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The transition seemed to be going fine as far as I could see, but Cmdr. Barona was furious.
"He isn't leaving a rear guard. He's taking all of his combat ships through first, leaving the non-combat ships completely unprotected. He's leaving Bait and Tackle at the very back of the formation with it's ass hanging out. He took his own ship through first, no scout, not even a frigate, when the Polly Bont is right here and ready to go..."
I cut her off. "Lt. Commander Dorn. Set alert to condition one."
"Yes Captain!" Lt. Cmdr. Dorn got on shipwide. "Battle stations, battle stations, this is not a drill. The ship is now at condition one. Battle Stations!"
"Did you see something Captain? What's going on?" Cmdr. Barona asked.
"Polly Bont going to condition one." Shelly informed the bridge.
"Nope, just got a feeling. This smells rotten fishy, and the best time to handle rotten fishy is before it stinks up your whole house." I said. I was probably being too paranoid, but it's better to be alive and too paranoid than dead and not paranoid enough.
"Polly Bont on comm Captain. They want to know what's happening." Shelly said.
"Tell them what I said."
"Polly Bont agrees, suggests we take up rear guard position on Fleet Train."
I wasn't sure what that was exactly, but I'm sure my crew did.
"Do it."
With that, the Polly Bont which is only minimally armed, relying on armor and speed rather than firepower, and the Haul-o-caster which might as well be unarmed for all the good our civilian grade weapons would do, took up rear guard positions for Fleet Train.
I watched the last of the combat ships transition away. "Keep your eyes peeled everyone, if anything is going to happen, it'll be now."
BAM!
I hate being right when I'm being all paranoid.
I didn't know how, but a dozen 'rus ships fell on the rear of Fleet Train. Thankfully they weren't any of the really big ones. Just smaller ones, but those are bad enough. Captain Gunn pushed the Polly Bont right out front and opened fire, making herself the primary target.
"Fleet Train, this is Polly Bont Actual declaring a state of emergency. I am hereby assuming command. All non-combat ships are to transition retreat protocol. Q-ship to join the rear guard. Haul-o-caster fall back behind Q-ship and provide whatever help you are able to. If it gets to hot for you, do not hesitate to run for the hills."
"Big Truck destroyed. Bait and Tackle lost engines." Shelly kept up a steady, calm, report on the fight.
"Lt. Commander Dorn, if you aren't already doing so. Start firing whatever we got. User your best judgement!"
The Haul-o-castor shook. We were hit pretty hard. Lights flashing, and the harsh smell of and electronic fire filled the bridge. I tried to get up but Cmdr. Barona pushed me back down in to my Captain's chair. "Your place is here Captain, they need you. My place is handling damage control."
I sat, feeling woefully useless.
As I watched, one of the freighters pushed forward... forward?.. into the position of rear guard and split in half. Not like it was hit and blowing up. The other direction. Port and Starboard opened away from each other as if there was a giant hinge along the bottom of the ship. It looked like the ship was transforming itself into a rather large weapons platform.
"Get us behind that thing! Cover it's flank as best as we can!" I shouted. We moved.
I watched as the Polly Bont was pummeled with fire, sometimes so much so that she was lost in the flash of 'rus weapons hits. Each time I expected only a debris field when when the fire abated, only to see the Polly Bont emerge again and again. Damaged, yes, but still in one piece, and still in the fight.
Soon, Fleet Train was mostly through the transition point, but Bait and Tackle slowly drifted in space.
"Captain, orders from Polly Bont are to make a fighting withdrawal to the Bait and Tackle and provide cover while they get enough repairs done to escape through the transition point and escape. We are to go with her when she does.
It didn't happen though. Sure, we fell back to the Bait and Tackle, as did both the Q-ship and the Polly Bont, as ordered. The fight there was intense. With the Polly Bont playing punching bag and the Q-ship, I later found out it's name was John Q. Public which I still find hilarious, providing heavy fire, we ended up destroying eight of the twelve 'rus ships, with all of them receiving at least some damage. The 'rus finally gave up.
When I said "we" destroyed eight, I mean the John Q. Public destroyed most of them. The Polly Bont spent the fight being too busy getting it's ass kicked to do much, but she did manage to take one as it swung by, trying to get an angle on the Bait and Tackle. Haul-o-caster managed to land the final blow on two, but who am I kidding, without the John Q. Public softening them up, we wouldn't have stood a chance.
The three of us stayed, frantically doing damage control as the Bait and Tackle struggled to repair itself enough to get moving. That would have struck me as funny, if it weren't so serious. The Bait and Tackle is the fleet tender. It's supposed to be repairing other ships, not itself. All we could do was provide cover and wait.
"Captain, something is inbound through the jump point." Shelly announced.
"Well, I would say battle stations, but look, Lt. Commander Dorn is so efficient, we are already there." I said. Yes, it was cheesy but I couldn't help myself. We were still at condition one from when the 'rus attacked.
We waited, practically holding our breath, wondering what would appear.
