CHAPTER NINE
Morato Class Frigate ‘Nautilus’, approaching the Ski’lig Territories
4th July 2475
The formation of ships waited motionless in space, the only sign of light the single squadron of robotic Avenger drones circling them in case of an attack. There were twelve ships in total, with the IAB capital ships surrounding the escorting frigates. It was a mighty fleet in itself, yet this only reflected the reconnaissance element. The rest of the fleet, along with numerous transports would be arriving just hours after them.
Captain Regina placed her hands on her hips and smiled as she watched the men and women of her crew go to work. It had been a long journey, fraught with problems. Some had been getting a well-deserved rest as the ship waited for the next phase of the journey. But that was now all behind them, as the bridge erupted into a hive of activity, the crew returning to their stations. They’d been in this area for almost two hours now as adjustments were made, and the IS drive recharged for the next part of their journey. While the much larger capital ships could run an interstellar drive for several weeks without shutting it off, a smaller ship like Nautilus was held back by its much smaller powerplant. Only by stopping and allowing the system to fully recharge could it continue such a long journey. For travel between planets this was rarely necessary, but when travelling between star systems it was unavoidable. And this journey of a little over ten light-years would take more than thirty days to complete without the use of a Spacebridge.
“Captain, we’re fully charged and ready to go,” said Chief Engineer Linus, “The fleet is waiting on us.”
Those last words were something of an irritation to Captain Regina. Her ship had taken a few heavy hits in the fighting, and while the others had sustained only superficial damage, Nautilus had somehow managed to take damage to her main power systems that had almost sent her back to Mars.
“What about the reserve cells? Has the damage been repaired?”
“As far as I can manage without a spacedock,” he said with a shrug, “We’ve got enough to get us to our destination with some left in the tank. I can’t do any more while the IS drive is active, not without risking blowing up the entire ship.”
“Good. Then that will have to do. Nautilus has never travelled ten light-years under her own steam before. It is quite a voyage.”
“Aye, Captain. Thirty-six days is more than even the heavies can manage without at least one stop.”
“Very good. Start the clock.”
It took another few minutes as the onboard systems were readied for activation. With the right timing, they should arrive in the alien star system in less than a day, and she was becoming as restless as the rest of the crew to see quite where this trip had taken them.
“Ready, Captain.”
She activated the intercom and spoke slowly and calmly.
“All hands to your stations. We’re commencing our final jump to the Ski’lig territory.”
A strange haze surrounded the others ships of the IAB assault force as they moved at incredible speeds through space. Captain Piera Regina watched in fascination as every single kilometre they travelled took them further into the great unknown. The most distant stars barely moved, but closer objects flickered and blurred as they whooshed away. It was always a strange feeling as her ship travelled through space without moving.
She found her attention drawn to the hulking shapes of the Confederate Class warships. They dwarfed her frigate, though the technological advances they had used had since shrunk in size to be usable in some form in her own vessel. What really intrigued her was the bizarre shape unlike anything else in the fleet.
Only a marine could have pushed for something so…functional.
“What do you think of them?”
First Lieutenant Meredith looked in the same direction as one of the nearby ships flickered as though fading in and out of existence.
“Confederate Class ships. There’s nothing subtle about them, high speed, automated throughout, and a tiny crew. They’re basically a much bigger version and with a lot of warriors onboard.”
“Most of the soldiers are Grunts. How do you feel about that?”
Her XO appeared confused.
“They’re no different to fighter drones, computer controlled and reliable. They’re probably just what we need when we get to wherever we’re going. I’d rather put a thousand robots on the surface than risk a battalion of marines.”
“True. They’re tough and expendable. But they lack intelligence.”
“That’s the last thing they need. Terra Nova would never allow near sentient machines with weaponry.”
“Quite,” said the Captain, “And in any case, how long will it take once the heavies have cleared the area to establish a Spacebridge back to Epsilon Eridani? After they’ve done that, the slower heavy transports can bring in the reserve infantry, if needed.”
“And if this operation heads south it will give us a way out.”
Captain Regina tried to imagine what they faced ahead, but she was no artist, she was a Navy officer, and her imagination was limited to tactical scenarios. But the mention of failure took her back to the Fall of Epsilon Eridani, and the withdrawal and fighting retreat back to Sol.
“They’ve kicked our asses before, and now it will be on their home turf.”
“But this time we’re ready. Once that Spacebridge is up we’ll have an edge. Do we know how long it will take to erect?”
“That’s a good question. I asked General Gun that very question. Do you know what he told me?”
The XO shrugged.
“He said we’ll find out!”
First Lieutenant Meredith laughed.
“Well, let’s make sure the dock and components are well protected.”
The Captain looked to her officers as the clock continued to count down. The last phase of the journey was the one that worried her the most. It would take more than a month to get back home if they were forced to travel the ten or more light-years to Epsilon Eridani. That was a vast distance, with multiple recharging stops and opportunities for the enemy to attack them. And on top of that, the IS drives and nacelles fitted to the ships were fragile and temperamental pieces of technology. One failure could see the IS drive made redundant, and using just the main thrusters would take decades to get home.
