Forcing himself to ignore the human cost of what had just happened, Geary scanned his display for summaries of the estimated damage to the Syndic force even as he gave new orders. “Main body, reverse course at time one five, turning up through zero nine zero.” That would bring the ships of his main body bending their courses upward in unison, up and over until they were going back in the other direction, chasing after the Syndic force that had passed through them, but slightly above them because of the turning radius required at the speeds they were traveling. They’d also be upside down relative to their former positions, of course, but in space that didn’t matter in the slightest.
It was tempting, very tempting, to break the formation and let the fastest ships charge ahead, but until he knew the Syndic force had been broken, he couldn’t take that risk. He also had to make sure the rest of his fleet was still acting in coordination. And despite the damage already done to the Syndics, the enemy force was still heading toward the auxiliaries formation. “Formation Fox Five Five. Take evasive course minimum down angle two zero at time one … seven.” That would bring the auxiliaries toward the formation led by Captain Duellos, which had altered course after diving through the Syndic formation and was now swinging back up toward the bottom and rear of the Syndics. “Formation Fox Five One, close on Formation Fox Five Five and lend support.”
Geary turned his attention to the smaller discs of cruisers and destroyers that had made up the cheeks of the nutcracker. As the Syndics had charged forward, the Alliance light units had sliced off the escort units making up the edges of the Syndic formation. “Formations Fox Five Three and Fox Five Four. Maneuver independently and close on the enemy. Ensure any stragglers or detached units are destroyed. Do not, repeat do not, break formation until given orders to do so.”
Geary took a deep breath, glaring at the depiction of the formation commanded by Captain Numos. After carrying out Geary’s orders, Fox Five Two should’ve been well above the path taken by the Syndics. Instead, it had leveled out early and was now proceeding along the same path the Syndic ships had taken, though far behind them and still a few light-seconds from even Geary’s main body formation. Apparently, Numos had tried to pivot his formation even as it crossed through the Syndics, bleeding off much of its speed to achieve a tight turn, and as a result had failed to make as heavy a strike against the enemy as he should have. He fell outside engagement range while trying to single-handedly run up the enemy’s formation from the rear. Idiot. “Formation Fox Five Two, continue pursuit and close with the enemy formation as soon as possible.” That fool’s handling of his formation kept a good chunk of my heavies out of contact during the first encounter and robbed me of some of my numerical advantage. He’ll never command another formation under me unless the living stars themselves order me to let it happen.
Now, are the Syndics going to continue charging at the auxiliaries before turning, or are they going to run for open space to buy time to recover from their pass through us?
Over the next few minutes, Geary could only watch as time-late images confirmed that the auxiliaries had altered course as commanded, their path curving downward toward Captain Duellos’s oncoming warships. Captain Tulev’s escorts for the auxiliaries had formed a slightly concave disc, his entire formation of warships pivoting slowly to keep its central focus on the badly hurt Syndic force. The two smaller Alliance formations were far behind but coming around, edge-on toward the Syndics. Geary’s own main body was still swinging through its course reversal.
The Syndics, as far as he could tell, had continued heading for the auxiliaries even though the Syndic formation was increasingly ragged, as wrecked and heavily damaged ships wavered off their courses even though their momentum had kept them with the rest of the formation. Judging from the damage assessments still coming in and the raggedness of the Syndic formation, they’d lost a lot of ships. But they’re still sticking to their plan, apparently. Rigid thinking. What would they have been planning on doing after making a firing run through the auxiliaries?
Course reversal and come back through us en masse. They’d turn about … there.
And they still have to do that if they’re going to get out of here. There are no jump points anywhere near their current course. Their only near-term chance to escape us is if they can blow through us again going back toward the jump point they used to enter the system.
The main body finished its course reversal, steadying on a vector leading back toward the Syndics, though of course the main body was still going far slower than the Syndic force. But now that we’re through the turn, I can crank up the engines on this force and go get those bastards. “Main body, accelerate to point one light at time three zero.” He turned to Desjani. “Captain, please adjust Dauntless’s course to keep this formation headed for an intercept with the projected path of the Syndic force.”
Desjani seemed dazed, but nodded. “We’ll never catch them at point one light.”
“Assume they’ll turn here,” Geary advised, pointing out his earlier conclusion. “They’ll come back toward us.”
Her face lit up with bloodlust at the implications. “Yes! And that’ll be the last maneuver any of them will ever manage.”
Geary looked away, then activated his command circuit again. “All units remain in formation,” he ordered again, haunted by the images of the chaos when his fleet fell apart at Corvus. “Formation Fox Five Five, increase down angle by two zero at time three eight.” That should force the Syndics to bend their own course enough to help Geary’s formations reach them in a coordinated assault. “Formation Fox Five One, alter course one zero down at time three eight. Adjust formation axis four zero degrees to starboard at time three eight. Maintain velocity of point one light.” That should bring Duellos’s formation edge on against the Syndics if they kept heading for the auxiliaries. “Formation Fox Five Three, alter course one zero to port and two zero down at time four zero and increase velocity to point one light. Formation Fox Five Four, alter course one five to port and one zero down at time four zero and hold present velocity.” Which should bring the two lighter formations in from where they were sweeping up crippled Syndic strays, so they could rake across the flanks of the remnants of the Syndic formation, and where they could do the most damage to any Syndic ships having trouble staying in formation.
He couldn’t help glaring at Numos’s formation, even though he’d realized he could use its position to his advantage. “Formation Fox Five Two, adjust course starboard three zero, down zero point five and increase velocity to point one light at time four zero. Roll formation axis six zero to port.” If the Syndics tried to run for some of the other jump points on the other side of the system they’d have to veer off toward the inner system of Kaliban. The odds of them making that long a run were slim anyway, but now if they tried that, Numos’s ships should be able to intercept their track and rake them as they ran.
If they didn’t try to run, Geary’s other formations would hit them in quick succession.
He sat back, breathing heavily as if he’d just physically exerted himself, knowing he’d have to just watch for a while and see what happened. It would be perhaps a half hour before the formations swept into contact again.