Ted was impatient. It’s not that he looked forward to combat. He hadn’t even been in many combat situations. Life threatening, yes. But all out combat, no. He just hated the waiting, the uncertainty. Somewhere out there was a ship so big it had its own gravity well. It was heading their way. Its intentions seemed hostile. And Ted just hoped that its intentions ended here and didn’t go any further. Not to Earth. And not to The Empire. He wanted his wife and son to be safe. Not to mention his home planet and the billions of people there.
“Sir…” McIntosh said. “Signal from Archon Demerius. Jacks are in position in the colony. As are the infantry. Evacuation is underway but it’s taking time. It’ll take a day to complete.”
“They don’t have a day!” Ted said frustrated.
“Tactically, if they go all out we can’t win. We can only buy time. Save as many lives as we can.” Ryan said over the comm “Let’s give em’ hell lads. This is Thermopylae, and we’re the three hundred!”
There was a clatter of agreement from the other Acoylte crews over the commlink and Ted felt pride, and even a little hope, well up from within him.
“What’s the plan boss?” Lorna asked.
Ted studied the data on the console. No sign of enemy ships in atmosphere yet. It wouldn’t be long. The data being relayed from ground control showed the hive ship was now just outside of orbit. They likely didn’t come all this way for a quiet layover.
“We hold low here on the other side of the planet. When we pick up their ships coming in we’ll intercept. Depending on numbers we’ll either hit them in high atmo or wait for them to get low.” Ted ordered. “Do we have tactical analysis of the Insectoid ships?”
“We have a little from the Tarsuss archives.” Ryan said. “They favour a utilitarian approach. Ships are designed to perform a function and no more. Their technology is also quite inferior to that of Titans. They make up for it with numbers.”
“Well let’s hope they can’t shoot as well Lorna can.” Ted said.
“Nae bug can shoot as well as ah can boss. A’m insulted you even suggested it!” She replied.
There was a collective beeping across all ships. Ted examined the display. Red dots were appearing in orbit.
“Ok, here they come. Stick with your wingmen, stay low and remember your training and we’ll get through this. Gama Fleet is on the way, we have the element of surprise and some of the most advanced ships in the galaxy. These bugs won’t know what him them!” Ted spoke over the commlink to all the crews.
“HOORAH!” was the resounding response.
****
“We have to go faster…we have to go faster.” Sorcha muttered to herself as her eyes darted back and forth between the streams of people meeting at the intersection of one of the main thoroughfares through the city and the heavy sky. The volume of people was just too much. Even with people moving at thirty abreast down the main road they were still backing up.
Buses weren’t an option once they left the city. Especially since it was raining heavily and the ground leading to the forest was turning to mud.
There were too many to carry. Even if they were loaded into large boxes there were just so many of them. The stream of humanity now progressed well into the forest. The cave system was still an hour or so’s walk for a Human once they left the city and they were running out of time. There were still well over a million people in the city. Most didn’t know why they were being evacuated. They just did as they were told. And they were calm for now.
But if Insectoids turned up and did all the dreadful things that Sorcha had heard they were capable of then the colonists wouldn’t remain calm for long. Sorcha remembered the stampede among just a few thousand individuals. Multiplying that up to two million it would be disasterous. They had to go faster.
What was making her more anxious was she had still yet to see Alesia’s group. They were probably near the back. Manka wouldn’t even be able to move past the mass of Humanity that was currently gathered.
“Here.” Joseph said and thrust something heavy into Sorcha’s hand.
“What’s this?” She asked examing the long, pieces of twisted metal he had given her. It was as long as one of her arms and fairly weighty, even for her.
“Well it was part of a crane.” He said examining his own similar length of metal. “I’ve torn up all the cranes and welded them together. They should make good clubs, if we need weapons. There’s one for each of us.”
“Think they’ll do any good?” she asked.