It turned out to be a frigate. The Happy Warrior. I recognized it from the Vanguard fleet because it's crew had painted it a gold color with black stripes. Within a few seconds, it was gone again. Transitioning back out. Poor guys.
"That'll be Vanguard's make-shift scout." I said.
We watched as the Vanguard fleet transitioned back from the 'rus homeworld system. The ships looked rough, like they had quite a fight. Some of them were barely limping along. As they came through, the ships arrayed themselves in a defensive formation designed to both protect the fleet from an outside attack, and from an attack coming through the jump point.
I caught sight of a couple of the non-combat ships from the fleet train, as they passed by, but not many. The ones that did come through were just as damaged as the combat ships.
"What happened over there?" Shelly asked.
"We'll know when we know." admonished Cmdr. Barona without heat. "Everyone, stay at your stations, we are still on condition one." She reminded everyone.
Finally, the Baskins and one of the Heavy Cruisers limped through and immediately turned to face the jump point. No other ships came through. We were still missing a Heavy Cruiser and one of the Carriers, as well as most of the frigates and I guessed about half of the destroyers.
"Captain, I have a friend who is a comms specialist on the fuel tanker." Shelly reported, "She says that when they exited transit, they were met with a mine field that destroyed most of the non-combat ships. Her...."
"Belay that talk!" Ordered Cmdr. Barona. "Sorry Shelly, we can't have that distraction right now. Please gather what information as you can, categorize it by how reliable you think it is, and forward it to me and the Captain. Ladies and gentlemen, all you must concern yourselves with right now is that we are in combat. The Captain will do her best to lead us through to victory, or an honorable death."
"Shelly, see if you can get me a line to Admiral Thomas." I asked.
A few moments later, the Admiral - looking a dozen years older than the last time I saw him - popped up on my screen.
"Haul-o-caster actual, this is Vanguard Actual. I have only a moment. Please stay with the Bait and Tackle, her Captain says she'll be back on line within the hour, and he says that after seeing you place the Haul-o-caster in the rear guard position and then didn't back down when the 'rus came, he trusts you. I'm designating you, the John Q. and the Polly Bont to be Repair Team 1, with Polly Bont Actual as the commander. The Polly Bont will bring you up to speed. Any problems with any of that?"
"No Admiral. Wherever you need me."
"Very well, Vanguard Actual out!" With that my screen went blank and the Admiral was gone.
"Polly Bont Actual on comm for you Captain." Reported Shelly.
"I'll take it here."
"Haul-o-caster, I'm sending over some move orders. You, me, and the John Q are going to provide cover for the Bait and Tackle as soon as she can move. Fleet will be sending ships over one by one to either be patched up enough to keep up with the fleet, or scrapped. Your job will be to watch one flank, while I watch the other, and the John Q. can watch the front door. Any questions?"
"No questions, I'll await the move orders."
"We have move orders from the Polly Bont Captain." Shelly announced.
"Well, there they are. Is there anything else you can tell me?" I ask.
"Nothing right now. You know as much as I do. Polly Bont out."
As the Bait and Tackle came online, we moved off to one side and set up as secure an area as a Q-ship, a scout, and a Hauley possibly could, and soon started servicing customers. The Admiral, apparently, was keeping the Vanguard Fleet well away from us, and sending over one ship at a time. As the ships were repaired, they became part of Repair Fleet 1, either adding to our defense of the Bait and Tackle, or in the case of non-combat ships and ships too damaged for combat but still able to move, they were positioned to take advantage of the protection without getting in the way.
When we had around a third of the ships on "our side", we all watched as the Baskins opened fire on a frigate and summarily blew it to debris.
"I was watching Captain, that frigate powered up and was going to ram the Baskins." Said Lt. Tine. "It was one of the group that went through first with Captain Dorros when he lead Fleet Train through the jump point. There is a freighter over there that was also part of that group."
"Which one Lt. Tine?" I rushed over to see which ship Lt. Tine was talking about so I could relay the information to the Admiral.
BOOM!
"It was that one Captain." Said Lt. Tine, "I should have made the connection sooner."
"Any others?"
"No Captain, there are only a few ships from Fleet Train left, and none of the remaining ones were part of the lead group." Lt. Tine finished. "We should be careful though Captain, that explosion wasn't an accident."
"How so Lt. Tine?"
"Even a core breach would have been smaller than that. That freighter was assigned to carry food, water, and medical supplies. Nothing aboard her should have been able to cause an explosion that big.
"Captain, orders from the Fleet. The Polly Bont is ordered to join the Baskins, we have been asked to take orders from Captain Tarkin of the Lightning." Shelly said.
"The Lightning? I haven't seen that one yet." I said.
Lt. Cmdr. Dorn pointed it out on the main viewscreen. "It's that Corvette up there on the right. One of the fastest ships in the fleet. She is usually used for courier duty, but sometimes they are pressed into a scouting and light patrol role."
"Hmm. She's sleek and sexy." I said.
"Indeed." added Lt. Tine.
"I wonder why the Admiral needed the Polly. You think he's thinking of having her scout the Transition point again?" I asked, curious.
"I'm sure we'll find out eventually." replied Lt. Tine.
