Rising Star

by Donald Nicklas

  “Lock port ship killer missiles on target and fire,” Slone ordered and the missiles streaked out of their tubes and slammed into the crippled ship. All missiles hit and detonated with massive explosions that started to rip the ship apart. “Flank speed to the rest of our fleet. Phase two was just ordered.” The cadence increased to attack speed and the ship lurched forward. They still had a gauntlet of ships to pass through and they were near another corporate dreadnought. As they moved through the enemy, they began taking damage from several dreadnoughts, who wanted to keep their distance. As it is, the fleets were shortly more interested in forming up than fighting, which suited Slone just fine. He had done his initial job by taking out two cruisers and two dreadnoughts, with minimal damage to his ship. He was sure his luck would not last. The battleship moved out of the enemy fleet along with its invisible escorts. It had been decided that the battleship would be stationed above the formation and support any ships in trouble. The Serpent dreadnought was assigned to support the battleship. As they put distance between themselves and the enemy, Slone had the ship brought to a position above the Romani formation and turned to face the enemy. The Mobile fleet had chosen a classic corporation formation of a rectangle with a line of ships through the center. The ships forming the rectangular box would start the battle while the line would support any areas where attacks were going badly. Overall, a good formation and Captain Lorenzo could see he was up against a worthy opponent. The rectangle consisted of twenty dreadnoughts in a three dimensional configuration of layered squares forming a hollow rectangle. There were three dreadnoughts forming the central line. Slone was sure that was meant to be a line of five, but he had taken two out. The cruisers and destroyers formed a cloud of ships around the dreadnought formation. The Romani were ready and the Mobile fleet was ready. The invisible destroyers were on station behind the enemy fleet. Ironically, since the Mobile Fleet was attacked by the destroyers while in orbit, they thought the attack had come from the planet, even though when they checked with their ground forces, there was no indication of missile launches.

  Aboard the SS Vermont, Admiral Wilson had a splitting headache from too much bourbon. His profligate drinking had finally caught up with him at the worst possible moment. He found himself in battle with a strong fleet that appeared out of nowhere. Worse yet, they had control of Sinclair’s prototype super dreadnought and that was a problem. If Admiral Wilson had not been in a bad position with Horatio Sinclair, he would have warned him not to make the prototype a Q-Ship. He also knew he could not destroy the prototype if he wanted to keep his position. He intended to use his central three dreadnoughts, and any he could spare along the way, as an attack force to board the prototype and recapture her. By his calculations, there was no way they could have anything but a skeleton crew aboard her. No one carried an extra three thousand troops and crew with them in the event they came across a prototype super dreadnought. Admiral Wilson’s thoughts were interrupted by the communications tech.

  “Admiral, there is an incoming message from the enemy fleet. It is in the clear.”

  “Put it through.”

  Over the speakers came Consul Lorenzo’s voice. “Greetings, Admiral Wilson. I am the Consul Juan Lorenzo, one of the leaders of Nova Romae. It is my hope we can settle this dispute without further bloodshed. Are you willing to parley?”

  Captain Wainwright and the rest of the bridge crew looked at the admiral. “Have you ever heard of Nova Romae?” Wainwright asked. “Aren’t those the pirates Alexi Petrov claimed defeated his fleet?”

  “Those are no pirates out there. Can’t hurt to talk with them, since they have our prototype and Horatio Sinclair will want it back,” the admiral said. “Open a channel to them.”

  “Channel open, sir,” communications reported.

  “This is Admiral Wilson, what is your corporation called and how dare you invade our space?”

  “The space you are in belongs to the Petrov Corporation and you invaded them almost five years ago. The provisional government of Petrov Corporation has asked us for protection and that is what we mean to do. Your Q-Ship, which we have captured, destroyed one of our warships. Therefore, at present a state of war exists between our governments. That will have to be settled by negotiations, but only after you vacate Petrov space. Is that clear, admiral?”

  Admiral Wilson was not used to being talked down to, and that is how he interpreted the impertinence of the person on the other end. “We will not be cowered by a bunch of pirates. I don’t know how you managed to capture our Q-Ship intact, but rest assured we will make certain you do not keep it.” Admiral Wilson passed a finger across his throat in the universal gesture to cut the transmission. “Order the fleet to advance at half speed and maintain formation.”

  “Yes, admiral.”

  Aboard the Longinus, Captain Lorenzo was informed of the break in communications and that the enemy fleet was advancing. “Open the combat channel and begin the cadence, standard beat.”

