Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Ride of the Vikings

Commander Liam was indeed a perceptive man and a talented tactician, but he missed one thing. He never had any idea that Athena’s orbital command center has hacked into the three Imperial satellites in orbit, and these satellites have become the most effective eyes and ears of the terran forces. Granted, he had no reason to suspect this, but the fact was that his intentions were immediately caught on by Athena.

The first orbital command center in the valley had almost been destroyed, but the adjutant inside was still able to give Athena the necessary information.

“Commander, the enemy frigates are heading back to orbit instead of returning to their flagship. The satellites have also spotted a number of Imperial cruisers waiting in low orbit. They can reach the flagship in approximately three minutes.”

“So the Imperials have set a trap for me.” Athena realized. For a second she almost felt amused. She never considered herself smarter than all the seasoned military leaders out there and she wasn’t surprised someone saw through her plan. What did make her smile was that this was done the one time she was actively trying to lose in a convincing manner.

In that case, she would let the Imperial commander have their hard-earned victory.

Athena quickly examined the situation at the main terran base in the valley. She left most of the surviving terran units in that base, and they suffered heavy casualties from the air raid. Every single missile turret and bunker had been destroyed, along with most of the barracks, two of the factories, and one of the starports.

The remaining terran units there would make a last stand against the Imperial ground forces before inevitably going down. However, it was the vikings who would give the Imperials their biggest surprise.

Over the last two days, Athena had produced 24 vikings from her 3 starports and hid them throughout the region to avoid detection. Their job was to go straight toward the Imperial cruisers and shoot down as many of them as possible.

This suicide attack served three purposes. First, Athena wanted to test the vikings against Imperial capital ships and see how they would do. Second, she needed as much vespene gas as possible to replace her lost starports and vikings and to build more units. Third, she wanted the Imperials to believe they have truly won, and what was a better way to do so than a failed decapitation attack?

Under Athena’s command, the 24 vikings made their way out of their hiding spot and lifted into the air. Their thrusters quickly entered maximum output as the terran air superiority fighters approached the five Imperial cruisers as quickly as they possibly could.

“Sir! We have hostile aircrafts approaching fast!”

As Athena expected, the vikings were quickly discovered by the radars on the Imperial cruisers. When he heard the news, Commander Liam simply grinned. Everything was going exactly as planned.

“Should we launch our interceptors, sir?”

“No. Let them get closer.” Commander Liam shook his head. “We can’t allow them a chance to escape. Let them approach us.”

“Wouldn’t that give them a chance to hit our cruisers?” Sarah asked.

“It will take a lot more than a handful of volleys from two squadrons of fighters or bombers to break the shields of a light cruiser, much less severely damage the cruiser’s hulls.” Commander Liam explained to his daughter. “Even if our ship does take some damage, some emergency repair is a small price to pay compared to letting these fighters escape. They underestimated us and thought we are vulnerable just because we don’t have our fighters and escorts. We will make them pay a price for it.”

Due to the commander’s orders, the vikings were allowed to get closer and closer until the first Imperial Calypso-class light cruiser was within the firing range of the MT50 lanzer torpedoes. Athena had zero idea why the Imperials didn't fire on the vikings when they could. Maybe they somehow failed to see them coming? Either way, that didn't stop her from giving the viking pilots permission to open fire.

The lanzer torpedoes of vikings were stored in the pair of missile pods above the cockpit and the wings. As soon as the order to engage was given, four torpedoes shot out of the missile pods of each viking and toward the closest Calypso light cruiser.

Before the crew of the first Calypso knew what was happening, the ship was bombarded by 96 torpedoes. Most of the torpedoes hit and exploded on a thin layer of blue energy shield. The shield generators on larger ships were much stronger than those on starfighters and starbombers. Even so, the shield had been shattered before the volley was over, and at least a dozen torpedoes exploded against the armored plating of the light cruiser.

The light cruiser survived the first volley, but it didn't emerge unscathed. The viking torpedoes were designed with armor piercing in mind, something that the crew member on the light cruiser quickly experienced themselves. Meters of plating were shredded by the blast, exposing entire hallways and quarters to the outside world. One of the light cruiser’s two medium railgun turrets was torn to pieces, along with two multi-purpose missile launchers and two point defense turrets. If someone looked closely, they could see a few crew members unlucky enough to be in the compromised areas falling out of the breach.

The fate of the unfortunate light cruiser was quickly noticed by every other Imperial ship in the area, and it shook them to their core.

“Sir! SL195-E-7’s shields are down! The hull is completely breached in several areas! They are requesting immediate assistance!”

“Scramble all interceptors! All weapons open fire on these fighters! Instruct SL195-E-7 to get out of there!”

Whatever satisfaction Commander Liam had when he first saw the vikings approach was gone the moment he watched the light cruiser’s shield fail on one of the external cameras. How could he have been so stupid? He should’ve known the enemies deployed these starfighters against several cruisers for a reason! 24 fighters crippling a light cruiser in one volley…perhaps this was an accomplishment only possible for the most advanced starfighters in the galaxy. Again, where the hell did these fighters come from?

On one hand, he now understood why this unit tried to challenge the Imperials without air support. Everything made sense now. They had air support, and strong ones. If he wasn’t being extra cautious and only sent one or two light cruisers here, the results would be disastrous.

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On the other hand, this revelation turned out to be extremely costly for him.

Krait-class interceptors were shot out of the hangars on the four intact Imperial ships, three light cruisers and one heavy cruiser, in quick succession. These interceptors were light and versatile spacecrafts armed with rapid-firing twin railguns. They were designed as a rapid response unit to assist point defense turrets, railgun turrets, and anti-fighter missiles against enemy fighters and bombers. They have proven their effectiveness many times against Republic squadrons.

