It was championship time. They gave us Saturday morning off to prepare. We were gathered in our barracks looking over the data file that was transferred to our tablets. The entire squadron was involved in the planning today. I wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.
"Ok, so what do we know?" I asked, after giving everyone some time to look over the information.
Andrew spoke up, "It appears to be a two-part fight. We have to defend a base against an enemy attack, as well as be the attackers. The winner is the team that destroys the enemy base first. If nobody destroys the base, or both bases are destroyed, then it goes to a panel of judges to decide."
"We also get to choose our fleet composition," added Rachel.
"We don't know the enemy losses, which means they don't know ours, or lack of in our case," said Jen. "Also, the base we are defending has minimal defenses, but the defenses they do have can be remotely controlled. The defending team will get a five-minute head start to prep defenses, then enemy fleet will spawn in the vicinity of the moon."
"The station is in orbit around Earth, so there won't be many areas to hide. Any missiles will be easily seen and destroyed," said Bruce.
"Does anyone else have anything more to add?" I asked after a minute of silence. "Alright then, we'll split into two groups. One group will focus on attack, while the other on defense. Come up with as many scenarios as you can, as well as fleet compositions. Once we've got both sets of plans, we'll go over them in detail and select a primary and secondary plan for each. Andrew, you are in charge of offense, and I'll take defense. Let's go."
It took us the better part of two hours to hammer out the details of the four plans. The match was scheduled right after lunch. As we walked to the cafeteria, I reminded everybody to eat light, and to stay away from the sugary foods. Last thing we needed was a jittery trigger finger. After lunch, we were escorted to the simulators while the rest of the station went to the amphitheater to watch. It made me nervous think that thousands of people were going to be watching our every move.
When we reached the simulators, we were told that we had been selected to defend first. Our defense fleet consisted of two cruisers, five battleships and twenty-one fighters. Once the simulators powered on, we were given a five-minute countdown.
"Mitch, take your cruiser to the other side of the moon and stay out of site. We only have a general idea of the area they will be spawning in. Tina, take four other fighters and provide cover. Remember, don't fire until they engage our salvo," I transmitted.
"All battleships, I want a tight formation. Nothing gets through to the station. The cruiser will take cover behind us, with the fighters in front. Make sure to leave gaps for the station weapons to assist in providing cover fire. The cruiser will call for holes to fire their missiles, as necessary. As soon as we have the enemy's location, I want everyone to fire a single shot from every weapon."
The first four minutes went by in the blink of any eye as we rushed to get into place. We finished our preparations with less than a minute to spare, and I watched the countdown with growing anxiety. When the countdown finished, there was a flash of light, and the enemy appeared.
"Jen and Drew, get me a headcount on ships out there. I want to know what we're up against." I commanded.
I watched as missiles and projectiles were launched at the enemy fleet. If we got lucky, we would catch them just as they were trying to get their bearings. If damage were done, that would be a bonus as the main purpose was to provide a distraction for our ships that were hidden behind them.
As I waited for the fireworks, I began studying the space station. We were going to be the ones blowing it up soon, so I figured it would be a great chance to gather a little bit of intel. I watched as the enemy fleet formed up and prepared to intercept our welcome package. As they prepared to intercept, I saw missile fire coming from behind them. The end result was chaos. Jen and drew had managed to get an accurate count before we hit them, and they had three battleships, ten cruisers, and seven fighters.
Most of the shots fired from the main group didn't hit anything. The real destruction came from behind. Mitch and Tina were coming in fast from their hiding spot, followed by six enemy fighters.
"Andrew, would you be so kind as to relieve the enemy of their fighters?" I requested.
"With pleasure," he responded. He took ten fighters and shot towards the incoming ships. By this time, the enemy had regrouped and was starting to organize their offense. Our surprise attack took out their battleships and half of their cruisers. If all went well, they would be without fighter support soon as well.
"Enemy ships destroyed," Andrew reported.
"Awesome. Take cover on the opposite side of the moon. They are down to five cruisers, but that is more than enough firepower to kill us all several times over. Be ready to take some of them out." I replied.
The missiles soon came streaking in. The cruisers seemed to be emptying their arsenal as fast as possible. I grinned as I realized that with the loss of their battleships, they had no railguns. Missiles could be intercepted, but it was hard to intercept a solid mass traveling near light speeds. "Get ready to return fire," I commanded. "Thad set a few missiles to detonate a safe distance away. Let's see if we can buy ourselves a few moments to catch our breathe. All ships, fire long range weapons after our missiles detonate."