Joseph shrugged. “If it comes down to it, I don’t know. Insectoids breed soldiers specifically for fighting. Titans are still bigger and stronger so they’ll likely try to use numbers to overwhelm us.”
“And rifles…” Sorcha added.
“I doubt they’ll do them much good against us. If we stick close and in the cover of the buildings, they’ll have to come to us. Smash them over the head with one of these and they’ll go down like a sack of spuds, as you like to say.” Joseph said.
“Ok…” Sorcha nodded and breathed. “Bash them on the head. I can do that!”
Joseph smiled and kissed her forehead. “No one does it better.”
The air quickly changed as a distant droning noise slowly started from somewhere above the thick rain clouds. It started to get louder and louder. The Humans in the street were craning their necks looking to see what it was.
“It’s too late…” Sorcha said. “They’re here…”
****
Ted gripped his controls as Acolyte One flew low and fast over the rising terrain of Tau Ceti’s main continent. While the mental interface was faster, it was also tiring and he’d need all his strength for the fight to come.
“They’re almost on the city sir,” CMLT McIntosh said. “Looks like twenty-four ships, each around two hundred metres long, they’ve spread out and are taking up positions around the city. They’re only a few thousand feet up.”
“Designate targets.” Ted ordered and McIntosh started to distribute attack orders to the rest of the ships.
“Martinez to all ships, take your targets and go. Fly in fast and low and hit em hard and as close as you can.” He said. “If you need assistance call it in. If you destroy your targets doubleback and check for survivors. We can’t let any get to the city.”
“Ibori here.” Acolyte One’s engineering officer chimed in. “I’m sending scans of the ships with possible target areas. Their reactors are at the rear of the ship behind the engines. A few good shots in there should cause a hell of a fireworks display. There’s also a string of gravitic thrusters along the flank of each ship. Hitting them will cause issues as well.”
A chorus of voices checked in.
“Ok, engage neural interfaces.” Ted ordered. “Good luck to all of us. Weapons free, you are cleared to engage!”
****
Sorcha gripped and regripped her mental club over and over again. She had counted well over a dozen bright points of light in the cloud surrounding the city. They were almost of top of them. The crowd had started to run. Some of the Titans were doing their best to keep order and remove any injured but it was hopeless. The best they could do now was fight as hard as they could and pray to any gods that existed that they would get through this.
The droning was now easily drowning out the sound of the rain. They were kicking in gravitics now meaning they weren’t far above the low cloud now. The nearest two ships would land either side of the column of people. Sorcha hollered orders to her crew to take up positions in the buildings either side ready to defend the fleeing Humans. At her feet she could see specially armed Avalonian troops moving into position ready to engage any Insectoid that came within range.
She looked up as the closest ship, only a few hundred units away, broke through the cloud cover.
“Oh…fuck…” She said.
It was clearly a dropship. Long, thin and high. They were here to take the city. She mentally calculated that each ship likely had twenty soldiers on board. Twenty four ships of twenty meant they were outnumbered forty to one. Those were not good odds.
She took up position behind a building and held her club up over her shoulder. She tried breathing, attempting to control her emotions. This wasn’t the first time she’d faced death. She’d faced it on Titan Station but it felt different then. She was with her mother and father and her uncle Aerti was in command. Here, she was in charge. No mother to hug or father to reassure her and no Uncle Aerti to save the day.
She had never felt more alone or terrified.
She wanted her mum. She focused on the ship ahead of her. Thinking of what she had to do and wiped away tears of fear.
The ship was only a few dozen units up now. It would land in under a minute. In two minutes they’d be upon her. She breathed in and out and tensed her arms ready to swing the club.
The rain ran down her cheeks in rivulets from her soaking hair. She squeezed and squeezed again the grip of her club. The adrenaline and the rain were shaking it loose. She had to keep calm.
Breathe…in and out.
In and out.
In and out.
In and out.
In and out.
Suddenly, as if from nowhere, there was a near deafening high pitched whine, flashes of lights and then Sorcha couldn’t believe her eyes.
