Talosian Chronicles 2: Star Dancer by Ben Winston

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    “What this meeting is about is to let all of you know of the threat, and to get everyone working on how to counter it. For the non-combatants here, Star Dancer stands very little chance in a stand-up fight with that class of ship. We are simply out massed and outgunned. The Super Nova class of ships were designed to hunt down and destroy Talosian Heavy Cruisers such as Star Dancer . They were also the class of ship used to destroy the Talos star system, which tells me that this threat will also have the ability to destroy this system.
    “Neither of those things are going to happen. We will not let them happen. Now, the reason I included Luke and Ty in this meeting is that there is a significant threat to the whole planet, but most especially, to Talos. A single Super Nova does possess the ability to wage a space battle while at the same time prosecute a ground invasion. Considering the technology differences between the Caldarians and most humans, Earth will fall in a matter of hours.
    “That isn’t going to happen either. This is what we have been training for, the reason we repaired this ship, and the reason we have the colony on Earth to begin with. It is our job to defend and protect Earth and all the people on it. By the gods, we will not fail in this duty!” Ian had to pause because the small gathering was applauding. Yes, confirmation of the rumors had scared them, but he had managed to get them past their fear and concentrate on how to do their job.
    “We need every one to think, plan, and scheme on ways to defeat a superior force while taking the least amount of damage and casualties. CMO, you need to begin replicating emergency supplies and equipment that might be needed for the coming battle. Create multiple triage teams that can respond both on ship and off.
    “Flight Maintenance, please modify two of our shuttles into flying trauma units, make whatever modifications you feel you need. If you don’t think you can do the work here, please contact the folks down at the moon base.” Ian said and was interrupted.
    “Excuse me Sir, but why don’t we just build them? We still have the computer template from the Stellar Cartography shuttle, we can probably crank out a couple four of them in very short order,” Kyle said from one of the screens, until the new Liaison officer could get up to speed, Kyle was acting in his capacity.
    “Will it interfere with the other projects you have planned?” Ian asked.
    “Not much. Currently, the Shuttle template is still loaded. I was going to switch it over after the meeting. I can tell them to start on say four shuttles now, and we should be able to switch over as soon as they’re finished. When the last shuttle leaves a station, we can refit it for the Wasp conversion, it won’t set us back that much,” Kyle explained. “After the rest of the base gets built, you might consider building another one of these bays; they’re pretty slick.”
    Ian made a note for himself to look into that. “Okay, issue the orders, but get with Beth before finalizing it. The Medical section may want to make some changes to the design.” Ian then turned to Ty and Luke.
    “There is a high possibility you two are going to host a full scale ground battle down there. Look at your defenses and see what can be improved or doubled. Keep in mind this enemy will be able to hurt you badly. If you need anything from us, ask. We’ll get it there as soon as we can. This fight is going to expose you to the governments of Earth. There is no way that can be avoided, but let’s try to not let the cat out of the bag prematurely. Right now, priority has to go to your defenses, but try to keep it covert. The last thing you’d need is a bunch of Virginia farm boys looking under all the rocks.”
    “I think I understand, Sir. How do you feel about mines?” Ty asked.
    “You can use them, but make damn sure that they are either recoverable or will never hurt anyone else. I think it goes