Shaitan Wars 2: Wrath of the Shaitans (16 page)

In fact our exact plan is to meet up with the other half of the fleet at the rendezvous point, wait there and then start accelerating towards the 3
^rd
planet, timing ourselves such that we would reach the planet between one and two cycles after the Ka-ma-khya event.

To this effect we had chosen a rendezvous point such that defending vessels from the 3
^rd
planet cannot reach the rendezvous point before we do. This would ensure that our timing of departure is not hastened or any way disturbed by having to engage with defending vessels.

We would most probably still have to engage the defending vessels on our way to the 3
^rd
planet, but that is expected and factored into the timing. That is why there is a window of between one and two cycles to reach the third planet. It is easier to bypass defending vessels while each of the opposing forces are accelerating in the opposite direction anyway, compared to vessels near orbit defending the planet.

That was our original plan. We had done the calculation of the rendezvous point and the vector of our vessels according to the demonstrated speed capabilities of the enemy vessels from our last encounter. The current enemy defending vessels which are approaching us have surprised us by demonstrating far higher speed than what had been observed in our last encounter.

The enemy is using ion plasma engines this time! We had based our calculations based on the enemy using primitive chemical rocket propulsion. That was the technology they had demonstrated in our last encounter. We thought they were too primitive to possess ion plasma engine technology.

It is impossible to develop the technology in the last two odd thousand cycles since our last encounter. Even our beings had taken over a hundred thousand cycles to develop the ion plasma technology. That is one of the reasons I subscribe to your hypothesis that the enemy is getting help from a more advanced species.

The enemy has been able to sense our rendezvous point from the vector of our two converging fleet. The problem we face is that the enemy will reach the rendezvous point before any of us will reach there. If the enemy manages to reach that point before both of our fleet, then the enemy has managed to split our forces into half, while it will be at full strength.

The enemy fleet will be able to fight each of the halves one after the other by simply advancing towards one of our fleets and meeting up with it. This will put both halves of our fleet at a considerable disadvantage. The enemy will have the advantage of numbers.”

“I fail to see the problem Warmaster, we could simply push the rendezvous point further away, so that the enemy takes more time to reach that point.”

“Normally, that is what a warrior would have done seer Mystery. However we have to time our operations with the Ka-ma-khya event, which is on a fixed schedule that cannot be altered. If we move back too much, then we would reach the 3
^rd
planet far later than our plan.

That in itself may not have been a big issue. The problem is the two halves of our fleet are approaching from almost exactly opposite directions. If we want to move our rendezvous point backwards, then our vessels will have to move laterally right now at 90° to our current line of approach.

Our vessels are right now using up almost their entire thrust in the line of approach to slow down. We have very little thrust left to spare that can be used to move at a 90° angle. What little we have to spare would not make much of a difference.

If we were to divert our thrust to the 90° angle to move the rendezvous point backwards, then we will not be able to slow down. Our fleets may reach a much further rendezvous point, but we will just pass each other without being able to stop and regroup.”

“Ah… I see your dilemma Warmaster. It is a sublime issue, it would not have been very apparent to us non-warriors. It is however a problem of physics, ordained by divine laws, those laws cannot be violated. We seem to have been put into disadvantage once again due to our underestimation of the capabilities of the enemy. However I fail to see how exploring the 4
^th
planet can help in this matter?”

“You see seer Mystery, our objective is to avoid an engagement with the enemy till the two halves of our fleet meet up and be able to fight together. We also want to meet up at a point, which will not throw our attack schedule off kilter. If we cannot prevent the enemy from cutting us off from each other, then maybe we can convince them to back off from an engagement, while the two halves of our fleets meet up.

If our fleets were heading straight for the 3
^rd
planet, then there would be nothing we can threaten the enemy with, which would convince them to back off. They would have to protect their home world at any cost. However we are not heading towards their home planet, or any planet for that matter.

We are simply heading towards a random point in space. The only reason the enemy is also rushing towards that same point in space is to gain a tactical advantage by cutting each half of the fleet from the other. If we were to threaten something precious enough to them, and ask them to back off while the two fleets meet up, they might think it was worthwhile to give up their tactical advantage to protect that which is precious to them.”

“I see where you are coming from Warmaster, but if my knowledge of the situation is correct, then wouldn’t the enemy fleet cut us off even if we headed for the 4
^th
planet. They would be able to engage us even before we can reach the 4
^th
planet and threaten them to back off.”

“Ordinarily you would be correct seer Mystery. Here is however where the warrior tactics come into play. Our half of the fleet consists of three war vessels and one migration vessel. The other half of the fleet also has the same composition.

The migration vessel are in the fleet because they are nominally war capable, although they are not very good at it. They are here because they were the only other vessels available to us at the time of our departure. We are using them more as support vessels than for offensive maneuvers.

I would have preferred if there had been another war vessel instead. However we work with what we have. In a straight out fight a migration vessel can quickly become a liability from an asset, if the war vessels have to concentrate on protecting it. If the enemy Warmaster is capable, and till now the enemy has demonstrated that capability, then they would first concentrate on the migration vessels due to its weaker defense and offense capability.

I am trying to solve two problems with one solution. Each half of the fleet will separate from their respective migration vessel. One migration vessel will be tasked to reach the 4
^th
planet, while the other will be tasked to reach the moon of their home world.

Now the enemy defense fleet rushing towards the rendezvous point will have two options. First will be to rush towards any of the migration vessels, abandoning their tryst with the rendezvous point. Whichever migration vessel the enemy fleet turns towards will be in trouble.

