Aboard the Sword of Vengeance, a similar conversation was playing out between Admiral Turcotte and Star Marshal Dean, aboard Solarian Skywatch.
“A full review of Central’s defense strategy is underway,” the Star Marshal was telling him, “but your priority is driving back or destroying the pirates holding the planetary population hostage.”
“Understood, ma’am,” Stardust said. “Are there any other friendlies in-system?”
“The battleship Archangel is in-system. I’d rather not reveal any other assets at this time, in case there are any cracks in our security.”
“Copy that.” A tone indicated imminent realspace reversion. “I have to go. We’ll see you on the other side.”
“Good luck, Admiral. The other human governments will be watching the situation closely.” At a gesture, the Star Marshal terminated the link.
“Great,” Stardust murmured. “Just what I need. A show.” Switching to the intraship comms, he contacted the bridge. “Matriarch Sovv, are we ready?”
[Approaching coordinates now,] the Nahydran replied.
Stardust stopped himself from reminding his flag captain of the need for discretion, while they ascertained the situation directly. To that effect, the battlecruiser emerged into normalspace in a vast field of ice particles several hundred AU from the blazing white light of Sirius A. Sensors peered starward, and monitored the tense exchange between the Ram and the Archangel.
Stardust felt a tightness in his gut, one he normally associated with imminent action against entire fleets, which he found odd as he was leading only a single starship.
Probably because the regional trade hub and its billions of noncombatants are down there, he thought. One wrong move and they can start dropping nukes or kinetic impactors into the cities.
“Set yellow alert,” Stardust ordered, and the battlecruiser shifted to a heightened alert status. “Send a tight-beam signal to Admiral Jaeger. Don’t give away our position, but tell them we are in-system and stand ready to assist as an ace in the hole.”
Sovv added, [All internal security teams to combat stations. Prep for hostile boardings as well as counter-boarding operations.]
Stardust repressed a smile. Trust Kai’a to think one step ahead of him.
A flashing light on his console indicated a private coms request; ID was Sovv. Tapping the accept button, the system linked them together.
“Yes?”
[We will not link with the Archangel?] she asked, butchering her attempt at pronouncing the battleship’s name, as Nahydran Common had no Anglic equivalent.
“No,” he answered. “I figure we let them see the Archangel, focus all their attention on it, and when the shooting starts, we can flank that carrier and hopefully get between the planet and anything they try to drop on Central.”
His choice of words was not lost on her. [When, indeed.]
“Any group that can amass the firepower to overwhelm an entire planetary militia doesn’t truly need whatever they may be asking for, nor will any sane organization part with whatever it is they really want. This entire show is all window-dressing. Eventually, they’ll start shooting, and I intend to cut them off from the planet, and cripple the Acheron. Preferably at the same time.”
[Should they have control of the surface batteries, we will have no room to maneuver.]
“We’ll make that flight when we get to it,” Stardust soothed, paraphrasing an old Nahydran saying. “Until then, we watch, we wait, and we prep for hostile action.”