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  “Sir the plan…”

  “We'll get it done; don't you worry,” the admiral replied.

  “Aye aye, sir,” the chief of staff replied, returning to his duty station. He softly ordered the two corvettes to move out.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “So! They are here!” Admiral Waldecke said triumphantly, stabbing a meaty finger on the plot. “I thought so!” he said, grinning savagely.

  Lieutenant Elda tried hard not to sigh in relief. He caught a glance from the rating nearby who gave him a subtle thumbs-up. Another gave him an OK sign. He felt imbued for some reason. He turned to the captain who nodded his way. Good, he thought.

  “Just two though, sir,” the captain cautioned, turning back to his boss.

  “Order the decoy to draw out the chase. Use the base course of the two pirates as a baseline, back plot it. Have them dodge zig and zag, then head in that general direction. Let's see if our bird dog can flush any more of the bastards out for us,” he said.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “The Fed ship is headed this way, Admiral,” the flag lieutenant reported.

  “I see that,” the admiral said mildly. “He's trying to see if he'll flush us out. To get another ship to come out and play. Let them get close, then we'll oblige him,” he said.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, so far no response,” the captain reported an hour later. “Shall I have the Roger Young change course?” He asked. “Skim the belt?”

  “They are there,” the admiral muttered, staring with beady eyes at the plot. “No, this is a cool bastard; he's waiting for the ship to come in close enough so when he pounces they'll have no time to evade,” he said.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Prep the fighters and AWACS,” the admiral said, surprising Captain Zera. “Order the CAG…what's his name,” he said airily waving a dismissive hand. “…Anyway, order him to set up a perimeter once we've located the main pirate body,” he ordered.

  “Aye, sir,” Captain Zera said, but he couldn't help but sound surprised.

  “We use the tools we are given, Fergus,” the admiral said expansively.

  The chief of staff turned to him and then nodded. He turned back to his station and murmured orders.

  Waldecke sat back, rubbing his fingers against his lips. He would use the fighters all right, but to pin the bastards in place so his battle line could get in close and finish the job. He wanted a couple good firing shots, most likely warning shots, but they'd be great for the press. Some boarding action too, of course, he thought with a pang. The man on the street would eat up the Marines in armor…but wouldn't care about how they were secondary to the actual hard job of catching the bastards he thought.

  He'd shaped their course carefully, coming out ahead of the decoy ship but well outside the system, then come in ballistic. They'd picked up the communications indicating a large fleet as well as automated platforms in the atmosphere of the gas giant. His passive sensors hadn't got a hard read on the enemy, but he knew they were there, laying dogo. Now it was time to flush them out.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  Genshi frowned thoughtfully. They'd gone through a lot of trouble to arrange this meeting he thought. The Guild had played their part in the elaborate deception to perfection. He smiled slightly, amused by the play on words. It was true though. Not only had hackers skillfully inserted the intelligence reports for Waldecke to read, but they'd also tossed bread crumbs in their way through the grapevine in the system. Guild members disguised as the homeless, smugglers, vagrants, and dock workers had started a whisper campaign, one that the Feds had picked up and had put together with the intel report.

  He shook his head. If any clan was as good as the Remington Clan, it was the Guild. They had some nerves, nerves of steel to do what they did. They also had the best computer support in the galaxy, able to hack just about any system once they had a way in or even if they just knew it was there it seemed. They'd gotten particularly good at stealing shipping schedules, rerouting supplies and even stealing whole ships on occasion.

  He wished they wouldn't be so brazen about the last, but he couldn't fault them. Besides, the bastards were greedy. They'd charged an arm and a leg for the ship, which had come in handy. The Remingtons had torn her and her databases apart and then cloned her for their own generation of destroyers and other warships.

  This operation was quite complex, relying on the clans to not only trust each other, but also work together to perform the tasks needed to get to a common set of goals. If they only got a word in with the admiral and got them thinking about the clans as individuals, that might be enough in some eyes. Not all of the clans wanted an all-out war with the Federation after all.