That migration ship will have to run for its life but will end up leading the enemy fleet on a merry chase. It may even end up being destroyed, but the sacrifice would be worth it. The rest of the fleet would be able to meet up as planned and proceed with the attack as planned.

If the enemy fleet does not alter its course and continues towards the rendezvous point, then as long as we can make sure that the migration vessels reach the 4
^th
planet before the two halves have reached the rendezvous point, then we can get leverage on the enemy and ask them to back off.

The migration vessels are ahead of us in any case, having started their journey ahead of the war vessels. All they have to do is change their vector slightly, and ease off a bit on the brakes right now, and then brake harder when they reach closer to their destination.”

Thus was formulated a change of plan by the Shaitan Warmaster and communicated to the other half of the fleet almost half a light day away on the other side of the solar system, approaching from the opposite direction. This change in plan would alter the course of both Shaitan and Human histories.

Chapter 10

Buffalo and the Dogs

USC Orbital HQ, Earth Orbit

August 2083

Admiral Daniel Cloutier was looking at a tactical nightmare. He however did not want to make a strategic blunder to address his tactical situation. He would have to make choices, he knew that. That was the cruelest burden of command, when you had to make a choice between who lived and who died.

As the military head of the United Space Command, his was the heaviest burden to carry. He longed for the days back in his career when he commanded a ship or even the time when he commanded the first unified fleet. He was still making life and death decisions then, but most of the time his own life was also on the line.

He rarely felt guilt when taking those decisions. He had the force of duty and honor backing him up, and his own life on the line to prove it. It is so much harder taking decisions when you are safely in Earth orbit, sending ships and fleets out to battle. It gets even worse when you have to make a choice about letting a few humans die to save a larger number of humans.

This was the choice Daniel had to make about Mars. Whatever decision he took would affect 222 military and 35 civilians currently on Mars. The problem was that they were not just statistics, Daniel had faces to put on many of those numbers.

Two of his closest and lifelong friends were there. The friendship forged in the trial and tribulations of survival on Titan over two decades ago. Dr. Yusuke Matsumoto was now the Director of Planetary Studies at NASA. He had been overseeing not just the research of Mars surface, but also what was hoped would the first permanent structure and habitat on Mars.

Humans had been continuously occupying Mars for almost a decade now. However it had always been a rotating occupancy, in temporary or at best semi-permanent habitats. The duration of every human’s stint on Mars would be typically between one and two years. They would stay in habitats which were essentially the same design first pioneered by ESA-ISRO space program for thirty odd years.

Yusuke was overseeing the first of a new generation habitats, and the first serious attempt by the US to develop planetary technologies, after concentrating for so many years on space ship designs. These structure would be made mostly out of local material. The only things that were being brought from earth was construction machinery.

If these structures were a success, it would mean that there would be no limits to how much or how large you can construct on Mars in theory. One day hopefully even the construction machinery could be made on Mars. Even if they had to import the machinery, the transportation costs had come down so much that it was no big deal. You would be able to import ship loads of construction machinery in a few years.

If the habitats were to succeed one could see hundreds if not thousands of such habitats in a generation. With bio-cycle almost self-sustainable now that power issues had been solved, it is not inconceivable that one may have the first Martians, human immigrants who lived permanently on Mars within a decade.

Why anyone would want to live permanently on Mars was another issue altogether. There was nothing of tremendous economic value to commerce yet. The only people interested in the place right now were the scientists and the military. The military would definitely appreciate a permanent base on Mars surface, which would then enable a permanent space navy base in Mars orbit.

That brought Daniel to the other friend of his from Titan. Col. Leanna McGraw was not just a fellow soldier with whom he had fought for his life side by side against heavy odds and won. She was also the love and wife in all but name of another of his best friends from Titan and under his immediate command Lt. General Alex Parkinson.

Why they had never married was known only to the two of them, but everyone including the military considered them a couple. They were invited as spouse for all social and military events. They had two lovely daughters. It was the break in her career on account of the two children, which was the reason the Leanna was just a Colonel today. She was otherwise not just a brilliant officer, but the best low and zero gravity combat trainer possibly in the entire world.

With her children now reasonably grown up, Leanna had taken up the task of setting up a permanent combat training center on Mars for the United Space Command (USC). She had done so on the personal request of Daniel himself.

The politics of the USC treaty and the subsequent ratification of the USC act by the US and most other governments of the world was such that Mars was the closest place to Earth where USC could have a base under its own command. Daniel would have ideally liked the first USC training center to be on the Moon.

The Moon was however off limits to USC from a command and control point of view. All facilities on moon were owned by individual governments of individual nations. Thus Yusuke’s project had dovetailed nicely with Daniel’s plan for a training base under direct USC command. He had sent two of his closest friends to oversee the project. He might have also sent them to their death.

Daniel wondered if the message the USC was arm twisted into sending to the Shaitans by the Greens and other sundry peaceniks of the world had anything to do with the Shaitans laying a siege on Mars and holding hostages. It was possible. After all the message they had sent implicitly suggested that Mars was very important to the Humans.

‘We greet and welcome your beings to our system. We are peace loving beings and want to co-exist with your beings as peaceful and harmonious neighbors. You are welcome to take any world in the system you choose except for the 3
^rd
and 4
^th
planet of the star, and the moon of the 3
^rd
planet. All other planets are yours. If you agree on those terms of co-existence, please respond to our message.’