for you have fought the enemy, and come out victorious.”

I looked out at the conference hall. The entire crew of the Hellspawnwas there, along with the members of Renegade and Rogue squadrons. Those that still lived, at least.

“We fought a foe many times our size, whether it be mass, hulls, or numbers of guns. Any one looking at our two forces on paper would say that we should have been wiped out. That we not just survived, but won the day, is a testament to your skills and your determination.”

I saw the empty chairs in the middle of the formations.

“But we were not perfect. We lost people. Good people, who trained and fought and bled with us. New faces may replace them on the rolls, but we will remember them all.”

Six crewmen had died on the Hellspawn as three of the enemy ships tried to take her on at once. She’d survived, but one of the hits caused a hull breach in two compartments, killing those inside. At least it had been quick.

Renegades 5, 8, and 12 had been shot down in the fighting. A few of the enemy ships had gotten lucky, or were just skilled, and caught them during the sudden firefight after Renegade 4 was spotted by the cruiser. The three little ships had not gone quietly, but they’d been outmatched.

Rogues 3 and 7 had been shot down by the ship on the ground during their attack run over London. They’d managed to crash into the Thames, so they survived. They were in Medical, healing.

Rogue 13 had been the unlucky one to get shot down by Chinese fighters using an enchanted missile after completing their attack run on the Beijing site. They crashed into an office building. The reactor blew, killing the pilot, and destroying the building they fell into.

Rogues 12, 15, and 24 had been part of the group that fought off additional ships trying to land. Point defense got them. They died keeping more of the ships from reaching Earth.

“We were not ready for an engagement like this. We were expecting—No, we were hoping for one ship, maybe two, because that is all we had the time to set up defenses against. Instead, we were faced with fifty ships. Not just fifty converted freighters or the like, but fifty purpose-built warships. That we lost so few is a miracle.”

I paused, and looked out over the crowd. “I don’t like relying on miracles. Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated. Thus, it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

“These are the words of an ancient Chinese general, translated from his Art of War. I have sent digital copies to all of you. Now, some of you may be asking why I’m talking about a general who fought with chariots and spears when we are a force fighting in the black of space? The answer is that, simply, the wisdom in Sun Tzu’s words transcends his time, and applies even now, with the System in place. After all, how many hours did we spend in training, preparing for the fight?

“I said that we were unready, and that it was a miracle that we survived. However, if we had not prepared as we did? If we had waited, and only gathered what forces we thought we might need to take on a single ship? Then we would have lost, and lost badly. Everything would have been lost.

“So, I say that, despite our losses, our basic strategy did not fail. We simply lacked the time to implement it fully. But things will change, from here on. The yards are already starting to build replacements for the ships we lost, and repairing the damage we suffered. Soon, they will begin building new ships. Not just more Renegades and fighters, but ships to match the Hellspawnand ships to deliver raiding parties onto enemy ships.

“We will build up our defenses. We will bring in new people. The time of secrecy and hiding is over. We have revealed ourselves to the world, and so we will draw from the world’s population to arm ourselves and grow, both the military and our civilian sides. The Kingdom of Ceres has claimed the asteroid belt, but we need more people to truly rule it. And then there are the outer planets, all the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and even Pluto, way out in the distance. We will spread through the system, and plant our flag. Even if Earth remains divided, we will be the bulwark against which the enemy shatters. And if anyone on Earth has a problem with that? I say let them come.”

The cheers filled the room. I waited a moment, and then motioned for the crowd to settle down. “Now, as I said, the time for hiding is over. The communications lockouts are ended. Obviously, no leaking classified materials, but you can once again freely contact those on Earth. And if you know people with useful skills, then, by all means, invite them to immigrate.

“I’m not talking just about pilots, mind you. We need people who can fight. We need people who can build. We need scholars and artists. We need people who can spin PR bullshit. We need factory workers. We need it all. Anyone who has useful skills, or is willing to get training, and wants a chance at a new life.”

I took a breath. “But that is for tomorrow. Today, we are going to remember the fallen, and go over the events of the battle. This is the first time many of our ships, weapons, and people have been in a real battle. This is the time to learn what worked, and what didn’t. It is the time to find out what went right, and what went wrong. It is the time to reinforce the things that worked, and figure out how to fix the things that went wrong.

“No one is laying blame here. If we were to lay blame on anyone, then it would be me, because we were not ready. Since I don’t feel like blaming me today, you’re not going to be blaming yourselves or each other, either. We took our first steps, stumbling through the dark. Now someone turned on the lights, so we need to figure what we tripped over, and decide how to make sure it won’t happen again.

“So, I want each of you to read your Art of War, and look over the data from the battle. Give me suggestions on ways to improve our weapons and tactics. I’m not expecting you to come up with schematics. I have people who have those skills already. I want ideas. Doesn’t matter if it is a crackpot idea. Doesn’t matter if it sounds insane, or suicidal. Bottling antimatter and throwing it at people is the definition of insanity, but we made it so that it wasn’t suicidal. And it worked. Give me the ideas, and I’ll get the design staff to start figuring things out.”