  “Sir, the ship will be in range in forty minutes,” the chief warned.

  “Time to launch fighters then,” the admiral ordered. “Order Captain Seti to go with intercept one Baker.”

  “I1B, sir?” the chief asked, surprised. Usually the admiral delegated to his subordinates, letting them deal with the details while he handled the bigger picture. To actually select the mission profile…

  “Yes. He'll understand.”

  “Aye sir,” the chief replied, passing on the order.

  “So far so good, sir,” the flag lieutenant said.

  “Don't jinx it,” the chief of staff warned.

  “No, sir, I'll try not to,” the lieutenant replied.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, fighters have launched from stealthed platforms in the belt. They are on an intercept for the decoy ship,” a rating reported.

  “Damn,” the lieutenant muttered.

  “Order the ship to drop her wounded act and launch fighters,” the admiral ordered.

  “Sir? Aye, sir,” he said.

  “Pinning their fighters will force them to cut their losses and run or stay and engage,” the admiral reasoned as the chief glanced at him. He shrugged, “I admit it was a gamble. I'm glad you talked me into having the fighters stick to the decoy.”

  “Aye, sir. I don't think the pilots enjoyed it, but now that they're going to see some action…” The captain grinned.

  “Yeah, fighter pukes love mixing it up. Let's see what they do,” Waldecke growled. “The moment they come out of stealth, advance the fleet. Keep us at low speed for the initial few minutes, at least until you get the active sensor sweep and you know we've been detected. Then go full throttle,” he ordered.

  “Aye aye, sir. Pin them against the belt and inner system,” the captain said.

  “That's the plan,” the admiral replied.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, we're ready,” the flag lieutenant said, turning to the admiral.

  “Patience,” the admiral murmured, still studying the plot. He had to admit, the fighters hadn't been expected but had been an ingenious idea. He'd have to remember that little trick in the future.

  He'd had his time with the fleet. He'd been blooded against the Remnant as a captain twice, so he knew about combat. Part of the purpose here was to teach the others the same hard-won lessons.

  “Think he'll listen to reason?” the admiral asked conversationally, turning to the Chief. “After all, right now we've done nothing illegal here.”

  “In theory that's true. But our intel profile on Waldecke says he's a political creature. He came out here to gain some battle creds in order to further his career.”

  “A glory hound,” Genshi replied with a nod. “Yes, I know. Still, will he hesitate I wonder? A bottle of hooch for a bet? No, shots,” he amended.

  “I don't think anyone will take that bet, sir; Waldecke is too eager to shoot, sir,” the lieutenant warned.

  “True,” The admiral admitted. “One can hope though. And there is a rather big difference in having a false face of bravado, putting up the front as a bluff…and actually getting shot at. I think the good admiral is about to learn that difference.” He turned to the chief of staff and nodded. “You may bring the Vanguard out of stealth,” he said simply
.

  “Aye sir, Vanguard only is moving out,” the chief of staff replied, passing along the order.

  “And so, we go on to the next act in this drama,” the admiral murmured.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  The moment the enemy ships moved out the Federation fleet swung into action. Drives lit at low percentages, puffs to get them to ignite but keep them idle. Then they turned up slowly, enough to get the ships underway at a leisurely five kilometers per second. At that rate they were practically crawling towards the engagement; it would be long over before they got there it seemed.

  “We're adjusting course and speed now, sir, coming in at the optimal angle. You called it,” Philly's captain said, coming over the intercom.

  “Yes, yes I did. But that's not the main force. Just the screen I bet,” the admiral said, frowning. A force of four corvettes and a pair of destroyers, not really much against his. Were the rest just civilian ships? He sat back deep in thought. Could they be captures, prizes, he thought.

  “Intel,” he said, turning his head. “Go over the sensor recordings of the ships, the ones we picked up before they went to silent running. Run them and the current ships profiles through our database. Pay close attention to the ships reported lost. Run those through them, and see if we get a hit.”

