“I want all Mark 2 carriers moved up. Send interceptors to support Tower and Kite. Keep them from moving to the front. I want all Flak concentrated in the front. Continue bombardment of the Bulwark division.”

  Inanna has been pushing me back and I've only actually seen a single battlegroup. I’m starting to regret the Particle Accelerators. I should have had the 5s be something heavier to break through those shields. I’m hitting a wall here. Even with two Battle Groups unloading on them they aren’t faltering. There must be some support ships in there as well. Given enough time I’d get through eventually. Of course by then my Particle Cannons will be almost totally worn. The excess heat and overcharged systems reducing power and range by nearly half, assuming they fire at all. A missile barrage could weaken them enough. If all those attack craft weren’t in the way.

  Around two dozen hanger carried attack craft have positioned themselves just behind the Bulwark shields while fighter swarms are harassing Tower and Kite with short range strafing runs. They are of a far higher quality than my own fighter craft. Even concentrated the AA secondaries aren’t cutting it. Their speed and shields are just strong enough for them to come in, unload and retreat to safety. While the Attack craft have more than enough firepower to shred my fighters should I try to counter attack. Or shoot down at least half my missiles should I try that. These are costly craft. At least a whole Battlegroup must have been dedicated to carrying them.

  The logical solution to all of this is sending in Crusader. Those short range disintegrators would make short work of the Bulwarks. That’s why I’m not doing it. Its so obvious a choice, seemingly the only one available in fact, Inanna must have thought up a counter. I only know one of her Battle Groups and am guessing at a second. If I send in Crusader and they don’t come back, even if they do wipe out the Bulwarks, I could still be left at an overall disadvantage.

  All I can do is wait until my back up plan is ready. And hope there aren’t any surprises along the way.

  A beam of hyper condensed energy lights up the void, striking Kite so hard I can see the shield rippling in defiance from all the way back here. Boot always drops, doesn't it?

  “Artillery strike. Attempting to identify.”

  “No need. It’s a Devastation Cannon.”

  I was considering that one myself. In basic concept no different from a standard Infrared laser canon. Over a hundred of them, fused together into a unified focusing lens creating a super massive bolt with enough power to crack a continent in two. Only her Command ship has the space and power to handle something like that. I’d guess my Bulwarks unified shields is down to fifteen, maybe twenty percent if I’m lucky.

  “Order Kite to retreat and have Tower take their place. Move all support vessels from Tower to Kite and get them as close to max as possible as quickly as possible. When the next shot happens, cycle them again.”

  Besides the mass there are two main drawbacks to the Devastation Cannon. The first is a lengthy cool down between shots. Even with support vessels it will take around ten minutes to fire again. The other is range. The weapon has a ton of it. So much no targeting system can actually use it to the full potential, Jammers or no. The weapon needs to be treated less like an Energy lance and more like an extreme long range missile system with spotters and target finders. I stare out at the many mechanical eyes watching me. Just out of my reach.

  “How many cycles can we keep this up?”

  “According to our estimates, only five or six. One of them will not be able to recharge enough to take the full brunt.”

  “Prepare Crusader for an assault. We have no other choice.”

  Crusader moves forward. I wanted to keep them far in the back as long as possible. She is forcing my hand again.

  “Crusader is twenty thousand lightyears behind Tower.”

  “After the next Devastation shot, have them charge. Whatever happens we need Kite ready to take the frontline. “

  Once Crusader crosses that threshold, I’ll have no control over it. Ordinarily I would trust the Captain of the Battle Group. But the Captain is an AI. They can’t think or react beyond the most basic of rubrics. I just have to hope simple attack and retreat protocols are enough.

  “Captain! A Battle Group has appeared out of the scrap in section E-37. Heading straight for Ballista!”

  “Delay the Charge! I want a full retreat. Have the Destroyers buy some time.”

  “It’s too late. Enemy Battlegroup has made contact.”

  Ballista starts losing ships fast. They are weakly shielded with few short range weapons. An assault like this is their worst nightmare. Even with superior numbers they just can’t survive.

  Superior numbers. Why is this battle group so small? It has a full mix of units from 1 to 5. But it’s only about half strength. We should be well out of range of the heavy jammers.

  “Zoom in on the Mark 5. What does the long range scan say?”

  “The Mark 5 is damaged, and not from us. It appears every vessel has been damaged in some way before even making contact.”

  I see your game Inanna. Sending fragile high speed hunters through the scrap heap is a dangerous tactic. High risk, high reward. Not the kind of thing any respectable Captain would do in normal circumstances. Of course, this is just a simulation. No life to be lost. Even at half strength and missing some chunks, those ships are more than enough to tear Ballista apart. She can watch them but would have no direct control. It’s all AI right now.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Tell Howitzer to retreat. Keep Crusader on standby in case of a forward attack. Tell my escorts to keep close. We are going in.”

  A Command Ship vs an aggressive Battle Group. The AI isn’t smart enough to realize it’s a trap. As the last of Ballista falls to pieces, they see me and charge. They are fast ships deep in enemy territory. The drones aren't even this far. I have maybe thirty seconds till they are close enough to return fire. They won't make it to ten.

  “I want each projector to target a separate vessel. Go for the 4s and 3s first. Aim dead center and fire in a single volley.”

  “Lock on achieved. Ready to fire on your command.”

  “A little closer. And… fire.”

