With the jump point secured, the two Royal Sovereigns, HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign, moved into Jörmungandr to conduct a sweep of the planets, followed by HMS Intrepid, which began a survey. While that operation was underway, Mamba 001 was detected approaching the Jörmungandr – Erebus jump point. HMS Europa transited into the system and launched a salvo of four Perseus missiles. They were of similar design to the Theseus, but with longer range in exchange for less speed and a smaller, strength-16 warhead. The Mamba was destroyed.
HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign checked the inner planets, both Venusian worlds, without any sign of alien ships, then moved toward Jörmungandr III, a superjovian with twenty-nine moons. From a hundred million kilometres away, they detected a substantial alien population on the first moon, an Earth-sized body with a large ice sheet, a dense nitrogen – methane atmosphere and a temperature that would vary between -50C and -90C as the superjovian moved around its nine-year orbit. The EM signature was 8650, similar to the British Empire’s largest colony of Vulcan’s Forge.
As the battleships drew closer, a much smaller population was detected on the ninth moon, with an EM signature of 200. Both populations had ground forces, with signatures of 51,000 tons and 1200 tons respectively, although that was likely to indicate a much larger force after taking fortification into consideration. The British Empire did not have particularly large ground forces, or advanced ground technology. Two armoured divisions were available, totalling a quarter of million tons, plus five infantry divisions, two of which were deployed at Vulcan’s Forge and New Carthage. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary lacked transport capacity, as the ten Ares class transports in service could only move two divisions in total, and two of the transports were on other missions at least two months travel time from Earth. If the Empire was going to start securing the colonies of hostile alien races, that ground force and lift capacity would have to grow considerably.
The two 60,000-ton battleships moved in closer to test the defences and came under fire at 155,000 km, from approximately twenty railguns. They pulled back out of range and opened fire. After ten minutes of bombardment all the surface-to-orbit weapons were silenced. The estimated civilian casualties were approximately one million, with a hundred installations destroyed. The battleships moved closer to the alien colony, checking for short-range defences, and came under fire again at 29,000 km. HMS Empress of India lost a quarter of her shields. They retreated once again and quickly eliminated the close-range defences. Once a suitable landing force had been assembled, the colony would be invaded and conquered.
On September 24th, two days after the engagement with the shore batteries in Jörmungandr, HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign detected the approach of a large alien force that had positioned itself directly between the two battleships and the Erebus jump point. There were eight ships of 37,200 tons, six of which were designated as Anaconda class and two as Cobra class, plus three ships of 24,800 tons, designated as Python class. They were all moving at 5,497 km/s, much faster than the two Royal Navy battleships. The battleships had pulled back a hundred million kilometres from the alien colony so they could monitor it while conserving fuel. The last thing they expected was an alien battle fleet appearing in their rear, possibly from a jump point somewhere in the inner system.
Given the speed disparity, there was no way to avoid engagement and the rest of the expeditionary force was three billion kilometres away. Captain Fraser ordered the Majestics and Diadems to enter Jörmungandr and move toward the two Royal Sovereigns at their best speed, leaving the two light cruisers to guard the jump point, but they were unlikely to affect the outcome. Captain Michael Davies, commanding the two detached battleships, decided to head back toward the colony, while being pursued by the enemy fleet. If his ships could not fight off the enemy relief force, he intended to do as much damage as possible in the meantime.
When the range dropped to forty-seven million kilometres, HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign launched a salvo of twenty-four Perseus anti-ship missiles, targeted on one of the Anacondas. Thirty minutes later they made their attack run at 20,000 km/s. Despite intense point-defence fire, a quarter of the missiles detonated, although two struck decoys. The rest failed to penetrate the Anaconda’s armour. A second wave inflicted five hits, but again without penetrating the armour. The Royal Navy battleships had no more Perseus missiles, but they retained enough Theseus missiles for five salvos, once the Erebus aliens were within four million kilometres.
Given their lack of success so far, the chance of prevailing in the inevitable energy range engagement seemed remote, so Captain Fraser ordered Captain Davies to attack the colony while he could. While there were civilians on the planet, it was also a key industrial target and the aliens had launched a sneak attack on the British Empire. The smaller colony lay directly in the path of the two battleships, so that was the first target. Three volleys were enough to eliminate all installations on the surface.
HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign moved on to the major colony and opened fire. While their volleys caused massive devastation on the surface, destroying dozens of installations, their limited maintenance supplies were being depleted far too quickly. When both ships dropped to two-thirds, with the population signature down by only ten percent, Captain Davies ordered both ships to only use their point defence railguns against the surface. The pursuing alien cruisers were thirty-four million kilometres away, so there was time for a more efficient attack. After thirty-one minutes of constant railgun bombardment, there was nothing left of the colony except smoking craters. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of installations had been destroyed, with the civilian casualties likely to be in the tens of millions. Almost all of the alien ground forces remained on the surface, but they had nothing left to guard.
The battleships broke orbit and prepared for their last stand against the alien fleet, now twenty-eight million kilometres away. Rather than flee directly away from the eleven alien cruisers, the battleships managed to cut the corner so they were moving across the system on a line slightly angled toward the Erebus jump point. They let the range drop to four point five million kilometres, then launched a wave of twenty-four Theseus missiles at the same Anaconda targeted by the two Perseus salvos. Fifteen of the missiles detonated on target. The Anaconda dropped out of formation, reduced to less than 1000 km/s.
While that was gratifying, the launchers required thirty-three minutes to recycle. When they fired again, targeting a Cobra, the range had fallen to just one point six million kilometres. The Cobra took seven hits, with two more missiles hitting decoys, but maintained its speed. It was unlikely the battleships would be able to launch any further missiles, because they would run out of time. Once the alien ships reached energy range, the battleships fired their 10”/50 turrets, missing at 254,000 km, then scoring a pair of strength-3 hits on the Cobra at 224,000 km, one of which penetrated its armour. The alien fleet suddenly came about ninety degrees and headed away, as if shocked by the range of the battleship weapons.
They held that course until the range opened to over a million kilometres, then apparently recovered their nerve and resumed their pursuit. The delay was enough for the battleships to launch another wave of Theseus missiles, directed against the second Cobra. If the first Cobra was so sensitive to attack by energy weapons, Captain Davies wanted to see if it would retreat again if fired upon. Cobra 002 suffered fifteen strength-25 detonations and dropped out of formation, dead in space. Cobra 001, damaged from the earlier salvo, five Anacondas and three Pythons continued the pursuit.
At 220,000 km, the battleships once again scored an internal hit on Cobra 001 and the alien ships pulled back. Unfortunately, the brief combat caused another maintenance failure in the expensive turrets. Both battleships were barely above fifty percent of their normal maintenance supplies. On the next approach, they initially held their fire, so there was no shot at 250,000 km. Instead, the first shot was fired at 214,000 km, resulting in five strength-3 hits on Cobra 001. Two penetrated and its speed dropped from 5500 km/s to 4580 km/s. This time however, it dropped behind the formation but all the remaining alien ships continued the pursuit.
HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign changed their targeting to Anaconda 002, peppering its armour with 10” and 5” laser fire. The Erebus aliens closed in inexorably. At 153,000 km, they returned fire. HMS Royal Sovereign suffered three hundred and forty-three strength-1 hits, wiping out her shields and inflicting significant armour damage. So far, the two battleships had failed to penetrate Anaconda 002’s armour with laser fire. Fifteen seconds later, the aliens fired again, with the range at 131,000 km. HMS Royal Sovereign took another four hundred hits, causing catastrophic damage and dropping her speed to 3000 km/s
Knowing that the end was near, both battleships reversed course and charged the enemy, trying to get closer for what would be their last 10” volley. They badly damaged the Anaconda, which turned to run, then both Royal Navy warships were completely overwhelmed by a hail of fire and blew up simultaneously. The Anacondas each had twenty-nine 8” railguns, while the Pythons had eight twin gauss cannon. HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign had crippled three alien warships, but the battle could not be considered anything less than a serious defeat. Only the economic damage inflicted on the as-yet-unknown alien race could be considered as balancing the books.