The Insectoid dropship exploded in a storm of green and yellow fire.
All around her the dropships were either exploding, bucking back and forth or crashing into the ground. The Avalonian troops were cheering and applauding.
And Sorcha allowed herself to hope.
****
The Gyfjon’s bridge was full-to-bursting, with every station currently occupied by someone. Lauryna smirked as she noted that even linguistics had brought its work up to the bridge – which given the aforementioned activity was possibly the worst place in three sectors to do linguistics work. But Navarchos Bass was in the usually-empty seat to her left, Commander Rovlan to her right, and Izzy had parked her hovercraft on the forward ops terminal. Loona Armac and Eyrn Bass were at a terminal in the back, along with the human members of the Terran and Imperial delegations. And Centurium ColVanos was sitting in the forward ops chair, looking on at the work her second officer was doing. Given all of that, Lauryna could hardly fault junior crewmates for trying to suck up a bit. If she didn’t already have her dream job, she would too.
“Captain,” Aerti said, checking the chronometer, “can you please connect me to the Xifos?”
“Aye, sir,” Lauryna said. “Crewmate Riases, make it so.”
“Aye, ma’am,” Xianara Riases said, and a few seconds later, Lemm Tam’s face lit up the forward viewscreen.
“Lemmer,” Aerti said, rising. “We’re coming up on one light year out. Prepare to maneuver the fleet to rendezvous at Tau Ceti.”
“Aye, sir,” Lemm said, frowning slightly.
“Frowning slightly” was Lemm’s default expression, but Aerti had worked with her long enough to tell one frown from another. “What’s wrong, Seminavarchos?”
“Sir…we’re having a communications issue.”
“Oh?”
“Comms attempted to send a standard inbound alert to Tau Ceti, but they are not responding to our hail.”
Aerti blinked. “That’s odd. Not even the autorespond?”
“No, sir,” Lemm said. “It’s radio silence.”
“Captain, with your leave?”
“Of course,” Lauryna said.
“Crewmate Riases, please try to raise Tau Ceti. Priority Two,” Aerti said.
“Aye, sir,” Riases said. “Tau Ceti Redoubt, this is the ISS Gyfjon, priority two communication. Respond please.”
She paused, and repeated the message, and shook her head. “Radio silence, sir.”
Aerti frowned. His frown deepened when Lemm broke in. “Sir,” she said, “we’re also not receiving from Observation Platform 39-Pi-003-Ashay. It’s been down a bit longer…wouldn’t ordinarily be a major issue, but the two together….”
“Sir!” Izzy said. “I took the liberty of checking the passive gravitics sensors at the edge of Tau Ceti.”
“Good thinking, Commander Ibanez. We have a connection to them?”
“No, sir. They’ve cut out too, but the most recent data….”
Aerti walked forward. “What is it, Commander?”
Izzy blanched white. “Sir,” she said. “Gravitic sensors were showing a possible anomaly, on the order of one percent of an Archavia mass… It could be a lot of things, but…it appears to have entered the system at warp.”
Antero was looking at the data Izzy had gone through, and tried not to vomit. He gave the human officer what he hoped was a reassuring smile; he smiled just slightly wider as he realized Izzy was doing the same for him.
Aerti straightened, nodded to Lemm, and turned. “Seminavarchos Tam. Set black alert throughout the fleet. Alert all ships to prepare for immediate spin-up to warp.”
“Black alert,” Lauryna repeated.
“Action stations, action stations, all hands to action stations,” Rovlan continued.
“What is it? What’s going on?” Elaine Ridgemont asked.
“A mass of one percent of Archavia? At warp?” Niall asked. “The power behind that would be literally astronomical.”
“Oh, fuck me,” Darren said, suddenly realizing why this seemed familiar. “Navarchos…is that what I think it is?”
“No way to know for sure,” Aerti said. “But it certainly looks like it.”
“Looks like what? What’s going on, Aerti?” Loona barked, standing up.
