{"id":377,"date":"2015-07-13T12:42:53","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T12:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=377"},"modified":"2015-07-13T12:46:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T12:46:06","slug":"legacy-of-the-guardians-part-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ajscifistories.com\/?p=377","title":{"rendered":"Legacy of the Guardians – Part 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legacy of the Guardians<\/span><\/h2>\n

by AJ Marks<\/span><\/p>\n

Part 19<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack looked up at the knock on his door, waving George Dinen into the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, glad you made it,\u201d Jack said, putting a paper aside and rising to meet the vice-Admiral. \u201cWanted to say thanks for today, and congratulate you for such quick thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you sir,\u201d George replied, shaking Jack\u2019s hand, before sitting down again. \u201cGlad it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you justified my decision on promoting you. Some planetside had other thoughts about your promotion,\u201d Jack said to him, having sent off a couple of e-mails about what happened. \u201cI knew you were the right man for the job, Steve thought so to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m flattered,\u201d George said, not sure what else to say. Like Jack, he allowed his actions to speak for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou read that diversion quicker than I did,\u201d Jack said, knowing if George had not, they might not be sitting here talking about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, to be honest, I was nervous about doing that,\u201d George said. \u201cIt had the potential to backfire badly if I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of thinking in the field wins battles,\u201d Jack stated, knowing if George had gone by the book, Fleet R would have been too far away to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it seems like something the Skartians would do,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t changed tactics in years,\u201d Steve said, joining them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNope, always were more original with their ideas to conquer us from within than their battle plans,\u201d Jack said. \u201cThough, we should be cautious in dealing with them from here on out. With a new ally, they might learn some new tricks, and this might have been a way to test our combat readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may also not tolerate failure, so they might become involved directly as well,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat, an unknown,\u201d George said, echoing Jack and Steve\u2019s thoughts. \u201cI\u2019ll keep the fleet on alert for any new ships entering Sol space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might try another attack within a few days,\u201d Jacks aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat, the question becomes how soon, and where?\u201d George said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a couple of ideas, nothing much, or good, but perhaps between the three of us we can come up with some sort of plan that we can use against the Skartians,\u201d Jack said, standing up and pacing the room as he thought. He also wanted to cripple the enemy fleet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t fall for the same trap again, by the way, how many ships did they lose in that battle?\u201d Steve asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood question,\u201d Jack said, returning to the desk to sort through the information of the battle. \u201cHere it is, according to intelligence they lost thirteen ships in their attempt on the station and three in the diversion attempt, including four heavies. Our losses were only six ships.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny important ships?\u201d Steve asked, causing Jack to look at the report closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cA cruiser, two destroyers and two frigates to along with fifty-seven fighters,\u201d Jack said. \u201cOne battlecruiser, a cruiser, four destroyers and three frigates will require more than two weeks to repair, and one carrier, two battlecruisers, three cruisers and fifteen destroyers and frigates will need minor repairs, with all of them scheduled to be back in action by the end of the week. The Seydlitz survived without a scratch I see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformed perfectly,\u201d George replied having been on board it during the battle. \u201cHer shields are defiantly stronger than previous shields, and her power output, very impressive in battle. I know the tests showed promise, but in battle, it was something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we only had a fleet of them, we could end this war quickly,\u201d Jack said, thinking about the possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have to make do with one for now, with a second under construction, still going with old World War One battlecruiser names for this class?\u201d Steve asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, possibly the Goeben, or Mackensen, not sure yet,\u201d Jack replied, allowing his mind to stray off subject for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we do next?\u201d George asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime for a staff meeting, we\u2019ll do it on board the Seydlitz in two hours,\u201d Jack said, looking over at George. \u201cWill that give you enough time to prepare?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir,\u201d George replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, we\u2019ll see you then,\u201d Jack said, watching as George walked out and headed towards his ship. Steve looked back at Jack before mentioning something about getting though some reports before the meeting and headed off to his office.<\/p>\n

Jack set up a reminder on his calendar and went back to work, gathering up as much information as possible for the upcoming meeting. He decided to go over the old plans they had during the last war, and see if they might help out here.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Ahmed made a point on congratulating everyone on a job well done during the battle. They had managed to survive a battle no one expected to survive. Of course that was thanks to Admiral Dinen. He knew his crew, had worked with them before as their second in command, but it felt strange to now be the captain of the ship.<\/p>\n

He returned to his office to go over the numbers, checking to see how the ship performed in combat. He was disappointed to find it had performed only at fifty percent. He knew a lot of the problems came with the repairs, but still, he wanted to get that number up in case something else happened. The engine was scheduled to be done in a couple of days, and that would improve the effectiveness tremendously.<\/p>\n

He looked over the report from the damage control team, and saw no damage suffered during the battle, which relieved him tremendously. It would not delay the repairs on the ship. However, other combat losses could push back the readiness of the ship depending on damage to other ships.<\/p>\n

Ahmed hoped to be back in full combat readiness real soon. He ached to get back into combat.<\/p>\n

He recalled the battle, and wondered how Admiral Dinen knew they would attack the station. He felt relieved seeing the ships from the fleet coming out of the asteroid belt to help out in the defense.<\/p>\n

