The three cruisers were vessels of the Achilles class and had been in service for over forty years. Each carried thick armour down the flanks and batteries of railguns in sections along their lengths. They were also equipped with over a hundred point defence weapons designed to protect against torpedoes and missile impacts as well as to defend against small ships, boarding pods and landing craft.
“Sir, it appears both vessels are powered up and ready,” said the first man.
“Ready?” said the Captain to himself.
“Wait, I have movement on the Victorious, yes, she’s moving out of her berth,” he said excitedly.
Captain Matthias grabbed the intercom to inform the Fleet of the good news.
“Admiral, Admiral?” he asked, but there was no response.
“Captain, our communications are being jammed this close to the Station. We need to withdraw from their electronic counter measures range,” explained the second officer.
“No, we need to buy the Fleet time, we have to get the ship as far from the Station as possible. If we fight at this distance the marine landing craft won’t get within ten kilometres of the Station. Have you seen the point defence grid on that thing? She could wipe out every shuttle and boarding party we send in minutes,” he said.
The Captain moved back to the forward window of the bridge where he had a good view of the Station and the enemy. It was a dangerous mission but one he was sure his wing could achieve. He turned and gave the order.
“It’s time, send them in.”
He nodded and quickly pulled down the intercom and called over to the communications officers.
“Put me on a secure ship-to-ship channel with Ajax and Hector,” he said. The officer connected the vessels in seconds.
“Follow attack plan Charlie, maintain distance and engage Victorious. It is imperative that we keep clear of her broadsides. Stay at range and if possible aim for her engines, God speed to you all.”
In seconds, the three massive cruisers fired up their engines and moved into a column as they manoeuvred into position to orbit the battleship. Unlike the heavier ships, the cruisers were designed for much higher speeds and their manoeuvrability and acceleration was impressive. Within moments, the bright glow from their engines propelled them forwards and into action.
The vessels were huge but still only one quarter the size of the Victorious. Normally they would be commanding small patrols and even fleets but hunting down capital ships was a job for a mixed force that would include carriers, cruisers and gunboats.
As the three fast moving cruisers adjusted their course, a series of bright flashes along the bow of the old battleship indicated the start of the battle. The battleship was easily double the width of the cruisers and its heavy armoured prow hit batteries of weapon ports. From such a close range the first volley hit almost instantly, the solid projectiles tearing through the Achilles, the lead ship of the cruiser wing. As the heavy metal projectiles struck the starboard flank of the ship it rocked from the impact. Each shell was the size of a man and tore huge chunks from the side. A lesser ship would have been cut in half, but the thick, multi-layered armour plating absorbed at least some of the initial attack.
“Jesus!” Captain Matthias shouted as he saw a large number of red lights flashing on his displays.
Throughout the room the displays were flashing with all kinds of critical data. From his view on the bridge he could see great chunks of the ship torn off and drifting into space. A crack appeared in the glass and without even checking with the crew, the computer system brought down the blast shutters to prevent any chance of as breach.
“Damage report!” he barked.
Lieutenant Jones, the senior engineer, was stunned by the damage he could see on his screen and it took him a few seconds to compose himself.
“Sir, we’ve taken four hits to the lower weapons decks. I have breaches and decompression in twelve compartments, twenty-seven casualties already reported, more coming in. One battery is out of action.”
“Tactical!” shouted the Captain.
“Sir, in this position she is currently only able to bring her forward guns to bear. If we cross her T we can maximise our firepower and reduced potential damage,” said Lieutenant LeMarche.
“Why are they coming straight at us? If they simply presented their broadside they could fight us off with just a few volleys?” he shouted.
“Sir, You are assuming they have a competent crew, what if they can barely control the ship? It would explain their direct line attack and exposing their bow. If they keep going like this there is a chance we could cripple her.”
“A cruiser wing defeating a battleship, now that would be a first.” The Captain said to himself as he smiled.
As he considered the battle, another volley of smaller calibre shells peppered the hull of his cruiser. They were probably the point defence systems being directed to add fire. They were unable to penetrate the thick armour of the Achilles but they did give the Captain hope as to the skill and experience of his opponent.
“Cross their T and put a broadside down their throats!” he shouted the order as he held on firmly to the grab handles as another impact rocked the ship.
The CCS Achilles was the first ship in three formations and as she turned hard to her left she exposed her entire right flank to the approaching battleship. The Ajax and Hector moved into the same position, following the Achilles like a line of elephants holding each other’s tails. The formation had its benefits though. Just as the wooden tall ships of old, these modern ships of the line had the greatest number of weapons running along their length. This meant that they could do more damage firing sideways than head on. The current formation allowed all three ships to bring all their guns to bear on the enemy. There were other benefits too. The weapons all the vessels were using were solid shot electric railguns. This ammunition could easily penetrate the deck and afterdeck of even a fully armoured ship. By hitting the enemy from the front, the shot would punch through the bow and run a long way through the vessel. The return fire from the battleship however would only be able to strike the flanks of the cruisers and damage whatever lay between the sides of the ship.
As the Achilles reached an almost perfect ninety-degree angle from the Victorious she opened fire. Each gunport fired in sequence and the entire flank of the cruiser disappeared in a bright blast of venting plasma gas. The wave of heavy projectiles was accelerated out of the gunports and towards the closing enemy vessel. As the torrent of heavy shells slammed into the ancient battleship the other two cruisers added their own volleys. The first counterattack by the three ships sent over fifty heavy projectiles and over half struck exactly where they needed to.
“I’m detecting multiple impacts on their bow and port quarter, substantial damage to their forward guns I think, there’s certainly no sign of return fire,” said Lieutenant LeMarche.
“Excellent, that is more like it. How long till the next volley?” he asked.
“Thirty seconds, Captain,” came the immediate reply. “We could continue the volleys but it will leave us vulnerable while we recharge the main batteries,” he explained.
“No, I want our cruiser wing to turn to sequential fire, I want a continuous rain of metal on her, don’t give their crew time to think. If what I think is true, they are inexperienced and we need them to make sure they are unable to come up with a suitable plan. Keep poking and prodding them and she’ll stay with us,” he ordered.
Although a full volley or broadside was massively powerful, it did leave the ship with a full complement of guns that were unloaded and that meant each ship was unable to return fire for a good half a minute. That was enough time to suffer major damage or even loss of a ship. The sequential fire option was simple, each battery fired its weapons in turn so that by the time the last battery fired the first was recharged and ready to fire. From space it looked like each gun was taking it in turn to fire. Though it was much less effective in the short-term, it did mean a vessel could keep up firing on a ship without pausing. This type of fire was generally reserved for fighting against smaller vessels or when fighting multiple opponents, as it gave a higher rate of fire and the option to spit fire quickly and easily. This battle was different though, they needed to annoy the enemy so that they could draw her away from the Station.
As the Achilles’ weapon batteries reached their capacity the firing resumed and Captain Matthias watched in satisfaction as shot after shot blasted out into space and against the Victorious who was still moving towards them at ever increasing speed. The other cruisers began firing and the gulf between the four ships filled with the ultra high-speed projectiles. A small number of shells came back from the enemy, but it appeared Lieutenant LeMarche
