Rear Admiral Hank Nelson

Location: CWS Abraham Lincoln, New Lancashire, United Commonwealth of Colonies

It was chaos on the flag bridge of Honest Abe, but that was a good thing. Chaos meant action, and in RADM Nelson’s mind, a Fleet full of inaction was bound to atrophy and rot away. Their purpose was to protect the Commonwealth in whatever way necessary. The chaos was them doing their job.

“Captain Jacobson reporting in, Sir.” The RADM’s aide stepped aside so a stately woman could enter.

Her brunette hair was done up in a tight bun without a strand of hair out of place. She was tall, just a hair under two meters, so she looked down a long, slightly-hawkish nose at her superior. She had blue in her eyes that only served to highlight the stormy blue irises. She was every inch the proper commander.

“Janette, have a seat.” Nelson waved for the CAPT to relax.

She did as she was instructed. She had an inkling of why she was here, but she wasn’t taking anything for granted.

“I’d ask you how things are going, but I read all the reports coming off of Andromeda,” the RADM smiled. “I can say with certainty that you’ve got the best battlecruiser in the task force, Captain.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The CAPT didn’t crack a smile, but there was a slight tug on her lips that showed one was attempted.

“Because of your success I have a new assignment for you.” The RADM continued. “We’re in a precarious state here in York Sector. We’re engaged in combat operations against the enemy with little to no reinforcements from the Fleet. Lancelot is going to be undergoing repairs for at least six months, and the new cruisers we just received are going to need another few weeks in the yards before they can resume operations.”

New Lancashire didn’t have naval yards per say, but they had crews of willing and able workers ready to be shuttled into orbit to work on the massive warships. The RADM was glad they wanted to help because it was a lot easier than forcing them. The ships needed to be repaired so they could defend the colonies. Without them combat ready they were all in deep shit.

“The last thing the enemy is going to expect is a lunge into their territory after the bloody noses we gave each other in System 1552. They’re probably doing the same thing we are and calling for reinforcements, and with the way things are shaping up in Syracuse Sector I doubt they’ll fare any better than we are.”

“Yes, Sir.” The CAPT kept her face neutral because she hadn’t heard the words just yet.

“To that end, I’m giving you command of a strike force, Janette. Andromeda, four other battlecruisers, and the missile cruiser Deluge will be placed under your command. I want possible courses of action on my desk by the end of the week. We’ll approve one with Commander Patterson present, allocate a necessary marine contingent, and get back to the business of winning this war.”

“Yes, sir.” Now a slight smile spread across the woman’s face. “I won’t let you down.”

“No you won’t, Janette.” The RADM’s voice dropped low enough to be considered frosty. “Because the mission I send you out on is a must win. You either take the objective or you don’t come back.”

“I won’t let you down, Sir.” The dismissal was evident, and the CAPT took the hint.

The moment she was out the door, the RADM’s aide was back. “Sir, the commanders from the Royal Navy have arrived.”

“Send them in.” Nelson got to his feet and made sure his uniform was on the dress setting. The guys from Windsor were sticklers about customs and courtesies, so he had to show off his medals and achievements to be taken seriously.

“Gentlemen.” Nelson smiled as the two officers in red entered.

He’d been briefed on them when the two cruisers arrived in New Lancashire. One was a nobleman, a Lord of someplace. He was a Lord Captain, but not as important of a Lord Captain as Lord Captain Churchill who commanded the Dreadnaught Francis Drake. It was some combination of peerage and ship command priority that made the Lord Captain junior to Churchill. Even if Churchill commanded a destroyer, he would have still been senior to this cruiser’s Lord Captain because he was a Duke. It was all very confusing.

The second royal officer was just a plain captain, and Nelson found that refreshing. It was just as refreshing as the Queen herself ordering the two warships to assist the Commonwealth in whatever way necessary. It showed the Star Kingdom was taking the alliance seriously, and that was a breath of fresh air in the tornado that was the York Sector.

The two officers gave Nelson a short bow before extending their hands. They talked briefly about the Queen’s orders to them, the mood back in the Star Kingdom, and general likes and dislikes. Nelson wanted to get a feel for them before making his request.

“Two more cruisers are going to be vital in the coming months, especially cruisers as robust as yours.”

Just like the dreadnaughts, the Star Kingdom’s cruisers were bigger, bulkier, and the RADM assumed better armed than the Commonwealth’s own cruisers. The new Virtue Class cruisers Nelson had just received were five hundred meters from bow to stern, had armor 3.5 meters thick, 65 missile tubes, and twelve energy cannons. They were the best armed cruisers in the fleet.

