The Turret: Starclan Foundation
Page 19
“Any objections? Comments?” Jeri asked. After six seconds, he spoke again; “Mark, Karen, work out the details of what Jack outlined for your own respective commands. Don’t ask for approval, just execute it. Anything else?”
“One more thing, Jeri.” Jock injected. “Task Force Nail is supporting Castle Shannon and Hammer’s position. I have a better use for them…”
***
Task Force Nail
USF Lexington
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Rhodes here, Admiral.”
“Rhonda, I need Nail for something special.” Admiral Bucktooth began quietly.
“I’m listening, Admiral,” Rhonda’s reply was challenging, almost a growl. I hate that calm, quiet voice! It means I’m not going to like this. I will NOT leave Admiral Mac strung out to die!
“We think that the three large Bug ships at the rear of their formation house the Bug’s local command structure. We think that if we take them out, the Bug attack will collapse. Rhonda, these Bug tactics are not what we had prepared for. If we don’t adapt, we will lose Earth.” Jeri paused while he swallowed. He could see Commodore Rhodes swallow with him.
“The new plan is to ignore the Bug vanguard and have Anvil smash through their main body, opening a passage for Hammer to move in and destroy their three command ships. Task Force Nail has a crucial role to play in the overall success of this mission.
“Rhonda, I need your piss and vinegar on this. There is no officer I would rather have leading this mission.” I know what Jock means to her as a mentor, a friend, an idol even. I hate asking her to abandon him, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to feel her wrath on the back end of this after she does.
“Give the word, Admiral.” Her voice carried the pressure of her clenched jaws enclosed in the heat of suppressed tears.
“Here is your assignment, Commodore…”
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Thirty seconds to Shaver firing point, Admiral.”
“Fight your turret, Commander Halsey.” Jock’s order came low, not quite under his breath; he had meant it as much for the CIC crew as for his daughter.
“Parker, are you happy with your firing solutions?”
“Give me ten more seconds, Commander…”
“Mr. Yamamoto, you may fire at will.” Corrine’s voice dripped the easy confidence her crew had come to thrive upon. An outsider only hearing her voice would envision her filing her nails as she spoke.
“Almost…there. Shaver firing commenced.”
Jock watched the numbers on his display moving up at a tremendous rate as the auto-loaders kept the railguns firing.
“Tell me when you’re happy with the rounds out, Parker. Mr. Wilson, status of the vanguard?”
“They are heading for us at zero-point-two light speed. ETA two hours. Main body has dropped to zero-point-one-five light speed. Main body has dropped sixteen thousand projectiles at zero-point-five light speed. Target projected as Earth. Main body has formed a rough cone around the Three Kings.”
“Three Kings, Eddie?”
“Best thing that came to mind, Admiral.”
“First round of Shaver firing concluded, Sir. Five thousand rounds out.” Parker Yamamoto broke in.
“Good enough for me, Eddie.” Corrine confirmed. “ETA, Parker?”
“Twelve minutes, Commander.”
“Excellent. They’ll see the railguns firing about twenty seconds before they hit.”
“Taclink: all turrets, fire all GravTorps. All turrets: target Shavers on Bug main body. Fire at will. Commander Singh out.” Commander Tracy Singh’s strong, confident voice boomed over the Taclink comm.
“Comm, acknowledge Taclink command, ‘will comply’.” Corrine directed. “Parker, get ready for round two. Jones, look sharp. Your time to shine is coming.”
“Have lens, will burn Bugs, Commander.”
“Monty, target your Shrikes per Taclink Commander. Bugs main body.”
“Targets set, Commander. Optimal firing time in forty-four minutes.”
“Excellent, Monty.” Even though it signs our death certificates.
“Admiral, Commander!” Eddie broke in, a new excitement coloring his voice. “The projectiles, well, half of the projectiles targeting us have split into six pieces each, and they are decelerating!”
“Corry, they’re planning on boarding us!” Jock’s voice carried a touch of surprise.
“Comm, station wide.”
“Open.”
“This is the Commander. Prepare to repel boarders. Repeat, prepare to repel boarders!”
“Commander!” A powerful deep voice came from the rear of the CIC as Mike Halsey stepped up to stand between Admiral MacAlister and Commander Halsey. “I am the ranking marine on board, is that correct?”
“It’s all yours, Captain. Go.” Jock’s voice made it clear that there was no discussion available on this topic. Mike saluted the Admiral, glanced at his wife and gave her a wink as he left the CIC, already on his comm organizing his resources. Corry’s eyes followed him, pleading…
“Commander.” Jock’s voice now exuded a contagious confidence. He continued, much softer, so that only his daughter would hear, “Corrine. Corry.”
She shot her father a look, “Sorry. That was too selfish,” she said as their shared purpose came back to her in an instant. “What a damn fine group to fight with!” The volume and power of her voice surprised Jock, but the CIC crew took it in stride. The chorused “HOO-RAH! reply shook the core of the asteroid base.
DAMN my daughter is GOOD! Jock thought.
