landing force will come under the command of General Holcomb.”
“Admiral Haddock-Halloway, you will close in on this area between the 6664 System and the Frontier. Don’t let anyone get by you. Have two of your Carrier Fighter Wings outfitted with Mini-Seekers and two outfitted with Medium-Seekers in case Admiral DuPont needs help against the K’Rang Fleet. Admiral DuPont, you will request reinforcements through me.”
“Once the K’Rang Fleet is destroyed, as I am confident it will be, the battle cruisers will completely reload missiles and chop to the 15th Fleet to support their frontier defense mission. 19th Fleet will then be prepared to reinforce the 15th.
“Are there any questions? No? Ladies and gentlemen, I want your implementing plans to my staff by 0600 tomorrow morning. Good hunting.”
It was two days before the first indications showed up on the Vigilant’s long range sensors. A cloud of K’Rang mosquito scout ships moved through the sector and proceeded to the frontier. Kelly could almost feel their sensors scans passing through the Vigilant. The Vigilant withdrew into the nebula to await their passage. When the scouts passed, the Vigilant moved out to the nebula’s edge to pick up the approach of the K’Rang invasion fleet. In six hours, the K’Rang fleet appeared on the edge of the long-range sensors.
They were coming at in at power 4, but dropped to sub-light to approach and negotiate the frontier. Kelly counted out the K’Rang fleet order of battle. There were five battlecruisers in the lead, escorted by eight missile cruisers, five bombardment cruisers, a dozen destroyers, six of the new torpedo ships, and four frigates. Two fleet carriers followed the cruiser screen, and they were followed by the landing group. There were twenty large lighter carriers, four frigates, and two landing support carriers in the landing group. Bringing up the rear were the logistics support ships, four of them, escorted by two more frigates. None of the expected drone motherships were in the formation.
Kelly knew that in six hours, at their current speed, the K’Rang fleet would run into the frontier mines and the reinforced defenses of the New Alexandria Defense Forces. There were hundreds of defensive satellites interspersed throughout the Scutum Sector and 6664 system. There were also ten additional squadrons of planetary missile ships on New Alexandria. Even without the approaching GR Combined Battle Fleet, the K’Rang would not take the 6664 system easily.
Kelly was somewhat baffled by the size of the K’Rang invasion fleet. He expected a much larger force. He questioned whether the K’Rang would have enough of a landing force to conquer New Alexandria. As he thought on this a feeling of dread came over him. The K’Rang were not going to conquer the 6664 system, they were going to annihilate it.
After the K’Rang Fleet passed, the Vigilant pulled out of the nebula just far enough to send a tight beam transmission on the approaching fleet’s order of battle. It would give the 6664 system defenders a chance to adjust their forces before the enemy closed contact. Once their report was received and acknowledged, the Vigilant proceeded to carry out its combat mission.
The senior intelligence officer in the New Alexandrian Defense Forces reviewed the Vigilant’s report. The K’Rang force was smaller than they anticipated, but more than they could manage on their own. He hoped that the Fleet’s plan to trap the K’Rang force worked before the K’Rang could do too much damage to his home world.
He reviewed the placement of defensive satellites and the path of the approaching enemy. He could see several adjustments of position and programming that could result in higher K’Rang losses. He surmised they could do the most damage by concentrating on taking out the fleet carriers and lighter carriers. He put his recommendation in a message to the Planetary Defense Commander, General Holcomb, and hit send.
Onboard the Planetary Corvette, NAS Rutherford, the captain concentrated on getting his cargo of defensive satellites properly placed in accordance with the master defensive plan. On his tactical display, he could see the kill zones his cargo would create. The small planetary missile ships would hide on the flanks of these kill zones and wait inside the asteroid field. Once the K’Rang fleet got tangled with the defensive satellites, they would be easy pickings for concentrated salvoes as the missile squadrons pounced.
The large K’Rang ships would stand out as massive targets in the asteroid field, while the small missile ships and their missiles would be almost impossible to track and fire on. The Rutherford’s captain estimated that the satellites and missile ships in this sector alone would take out or cripple three to four major combatants or escorts. His task, and that of the rest of his squadron, would be to move in and plant more defensive satellites after the K’Rang moved on and finish off any stragglers. He imagined painting the silhouette of a cruiser or destroyer on the side of his ship.
The Vigilant moved a distance from the nebula to gain full effect of their sensors. They scanned the space around them and picked up the K’Rang fleet behind them, the two closest K’Rang worlds and a small gathering of ships deeper in K’Rang space. The Vigilant closed in to investigate. Moving slowly to make maximum effect of their stealth abilities, they closed with the group of ships. On long-range sensors, it appeared to be a battlecruiser and two frigates.
As they got closer, they realized that the battlecruiser was actually one of the new K’Rang command ships and two escorts. The captain gave the order to close with and engage this group of ships.
“Exec, find me a way we can sneak up on these guys.”
Kelly checked the star charts recently loaded from the K’Rang merchant ship the Vigilant had engaged on their second patrol. “There is a gas giant planet in an uninhabited system at 192 degrees, mark 47 from our position. It’s on the outer orbit of the system and about twice the size of Sol’s Jupiter. If we can back off, circle around the planetary system, and line up behind the planet, we can get within easy missile range. We might even be able to hide in the upper reaches of the planet’s atmosphere and pop out to fire.”
The captain called, “Helm, come to course 180, mark 40, then take us wide around this planetary system and line us up with the gas giant.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
Kelly came up on the intercom, “Chief B, watch the planetary system to make sure there aren’t any bad guy ships hiding in there. We don’t need some K’Rang prospector or planetary surveyor stumbling onto us.”
Chief B keyed the intercom and said, “Aye aye, sir. We’re scanning it.”
LCDR Timmons was in no hurry. He directed a wide course around the planetary system, just in case Kelly’s hunch was correct. As they moved off to starboard, Chief B’s sensor crew detected laser comms between the invasion fleet and the command ship.
Timmons called Kelly over to his position. “Exec, I want to time our attack so that we hit them as the 1st Combined Fleet falls in on the K’Rang invasion fleet. If we can hit them at the moment our guys pounce, we can probably delay any reinforcements being called in.”
“Got it, Captain,” Kelly replied, “I’ll have one of Chief B’s folks monitor the battle in the 6664 system to let us know when the Fleet jumps in on them.”
Kelly passed his instructions to Chief Blankenship. The first report came in shortly.
“Sir, the K’Rang are all tangled in the space mines and defensive satellites. They are backing out and trying to find a clear path into the system. They’ve lost two frigates and a lighter carrier to the mines. Two destroyers and a frigate were taken out by coordinated attacks from planetary missile ships and corvettes.”
Timmons smiled. “Good,” he thought, “we’re whittling them down.”
The Vigilant completed the wide sweep around the planetary system. Chief B’s people completed a sensor sweep of the system and declared it clear of ships and life signs. The ship lined up on the planet and made a sub- light dash into its orbit.
“Sir, we probably shouldn’t just barge in there. We aren’t the only folks that can hide in a gas giant.”
“Another hunch, Exec? I take your point. Helm, hold us 100,000 km out from the planet until Chief B gives us the all clear.”
The Vigilant approached and slowed to a halt. The sensor section scanned deep into the planet’s atmosphere and gave the all clear. The Vigilant moved into the charged gas cloud and waited.
They waited for less than half a day. Chief B came up on the intercom and informed them that the K’Rang fleet had worked through the mines and satellites. It had cost them eight major combatants, but now they were