This new alien race appeared to be far more dangerous than the Vaelor Hegemony. While they seemed to eschew missiles entirely, their combination of high speed, strong armour and massed railguns made them a deadly close-range opponent and resistant to missile attack. For the short-term, until more could be learned, the Naval Intelligence Department assigned them the reporting name of Ophidians.
The Majestic class battleships HMS Illustrious and HMS Victorious and the Diadem class heavy cruisers HMS Europa and HMS Niobe ceased their dash to aid the Royal Sovereigns and fell back toward the Erebus jump point. They would only fight a defensive action now. The other two Majestics, currently at Port Albion, were directed to move into Erebus. That was only a temporary measure though given their limited endurance. The Royal Navy needed more battleships urgently, but none were even under construction. The salvage ship RFA Gryphon moved into Jörmungandr to salvage the Mamba near the Erebus jump point, while there was hopefully still time.
Three days after the loss of HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign, an Ophidian squadron comprising three Vipers and a single Sidewinder approached the Erebus jump point. Rather than approach and attack, they closed to within forty million kilometres then danced back out of sensor range. None of the Royal Navy warships were fast enough to bring them within missile range. The Perseus had an effective range of about forty-five million, but the Ophidians had a speed of 5500 km/s, compared to 20,000 km/s for the Perseus, so they could run the missiles out of fuel if they immediately retreated.
Five days after initial contact, the Ophidian squadron moved to within thirty-two million kilometres. Captain Fraser decided to risk an attack, although he was conscious of retaining his missile inventory in case the enemy ships were joined by the squadron that had destroyed the battleships. HMS Illustrious and the heavy cruiser HMS Niobe launched a total of eleven Perseus missiles, four of which came from the cruiser, at the Sidewinder. The target and number of missiles was chosen carefully. The Jörmungandr – Erebus jump point was not stabilised and the Sidewinder was the enemy squadron’s only jump-capable ship. Taking it out would prevent a squadron transit. HMS Niobe had eight Perseus in inventory, while HMS Illustrious had twenty-two, so the salvo size left them each with a single full salvo of Perseus from their four and fifteen launchers respectively. HMS Europa, the other heavy cruiser in the Expeditionary Force had four remaining, while HMS Victorius had thirty.
The Ophidian squadron turned to run, but the Perseus caught them just inside their maximum range. Seven missiles detonated on target, with the others destroyed by point defence. The Sidewinder ceased all movement, as the other ships continued to flee. The Expeditionary Force moved out toward the crippled jump ship, with HMS Illustrious taking fire at 155,000 km. The battleship returned fire with her secondary armament until she had disabled the enemy weapons. Two hours later, a River class marine transport arrived from the jump point, allowing the 7th and 8th Royal Marine companies to board and capture the Sidewinder. While the Royal Marines were being recovered by HMS Thames, the three Vipers continued to move in and out of sensor range.
Shortly after the brief engagement, HMS Intrepid discovered a jump point midway between the Erebus jump point and the site of the devastated Ophidian colony. Given its location, it was almost certainly the origin of the fleet that trapped and destroyed the two Royal Navy battleships. A Pathfinder cutter was dispatched to investigate.
The cutter transited and discovered a planetless brown dwarf system, orbited by a couple of lonely comets. The Naval Intelligence Department decided to continue with the Norse theme set by Jörmungandr and called the new system Ymir, after the first primordial being. There was no sign of any Ophidian ships. HMS Intrepid emplaced a sensor buoy on the Jörmungandr – Ymir jump point, then continued with her gravitational survey, while the Pathfinder returned to Erebus.
On October 18th, a new Ophidian fleet, comprising six Anacondas, two Cobra and three Pythons, transited into Jörmungandr from Ymir and was detected by the recently placed buoy. While it had the same composition as the fleet that destroyed the two Royal Sovereigns, these were all previously undetected ships. The three Vipers were still near the Expeditionary Force at the Erebus jump point, moving in and out of detection range. The new fleet wasted no time in heading directly for the Expeditionary Force, destroying the buoy en passant.