  The cadence began and the fleets approached each other. On the bridge of the battleship, Slone had a panoramic view of the combat. He had the armor taken down from the bridge bubble once they were out of danger. The invisible serpent ships were still on station above and below him and the serpent dreadnought was keeping station well ahead and above him. When the cadence started at standard beat, the entire fleet went to standard speed and the distance between them started to close. When the fleets were less than 10,000 meters apart, the forward elements traded cannon and missile shots with little to show for it. This was just the usual warning shot across the bow. When they were 5,000 meters apart, the next exchange came and this time Slone could see some explosions on the bows of both sides. As he was watching, he noticed a change on the threat board. The centerline of three dreadnoughts and two from the rear of the enemy formation suddenly broke off and headed away from the mobile fleet. Slone could see they were heading straight for his ship. They were moving at flank speed and would reach him in fifteen minutes.

  “Seal the bridge,” Slone ordered and the armor went up as the threat board replaced the forward view. “Tom, put me through to captain Artok.”

  “The line is open, Captain.”

  “Captain Artok, we are getting company. I believe they will try to send a full set of marines over from each ship that would total 2,500 troops from the five dreadnoughts. I don’t think they will stay around for a cannon duel with this ship so fight whichever one you like. They will have no defense against your boarding parties.”

  “Sss. Yes Captain Slone. Good luck.”

  The Avenging Talon moved towards the five corporate dreadnoughts just as they came within range to launch boarding shuttles. That also meant they were in range of the battleship’s weapons. The five incoming dreadnoughts had split to pass on either side of the battleship. It was clear they intended to fire a broadside as they passed. Captain Artok moved his ship ahead of the Rising Star and rotated 90 degrees clockwise to bring the enemy’s upper surface under the starboard cannons. While the enemy was fixated on the battleship, they would be hit from above by the serpent dreadnought. The first two ships passed on either side of the battleship, one a little off the plane of the other to make sure Slone could not fire on both simultaneously. Slone fired at the same time as both dreadnoughts. The battleship’s cannon shots hit the dreadnought on the port side hard as they were launching boarding shuttles and sped up. She was hurt badly but still could fight. The enemy on the starboard side launched shuttles and sped up before Slone could bring his starboard guns down for a shot. However, Captain Artok saw the maneuver and fired a broadside into the top of the dreadnought. Slone could see visuals of the explosions as that ship pulled away, not badly hurt at all. The cannon shots from both of the enemy ships hit the battleship level with the port guns and below the starboard guns. The port shots entered some of the gun ports and exploded, dismounting the cannons and killing or maiming their serpent crews. The starboard shot hit the battleship below the gun decks. Tw
o bounced off harmlessly whereas ten entered the ship. They did little damage, as the ship was designed to place all vital structures centrally to shield them with armor and living quarters. It was in the living quarters that the lower shots were dissipated. Similar episodes occurred with the remaining three ships. Three of the five ships left the vicinity of the Rising Star with non-fatal damage. One of the two lagging behind was the SS Vermont, which had minor engine damage with three of its twelve port cannons dismounted. As luck would have it, captain Artok decided this was going to be the ship he attacked. One of the damaged dreadnoughts, the SS Miami, was still near the Vermont but the other three had moved on and they were engaged in the larger fleet battle. That left two ships to deal with the Avenging Talon. The Romani had trained the serpents well. Captain Artok turned his ship to follow the enemy vessels. Both had engine trouble from their encounter with the battleship and they were trying to make it back to the safety of their lines. By this time both formations had engaged and the lines were fluid. The three ships that were part of the five attacking the battleship were rapidly engaged by Romani vessels. They had left their admiral behind. The Avenging Talon travelled at flank speed and soon passed between the crippled ships. As soon as his ship was level with the enemy, Captain Artok said fire, in serpent speak, and both broadsides fired as did the cannons of the target vessels. The serpent gunners were skilled at their craft and all 24 of their shots hit home. The twelve fired at the Miami hit the side previously damaged by the battleship. These shots went in and detonated in the crew quarters forward and the engine aft. Power immediately dropped in the ship and she began to drift. Captain Artok ordered two hundred of his serpent troops to board the stricken ship. Since the Avenging Talon was between the Sinclair vessels, the Vermont could do nothing to help. The admiral’s ship was having problems. She had sustained a hit in her generator room and electrical activity was spotty and out in some areas. Most of the ship was on batteries and these were being rapidly drained by combat. When the serpent broadside hit her, it took out what was left of the electrical grid and it compromised life support in some areas. Other parts of the shots hit crew areas and one exploded in the forward missile room, rocking the bridge. Captain Artok sent two hundred troops to take the Vermont. Both Sinclair ships had their damaged sides facing the serpent ship. This resulted in only sixteen shots hitting the Avenging Talon but they were coming in from both sides. The Sinclair gunners also knew their craft and aimed well. The serpent ship was rocked with internal explosions as the cannon shots penetrated. Several guns were dismounted and serpents were killed. None of the shots was fatal to the ship, so Captain Artok moved on to deal with other ships in the fleet battle. Her boarding parties reached their targets without opposition.

