Carsickle was about to retort when the governor lowered her snout, the equivalent of a human waving off the subject.
“It is not a bad thing. Many were impressed by them, myself included. I do think that our deal with the Free Fleet is the best spending of resources we have possibly ever had.”
Carsickle’s brow rose. He’d had no idea the governor felt that way about the Free Fleet. At every meeting, she’d kept to her Chaleelian roots and hammered out the best possible deal for the Chaleelians. The governor was one hell of a negotiator.
“I didn’t know you felt that way.”
Her ears moved as a sign of amusement. “Well, I can’t very well give the game away to them, can I? That Salchar is a wily one. I had the feeling he knew I’d pay him twenty percent more than we agreed to the entire time.”
Carsickle’s ears similarly moved. “He is quite the creature.”
“Why now, though?”
Carsickle looked over the governor, who looked to be genuinely interested. He tightened his jaw, a shrug. “We have trade agreements with the Free Fleet and AIH, food for protection, materials and possibly technology in the near future. We also have an agreement with AIH to build ships in concert. There are a number of Chaleelians being trained by the Free Fleet, as well as Avarians. We have two newly refurbished corvettes under our divided command. The Free Fleet has shown their reliability. I don’t think I’m needed here.”
“You want to be out there defending your people, instead of sitting back here and twiddling your thumbs and going to meetings.” She pursed her lips in acceptance of that fact. “I am not going to stop you, General,” she finished, her ears moving.
“What is so interesting?”
“Wondering what Salchar has planned for you.”
“I doubt anything.” Carsickle tightened his jaw as her ears went faster, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“That man has a lot of plans. He had a plan for you the minute he met you; I saw it. He probably has a plan for me too. It will be interesting to find out,” she said.
It was Carsickle’s turn to move his head from side to side in contemplation.
“Before you go, you must try my husband’s Baroui etre Calvun.” She turned her head to show her stubbornness.
“Very well, Governor. It would be my pleasure.” Being invited to the governor’s house was not something to be denied, especially for food.
“Good. Then you can sign up and go and see the galaxy with mine and Chaleel’s blessing.”
Carsickle raised his head in thanks. I wonder if she’s right about Salchar having a plan for me. His plans are infamous. A shiver of excitement ran up his spine at the thought that in a few days he would sign up to join the Free Fleet.
Taking Back What is Ours
We were still a few million kilometers away from the station and the Syndicate fleet that was milling around it, but soon, with low emissions or not, they would see us.
“We’ve got movement within the Syndicate fleet,” Sensors said after we passed an invisible threshold.
“Sound battle stations and distribute Wake-Up for those who need it,” I said. The comms officer relayed it to the tight beam and to the rest of the fleet.
A few minutes later, Rick turned to me. “Everyone is up and ready.”
I nodded. “Comms, put me on with the fleet.”
“You’re on, Commander.”
“Initiate phase three. Bring all fusion power plants to full power, all weapons online and readied! Begin blasting information on all frequencies, as well as surrender terms. Remember that the Kuruvians and Sarenmenti here are not our enemy—their masters are.”
Ships came alive as the sketch pattern of the system and everything in it, collected from passive sensors and input simulations, was replaced with firm outlines as sensors went to full power. The Resilient came alive. Power surged through the bridge and lights came up green. Different sections started flooding in reports of their readiness.
“Syndicate forces have seen us and are moving to intercept,” Sensors replied, much more relaxed than they had been when we entered the system.
“Good. Tactical, execute fire plan Alpha. Let’s give them something to worry about besides our Commandos.”
The station was already starting to react, which was surprising for a Syndicate force. But the fleet’s missiles were already leaving their tubes on a preset firing solution. My ships shifted into their positions; being blind, we had all drifted off our preset positions.
The Syndicate’s forces’ Personal Defense Systems—or PDS—was good, but because of the lack of resources the Kuruvians had, that didn’t mean much. Most of them were down, and a lot of the systems had been sold by ship captains wanting to make more money. The ships and the station fired wildly and without any sort of pattern in response to our concentrated barrage. The pirates were still probably arguing over who was in charge.
I didn’t care what damage they did. I just wanted to distract them from my much more vulnerable shuttles headed toward their ships and stations.
“Incoming missiles,” the sensor commander said in the same calm way they had gone through the initial emergence phase.
Now just to see if that professionalism filters down.
The sensor commander kept up his report. “We have confirmed hits on the station. Two corvettes dead, destroyer limping, and a battle cruiser with engine problems.”
Something disappeared from the screen.
“Battle cruiser destroyed.”
“Thank you, Sensors. Comms, get me the shuttles and Commander Heston of the eclipse freighters.”
The comms commander opened a channel with our hidden forces.
“Lone Riders and company, this is Battle Wagon. Time to join the fight.”
“Thank you, Commander!” I heard Heston say as someone whooped in the background.
“Well, this is going to be a ride,” Henry said as I smirked.
Shuttles came online, with their accompanying fighters around the station. Their engines fired on full burn as they braked, jinked, or whatever they felt they needed to do as their PDS went to work on the missiles between them and the station. Shuttles and fighters diverted power as they changed courses for the ships, spotting our nonexistent shields.
