UGT (Unified Galactic Time): 17th Revol (July) 280 a.G.A. (after Galactic Armistace) / 8:46 p.m.

  Location: ASF Destroyer Aurora, Schwarzfels system (red giant), (Outer-)Noran Principality, Kingdom of Ferron, Milky Way

  Honestly, when the ASF Aurora left hyperspace and entered the Schwarzfeld system, I expected the same scene as in the Eisenfall system. Schwarzfeld, according to Fen it would mean something along the lines of 'black field' or 'black area' depending on the meaning. An ironic name, considering the red giant blazing in the middle of the system. Except for the reaches of space, nothing here could be called black or dark.

  Either way, the system was utterly worthless to Ferron. No habitable planets, barely any mining outposts as there was no asteroid ring either, and just a single orbital habitat around the sole gas giant of the system. The most value the system held was that a hyperlane went through it and that's it. In accordance, Admiral von Kr?henfels stood nothing to lose in giving up the system.

  [Sensors are all online, shields and weapons are up. The singular habitable station in the system is powered down and seemingly abandoned. Furthermore 46 freighters are currently on the move towards the hyperlane entry point towards the Felsmark system. We also have a Ferron military fleet, without a doubt the fleet of Admiral Kr?henfels, in a waiting position directly in front of the hyperlane exit point. ]

  While Fen spoke a holographic screen snapped up in front of me, giving me a visual to what Fen talked about. And indeed, a small river of Freighters stretched all the way from the orbital station towards the hyperlane entry point on the other side of the Schwarzfeld system. What Fen had not said however was that it wasn't just Freighters making up that stream. No, a quick glance revealed that besides the 46 Freighters there were hundreds of smaller ships as well making their way towards the edge of the system as quickly as possible. Retrofitted liners, emergency transports, mining ships, luxury yachts. Everything capable of hyperspace flight, no matter how outdated, was apparently up in the air.

  "Fen, I need numbers on the Ferron fleet and your take on what's going on here," I commanded, my own thoughts already racing. Just like Eisenfall, Admiral von Kr?henfels was evacuating the system utterly, clearly not trusting us and the SHF to keep to the galactic war convention. In other words, they expected us to shoot at civilians should they give us a chance to.

  [ 33 ships of Ferron origin, consisting of two Battlecruisers, three Cruisers, eight Destroyers, nine Frigates and eleven Corvettes. Furthermore the 16 ships of Association origin, consisting of another Battlecruiser, two Cruisers, five Destroyers, four Frigates and four Corvettes. ]

  My jaw clenched slightly. The fleet under Admiral von Kr?henfels was continuing to grow. Not by much, meaning he probably had already recruited everything that he could quickly gather, but his fleet would only continue to grow as his call for reinforcements reached bigger parts of Ferron. Still, 49 ships, even if better organized than the Association chaos in the Inner-Noran sector, were still within the ASF Aurora's capabilities to handle with the help of the SHF. Fen in the meantime continued with his report.

  [ Admiral von Kr?henfels clearly cares a great deal of the civilian population and doesn't want his tactic of retreating from territory to harm them. Or rather, he doesn't want the damage to his political image should civilians die to us due to his plan leaving them behind. And seeing how he's still in this utterly worthless system he either has a trap ready and waiting for us or, what I find more likely, the Kingdom of Ferron is running out of available Freighters to transport off the civilians. It’s not surprising when you think about how they had to evacuate three entire systems within little over a month. That must be millions of civilians. The Felsmark system must be overfilled with refugees already. ]

  I nodded along to Fen's assessment. It made sense that Ferron reached their transportation limits. But that also meant that Admiral von Kr?henfels reached the limits of how far he could retreat. The next system, Felsmark, was a system with not one but two habitable planets. The first one was a major population and industrial hub of Ferron with nearly 100 million people living on it, the second one was a smaller agriculturally focused world with roughly 16 million people. There was no way Admiral von Kr?henfels could or would evacuate that system.

