Embers is Publishing Now

 

  The Ragnarok trilogy comes to a feverish conclusion as the Xenos continue their reign of terror across the galaxy.

  The war has been brutal, entire sectors of the galaxy have been burned as star after star are destroyed in the fighting. The surviving Federation forces need a symbol, a leader, anything to rally around for the last big push to end the war. But will that person be Captain Perry or will he fall on his face trying to be a hero like his late father? The entire civilized galaxy rides on his shoulders and that is a lot of weight for anyone. But he's a Perry, and he's determined to see the war through to the end no matter the cost.

 

As usual I'll put the links up when they go live:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R3123LK

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/embers-chris-hechtl/1138502574?ean=2940162680208

Well, I'm adding this to the post so I don't bury the news about Embers.

   It has been a tough year, Covid, lockdowns, the election mess, loss of family, and family moving away. I hope 2021 is a better year. When you are near the bottom the only way is up right? Hopefully that proves true.

Oops, he's checking the list! Are you on the naughty list or good list? :)

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Embers Snippet 4

 So, still a little under the weather but getting better.

Projects are slowly getting ticked off, slower than I'd hoped but Dad's stepped in to help. :)

Anyway, FYI: Goodlifeguide.com said they will be done with Embers by this weekend, so expect it Sunday or Monday.

On to the snippet:

Chapter 4

 

Phi Capital

 

Since his ship's crew were stuck on board, Vince put the XO and chief engineer to work having the crew work on repairs and training. Anyone who passed their certifications was given a brief liberty pass. Anyone who got a system repaired got a pass too, plus something to trade for some credits on the black market.

There was a lot of muttering about the lack of pay and lack of downtime. He couldn't do anything about it. Every time he tried to talk to someone in the Admiralty, he was politely told it was above his pay grade and to just do his job.

There was no movement on their next set of orders. He ended up surfing the network, such as it was, and then getting into discussions with other skippers on a special channel reserved for them. He wasn't surprised that morale was in the crapper.

He listened and built a picture of the strategic situation. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as he thought it was locally.

He brought the tactical department on board to run a series of simulations. What it boiled down to was the sector and the big picture. He had a couple outlandish thoughts about that.

Everyone was stuck on how screwed they were because they lacked keys and leadership. He set those problems aside and focused on what they could do. He suggested they reassess the situation with fresh eyes.

Nine Xeno fleets had come through the gate from Canis at the Crellis star system. Two had remained in Rho sector; one had gone to Omicron, another to Beta sector, another to Tau, another to Alpha, Sigma, one to Phi, and one in Epsilon sector.

“Now, according to all reports, the ones in Rho, Omicron, Beta, Alpha, and Sigma have been beaten and destroyed. That leaves Tau, Epsilon, and the one here, right?”

“So?” Captain Schafer demanded.

“So, we have to stop them. Here.”

“And how do we do that?” A Veraxin captain buzzed in amusement. “Please, lend us your insight.” The sarcasm was scathing.

Vince ignored it. He knew what he was about to suggest was going to put the “cat among the pigeons” figuratively. He didn't care.

"The enemy has sent out kill fleets across the galaxy. They are there to destroy our logistics and to divert us and keep us on the defensive. It has divided us, and we need a counter." He paused and then took the plunge “What I'm suggesting is that we destroy the hyper bridges as a strategic move. Cut off shipping to Epsilon for instance.”

The entire network went silent for a solid two minutes.

“Why would we do something insane as that?” A bear captain demanded.

“We build a firebreak. We can't fight on two fronts, let alone three or four. So, we cut the Xeno's ability to spread like lightning. We cut them off from coming here and we cut them off from jumping around our sector.”

“News flash, it will hurt us too. We won't be able to get reinforcements in a timely manner.”

“Like we're getting much if any now?” someone asked caustically. "We don’t have ansibles so we can't whistle up help like before. By the time we get someone to an area, the battle is over and done with."

"So, killing the bridges will hurt both sides," another captain said.

“Ah, but we keep the hyper bridges we want to use open and spread the news that they were destroyed,” Vince stated with a smirk. "We are faster than they are in hyperspace and subspace. We play that off as the reason we can move so fast."

The others took on looks ranging from disbelief to thoughtful curiosity.

“What about our own people? They won't be happy about our destroying the bridges.”