Fighters let loose with their close-range missiles, which had less fuel but twice the explosive force as a normal missile. They could take out a cruiser’s shield with a few close hits and could crack a ship without shields like an egg if the pilots could coordinate their hits, and the PDS didn’t catch them or their missiles.
The fighters opened up the ships, their losses thankfully light as the shuttles descended and they peeled away to assist, opening up other ships’ shields.
The remaining fighters were clearing the station of weapons but holding back their missiles. There were possibly innocent people in the station, people like us. Thankfully everyone kept their head as waves of shuttles landed, or crashed, into the station.
That part done, the battle between my ships and the Syndicate became wholly one-sided. They fired on us as we diverted everything to shielding, hoping that we would be able to survive the onslaught of missiles and cannon fire.
The station’s missile capacity was terrifying. They launched hundreds. Thankfully, theirs and the Syndicate’s volleys were staggered, meaning that they came in erratic waves, the eclipse freighters worth their weight in gold as their new PDS systems let loose cutting down tens of missiles.
The Resilient took a beating. I was happy I made all of the bridge crew wear chair harnesses as we bucked and awed. Even at a few thousand kilometers, five hundred kiloton nukes were immensely powerful.
I watched as a destroyer disappeared when a missile got within four hundred meters.
“Rick?” I said as there was a lull in the missiles.
“The Delliante’s engines are out but she’s holding formation using reactive thrusters. Her weapon systems are still online. Destroyer Carthridge is gone. Corve
ttes Slip Stream and Blue Bird are dead in space, damaged. Resilient has taken a beating, and we’ve lost one engine. Destroyer Halbert is reporting port side gunnery is gone; they’re flipping to present their starboard.”
I had no time to realize how Rick acted like a rock under fire. Before Rick was finished, I was punching the button for Eddie’s personal comm. “Eddie, I need that engine up!”
“Yes, sir, we’re working on it!”
“Label the unknown ships as fighters, access file Eclipse One,” I called out.
Someone did so and the map became populated with the wings of fighters, identifying the wing commanders.
“Secondary launch of missiles, two hundred and thirty incoming.”
“Marleen, I want your people on anti-missile.”
She didn’t reply to me, instead barking orders through her console.
I couldn’t do anything as missiles bore down on my ships. This was the weak point of my plan. My ships would take a pounding, but hopefully my AMC would be able to get into the ships and station and disable them. PDS and rail cannons flashed across the fleet as we took out a hundred and forty-three.
One of the missiles faulted, blowing up and taking five with it. Most detonated out of range, which didn’t do much more than buffet my ships. Five hit the AMC transports, taking a chunk out of the front sections. I silently hoped that the crews of the transports had followed my advice and stayed in the rear of the ship. It seemed so as the engines corrected course, following behind us.
Shields flickered and fell, ships getting bathed in nuclear light. I blinked as reports flooded in. I’d been focused on one part of the battle on my view screen, and they’d already gone through the reports of what I knew.
“Captain Xing says Eclipse Two is losing atmo. They’re sealing and diverting, but they’ve lost a quarter of their PDS,” Vort said.
That’s going to hurt us, I thought as the Syndicate ships and my fleet came closer.
“We’ve got the targets from CAMC and the locations of the AMC on the ships,” Rick said moments later.
“Lock on targets with gunner crews. I want them opened like cans for our people to get in,” I said as we came into laser cannon range. “Hold on, plasma and mass drivers,” I said and Marleen nodded.
“All right, you gun bunnies, listen up! Laser cannons only. I want those ships open like a damned four-year-old went at them! Don’t just slice them—give me gashes and openings!”
It seemed to have the desired effect as the gunners began firing lasers and the pirates fired everything they could a few minutes later.
***
“This has to be one of the most idiotic, crazy damned ideas I’ve ever heard of or been a part of.” Henry shook his head in his helmet as Yasu nodded.
“Don’t think his missions will ever be exactly sane,” Yasu said.
He gave a gruff laugh.
Yasu saw the ships were in weapons range. She was about to key the open channel as Henry’s voice barked through it.
“EVERYONE BRACE!”
A few moments later, the ships began pounding one another. More than a few Mechas had gone flying because of the massive force exerted by the weapons on both sides. It was over in a few minutes, but seemed like an eternity.
“You know the drill, ladies!” the commander of the AMC growled.
Yasu rushed over the side, flipping herself down into the hole created by the Free Fleet’s weapons. Her boots clamped down as Commandos ran ahead of her, placing door breaches and popping the hatch, as another group installed an air lock so the next hatch wouldn’t seal. The entry team filed through, then the next team, and then it was her turn.
She wished she was at the front, but rank and her protection detail wouldn’t allow it. She was surprised at first at the lack of accusatory glances, but it seemed they understood. She was Commander Salchar’s wife. It must be a pain dealing with him sometimes and getting him to listen.
Though none of them agreed with Takahashi’s part in the incident. He was a battalion commander, or was going to be. It wasn’t his place to get involved with the commander’s personal matters; he wasn’t part of the Mecha Tail family. Even if he was on Yasu’s side, he had called for blood, not explanation.