  "I think you're probably right, Fen," I replied. "It looks very much like he's just running late on his own evacuation plan, which really isn't surprising. Still, keep your eyes open for traps and tell Admiral Thorrison to do the same. We know how tricky Admiral von Kr?henfels can be."

  [ Of course. So what are we gonna do? ]

  A dozen tactical options rolled behind my eyes. I could split the ASF Aurora off and push ahead alone, accelerate the jump and trap the convoy en route, engage the fleet itself until the Federation caught up. But out of all these options not many were actually viable.

  A quick look at the holoscreen in front of me showed that even with maximal acceleration the ASF Aurora wouldn't reach the convoys in time. Challenging the fleet of Admiral von Kr?henfels alone was still a risk I was unwilling to take, especially seeing how they stood within the hyperlane entry zone, meaning he could jump out of the system whenever he wished. And combat in hyperspace was both nearly impossible and highly unadvisable, even for an Aetherian ship. Admiral von Kr?henfels was also clearly more suspicious than the Association had been. Their hypershields were up and fully powered, even if they couldn't know that the ASF Aurora had a way of reaching them in seconds.

  With a sigh I leaned back in my chair. "There is no viable solution for us to fight Admiral von Kr?henfels here, is there? It's the same risks as two days ago, and we still cannot take them."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  [ I unfortunately must agree with your assessment. We might be able to take out a few smaller ships, but we would have to reveal our jump-capabilities in-system. And seeing how we would need most of our emergency jumps to reach them, there is no telling if they might manage to react in time to leave the system as well. And it would be unwise to spook Admiral von Kr?henfels into retreating even further, giving him more time to gather a fleet. Worst case, he might even decide to call in the Ferron home fleet should he think himself incapable of handling us. ]

  I continued to mull over my options in my head, as suddenly I got an idea and shot up in my seat. "That's it! Fen get me Admiral Thorrison on the line right fucking now. We may not be able to engage Admiral von Kr?henfels his fleet right now, but we can very much make sure he won't risk retreating further than the Felsmark system!"

  Fen didn’t waste time questioning me. Instead, another holoscreen popped up in front of me. For a heartbeat there was only static, then Admiral Thorrison’s face resolved, hard-lit by his own bridge displays. "Captain Lunaris," he said. "I assume this is urgent?"

  "It is," I replied. "And I can already tell you, your 'modern' war sentimentalities are not going to like it."

  Admiral Thorrison's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly but he nodded, nonetheless. "Proceed. And please don't waste either of our time while we're in a system with active enemy forces."

  With a shrug I complied and got directly to the point. "I intend to jump the FSF Aurora ahead of Admiral von Kr?henfels’ evacuation corridor," I said. "You know of the FSF Aurora's emergency jumpdrives. They will get me across the system easily and essentially in no time at all. I will interdict the civilian traffic while they're still out of range of the Ferron fleet."

  Silence. Admiral Thorrison just looked at me with something between shock and disbelief, clearly unsure if he heard me right. "You will what?” he asked finally, very quietly. "And don't sugarcoat it."

  "Very well. My plan is to take out as many evacuation craft as I can reach before his fleet reacts," I said evenly. "I think you at the SHF call indiscriminate destruction. Was that clear enough?"

  Admiral Thorrison stood up so abruptly his chair scraped across the deck. "Absolutely not!" he snapped. "Shooting at civilians is a war crime Lunaris! Not some grey area or loophole! That is a textbook violation of the Galactic War Conventions! You would be massacring civilians!"

  I met his stare without blinking. "And? It might win us the war."

  "That’s not a justification anyone will recognize!" he shot back. "Or the press or history for that matter! You’d hang for this! And so would I, for allowing it!"

