BETHLEHEM
STARDATE 01.15.26
DRAGON’S TEETH
“I want every crew member on their best behavior. Any action which offends the Sirens will be severely punished. They will answer directly to me.”
Commander Rahab, Bethlehem’s First Officer, nodded her head and walked down the corridor away from Captain Abrams.
Later, in the Transporter Room, Captain Abrams and Commander Rahab watched as shimmering lights indicated the arrival of their guests. Two beautiful women appeared, one with red hair arranged above her head and the other with long black hair and deep blue eyes. Captain Abrams and Commander Rahab were stunned by their sensuality, but they managed to maintain their composure. The two crewmen behind them who were operating the transporter were not as strong willed. They could not help but to drop to their knees momentarily, overwhelmed at the sight.
“Captain Amphitrite,” Captain Abrams said to the woman with red hair, “Welcome aboard the Bethlehem.” The woman smiled slightly and shook Captain Abram’s hand, which was as smooth as silk. Captain Abram’s felt an instant shock fly through his body, nearly causing him to lose control. But he uttered an inner prayer to the Old Man and stood firmly.
“Thank you, Captain Abrams,” Captain Amphitrite replied in a soft voice. She turned and motioned to the lovely woman next to her. “This is my FIrst Officer, Commander Rusalka.”
Commander Rusalka bowed before Captain Abrams, allowing her long black hair to dangle around her shoulder. She glanced at him with her deep blue eyes as she did so. A sly smile formed on her face. Captain Abrams felt as if he just got punched hard in the gut.
“And this is my First Officer, Commander Rahab,” Captain Abrams announced, trying to distract himself so he would forget the soul piercing look that Commander Rusalka gave him.
“Come, let us proceed to the Briefing Room.”
In the Briefing Room, Captain Abrams, Commander Rahab, Captain Amphitrite, and Commander Rusalka discussed matters of life and death.
“The Lorelei and the Bethlehem are all that stands between the Warmonger/Horrid Fleet approaching the Jordan System. There are seven million people on Planet Cyrene. The Library of the Magi, a repository of ancient knowledge, cannot be destroyed. The Enemy Fleet is composed of three Warmonger Destroyers, one Horrid Destroyer, two Warmonger Frigates, and four Horrid Frigates.”
Everyone was silent as they stared at the miniatures on stands positioned in front of them on the table over a war map. Two miniatures on one side represented the Lorelei and the Bethlehem. On the other side, ten small miniatures represented the Enemy Fleet. Even in their silence, the Sirens’ beauty was intense, maybe even more so than when they spoke.
“First and foremost,” Captain Abrams said, gazing at Captain Amphitrite with a face of stone. Even his long beard appeared to be chiseled out of granite. “Captain Amphitrite, I need to be sure of your committment. If winning this engagement requires the sacrifice of the Lorelei, the Bethlehem, or both, are you willing to make that sacrifice?”
Captain Amphitrite nodded in agreement at the question, saying nothing. There was clear determination in her pink eyes. But the smooth features on her narrow face hinted at a heavy sorry at the suggestion of losing the Lorelei and all who served aboard her.
“I am as well,” Captain Abrams announced, looking at Commander Rahab to make sure she would do what was necessary if he was seriously injured or killed during the conflict. Commander Rahab met his gaze without blinking, an indication she would do what needed to be done no matter the cost.
“Now that we have settled that,” Captain Abrams continued, stroking his beard out of habit. “I need to be sure of the Lorelei’s capabilities. I have followed reports of Siren activity within the Chosen with much interest. This is the first time the Bethlehem has actually worked side by side with a Siren starship. Is it true that the Siren Song attracts both seeking and direct-fire weapons?”
“Yes, Captain Abrams, our Siren Song does indeed work on both seeking weapons and direct-fire weapons,” Commander Rusalka answered. She subtly adjusted her long black hair over one ear to draw attention. “It is a defensive device developed by the Sirens to protect critical ships during fleet engagements. And may we ask, are the Utopia’s Reactor Torpedoes as devastating as we have heard?”
