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Chapter Five
HNS Liberator
Somewhere in Hyperspace
13:03 New Daiamid AHL 4.30.21

In just thirteen days of war, the Republicans and Hiigarans had been losing battle after battle, system after system. The Republicans had fared the worst. Out of ninety-three systems it controlled at the outset, only eighty-nine remained. Three of those systems only had small garrisons remaining, with their orbital fleets destroyed and ground forces decimated, it would only be a matter of time before they fell too. The Hiigarans had also been fairing poorly, losing the entire Ninth Fleet in a huge confrontation with the six Imperial battle groups. The Hiigaran fleet had managed to inflict heavy casualties, but was overwhelmed by the three to one advantage in numbers that the Imperials enjoyed. However, territorial losses had been relatively nonexistent for the Hiigarans, with only a small battle above the Semtor System.

Lightning Fleet’s Republican contingent had been recalled for rebuilding. In turn, Lightning Fleet had been reinforced with the ion frigates Illumination, Solar Wind, Freedom’s Flame, and the original Firelance. The first Kushan ion frigate had been recalled from the Hiigaran Home Guard, as well as many other vessels, to the front lines. Other reinforcements included the support frigates Merciful and Healer, the newly built assault frigates Jouster’s Revenge, Warhammer, and Tiir; the multi-beam frigates Quiver, Peregrine and Competitor; the Revelation Destroyers Conqueror and Leopard; and the carrier Fortress. The Fortress had twenty-four Blade Mk VIs, twenty-four Thunderbolts, and twelve Specters. Its corvettes consisted of six Hammers, six Avengers, six Repair Corvettes, six Porters, and six marine shuttles.

The new Lightning Fleet was dispatched to Vorshan’s Rift, the site of the epic battle where the Rebel Fleet had been everything but destroyed by the Imperials. The site was now under control by the Imperialists, and Lightning Fleet had been dispatched to destroy the fleet stationed there.

LS Demolisher
Vorshan’s Rift
06:28 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

“Sir, I detect multiple hyperspace signatures, about fifty klicks away from us. They are Exile sir.”

“So, the Exiles have come to play. It will be their last playtime.”

“Of course, sir!”

“Deploy all strike craft. Lets show those assholes what the Third Battle Group can do.”

HNS Liberator
Vorshan’s Rift
06:29 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

Commodore Edson waited until Lightning Fleet had come out of hyperspace to issue his orders. As the last ship came into view and reported its successful hyperspace jump, Commodore Edson’s sensors officer spoke up.

“Sir, I count one command class vessel, two cruisers, two ion carriers, two destroyers, two of those triple turret destroyers, a missile destroyer, eight ion type frigates, four assault frigates, and two support frigates. They are launching strike wings.”

“Very well. Inform the other ships. Tell our strike craft leader do what he wants, but keep the bombers off our capital ships. Move the fleet towards the enemy at flank speed. Once there, have the MBFs target the remaining corvettes. Other frigates will engage enemy frigates, and have our super capital ships engage the destroyers and cruisers.”

Commodore Edson’s message was relayed to all of the ships in Lightning Fleet, and within two minutes all of its strike craft were streaming towards the oncoming Imperialist fleet.

A Super Acolyte
Vorshan’s Rift
06:31 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

Commander Jensen spoke into the squadron leader frequency. “This is what we do. Protector Squad, do a few flybys on the MD. Make it use up its missiles and distract it. The bombers and Super Acolytes will hit the frigates, and have all combat corvettes hit the enemy’s fighters. Unlink all ACVs and use them as Acolytes. I want a missile volley by Retribution Squad on one of those advanced ICFs; have that frigate be the first target of the Super Acolytes. Have each bomber squad hit a separate ICF. Once Retribution has launched all of its missiles, have them escort the bombers. All other fighters are to hit the enemy’s bombers. Fixer ships and salvettes, hang back with the big boys. All squad leader, copy.”

Commander Jensen’s squadron leaders acknowledged his transmission. Strike craft organized themselves into groups, subgroups, and formations. They then flew towards the yet unseen enemy. Once again, he would be flying against near impossible odds that would last until the capital ships of Lightning Fleet arrived. This time Crusader Squad would not jump out ahead at the very start. Instead, they would shoot towards the Missile Destroyer at the moment it entered visual range.

He flew on for a few more moments of peace, watching the space dust fly by, until he heard incomprehensible chatter over his comm. He paid closer attention to it.

“All fighters, fire now!”

“Looks like we’ve got some nice penetration. The two starboard launchers are out of commission.”

“Good work, pilots. Head out and turn back at four klicks from target.”

