“ Err…no sir, it’s just I haven’t heard from Colonel Vargev since just after we were both promoted together.”
“ The Liberty is cleared to depart at 18:00 hours with the sixth battlegroup, made up of the Jupiter class assault carrier Hermes, the Danitza class battleships Defiant and Vengeance, four Jefferson class heavy destroyers…anyway the full fleet lists are on here.”
The admiral passed him a disc for his data navigator, which he gently slid into a pocket on his uniform.
“ However, you are to rendezvous with a second battlegroup at wolf 359, altogether there will be nearly two hundred E.D. F and Solarian ships taking part in this operation captain, and we expect heavy resistance…One last thing Solarian intelligence has picked up on this Krenaran.”
The admiral pointed towards the viewer, it lit up showing the fuzzy image of a huge Krenaran, with heavy mechanical legs. His sheer size dwarfed the other Krenarans in the picture who, at eight feet tall, were not small either. “All we know is his name is Alax, and we think he is in command of the Krenaran military. The Solarians are scared stiff of this guy, and we believe he may be operating around Gamma IV. We have designated him an Alpha level threat, if we should locate him or find out which ship he is on, we are authorised to terminate with extreme prejudice. That will be all, Captain.”
Michael saluted the admiral, and left the briefing room. Nearly two hundred ships, that’s a hell of a lot of resources they are putting into one action, he thought.
Keying in a control on his wrist comm. Kinraids voice came over the device, “yes cap’n.”
“ Schedule a meeting for 14.00 hours commander, in one of the briefing halls. I want the whole crew there.”
“ Yes cap’n; is everythin’ all right, sir?”
“ We’ve got a new mission Quinn.”
“ I love it when ya’ talk dirty cap’n.”
Michael ended the communication with a chuckle as he continued down a long, brightly lit, curved corridor; towards the nearest elevator stop. Once it arrived he entered the large mass transit elevator.
After a few short minutes it stopped on his deck, and disgorged its payload of people, including Michael. Who hurried to his quarters and prepared his gear.
He packed a full landfall uniform, as well as his standard naval gear, carefully packing it all into a large black holdall.
After he finished packing, he reached into his pocket and took out the disc the admiral had given him, picked up his Data navigator from the glass table, and inserted the disc into it.
There was a detailed overview of the mission, the objectives, and a full list of the forces involved, he thumbed through it.
There were nearly seventy ships leaving from Delta base itself, another one hundred and thirty were stationed at Wolf 359. There were nearly eighty Solarian ships in the fleet alone.
He glanced over some of the names, the Nimitz, the Honduras, the Invincible, the Eurinades. These were some of the most famous ships in the fleet. By the time he had finished packing his gear and looked through the mission report, it was getting near 13.00 hours.
He decided to grab some lunch at a restaurant he had wanted to visit for some time on deck 11. As he made his way over to this restaurant, he could almost sense the station buzzing into life, it was always busy anyway; as a station of this size and importance invariably is, especially with the wartime repairs and the comings and goings of naval personnel.
However this felt different, it felt energized, as though something big was about to happen. Everywhere navy personnel could be seen loading supplies onto the multitude of vessels docked with the station.
Motorized carts and loading vehicles were busily transporting the heavier items onboard the enormous battleships, and servicing crews were performing systems checks and last minute repairs.
Michael was glad the Liberty was such a small vessel, at barely one hundred and forty meters long it didn’t take nearly as long to prepare.
Briefings were shorter, since the standing crew of the Liberty was only 41 men. It could be prepped, briefed, and gone within an hour. The lumbering battleships and carriers needed nearly a full day.
However the downside to the Liberty was that although it is an E.D. F registered vessel; it was not built by the E.D.F. It was a captured Krenaran stealth ship, upgraded with Solarian weapons and technology. She is easily the fastest and arguably most deadly ship in the E.D. F fleet. However crewing her was a different matter entirely. Her systems were so far removed from standard E.D. F systems, that very few crewmen were actually able to operate them. This was the reason why Michael was placed in command of her, because it was he, and the then Major Vargev who captured her, and Michael who actually flew her.
He also wondered how much of the fleet had been upgraded with the new long range laser turrets. Since the older rail-cannons had proved to be utterly ineffective against Krenaran ships. Solarian scientists and the E.D. F research division had come up with the new designs, however to change the entire fleet over to the new weapon systems was taking time; and still only about a third of the E.D. F fleet were so equipped.
The pressure on the engineering services was huge, right across the entire E.O.C. A territory. The backlog was still several months until the change over was complete.
Michael arrived at the restaurant ‘Wormholes end.’ It was a large airy place, with lovely ambient lighting that danced across the walls, together with plants and even palm trees, giving the place an almost exotic, planet like feel; and situated within an orbital installation that was nearly one eighth the size of the moon. That was not an easy feat to achieve.
He ordered a large dinner, after having only a light breakfast, he was feeling very hungry. Quickly sitting down to eat, and taking a sip of coffee. He tended to prefer restaurants to the food synthesisers, because to him simply keying in a command and then taking your food, seemed terribly impersonal. He preferred the personal touch that being in a restaurant brings.
Once he had finished, he walked over to the payment area, and handed a rather fetching woman his payment card.
“ Will that be all sir?” The long haired brunette woman asked.
“ Yes, thank you.” Handing her his payment card; the transaction was processed. The waitress handed it back to him.
“ Thank you,” he repeated; and then quietly left the restaurant.
His wrist comm. chirped, checking it he found it was from Kinraid. “I’ve managed to get briefing room 3, sir. If that’s okay with ya’, I’ve assembled the crew.”
“ Good work commander, I’m on my way,” Michael replied, before closing the communication in mid- stride.
He arrived at the briefing hall, situated on deck 8, five minutes or so after 14.00 hours. He strode onto the small raised stage area in the centre of the hall. The room was laid out almost like a tiny old earth cinema, with an angled floor where people could all get a good view of the speaker.
The 40 other crewmembers which made up the crew of the Liberty all stood to attention as he entered.
“ Please be seated.”
The crew all sat quietly.
“ As of this morning, we have new orders. We are to leave Delta base with the sixth battlegroup, and then join up with a second battlegroup, the 18 ^th at Wolf 359. Once there we are ordered to advance to Gamma IV, and support the forces already there. We expect heavy resistance; reports suggest that Krenaran forces have been massing for an attack on Echo base itself. We are to ensure that doesn’t happen, understood.”
“ Yes, Captain,” The unanimous reply came.
“ Any questions,” Michael replied.
“ What time do we depart sir?” Ensign Jackson asked.
“ 18.00 hours.”
“ How many ships will there be going on the mission sir?” Ensign Hawkins asked.
“ All told, nearly two hundred.”
There were shocked faces and audible gasps across the hall, 200 ships; it would be the biggest fleet action of the war so far.
“ Would we get our usual pre battle drink, sir?” Lieutenant Jones asked with a wry smile.