I finally decided to stand down from condition one a few hours later. We stayed at an amended condition two by sending half the crew to grab a bite and hit the rack. No sense in wearing everyone out trying to stay on alert for too long. Cmdr. Barona tried to quote fleet procedures at me, but I pointed out that Hauley isn't really a fleet ship, so we'll do it my way this time and ordered her to bed.
Mother Ahmisa brought food around to everyone who stayed on duty.
"Don't you need sleep too Captain?"
"I'll sleep when I'm dead." I said, then I saw the shocked look on her face. "It's just a saying Mother. I don't mean it literally. Although, by definition perhaps it is true literally." I tapped the metal and plastic cap that surrounded my head. "One of the advantages to this thing is that for some reason I don't need a whole lot of sleep. I can go a week or two if I have to, but I start getting a little grumpy, so I try not to."
"Oh, thank you for sharing that. One of my duties is to send the Captain to bed when she's getting too tired to think but won't order herself to bed." Mother Ahmisa explained. "It keeps crew members who rely on the Captain for fitness reports and advancement recommendations from having to try to tell a Captain that they are impaired."
"Makes sense I suppose. No worries here though. Pete tried to stay awake as long as me once on a really long haul. It was funny. He kept falling asleep, and when he woke up he would try again, not realizing that I hadn't slept yet. Six tries later, I let him in on that, so he quit trying. I guess at the time, I didn't know about my cyber device, so just thought I was tough."
It felt nice to talk about the good days with Pete. I remember that haul, even with every shortcut and trick that Pete could devise, the trip took almost eight months, but the payoff was well worth it. The client couldn't believe we made it that fast saying that it usually takes a year to get those goods delivered. Pete thought about turning it into a normally scheduled run but that would have tied us to that area, and Pete didn't like to be tied down.
It took the Bait and Tackle a couple weeks to get all the ships that were coming with us up to the point that they could keep up. Even then, it was slow going. Thankfully there weren't any more incidents like 'rus attacks or other acts of terrorism. There were a few Captains who refused to give up their ships when those ships were found to be too damaged to proceed with the fleet. I can't say that I blame them. I'm sure I would just tell them to leave me on Hauley, and we would find our own way home. A ship is more than just a thing.
While the repairs were going on, Admiral Thomas held a number of Captain's meetings.
One of Admiral Thomas' staff made the report. "Fuel isn't a problem yet, but we are down to one tanker, so it could become critical at a moment's notice if we lose that one. We lost a lot of the fleet train, including a large number of freighters. Food, water, and medical supplies are all approaching critical. One of the freighters that made it through was a magazine ship, and it's missiles have been spread around. There were enough that every ship still able to fire missiles is at least at sixty percent. Main line ships are fully stocked. Kinetic weapon projectiles are almost gone. Normally it would be easily enough supplied, but this part of space is practically empty. We will need to look for an asteroid field somewhere to resupply."
"Good enough Wendle." Admiral Thomas broke in. "As we see, we are in some dire straights. As quickly as we are burning through missiles and kinetics, we need to resupply sooner rather than later. Start breaking down the ships we are scrapping and turning those into Kinetic projectiles."
There was a collective gasp from the Captains. I could relate. Anyone who tried to chop up Hauley to make projectiles would have to step over my dead body first. and I was starting to think that I don't die so easy.
The admiral held up a hand for quiet. "Your objections are all noted. I am having the same reservations, however, our job here is not done. Fleet has asked us to go to the 'rus homeworld and investigate, and that is what I intend to do. To that end, we are going to need resupply. We have two fast ships, the Lightning and the Haul-o-caster. The Lightning won't carry much. She's built for speed and range so she does have some cargo capacity, but that's nothing compared to the Haul-o-caster. She may look small on the outside, but she's made for hauling cargo. Bait and Tackle do you have some space? I would like to clear out Haul-o-caster's cargo holds completely to maximize space for supplies."
"Yes sir!" came the reply from Captain Holden of the Bait and Tackle. "I have a secure hold that is empty. Since she's a civilian vessel, I'm sure Captain Kid would like us to make sure nobody makes off with her cargo."
"Very good." The Admiral Continued, "Captain Kid, would you mind going on a supply run? There is another jump point, about three weeks from here at fleet speed, but I'm sure you and the Lightning can cut some time off of that. There is Morganite outpost not far from the other side. They should have everything we need."
"Yes sir." I said. Finally, I get to do something that Hauley is good at, and ever since Lt. Cmdr. Dorn waxed all poetical about corvettes, I have secretly been wondering if the Lightning really could beat Hauley.
"I believe you are familiar with Captain Tarkin of the Lightning, he'll be in command of the two-ship. The rest of us will do whatever we can."
Captain Holden spoke up. "Admiral Thomas, There are a lot of ship parts we need, I'll send you over a list."
"Sorry Captain." The Admiral replied, "there is only limited space on the Haul-o-caster, we need every bit of it for beans and bandages. See what you can strip off the ships that have been designated for scrap."
"Yes sir." Captain Holden replied.
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