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Free Fleet Box Set 2

Page 41

by Michael Chatfield


  The user grabbed the two joy-stick looking contraptions that rested beside them. The joysticks came free, the cannons activated and followed the joysticks movements. They had a simple frame that connected them to brackets above the user's shoulders.

  The users moved the joysticks, the cannons moving with them without any sense of lag. They showed an impressive range of motion.

  Finally they reached the end of the deck, the electronic belt system turned on, and rounds began feeding from the ammunition storage on the HAPA's back into the dual cannons.

  The user squeezed the trigger on the joystick. The massive cannons spat rounds at an impressive rate, the HAPA's recoil system kept them on target as rounds tore into the asteroid. Cheerleader whistled in appreciation. The user changed from normal rounds to penetrators, to fletchette rounds with a flick of the joystick's control switches.

  The video stopped and Felix returned.

  “Alright, we'd best get to work making at least a brigade's worth of those. I also want the plans for the new missiles put out to the factories so we can start stockpiling those,” Cheerleader said.

  “I was also looking at the old Kalu tactics, and thought of a way to replicate their method of speeding up, slowing down and turning themselves,” Felix said, a grin on his face.

  “With their explosions?” Ursht asked.

  “Exactly, we do the same thing, but with better bombs and protection for our people. We already have the armor, all we need is some protective paint my people are working on, add in a delivery system and we're done,” Felix said.

  “So we will use bombs to push our ships to level the battlefield?” Whorst asked, not sounding quite happy or understanding of the idea.

  “Exactly, the Kalu do it without concern, they're rather fragile while they are accelerating with the bombs, their entire structure is under tremendous stress and they really do much to prevent it. They have lots of forward thrust, but didn’t put much into their maneuvering. Makes it easier to disrupt their paths, and brake apart their formations. We can displace the strain on the structure, meaning we can turn more easily, and continuing to use tools with our implants and nerve ports,” Felix said, rather pleased with himself.

  “Add it to the list of upgrades and get them started,” Cheerleader said, about to go on but Felix's kid-in-a-candy-store smile was not going away. She gave him a pointed look as another diagram appeared, this of a ship.

  “This is the Jump fighter, it is the fastest ship in the known galaxy, it has three capacitor banks, one medium class fusion power plant, bomb acceleration and not just acceleration couches, but acceleration gel.

  “We tried using land based creatures to pilot it, but it seems water dwellers can use it much more effectively. Anyway, this puppy can jump, and speed its way across known space. It can act as a scout and a messenger to the rest of known space. With the relays coming on slowly, these could be incredibly useful. They could also travel through Kalu space since they are faster than the Kalu's Star Warriors, by miles.”

  “Does it have any weapons?” Silly asked.

  “Missiles, and a rail-cannon. The cannon takes away from the overall power of the ship, making it slower. It is also heavily armored due to the bomb-assisted acceleration, but once it is penetrated then using bombs is out of the question, they would rip it apart,” Felix said.

  “Quite interesting,” Tak said, looking over the elongated icosahedron, the multiple sides had bomb delivery systems to push the ship in every direction. Missiles were actually stored inside the ship, the sides opening and rotating to shoot in all dimensions and angles. The Rail-cannon ran the length of the ship, there was room for two people, but in normal circumstances one pilot would control the ship themselves. Power systems and capacitors encircled the pilot and the vat of jelly that made sure the pilot wasn’t turned into mush with the Fighters massive acceleration.

  Cheerleader re-read the last part of the report a few times before shaking her head. Felix was doing all he could to bring the fleet things that weren't just ideas but had been tested and were ready to be built.

  “Are the capacitors able to fire the cannon?” Monk asked.

  “Yes, and when I say rail-cannon, I mean if allowed to charge twelve seconds, the round is changed into plasma upon leaving the barrel,” Felix said, looking quite pleased.

  “I suggest that we have a number for messenger and scouting missions, as well as enough for a few wings. Can they be made by the small ship building factories?” Monk asked again.

  “Yes they can be, we have a number of them here, so using someone at their discretion to pick up the supplies we have might be advantageous. I would suggest twelve freighters or something of comparable size. We've kept our factories going full blast since we've been tinkering, our yard is coming along as well as our station,” Felix said, sending a full report to everyone.

  “Couldn't have sent that at the start could you?” Cheerleader asked, Felix just kept smiling happily.

