To Hell and Back (Hellworlder pirates)

Ch42 Battle for the Confederacy Pt.II

Battle for the Confederacy Pt.II

Bell, captain of the Beelzebub and chief tactical officer of the Hellworlder fleet stood with her ship's darkened CIC and studied the holographic display before her. Her husband, Michael, had taken over the minutia of commanding a battle cruiser while she focused all her attention on the chaos before her.

The Hellworlders had a major problem, one that couldn't be addressed right now but would soon need to be solved. The Hellworlders as an organization had no de facto leader. She served as the chief tactical officer of the fleet and often gave direction in battle, but in terms of leadership the mantel often fell to Lucile. Despite the fact that Lucile often had her own ship to command in battle, and couldn't divert her attention to things like tactics and strategy. And to make things even more confusing, when it came to matters of policy Astarte's voice held an almost presidential authority over things. Not to mention many often thought of her as the face of the organization, whether it was the Martian Prime Minister, Domnall, or even Kazlum, they all addressed her as if she were the sole leader of the Hellworlders.

Throw in her old subordinate Modius, who had substantial ties with the leadership of Torwen, and was unofficially still a member of their military, and you have a hot mess that complicated the chain of command.

They hadn't had to officialize the chain of command since all the Hellworlder ships were designed to operate separate from a greater chain of command. But now that they had begun to establish themselves as an organized fleet they would soon need to decide who was in charge. But those were all problems for another day, right now she needed to focus on the assembling enemy fleets.

Kazlum wasn't the only one to betray the confederacy, it seemed that a number of powerful and minor pirate clans had sided with him and his bid for the throne. They were all pouring out of the station with their weapons charged and ready to destroy whoever opposed them. A majority had formed a core around the Aunviry fleet that had trapped the Astaroth against the Kruhur fleet marked as K-B. The only thing that kept them from completely overwhelming Karega and the second fleet was their lack of organization and communication. In fact as things stood the more who joined the Aunviry fleet the less effective they became. But that wouldn't last long, even now they were starting to organize themselves. She had to think of some way to handle that, or else they might lose the whole second fleet.

Their salvation came in the form of an order from the king, any ship who participated in the ongoing battle outside was promised a very large reward. And for every confirmed kill they would earn a reward based on the tonnage of the ship they brought down. With the promise of bountiful riches pirates did what they always did and rushed into the battle with reckless abandon in pursuit of money. Even as she internally scoffed at the greed of pirates she ordered her computer and sensor techs to begin contacting the 'friendly' pirates and begin to weave them into the vast information web they had assembled.

They were hesitant at first until they began to see all the advantages the Hellworlder's information offered them. Some even offered to allow Bell to command and direct them in battle. She did her best to arrange the makeshift and patchwork pirate ships into a proper formation that could relieve some of the pressure on the second fleet. Those who were too prideful to listen to her commands were at least smart enough to listen when she told them to stay out of their way.

Once again the field of battle shifted in their favor, and even as one of first fleets destroyers went up in flames she began to feel optimistic about the battle ahead of them. Until K-C and K-D broke off their bombardment and began to maneuver over to them.