The two Pelorus light cruisers of the Expeditionary Force had retreated into Erebus, leaving the Majestic class battleships HMS Illustrious and HMS Victorious and the Diadem class heavy cruisers HMS Europa and HMS Niobe on the Jörmungandr – Erebus jump point. HMS Illustrious had armour damage and all the ships had used some of their missiles. However, unknown to the Ophidians, the other two Majestic class battleships, HMS Magnificent and HMS Majestic, had recently arrived on the Erebus side of the jump point, which meant the two sides were roughly equivalent in tonnage, although the Ophidians were faster and had superior electronic warfare, plus their ships generally did not have jump drives so they could mount more weapons.
From Captain’s Fraser’s perspective, the lack of Ophidian jump drives was also a potential weakness. The two Cobras in the enemy force were known to have twenty-three 8” railguns, while the six Anacondas had twenty-nine each. As the two designs were roughly the same size, that strongly suggested to Captain Fraser that the Cobra/Anaconda relationship was similar to the Sidewinder/Viper, with the former providing jump capability to the latter. Therefore his minimum objective for the forthcoming battle was to eliminate the Cobras and prevent the fleet entering Erebus. Beyond that, he planned to cause as much damage as possible with missiles and lasers, then retreat through the jump point before the Ophidians entered railgun range.
At thirty million kilometres, the Expeditionary Force launched a wave of sixty-eight Perseus missiles, targeted on two of the smaller 24,800-ton Pythons. The Pythons were equipped with eight twin gauss turrets, giving them sixty four accurate shots every five seconds. Removing them would improve the ability of the Expeditionary Force to achieve subsequent missile hits. Twenty minutes after launch, the missile wave arrived at its target amid intense point defence fire. Ten missiles were distracted by decoys and thirty-eight were shot down. Nine missiles struck Python 004 with their strength-16 warheads, three of which penetrated armour, but with no visible effect. Eleven struck Python 005, with two penetrating armour. The cruiser dropped to half speed and fell out of formation.
As a result of the attack, the Ophidian fleet began moving away. This behaviour had been observed in the previous battle, with the Ophidians apparently requiring a minute or two to regroup before resuming their advance. Six minutes later, the main fleet came about and set a course for the Erebus jump point, while the damaged Python headed for the Ymir jump point. The Expeditionary Force left the jump point, to give itself manoeuvring room, and launched a second salvo with the fleets seventeen million kilometres apart. HMS Illustrious and the two heavy cruisers were out of Perseus missiles, so the salvo was reduced to forty-five missiles. One third were directed against the damaged Python still in the fleet, with the rest targeted on the undamaged Python.
Python 004 took a further 3 hits, one of which penetrated its armour, but still without affecting its speed. Python 006 decoyed two missiles, but was struck by thirteen strength-16 detonation, including five penetrations. Its speed dropped to 4123 km/s, causing it to break formation. So far, in this battle and the previous engagement with HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign, the Royal Navy had damaged numerous Ophidian heavy cruisers, but failed to destroy any of them. The Expeditionary Force was now out of Perseus missiles and would have to rely on the much shorter-range Theseus. As in the aftermath of the first salvo, the Ophidian fleet reversed course and moved away, except for the newly-damaged Python which continued toward the Erebus jump point alone until the rest of the fleet resumed its approach.
The Expeditionary Fleet continued toward the approaching Ophidian fleet. When they were four point four million kilometres apart, the four Majestics and two Diadems launched sixty-eight Theseus missiles, split between the two Cobras that were believed to be jump-capable. The two Pelorus light cruisers launched a total of eight Daedalus light missiles at the damaged Python that had remained in the main body.
Cobra 004 was struck by nine strength-25 warheads, three of which inflicted internal damage. Cobra 003 took only five before being ripped apart by three consecutive secondary explosions. The first Ophidian cruiser to be destroyed. The Daedalus missiles served as a distraction, but only one hit Python 004, once again without visible effect. Thirty Theseus missiles missed their target on the first attack. Ten of those were already targeted on Cobra 004. The rest no longer had a target due to the destruction of Python 003, so they used their onboard sensors to find a new target. Python 006, now trailing 900,000 km astern of the other ships, was an attractive target due to its slower speed, so all but one of the Theseus headed straight for it. The other chose an Anaconda.