***
Chrysler Building
55th Floor
New York City
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“At your service!” the brown haired woman had her eyes closed and trembled visibly as she spoke with subdued, gentle tones.
The Target is in sight. It is very unlikely that he will survive this time. Concentrate on the other matters now.
The voice in her mind died, terminated at the source. She remained trembling for several minutes after that. She looked at her hands, spotted with age, thin, pale and dry. Am I really this…have I really become this… evil?
***
United News Network
Times Square Studios
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Good evening. Tonight we have a special show for you. Tonight we have exclusively in our sights the controversial Senator Sandy MacAlister. Hello, every one, I’m Donald Derringer. Welcome to Straight Shot!
“Senator, some have accused you of a dovish naïveté when it comes to handling the Bug threat. Some have called you a war-mongering tool of your husband, Admiral Jock MacAlister. Tonight you have the opportunity to explain and clarify your position before the people. What do you say?”
“Thank you for this opportunity, Donald. I’ll get straight to the point; my concerns lay with our actions after we defeat the Bug invasion. As I see it, we will then have a choice to make. Do we attack and wipe out every single bug, or do we open a channel for communications, and offer them a chance to negotiate? That is…”
“Hold on a second, Senator! Breaking news, ladies and gentlemen! Sources have confirmed that the Bug invasion has begun! We now go to Barry Holland for the latest; Barry?”
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
ADS 1284 CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“GravTorp firing point, Commander.” Lieutenant Alex MacAlister calmly announced.
“Comm, Taclink.”
“Open.”
“Castle Shannon, you may fire GravTorps when ready.” Tracy Singh’s command sounded in each of the five Turrets on the Taclink.
On the hundreds of quarter-mile wide and larger chunks of rock that comprised each Turret, doors opened allowing the GravTorps to slide from th
eir hidden tubes. The bus-sized torpedo was a self-guided, gravitic drive powered drone carrying a Gravitic Implosion warhead. When detonated, each warhead became a miniature black hole, exerting a pull of hundreds of thousands of gravities within a ten kilometer-wide sphere for thirty minutes. The effect was devastating. A ship in contact would be ‘sucked-in’ and collapse into the warhead, compressed into a dense chunk of matter only a few meters wide.
The GravTorps moved silently out in a predetermined pattern to cover the Bug main body’s approach. There they waited until ships matching the configuration programmed into their Artificial Intelligence Systems came into range. When they detected a Bug ship, they would accelerate to that ship and detonate when in range.
“Shrike Launch firing point, Commander.”
“Castle Shannon, you may fire Shrikes when ready.” A few more minutes, Tracy thought as she took a big, deep breath. “Look sharp, Alex.”
Ten waves of thirty thousand missiles each streaked from silos buried in asteroids across the five Turrets that made up Castle Shannon. Each of the nuclear tipped missiles accelerated towards the Bug main body at a fantastic rate. Shortly after the Shaver rounds swept through the Bug main body, three hundred thousand fifteen-kiloton nuclear warheads would detonate within the Bug main body formation.
“Shaver firing point, Commander.” Lieutenant Alex MacAlister announced.
“Castle Shannon, you may fire Shavers when ready. Exhaust all rounds.”
Hundreds of one hundred-kilogram pellets sped silently from each of the hundreds of muzzles every tenth of a second. Traveling at eighty percent of light speed, once at the optimal distance from their target each round opened and ninety-six one-kilogram lead balls spread out. The SHVRs were in auto-fire mode, microscopic targeting adjustments happening in the tenth of a second interval between each round leaving the gun.
Commander Tracy Singh sat back in her command station chair. Her Command Heads Up Display indicated all five Turrets firing as ordered. She let out that big, deep breath. God help me. I’ve just unleashed the greatest amount of firepower in Human history. Please, Lord, let it be enough!
***
Task Force Anvil
USF Victory
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Admiral, Castle Shannon has commenced firing.” Lieutenant Allison MacAlister’s voice broke the tension the long wait for action had built. “Task Force Hammer reports they are in position and standing ready, Sir.”
“Comm, Task Force Anvil.”
“Open.”
“Admiral Bucktooth to Task Force Anvil. Spit your chews and grab your crotches boys and girls, it is Game Time! Execute The Flying Wedge.” Jeri let out a huge sigh. It’s in motion, but now we have to sit and wait for it to work or fail. We can’t go over three quarters light speed, or the whole plan could be lost. Damn, I hate waiting.
“All units of Anvil report ‘aye-aye’, Admiral.”
Allie MacAlister is as cool as her Dad. I’m glad she’s here. Admiral Bucktooth thought. His eyes moved up to the CHUD floating in front of his eyes. His huge formation of fifty battleships, one hundred light cruisers, and fifty heavy cruisers moving towards the ragged cone of the Bugs main body. Off to the side, he glanced at the Bug vanguard closing on the Turret Halsey…another one of Jock’s kids. There has to be a way to save them. I can’t leave them out there alone…
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Shaver rounds impact in three. Two. One. Now, Sir!” Eddie Wilson couldn’t contain his excitement. The actual impacts happened some time ago, but the light showing them was just reaching Turret Halsey. The young lieutenant knew Parker never missed. Had the deceleration of half of the projectiles screwed his aim? We’ll know soon enough.