  I leaned forward, bracing my hands on the console. "Admiral," I said, keeping my voice level, "you and I both know how the moment we lose momentum we have lost anyways. So, I'll remind you, our entire operational win condition, the one you agreed to, was predicated on threatening orbital bombardment of Ferron’s capital world. Not a military target but a population center. Billions of civilians."

  Admiral Thorrison's lips pressed into a thin line. "This is different!" Admiral Thorrison said sharply.

  "How so? Just because in this case I'll actually do it? Did you truly believe my promise to utterly destroy the Ferron capital world should they not fold was an empty threat, something we could talk ourselves out of in front of court?"

  He exhaled through his nose, slow and controlled. "You’re asking me to sanction the deliberate destruction of refugee transports. Do you have any idea what that will do to the SHF?"

  "Yes," I said. "It will save it."

  That made him laugh. A short, bitter sound. "You think turning us into monsters saves us?"

  I just rolled my eyes. "Please. I'm not asking you to sign off on anything. I'm not even part of the SHF. I'm only informing you of what I'm going to do in a few moments. Admiral von Kr?henfels is at his logistical limit. He cannot evacuate Felsmark. He cannot retreat past it without abandoning his house’s core territories. And he cannot afford another optics disaster."

  "He’s already evacuating civilians so that they don't suffer under his tactic and our rule," Admiral Thorrison said. "That helps his image if anything."

  "Only if they survive," I replied with a cold grin. "If I strike those convoys it won’t look like Ferron protecting its people. It will look like Ferron failing to protect them. Every dead transport becomes his responsibility. He will lose all of his political support in an instant.

  "And you think that forces Admiral von Kr?henfels to fight?" Admiral Thorrison asked.

  "I think it forces him to choose," I replied. "Either he turns his fleet around, engages the ASF Aurora alone to shield the evacuation, and in doing so leaves the hyperlane entry zone, giving the Federation time to catch up and annihilate him together with me or-"

  "-or he stays put,” Admiral Thorrison said quietly, finishing the thought. "He lets the damage happen and locks himself into the Felsmark system with his reputation bleeding out behind him."

  "Either way," I continued, "he stops retreating. There will be no more reinforcements coming for him. This chase will end in the Felsmark system."

  Admiral Thorrison turned away from the camera, hands gripping the edge of his own console. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. "And what happens to you, Captain?" he asked. "What happens when this becomes public? And make no mistake, it will."

  I didn’t hesitate. "I take responsibility," I declared. "I already will and I know that the SHF won't be a fan of me once all of this is over."

  He looked back at me sharply. "You think they won’t use this to bury you?" he demanded. "That they won’t make you the example? Especially if they can get the ASF Aurora in the process?"

  A dangerous glint entered my eyes. "Oh, they can certainly try," I said. "But I'm sure they won't dare to touch a First Federation ship. Not like they have the ability to with how occupied they are in their war."

  "This is not why I joined the SHF," Admiral Thorrison said quietly. Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. Finally, the Admiral closed his eyes. "When the war ends, I will stand before a tribunal. They will ask me why I didn’t stop you."

  "Yes," I said slightly impatient. At that point we were repeating us and, more importantly, wasting precious time.

  "And I will tell them," he continued, "that I knew exactly what you were doing and I let it happen."

  I inclined my head. "That would be accurate. But it's not like you could stop me either."

  Another long pause. Then, barely above a whisper, he continued. "You leave me no alternative." Admiral Thorrison opened his eyes, and whatever softness had once lived there was gone. "Fine. Do what you think is necessary."

  "That’s all I need," I said.

  "If this fails," he added nearly under his breath, "we are finished."

  "If this fails,” I replied, “we were finished anyway."

  The channel cut. I exhaled slowly, then turned towards the holoscreen again. "Prepare emergency jump parameters," I ordered. "Target civilian evacuation craft outside of the range of the Ferron warships."

  [ Understood. ]

  I nodded once. "Then let’s force an Admiral von Kr?henfels to make his stand."