Our missiles detonated, creating a chain reaction among the incoming missiles. It destroyed twelve incoming missiles and bought us several seconds. As the missiles detonated, I saw dozens of flashes along the hulls of our ships, heading towards the enemy cruisers. The familiar thump was felt through the floor as my assigned battleship added it's might to the others. There were some missiles among the salvo that was launched, but most of it was depleted uranium shells launched from the massive rail guns.
We scored hits on two of the cruisers, destroying one and disabling the other. The cruisers repositioned themselves and started firing again. This time they randomly changed directions, making it impossible to hit them with unguided munitions.
"You're up Andrew," I called out. "There are three enemy ships left. See what damage you can do." At the same time, I had the cruiser fire off a several missiles to keep the focus on us. Andrew's battleship, supported by Mitch's cruiser and fifteen fighters including Tina, shot towards the enemy ships at breakneck speeds. By the time the enemy cruisers repositioned to engage the unexpected threat, it was too late to use their more destructive munitions.
Andrew and the fighters made quick work of the enemy cruisers using close range weapons. That last encounter was costly though, as Andrew's battleship was heavily damaged and four of Tina's fighters were destroyed. I felt confident that we would win now, not a single shot had hit the space station. All we had to do was cause some damage to it, and I was sure we would win.
There was a ten-minute break after the first half of the mission. Everybody took the opportunity to relieve themselves and grab a protein bar and a bottle of water. We gathered outside of the simulators waiting to re-enter. "Remember the plan," I told everyone as we waited. "They have the home field advantage now. Watch for traps, and scatter ASAP."
The doors to the simulators then opened and everybody took their places. During our planning, we had decided to stick with the same fleet configuration as it had worked well for us in the past. The rail guns could do just as much damage as missiles to a space station and were harder to track. The battleships also had better defenses than the cruisers.
As soon as the mission started, I poured over the incoming information. Before I had a chance to really absorb the information, alarms were blaring.
"Incoming ordinance!" somebody yelled over the comms. I felt the ship shudder as a round glanced off the armor.
"Everyone scatter," I commanded. Several ships were reporting damage as we maneuvered to avoid further incoming rounds. It gave me a chance to look at the enemy fleet, and I instantly realized something was wrong. It took me a minute to realize what it was, they had way too many ships. I counted ten battleships and sixteen fighters. Based on the last round, we figured they had lost eight people in the semi-final round. I didn't have long to think about it, as we were evading more incoming fire.
Our fleet split into three groups and took off as fast as they could. One group was headed up and left, one up and right, and my group was going straight down. The further we separated; the fewer shots were fired at us. As we got into position, they had stopped firing all together. After several seconds, the battleships started to reorganize based on our positions, it was then that it hit me.
"The battleships aren't fully manned." I said aloud.
"That makes sense," said Jen. "I did some quick math. There are only two people aboard each battleship."
"So, they can't fire and fly at the same time. It takes two to do either task" said Thad.
"New plan," I called out to the rest of the fleet. "The enemy's battleships are undermanned. This means they can shoot or fly, but not both. Each group is going to have to act independently and find your own holes. Let's exploit this weakness as much as possible."
"Drew," I said. "Find the nearest blind spot for those battleships. Jen, start moving once you have the coordinates. Keep the speed at a steady pace." I opened a channel to my two cruisers. "Commence firing at the station. Use one second delays between volleys to conserve ammo. When I give the signal, unload all tubes."
The enemy fleet was a disorganized mess. It looked like they tried to keep one gunner and have the pilot fly blind. There were several near misses between ships, and I smiled as I saw several shots pierce the space station. No critical damage had been done yet, but it was only a matter of time.
As the seconds ticked on, our distance to the station decreased, giving the opposing team less time to adjust and stop incoming fire. I gave the order, and we unloaded as many missiles and depleted uranium rounds as we could. The familiar vibrating of the deck plates made me grin as I imagined the effect it had on the opposition. After three seconds of non-stop firing, I gave the signal to resume one second delays. I watched with anticipation as the enemy tried to cope with the incoming salvo. They tried to divert ships from other areas, but that just created holes elsewhere, which my team took advantage of. We had one missile and two rail gun rounds make it to the space station. The missile was a small one, but the damage it caused was catastrophic. A larger missile came from the other side and finished off the station.
We rushed out of our simulators and started cheering, I couldn't believe we had won. Just then Admiral Jones walked around the corner. We all jumped to attention, but not even the sight of the Admiral could wipe the smiles off our faces. He watched us for a minute then said, "Not bad. Enjoy your break. You're dismissed."
We waited for him to turn the corner before taking off to our barracks to pack for our much-needed vacation.