Chapter 66: Battle for Earth

“Attention, Quon has disabled the command vessel.” said Ship.

“Excellent work, but we must hurry. Ask Quon to keep the command vessel moving,” I said.

“For your information, you can just direct me. I will coordinate with Quon as needed,” replied Ship.

“Thank you for clarifying that, Ship. Please keep the command vessel moving,” I said.

“Confirmed. The command vessel is continuing on course,” replied Ship.

“Why keep it moving?” asked Laine.

“They seem to turn on any vessel we disable. If it stopped now, they’d know we compromised it. I want to prevent that,” I replied.

“Right!” said Jem.

“Ship, direct a cloaked probe to shadow the command vessel and handle Aenat communications,” I said.

“Commander, since we control the command vessel, we can use their own communications array,” replied Ship.

“Even better. Thank you, Ship,” I said.

“Now that you have control of their command vessel, what do we do next?” asked Jem.

“Order their fleet away from Earth. I need to hide this mess from the inhabitants,” I replied.

“How about that planet with the rings?” asked Laine.

I looked at the star map on the tactical display.

“That might work. How can we convince the Aenat vessels to go there?” I mused.

“Commander, tell the Aenat fleet you detected a vessel orbiting the sixth planet. Order them to pursue the vessel,” said Jem.

I smiled at Jem.

“Ship, are there any probes near the sixth planet?” I asked.

“Confirmed, Quon has two probes in proximity of the sixth planet,” replied Ship.

“Excellent! I want one probe as a dreadnaught probe, and the other one positioned to deploy nano-bots. Then order all Aenat vessels to converge on the sixth planet and pursue the vessel in orbit there,” I ordered.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Before the enemy get within weapons range, direct the dreadnaught probe to cloak and move position,” I added.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

We watched the tactical display as two probes approached the sixth planet.

Aboard the lead vessel of Aenat battle group three, they received an incoming message.

“Admiral Dar, report from command, they have located the Baglogi,” said the captain.

“Where?” asked admiral Dar.

“Their vessel is in orbit around the sixth planet. Our orders are to converge on their location and overwhelm their defences,” replied the captain.

“Send an order to our battle group. Best speed to the sixth planet. Weapons hot, prepare to take on the enemy,” said admiral Dar.

“Yes, Sir!” replied the captain.

“They made a fatal mistake. Now we have them!” he snarled.

“All vessels acknowledge, best speed to the sixth planet,” replied the captain.

“Can we detect them from our position?” asked the admiral.

“No, Sir. The Baglogi vessel is on the far side of the planet,” replied the captain.

“Then we shall have the advantage. They will be unaware of our approach. For the glory of Aenat!” he said.

“Yes, Sir!” replied the captain.

“Captain, can you tell if battle group two got the same message?” asked the admiral.

“Yes, Sir. They sent it on the fleet channel,” replied the captain.

“Work out which battle group will arrive first?” he asked. “I don’t want Kel to get all the glory.”

The captain worked on a console for a few moments.

“Sir, our battle group is closest. But, our target is on the far side of the planet,” said his captain.

“What if we fly closer to the planet and slingshot around?” he asked.

The captain turned to his console again.

“Sir, we should arrive first by a margin of a few minutes. There is a risk of collision, we will need to fly within the rings,” replied the captain.

“Make the required course changes. I want it over by the time they arrive! This is our victory!” he said with glee.

The captain didn’t like the look in his admiral’s eyes, but he rapidly made the calculations.

“Sir, I relayed the course changes to our group,” said the captain. “We shall be the first there.”

Aboard the lead vessel of Aenat battle group two, they received the same message from the command vessel.

“Admiral Trell, report from command. They have located the Baglogi in orbit around the sixth planet,” said the captain. “All vessels are to converge on their location.”

“Finally! Inform our battle group. Change course to the sixth planet,” said admiral Trell.

“Yes, Sir!” replied the captain.

Soon battle group two had changed course for the sixth planet.

The admiral studied a hologram display of the system. All Aenat vessels were on course for the sixth planet.

“I don’t understand,” mused the admiral. “I thought the third planet was our target.”

“Sir?” asked the captain.