“No, but they'll be less happy about the Xenos showing up on their doorstep. We can't be everywhere. We can't win this war on the defensive. We have a limited number of keys and shipyards left. A limited number of people. We have the draft, but the people we get now are going to be hit or miss on training. Every ship and station are going to become a classroom at some point.”

A few faces grimaced. They were already dealing with that, also people wanting to leave and run. Vince had been shocked to hear that over a dozen ships had gone missing and were now reported as deserters. That hurt.

“We don't have to tell them we destroyed the bridges,” the captain stated. Captain Schafer gave him a sharp look.

Captain Watney snorted. The captain was one of the senior-most captains in the fleet. He was the flag captain of Admiral Idble's Bear Claw, their lone Olympus class Battle Planet. They all turned to him. “I like it. We cut off the fire. Set a backfire to stop them from spreading behind us while we deal with the threat to our front. We can concentrate our forces on one threat at a time. Once we are done, we can go back and deal with them. They on the other hand will have to spread slowly without the bridges.”

Vince's errant mind said something about Yogi and Smokey the Bear but he ignored the humor to remain focused.

“Right. And by telling people the Xenos destroyed the bridges we don't catch the flack. By telling them all of the bridges were taken down by the Xenos, they won't go to them and word will eventually get to the Xenos. Those left we can use in secret,” Captain Waterfall said. “Good thinking, Perry.”

“Thank you, ma'am.”

“I think we need to look into this strategy further,” Captain Watney said, looking to the other virtual senior officers in the compartment. “Vince, we need to write this up. I suppose you have been thinking about it for a while?”

“Yes.”

“Did you by any chance run some sims?” Captain Watney asked. What had started as the usual bull session to blow off steam had turned into something else. There was suddenly interest in the group.

“As it happens, yes I did.”

“Good. Forward them to us. I am classifying this idea under my own authority. But we can work on it and refine it ourselves before pitching it to the brass.”

That got the other officers interested in putting in their two cents.

<<<*>>>

Embers Snippet 3

 So, I am a bit under the weather, stomach bug or something bit me hard. That sucks. I'm trying to keep up with my Christmas projects anyway.

Anyway, on to the snippet!

Chapter 3

 

Phi Sector Capital

 

Captain Senior Grade Vince Perry Junior felt no comfort at returning to the capital. Sure, there was a fleet around the star system, a shipyard, millions, possibly billions of people … but they were just targets. They were all just targets these days.

Dead men walking he thought bleakly, eyes ignoring the sight of an orbital fortress nearby.

“Sir, we've been redirected to a parking buoy,” the communication tech on duty in the bridge said almost apologetically.

“Feed the frequency to navigation. Plot a course and get us there,” the captain said with a nod.

He should be letting his junior officers take the milk run through the star system. They needed the seasoning, some more so than others. But he hadn't been able to resist the urge to see the main screen with his own eyes.

He was aware that the eyes on the bridge were as much watching the show as they were him. That subtle reminder made him sit up straight and keep his professional mask up. They had to keep up appearances after all.

“Engineering has the list ready,” the XO said, sliding into the bridge and up to him. He turned to the Naga and took the tablet without a word. He scanned it and ran the calculation and grunted. Thirty-seven percent. That wasn't good, not good at all. The fleet had been mothballing any ship below 20 percent when he'd last brought in a banged-up ship. That number had bumped up to 25 percent, and later to 30, but still …

Well, times have changed he reminded himself, looking about the star system. There were a lot of banged-up ships out there. He looked down at the tablet and then copied it to his inbox and then handed it back. “Tell them to keep knocking down the list. Every little bit helps.”

“Aye aye, sir. They are on it but are low on supplies,” the Naga stated. “We've scraped what we could together but we're at the bottom of the barrel.”

“Well, we'll see what we can do there,” the captain replied with a nod. Smitty, the quartermaster, had been killed in the last scrape. So had a quarter of the crew. Twenty-four people were still in stasis, and six were still recovering in sickbay or on light duty. They'd won though; otherwise, they wouldn't have been there.

No, that wasn't entirely true, bub. The fleet had run with its tail tucked between its legs entirely too often he reminded himself darkly.

He looked down at his side screen and pulled up the long-range scans and traffic reports. Traffic was a lot less. He wasn't sure the difference from the last time he was there but he could tell it was less. The same for activity around the planet.

