Amantus
Copyright© 2026 by QM
Chapter 31
Amantus handed the shift over to Tuvis, and he and Captain Horth headed over to Kleevi’s office on the base, where they were admitted immediately. Both officers saluted Kleevi and were politely requested to sit.
Another officer then entered, though the woman had no rank markings on her uniform, so both Horth and Amantus more or less blanked her until introductions were made.
“Commander Amantus, you were peripherally involved in dealing with an incident on the base between the off-duty members of the Force troopers of the Croagh, and the Devastator, were you not?” Kleevi began without preamble, not introducing the woman.
“I was, sir, peripherally,” Amantus replied politely.
“Yet you took it upon yourself to physically visit the scene and observe?”
“I did, sir.”
“Why was this?”
“I had never had to deal with such a situation before, and I felt it would be educational to see how the Force commander dealt with his men,” Amantus replied.
“Ah, I see,” Kleevi nodded. “And was it educational?”
“It was, sir, though mostly from Sub-Commander Tirsa of the Croagh, who spoke to the bar owner and got copies of the video feeds, which I passed on to you, including highlighted edits of various parts of the brawl which might lead to further charges,” Amantus answered.
“Yes, thank you,” Kleevi replied. “Captain Horth, why did you refuse to allow Base Security to interview Commander Amantus?”
“As Commander Amantus had only carried out his duty and was only peripherally involved in logging the brawl, I deemed security’s request frivolous as the bar’s owner had laid no criminal charges, hence I deemed the request as harassment of Commander Amantus again, as under regulation 258# there was no need for security to be involved.”
“Harassment again?” Kleevi asked mildly, though Amantus was aware that the Admiral already knew of his situation.
“Various officers of Base Security have systematically and illegally harassed Commander Amantus in his time at Sixth Fleet and the various ships he has served on, Admiral,” Horth replied. “This also included placing a listening device in his pouch’s buckle that was discovered during our diplomatic visit to Trema when escorting Orliantomin Hellarch.”
“I see,” Kleevi nodded. “So you saw no reason to permit Commander Amantus to be interviewed by Base Security?”
“No legal reason, no, sir.”
“Senior Commander Ealla,” Kleevi spoke to the woman who had so far remained silent. “Would you care to explain why Base Security felt the need to interview Commander Amantus for carrying out his duties to the letter?”
“Simply routine, sir,” Ealla replied. “Commander Amantus’s situation as an involuntary recruit places him under far greater scrutiny than would be the norm.”
“And placing listening devices on him?”
“That was carried out under the auspices of Senior Commander Rubris,” Ealla explained. “I have rescinded any such future overreach.”
“Senior Commander Ealla, in future, Base Security will no longer attempt to approach or intervene with Commander Amantus when he carries out his duties, unless he is in breach of them. Is this understood?” Kleevi said sternly.
“Yes, sir,” Ealla answered blandly.
‘She’s lying,’ Amantus concluded. ‘Still, it does ensure that if anything crops up again, she won’t have a defence in place.’
“Good,” Kleevi concluded. “Captain Horth, Commander Amantus, you may return to duty. Senior Commander Ealla, please remain. We have much to discuss.”
“Sir,” Horth and Amantus rose and saluted before leaving.
“That might stop any illegal harassment,” Horth said as they returned to the Devastator. “But expect them to monitor you closely, regardless.”
“Understood, sir, I believe the Admiral also suspected she was lying,” Amantus noted.
“It’s security, that’s pretty much a given,” Horth chuckled.
Orders had come through for Sixth Fleet to take part in a punitive expedition to take place in the Tarpheli system of Cornel. Again, only military orbital works were to be targeted, with the shipyards at their military station being the main target.
“The Tremans will be providing a backup for us,” Commodore Dorrus informed her senior officers. “This should enable Admiral Carse to get some martial glory, rather than watching our backs.”
“Hopefully, certain flotillas will improve their performance,” Horth chuckled. “I don’t think the Admiral was all that impressed with the reviews.”
“The issues stemmed from past complacency,” Dorrus replied. “Too many people fighting the last war.”
“True, that would have included us under Commodore Hrilt.”
“It did,” Dorrus agreed. “Fortunately, that’s over with.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Commander Amantus, you will be under a temporary transfer to Commodore Vroote’s flotilla,” Dorrus informed a surprised Amantus. “He, along with others, specifically requested you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Amantus replied.
“His tactical officers’ll understudy you, though that’s not in the official orders,” Dorrus smiled. “Still, teach them what you can ... assuming they want to learn.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Amantus chuckled.