“What is the quality of their intel?” he asked. “Ask for a copy of their sensor data.”

“Yes, Sir,” replied the captain.

The captain worked on his console for a few moments.

“Coming through now, Sir,” said the captain.

The hologram showed sensor data of an enormous vessel in orbit around the sixth planet.

“That is bigger than any of our vessels, Sir,” said the captain.

“How soon before we are in range for our own sensors?” asked the admiral.

“We will be in range in a few minutes, Admiral,” replied the captain.

The admiral studied a hologram.

“Keep scanning for threats,” said the admiral.

“Yes, Sir,” replied the captain. “Do you suspect a trap, Admiral?”

“I don’t know, Captain,” replied the admiral. “Until now, we couldn’t detect them. Suddenly, we find a vessel sitting in orbit, waiting for us.”

“Sir, when you put it that way, it sounds suspicious,” said the captain.

“Given that it sounds suspicious, what would you do, Captain?” asked the admiral.

“Sir, I wouldn’t rush in there,” he replied.

“Exactly! Order our battle group to slow to three quarters. I don’t want us to be the first vessels to arrive,” said the admiral.

“Yes, Sir,” replied the captain. “Thank you, Sir.”

The captain worked on his console.

“All vessels acknowledge, reduce to three quarters speed,” replied the captain.

We watched the tactical display. Three Aenat battle groups changed course and approached the sixth planet. We followed behind them.

“That planet looks beautiful,” said Laine.

“It is big too. It should eclipse the battle from Earth. We don’t want to disturb the primitives,” I said.

“Ship, does the sixth planet have a name?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed. The inhabitants of Earth call it Saturn. It is a gas giant, about ninety-five times the size of Earth. The rings are mostly ice particles,” replied Ship.

“Thank you, Ship,” said Jem. “Commander, do you intend to take any prisoners?”

I turned to look at Jem.

“I don’t want to save the leaders. They are the ones who came here, against our warning.” I replied.

“What of the others?” asked Jem.

“If we can use data port probes, we could return a few vessels to their home system. We need to cull their numbers, so they won’t return,” I replied.

“Agreed, Commander. We can send them back with a message to leave this system alone,” said Jem.

“Attention, Commander. The battle group ahead of us has slowed down,” said Ship.

“Do you think they figured out our ruse?” asked Jem.

“I don’t know. Perhaps we can make use of their tardiness,” I replied.

“Oh, yes?” asked Jem.

“Ship, can your probes catch them up and deploy data port probes?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Target a few at a time. Once you take over a vessel, make it continue on course. Handle communications for the vessel. Make it behave normally to the others,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“I like it! The longer they take to arrive at Saturn, the more of their vessels will be under our control,” said Jem.

“Yes, Commodore. We will control most of this group by the time they arrive,” I said.

Jem smiled.

“See the trajectory of that other battle group!” said Laine. “They are performing a low altitude orbit around the planet.”

“They must be in a hurry. They are attempting to slingshot around the planet,” said Jem.

“Ship, please have a probe deploy a welcoming cloud of nano-bots for our guests,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“They are in such a hurry to meet their doom,” said Mina. She had said nothing for a while. I turned to face her.

“Mina, those vessels are keen to destroy what they think is a Baglogi vessel. I consider them armed and dangerous. It is prudent to neutralize them swiftly,” I said.

Mina nodded.

“Mina, the group ahead of us showed caution by slowing down rather than rush into the fight. Those crews have earned a return trip home,” said Jem.

“I understand. I regret the loss of life, Commodore,” said Mina.

“There are billions of helpless primitives on the third planet. We warned the Aenat, and they refused to heed the warning. They came here for a war. A few hundred Aenat lives will pay,” said Jem.

I looked at the tactical display. The red dots for the Aenat vessels racing around Saturn were about to meet a perfectly placed cloud of nano-bots. Their slingshot trajectory put them into a narrow corridor that our AIs easily predicted.

“Admiral Dar, we are coming out from behind the planet. The Baglogi vessel should be directly ahead,” said the captain.

“Where??” asked admiral Dar.

The hologram showed no vessel where they expected it to be.

“I don’t know, Sir! Scanning...” replied the captain.

“I see nothing ahead,” said the admiral.