“Sir, inbound communication for you. Coded double-black,” Riases said.
“One moment, Madam Deputy. Ms Riases, put it on screen, tie in Lemm. This is Gamma Fleet Actual,” he said, as Vanser was added to the forward viewscreen.
“This is Imperator Corps Actual. Aerti, we have reason to believe that there is threat of an imminent attack on Earth. What is your status?”
“It’s not Earth, not yet, though that’s probably the endgame,” Aerti said. “Evidence of a possible One-Ishaytan in Tau Ceti. Seminavarchos Tam, is the fleet ready?”
“On your order.”
“The order is given. Tell all ships to spin up and head in at best speed. Captain Gwenn, increase to best speed.”
“Aye, sir. You heard him,” Laurna said.
“Vanser, consider this me notifying HighCom that we are moving to intercept,” Aerti said. “Proceeding under standard rules of engagement.”
“Acknowledged. Remember, Navarchos, Tau Ceti is still Class Rhombil.”
“The frak you say,” Aerti shouted. “There are two million people down there! Including my niece!”
Vanser nodded. “I know. Continue to intercept, you are cleared to go in and show force, but be aware of ROE rules, Aerti. You will need….”
There was a glitch and a pause, and then Vanser’s image disappeared.
“Frak! Get him back,” Aerti demanded.
“Sorry, sir, our communications are being jammed. We’ve also lost the Xifos, at least for the moment.”
“Orders?” Lauryna asked. She knew what the ROE would suggest – withdrawing outside jamming range, and trying to re-establish comms. And had she been facing this alone, that’s what she would have had to order.
But looking at her fleet commander, she felt quite certain that he was going to do exactly what she would do. What they had to do.
“Maintain your course, captain, best possible speed. Crewmate Riases, priority is to re-establish with the Xifos. Belay that – to establish with Tau Ceti Redoubt, then the Xifos, then the Dodecahedron, in that order.”
“Aye, sir.”
Antero looked at Loona, and she back at him. They weren’t at the point where her oath or his heritage would compel them to demand they leave, but they’d get there. The rules were clear. You don’t get involved in an all-out war over a rock in the middle of nowhere, and legally, officially, that’s all Tau Ceti colony was.
—————————————————————————-
Author’s note: Thanks to D.X for his contribution.
Also, I think this piece of music suits the tone for much of this chapter.
Finally – a progress update. I currently have about three weeks of material left. This hasn’t changed much over the last month. As some of you may know, Ms OHH is expecting and the due date is rapidly approaching. I hope to get the book finished before baby arrives but kids are unpredictable. I don’t intend any pauses in posting but it may happen.
“Antero looked at Loona, and she back at him. They weren’t at the point where her oath or his heritage would compel them to demand they leave, but they’d get there. The rules were clear. You don’t get involved in an all-out war over a rock in the middle of nowhere, and legally, officially, that’s all Tau Ceti colony was.”
As we have seen in the past, although they are strong champions of human rights, both Loona and Antero, who takes after his father, have a strong (some would say over developed) sense of duty and procedures. I will cringe if I see either push to follow proper rules of engagement and withdraw from the fight. If I was part of the Earth delegation and they turned around, I would tell them keep going all the way back to Earth, drop us off, and then leave never to return. That last part mainly because there might not be anything to return to.
“So why send the defenders packing?”, you may ask. Because, a defender who won’t defend has zero worth keeping around. If a planet that is part of their territory, populated by 2 million citizens and nationals is not worth protecting at the risk of war, then what is Earth worth being an entirely separate sovereign entity? The humans would be left to defend themselves. Humans ARE defending themselves, with the hope that reinforcements are on the way.
And I hope someone lets Gama fleet know that fact sooner than later.
Things are gonna get worse before they get better …
Acolytes are small, so I’m wondering how close a Titan would have to get to see one.
Acolytes are small, so I’m wondering how close a Titan would have to get to see one.