Seeing the Skartians fleet in full retreat was gratifying considering the situation. He wished he knew what might happen next.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Sam felt frustrated, all of his efforts had gotten him nowhere. In fact, his last attempt almost got him arrested. The only reason he had not been, the local police captain was also an undercover recruiter who recognized him. He gave Sam a warning that he wouldn\u2019t be able to help him a second time.<\/p>\n

Sam thought he had it all figured out in those couple of lines Marcus wrote. Same had a feeling he knew where he had to be, but once he got there, he had no idea what to do. Even if he did, he would not know what would happen. Would he be shown the same thing Marcus was? Sam really started to feel obsessed with the building, and wanted to know the answer to his question.<\/p>\n

He decided to approach the captain once more, and see if he could somehow get help. He had to be in a certain spot, and perhaps, the captain could arrange for a friendly patrol tonight, or someone who would look the other way for a couple of minutes.<\/p>\n

He quickly made his way out of his room and towards the police station.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you all for coming, as many of you know we are preparing for another Skartian attack. We believe that we can severely cripple the Skartian fleet on their next attack, which will put them, perhaps, in a negotiating mood,\u201d Jack said to the group. He looked out at the group of captains and other officials who could make the meeting. He hoped to get some beneficial ideas out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas there been any other intercepted messaged to or from Earth?\u201d one captain asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo in the past couple of days,\u2019 the intelligence officer replied, and continued on. \u201cBut, we have reason to believe that despite our recent capture of several Skartians on Earth more are still planetside. We are working on a way to pinpoint those areas even better to send in teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Lieutenant Kinsu,\u201d Jack said to the intelligence officer. \u201cAny other questions before we start the meeting?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you going to bring up the fleet from Earth to the station?\u201d Admiral Gansiu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to keep your fleet as part of Earth\u2019s defense until we have crippled their fleet a bit more and the threat of invasion is diminished,\u201d Jack said to him. \u201cI might be taking the second Carrier division and sixth battlecruiser fleet and placing it temporarily witih Fleet R, would that leave you with enough ships to stop an invasion?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019d still have three battlecruser and two carrier groups, that should be enough for whatever makes it though,\u201d Gansiu said after thinking about it for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, then fleet R will be temporarily made up of the first, third fifth and sixth battlecruiser fleet and the second and fourth carrier groups,\u201d Jack said moving on to the next point in the meeting. \u201cNow, we need to come up with a plan to prepare for another Skartian attack. It could come at any time, and they will probably use another deception like the previous one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack looked around at the group as the map came up in the center of the table. People began to murmur to the person next to them as they threw out ideas and arguments to such ideas. Jack did not even try to keep up with the amount of information coming out, and looked over at Steve.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems like a lot of ideas coming out,\u201d Jacks aid to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, seems like everyone likes using the idea of the asteroids to hide in,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Skartians will be looking for that one, seeing how I used it recently,\u201d George said, and Jack had to agree with him. That plan was probably out of the question now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about we keep a few ships in there, make them think that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Gansiu said, thinking out loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would serve a couple of purposes at the same time,\u201d Kinsu said. \u201cThey could scout out the fields making sure that the Skartian fleet can\u2019t sue them either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack listened in as the conversation turned to how they could use the asteroid belt to their advantage once more. They worked on what might come next if the Skartians invaded again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got an idea,\u201d Kinsu finally said, outlining an idea she had. Jack and other others listened as she spoke for the next couple of minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm, that just might work,\u2019 Jack said finally after giving it some thought. \u201cWe\u2019ll try it and see if anything happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

They hashed out a few of the details and finally after a couple of hours the meeting broke up, everyone leaving except Jack, Steve and George.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think it\u2019ll work?\u201d Steve asked, taking a sip of coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a well thought out plan, I think it has a good chance,\u201d Jack replied, thinking about the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about something to eat?\u201d George said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds good,\u201d Jack said, as they got up and headed to the cafeteria on board the ship.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou decided which ships you\u2019re going to have patrol the asteroids?\u201d Steve asked. As they were on board the elevator.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet, see which ships will require more extensive repairs and which ones can go out right away,\u201d George replied. \u201cDon\u2019t want to put too many there and not leave the fleet enough to respond with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWise plan,\u201d Jack said, as they reached the cafeteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ship is spacious even here,\u201d George said. \u201cWe were able to run around the bridge and not run into each other, a nice change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaves lots of room for upgrades.\u201d Jack said. They all knew upgrades were a fact of life with a warship. If it did not have the space, it could be quickly left behind.<\/p>\n

They went over and grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to work.<\/p>\n

End part 19<\/p>\n

Continued in part 20<\/a><\/p>\n

Comment below or send to AJMarks01@aol.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legacy of the Guardians by AJ Marks Part 19 Jack looked up at the knock on his door, waving George Dinen into the room. \u201cGood, glad you made it,\u201d Jack said, putting a paper aside and rising to meet the vice-Admiral. \u201cWanted to say thanks for today, and congratulate you for such quick thinking.\u201d \u201cThank […]
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