they will. The presence of Alliance ships at Grimaria threatens the security of the gates." He paused while thinking hard.
"Have the thirteenth assault fleet reassemble and gate to Hyperion immediately. Once they are clear, destroy the gates. The rest of the fleets at Grimaria are to locate and destroy the enemy ships as quickly as possible. Do we have a track on the ships that jumped from Grimaria?" Shalo asked.
She typed and got her answers. "Yes Master, they are heading for the gate devices. However, they cannot drop out of hyperspace close enough for a detailed scan. They will have to arrive in the midst of our current forces on location. Also the speed indicated by our sensors would show them to be smaller, Centurian class ships."
Shalo nodded. "Get them moving, Glamia, we're fighting the clock here. Those ships cannot be allowed to scan those gates."
"Orders sent, Master. Our commanders have anticipated your orders and had already begun acting on them. They had already begun moving to safe jump locations. The thirteenth has begun moving back to the gates and the capitol ships will make rendezvous at the gates. They should be able to depart in twenty minutes.
"The rest of the fleets are reassembling and preparing for the arrival of the enemy ships. They will not escape us, Master," Glamia said confidently.
"Glamia, they have spent the last week systematically laying waste to the base at Grimaria. They had to know the location of those gates. So why didn't they make a move on them sooner?" Shalo asked.
"Because of the Gates' location, there was no way even a cloaked ship could get within scanning range of the gates undetected. To attempt such a thing would be suicide. Perhaps their mission was to destroy the parts of this operation that they could reach, which would be the base at Grimaria. By doing so, they would cripple our efforts much as they have done. What we are seeing now is a last ditch, desperate attempt to get viable data on the gates before they are destroyed. Perhaps they believe they can get close enough to destroy them with missiles," Glamia replied.
Shalo looked thoughtful as he considered her words. "You may very well be correct, Glamia. However, I do not agree with you on the last assumption. Alliance forces do not engage in suicidal missions. There is something here we are not seeing, but for the life of me, I have no idea what it could be." Again he paused in thought. "What is the timing here? When will the enemy ships arrive near our fleets, and how close to that will the thirteenth gate out?"
Glamia typed for a moment. "Because of the faster engines on our ships, the thirteenth will gate out two minutes before the projected arrival of the enemy near our fleet."
"We could not detect them while they were in the Grimaria system. They had to know that we would detect their jump, which surrendered their advantage. How would they get it back? Would that invisibility hold while they were in the nebula?" Shalo asked himself. He shook his head. No matter how he looked at it, the gates had to be destroyed. The risk was simply too high to allow any other option.
"My orders stand," he said to Glamia. "But warn the commanders remaining at the gates that this enemy has advanced stealth capabilities. Inform the Hyperion Governor that we are sending assistance, but he is to immediately institute his corporate security protocols." He paused. "Tell our commanders that information on these enemies is secondary only to their main objectives. We need as much information on these ships and the race operating them as we can."
Glamia nodded and relayed the orders. Shalo sighed and added. "Tell the Garrison commander at Grimaria I need his damage and loss reports as soon as he gets them finished." He reached out and touched the icon from a system near to the one being assaulted. When it opened its information window he grinned. "Glamia, inform the twenty-ninth Circadian Guard about Hyperion."
Glamia paled. The
"Have the thirteenth assault fleet reassemble and gate to Hyperion immediately. Once they are clear, destroy the gates. The rest of the fleets at Grimaria are to locate and destroy the enemy ships as quickly as possible. Do we have a track on the ships that jumped from Grimaria?" Shalo asked.
She typed and got her answers. "Yes Master, they are heading for the gate devices. However, they cannot drop out of hyperspace close enough for a detailed scan. They will have to arrive in the midst of our current forces on location. Also the speed indicated by our sensors would show them to be smaller, Centurian class ships."
Shalo nodded. "Get them moving, Glamia, we're fighting the clock here. Those ships cannot be allowed to scan those gates."
"Orders sent, Master. Our commanders have anticipated your orders and had already begun acting on them. They had already begun moving to safe jump locations. The thirteenth has begun moving back to the gates and the capitol ships will make rendezvous at the gates. They should be able to depart in twenty minutes.
"The rest of the fleets are reassembling and preparing for the arrival of the enemy ships. They will not escape us, Master," Glamia said confidently.
"Glamia, they have spent the last week systematically laying waste to the base at Grimaria. They had to know the location of those gates. So why didn't they make a move on them sooner?" Shalo asked.
"Because of the Gates' location, there was no way even a cloaked ship could get within scanning range of the gates undetected. To attempt such a thing would be suicide. Perhaps their mission was to destroy the parts of this operation that they could reach, which would be the base at Grimaria. By doing so, they would cripple our efforts much as they have done. What we are seeing now is a last ditch, desperate attempt to get viable data on the gates before they are destroyed. Perhaps they believe they can get close enough to destroy them with missiles," Glamia replied.
Shalo looked thoughtful as he considered her words. "You may very well be correct, Glamia. However, I do not agree with you on the last assumption. Alliance forces do not engage in suicidal missions. There is something here we are not seeing, but for the life of me, I have no idea what it could be." Again he paused in thought. "What is the timing here? When will the enemy ships arrive near our fleets, and how close to that will the thirteenth gate out?"
Glamia typed for a moment. "Because of the faster engines on our ships, the thirteenth will gate out two minutes before the projected arrival of the enemy near our fleet."
"We could not detect them while they were in the Grimaria system. They had to know that we would detect their jump, which surrendered their advantage. How would they get it back? Would that invisibility hold while they were in the nebula?" Shalo asked himself. He shook his head. No matter how he looked at it, the gates had to be destroyed. The risk was simply too high to allow any other option.
"My orders stand," he said to Glamia. "But warn the commanders remaining at the gates that this enemy has advanced stealth capabilities. Inform the Hyperion Governor that we are sending assistance, but he is to immediately institute his corporate security protocols." He paused. "Tell our commanders that information on these enemies is secondary only to their main objectives. We need as much information on these ships and the race operating them as we can."
Glamia nodded and relayed the orders. Shalo sighed and added. "Tell the Garrison commander at Grimaria I need his damage and loss reports as soon as he gets them finished." He reached out and touched the icon from a system near to the one being assaulted. When it opened its information window he grinned. "Glamia, inform the twenty-ninth Circadian Guard about Hyperion."
Glamia paled. The
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