And that meant that his forces would move as one large fleet using hyperspace. It would take them longer to reach the front, and they would arrive after the Shara Daim resumed the hostilities, so they wouldn’t be able to help the forces already there. But if the Weaver’s plan was going to work, a sacrifice had to be made.
Garash’s subordinate reported that all ships were ready to depart, and with one last look at the holo showing the entire fleet, Garash gave the order. In a blink of an eye, his massive fleet entered hyperspace and disappeared.
After the Erasi fleet left, a small ship left its hiding place inside the system’s asteroid field. It entered FTL and made its way to the edge of the hyperspace barrier. In a flash, it too departed the system.
Chapter Eleven
September; Year 58 of the Empire — Erasi-Shara Daim front
Adrian sat on board the Veritas and watched the battle play out on the holo in front of him. The Shara Daim had attacked a hub system that the Erasi had taken from them. Adrian’s ships had scouted the surroundings and made sure that no Erasi force was close enough to come to this systems aid, and now his twelve fleets were watching from the sidelines. That wouldn’t be the case for long; Aileen had orders to give the Erasi an ultimatum. If they refused, the Empire would fully commit to the war; if they accepted, the real talks would begin. Only he doubted that they would accept. Their reinforcements had left the system they had been gathering in, which meant that soon enough they would have a lot more Erasi ships to worry about.
Tomas had given Adrian leave to join in the fighting the moment that those forces arrived, taking that as a certain sign that the Erasi would not deal in good faith. And they had enough recordings of their diplomatic talks that they would make sure that all knew that the Empire was prepared to deal with the Erasi. And that was what was ultimately important, and why they held back. Perception was a powerful thing, Adrian had seen that with the Shara Daim. They were regarded as completely untrustworthy, and no race wanted to trade with them. A large part of that was their own fault, but in order to achieve its goals, the Empire couldn’t afford to be seen as such. The smaller races needed to see them as good neighbors.
But even though he understood that, it didn’t mean that he was any less frustrated with having to stand on the sidelines. And not only because the Empire was still in talks with the Erasi, but because Anessa needed to do this on her own. She needed to win her people’s trust, and to do that she needed to win on her own. On the holo, Adrian could see the battle in real time. He had drones close to the battles and was receiving data from several Shara Daim ships. The Shara Daim were winning.
Anessa had brought fifty Legions, two of which were upgraded with skim drives, but she hadn’t used them yet; she was planning on keeping that capability a secret for now. The Erasi had ten fleets in the system plus the fixed defenses that they had brought to defend the system. Anessa’s Legions arrived in system two days ago through hyperspace. That had allowed the Erasi to pull their forces—from all around the system—behind the defenses around the fifth planet, where they waited for her Legions. Anessa had spent the first day bombarding their defensive platforms, expending a large number of missiles to cut the number of defensive platforms down before she brought her Legions in closer range.
From there, she had tested the Erasi, looking for weaknesses in their formation, and once she’d found one, she had pressed. By then, the Erasi ships no longer had the protection of the platforms, and when she brought the Legions in, they ran, making the battle into a prolonged moving engagement that stretched across the system as Erasi fleets tried to spread out and escape. They ultimately failed, but Anessa had anticipated that and had ordered ten of her Legions to key positions around the system prior to the battle, positions from which they could cut off the Erasi fleets’ most probable escape routes. There were several smaller engagements occurring in the system as Shara Daim Legions pursued the fleeing Erasi ships.
Adrian checked up on Anessa’s ship, the Bloodbringer. She had led the battle well, and her ship had engaged the enemy several times, but fortunately she hadn’t taken any unnecessary risks. Adrian glanced to his side where Sora was sitting and watching the holo with him. He wasn’t sure if she could understand the images, but he wouldn’t have been surprised. But he knew that she was worried about her sibling, Akash, who was on the Bloodbringer with Anessa. Adrian was both surprised and glad to see that his wolions had taken to her, and usually when Adrian and Anessa were apart, one of them would be with her. He reached over with his hand and patted Sora behind the ears, reassuring her that all was well.
“They won,” Rasshat, Veritas’s Ship Master, said as he moved his large body to stand on Adrian’s other side.
Adrian watched the Shara Daim Legions hunt down the few remaining stragglers. “They did,” he responded, and turned to look at the large Guxcacul Ship Master. Adrian didn’t have the translator in his imp turned on at the moment, so he heard the Guxcacul speak in his own language, which was no problem for Adrian—he had learned their language a long time ago. The Erasi translators had made things in the Empire much easier, and the adapted version that all people of the Empire now held in their implants was even better than the Erasi original. As long as both parties had translators, each side would hear speech in their language. Of course, only already known languages could be translated in this manner, but it was still a great tool. Adrian liked to turn off the translations on his side for the most part, liking to practice understanding different languages on his own.
“The Erasi still have troops on the ground. It will be a hard fight; they’ve had time to dig in,” Rasshat said.
“Yes, but the Kar Daim has brought enough troops,” Adrian said as he switched the holo to show troop transports in orbit of the world dropping down through the atmosphere. With this win the Erasi forces in the Shara Daim territory had been reduced by more than half of their initial number to only twenty-three fleets spread across another two hub systems and several other less important systems that they had taken control of. “As soon as they finish here we will be moving on to the next target,” Adrian said. His scouts had discovered three Erasi fleets moving towards one of the hub systems, and if the Shara Daim move quickly enough, they would be able to ambush them before they reached an Erasi-controlled system, although that would mean that they would need to send only ten Legions through the trans-lane, having the others follow through hyperspace. But Anessa had decided that it was worth it.
“And we still can’t join in the fight?” Rasshat asked.
“Not until their reinforcements arrive or the talks end,” Adrian answered. “The Shara Daim don’t really need our firepower; they have cut down the Erasi numbers enough that they have an advantage, and with our ships scouting for them, they have better intel as well. There is a reason why the Erasi attacked while the Shara Daim Legions were out of position. Now when the Shara Daim fleets are gathered, the Erasi will not have an easy time. Until those ships arrive, then they will need all the help they can get.”
Anessa felt her ship shake slightly as an Erasi missile passed through a small hole in the Bloodbringer’s shields to detonate against the hull.
“Report?” her Legion’s commander, Dai Sha Garaam, asked.
“Hull breach on level nine; repair group is on its way, Dai Sha,” a Va Sun answered.