Commander Rahab spoke out, staring directly into Commander Rusalka’s deep blue eyes. “Indeed they are. Our Reactor Torpedoes have a variable warhead yield, but if you get us within 80,000 kilometers of our target, I guarantee they will regret it.”
Captain Abrams waited until his First Officer was done speaking before asking another essential question. “We have heard of the Siren Wail that your vessel is armed with. Is it correct that your weapon can hit a blanket area of space, damaging all starships within the target area?”
“Yes, that is correct,” Captain Amphitrite said softly. She studied Captain Abrams’ body language and facial expressions. He was a tower of self control. She wondered what motivated him in life and what his innermost desires were.
“Very well. Here is the suggested battle plan. Please interrupt if you have questions or wish to add anything. The Warmongers are highly disciplined and tactically focused, but the Horrid are not. This is their predicted fleet formation. As you can see, they are most likely to employ a tight fleet formation with the four Destroyers up front and the six Frigates behind. However, it is more than likely that the Horrid will break formation, moving as a Mob instead. That is to our advantage. Bethelehem will be the hammer and Lorelei will be the shield. We will attack ships on the edges of the fleet formation, particularly strays who move out of position. At the start of the engagement, Bethlehem will launch a Scatterpack full of Plasma Drones. This swarm should be enough to maim or obliterate one of the enemy Destroyers. With our combined firepower, we will be able to cripple or destroy one Destroyer with each Battle Pass. Lorelei will use her Siren Song to draw enemy fire and reinforce her shields accordingly. The Siren Wail will be used to hit enemy starships that are bunched together, to take advantage of the Siren Wail’s area of effect. If we force an enemy vessel to explode while it is close to other enemy starships, they will be damaged as well. Between the two of our starships, we have eight Transporter Bombs at our disposal. I recommend we place them here, here, and here. We will draw the Fallen Fleet in and force them to pass through the laid Transporter Bombs. During the engagement, we will take heavy fire from the enemy fleet. Our shields are sure to be breached and our crew members lost. We may even lose one of our ships or both. But we are both willing to make this sacrifice if necessary. Thoughts?”
Captain Amphitrite carefully studied the battle map and the figures sitting upon it. “It is a sound strategy. I agree. I would only add that how we use our shuttles will be also be critical to the engagement. We must prepare Wild Weasels to supplement our SIren Song, as well as Suicide Shuttles. These Suicide Shuttles will be lethal to the smaller enemy Frigates If we get close enough, we can tractor a Frigate to establish an Anchor, and then launch Suicide Shuttles.”
“If one our vessels loses a majority of its shields, the other starship can cover while the damaged vessel performs Damage Control to restore its shields,” Commander Rusalka added.
Commander Rahab stated, “We will make our stand in the Plasma Springs, which sits in-between Planet Cyrene and the approaching enemy fleet. This will introduce a random element to the engagement. The Plasma Springs explode randomly, damaging starships in the immediate area. Since we are outnumbered in this conflict, the Plasma Springs will work to our advantage. If the enemy fleet tries to go around the Plasma Springs, it will delay them substantially, allowing Chosen reinforcements to arrive.”
Captain Abrams reminded everyone of one final fact. “Remember, we don’t need to destroy each and every starship in the enemy fleet. We only need to force them away from their destination. Inflict enough damage to their starships and they will have no choice but to give up their objective.”
The four individuals studied the battle map and the pieces once more. Finally, they concluded the meeting and turned to leave.
Captain Amphitrite put one hand on Captain Abram’s shoulder, sending shockwaves through his body. “It is a good plan, Captain Abrams. It will be an honor to fight by your side.”
Captain Abrams turned and faced Captain Amphitrite. He knew this might be the last time he sees her face to face. His heart grew heavy at the thought of such a beautiful thing being extinguished from existence.
“We have an important saying back on our Homeworld, Captain Amphitrite,”
“EVERY BOXER HAS A GOOD PLAN…UNTIL THEY GET HIT.”