“This is five. It looks like the Destroyer is launching a volley.”

“Evasive maneuvers!”

“Protector Four is gone, I repeat, gone!”

“Negative, Three, I’m still here.”

“Then what was that ball of fire? SHIT, what the - I’m hit! A near miss, but I’m losing coolant and drives are overloading. I’ve got to pull back.“

“Damn you, you Imperialist fuckers!”

“Refrain from personal comments over this channel, seven.”

“Protector Nine, you’ve got three missiles on your tail! Break hard right, now!”

“Whoa, close one!”

Commander Jensen smiled grimly. The fact that a dozen fighters were swarming the missile destroyer presented her captain with two sets of unsavory options. His first choice was to deal with Protector Squadron, but deny the fleet anti-strike craft cover. His other option was to ignore Protector Squadron and defend the other vessels, but then he would be exposed to countless strafing runs. The captain chose to preserve his own ship.

Wraith Squadron showed up on the battlefield. Already, the interceptors were ripping apart Imperialist Kaark attack bombers, overwhelming their fighter screens, landing energy cannon rounds into cockpits, drives, and plasma launchers. More than one Imperialist pilot was sucked out of his cockpit, attempting one last scream for help, but unable to because of the air being sucked out of their lungs. Then they experienced the joys of explosive decompression. They had a quick but painful death. More often the ship merely exploded, with the pilot experiencing nothing but a sensation of heat before his or her body was ripped apart by shrapnel and vaporized.

Then the Hiigaran corvettes arrived, their turreted guns blasting away at the Imperial fighter formations. Burst rounds from six Hammers devastated a squadron of fighters. Fire from six Tempests destroyed a flight of when they caught them unwary, from directly behind. The Imperialist pilots fought back, attempted strafing runs on the corvettes. They were quickly targeted, fired upon, and destroyed. But a few Triikor fighters succeeded. A pair of fighters managed to destroy the cockpit on one of the Hammers, killing its crew. Another pair targeted the drives on a Tempest, causing a reactor breach. The crew managed to eject before the ship exploded. But such episodes did not the Imperialist fighters from being utterly defeated. The good times did not last; Imperialist corvettes were forming up for an engagement.

The multi-beam frigates joined the ongoing firefight. They quickly targeted the corvettes aiming for the Hiigaran corvettes with their turreted ion cannons. Blue beams lashed out at their formations. Immediately, several corvettes were half melted, losing parts of their drives. Others had the exposed wing and nose mounted cannons that afforded them excellent coverage destroyed. The corvettes reacted, and instead of attacking the Hiigaran corvettes, they turned for the multi-beam frigates. This allowed the Hiigaran corvettes to fire unopposed at the Imperialist corvettes, whose fire was being absorbed by the multi-beam frigates’ armor. Within minutes, the majority of the corvettes were destroyed, and the survivors were retreating. The multi-beam frigates were battered from a constant hail of energy cannon impacts, but had suffered no major damage.

The capital ships of the Imperialist fleet were fairing much better. The Thunderbolts and Super Acolytes had managed to cripple several frigates, but the fleet was mainly intact. The capital ships of Lightning Fleet arrived to change that. The frigates of Lightning Fleet arrived, and targeted an Imperialist advanced ion frigate at the edge of the formation. Eight blue ion beams burned through the hull at the same place, causing massive structural damage, and the ship split in two. Crewmen stationed at the area where the ion beams had hit were vaporized instantly. Others were not so lucky; as the frigate drifted apart, various crew were sucked into the void of space.

The capital ships in the Imperialist Fleet started heading towards the arriving Hiigaran super capital ships. A Sajuuk Cor frigate was the first to arrive. It fired its ion cannon at the lower bow of the Undertaker while maneuvering downwards. The red ion beam melted through the underside’s thinner armor and breached several bulkheads, vaporizing various crewmen and venting atmosphere. The destroyers of Lightning Fleet returned fire against the frigate. Energy cannons hit the bridge, while ion cannons burned towards the frigate’s ion cannon systems. The bridge was obliterated by the impact of the energy cannons, while the ion cannon systems were not critically damaged. Its second shot was at reduced power, obviously because its operators were attempting to save their ship. Once again, the red ion beam hit the hull. This time, it impacted at a very shallow angle, and splashed across the armor, doing little damage. The next salvo by the destroyers breached the ion cannon systems, and they detonated, enveloping the forward end in a fireball, leaving a useless hulk behind.

The other capital ships of the Imperialists started to regroup. A normal destroyer that the group of Super Acolytes and Thunderbolts had been pounding for over a minute detonated. The other capital ships, including the carriers and cruiser, began their march on the Hiigaran capital ships. At the same time, the Liberator along with the Porters joined the Hiigaran capital ship.