“Status!” she asked for the third time in the last half an hour.
First Lieutenant Meredith nodded and moved towards the displays alongside the Chief. He looked back at her and pointed to the clusters of data. It took a moment before she looked up from the displays and then nodded slowly before the Chief starting speaking.
“All systems normal, Captain. Weapons, defensive polarisation shielding is on standby.”
“Good. We need to be ready for whatever they throw at us. The last thing we need is to have a drained powerplant when it comes to combat.”
She turned and looked ahead to the whirling pool of colours growing larger and larger. In many ways it looked like the entrance to a Spacebridge, yet it was vastly bigger and changed colour continually. It wasn’t uniform, and parts were patchy, or extended out into long trails.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?”
First Lieutenant Meredith moved closer and looked on it all with interest. Her eyes darted back and forth from the view to the columns of data scrolling down in front of her.
“Never. It’s like a nebula, but not quite. It kind of reminds me of Prometheus and its storms.”
“Yes, that is true. But this field of colour consumed the entire star system. How have we never seen this before?”
She turned to the Chief who was also looking with interest.
“That’s a good question, a very good question. If I had to guess, I’d say they’ve been masking the area well. Maybe the nebula like environment is itself a form of cover for their territory? I can tell you that nothing discovered so far matches its size and disposition. As for its composition, it is nothing p
articularly concerning.”
“Go on,” said Captain Regina.
The Chief tagged several parts of the incredible clouds of colour.
“Like any emission nebula, this is constructed from clouds of ionised gas spread over an area large enough to encompass a significant star system. Spectrum analysis shows the red parts of the clouds are composed of significant sources of hydrogen. But there is something else there, something making areas hard to penetrate with sensors.”
“Deliberate?”
“Possibly. Though it’s just as likely a side effect for ionised clouds.”
He then angled his head, and his brow tightened. It was obvious he was busy running numbers and details through his brain before he gasped, and then looked back to her.
“I could be wrong, but it looks like a natural phenomenon that has been modified by artificial means.”
He tapped several areas and moved them to the main projection display directly ahead. They were darker than the others and clustered around one particular point.
“Odd,” said Captain Regina, “That looks like an emission from one area.”
“Exactly,” he replied as the view zoomed in closer, “My best guess is that dust or similar has clustered at these points and is blocking our view of the nebula.”
“That could be caused from meteor impacts, asteroid destruction, or a host of other reasons.”
“Yes. But it could also be from the planet we’re heading towards. It’s in the same place.”
“Fascinating. Keep checking. I want to know the minute you know more.”
“Yes, Captain.”
She then moved away and waited alongside as they both looked to the ever-growing mass of colour. It looked like an expanding pool of blood spreading from a body. Now they were so close it expanded as far as she could see in three directions.
“This is what the Ski’lig territories are going to look like. I wonder what we’ll find?”
“Something unpleasant, I’m sure,” replied the XO.
“I suspect you’re right. Check in with the Novas onboard and see if they need anything before our final approach. We may not have the time once we arrive.”
“Sir.”
* * *
Valentine leaned back into the reinforced metal chair and watched the pre-recorded videostream with interest.
“It’s pretty incredible.” She watched the footage carefully, “And this is from how long ago?”
“Five-hundred and twenty-six years ago,” said Alexis, “Back then the war had been raging across all of Old Earth for years. They fought on land, air, and sea, and they fought with everything they had to hand.”
“But this invasion. The numbers of equipment are staggering. I had no idea.”
“What’s this?” Tsarkov asked as he entered the recreation space. Like the others, he’d elected for his lighter weight off-duty prosthetics, and for a second he might look close to normal, with limbs that were not too oversized, “An old movie?”
“No,” said Alexis, “Footage of an amphibious operation half a millennia ago.”
He stopped near Valentine and lowered himself into a chair.
“Landing by water? Weird.”
“It’s basically what we’re doing. Those landing craft even looked like Maulers.”
Each of them watched with interest. The landing craft rushed over the rough sea, all while hundreds of large ships waited off the coast. Massive warships fired powerful salvos, and the sky filled with the criss-cross trails of aircraft as they headed over the beaches to attack the defenders. Tsarkov was usually quite aloof, but this time he appeared genuinely interested in what was happening.
“What kind of numbers are we talking?”
Valentine reached out with her metallic canteen, and he took it, throwing back a mouthful before handing it back.
“Thanks.”
Valentine was stunned as she looked back to the footage.
“No idea. Alexis?”
The Corporal shook her head as she tapped her head.
“You’ve got a networked AI and super-computer in your skull. You really don’t need me!”
“Maybe,” said Valentine, “But we’d like it from you. Right?”
She looked to Tsarkov and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Yeah…talk to us.”
“All right, then…apparently, over a hundred and thirty thousand troops were landed in one day across five different beaches.”
