Meerclaw and the Gunboats - Part Three

 Debriefing at Zamyan

The fleet reconvenes at our recently reconquered planet of Zamyan, which also happens to be my home. Count R'Rorash calls a war council on the Titan for all of the senior Captains, including myself. Also present is the Baron, who has been our Count's second-in-command for several years now due to his seniority as a nobleman and, most interestingly, the fleet's Chief Science Officer. He watches the proceedings carefully.

The vid feeds play the course of events of our encounter with the new Lyran ships at their Battle Station, and the Count calls us to order. We all stand to attention and then the voice of the Patriarch of all Kzinti is broadcast into the room:

"Our highest honor, the War Medal First Class, is hereby awarded to Captain Meerclaw, currently of the Light Carrier Tempest, for audacity and initiative in the face of overwhelming odds. He not only saved two ships from the Lyran enemy, but has gathered military intelligence of such a significant nature that it has saved us from being surprised by a new enemy weapon. Sensor data gathered due to his orders will enable us to reverse-engineer a new type of Lyran ship so that we can counter it with a design of our own. The Captains who sacrificed themselves to help him retrieve this information are posthumously awarded the War Medal First Class and their personal citation messages will be relayed at their funerals. Honor!"

"Honor!" returns the assembly.

I must admit I was not expecting this. Count R'Rorash steps into the silence: "I now present the War Medal First Class to Captain Meerclaw. As you all know, recipients of this medal are ennobled by definition and Ser Meerclaw is awarded deeds to the lands where he grew up on the planet below us. Zamyan's infrastructure is unlikely to be given time to recover by the Lyrans, who are hungry for revenge after our recent campaigns. However, this is not an empty gesture so much as an important symbolic investment in our future. No matter how may times planets like Zamyan are conquered by the enemy, we will always return to take them back. Come forward, Ser Meerclaw."

I approach the podium as Count R'Rorash invests me and, once more, proclaims "Honor!" After the assembly's reply, he speaks again: "There will now be a short recess. As is traditional, I wish to congratulate Ser Meerclaw in private. As many of you will know, he has served with distinction in my County for ten years now, rising from junior fighter pilot to Captain of a Carrier. His family has achieved nobility within my jurisdiction. Dismissed!"

We retire to the Count's ready room and he grips my arm in the traditional mode of greeting and acknowledgement. "We have known each other for the best part of a decade now, Meerclaw, and I have to tell you that I have been watching your progress through the ranks for some time now." His familiar use of my given name is a compliment, especially since war casualties mean that he is effectively the Patriarchy's most senior noble. "Now I have a couple of people I want you to see; one you already know. Neither of them will be present at the forthcoming conference, but I want you to see what I am planning before I ask for your thoughts later. Please do not mention them to the other captains."

It is clear that the Count has ideas of his own that he wants to keep to a select few for the moment; it warms my heart to know that I am now one of his chosen. We enter his private conference room to find the other two already waiting for us. I greet my old comrade Sr'esint. We graduated from the academy together as fighter pilots, although he always was a slightly better flyer than I was. We served together for a while at the beginning the war until the vagaries of campaigning separated us. He stayed with the fighters while I was moved sideways into positions of growing shipboard responsibility. We have, though, stayed in touch; he now holds the rank of full Group Captain in command the Titan's fighters, which makes him the most senior fighter commander in the Count's Fleet.

The second officer I do not know, but his uniform bears the splashes of a senior Combat Tug Captain in the Fleet Logistics Service. Like his ships, he is short and powerful. He might be good foot shorter than the rest of us, but he is at least a foot wider. His eyes smile when he greets me and the Count motions to him to begin. "I am S'Grurs," he says, "Captain of Combat Tug designation-015." He notices the look of surprise on my face. "That is correct," he says, approvingly, "I can see from your expression that you are keeping well up to date with fleet logistics, as indeed the Honored Count has informed me. 015 is the latest Tug assigned to the war effort and its construction has been kept secret as we have incorporated new technology of our own."

S'Grurs punches up some schematics to the view screen. The Tug itself is outlined in section, although the main part of the display is taken up by a rather squat new fighter design; the label beside it is LFS, presumably meaning Large Fighter Shuttle, given the navy's predilection for really boring fighter names. S'Grurs continues, "These heavy fighters have been in development for several years now and Tug-015 will see their first deployment. As you can see from the schematics, she carries twelve of these advanced designs." He nods in the direction of Sr'esint and highlights various aspects of the fighter, "The LFS combines the best features of our interceptors and disruptor fighters. These fighters have two disruptor ports, each of which can fire twice before being depleted. They also carry four long-range Type III warheads; four standard Type-Is, and two dogfight drones for anti-fighter use. They can fire up to four missiles in a standard rotation as well as the heat seekers. They carry two FX and two RX phaser-3s, two chaff pods, and an EW pod as standard to improve survivability. As you can see, the design is also one-third larger than our current, most advanced TAAS fighters." I can see Sr'esint from the corner of my eye, itching to get his paws on one of these.

The Count takes up the narrative, "As you can see, gentlemen, our R&D teams have been busy improving our standard fighter technology. Unfortunately, new vessel variants are required to carry these fighters, since they are simply too large for existing bays. Our plan is to vary fleet composition when the Lyrans make their expected counter towards Zamyan. Instead of the Titan, I shall command the fleet from the Dreadnought Hegemony. The Titan is somewhat vulnerable at the moment due to lack of adequate escorts." He notes the look of agreement on my face. "Although as yet we have no fleet support ships fitted out for the new designs, I want to use Tug-015 as the main fighter element in at least the first of our upcoming engagements with the enemy as they advance. Please treat this information as entirely confidential." He turns to Sr'esint. "Group Captain, you will familiarize yourself with the new heavy fighters and lead them in their first test of combat against the invaders." Sr'esint's eyes smile in anticipation. "Now, gentlemen, Ser Meerclaw and I will rejoin the others for the next part of our Captains' discussion."