  “Just the ones in our sector, sir? Or all of them?” the lieutenant asked.

  “Do I have to do everything?” the admiral demanded.

  “Sir, the enemy is engaging the decoy and fighters. Additional fighters have launched, sir.”

  “Good. Pick up some speed. Order the decoy to run on the planned course,” he ordered.

  Captain Zera nodded as he passed on the order. He didn't envy the men and women on that ship and in the fighters. It sucked to be the bait; you usually got eaten. Still, they knew the risks…

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Passive scans on the main fleet, sir. We've got their mass readings and general location from the sensor platforms in the Oort cloud.”

  “That was a good idea seeding them there,” the admiral said, smiling to the rating. The woman ducked her head, blushing.

  “Yes it was,” the chief of staff echoed. “Sir, the next phase?”

  “Let's see how far in he'll get. I'm curious if he's nervous.”

  “He's a worry for certain, sir, but he's also a bit arrogant.”

  “Well then, let's see if we can use that too.”

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “We're getting passive hits from what looks like stealthed sensor platforms, sir,” the chief of staff reported.

  “So, they know we're here,” Admiral Waldecke said. “Fine then, drop the pretense and put on some speed. Spread the screen out; I want a wide net to pick up any leakers when they try to run. Prize money goes to those who catch them. Any who lets a ship slip past them will answer to me,” he growled.

  “Aye aye, sir,” the communications rating said, passing on the order.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, they...”

  “They know that we know,” the admiral interrupted the rating. He got up and waved a hand. “I get it. Get the fleet underway. I know it will take time to get the extractors and factory ships to get their drives online. They should have gotten them up by now, but I know the crews there,” he said, shaking his head.

  “They know the risks, sir; they'll be ready,” the chief replied.

  “They'd damn well better be,” the admiral growled. “Status report?”

  “Sensors report two very large masses with the incoming fleet. Tentative CIC tags as the dreadnaught Philadelphia and fleet carrier Halsey, sir.”

  “Understood,” the admiral replied. He had suspected Waldecke would have taken his flagship, despite how slow it was. It was firepower, a main line capital ship, not a cruiser. He did want to fight. He frowned thoughtfully, tucking his fists behind his back. “IDs on the other ships?”

  “A screen of corvettes and tin cans, sir. They are spreading out in a net.”

  “To catch anyone who tries to run. I doubt he had time to get any help in to cover any tangents right?” the admiral asked, turning to the intel officer.

  He shook his head. “No, sir, not likely. Only if he got an unexpected visitor. Contact one would have given us a heads-up if that was in the works though,” he said.

  Genshi frowned but nodded thoughtfully. Contact one was their local leader of the Guild. He kept every communication through cutouts and drops; they never knew anything about the man. If he even was a man, he thought ruefully.

  “Sir, if the vanguard doesn't react, he'll know something's up,” the chief warned. “After all, he knows that we know…”

  “Give it a little more time,” the admiral ordered. “He thinks we're greedy, scum sucking pirates, right? Let him think we're arrogant enough not to run.”

  “Aye, sir. The rest of the fleet is at station, sir, and awaiting your orders, sir,” the chief reported.

  “Well, will wonders never cease. The civvies got it right for once,” he said, sounding amused. “Let's hold off on blowing the platforms at the gas giant and elsewhere. Let's see if we can play this out like we scripted,” he said, aware that no plan really ever worked perfectly. “Time to contact?”

  “He's picked up speed, sir, dropped his stealth. He's at…80 percent of max and climbing. Give it three hours, sir,” the sensor rating reported.

  “Three hours and five point two minutes young lady,” the admiral said. “Those little details can be important,” he warned.

  “Aye, sir; sorry, sir,” she said, hunching her shoulders.