As the interceptors were rapidly deployed, the Siren-class heavy cruiser and Calypso-class light cruisers moved into firing position. Scanners locked onto the vikings and passed their targeting information to the array of armaments on the warship.

As a thousand and one weapons locked onto them, the viking pilots were hardly intimidated. With cold, expression looks on their faces, they locked onto the crippled Calypso light cruiser and unleashed another volley of torpedoes.

Once again, 96 torpedoes shot through the air and hit SL195-E-7.

This time, there were no shields to tank most of the explosions, and most of the armor in the front of the light cruiser had been stripped away already. Most of the torpedoes entered the light cruiser through the breaches made by the first volley and exploded inside the 417-meter-long warship.

Unfortunately for the ship’s captain, the command bridge was located in the core of the light cruiser. On one hand, this meant the bridge wouldn’t be compromised by moderate damage from one side. On the other hand, this meant while components such as the engine room and the hangar that were located in the rear or upper side of the cruiser survived the second volley, the command bridge didn't.

It was unclear what the ship’s captain’s last thoughts were. Maybe he had embraced his death. Maybe he was wetting himself as he desperately tried to maneuver his crippled vessel to move the still intact armored platings to face the hostile fighters. Maybe he was cursing the stupidity of his commander whose orders to not shoot the enemies out of the air at the first possible moment would cost him and his crew their lives.

None of that mattered as the captain and his entire bridge crew were blown into a thousand pieces along with the command bridge.

Even as the explosion tore through countless walls and rooms, most of the ship was still intact. It was incredibly difficult to completely tear open a vessel this size. However, the extensive damage was enough to damage a number of thrusters that had been keeping the light cruiser in the air.

In other words, the light cruiser was crashing.

The second volley from the vikings and the destruction of SL195-E-7 happened in no more than a few seconds. As the light cruiser crashed toward the ground, the vikings tried to seek a new target and fire a third volley, but the Imperials didn't give them the chance.

The various heavy, medium, and light railgun turrets were the first to open fire. Solid projectiles were accelerated to an insane velocity with electromagnetic fields before being shot out of the gun barrels. These projectiles didn't contain the explosives like missiles would, and they didn't need to. Their kinetic energy alone, a result of their high speed, was destructive enough.

At this range, it was impossible for the railguns to miss. Within a few seconds, six vikings exploded in the air, their structure punched clean through by the railgun projectiles.

The other vikings quickly started taking evasive maneuvers, but the railguns weren’t the only threat. Swarms of interceptors traced the vikings and opened fire. Anti-fighter missiles locked onto the fighters and followed them at a speed impossible to lose.

At this point, Athena knew the vikings wouldn’t achieve much else, but she still kept an eye on them. Her experience in the Imperial Army didn't really help her learn too much about what the armaments of the Navy were capable of, and now was an opportunity for her to see their weapons in action.

Vikings could survive a few light railgun shots, but the medium and heavy ones could easily kill on contact. At the same time, medium and heavy railguns were likely designed to be used against enemy warships. While their effect was often fatal, their firing rate was much slower than the light railguns. Athena suspected they were also a lot more expensive to fire.

On the other hand, the interceptors were an interesting case to observe. They were the primary example of being extremely good in one area and sacrificing everything else. They were very fast and maneuverable, but their speed came at the cost of their defensive and part of their offensive abilities. They had no shield and almost no armor, and their weapon was limited to their twin railguns. Vikings could almost always secure an easy kill against them, but interceptors often fought in groups, and sustained fire from them could quickly decimate a viking.

All in all, Athena wasn’t too surprised her vikings weren’t doing well once the Imperials started shooting. Honestly, when she sent them in, she only expected the vikings to be able to damage a light cruiser, not bring it down completely.

Ultimately, vikings were just a single component in the terran air arsenal. Their job was to take out armored ships, and as the fate of the light cruiser had shown, they were damn good at it. Other roles were filled by other terran air units. Wraiths for covert missions and to take out enemy fighters. Banshees to quietly remove ground threats. Liberators to destroy armored enemy ground targets, mostly heavy vehicles or fortifications. Both liberators and valkyries were good at taking out large numbers of enemy fighters. Ravens offered tactical support. Medivacs and Hercules handled transport. Battlecruisers were the capital ships with tough armor and impressive firepower.

On the other hand, the Imperial Navy didn't reach its infamy and power by being incompetent. The Imperium devoted countless resources and manpower every single year to maintain and grow the Imperial Navy. They might have their own flaws, but they were anything but an easy foe to beat.

As the last of the vikings was brought low by a missile, Athena stood up from her seat in her office and stretched her arms. It would only be a matter of time before the victorious Imperial fleet deploy their marines and assault what was left of the terran base in the valley. Their victory was certain, but the remaining terran units there, including plenty of widow mines, would make it a costly one. She had also instructed the adjutant to overload the reactors powering the orbital command center and all the other remaining terran buildings. The Imperials wouldn’t be able to take any prisoners or learn any useful information from the remaining structures, so whatever hope they had of finding the origin or purpose of the terran troops would be lost. The only thing they would achieve was killing the remaining terran units.

Despite the seeming defeat, Athena's objectives were completed. Her vespene gas count has been rapidly jumping for the last minute or so as countless Imperials died in the crash of the light cruiser. She had gotten some first-hand experience with what the Imperial Navy vessels were capable of.

Most importantly of all, as far as the Imperials could see, they have won.

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