Acolytes are 21m long. The average Titan is 42m tall so its about half the size of a titan or about 1/10th the length of the Insectoid dropships it’s fighting. Using modern fighter aircraft for comparison, the Acolyte is probably in the range of 150,000 lbs or about 1/8th the mass of a titan male.
Many Titans are 36m to 39m. Few of the main characters are 1.0 unit or larger.
21 meters is easy to spot when they enter a Titan home. 😉
But in space, if there power source can’t be detected, than they are as good as invisible. Titan and Insectoid ships don’t no what hit them. Those acolytes are truly dangerous. Unlimited power source, unlimited heavy ammo, undetectable by enemy ships, piloted by a fast creative brain. With the power source they are using, maybe they have shields and warp 10+ capability.
The Sorcha scene was great for the imagination. Especially the sound before the explosion. Top notch sir!
Why would Earth be the endgame? They wouldn’t break the long standing peace with the Empire, risk huge losses, and possible total war with Empire for a couple of human planets. The endgame, one would think, is either the destruction of the Empire or, at the very least, bleeding it into peace so that Insectoids can try again later from a stronger position and Empire will be weaker if it loses provinces.
Good chap nice rising action..coupla thin(gies)…
1) Music selection is ok but this is more like it;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M149WTrkNR8
2) “Antero looked at Loona, and she back at him. They weren’t at the point where her oath or his heritage would compel them to demand they leave, but they’d get there.”
____
Sure. Where would they go? Cafeteria?
3)
“Orders?” Lauryna asked. She knew what the ROE would suggest – withdrawing outside jamming range, and trying to re-establish comms. And had she been facing this alone, that’s what she would have had to order.
But looking at her fleet commander, she felt quite certain that he was going to do exactly what she would do. What they had to do.”
____
Rules.. shmules… made to be broken..Since the other side is changing the game, the SOP doesn’t apply anymore..Battles are often won when an intuitive new tactic is introduced and executed ruthlessly
Also if I were the Avalonian commander I would establish snipers at strategic points on the hillside with weaponry that would take out a Titan sized adversary with one shot..No need to go near them….A2: Nice that they are cheering but I would be hopping mad that they are not in position and ready for battle, being distracted
Rules.. shmules… made to be broken..Since the other side is changing the game, the SOP doesn’t apply anymore..Battles are often won when an intuitive new tactic is introduced and executed ruthlessly
There’s a hint in the Wiki article on how they resolve the ROE: Navarchos Aertimus Bass ordered Gama Fleet to move to show force, though rules of engagement generally preclude attack unless the fleet is attacked. http://titanempire.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Tau_Ceti Anyway, commanders like Aerti, Lauryna, and Darren are old hands at bending without formally breaking rules that impede their ability to accomplish the mission. So are Loona and Antero in the political arena though Loona was obviously off balance a bit in a combat situation. Anyway, poor, doomed Antero might as well enjoy the moment and go out in a blaze of glory seeing as how the next emperor is destined to be his brother-in-law. 😉
I read the wiki to constantly. Interesting information. But frak the rules of engagement. Friends are in danger. Fire at will! The Titans that claim to be so called friends of humans need to prove it now.
The attack on Sol Earth will also be interesting.
But frak the rules of engagement. Friends are in danger. Fire at will!
Darren would observe that even Jim Kirk eventually got himself courts-marshalled breaking rules and no one in the Titanverse is as lucky as Kirk…except for Pierce of course.
The Titan Empire system is like the Dutch government. Slow and stupid.
Loona and Eryn now have the chance to redeem themselves.
Hope they warn the Earth too so they can prepare for the Insectoid invasion fleet. Earth and the solar system it self must be well armed with many war vessels and defence weapons.
No worries OHH. 😉 Some other stories are worth reading again.
Take the time you need. I’ll wait for quality, and it’s pretty well understood by now that you’re working around lives.
“This is Thermopylae, and we’re the three hundred!”
