Chapter 99: Battle

Andreï in command on the bridge of the Alké, Judea on the Deimos.

“Tohil, you’re someone autonomous who takes initiative,” Andreï had said. “I want you on the Frigate that will dive onto Caliban. On the Deimos, I need someone absolutely servile.”

He had nodded, lips tight, but after all, Andreï was now Admiral of the Stellar Fleet.

Almost in a murmur, he had breathed to the helmsman:

“Now.”

And the two Endymions Drifted into the Caliban system, two kilometers from the Hecatonchire, a formidable cruiser, old, with an experienced crew. The Drift exit angle was perfect: perpendicular to the ship.

“To the Fleet gunners, unleash a deluge of fire onto the target, hold nothing back.”

The Alké and the Deimos discharged several million tonnes of asteroids collected in the Oort cloud using the Endymions’ ionic acceleration.

“Release the communication Exocet. Return Drift.”

The beacon was launched, and immediately afterward, the two Endymions of the Resistance Fleet returned to the fringes of interstellar space.

“Activate communication. Place us on the HS Drift communication network. Refill the asteroids. Send our coordinates to Sweet Sun.”

On the bridges of the two cruisers, the orders were repeated. They aligned themselves with clusters of asteroids collected by the Ravens and the Ozys, ready to strike again. The calculation Xenos, networked but centralized by Sweet Sun, were establishing a new Drift toward another sector of Caliban’s orbit.

On the screen, the espionage Exocet showed the Hecatonchire, pierced through and through, spurting sprays of sparks, sinking into Caliban’s atmosphere, ejecting in panic hundreds of escape pods.

The communication Exocet connected to the HS and LE protocols. Using high-level military code, it transmitted a pre-recorded message everywhere. One could see Andreï staring into the camera, standing on the bridge of the Alké, with officers in the background.

“This is Admiral of the Stellar Fleet Andreï. The Stellar Fleet is currently conducting an assault on Caliban against the forces rallied to Aleph. This message is addressed to humans and to Xenos of good will who believe that the acts of Aleph and the army that follows him are unworthy of our civilization and must be stopped as soon as possible. If you have a ship, armed or not, whatever it may be, we ask you to join us in retaking control of Caliban, and then of Earth. We are waiting for you!”

Petra, a woman with olive skin, very elongated eyes, the other officer assigned to communications, called out to the Admiral:

“Incoming communication from Admiral of the Stellar Fleet Gulmira, from the Gilgamesh, my admiral.

- I’ll take it. It saves us a few seconds.”

The tightly shut face of Gulmira, usually falsely smiling, appeared on the screen. She sighed, then sharply declared:

“Captain Andreï, what is this madness? Three hundred dead on the Hecatonchire, and a capital ship scuttled.

- The first of your entire fleet if you do not surrender immediately.

- Captain, she said, narrowing her eyes with anger and emphasizing the word captain, I give you ONE MINUTE to surrender, you and your two Endymions, and I guarantee you will not be sentenced to exile or to re-education in virtualization. For God’s sake, do you really think...”

The gunner had turned toward Admiral Andreï and, with a gesture of the hand, indicated that the Endymions were loaded. Andreï cut the communication and ordered the second Drift.

Another sector of the planet, this time the Astrapé, again a perfect angle. Again the deluge of fire. Again the immense six-kilometer ship being pushed into destruction toward the planet.

That’s it, Andreï thought, glancing at the positions of the other enemy cruisers from the corner of his eye. They’re starting to move, all of them.

Again in Drift, into the Oort cloud. No more communication. The espionage Exocet’s data and the communication Exocet’s data were abruptly cut: annihilated by Tygers.

Right now, Andreï told himself, the military AIs are anticipating our next move. I still have one attempt left and after that, we’ll need to adapt. And indeed, another jump, another attack on the Dian Wu, brand-new. But this time, it was facing them, and also launched its attack head-on-which fortunately passed between the two Resistance cruisers. They returned to Drift just before another grapnel sped toward them.