In contrast, Nelson’s passive scans showed the Star Kingdom’s cruisers had armor as thick as his battleships: 6 meters. They were seven hundred meters long – nearly as long as a Commonwealth battlecruiser – and had sixteen energy weapons that his sensors could make out. They couldn’t get a count on the missile tubes, but if the RADM extrapolated the numbers he expected them to be in the ballpark of seventy-five. The royal warships were battlecruisers in all but name, and Nelson could really use them.

“Lord Captain,” he turned to the senior royal officer, “would your Queen accept one of your warships engaging in combat operations with members of my task force?”

The Lord Captain didn’t even miss a beat. “Of course, Sir. We would be honored. Our own crews do not have the combat experience of your own navy, so we are more than happy to get the experience.”

“Excellent.” The RADM couldn’t keep his grin under control. “I have a strike force assembling to drive into the heart of enemy territory as soon as possible.”

“I will take Benjamin Disraeli on this mission while Neville Chamberlain remains with the main task force.”

“Very well, I will inform Captain Jacobsen of your ship joining her order of battle.” He would have said more, but his aide came running through the hatch.

“SIR!” the young LT looked past the annoyed look on the three senior officers’ faces. “We have an FTL footprint.”

The glare evaporated from the RADM’s face. All three of the officers jumped from their seats and made their way out of the conference room and onto the bridge proper. The 3D holo-tank hovering in the center of the room showed the unidentified blob of disturbed space-time that indicated an imminent arrival.

“We’re predicting multiple large contacts, Sir.” The navigation OIC was hovering over his own display as data flooded it. “Half a dozen, maybe more.”

The RADM’s practiced eye swept the holo-tank. Some of his ships were running exercises nearly fifty million miles away, but the majority of the task force was still in orbit around the planet New Lancashire.

“Let’s see what we have before we start a panic.” The RADM decided. The ships that were coming out of FTL would emerge hours away from the planet. That was more than enough time for Nelson to counter their movements.

It was an excruciating five minute wait before the blob in space solidified into actual ships.

“I’m showing two destroyers, four battlecruisers, and an undersized carrier.” Abe’s CIC churned out the information, before refining it.

By the time the first transmission reached the assault carrier everyone on the ship was breathing a sigh of relief.

“Commonwealth task force commander, this is Commodore George Zahn, Gold Technologies Security Fleet. Sorry for dropping in on you unannounced, but we hear you have a bit of a security issue with Cobalt Mining Corporation.”

Nelson knew of the Commodore. He’d been a battleship captain in the Commonwealth fleet before retiring. He was known for being reckless and making rash decisions, but those decisions tended to work out. It was a toss-up if the man was skilled or lucky. Either way, Gold Technologies thought he was good or lucky enough to hire him to command a carrier group.

The RADM schooled his expression so no one could see him smile.

Corporate fleets weren’t the same as the Commonwealth fleet. First off, the largest groupings of them were carrier groups much smaller than a traditional task force. The corporations didn’t have the luxury of fielding hundred-ship fleets to engage in massive space battles. Their mission was to protect the corporate worlds, defend commerce, and only occasionally duke it out with another corp if the Commonwealth couldn’t arbitrate the issue. None of those missions require as many ships, especially when the corporations were able to lobby the Commonwealth and get additional fleet resources assigned to protect their interests.

The carrier group put together to come out to York sector wasn’t a huge one. They had two destroyer-sized ships to work as scouts or vanguard and rearguard. The main force was four ships that supported the corporation’s assault carrier. None of the Gold’s ships were as big as the Fleet’s ships. It was the opposite of the Royal Navy’s oversized vessels, but they were enough to get the job done.

Nelson invited Zahn to come aboard Abe before they headed off to System 1776.

He wished the corporation had brought more ships, but seven would have to do. It increased the Commonwealth-friendly fighting strength in the Sector by twenty percent, and with what he was planning another small fleet in the area was going to be priceless.

The bad news was they hadn’t heard back from the destroyer and marine squads sent to retake the station. That wasn’t a good sign, and it had more than a few people on edge. Nelson only wanted the Gold heir to get roughed up a little, not to actually die.

As good as that would be, he couldn’t think about that. He had to think of the big picture. He had a war to fight against a professional enemy, and having Gold Technologies there to help in any capacity was a move in the right direction. If the Fleet couldn’t provide for the protection of its citizens, then Nelson was committed to getting it done whatever the price.

“Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me.” Nelson excused himself from the bridge. He had some calls to make and things to set up in the next few hours before Zahn arrived. It was a delicate situation he had to handle properly. If he did, things would be looking up for the Commonwealth in the York Sector and for Rear Admiral Hank Nelson.