“Do we have the right?
“What do you say? Send in your comments to Don Derringer, care of Straight Shot.”
***
Mars L-2
J. Wadsworth R & D Station
Commander’s Quarters
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Report, LC.” Commodore Jack MacAlister’s deep bass voice softly demanded an answer.
“The Thistle is ready, Commodore. Locked and loaded.” Lieutenant Commander Peter Stone replied. He was proud of what they had put together, he knew it would work as designed…well, maybe. They hadn’t had time to test everything yet.
“What about our ‘Babies’?
“Eighteen Fortiter Mod LCPAs, Sir.”
This doesn’t seem like much. But if what we have on the Thistle works, and the LCPAs can execute their mission, we could make a huge difference. We will see.
“Good, Pete. Let’s man the ships. Volunteers to your posts! In twenty minutes we launch Operation Home Field Advantage.”
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Shaver rounds impacts in three. Two. One. There it is!” Eddie was hoping to be excited by the impacts of the Castle Shannon’s Shaver rounds on the Bug main body. What he saw left him nearly speechless.
“Impacts on ships throughout the Bug’s main body. A high hit ratio, Sir! It looks like seventy percent of the main body, Admiral, they’re just… gone!”
Jock let out a big breath. This is too good. What are we missing? Where is it? Jock’s eyes flashed across his CHUD, looking for the danger he was certain lay hidden there.
“Corry, there’s something we’re missing. What is it?”
“Could it be the boarding, Admiral? Are they boarders, or could they be something else?”
“Like what, Commander?”
“What if they were bombs?”
Jock thought about that. If these were bombs, drifting in to explode with, what, nukes? The damage they would do was iffy at best; the turret CICs were under hundreds of meters of iron ore asteroid. The worst they could do was knock out some sensors…
“Comm; Fleet Command Channel STAT.”
“Open.”
“Jeri, these boarding pods could be EMP warheads. The same for those headed your way!”
“Understood, Jock. Think ‘Shrikes’. You give ‘em Hell, son.”
“Aye-aye, Sir! Understood.”
“Corry, those warheads need to be priority targets over the ships.”
“Roger that, Admiral. Jane, you heard the man! Target accordingly.”
“Already on it, Skipper!” Jane’s hands flew over her console.
“Monty, are any of your Shrikes near the pods?”
“About two dozen, Admiral. It could be enough…”
“Taclink orders have them targeted on the main body, Admiral” Corry reminded her father.
“Eddie, is the main body going to pass in range of these Shrikes?” Jock indicated thirty missiles on his CHUD, relayed and displayed on Wilson’s HUD.
Eddie took a deep breath as he ran the data.
“No way, Admiral. Not even close.” He let out the air in his lungs. We just may make it.
“Admiral’s decision. Monty, run these Shrikes into the pod formation and detonate. Target and detonate on your judgment.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.” Monty’s hands were already adjusting the movements of the missiles.
“If they’re EMP bombs, we’ll fry them first. If they’re boarders, we’ll fry them in their own fat.” Jock said to no one in particular. If they have fat.
***
Task Force Anvil
USF Victory
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“We have sensor data on their projectiles now, Admiral.”
“I see it, Lieutenant. Good job.” Jericho Bucktooth scanned the visuals on his CHUD. It could be here. Whatever it is that we’ve missed.
“Admiral, eleven thousand of the projectiles are decelerating hard. Five thousand are earthbound.” Lieutenant Allison MacAlister’s voice carried her excited apprehension.
“Shavers, target projectiles not decelerating. Expend all ammunition.” I see a pattern in the ones slowing down. It looks like something I’ve seen before…where? What is it telling me?
“Aye, aye Sir. Shavers targeting now.”
“Admiral, Hammer is ready to ship their packages.”
“Admiral to Anvil, maintain formation while Hammer delivers its mail.”
“Anvil ships reply ‘will co’, Sir.”
“Admiral, Anvil’s Shavers targeted.”
“Fire at will.”
“Anvil Shavers firing Sir. ETA return images of first rounds impacts in ten minutes.”
“Hammer reports all packages have been sent.”
“Jeri, that pattern…” Captain Haja Zafy rubbed her chin as she thought out loud. “Do you remember old blue-water naval history? How they hunted submarines?”
“That’s it, Haja! It’s a depth charge pattern! It’s meant to cover us with…what? They’re not boarding, that pattern won’t work for that. Explosions won’t hurt us, no shock wave, just…EMP!
“Comm, Fleet-wide.”
“Open.”
“Bug projectiles decelerating are likely EMP weapons. All units use maximum radiation shielding. Anvil, prepare for GravTorp salvo, standby for targeting. Bucktooth out.
“Johnson, give me a GravTorp dispersal pattern that will crumple those EMP warheads.”
“I’m on it, Admiral.”
“I’m starting to feel a little better about this. Not much, but a little.”
***
Task Force Hammer
USF Dreadnought
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“All Shaver rounds away, Admiral.”