He knew his ship was going to be laid up, for how long was the question. He was going to push for her to be kicked loose even if they couldn't get her to 100 percent. Hell, even if they could only get her to 80 percent. Not that he was going to tell them that—unless someone pushed to have the ship mothballed or scrapped.

He'd already heard that new construction had been halted. It was most likely due to the lack of direction and a lack of keys. Or it could be due to fear of a lack of keys and direction he mused quietly.

His eyes narrowed as he checked the repair yard. He could see every slip was full, not a good sign. Some ships were being torn down. It could be that they needed to be torn down to get at a repair, but he doubted it. He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure he wasn't.

Logistics had to be an issue. They could gather material but without keys … he frowned bleakly.

In other words, it was a big mess. Someone needed to do something soon. They were all depressed; hell, he was and he knew it. As far as he knew, neither of his parents had made it out of Sol. He'd had a rough time for a solid week and occasionally felt like crap when they got an updated list of survivors and he saw that his parents weren't on it. So many other people's family weren't either. He wasn't alone.

It just sucked. They were in a hole, but like his father said, you can either keep digging or you can work on finding a way out. He preferred to find a way out over moping and waiting for the enemy to show up. It was just a matter of time before they did; after all, the star system had a heavy naval presence and shipyard. It might be the largest shipyard for ten thousand light years.

<<<*>>>

Admiral Daub Ibdle watched silently as another warship came into the star system. It was something to celebrate, a minor victory that they were still getting any warships back at all. The heavy cruiser had seen better days. His eyes narrowed as he noted the scorching and twisted damage to her port side.

His dumb A.I. assistant pulled up the data on the ship—the Rochester, a Resolution class heavy cruiser. Captain SG Vince Perry Junior was in command. Now there was a name he was familiar with he thought with a gruff nod.

Perry had been a captain JG all of six months ago. Funny how time flies. If anyone was going to come back, of course you could count on it being Perry. He'd won again, despite the odds. His ship was one of two to survive the last battle with the Xenos from their CruRon. Rear Admiral Purpletip and her flagship Tibbers had not made it past the opening engagement according to the logs Rochester had uploaded. Oregon City was still en route; she had suffered more damage than Rochester but had insisted that her sister ship forge on ahead.

It was unusual for Captain Perry to abandon another wounded ship. He must have had his reasons though.

Most likely they'd dissolve the CruRon on paper and move the survivors over to fill vacancies in other units.

Spirits knew there were enough places to put them the admiral thought darkly.

“Sir, incoming call from BuShips. Admiral Bulge is on the line,” his A.I. reported.

“Put her through,” he said.

“Are you seeing this?” the Gashg demanded.

“By this I think you mean Rochester?”

“Yeah. The damage … no frame damage reported but …,” Daub didn't say anything; he hadn't seen the actual damage reports. “Can that man ever bring back a ship in one piece?”

Daub cocked his head. Yard dogs like Bulge were good but rather fixated on ships coming back in one piece. The fact that the heavy cruiser had come back at all was a minor miracle as far as he was concerned. Too many ships from that battle hadn't come back at all. “To be fair, he kept this one intact a lot longer than I thought given the battles they'd fought in the past year,” Daub said dryly. “According to our records …,” he paused as his A.I. brought up the relevant files, “Rochester has been in ten battles in the past year. She just commissioned what, eighteen months ago? She is a survivor.”

“Well, 37 percent damage? That's nearly half her drive, force emitters, and weapons!”

“And the other half is still functional. I'm curious; have they been making repairs?”

“Of course!”

Daub nodded sagely. Too many ship companies were giving up hope and just trying to make do or whatever. That showed that Perry still had leadership potential. “Ah, so, it was a lot worse. Good. I believe with your usual efficiency you can get them any supplies they need to bring that number down even lower.”

“Well, not any supplies,” the Gashg stated. “There are limits, especially now. We are short across the board; you know that. Munitions are particularly tight. We're cannibalizing ships to get parts for the survivors.”

Daub's face tightened. He nodded once. They all knew the score. “See what you can do for them.”

“I will. Trust me, even I know we need veteran units out there. Now more than ever.”

Daub nodded as the Gashg signed off. That was the current mentality, that if they were fighting the Xenos elsewhere the Xenos wouldn't come to the capital or other major systems. It was … wrong. Unfortunately, dead wrong.

Yes it was good to engage and stop the enemy. But no one won a war fighting on the defensive. They needed to get on the offense and destroy the bastards. He had that itch, that feeling that they were about to get sucker punched badly. He hated that feeling because he knew it was going to happen. The enemy was attritioning his force while they just grew more ships.