The Imperialist Fleet entered firing range of the Hiigaran ships. The Imperialists fired upon the Justice, while the Hiigaran capital ships fired upon the remaining normal destroyer. The Justice sustained moderate damage, losing a turret and having several holes burned into its hull. The Support Frigates and Repair Corvettes promptly began repairing the Justice. The Imperialist destroyer was not so lucky. The heavier firepower of the Hiigaran fleet, as well as the damaged already inflicted upon it by the Super Acolytes and Thunderbolts, caused its doom. Blue ion beams and energy cannons blasted holes deep into the hull, taking off both turrets, as the Thunderbolts and Super Acolytes launched a volley on the ion cannon systems. The forward end of the destroyer was cored, leaving holes that revealed burned out compartments and scorched hull plating. Fires raged in the ship, and flames started advancing towards the relatively undamaged rear.

The next target of the Hiigaran fleet was one of the triple turret destroyers. All of the Hiigaran combat ships fired a volley upon the vessel. Plasma bombs blasted holes into the rear portion of the ship, as ion beams, energy cannons, and missiles tore into the front. The Super Acolytes’ ion cannons burned into the reactor. The vessel detonated, hurling large pieces shrapnel in various directions at incredible speeds. Two Thunderbolts were hit, and began spinning out into space. They regained control, and headed off to the Support Frigates.

Several ships from the Imperialist Fleet stopped their attack on the Justice and fired a full salvo into the Liberator’s right wing. The top and side turret were completely destroyed. Red ion beams burned through the armor, causing significant damage to the inside of the wing, and energy cannons further weakened its structural integrity. Several support frigates and repair corvettes ceased their work on the Justice and began to repair the Liberator.

HNS Liberator
Vorshan’s Rift
06:49 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

The Liberator shook as another volley from the Imperialist Fleet impacted the ship. The repair beams of the Hiigaran vessels were not repairing all of the damage that was being inflicted, and several portions of the Liberator were already vented to space. Commodore Edson suddenly had an epiphany that hit him like a siege cannon. He quickly barked out new orders.

“Send out the salvettes and marine shuttles to capture the cruisers, an ion carrier, the remaining triple destroyer, and the advanced frigate. Have our super capital ships hit the other carrier, the frigates and corvettes will target the ions, and have our fighters take care of the Assaults. I want them disabled, not destroyed.” His crew replied, and sent the orders out to the other ships in the fleet.

The battle group broke up, with each portion carrying out its assigned task. The fighters of Lightning Fleet, slightly reduced in number, concentrated their fire on the Assault Frigates. Missiles from Acolytes and the Blade Mk VIs destroyed the turrets and plasma bomb launchers one of the Frigates, while a volley of plasma bombs and ion beams immobilized the drives on another. Both frigates were incapacitated. The third frigate had its bridge and weapons destroyed, while the fourth had its drives disabled like the second.

The Imperialist ion frigates were hit in a similar fashion, with ion beams damaging or disabling drives and ion cannon systems. Several Hiigaran frigates were damaged in the process, with one Firelance losing all power, another having several holes shot into the hull, and a Vengeance having several turrets destroyed. The carrier was a more difficult target, even for the super capital ships. Its ion and energy turrets had self-contained power generators. The destroyers and the Liberator discovered the hard way that they had to individually target each and every one of them. After the last turret had been destroyed, they then fired upon the drives. The massive amount of firepower caused plasma leaks and overloads, forcing the engineers in the carrier to shut them down.

With most of the Imperialist Fleet disabled, the Marine Shuttles and Salvage Corvettes were able to latch on to the rest. Marines went in to capture as many of the crew as possible. Once the operational Imperialist ships had been secured, the shuttles and Porters headed towards the disabled vessels. This time, many of the troopers and crewmen had already been wounded or killed, and the survivors were not in a condition to fight. Those vessels were secured with only minor losses.

HNS Liberator
Vorshan’s Rift
07:04 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

“Sir, Major Gerceffi reports that our marines have secured the final Imp vessel. We have an unconfirmed total of seventy-two prisoners, and have sustained a confirmed twenty-nine killed and seventeen wounded. Medivac shuttles are transporting casualties on both sides to the Halo,” said Captain Saborn.

