Finding no effective solution, Control pushed the problem out to numerous agencies, requesting help with a viable resolution. In that manner a partial answer to the communication problem was devised.
A communications satellite outside the interference zone, far side Earth, was tasked to send a signal to SOHO <Solar and Heliospheric Observatory>. From SOHO, a laser signal was used to establish communication with the Nemesis group. Nemesis Lead was also working on a solution to the radio jamming. The Nemesis group was supposed to have a comms backup, also based on a laser link, the Laser Communication System. The backup LCS was glitchy. There had been a rush to finish the Nemesis ships even before the start of the actual invasion. It took a while, but Nemesis Lead was able to initiate the secondary LCS system.
The emergency situation had prompted Nemesis group to establish a swarm tactic. The ships had moved apart and formed into four loose groups of three ships.
* Nemesis Lead, 01:20:50:
“Nemesis group, this is One. Acknowledge if you can hear me over the LCS. Good, we’re all on. I’m sure Control will find a way to ping us. Until then we’re blind. Stay sharp. We have no idea what may be coming our way. Continue swarm and push off to maximum cohesion distance.”
* Control, 01:25:22:
“Nemesis Lead, this is Control, pushing a beam via SOHO. Do you copy?”
* Nemesis Lead, 01:25:40: “Copy Control. Do you have eyes?”
* Control, 01:25:45:
“Lead, we have optical scopes only. There are two nest ships heading your way. They’re close. Hold. Good. We can relay their position to you via the LCS. They’re flanking, bearing left and right. There will be some lag with positioning updates. Sending enemy ship position, along with an AI projection. Now.”
* Nemesis Three, 01:26:32:
“Lead, this is Three. Kowalski is heading for the hatch. Inside in two minutes.”
* Nemesis Lead, 01:26:40:
“Three, this is Lead. Why is Kowalski still outside? Get him in.”
* Nemesis Three, 01:26:46:
“Kowalski hunkered down while we moved off in swarm. He’s almost at the hatch.”
* Nemesis Lead, 01:26:58:
“Nemesis group, we have incoming hostiles, you should now have enemy positions via the LCS. Directive. Two through Six, left facing with me. Seven through twelve, bear right. You’re cleared hot for individual fire.”
The Nemesis ships engaged thrusters to augment their limited DEW laser system rotational axis. That was a fairly slow process. The elongated ship design made it more difficult to overcome inertia. Tactical evasion was out of the question. Optical scopes captured images of bright pulses as the bug ships attacked.
Enemy railgun fire opened volatile fuel stores. Sparks and plasma ignited the fuel. There were four bright flashes as Two, Three, Seven and Nine exploded. The fuel burned quickly and then it was dark; no oxygen left to fuel the flames. The audio and video feeds died. It took a few minutes to regain LCS comms.
* Nemesis Lead, 01:30:02:
“Control, this is One, they were moving fast. Evasive. We had no luck. Four Nemesis ships were lost on that pass. We took some hits here. <Coughing spat>. Lost environmental controls. We’re on suit oxygen now. Everson didn’t make it. We should have time to pivot for a shot when they come around from behind.”
* Control, 01:30:22:
“Affirmative Lead. They’re using Earth to brake. You’ve got time to set up. We’ll take some shots at them as they pass.”
* Nemesis Lead, 01:30:35:
“Copy Control. Nemesis group, pivoting for-”
Nemesis Lead unexpectedly went silent. The ship had taken damage. A hull breach had been temporarily repaired by a skin plate. As life support was restored and atmospheric pressure increased the breach plate was not sufficient to the task. The hull gave way in catastrophic failure.
The other ships engaged battle thrusters to pivot 180 degrees in order to bring their main weapons to bear in the new direction from which the enemy ships would return.
The video displays darkened throughout the EDF War Room. When they came back up a moment later, Control had virtual images displayed showing each Nemesis ship position in blue. But comms were down again, the comsat tasked to communicate through SOHO destroyed by one of the bug ships.
The bug ships were shown in red. They had been decelerating and were arcing around Earth; using the planet’s gravity well to help them turn and slow for another pass. A projected course for the ships was shown in dashed lines.
As the ships rounded Earth, the EDF launched dozens of hypervelocity missiles equipped with powerful nuclear warheads. The missiles were summarily destroyed by enemy DEW and rail fire.
One missile managed to cruise in relatively close to an enemy ship. The ground crew detonated the warhead remotely just as a laser pulsed to intercept. The resulting shockwave rocked the enemy ship.
During the distraction, BugEye left Earth orbit on a full acceleration run to the Moon.
Nemesis Eight had taken lead of the Nemesis group. Normal comms and scanning were working again, pushed out through a repositioned communications satellite. The Nemesis ships had moved outside the interference corridor.
* Control, 01:50:01:
“Nemesis Eight, this is Control. Comms should be up. Do you read?”
* Nemesis Eight, Lead, 01:50:15:
“That’s a good copy Control. Comms and fire control systems are back online. We have linked fire control for a concentrated burst. One bug ship is moving off and will not engage. Hold. They’re firing. We will-”
The attacking bug ship slowly and methodically targeted the remaining Nemesis ships.
The captain of Nemesis Eight called out a general directive to take evasive measures and gave a quick rundown of what he was about to attempt. Then he quickly reversed the holding bay lock-down key and punched the emergency release button. That caused the missile bay door to fly open as the hypes were released to the void. It also created a spin along the ship’s vertical axis. He hoped the spin would distribute the energy of the bug laser cannon