  Six violet beams hit their marks in a fraction of a fraction of a second. One moment six ships are charging at me. The next they have a huge hole in their center mass. And the next they blow up as everything from ammo to the power generator explodes. There are five ships remaining and they turn to flee. Like they’d ever get the chance to leave. A follow up volley tears another four open from the ass end. Last is the Mark 5. Even in its beat up state, a single beam likely wouldn’t be enough. Despite the size, that ship is fast. Been less than a minute and they are already over two hundred thousand kilometers away. With their jammers still up almost any other weapon would be incapable of hitting them now.

  “Full volley. Open fire.”

  Only three of the six beams manage to hit and one is glancing. Still, good enough is good enough. The Engine explodes, sending the ship spiraling out of control. Last I see of it is its spinning form crashing into space debris. Another corpse to the grave.

  “Report. Any new movement on the frontline?”

  “Not yet. According to our estimates the Devastation Cannon should be firing soon.”

  We are off by a bit. Nevertheless, the Cannon comes. And Space Hell comes with it.

  “Enemy Bulwarks are advancing up as Kite retreats.”

  She’s pressing the attack. With a whole Artillery Battle Group laid to waste my chances of cracking her defenses are halved. She waited until Crusader was too far to help and sent in the assaulting force to attack my back line. Ordinarily I would be safe to assume this new frontal attack is trying to take advantage of Kite being forced back. Something I could naturally counter by having Crusader meet them head on when they aren’t expecting it. But I know Inanna knows Crusader hasn’t moved. It's still ready to respond to any frontal charge. Which means I can’t send it in.

  “Have the recon Mark 1s scan the area directly behind the Bulwark Battle Group.”

  “Affirmative. Initial scans indicate there is another Battle Group not far behind.”

  Knew it. If I send Crusader in they will be attacked by Space God knows what. Although, this might be an opportunity as well.

  “Send Tower forward. Have Crusader follow. Just before Tower gets into position, order a full reverse for Crusader.”

  A Feint. Best I can do on short notice. Inanna is watching my every move. She’s two steps ahead of me. So I have to be three steps ahead of her.

  “Have Howitzer prepare to fire. We might only get one chance at this so go don’t bother waiting for a lock on.”

  “Tower is moving into position. Crusader preparing for Feint maneuver in three, two, one, engaged.”

  Crusader halts all acceleration and quickly pushes back. At the very edge of our accurate scanning range, a Battle Group appears.

  “Howitzer, all guns fire at will. I repeat, fire at will.”

  Particle bolts fly like shooting stars. Only one in every four or five find their mark. Lucky that's enough. Scans indicate explosions. They retreat back into the static with a few less friends.

  “Captain, we are detecting a Torpedo Salvo from the retreating vessels.”

  “A parting gift. Fire intercept missiles.”

  “The attack craft will make them ineffective.”

  “Then fire everything if you have to. We need Tower to hold.”

  Tower fires off wave after wave of missiles. Most don’t make it. Torpedoes are larger and slower than missiles. Hit about ten times as hard to compensate. Inanna sent about two hundred my way. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be too big a deal. But those Bulwarks, always the thorn in my side, are keeping them safe. The Battle Group has moved in close enough they can provide covering fire. Missiles and interceptors are not going to cut it. This just leaves my Tertiaries. Unfortunately, Torpedoes are often shielded. A Tertiary can still break through, it just takes twice the effort. Which is all that’s needed to make the difference. As over two thousand missiles are wasted shooting down maybe a hundred torpedoes, it now becomes their job.

  I can see the blasts. They are just that big. Fortunately there aren’t many. Can count them with my fingers. Still, that was enough to cut Tower’s shields significantly. I still had about three rotations before I was going to be in trouble. Now I’ll be lucky to get two. I need to act fast. My resources are running thin. I need-

  “What was that?”

  “Sir, that was the Devastation Cannon.”

  “Impossible. It’s only been five minutes.”

  Inanna you big, blue, beautiful bitch. You fired a second shot before the heat had fully dissipated. Didn't know you had it in you. The match isn’t over so your ship didn’t self-destruct at the effort. I don’t have to fear another shot for at least an hour, if ever again. You’ve effectively crippled yourself. And in exchange, you might have just won.

  Tower is in shambles. The beam pierce straight through. Only two ships were hit yet six were destroyed. The sheer heat coming off that beam melted the hulls of anything unfortunate enough to be too close. The mark 5 was just barely grazed, and that was enough to turn half its hull into molten slag. The Bulwark Shield is completely broken. The Fighters move in. A swarm of mosquitoes looking for their share of fresh blood. They get more than their fill.

  “Send Kite forward immediately.”

  “Their shields haven’t fully recovered. They are only at forty percent.”

  “That's a Space Hell of a lot more than Tower has. Have all remaining forces in Tower unify with Kite. Tell Howitzer to lay down covering fire. Until I know where Inanna’s next attack is going to come from, assume its from everywhere.”

  Tower retreats as Kite advances. Inanna doesn’t attack yet. She knows the remaining artillery ships would cut her attack force to ribbons. Besides, she now has the luxury of time. Kite is only going to lose more and more strength which it cannot recover. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be surprised if her Bulwarks were still around eighty percent. It’s now a game of attrition and I am on the losing side.

  “Captain. We have word from Task Force Gibson. They are ready.”

  Well now, Plan B it is.

  “Activate Operation Fast Ball.”