“No way,” said Tsarkov, “Back then with just boats.”
“A lot more than just boats. There were nearly seven thousand naval vessels, and over a thousand of those were warships. They used over four thousand landing ships, and they were manned by nearly two hundred thousand sailors.”
Tsarkov whistled as Lieutenant Fletcher popped his head inside. None of them noticed he was there until he spoke, causing all three to turn at once.
“The Normandy landings?”
“Yes, Sir!” Alexis rose to her feet.
“As you were, Corporal. I’m just passing through.”
“Uh…yes, Sir. D-Day, June…”
“The sixth. Yes, at the time it was the greatest amphibious invasion in history. At the Academy we studied it in depth. It’s an operation that is used to understand the complexities of a landing operation, including incredible logistics and support. Did you know they shipped their own port across the sea and installed it off the beaches?”
“Like we do with Spacebridges.”
“Exactly,” he replied with a smile, “It’s one thing to land troops and win the first day, and quite another to turn that into a warfighting victory.”
“Are you expecting a war, Sir?”
He considered that for longer than expected before replying.
“Ski’ligs are an enemy that has an asset the likes of which we have never encountered. Even when small in number, they can turn entire cities against us. Who knows what other tricks they have up their sleeves? Will their world be dead, like the cold rock of Eridani Prime, or will it be a new Terra Nova with towering cities and billions of citizens?”
For a second Valentine could see a hint of the old Lieutenant, but then something flickered in his eyes. It was like a switch had been flicked on, and his body stiffened without warning.
“We cannot let them live,” he said at the same time as he kept shaking his head, “No, we cannot.”
“Sir?” asked a surprised Tsarkov, “I thought this mission was to make sure they couldn’t attack us again.”
“And what better way than to eradicate their entire species?”
Tsarkov looked to the others and grinned. He might be a self-serving man, and with a character most found hard to like, but none had seen him as somebody that would delight in the extermination of a species.
Valentine shook her head, and it took a second for Tsarkov to realise he was being serious.
“No!” he mouthed in silence to her.
Alexis nodded and then looked to the Lieutenant.
“We’ll do what he have to, Sir, whatever is needed to drive them from our border.”
“Yes, we will.” He wiped the sweat forming at his brow, looked to each of them in turn, and then moved back to the open doorway. Once there, he stopped, looked back, spoke to himself, and then left.
“Uh…what was that?” Tsarkov asked, “I know he’s lost people. We all have. Has he finally snapped?”
Alexis rubbed her brow but said nothing.
“Well?”
Valentine sighed. “We just don’t know what’s going on.”
“I do,” said Alexis, “Deimos changed him, and he’s not going back.”
She leaned in closer.
“And I’ll tell you this much. I’m here to fight, not to exterminate.”
Valentine lifted herself up and stretched. The metal limbs and advanced actuators barely made a sound, but they were still obviously artificial. As she did it, her slightly curly dark hair dropped over her left shoulder. She shook
her head, moving it to the back, and then spoke.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Maybe we’ll be lucky, and it won’t be a problem.”
“Big mistake,” said Tsarkov, “Deal with it first. You know what it’s like when the shooting starts.”
Sergeant Jablonsky banged on the door and leaned inside.
“Okay, sweethearts. Not long now, get suited up. Be ready for combat loading in the next few hours.”
As his eyes moved between each of them, he could tell something was wrong.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, Sarge,” said Alexis, “We were just watching some old historical footage.”
He spotted the black and white imagery of landing craft and fighting on the beaches.
“Yeah. Just remember, the Skils ain’t no regular soldiers. I know we’ve fought them before, but never, ever underestimate them. Use your minds as well as your brawn.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” they replied in unison.
“Good. Now, out of those civvie legs and into your fighting gear. It’s game time.”
He didn’t wait and moved away, leaving the Novas alone and in silence. Tsarkov spoke first, and he appeared to have taken on a more strident tone than normal.
“I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m here to kick some Ski’lig ass. You coming?”
He waited as Valentine took a step away from her bunk.
“Yeah, let’s do this.”
She followed him out, and then realised Alexis was still there. She turned back and was sure she could see redness in her friend’s eye. She rubbed it, and then deactivated the videostream.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m all good, Val. Let’s load up.”
It was a short distance to the doors to the armoury, and as before the gruff Master Sergeant was there, moving back and forth, grabbing equipment, or calling out to his assistant. Half of the equipment was spare parts, but there were also designated slots for each of the Novas.
“Your gear is ready, Lance Corporal,” said the junior tech, “With the modifications you requested.”
“Excellent.” She moved in front of the rack. Once in position a bracket moved out with a pair of legs attached to it. They were quite chunky and painted in a dark undercoat, with additional camouflage markings over the top. A bar allowed her to brace herself as she detached her right leg and pushed it into the rack. Just looking at it there was a strange sight. That was part of her, and as she looked around at the others attaching parts to their bodies, she realised quite how attached she was to those she would call her own.
Star Crusades Page 12