out to the autonomous assault line, the pilots of the command machines were to return immediately to the transports, that, as we saw, they did.
The quargs were confused. Some of the enemy’s big commanders must have lost their temper, and for a while could not adequately lead their subordinates. In any case, the movements of enemy ships were haphazard, at least in our view. But it didn’t make it any easier, because there were too many quargs at the party we were having.
We picked up the returned command machines and, in principle, the plan was to start acceleration for the jump. We did our job, but not without loss. Except turning the transports’ engines on was tantamount to suicide. Of course, the camouflage wouldn’t completely come off, but it would be 40% down, and the space around us was crawling with enemy ships, and their numbers were growing by the minute.
“The odds of our detection in the next 30 minutes are estimated by the computer at 60%,” told me the commander of the transport, “It’s time to make a decision, Commander, Sir.”
“How many people do we have on board all three ships?” I asked a question that was unexpected to everyone.
“42 people,” answered Matveyev with a note of surprise in his voice.
“Commander Yoon Gao,” I called our scout on the laser-optical link, “How many people can you put on your ship if you don’t give a damn about all the rules and regulations and instructions? I have 42 people here who want to keep your crew company.”
“Captain, Sir, are you serious? You flew with me. We have a crew of five.”
“What if otherwise these 42 people just die?”
“Well…There’s nothing to think about, let’s have your passengers. Just how? ”
“Pull up close and open the outer hatch of the small cargo hold. Transports have a universal docking unit. We’re lucky we didn’t dismantle it. The rest is about the skills of the pilots.”
The modernized medium-size recon ship had an incomparably better camouflage than the transport, that’s what Yoon Gao and I have seen more than once during the previous raid, so without fear, he made a careful maneuver, approached three of our ships and joined the docking unit of the nearest transport.
The pilot of Yoon Gao’s ship clearly knew his business, or maybe Yoon himself was driving the ship now, who knows, but the docking was done with maximum accuracy.
“Pilots of the command machines, take positions in the pursuit planes and get ready to receive a combat mission.”
“Commander, Sir,” asked me Commander Matveyev, “Maybe my pilots should prepare for takeoff, too?”
“No way. Unless, of course, you want to ruin us all. From this distance, your machines will be like Christmas trees with garlands and balloons for the enemy. Only our command machines have a chance, so prepare your men for an emergency evacuation. Transport crews, leave the ships and prepare them for self-destruction.”
“Ready to take off,” our pilot’s commander reported.
“Pursuit planes, simulate an attack in the direction of the sixth planet with the task of diverting enemy forces from our ships. Do not engage in close combat, but keep the enemy as far away from here as possible. You need to hold on for 20 minutes. You’ll get further orders from the recon ship. Mission clear?”
“That’s right.”
“Do it!”
I have met the expression „to pack like sardines” before, but until now, I didn’t give it much attention, and it turned out I should. For the next 15 minutes, I had to feel the depth and lexical precision of this idiom the hard way. It was really cramped.
Three simultaneous flashes behind the stern of Yoon Gao’s ship marked the end of the active phase of our operation and the beginning of a painful journey home. It was especially distressing to us when the ship, already overcrowded, was filled with eight pilots of the surviving command machines, that caught up to us in 40 minutes. By the way, their passage to the ship has become a distinct headache, as the pursuit planes had no fixed docking units, but we managed somehow. The command machines had to be destroyed as well as the transports, because there was not the slightest possibility of getting them into space under human control.
When we arrived a week later at the rendezvous point with Admiral Nelson’s destroyers, half the passengers on our ship were unconscious. The life-support system for a maximum of 10 persons could not sustain five times as many people for an extended period. But as it turned out, we got off easy.
There were five scouts and only two transports at the rendezvous point, the ones that attacked the single-dock systems. Of the remaining teams, apart from the scouts who were not directly involved in the battle, only a few of the command machines’ pilots survived. Command pursuit planes have proved to be very survivable in combat conditions due to high speed, good maneuverability and excellent EW systems, which allowed them to evade missiles and deceive enemy scanners.
We lost 80% of the ships and half the people who took part in the raid, but eight out of ten nearly completed Titan-class battleships have ceased to exist. Unfortunately, the quargs were able to defend two shipyards.
On the way home, I couldn’t help but think that a few more docks with giant battleships being built we certainly couldn’t find in the first raid. But how many?
I learned the answer to that question much sooner than I would have liked.
“Your permission, Mr President?”
“Is there something new, Ignat?”
“You instructed me to gather information on the preparations for Captain Lavroff’s last raid. The necessary investigation has been conducted, and I am ready to report the results.”
“Take a seat, Ignat, let’s hear it.”
“The Minister of Defence is only indirectly involved in this operation. He found out about it 48 hours before it started. Technically, the order for combat testing came from him, but it was Captain Lavroff, assisted by Minister of Military Production Zwerev and Fleet Admiral Nelson, who organized the entire operation, including reconnaissance of targets, development of a new type of torpedoes, modernization of troop transports as carriers, organization of preliminary tests of new weapons and then their serial production.”
“Well, everything is clear about Nelson, there is much history between him and Lavroff, but Zwerev! Why did he agree to help the Captain?”
“It remained unclear. They had a private meeting, the details of which are unknown to us, but after this conversation, Lavroff was given shipbuilding capacity to convert ten medium troop transports into torpedo weapons carriers.”
“With what funds could the Department of Lavroff have built an industrial batch of its torpedoes?”
“The Federal Advanced Weapons Corporation had money from the sale of the battleship Titan to the Fleet. Global Weapon Industries and the Russian Weapons Concern have concluded contracts with FAWC for the supply of torpedoes. There was no competition, Lavroff entered into contracts in violation of the standard procedure, but after a price check, it turned out that the weaponry companies had provided him with torpedoes and command machines at almost cost price.”
“Well, the GWI didn’t surprise me with that,” the President laughed, “After that failed attempt to buy his
