Lunch went nearly as it had the day before with Melbourne forced to sit next to Logan in line with the formation Lieutenant Lavender had made them assume.
After lunch, the group returned to the strategy training wing of the university where LTC Kara was once again waiting in the large classroom filled with VR stations.
"Welcome back!" said Kara. "I hope your second day of Induction Week is going well. Yesterday, you all finished two leadership simulations that tested your ability to lead a squad and a company of soldiers. Now, you will be tested on your ability to lead an entire battalion in battle as the scale of the conflict you have to manage escalates. Please sit in the same chair you occupied yesterday and begin the simulation. Good luck."
Melbourne sat down and was instantly transported to the bridge of a cruiser. In the window was an asteroid surrounded by a veritable fleet of ships guarding the docking bays.
"Congratulations, soldiers!" exclaimed a voice on a video screen. "I am Admiral Vance! Thanks to you, we have pushed the Astroman Rebels back to their base of operations! Now begins the final phase of the long and arduous Astroman War! It is time for the Siege of Astroprime, the small asteroid colony that represents the seat of their little 'empire'."
"Be advised that the 3rd Fleet is severely outnumbered and that the 1st, 2nd and 4th fleets will not arrive for another 24 hours. I'm sorry we sent you in so early but we received intelligence that one fleet was going to break away before our originally intended arrival to start a new colony in an unknown location. We cannot allow them the mercy to escape and generate more reinforcements. If we do not squash this rebellion here and now, the war will only drag on in the future. Be advised that you will likely be attacked the moment you engage the retreating fleet. It will take superb strategy and lightning fast initiative to win this conflict and keep your fleet alive."
"Colonel Acliate, I trust you to lead the 3rd Martian Fleet to victory and to bring glory to the Republic! Now, take down these rebels and show them that this sector of the Asteroid Belt belongs to Mars! Hoorah!"
"Hoorah!" responded Melbourne.
Melbourne glided to his command chair where he was shown a touch screen map of the entire battlefield as given from radar and other sensor data in the region.
[Your Fleet:
Cruisers: 1
Frigates: 10
Landing Shuttles: 20
Fighters: 100
Bombers: 100
Enemy Fleet:
Cruisers: 3
Frigates: 12
Landing Shuttles: 11
Fighters: 300
Bombers: 130]
The cruiser he commanded was shown as a dignified blue ship icon surrounded by several smaller blue ship icons that represented Martian frigates. Blue triangles represented friendly fighters while blue circles represented friendly bombers. Three dignified red icons around the asteroid represented the three cruisers leading the Astroman defense fleet. The exact same geometry of the red dots correlated to the equivalent ships of the enemy armada.
Based on Melbourne's understanding, cruisers and frigates could both hold specific numbers of fighters, bombers and boarding shuttles on their well shielded docking ports. A frigate could hold one shuttle and ten fighters or bombers while a larger cruiser, the flagship of a modern naval flotilla, could hold up to ten shuttles and one-hundred fighters. Fighters and bombers were interchangeable and usually had a similar sleek, dart-like design and a cockpit where the pilot was submerged in water to protect them from the normally lethal g-forces usually associated with space-based dogfighting.
A typical boarding shuttle could rapidly transport ten marines between ships and space stations for deployment or reassignment. A standard naval frigate could transport one-hundred troops across interplanetary space for deployment or to defend the halls along with the basic ship crew necessary to keep the craft functioning. The much larger cruiser-class ships could transport up to one-thousand marines on top of the necessary crew and some newer models featured a spinning section similar to the torus sections of most space stations that offered a fraction of Martian gravity for crewmen to train and sleep in. This allowed some lucky soldiers to live in artificial gravity during deployment off-world.
Melbourne spent a few minutes observing the data in his command terminal. They were disguised from enemy radar so they were as yet undetected by the Astroman Fleet. The movements of the rebel ships indicated to Melbourne which ship would be attempting an escape trajectory. As the general had said, Melbourne was heavily outgunned in the vicinity of Astroprime. He would have to figure out which fleet would attempt to break for it and maneuver his fleet to intercept.
It didn't take long for Melbourne to figure out which ship would be leaving. As the Astroman cruiser engaged its engines with a full payload of fighters and shuttles, it left Astroprime with three frigates and an entourage of several fighters.
"All ships, engage engines at forty-seven degrees solar northwest and twelve degrees up the solar plane. Expend fuel for a delta V of 10 m/s." Melbourne read these instructions over the fleet intercom to the commanders of every frigate in the 3rd Fleet from the computer based on its calculation from the desired flight trajectory he had drawn with his finger. He had chosen an interception path that he believed would give him more than enough time to destroy the enemy fleet before the other ships could arrive in time to defend them.
As the Martian ships began to accelerate, the simulation time warped to a time nearing the encounter with the enemy fleet. A flight that would have taken one hour was reduced to ten seconds.
Melbourne was now in a position to command his fleet in the engagement of the battle. He chose to have groups of three frigates take down the frigates first. The surprise bombing runs resulted in the quick destruction of the frigates before payloads of enemy fighters erupted from the enemy cruiser like swarms of locusts.
As the enemy was alerted to the 3rd Martian Fleet's position, the red dots around Astroprime reacted and began moving in the direction of the ambush. Without relying on stealthy ion engines to plot an interception course, they would arrive within twenty minutes. Melbourne had twenty minutes to complete the destruction of the first cruiser before he would be overwhelmed.
Melbourne engaged all fighters and bombers from his frigates and cruiser to swarm the enemy in a brutal battle that ended in a decisive victory with relatively few casualties on his side. The frigates didn't get a chance to release their bombers or fighters before the ambush and this resulted in a smaller number of defenders for the cruiser that was intended to colonize some remote section of space. The ensuing battle took five minutes. After this, the cruiser's shields and critical systems were severely damaged.
"Alright, fire a salvo at the enemy cruiser!" commanded Melbourne to the weapon's officer on his bridge.
"Sir yes sir!" responded the virtual Lieutenant, pressing a button. A barrage of missiles left Melbourne's cruiser and pierced through the undefended hull of the enemy cruiser.
The bridge erupted in cheers as the enemy cruiser fell in half and pieces of broken debris flew off it in a battered mess.
[Your Fleet:
Cruisers: 1
Frigates: 10
Landing Shuttles: 20
Fighters: 87
Bombers: 93
Enemy Fleet:
Cruisers: 2
Frigates: 12
Landing Shuttles: 11
Fighters: 156
Bombers: 98]
More salvos from 3rd Fleet frigates ensured a complete annihilation of the cruiser's population, turning the broken ship into a cloud of scattered debris.
Melbourne didn't share in the joy as he looked at the rest of the Astroman Armada approaching their location. The equivalent of two fleets were now approaching quickly and Melbourne did not have the element of surprise this time. He had completed the mission laid out to him by Admiral Vance but he now had to survive the retaliation until the other Martian fleets could arrive. A strategic retreat sounded attractive, but the enemy already had a fairly high acceleration. There was no way the 3rd Fleet could outrun the two rebel fleets that clearly still had them outnumbered. Melbourne felt like a sitting duck. In eight minutes, the enemy would be upon them with the wrath of a dying predator.