Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (11 page)

"I wish we
could do more," Elco offered.  "What I did come here to tell you was
that the Senate has approved the use of the Stalwart class transports for the
entire timeframe you'll need them for.  The offer is good whether we stay here
or redeploy.  I don't suppose they had quite this reaction from you in mind,
but until they tell me otherwise, I'm going to order them to keep on evacuating
your people as ordered."

"Thank you,
Captain," Broadbent replied, a weight lifted from his shoulders.  "I
have a speech to polish up; would you care for some refreshments before we
go?"

"He what?"
Loren replied in disbelief.  He was in his quarters, having run there for a few
minutes after lunch to grab some quiet time to go over some paperwork. 
Commanding officers were encouraged to do their work on the bridge so they
didn't appear too aloof from their crew, but sometimes peace and quiet was
needed in order to get work done.  The comm request had come in just as Loren
was about to leave.

"It's a long
and painful story, Loren," Elco continued, standing in some sort of
well-appointed private communications suite, "but as it stands I'm going
to have our ships stand off out-system as we've talked about.  I'll head back
later tonight and tell you all the grim details."

"Yes,
Captain," Loren said, standing straighter.  It was his job to offer input
and, if needed, opposing viewpoints to the captain, but in the end obeying
orders came first.

"That's all,
then," Elco said.  "Captain Montari on Majestic has overall command,
so just follow his lead and I'll see you later."

"I'm sure
you'll have great stories to tell me," Loren replied.

"Representative,"
called the communications officer from her console on the well-lit bridge of
the Scythe.  "We have the data from our scouts in the Lemurian system for
your review.

Eager to confirm her
growing hunch that this system would offer some sort of challenge, she walked
over to the console and briefly scanned the data.  There it was; telemetry of
two Confed warships leaving the system.  Her scouts were too far away to get a
truly detailed reading, but they were of cruiser class or larger, and they'd gone
to hyperspace and left.  Had the Lemurians kicked them out?  Had they left on
their own, either abandoning the system or perhaps going to meet with
reinforcements?  Either way, the time to move was now.  The scans showed a
pitiful force of a half dozen small ships above the northern pole broadcasting
military style IDs, but their deployment there seemed to indicate they weren't
ready to fight.

Perhaps this was it;
she hoped the Confed forces would return so she could finally prove to herself
and her peers that she was ready for combat and command.  While she didn't
relish the idea of sacrificing her soldiers to accommodate her own ambitions,
if she was to be Commander someday she'd need to earn her way through combat,
and Captain Vol seemed only too eager to oblige.

"Call the
captain," she commanded the officer.  "I think we'll be moving out
for Lemuria soon."

"You do
realize," Captain Vol said noncommittally, "that you've laid out the
exact  argument I was going to use."  They were in his quarters, spacious
for a Priman warship, as he reviewed their options for the Lemuria system. 
"As you've admitted, it could be everything from them signing a treaty to
the Confederation soldiers being evicted from the system."

"Yes, I
do," Ravine admitted.  "We need to visit and pacify the system
regardless; we have twelve combat-hardened vessels, and they have six pathetic
patrol vessels.  Even if those Confederation ships return, we'd outnumber
them.  Either way, the system will be ours, it's just a matter of how many of
them have to die along the way."

"I commend your
bravado, Representative," Vol said carefully.  While he was in charge of
the ships here, it went without saying that he needed to tread lightly around
the person who would one day command the entire Priman military.  "I would
still recommend a cautious approach and a very spread-out deployment.  If we
stay bunched up, our ships will be easier targets for a surprise attack."

"I defer to
your judgment," Ravine allowed.  "When do you think we will be there?" 

"Approximately
three hours."

"How long until
the transports return?" Loren asked Lieutenant Commander Sarria Mastruk in
the conference room behind C3.  Even though the space was expected to host
briefings possibly containing senior officers or dignitaries, Captain Elco
didn't have the room as elaborately fitted out as some captains did.  As a
result, it was almost as austere as the rest of the combat vessel; light
fixtures embedded in the ceiling and wall surfaces, components bolted into
place wherever space and convenience allowed, with the same matte gray finish
found everywhere else on the ship.  Captain Elco had specced  ornate brushed
nickel-and-glass conference tables and comfortable chairs during the last
drydock visit, but overall it seemed to strike a balance between form and
function. 

It was just Loren
and Sarria as he briefed her on what her new responsibilities were with the
captain off the ship until late in the evening, placing her in charge of C3 acting
in Loren's stead.

"Looks like a little
under three hours," she responded immediately, not even having to refer to
the data pad in front of her on the conference table.

"Alright,"
Loren said as he tried to keep four different important items in the front of
his mind all at the same time.  "We're in our patrol position,
correct?"

Mastruk nodded. 
"We're closest in of all our ships, ninety degrees off the elliptic plane
of the system, mag-shield at full and running under stealth protocols. 
Majestic is off a ways, but with a straight shot to the midpoint between
Lemuria and her moon.  Cobalt is on the other side of Majestic, set up to run
in beyond the moon to catch the rear of any opposing force and backstop them
from a quick turn-around.  I was going to give the order to launch Cory's Intruders
on patrol in an hour or so."

Loren took it all
in.  He folded his hands on the smooth surface of the conference table and
glanced out the big viewport on the aft bulkhead.  He'd purposely left the room
lighting low, relying on direct light from the sun and reflections off
Lemuria's atmosphere to illuminate the space.  Captain Elco liked the room
bright, but Loren figured this was his one big chance to run a briefing and
control everything right down to how bright the room was.  "I wanted to
work with you on a new drill that Weapons Research has been trying to get the
fleet to use.  It was designed with the Crusader class in mind, and I find it
to be incredibly devious and nasty.  You'll love it."  