She shook her head as she continued clearing it of thoughts. She had a ship to clear.
“I want this floor sealed from above and below. Get cutting,” she barked as plasmid blades came out and started cutting through the ceiling and floor. Yasu jumped up through a precut hole. They were encountering resistance already; mostly Kuruvians and Sarenmenti not in Mechas. Thankfully they went down with a flurry of stun rounds.
It’s going to be a long day. Yasu thought of all the areas that she and her people had gone through, sometimes cutting right out into the black in the unfinished station.
“Get those fucking weapons offline, and I need a blueprint now! Commander Erkshaw! Take your platoon to the south factory ship. It should have blueprints, if nothing else,” Henry said after he’d only got glimpses of the overall plans for the station.
“Yes, CAMC!” Commander Erkshaw said.
“Bok Soo, report.” Henry opened a new channel.
“Heavy fighting at the training facility. We’re blasting the info dumps into every Mecha and it seems that the humans who have just begun training are surrendering. Those who have been here longer are just berserk.”
We could’ve been them, Henry mentally noted as he flicked through information on his HUD. “Knock out who you can. We don’t have time to deal with it. I need you to push for the weapons.”
“Understood,” Bok Soo said grimly.
One of Henry’s aides came up to him. “Sir, the fleet is holding over Earth. The Syndicate ships are still moving out of the system.”
“Shit. Get me into contact with Santos or get some kind of report from each ship. I need to know if they need reinforcements before they’re out of range.”
The aide didn’t say anything as they went to work. Henry had been working with them endlessly in his time on Chaleel, and it had paid off. He and his command team were a well-oiled machine, just like Salchar’s was.
“Commander Salchar is asking if we want the second wave brought up while holding the third in reserve.”
“Tell him to give me two-thirds and have the rest ready to launch for the Syndicate ships. I’ll only send them once we’ve taken out their weapons.”
Bok Soo looked at his arm pad as he yelled to the Commandos around him on the Close Area Frequency, or CAF. “Drive for the command center. Change to live rounds. Everyone from here on is trying to kill us, and I would prefer to take a lot of them with me if I’m going to Valhalla this evening!” His Commandos roared with him as they changed ammunition.
Bok Soo stood up to look over the cover he was hiding behind, getting a round in his shoulder for his trouble.
“Fucking piece of shit!” he yelled as it deadlined his arm, not thinking about how close his shoulder was to his head. Instead, his Mecha-trained and battle-hardened reflexes took over as he swung his rifle over the barricade he was using as cover. His sights linked into his HUD as he let a burst go into his attacker, who hadn’t ducked back behind cover.
“Fucker,” he ground out. Now he had no mercy for those he killed as Salchar had not only sent the truth to everyone in the Syndicate fleet, but had also blocked the kill switch signal. Everyone who wasn’t in their quarters was an enemy.
“Uploading blueprints now. South factory ship secured,” Commander Erkshaw said over the command channel.
“Good man.” Bok Soo checked the map of his section. “All right, boys, let’s get some payback. Amarr!”
“Yes, BC.” He came over with a grace that went against nature of the Avarian weight because it made the decking shake like a Mecha-entombed human would.
“Get me a route through here.” Bok Soo threw the path to Amarr that he’d outlined on the blueprints. The path went from his current position and through a number of rooms, cir
cumventing the deadly corridors that made effective choke points for the Syndicate forces, which were now being reinforced by crew serviced weapons.
Amarr nodded when he got it, leading his mostly Avarian squad easily through the walls with their mono-blade swords. Bok Soo and his Commandos followed them.
“Sir, you should hold back and get tended to,” one of Bok Soo’s commanders said as he saw Bok Soo’s limp arm.
“There isn’t anywhere to fall back and there ain’t no way I’m letting you boys have all of the fun.” This elicited grins and smirks as he kept moving. “Now, let’s get to this damned control center.”
“Everyone get into cover. There are reports of internal weapon systems coming online,” Henry said over the general channel.
“You heard the CAMC! Everyone, hurry it up!” He watched as his people packed into rooms. Mono-blades opened walls as Commandos cleared the corridors. But there were too many of them as rail guns deployed.
“Grenades!” Bok Soo yelled as he watched the rail guns activate and rounds cut through his people. Some got their grenades off, blowing the weapon systems and hallway to hell, but dozens of his people lay dead in the corridor already.
“Ming! Get your docs on those people! Rosa, grab this room and emplace security around it. This will be our medical point. Clear out of the room if you aren’t needed!” Bok Soo yelled. His people moved to obey as Amarr cut through another wall.
Bok Soo planned three more routes, assigning commanders to continue on the fight going on throughout the floors above him and below him as well as to his left. James had given him a mission, and he was damned if he wasn’t going to follow through with it.
What the Hell Are the Crazy Aliens Up to Now?
“Mr. President, it’s confirmed that the two fleets are attacking one another. The Planetary Defense Force Fleet is turning but much more slowly than the attacking fleet, which is stationary over Earth. It seems that the orbital weapons have also been knocked offline as they’ve stopped firing,” an analyst said from the armored bunker that the president was in, watching the ongoing battle above their heads.
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