Those three hundred didn’t survive… And judging from what Ryan said, he knows that.
**************
After reading this chapter there are a few things I don’t understand.
– “spin-up to warp”. I thought the ships were already flying at warp ever since they left Sol Terra?
– In chapter fourteen Loona said that Qorni had signed off on Tau Ceti getting official Imperial Protection. Yet Tau Ceti E now turns out to be nothing more than a rock officially. How come?
– “we’re also not receiving from Observation Platform 39-Pi-003-Ashay.” This seems to refer to the sabotaged sensor array at Tau Ceti Eb. But while the narration in chapter forty says that Myrell rigged the array to send a loop of prerecorded data, according to what Lemm says Myrell disabled the array instead (and the lack of signal was thought to be just a malfunction). Did I misinterpret something?
– Spin up to warp: The rest of Gama fleet was a bit ahead at a rendezvous point waiting on the Gyfjon
– Official Imperial Protection yes, but at what level? There is no garrison. Not a single PDC trooper. Only patrols. RoE in real life state you don’t defend what can’t be defended.
– Nope you didn’t misinterpret. It is being jammed following the arrival of Hive ship like everything else. The sabotage of the array would prevent the approach of the Hive ship being detected.
Thanks for the answers. I guess the coming chapters will show if ‘official Imperial Protection’ has real meaning or if it’s just hot air.
I have a follow-up question regarding the third point if you don’t mind. Why was Observation Platform 39-Pi-003-Ashay down a bit longer? Judging from when Gama fleet gets jammed, the jamming apparently reaches an area with a radius of about a titan lightyear. With that radius, wouldn’t Tau Ceti E and Tau Ceti Eb be jammed at pretty much the same time? Either the Hive ship was still at warp when the jamming reached Tau Ceti, or the Hive ship started its jamming after it came out of warp at Tau Ceti, instantly covering the entire system.
It really depends on how quantify “a bit”. Could be mere seconds after.
“Orders?” Lauryna asked. She knew what the ROE would suggest – withdrawing outside jamming range, and trying to re-establish comms. And had she been facing this alone, that’s what she would have had to order.
– Official Imperial Protection yes, but at what level? There is no garrison. Not a single PDC trooper. Only patrols. RoE in real life state you don’t defend what can’t be defended.
Taking stock of the situation from the Bugs POV.
The Insectoids had to be assuming they could take Tau Ceti by surprise and that the first response would be a search party dispatched from Titan Station to investigate loss of communications. They’ve just attempted to land a small by their standards assault force to secure a supposedly undefended target. The Bugs doubtless have their own copy of the Dodecahedron ROE and would expect a stripped down Gama Fleet, if it does happen to be in the vicinity will do exactly what Aerti won’t do and back off.
Now that assault force is being butchered by a surprise attack by an unknown fighter force that shouldn’t be there. Next, Gama Fleet is about to pop up Into the middle of a fire fight the Bugs were not supposed to be fighting.
Now it’s difficult to get into the Hive thought process but even the lowliest worker can probably figure out this plan is off the rails. The Insectoids have their own rule of engagement and probably follow those rules a little more carefully than does the crew of the Gyfjon. Assuming there is much more in motion than what we’ve seen so far how does the Hive respond?
Mr OHH, what is this “real life” thou speaketh of ?
Seriously, keep us posted on what kind of hybrid(s) you’ll be raising. 😉
My wife vetoed Sorcha if it’s a girl 🙁
I share your disappointment.
All the best with the due date and an early congratulations when it does happen!
Hmmm…I wonder…how many Acoyltes do they have? And how much power can the reactors powering the Acoyltes create? Because if they can mess around with them a bit, I bet they could make a very effective weapon by detonating a couple. What was it Niall and Dr. Bass said? That a reactor could be small enough to be carried by a titan, and create a blast large enough to level at least a city or two? I bet they could deliver one or two reactors with a pair of Acoyltes
Hmmm…I wonder…how many Acolytes do they have? And how much power can the reactors powering the Acoyltes create?