“How is the rest of the fleet?” Commodore Edson asked the

“We’ve lost seven ships of Protector Squad and five pilots. The interceptor wings lost eight fighters total, along with six pilots. Our bomber squadrons were particularly hard hit, having lost fourteen ships and eleven pilots. The Wraiths only sustained minor vehicle damage. Several of our frigates are badly damaged, with the Tyrant’s Doom sustaining over thirty percent casualties and heavy damage to the drives and weapons. The Firelance had a few holes burned into her side, but with no losses. The Illuminator lost all of her generators, with only life support and communications online. Justice has taken moderate damage to her starboard side. As for us, we’ve lost three turrets and sixteen crewmen. The turrets are being replaced. We are bringing up several reserve crewmen from cryo storage.”

“Not bad, considering the firefight. All right, I want our damaged ships to be repaired as much as possible ASAP, beginning with the Tyrant’s Doom, then the Illuminator. Once done with our frigates, get some men, engineers, and repair ships over to those captured Imp ships. Keep them as our ships for now. Send out harvesters to gather whatever resources are within a sixty-klick radius. When we are done harvesting and repairing, jump us to the Sullat System.”

A Marine Shuttle
Vorshan’s Rift
07:06 New Daiamid AHL 5.01.21

“How’s he doing?” asked Private Aareis.

“He’ll be fine. The wound isn’t as bad as it looks. His armor took most of the force. Head wounds are always bloody,” replied the medic.

Rei and a few other marines looked down at Rade, his helmet off, a bandage wrapped around his head, with a bloody spot on his left forehead. His hair was caked in blood. Then, he opened his eyes.

“Where the hell am I?” asked Rade.

“You’re on a shuttle. We’re taking you back to Halo,” replied Rei.

“So, its pretty obvious I got shot in the head. What happened next?”

“I dragged you back to the damned airlock on the shuttle under a hail of bullets, that’s what. We took the frigate with no causalities besides you, though.”

“That’s good to hear.” Rade raised his right arm, and gave each of the marines around him a high five.

HNS Halo
Somewhere in Hyperspace
02:41 New Daiamid AHL 5.02.21

Lightning Fleet had entered hyperspace sixteen hours ago. It had expanded to more than one and a half times its original size, with the addition of a cruiser, two triple turret destroyers, three ion frigates, and two assault frigates. The battle had also yielded ten thousand more resource units, and over one hundred fifty captured Taiidan crew and officers. But the Hiigarans had also sustained nearly one hundred killed or wounded, along with many fighters.

The captured Imperialist ships had been modified with Hiigaran transponder signals, so that they would not be mistaken for an enemy. The ships had also a symbol painted on in standard Hiigaran gray and blue on the sides for easy visual identification. Manned by Hiigaran crewmen, who were unfamiliar with Taiidan symbols and controls, the ships suffered from a lack of efficiency.

Commander Jensen sat at his room’s computer terminal, writing letters of notification to the members of his fighter wing killed during the battle. He was currently working on the letter for Flight Officer Trenton Farled. An Interceptor pilot of Taskleen Squadron, named after a famous ace of the Homeworld War, he was fresh from the Hiigaran Pilots Academy. Commander Jensen had managed to complete the letter in an hour of struggling with the right words to use.

Mr. And Ms. Farled, it is my obligation to notify you of Flight Officer Trenton Farled’s death.

Flight Officer Farled was performing a strafing run on an Imperialist Frigate, when a burst of fire from a point defense energy cannon sent him into an uncontrolled spin. This burst of fire also damaged many of his fighter’s systems. The spin eventually carried him into the hull of an Imperialist Heavy Cruiser.

Your son was a very promising pilot. While in the Academy, I had the privilege of observing part of his training. He demonstrated that he had the skills and dedication to become one of our best aces. During his career in the fighter corps, Flight Officer Farled managed to achieve three kills in combat. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by an act of fate.

Flight Officer Farled was doing what he always wished to do when he perished: fighting for his world. He died a courageous man. It is my sincere wish that his legacy would be honored in our time and times to come.

Commander James Jensen

With this letter complete, he only had three more to write.

Shipyard Alpha Three
Sullat System
17:32 New Daiamid AHL 5.05.21

Once again at the base in the Sullat System, Lightning Fleet had descended into a medium orbit around the planet. The injured had been transferred the base’s medical facilities, while the prisoners in decent health were taken to the brig. And once again, Commodore Edson was having a conversation with Admiral Kespurn.

”Commodore Edson, are you taking lessons from a thief?” asked Admiral Kespurn.

“No sir, the idea came to me when my ship was being blown to pieces. I was trying to find a way to keep the Liberator intact and still complying to the order that all new Imperialist vessels should be spared and captured, if possible. You can only do that by sending marines and salvage corvettes, so I decided to go overboard and make off with a killing,” replied Commodore Edson.