  Each dreadnought attacking the battleship sent over five boarding skiffs with one hundred troops in each one. Slone had been right in his assessment. The invisible serpent ships protecting the battleship, moved out to the twenty-five skiffs but they were not in a cluster so they knew they could only take out one or two. Tavia targeted one and fired the three railguns at the first skiff. Two hit and sent the ship spirally off into space. The pilot was good and righted the ship. They managed to take out three of the skiffs before they reached the Rising Star and the point defenses took out two more. That left only 20 skiffs to land in the hangar with two thousand marines.

  Aboard the Rising Star, Centurion Marshal deployed his mercenaries to meet the threat. Though they had only pistols and no armor, they resolved to do their best for the gold offered and to stay on the good side of the serpents. They had now been with the aliens for over a month and were not used to their appearance. They greatly feared the teeth and claws. As the Sinclair marines came out of their skiffs, the mercenaries opened fire from covered positions. Centurion Marshal was holding back with his special forces. He hoped the mercenaries could accomplish the job. Slone promised them a full ton of gold if they could win the battle on their own. That was motivation for them and they gave a tremendous effort. Nevertheless, they were outnumbered by 500 troops and the Sinclair marines were armored and had automatic rifles and grenades. Bill Marshal had to admit, the mercenaries did a herculean job and caused about 800 marine casualties before they could do no more. More than 1000 of the 1500 mercenaries were killed or injured. When the marines found out these were the mercenaries who had lost the ship and then changed sides, they showed them no quarter. There were about 1200 marines left when Centurion Marshal decided it was time to use his special forces.

  Bill Marshal had learned a lot about his troops. For one thing, four hundred could fight like a thousand humans. In a concentrated formation, they were very difficult to stop. He also learned that they had a high-pitched shriek that could curdle the blood and bring fear to those they attacked. Before attacking, he also notified Slone of the situation and told him if the marines got through them, he would try to warn the bridge so Slone could mobilize the crew. The mercenaries were falling back to the position they had been instructed, which was a large space in the center of the ship that would allow for full maneuvering of the serpent centuries and limited movement of the attacking force. The space had only two entrances, the front and the rear with solid sides and allowed a front line of only 25 abreast. This was the perfect place for a stand. The mercenaries entered and the serpents let them through to the rear exit. As the leader, Spider, passed Centurion Marshal, he said to her, “Your people fought well, our accounts are settled. When this is over you shall have your full ton.”

  “You have to win first. I know your serpents are monstrous to look at, but I have yet to see them fight.”

  “Then stay behind us and watch.”

  To Spider’s surprise, Centurion Marshal started to bark orders in serpent speak, and for the first time she realized there was a stronger bond between the serpents and these humans than anyone suspected there was. Marshal ordered the serpents to form a shield wall with the males in the third row with their Gatling guns. His troops had practiced close order drills for just such an occasion. Behind their shield wall, the incoming marines could not see what they faced.

  As they filed into the chamber, the marines formed a loose skirmish formation. There was no cover available, but it appeared the defenders were using some kind of blade sticking between what appeared to be body shields. The marines started to fire their automatic weapons against the shield wall which was double stacked with the top shields of the second row slightly overlapping the shields from the first row. This effectively formed a wall across the one side of the chamber with no way of seeing what was behind. It didn’t take the marines long to realize they were just wasting ammunition and they stopped firing. They then tried grenades, but at that distance they could not breech the top of the wall. One grenade did make it over but was tossed back and actually landed in the marines and killed or maimed several. It looked like a stale mate here. A thousand marines were piled either into the chamber or into the room just before the chamber. Some marines were sent to explore if there was a way around, but they had not come back yet. What the marines could not know, they would never come back.

  The five hundred marines sent to check for a way around split into two groups. Internal cameras showed Slone this was happening but all of Centurion Marshal’s Special Forces were tied up in the chamber battle. A quick look at the threat board showed that the battle was actually moving away from them. Apparently, the Mobile Fleet felt they would be taking the battleship by boarding and it was no longer a threat. Slone turned to Jack Dalton and Lt. Col. Teplov, “Well you wanted to have a stake in this fight. Here’s your chance. Go down the ladder two decks below the gun decks. I will call ahead and I will have the centurions of the remaining serpents order their troops away from running the ship and they will meet you in the forward hold area. Join up with them and have at it.”