Something had to be done. What was the big question.

<<<*>>>

Embers Snippet 2

 Okay, so, getting down there on Christmas. Hopefully everyone is doing okay. I know these times are tough.

Anyway, on to the snippet!

Chapter 2

 

Beta Sector

 

Wave after wave of ships arrived at two locations in Beta sector. The final battles of Beta sector had begun.

Admiral Kelsi Saint Marcus had command of the first location, what the Ghost Hunters called the prime nest. She had twenty thousand ships with her.

The enemy had five times that number.

“Looks like this is the right spot,” she said as she nodded. War had raged across the sector for years. In the past year, every core world had been destroyed. Every naval base, every industrial world—they were all gone.

The survivors from all of those battles were arrayed here and with Admiral Z'v'k'll. According to the Ghost Hunters, the enemy had just the two nests left. At least, that was based on their latest intel. She hoped so at any rate because she wasn't sure they were going to walk away from this one.

<<<*>>>

The Beta Queen noted the intrusion of prey warships and immediately ordered her fleets to go to alert and begin to form up to run.

She regretted drawing down her defenses to send cruiser task forces out to kill the prey star systems all throughout her territory. It seemed she had sent too many … or not enough.

She had thought the fleets she had dispatched all over her territory would have kept the prey on the defense and torn them apart. Apparently, that was not the case; the psychology studies the other clans had agreed to had been flawed. The prey had abandoned trying to protect their own in favor of venting their fury on her.

This was her third time running; she had no idea how they kept finding her so easily. She had lost the ansible link to the other nests and to the other clans cycles ago. Now all she had left was her life. When she ran, she would be writing off any of her clan that survived and returned to a destroyed star system.

She had no choice. Her survival was paramount; they could be replaced given enough time and material.

Running this time wasn't going to be so easily she realized. The prey had dropped out in formation at the least time location to the hyper limit. She could try to take them head-on or alter her course. But any course alteration would make her run a gauntlet while delaying her time in the star system.

A star system that was now proving treacherous as ships appeared around the star.

Forces she had placed there began to fire on the ships that suddenly appeared. One died, then another. They didn't fire back. But two came in too far away to be immediately engaged. They deployed their weapons and then fled. Both ships were destroyed but the damage was done.

The weapons dived into the corona of the star, out of reach of her defenders. Angrily she ordered them to join her.

Even as they came to her call, other ships appeared and dropped their payloads into the star. She knew time was running out, faster than ever. Sensors that were not studying the enemy for weaknesses turned to monitor the star.

Ruthlessly she ordered the defenders who had failed her to return to their duty stations and to monitor the star and send her their data. She had a daughter clone plug the data into models to see how much time she had.

It was not good.

She split her force, dividing it into three. She sent a daughter clone directly ahead into the waiting arms of the prey formation. She sent another daughter as a decoy down while she herself pulled her formation upward.

<<<*>>>

Kelsi noted the enemy formation change. Obviously, they were trying to salvage something. The true queen was in one of the other formations. Most likely at the center, the most heavily defended of the mass of ships.

“They are trying to get away,” her husband said from the flag captain's station.

“Operative word there, trying,” she said as she cut orders. “Are you ready, Bill?”

He nodded.

<<<*>>>

The queen considered her options as her blocking force began to spar with the enemy's small craft at extreme range. Data flowed back. She felt a tingle of resentment from her daughter at the sacrifice but ignored it.

She felt a tingle of excitement and anticipation from the daughter she had sent down. She refused to give her the keys to unlock herself and become queen. No, she was not dead, at least, not yet.

When her first daughter reported that ships were disappearing from the rear of the enemy formation, she felt concern. The concern ebbed when her plot indicated they began to appear in front of her second daughter's path, cutting her off.

So, the prey had chosen wrong. The trap would fail again. She felt smugness over that.

The smugness ebbed abruptly as ships began to appear in front of her and even within her formation. Those that appeared within her formation didn't last long. Some interpolated with her own ships, disappearing in savage energetic events that ravaged her formations. Others that survived were cut apart by her defenders.

But they had opened a hole in her defenses. She angrily sent orders to fill the voids as the prey ahead of her regrouped and began to send out their waves of small craft.

So, her flight wasn't going to be as easy or simple as she'd thought.

<<<*>>>