Homestar Saga

Chapter 88: Robot Army

In perfect unison, the Peacekeeper fleet retreated through the Gate. They had engaged the enemy for exactly eight point four seconds. They had not needed to communicate at all. Each individual machine had calculated the optimal attack time itself, and each had reached the exact same conclusion.

Thirty seconds later the fleet came out of the Gate effect. Two seconds after that, they jumped again. Lissa had figured out it was possible to charge a jumpdrive while still in the Gate, and the Peacekeepers were taking advantage.

This time the fleet emerged from the other Gate. The pirates on this side hadn't moved since the battle began. Yvian supposed she didn't blame them. It had only been a minute and a half. Coordinating a response and giving orders took time, and she doubted the pirates expected the second attack to hit them that soon on the other side of the sector.

The same scenario played out. The Peacekeepers used their beam weapons to disable human fighter craft. They didn't bother targeting the YEETs or capitol ships. Beam weapons had amazing range, but the damage they dealt was far less than conventional weapons. The combined might of the entire fleet would only be enough to down a hundred or so of the larger vessels in the time they had. It was just as well, Yvian supposed. A Gladiator class fighter had the firepower to destroy a much larger ship, and they were fast. Too fast. Close range engagement would spell the end for Yvian's fleet, and that made the fighters the biggest threat.

Eight point four seconds later, the Peacekeepers retreated through the Gate. Two seconds after they emerged, they jumped back to New Pixa.

"Assessment," Mims ordered.

"Eighteen thousand, four hundred sixty Gladiator class fighters disabled." Admiral Zhukov intoned. "All Battlecruisers and YEET artillery barges have been engaged with MAC drivers, but it is unknown if they have been damaged." Yvian noted with approval that the ships had been disabled. Not destroyed. If they won this thing, she wanted as many human ships as she could get her hands on. A hundred fifty thousand Federation vessels piloted by Peacekeeper units would be damned near unstoppable. The perfect defense force for her people.

"So far so good." Mims let out a breath. "Now comes the hard part."

"We will be sufficient," Kilroy assured him.

"You will if we guessed right," the Captain agreed. "If we guessed wrong..."

Commandant Barillas had outmaneuvered them at every turn until today. Mims had played things as smart and as carefully as he could, but they would all be dead if Exodus hadn't intervened. Now Yvian knew the Commandant wasn't the problem. At least, not all of it. A near omniscient sapient intelligence had been watching their every move, devising counters for every contingency. If this fight was going to be won, Mims and the Peacekeepers didn't just have to outthink Barillas. They had to outthink Reba. Yvian still wasn't sure it could be done.

"Do you think she knows what we're doing?" Lissa sounded as worried as Yvian was.

"Unlikely," decided the Admiral. "Peacekeeper units do not register on scans. The previous attack exactly mimicked a preprogrammed attack pattern." He activated the comm. "Split forces. Enact phase two." The fleet powered their jumpdrives.

"What happens if she's caught on already?" Yvian wondered.

"Then our forces will be destroyed," Kilroy answered. "The Freedom Republic will obtain the nav data for this sector. The planet will be taken, and there will be nowhere left to hide." He paused for a moment. "I calculate a ninety two point six four percent probability that neither you nor we would survive in that scenario."

"Way to lighten the tension there, Kilroy," Lissa deadpanned. "For a minute there I was starting to get nervous."

"You are welcome, meatbag." Kilroy's eyes pulsed yellow.