“Commander Tuvis, you’ll assemble a primary tactical strike team as we did in the past,” Dorrus ordered.
“Yes, ma’am,” Tuvis replied.
“Choose who will replace Commander Amantus carefully,” Dorrus continued. “I suspect he may be in demand for a while.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
“I suggest letting Lieutenant Endo sit in,” Amantus informed Tuvis. “He shows a great deal of promise and should be of help to you.”
Tuvis checked her perscomp then nodded. “Certainly scores well on assessments,” she nodded.
“He is, and he never makes the same mistake twice,” Amantus confirmed. “He’s also borrowed some of my tactical reference works.”
“Interesting,” Dorrus said. “How far off is he from your level ... roughly?”
“He’s never served on an independent patrol, ma’am,” Amantus replied. “But on group tactics, he’s a couple of battles away.”
“I see, I’ll probably arrange a temporary transfer to one of our independent patrol ships after we deal with Cornel,” Dorrus mused.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Amantus replied.
Sixth Fleet was preparing to transition into the Cornel system, accompanied by the Confederation Third Fleet, with the Sixth planning to bear down on the habitable planet and the orbital base with its repair and construction bays. Amantus was currently serving on the Warpbane, the flagship of Commodore Vroote, and had been made to feel welcome at a tactical meeting where discussions were held on how best to approach the orbital defences of the Cornel system.
“We’ve tended to stick to the book,” Captain Iniseer informed Amantus as the meeting got underway. “Unfortunately, the enemy also appears to have read the book as well.”
“It’s getting us our heads handed to us in any encounter we face,” Vroote admitted. “Our casualty tally in recent encounters has been horrendous.”
“I see, sir, ma’am,” Amantus nodded, looking over the dispositions now being loaded into the tank.
“The book says we should make a dash at the best possible speed and then concentrate our fire on the weapon towers and emplacements,” Iniseer pointed out, but the enemy knows this too. “Plus, there’s nowhere to hide out here.”
“True that, ma’am,” Amantus agreed. “Though we don’t need to head directly to the target. Also, we can increase or slow our speed en route whilst locally dodging within the ship spacing limits.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not as dangerous as being hit by a hyperbeam or a missile, ma’am,” Amantus smiled.
“Ah, yes...”
Amantus then plotted a course into the inner system, keeping what few objects there were between the defences and the Vroote flotilla. He then marked random velocity changes, adding a 10G dash at the final few rotations, followed by an extreme velocity reversal once they reached the edge of their target area.
“We then target their power matrix to disable their weapon emplacements, which will enable us to take out the weapons with little or no danger to us,” Amantus concluded.
“That’s certainly a different methodology from the orthodox,” Vroote admitted.
“Yes, sir,” Amantus agreed. “Though it’s all permitted in the book.”
“I take it our detection system is the key?” Iniseer asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Amantus replied. “Any hostiles from bombers, to weapon emplacements to power plants need to be fed through to the Warpbane where we designate targets of priority or necessary manoeuvres away from.”
“That’s a lot of work, Commander,” Iniseer pointed out.
“Only initially, ma’am,” Amantus replied. “Once we get there, you just have to direct the squadrons, allowing them weapons free whilst the Warpbane group moves to assist any who are struggling, which should be limited as we’ll be within their defences, not fighting to get through them.”
“Ingenious,” Vroote nodded.
“Once done, we concentrate our fire on the yards, sir,” Amantus replied. “Hopefully with a near full complement of ships.”
“Transition complete,” navigation informed Iniseer as the Sixth entered the Cornel system.
“It’s as we feared, ma’am, there’s a full Tarpheli fleet stationed here,” Detection informed the bridge.
“That’s for the Tremans to worry about,” Vroote informed the bridge. “Our job is to wreck their infrastructure.”
“Word from the Admiral, sections have been assigned as targets,” Comms stated.
“Route planned,” Amantus said. “Putting it in the tank now.”
“Take us in at 5G,” Vroote ordered. “Active detection, they know we’re here, so no point in hiding.”
“Full ECM,” Iniseer ordered. “Begin dodge sequence.”
To an outsider, the scene would have appeared chaotic; however, Vroote’s flotilla kept the same vector whilst moving randomly within it. Nor was it moving in a straight line, or keeping its speed constant.
“Target selection ongoing,” the detection station informed the senior officers.
“It’s heavily defended on the outer arc,” Iniseer mused.
“That’s where speed comes into it, ma’am,” Amantus replied. “Once we’re past it, they have to be damned careful at shooting at us as they’ll hit their own.”