First Strike by Christopher Nuttall

Author:Christopher Nuttall [Nuttall, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Goodreads: 23280558
Publisher: Henchman Press
Published: 2014-09-22T17:00:00+00:00

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Lady Dalsha had watched in disbelief as Great Lady Marsha and her entire command fortresses vanished in a sheet of white light. She’d scented trouble as soon as the human gunboats had broken off the attack, for she’d seen the sensor feeds from their attack on Garston. They’d killed an entire battlecruiser for minimal losses; why had they been unable to kill a freighter, even one that claimed to have been part of a convoy that had been intercepted and destroyed. And even though it had had the correct codes to approach, it shouldn't have been allowed to approach the command fortress until it had been checked by a security team. If Marsha had listened…

But Marsha hadn't listened and Marsha was dead. The humans might not have realised it, but the blast had completely scrambled the datanets that held the fleet together. If they’d been able to press the offensive at once, they might have cut the fleet to ribbons as each ship suddenly found itself fighting alone. Even as the command and control network was re-established, Lady Marsha’s former subordinates were arguing over who should take command. None of them had been marked as a clear successor, if only to prevent them from attempting to assassinate their superior. A tactic for dividing one’s subordinates – and therefore preventing them from uniting against their superior – had made perfect sense on the homeworld, or even in peacetime since the Hegemony had been founded. But in wartime, it was likely to be devastating.

The appearance of the human fleet was no surprise, not after they’d killed Marsha and destroyed the defenders’ unity. They had to know that their fleet was badly outgunned, even though it had weapons that were individually superior to Hammerfall’s defenders. Their best chance at a victory would come by pressing the offensive before the defenders managed to rally behind a new supreme commander, yet they seemed oddly hesitant. It was an article of faith among the Hegemony that no other race was as brave and determined as themselves – certainly, no other race had managed to build something like the Hegemony – but Lady Dalsha had to admit that the humans were just as determined as any of the Hegemony’s warriors. Even starting the war on their own terms, despite the imbalance of power between them and their enemies, suggested a ruthless determination to succeed. So why, she asked herself, weren't they advancing on Hammerfall?

She watched the arguments between the different commanders, wishing that she could take command herself. But none of them would have followed her; they’d probably have executed her if they’d been face to face. Arguments over command back before the Cats had discovered their homeworld tended to result in blood on the sand; here, it was just possible that the different fortresses and starships would start shooting at each other. Only the certainty that the Empress would punish them harshly for starting a civil war kept the commanders under some kind of control.

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