  “It's all right but don't do it again,” he said mildly. He turned to the chief of staff. “He'll be expecting the fleet to move out to get away from him. Head ‘em up and move ‘em out, chief; keep with plan Alpha. Let's see if he misses our main line in the mix,” Genshi ordered.

  The chief of staff frowned but nodded. It wasn't right to use civilian ships to screen warships; the exact opposite was supposed to be how it was done. But for the plan to succeed…

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, the enemy fleet has come out of stealth and begun to move as expected,” a rating said.

  “I see it,” the admiral acknowledged, putting down his cup of coffee. “Locus and numbers?”

  “CIC reports are tentative at best, sir; there is a lot of drive jumble at this distance. And they are pretty clumped up, sir.”

  “Anything on the prizes I ordered you to check on?” Waldecke asked mildly, turning on the intel lieutenant.

  “No, sir, the lieutenant said. “No matches,” he reported.

  “Ah,” the chief said. “Pity that, it would be nice to have confirmation on that and if we liberated a few prisoners!” he said, smiling slightly.

  “Yeah well, not going to happen I guess. Oh well,” the admiral grumped. He hated it when the enemy didn't oblige him. “It doesn't mean they don't have any; it just means they either fenced the ships or have them elsewhere,” he said.

  Captain Zera nodded.

  “Make certain we pay particular attention to any captured databases we get,” the admiral ordered, one finger up in the air to catch the lieutenant's attention. The lieutenant nodded.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Time to intercept one hour mark, sir,” the rating reported.

  Admiral Tatsumora nodded as he adjusted his uniform slightly. “Let's see if we can get through this without any additional bloodshed. Open a channel,” he ordered, settling himself in his chair.

  ~~~~~~*~~~~~~

  “Sir, we're getting an incoming transmission from the enemy,” a communications rating said.

  “Of course we are,” the admiral said, smiling grimly. He nodded to the chief. “Calling to beg for mercy?” he asked.

  “We won't know unless we answer, sir. Shall we? Or do you want to keep them off balance and waiting?” he said.

  “I'm curious,” Waldecke admitted. “Normally, I'd let them sweat a while, but since they jumped the gun, I thin
k they are anxious,” he said. He waved a hand. “Open the channel,” he said, sitting back and netting his fingers together.

  “Admiral Waldecke, Federation Navy. I am assuming you are calling to surrender your forces?” he demanded.

  “No, sir,” a voice replied, then a video came online. Waldecke frowned. This was his first look at the enemy, and he wasn't impressed. It was a kid, barely out of diapers pretending to be a flag officer. He could either be arrogant or stupid. Either way he was caught.

  “You have no jurisdiction here, Admiral Waldecke; this isn't Federation space,” the Japanese male said.

  “Save it for your trial,” Waldecke growled. “We've got you in the act of piracy, to wit, the ship…” he paused frowning.

  “The one you sent in as a decoy to lure us out you mean?” the other man asked helpfully.

  Waldecke waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. Either way, you are caught in the act.”

  “We're not caught by any means,” the other man said. “Looks can be deceiving,” he said.

  Captain Zera looked up suddenly, frowning. He didn't like the sound of that.

  “You've been operating under a series of misconceptions, Admiral, let me set the record straight. I'm from the Remington Clan; we are the survivors of the colony ship Remington. We're not pirates.”

  “You've murdered, raped and pillaged several worlds. You've just murdered two pilots,” Admiral Waldecke riposted.

  “The death of your pilots, while regrettable, was in defense of this fleet. And they are soldiers, sir; they knew the risks.”

  “Pretty words. They'll be used against you in your criminal trial,” Admiral Waldecke growled. “You, sir, are a pirate. And I am here to see you meet justice,” he said triumphantly, eyes gleaming. He sent a signal through his implants to Zera to launch the fighters and bombers and then close the trap. Captain Zera nodded.

  “We're not the Empire Remnant. We're not murderers, Admiral. You have us confused, Admiral, though I can understand that. We…”