Cobra 004 suffered a further six strength-25 hits, five of which penetrated and triggered a strength-30 secondary explosion that disabled all its engines. The nineteen Theseus missiles targeting the wounded Python blew it to pieces. Seven ships remained in the Ophidian fleet; Six undamaged 37,200-ton Anaconda class heavy cruisers and the Python that had survived three waves of missiles without losing an engine. The only other ship on sensors was Python 005, damaged earlier in the battle and now limping toward the Ymir jump point. Eight more Daedalus missiles were already moving toward the Ophidian fleet, targeted on the Python. They had been launched in error as Captain Fraser had not issued a specific cease fire order after the Theseus launch. Despite the small number of missiles. They achieved three hits, one of which penetrated. Somehow, the Python survived again without losing any engines.
Given that unexpected success, Captain Fraser ordered another Daedalus launch. Unlike the capital missile launchers that required thirty-three minutes to reload, the light Daedalus missiles could be fired every two minutes. All of the missiles were shot down or missed, but the enemy fleet reversed course temporarily. The course reversal meant the Expeditionary Force would now have time to reload their capital missile launchers before the Ophidian fleet reached the Erebus jump point. The Expeditionary Force was six million kilometres from the jump point, with the Ophidian at a little over nine million. Captain Fraser ordered a Daedalus volley at the stationary Cobra jump cruiser and a second at the incredibly resistant Python 004.
Cobra 004 took five strength-5 hits from the Daedalus but remained intact, so Captain Fraser ordered another salvo. Meanwhile the main Ophidian fleet continued to retreat as the already launched Daedalus salvo closed in. The Python escort cruiser suffered yet another pair of strength-5 hit and still remained at full speed. The ship seemed to be indestructible. Apparently inspired by the smallest ship in their fleet, the Ophidians came about and started closing on the Expeditionary Force, which also reversed course toward the Erebus jump point. Despite the successes of the Royal Navy missile attacks, the core of the Ophidian fleet, six 37,200-ton Anaconda class heavy cruisers, remained completely intact.
Another wave of Daedalus struck the crippled Cobra, finally destroying it. Whatever the outcome of the battle, the Ophidian fleet could not enter Erebus, assuming that the Naval Intelligence Department was correct and the two Cobras were jump cruisers. Two more salvos of eight Daedalus were launched at the Python escort cruiser in the main body, scoring one hit from each salvo. Finally, its speed fell to 4123 km/s. As usual when their ships took damage, the Ophidians reversed course to regroup. The capital missile launchers of the Majestics and Diadems were still thirteen minutes away from being reloaded. HMS Pomone and HMS Psyche only had eight missiles each remaining, but as the damaged Python was still faster than the Expeditionary Force, Captain Fraser ordered them to exhaust their magazines. They achieved two hits from the second salvo but could not slow down the incredibly resilient vessel.
Remarkably, after taking the last two hits, the Python suddenly reversed course and headed for the Expeditionary Fleet, while the six Anacondas continued to retreat. The suicidal attack was stopped cold by the 8” lasers of HMS Niobe and HMS Europa. The only motive that Captain Fraser could find was perhaps that the battered Python had no weapons remaining and was attempting to ram. Four Ophidian ships had now been destroyed. In any event, the Anacondas were still retreating and this time it appeared to be a strategic withdrawal rather than a tactical regrouping. There was still another damaged Python, ahead of the Anacondas for the moment, but it would eventually be caught by the Expeditionary Force. Despite the risk, Captain Fraser decided to pursue the faster Anacondas in the hope of picking off the wounded Python. It soon became apparent the alien heavy cruisers were not heading for the Ymir jump point, but were starting to veer off on a different heading.
Eventually, the Anacondas were on a course perpendicular to the Expeditionary Fleet, as it pursed the wounded Python. They were either moving to another jump point, or choosing to remain in Jörmungandr rather than be forced back into Ymir. Once the Python was within range, three 10” salvos from HMS Magnificent and HMS Majestic were sufficient to destroy it. HMS Pomone picked up the survivors, then the Expeditionary Force began to retreat toward the main group of Ophidian wrecks to await the arrival of a salvage ship. Although the core of the enemy force remained intact, the battle of the Erebus jump point was a Imperial victory. Five enemy ships had been eliminated and the jump point remained secure, although the missile inventory of the Expeditionary Force was becoming a concern.