Blood Impulse

Part 37.2 - INTERFERENCE

Cardioid Sector, HR-14 System, Battleship Singularity

"Well, shit," Zarrey grumbled, looking at the dozens of ships that had moved out from behind the asteroids. They were completely surrounded. "First weird transmissions, now a surprise attack."

"It is unlikely that Crimson Heart has the means to launch a successful cyberattack," the Admiral reminded him. Besides, this attack was hardly a surprise. It was a sign they were close to Crimson Heart's base.

"And what if the Baron's got a pet spook?" A scientist he paid to prepare such attacks? With the wild furs that had adorned his shoulders, the man was clearly rich enough.

"Then we shall meet said scientist when we board the station." There was no cause to worry about it now. "All the same, please summon our new computer officer to the bridge." She could study the transmission for signs of malintent.

"Summon who?" Zarrey said, watching still more ships emerge from behind the asteroids. Clearly, the Baron was showing his forces to encourage further negotiation.

"Lieutenant Foster," the Gargantia's survivor. Admiral Gives had not planned to call on her services so soon, but there was a reason he had welcomed her onto the crew. She was the only one with cyber expertise aboard.

Working the sensors, Maria Galhino had pulled her curly hair into a tight ponytail. "Sir, I'm reading power signatures lighting up many of the surrounding asteroids. Scans indicate they may be remote firing batteries."

"Shore batteries," Zarrey groaned. "Oh, this just keeps getting better."

"We planned for this," the Admiral reminded him. In his mind, stationary batteries on the asteroids counted as traps. There was a reason he hadn't launched their support craft yet. Flying alongside the Singularity, they would have been easy targets. The Singularity's armor could sustain those hits, the smaller Warhawks and Arcbirds could not. Still, "We should have seen those before, Lieutenant."

"I know, sir," Galhino said, hunched over her station. Her fingers flew along the keys, trying to determine why they'd been blind to the shore batteries. Even if they were powered down, the composition of such things differed significantly from the natural composition of asteroids. "Something's interfering with the material scans, sir. They're still only reading as asteroids."

This just keeps getting stranger. Sensor interference was certainly possible. An emitter with precise aim on the arrays and the correct wavelength could fool the return of the scans, but that technology was rare. It was so rare, in fact, that the fleet didn't even employ it, so no pirate clan should be able to manage such a feat. Yet, how they managed it was a secondary concern to the Admiral, first was the fact that if those stationary batteries could be concealed from the ship's sensors, then what they saw now was not likely to be everything.

"Skipper," Monty interrupted his thoughts, "they've activated their targeting sensors. I'm seeing a mix of laser and traditional gun batteries. No railguns."

At least that's gone according to plan. Railguns were one of the few weapons that were certain to pierce the Singularity's armor. They'd punch holes straight through it and into the compartments beyond. "Then proceed as planned, Lieutenant," the Admiral ordered. There was no backing out now.

Gaffigan nodded once, "Aye. Seeking targets." The shore batteries were first priority. Their caliber, rate of fire, and munitions stores would be higher than any of the pirate ships.