12 Acolytes. The Bug dropships are designed for ground assault, not ship to ship combat as was noted, they are probably minimally sufficient to the task. They are shielded against what Titan field troops would be able to carry, handheld weapons and light artillery and totally outclassed by the Acolyte offensive weaponry.
Antero looked at Loona, and she back at him. They weren’t at the point where her oath or his heritage would compel them to demand they leave, but they’d get there. The rules were clear. You don’t get involved in an all-out war over a rock in the middle of nowhere, and legally, officially, that’s all Tau Ceti colony was.
It will be interesting to see how OHH uses this to advance the story. Tau Ceti’s status may not have changed officially but there are 2 million class one Imperial nationals at risk even if the majority don’t yet have citizenship and there are thousands of Avalonian Imperial citizens at risk, and of course it by accident but the assault could be interpreted as an assassination attempt on the Imperial and Earth governments and the Imperial Heir. The problem with using that as a threat is if the bluff fails then the Bugs no who is on the Gyfjon. However, it might work though against a Hive mind that understands a threat against the Empire leadership would be the same as an Imperial attack on whatever Super Overseer/Queen thingy sets atop the Insectoid structure.
However, what I expect will happen is this situation will force Ridgemont into an on the spot alliance with Loona with Tau Ceti as shared responsibility between Earth and the Empire freeing Antero and Loona to revise ROE.
AHA!! I WAS RIGHT!! I’ve been looking for a very specific quote for a while before typing this. >=D You see, I wouldn’t use such a weapon against the dropships. The Accolytes can handle those. I’m more worried about the giant, moon-sized hive ship floating above the planet. So, I’m wondering why not convert two of those reactors into a pair of bombs. I was curious how much power such an explosion would have. I was fairly certain that it would be stronger then a nuke though, and I finally found one of the two quotes in the entire Titan series that back me up:
“Because one [reactor] could be so small to them it could be carried in someone’s pocket.” Niall sighed. “And without a failsafe…”
“It could blow a hole in the side of a planet…” Mukta finished.
If one without a failsafe could blow a hole in the side of a planet, how much damage could two or three do to a ship that size? Sure, you lose 3 acolytes, but you end up putting a sizable dent in the hive ship. Not enough to kill it…unless you blew a hole in the side and flew inside of it…but enough to hurt it.
And it will be interesting to see what happens.
Also, I found my other quote. Titan Physics, Chapter 20 from Hussel Bass, “With this equation you could design a bomb, undetectable if surrounded by other antimatter cell devices that could blow a hole in the side of a planet the size of a continent.”
And they have 12 of those at the very least, possibly more since they were planning on creating a permanent base to build Accolytes. I just hope someone puts two and two together and makes a massive bomb to hurl at the bugs.
They just have to hold on until reïnforcements arrive. No need to sacrifice an acolyte. Their firepower seem strong enough to easily destroy large spacecrafts. I hope humans can keep this equation a secret from Titans and other aliens after these conflicts.
Who’s leading the other group of humans.
13th Division, 7th Spec. Assault Group, 1st Cavalry, commonly referred to as the 13th Jacks, is a defensive unit of the Avalonian Guard serving in a defensive position on Tau Ceti e under the command of Archon Hylk Demerius.
http://titanempire.wikia.com/wiki/13th_Jacks_Division
The A-Ishaytan megaship looks impressive externally but any such ship would likely be a mobile Dyson sphere, essentially a hollow shell surrounding a power source, perhaps a very small singularity to provide the needed power to warp space around the ship. Anything designed to contain a power source of that magnitude likely would be able to absorb the energy release of a “planet buster” bomb with acceptable damage. We might still be headed towards a Death Star like big bang but I am hoping OHH surprises us with a different solution.
There are other ways to attack a hive death star…..
I know of one;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyEuk8j8imI
Others too but not as cruel…