“From what I see in your report, you certainly did a lot of killing, and so did the Imps. We lost over fifty men in that battle, with another 40 or so injured.”

“Sir, considering the odds, we took very light casualties. I hate to turn the people that serve under me into statistics when they die, and I try to avoid that as much as possible. But the fact is, we should have taken at least thirty-five percent casualties all around. Instead, we killed and wounded ten times as much as we lost, with only ninety casualties.”

“Your point is taken, Commodore. High Command has decided that the advanced Taiidan vessels are to be examined, while the old ones can be dealt with of you own choosing. You have at least a week here, Edson. So what will it be?”

“I’d like to scrap the stripped hull all of the conventional ships that I captured, and use the materials to build new vessels. Send the new vessels, as well as all of the crypto gear and such off of the other ones over to High Command for inspection and such. My crews are having a hard time with the controls, as with anybody would, but I think they don’t particularly appreciate serving on vessels where members of the crew have been vaporized or mutilated in a firefight. Also, on a practical note, many of their systems were disabled or damaged by the former crew, along with the fact that it just makes good sense for us to use Hiigaran vessels and not Taiidan ones.”

“I was expecting that from you. Very well, I’ll assign dry docks two, seven, and nine to retire the Imperialist junk and make some proper ships. Have your crews get some shore leave. Its not much, like last time, but at least there are some entertainment facilities here. Dismissed.”

The Spaceman’s Cantina
Sullat City
20:41 New Daiamid AHL 5.05.21

Sullat was not just a naval base. It took many non-military personnel to support a large base such as Shipyard Alpha Three, and those civilians needed places to live. At the time the base was first established, just two years after the Homeworld War, the military had started a small camp to house the civilian workers. In time, that camp had grown into an entire city.

Commodore Edson, along with Captain Saborn, Captain Niesun, and Commander Terry Raloh, his executive officer, were citing at a booth in the Spaceman’s Cantina. Several of their crewmen were also there. Unwinding after a deep space mission at a civilian drinking establishment made them spectacles of the regular drinkers. More than one appealing local had approached the party of four, but they were quickly dispatched with a few words.

The four officers sat quietly, occasionally taking sips out of their concoctions. Commodore Edson and Captain Saborn each ordered ale, while Captain Niesun had decided to drink hard liquor. Commodore Edson was watching the other members of Lightning Fleet present in the bar.

“Wes, look over there,” Captain Niesun said. He pointed to a cluster of crewmen surrounding a civilian woman in the dance area. Though they could not hear voices over the general din in the bar, body language told Captain Niesun that the crewmen were not up to anything good. “That looks like trouble. I think we should do something.”

“You’re right. They look like they’re off of my ship. All right, Yuri, Terry, watch the drinks. Kate and I will handle this.” Commodore Edson and Captain Saborn rose, and started to approach the cluster of men.

But it was already too late, as several of the locals came up and started pushing and yelling. The crewmen responded, and fists started to fly. One of the locals grabbed a chair, and threw it at one of the crewmen. He ducked, and the chair struck him a glancing blow. The target of the chair responded by grabbing ripping the leg off of a table that had fallen over and swung it at the local. More crewmen and locals started to get involved. Commodore Edson and Captain Saborn arrived, coming at a run.

Commodore Edson yelled, “Attention!”

Immediately, the crewmen dropped their impromptu weapons and snapped to attention, with several ignoring parting blows inflicted by the civilians. The civilians started to back away.

Commodore Edson put on his sergeant voice. “And where the hell do you think you’re going? You’re standing right here along with these men!”

“We ain’t military, why should we stay?” asked one of the civilians.

“Because I goddamned ordered you to! Now stand with these men or I’ll personally weld your worthless ass to a probe with an ion cannon and launch each one of you bastards off into deep space.” The civilians slowly started to form up, and had a fairly straight line.

“Now, what hell happened here?” asked Commodore Edson.

“Sir, we are asking one of the ladies for a dance sir!” said one of the men.

“And?”

“She didn’t want to sir. That’s when the locals came.”

“You’re lying, you little bitch! You were harassing her! We came to stop you, but you fought back,” said one of the civilians.

“Did I ask you to talk?” said Commodore Edson, “Ok, I’ve heard enough. Captain Saborn, call up military and civilian police. Have the MPs escort these men to their rooms on the Liberator. They’re to stay there for the remainder of shore leave, and will lose two weeks pay. As for the locals, let the police handle that.”

In minutes, the crewmen and civilians were led away, and Commodore Edson and Captain Saborn returned to their seats. After the four officers finished their drinks, they put their payment on the table and left.

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