“It’ll be awhile before they’re on target. Lasers, GravTorps, Shrikes, Grapples, prepare for close range engagement. Charlie, when Anvil engages their main body, I want to accelerate through the fur ball.” Mark Gordon had twenty thousand things on his mind right now, and sixteen thousand were the ships of the Bug main body. Getting to those Three Kings with enough firepower to take them out was his only goal. Almost.
“Just say when, Admiral.” Charlie Walker had several routes of attack visualized in his mind. His crew was well trained, so the Dreadnought’s helm and nav stations had them plotted as well without any communication past the experience of extensive training as a team.
Ninety ships. Thirty battlecruisers, thirty heavy cruisers, and thirty light cruisers would have to pass through the four thousand surviving Bug ships, and then attack the three Bug command ships; if that was what they were. The Bugs sure seemed intent on protecting them. Fifty battleships, fifty heavy cruisers, and one hundred light cruisers would clear their way. Two hundred ships against four thousand…
“Admiral, we have fixes on the Bug projectiles targeted on Earth.”
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Shrike detonation in three. Two. One. Now.” Monty’s light British accent almost made the countdown to one hundred and twenty megatons worth of nuclear explosions sound elegant.
“I’m reading secondary explosions throughout the pod formation. High EMP levels…range outside our danger zone! We made it!” Edison Wilson’s relief rang throughout everyone in the CIC.
“Stay focused, Lieutenant! We’ve still got those ships headed for us, and the rest of the projectiles. And some of those pods are still coming, too. They could be boarders as a follow up.” Corrine Halsey’s listing of their potential executioners’ assets brought the CIC back to work.
“Good work, Monty. Eddie, anything more on the remaining pods?” Jock wanted to build them up a little after Corry had dashed their ‘high’. Not too fast, but enough to boost their confide
nce and focus.
“There are still just under a thousand pods converging on us, Admiral. It’s funny, though…”
“Wilson, talk to me.” Analytical thinking here, and he’s not afraid to offer it. Corry has led them well.
“Well, Admiral, they’re headed right for Landing Bay Alpha’ exterior doors. That’s the only place we could be boarded, Sir, unless they could move through twelve hundred meters of asteroid. It’s like they know where to go.”
He has a point. But, how could they know? We can’t have a spy, could we? Good grief!
“Good thinking, Lieutenant. Keep it up. You’ve got a point there, but other than preparing to be boarded through the landing bay, I don’t know how it will help us.” Jock was thinking out loud now, trying to allay any fears Wilson’s analysis may have engendered.
“I’ve already deployed with that as the most likely method of attack, Admiral.” Marine Captain Mike Halsey’s deep voice sounded from the entrance to the CIC.
Admiral Jock MacAlister smiled. He’d bet that any Bug getting into that landing bay was in for a world of hurt.
***
Mars L-2
J. Wadsworth R & D Station
AG-1 Thistle
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“All systems go, Commodore.”
“Course set for ultra high Earth orbit.”
“Very well. One thing left, Pete.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then, as senior commanding officer present, I hereby commission this ship…The USF Jeremiah Wadsworth.”
“Jack, look at viscreen three.” Kesa smiled.
Jack MacAlister tilted his head to look at the indicated screen. The view was an external shot of the refurbished space tug/weapons testing platform/space sweeper. Bright green letters spelled out the new name.
“Do you know the story, Pete?” Kesa Macalister asked from the weapons console.
“What story?”
“The Jeremiah Wadsworth was an ore carrier, mining heavy metal ore from Jupiter’s moons,” Jack spoke while adjusting his controls. “They were just leaving Jupiter’s orbit, hauling a load in, when the Birds landed. The captain burned their ion drive at max, way, way past specs, until they were pushing three-quarters light speed. Just as they neared the Bird fleet, they blew their core, turning themselves and their ore into shotgun pellets. They wiped out the Bird fleet. Earth was saved. The captain’s name was Joel MacAlister.”
“Fortiter!” Kesa exclaimed.
“Full speed ahead Peter. Let’s sweep us some sky.”
The huge, ungainly looking ship moved slowly away from the research station. As it moved clear of the station, eighteen LCPAs moved in very close to the ship’s body, nestling in behind the huge radiation shield. Originally designed to protect the crew from the old style reactor’s radiation, the shield now protected the LCPAs from anything in front of the Jeremiah Wadsworth. The gravity clamps locked onto the smaller ships, holding them fast.
The old tug moved lazily for a few more seconds. Then, the Jeremiah Wadsworth vanished as the column of space in front of the ship instantly shrunk, sucking the ship forward at four times light speed.
***
United Earth Senate
Montreal
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Madam President, we can not withdraw our forces at this crucial moment!” Sandy MacAlister slammed her fist on the polished wood table.
“Senator, please try to leave your feelings for your family members out of our debates! We must withdraw now to protect the Earth! I’m ordering the immediate withdrawal of all of our ships back to high Earth orbit, where they will be better positioned to defend the Earth. That is their mission, after all.”
“Allowing the aliens to regroup and plan an attack after they have seen our forces almost assures the destruction of Earth! Surely you can see that!”