I looked around at them all again, and said, “I can tell you from the start that we are going to be expanding our military a lot. We need more ships like the Hellspawn, as well as ships that can take a pounding. We need more Renegades, and more fighters. We need to be able to take the fight to someone else, so that we can play on our terms, not theirs.

“Unfortunately, things are going to get more difficult from here on. Some of the enemy escaped. The coordinates they needed to use the quicker means of FTL to get here are now out in the galaxy at large. That means that, next time, we won’t have two weeks to prepare, knowing exactly when and where they’ll show up. Next time, we won’t be able to ambush them, like we did this time.”

I grinned at them. “Frankly, we cheated this time around. No shame in saying that. Fair fights are for tournaments, and exhibitions. When you’re in a fight to the death, then the only fair fight is the one you’ve already lost. But the cheats we used this time won’t work a second time around. That means we need new cheats. New tactics. And it means we need more pieces on the board.

“THAT means we need more people. And more people have to be supported. I know you pilots aren’t flying for free, and even slaves have to be kept fed and happy. That means we need industry. We need to start making things, on the corporate side, so that we can keep the military side going. So, if you have any ideas for products, toss those up the chain, as well. The more money we make, the better our defenses can become, and the fewer names we add to the Wall of the Fallen.”

I smiled at them all. “So, you have the information, you have comms. You are the ones who know best how to analyze the data, and what needs improving. Talk with yourselves, and if you see any points for improvement, send them up the chain. Let me know how I can help you all be the best that you can be.”

That done, I sat behind the table, and brought up the temporary Discord server I’d set up for this meeting. That was Reaper’s suggestion, actually. He said that it would convince more of the former gamers to actually offer advice, and join the discussion, so long as there were moderators keeping things civil.

As the comments started coming in, I switched my focus to my System interface. Dealing with the aftermath of the battle had been busy enough that I hadn’t had a chance to check and see what kind of results I’d gotten. I expected that I would gain some experience, since I was there and involved, but not much, given how I had basically just been supervising as the people who knew how to fight did their jobs.

Level Up!

Leveled   from 26 to 30.

New   Skills available.

Gain   10,000,000 PP in salvage and bounties (automatically calculated)

New   title: Admiral

Admiral

When   in command of multiple ships, you gain a portion of the XP from naval combat.   Ships under your command gain 5% better stats.

The title (and coin!) was nice, but what really made my day was the fact that I had eight skill points that I could spend. Even better, since I got to level 30, there were some better skills I could pick. And there were a few real doozies in the mix!

Available Skills:

Note: Your available skills are based   on your Race, Class, Profession, and activities.

Racial   Skills:

Aerial   Defender – Gain 10% to Defense while in flight.

Summon   Demons – Summon demons to your side. Demons are not bound, and must be either   bargained with or otherwise subdued. (Costs 2 points to take)

Class   Skills:

Charismatic   Fortitude – Use CHA instead of CON to determine HP and HP regeneration.   (Costs 4 points to take)

Profession   Skills:

Body   Shaping – Able to create training regimens that will increase physical   attributes over time.

Mind   Shaping – Able to create training regimens that will increase mental   attributes over time.

Artisan   Slaves – Slaves designated as Artisans gain +1 INT or DEX per level (chosen   at designation).

Adept   Slaves – Slaves designated as Adepts gain +1 INT or +1 WIS per level (chosen   at designation).

Expanded   Appraisal II – Appraisal now includes the target’s attributes. (Costs 2   points to take)

General   Skills:

Autopsy   – Imparts knowledge of autopsy procedures, as well as the knowledge of how to   search for and diagnose cause of death.

Harvesting   – Increases your ability to harvest useful reagents and materials from   corpses. May replace automatic dungeon loot.

Forgery   – Increases your ability to make convincing forgeries of documents and other   items.

Fleet   Command – Increases abilities at commanding a fleet of ships.

Fleet Command was obvious, since it would, you know, let me command fleets better. After that, the obvious choices were Charismatic Fortitude and Expanded Appraisal II, which left me with just a single point to spend. I decided to use it on Body Shaping, so I could gradually make my teams stronger and healthier, even if they were a class that didn’t focus on physical attributes.

Now, I just needed to prepare for my next big challenge, fighting a public opinion war. If I was going to build up my kingdom, then I needed to get in front of cameras, and take my appeal to the people. I needed to make them want to join up. And I needed to do it in a way that didn’t make me a shoot on sight target for different government agencies. Because I was allergic to getting shot at.

I shook my head, clearing away those thoughts, and started looking through the different channels in the Discord server, seeing what my people were coming up with.