The Price of Victory

Lord Maximo Drusella, graying but stately in his dress uniform, stepped up to the viewing gallery on Star Fortress Victory overlooking the spacedock, courtiers and adjutants yet in attendance from the recent victory celebration.

"WHAT. HAVE YOU DONE. TO MY SHIP!?" roared the aged Centauro, his contorted visage approximately 15 centimeters from that of the Emperor Morell's apprehensive captain. The rest of the company became immediately silent.

The once-proud Emperor Morell, a Primus-class battlecruiser of the Drusella House Expeditionary Force, hung pathetically at the end of the primary service arm of Star Fortress Victory's spacedock. The starboard and port sections were relatively intact, but the aft engineering section had been knocked almost completely off, and the central portion of the mighty ship virtually did not exist, only a thin skeleton of internal supports uniting the two sides together, underneath the lolling command section.

"Do you know how much that ship is worth?" Maximo continued, his roar having reduced now to a seething hiss. The ship's captain began to speak, but Maximo cut him off, returning to a roar. "More than you!"

"Yes, m'lord."

The battle over Garden had begun so well. Emperor Morell and her Maximus-class escort Triario had arrived to "show the flag" and perhaps bully Earthforce out of the system with veiled threats and implications of Centauri sanctions... pure bluffing, of course. However, two things surprised the Centauri: first, that the garrison around Garden had been reduced to a minimal level; and second, that the Earthers took an immediately aggressive posture. When the Earthers moved to attack, the Centauri had no choice but to make good their initial bluster.

Even though the Centauri group consisted of only two ships, they were more than a match for the small Earthforce contingent: EAS Spruance, an Avenger-class carrier, EAS Duncan, an Olympus gunship, and four Tethys-class gunboats of various types.

The captain's arrogance was only confirmed when the first shot from Emperor Morell, in a perfect example of precision gunnery, struck the EAS Duncan directly down her spinal beam mount, vaporizing her only weapon (and, indeed, Earthforce's most powerful weapon in this carrier group) and crippling her. The Centauri crew gave a cheer as clearly the battle had already been won.

Surprisingly, the Earthforce group came straight at the Primus. In another stunning display of gunnery from the Primus, two Tethys laser boats were vaporized, and two on the flank were damaged.

Then, the unthinkable happened. First, one of the wounded Tethys missile boats rammed the Emperor Morell, almost knocking away the aft engineering section and setting her adrift. And then, to the horror of the Centauri, the EAS Spruance, with a flight deck still containing at least a dozen Starfuries and crews, launched herself straight into the bow of the Emperor Morell! The aim of the crazed Earther helmsman was off just a tiny bit, and so instead of breaking apart into space junk, the Emperor Morell managed to hold together by a tiny sliver of skeletal structure between her two halves. The enormous brick-like Spruance, however, was crushed and compacted into a smouldering ball of wreckage and human jelly... all hands were squashed and melted in an instant of mind-bending violence. Over half the crew of the Emperor Morell were variously crushed and/or exposed to vacuum.

"Great Maker..." Maximo had begun mumbling, staring out the gallery window. "Great Maker." He heaved a sigh. First, the Dilgar virus bombed the entire planet of Demeter. Why? Why kill everyone? They could have taken the Centauri governor, his family and all the Centauri citizens as prisoners for ransom. They could have made a fortune! And why kill all the millions of native sentients? They were an entire army of slaves waiting to be gainfully employed. To waste all of that potential... for what? It didn't make any sense.

And now this. The Earthers ramming. With a half-full carrier? In order to protect an uninhabited planet? It was pure insanity. Though Garden was not a poor world by any means, it would take a long time for the resource yields on that planet to equal the price of a carrier. After the EAS Duncan was scratched, they should have withdrawn and ceded the issue. Like gentlemen.

"And you have no idea why the Earthers rammed you?"

"No, m'lord."

"Did you say something about their mothers?"

"No, m'lord."

"Did you try to get out of the way?"

"Yes, m'lord."

Silence followed.

"Shall I resign my commission, Lord Drusella?"

Maximo sighed again. "No, no. I'm sure you did everything you could. Besides, you are a Hero of the Centauri Republic. You destroyed two capital ships and three escorts."

The captain gulped. "M'lord, I destroyed one and two, and the others rammed me."

"Don't contradict me again, captain. You are a Hero of the Republic and that is that. You will conduct what remains of my ship back to the Imperial Shipyards at Centauri Prime. The Station Master owes me several favors... and so he will be seeing to these repairs personally. And perhaps make some improvements while he is at it."

"Yes, m'lord."

"Captain, have you ever even heard of anyone using a loaded fleet carrier as a missile?"

"No, m'lord."

"Doesn't it sound as if they are simply flushing ducats out of an airlock?"

"Precisely so, m'lord."

"Well. Now I understand why the Earthers and the Dilgar hate each other so much. They're exactly alike."