Captain Elco and
Governor Broadbent were standing on the raised podium as the governor's press
secretary finished up the closing remarks for the press conference they'd

just completed.

The governor had
thanked Elco and the Confederation profusely, but had reiterated that it was
the will of the people that they not join with the Confederation.  Everyone
still realized that they were in a hopeless position, and that allying
themselves with the Confederation would simply guarantee an aggressive response
instead of simply inviting one by their choosing to stand alone. 

There had been
polite applause, but Elco sensed the tension, a feeling of expectation from the
people in the large press room.  It was decorated in the same rich materials
and colors that were found in the rest of the mansion, but now all the adornments
seemed hollow; it felt more like they were putting on a play, and the elaborate
surroundings served only to highlight the tenuous and artificial  world they
were living in.

Governor Broadbent
had been quick to remind people that they were still running the evac
transports and that Confed had pledged their use as long as was required.  He'd
pointed out that with the private and commercial lift that had turned up as
available for use the government's estimate was down to less than two and a
half months for total evacuation instead of just over three, but that was a
hollow victory because nobody believed the Primans would leave them alone for
that long.

There are those that
would stay, regardless of the situation.  Some would want to fight for their
homes, some wouldn't believe that this sort of thing was real and could
actually happen, and others would think it was best to just stay put, offer no
resistance, and hope nothing changed when it was all over. 

"Thank you for
your understanding, Captain," General Horle said to Elco as they walked
through the basement level of the capitol building.  Press conferences behind
them, Elco was taking his time wrapping things up and had been invited to dine
with the general at the Officer's Club on base.  While it wasn't nearly as
extravagant a venue as the Governor's Mansion, Elco would definitely feel more
at home on the base.  "I can't explain how grateful I am that you've
agreed to stick around for a while.  I suppose you never know when the Primans
will come calling, but every batch of transports we can get away will help
lower my blood pressure a little bit.  For what it's worth, Governor Broadbent
was incredibly grateful you offered that option."

"Let's just
hope we don't need to show off at all," Elco said grimly.  He knew as well
as the general that any action in the Lemurian system would end badly for all
involved.        

The were entering
the Officer's Club and were greeted with salutes and smiles as they passed,
eventually taking a secluded booth near the back that seemed to be where the
senior officers holed up.  The building was a strange mix; plenty of
memorabilia, nods to the past like pictures, moving holo images, and uniforms
in various states of distress hung on the wall to signify heroism or sacrifice in
some form.  The room itself was very new and modern, though, with lots of glass
that helped keep the place bright, something Elco wasn't used to.

 Elco felt relieved
to be dealing with the general on this matter; aside from his meetings with
Governor Broadbent, he'd had few meetings with the council that administered
the planet, and they seemed fully confident to let General Horle deal with the
matter of defensive options and evacuation.  Elco knew that would never fly
back in the Confederation, where the politicians tended to micromanage and
second-guess every decision into ineffectiveness.  He knew he was feeling
bitter about it, but the war had shown him the way a bureaucracy could defile
the most pure intentions.  "So now we have to see about getting the
Primans to leave you alone for a couple months until everyone that wants to
leave gets gone."

"I'll draft a
message to the Primans to that effect," said General Horle in a deadpan
tone, a fatalistic look on his face.  His jaw was set in a position that Elco
had come to realize meant the man was considering unpleasant thoughts, of which
there were surely plenty of right now.  "You know we've arranged our
destroyers in a submissive formation above the northern pole, correct?"

Elco only nodded
somberly. 

"I suppose the
Council is hoping that if the Primans see we're ready to hand over control
they'll take it easy on us."

"And also that
if they decide to shoot first and ask questions much, much later, you'll have
us close enough to call on as a last resort," Elco confirmed.

"It sounds
fairly sad when you say it like that," Horle admitted.  "But I guess
that's the gist of it.  I know you can't stay forever, but as I said, every
load of transports that leaves Lemuria is a weight off my shoulders.  In fact,
just as we left the press conference I received a message that the transports
had returned and were landing at their pickup points for another round."

"Well,"
Elco continued, "we have a week or so left before we're supposed to
return, so you can run three evac missions if I've done the math right."

Cory looked over her
Intruders as they held a tight formation while rounding their latest waypoint. 
They'd designed a route that would take them back and forth along a path that
would keep them clear of large gravity wells and allow them to microjump in
towards Lemuria.  As they pointed out-system on their flight paths, they were
able to point their recently upgraded sensors out into the dark night of space
in the hopes of catching a whiff of Priman forces should they arrive.  She'd
also noticed with interest the arrival of a wave of Stalwart class transports
that were surface-bound.

She chafed at her
ROE, however.  The Rules of Engagement demanded that they be ready to fight but
were not allowed to engage unless requested to do so by the Lemurians.  She
thought it was ridiculous that they still believed they could appease or
cooperate with the Primans, especially considering the weight of their actions
against the humanoid systems they'd passed through on their way through this
part of the galaxy.  Still, for an isolated system like theirs, she supposed
they figured they were humped if they fought back. 

Her six Intruders
carried warshots, live and upgraded Quick Strike light torpedoes.  The new
armor-piercing rounds for their autocannons were said to penetrate farther
through Priman armor as well, and she craved the opportunity to verify that
claim.  She settled back in her ejection seat and adjusted her harness where it
was starting to bite into her left shoulder a bit.  She had another two hours
on station before the other six Intruders of her squadron would arrive to
relieve her flight; they hadn't even scrambled any Talon fighters yet due to
their lesser endurance than the big attack birds.  She flexed her gloves,
covered in a synthetic leather to emulate the flight suits of old atmospheric
fighters of eons past, and imagined pulling the trigger on the flight stick to
send another Priman on their way to see what their afterlife was really all
about.