“Sensors recording multiple impacts…one-third, one-half, two, three…sensor record eighty percent of the projectiles not decelerating hit and destroyed, Commander!” Eddie’s voice carried his desire to jump up and cheer at the news.
“Good shootin’, Parker! Eddie, any on the decelerating objects?” Corry’s spirits were lifted immensely. She knew this crew would run through a GravTorp wall for her, but how good were they really? Would the records they traded with Tracy’s Turret translate into competent battlefield performance? This was her first answer, and she loved what she saw in it.
“Jane, stay sharp. Eddie, any news on the main body attack?”
“Not yet, Commander. Reading on the decelerated objects coming in now, Sir. Twenty…forty...sixty percent hits! YEAH!” Wilson’s fist shot into the air, to be quickly and sheepishly withdrawn.
“Damn, Parker, leave some for me!” Jane Jones yelled as she punched the grinning Yamamoto’s shoulder.
“Focus people. The bar ain’t open yet. Parker, good work. Make it better next time!” Corry’s ear-to-ear grin lit up the CIC.
“Fortiter, SIR!” The young man exclaimed, prompting a round of “HOO-RAH!’ on the bridge.
“Great work, Parker. Don’t let up.” Jock added, using the powerful baritone to full effect to remind everyone the battle still raged without deflating them too much.
Jock looked at his CHUD, placing Anvil and the Bug main body, as well as the four thousand plus projectiles still heading their way. It looked like only a couple hundred were real projectiles; the rest would be some type of transport. From the size of them, Jock guessed they were two to four-Bug pods. Four thousand of them.
“Shavers magazines empty, Commander.”
“All GravTorps launched, Commander.
“All Shrikes away, Commander.”
Jane Jones’ eyes grew wide as the other weapons stations reported. It’s down to me now. Our lives depend on me…
A hand gently rested on Lieutenant Jones’ right shoulder. She kept her focus on her targeting as she felt a larger than life presence come close to her. A deep baritone voice whispered into her ear, “There is a reason you are here, Jones. You were born and trained for this moment in time. It’s your turn to shine. I’m happy with that.”
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Tracy’s Turret CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Looks like Halsey’s Shavers took a big chunk out of those projectiles, Commander!” Alex MacAlister didn’t try to dampen his pleasure at the sensor readings.
“Shavers magazines are spent, Taclink-wide, Commander.”
“GravTorps are all launched Taclink-wide.”
“Shrikes are all away, Taclink-wide, Commander.”
“Lasers, grapples, stay sharp. Alex, how long until our volley hits the Bug main body?”
“Looks like ten, no twelve minutes, for the light to reach us, Commander. The fireworks should last a long time, though, Sir. There’s an awful lot of lead flying at them.” And not a damn thing they can do about it. We think.
***
Task Force Hammer
USF Dreadnought
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
Admiral Mark Gordon studied his CHUD intently. His eyes felt like they would fall out any second. There has to be something we’ve missed. There always is. What is it? Where is it?
The thirty battlecruisers and their escorts which made up Task Force Hammer maintained position well behind Task Force Anvil. The heavier battleship armor and defenses would deal with the Bug projectiles, and then the Bug ships as well. His command would shoot through the gaps like watermelon seeds spit out at a church social. The three Bug command ships were his targets, if he could reach them. They had to get past twelve thousand Bug ships!
“Turret Halsey’s Shavers have crushed the Bug projectiles, Admiral! Estimate is eighty-percent hits.”
“Good news, indeed. Let’s hope their lasers are up to the rest of Halsey’s standards. Weapons, do you have a Shaver firing solution for us yet?”
“Solutions plotted, Admiral. Firing position in five m
inutes. Just make sure none of the Anvil ships move!” Lieutenant Alistair MacAlister reported to his Admiral.
“Our Shaver rounds are different from the grapeshot of the turrets and battleships; we’ll be firing solid gravity compressed projectiles in one hundred kilogram chunks at zero-point-nine-nine light speed. We’ll be targeting the Three Kings, as they’ve been dubbed. That should add just a bit more to the chaos we need to create here, don’t you think, Charlie?”
“I think the Bugs are going to be hit pretty hard before we start your knife fight, Sir.” Captain Charlie Walker agreed. But, will it be hard enough?
***
United News Network
Times Square Studios
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Even as we speak, our brave men and women are moving to attack the Bugs; a technologically superior race of intelligent Exoskeletites the military believes are bent on our destruction. Some disagree, using the logical argument that beings so intellectually advanced must be morally advanced as well, and therefore peaceful in nature.
“The question in our sights then, is this; how do we know they are going to attack us, and are not simply a trade delegation bringing goods to barter? How can we be sure of this?
“Our military claims to have “broken the code” of the alien computers. How do we know they didn’t just open a page from an alien science fiction novel?
“Many now say we should pull back and give the Bugs a chance to teach us their wisdom. Other scream the bloodthirsty cry of “kill, kill, KILL”!