Rotation
© 2019 by Walter Reimer


Thumbnail art by  rabbi-tom


The incursion into the Terran core worlds by the Imperial Fleet reached its furthest point with a raid in division strength against the Confed Fleet headquarters in the Centaurus System, a bit over two light years from Terra itself. The headquarters itself and its support facilities were destroyed, at a cost of ten Kashlanin vessels, and the remnants of the raid fled as soon as Confed reinforcements arrived.

The Terran newsnets were making a great deal of noise about the fact that the Kashlani had retreated, sparing no opportunity to insult the “Critters” and “Mossbacks” for fleeing like cowards. Carefully-coached and well-armed angry mobs attacked the Imperial Embassy in New Melbourne, with the assistance of the troops that had been detailed to prevent such a thing from happening. All of the shlani in the Embassy were massacred.

“Revenge” was the usual explanation.

Of course, all of this was for public consumption, and the news was loudly silent about the fact that a major base and over fifty ships had been destroyed.

Destroyed so quickly, in fact, that the system’s defenses hadn’t had time to fully deploy. It was rumored that the Admiral-General was sacking subordinates left and right, replacing them with “more professional” and “better-trained” officers who could be counted on to fight, rather than simply sit and wait for the Kashlani to attack.

Further investigation revealed that the base’s AI had been skillfully infiltrated and was so badly compromised that it had to be destroyed to stop the spread of the inimical program.

Analysts, being somewhat clearer-headed than civilians or politicians, interpreted the AI infiltration and the attack as a message from the Empire: You are powerless to stop us.


***


Varan set aside her padd and leaned back in her seat, sighing. The Kith had not been part of the raid on Centaurus, but it had been part of the flanking actions that opened the way for the heavy cruiser division to storm the base after an electronic warfare ship had degraded the guardian AI.

After the last action, the ship had been pulled back, along with all of the other screening vessels, to meet with a contingent of Support ships for more repairs, replenishment, and replacement of personnel. With the supplies had come tactical analyses, upgrades, and messages from families.

News from her family on Chadan was very welcome, true, but she still hadn’t heard anything from Meredith.

Her ears perked as the ship’s all call chime echoed throughout the ship. “This is the Captain speaking. I’ve received new orders from Fleet Command, with instructions to share it with you. We have reached the end of our combat rotation, and will be relieved. We are to fall back on Station NZh-2233 to rest and await reassignment.” She heard Captain k’Jen clear his throat. “We have been through six actions together, and I am proud of all of you. You have done well.” There was another chime as the all call shut off.

Varan sighed, this time in relief. Her last interview with the medical staff had revealed the first signs of battle stress. With some time to recuperate and work through her memories, she could avoid having to leave the ship to get specialized care.

She reached out and picked up her glass of henal, and sat there for a fraction studying the cloudy pink liquid before draining the glass and setting it aside.