“Senator, your love for your family is admirable, but it is clouding your judgment. I will order the withdrawal…I will order…I will…”
“Madam President! Someone call the medics! The President isn’t breathing! She has no pulse!”
***
Task Force Anvil
USF Victory
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Task Force Anvil, accelerate to zero-point–five light relative twenty seconds from my mark. Mark.”
Twenty seconds later the two hundred United Space Force ships moved as one to engage over four thousand alien ships.
“Bucktooth to Fleet. We will soon be engaged in Earth’s second ship to ship space battle. It is our task to make sure it’s not Earth’s last. This is the biggest big time there will ever be, so let’s shine tonight!” I sure wish I was better at this rah-rah stuff.
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Corry, you’ve got four turrets to provide covering laser fire. We should be able to cut the odds down a bit.”
“Thanks, Tracy. We still don’t know why they’re ignoring the other turrets. Best we can figure, they knew this one was here from the captured scout, and they just can’t deviate from their plans.”
“Corry, good luck. Tell the old man he owes me one. I really want him around so I can collect.”
“Commander, Bug vanguard coming into range.” Wilson’s voice broke in.
“Let’s go to work!”
“Projectiles in laser range in twenty seconds.” Jane Jones announced. Fish in a barrel.
“Firing lasers. Laser fire form Castle Shannon supporting, but they have crappy firing angles.” The normally silent Jones kept up the running commentary as her hands flew across the controls almost faster than the eye could follow.
Nearly a thousand projectiles silently flew towards Turret Halsey at half of the speed of light. The turrets plasma lasers reached across the vast distances and vaporized the projectiles they hit squarely. Even the vaporized projectiles were dangerous; microscopic particle at that speed still carried a lot of energy.
Many projectiles were hit with only a glancing blow. Some of these continued on, courses unchanged, while others veered off on a new trajectory.
Turret Halsey was about to get pounded.
***
Chrysler Building
55th Floor
New York City
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“What do you mean, the President is dead?” Anger, fear, panic and desperation all fought for control of the brown-haired woman’s shriek.
“She suffered a massive heart attack while debating the Senate Space Policy Committee.”
“And the Vice President? Where is she?” She practically screamed into her comm.
“She is on a suborbital transport, en route to Montreal from Bombay. Her ETA is two hours. She cannot be reached for at least an hour and a half.”
The woman cut the comm and slammed her fist onto the unyielding wood of the desk. I can only hope that I don’t need her help. Just in case, she pulled the plasma blaster from the desk drawer and set it on her lap. Then she turned and stared out the windows.
***
The Battle For Castle Shannon
Turret Halsey CIC
Standard Earth Date March 30 3488
“Attention, all personnel. Prepare for low atmosphere operations. Repeat, prepare for low atmosphere operations.” Corrine’s voice carried throughout the station, signaling everyone to get into his or her pressure suit.
“Projectile impacts in twenty seconds.” Eddie kept his voice cool and calm as he shot a sideways glance to Jane. Lord, let her shoot well tonight!
“Let me know where they hit, Eddie.” Corrine said quietly. “As best you can.”
Turret Halsey was made up of eighty asteroids in a rough pyramid formation, flat base pointed Earthward. The second largest asteroid in the group housed the crew, most of the sensors, the main shields, a few gravity grapples and s
everal plasma lasers. The remainder of the weapons, sensors, and shielding were spread out among the other asteroids. There were a lot of targets, but only the station was critical. That is where all the people were. The railguns, Shrike silos, and GravTorp tubes were spent, so losing them would not affect the turrets combat effectiveness. Losing the lasers or the grav grapples would leave them defenseless.
“Impacts detected. Beta shielding is gone. Beta GravTorp station is gone. Beta Shrike station is gone. Beta grapples are gone. Beta lasers are half gone. Alpha stations are all gone. Delta stations, all gone.” Eddie took a big breath. “Theta station is gone except…”
The CIC rocked violently for several seconds. Almost as soon as it stopped, it began again. Six times the station shook violently before the motion stopped.
All eyes look to Admiral MacAlister when it seemed the seventh impact wouldn’t come.
“We’re still alive, so let’s look the part, people!” Jock was surprised to hear his own voice say.
“We have three lasers still firing on Theta station. We’ve lost seven lasers on Home Plate. And all of the grapples.”
“Eddie, that wasn’t a full projectile that hit us; what was it?”
“Best guess, Admiral, is that we got hit by plasma dust, the remnants of projectiles Jane hit square on. By the way, Jane hit eight hundred forty six out of nine hundred eighty four projectiles. Covering Castle fire took out another seventy three.”
Jane didn’t hear the stats, nor did she feel the awed gazes of the CIC crew. Her exhausted gaze was fixed on her targeting station. She took several deep breaths, and then came back to life as she began her resource inventory to assign targeting priorities for the following pods. After about ninety seconds, she stopped, looked at Lieutenant Yamamoto and simply said, “Told you I was good.” Parker winked at Jones as she went back to work.
The Turret: Starclan Foundation Page 20