  ***

  Shuttles were checking out the massive stations that lay around Worshun, shuttling up people from the surface and putting them to work within their stations, or at least sections of it active. The people of Worshun had not let their skills degrade, even when hiding under the crust of their planet they had kept training up. Everyone knew at least some kind of transferrable skill, and the basics for operating in space.

  It sped up the process by magnitudes as techs flooded the stations, checking all the systems that allowed creatures to survive in space, as fleet worker drones patched the massive damage done to the exterior.

  A few of the power plants were still in working order, within the first week a park was opened, gardeners moved to bring in plants to supply food and the necessary mix of chemicals for a breathable atmosphere. It was one of the few times I was thankful for the forced acclimatization to worse climates and air. The Syndicate's training had been brutal, but it made everyone capable of breathing in conditions that would kill most humans, and of course they could take one hell of a pounding physically.

  I was watching the station through one of Resilient's observation bubbles. Since coming to the Quarst system I had been busy with a variety of pressing matters. Most people wanted to know if we were going to bring the Union back, or if we would make a new system. I thought that most of them were day-dreaming. We were still embroiled in a war with the Syndicate and looked to be starting another on the other side of known space with the Kalu.

  An alert sounded for an incoming vessel.

  I turned, running to the Bridge. Shreesht who was with me followed, the familiar feel of his powered armor thumping behind me, with the quiet whine of servos and hydraulic parts.

  Isn't it odd the things that we get used too?

  An elevator override got me to the bridge in minutes.

  “It looks to be one of ours, we've still got a few minutes before we get confirmation,” Rick said, having beaten me there, from the stains on his battle suit it looked like he had literally dropped what he was eating when the alert went off.

  “Very well. Bring us to yellow, full check on all systems,” I said, taking my seat, my hands falling on my screens. Others had gone with holographic spheres that would cover their upper torso and give them more control. I had stayed with the screens as they were reliable and physical, plus moving holograms that fast made me nauseous.

  “Ben, Milra, get the fleet turned and facing the incoming ships,” I said, sifting through information on my screens.

  Resilient's engines rumbled to life as we pushed out of Worshun's orbit, coming around the planet to face the oncoming ship.

  “How long until shuttles are aboard,” I asked.

  “Fifteen minutes,” In Sook said as I watched batteries come online and weapons were cleared and readied, their turrets raising and their cannons extending to their full lengths.

  I knew the gunners would be looking at their myriad of screens which showed them the space that their guns were looking at, all of
it moving with the flick of their free-floating trigger mechanism. With Resilient's processing power our gunners were able to operate four guns at once, the gun crews rushing from one to the other, keeping them operational.

  “We have incoming transmission,” Vort said, putting it on screen. It was from Bregend.

  “One of the Intelligence department's ships followed a Star Warrior to these co-ordinates,” He said, a map appearing on the screen, highlighting a system. “The Kalu were believed to have gone to one of these three systems.” The systems were highlighted in a different color from the system they were last seen in.

  “The Free Fleet has moved into a defensive posture, the most current information is attached to this communication,” Bregend re-appeared.

  “See you all later, no matter where our path's cross,” he said straightening before touching his two raised fingers to his temple.

  The transmission ended.

  “Prepare the Fleet to move, we're going after the Kalu. We'll leave some shuttles here, the merchants are also released from our charge. They are under their own command. Rick, compile any information you deem necessary and send it off to the corvette. Bring us to green,” I said.

  It's about time we met these Kalu, I thought. A feeling of dread filled my stomach, I knew I would lose people in the upcoming engagement. Yet I needed to know what the Kalu were capable of, numbers, anything. I was blind and hopefully this would shed some light on the whole situation.

  Chapter The search ends, a battle starts

  Emergence had gone through smoothly, we launched another barrage of sensor missiles and coasted. We had cleared most of the system on sensors when the missiles started painting a different picture.

  It was the second system that Min Hae's undercover ship had plotted as a possible destination for the Kalu Star Warrior.

  It was called Heija, it had one habitable planet which had been removed of life since the beginning of the Union-Kalu war. It had been a farm planet like Chaleel with its rich soil, intersecting rivers, and nearly constant temperature. The soil had become irradiated, rivers had been backed up and flooded other areas, and the water had disappeared. The temperature was higher and led to great thunderstorms and hot muggy temperatures, like that experienced in a jungle, but across the planet.

  “Battle stations,” I said simply as power plants upped their power output, shields rose in density and Resilient came alive with singular purpose. That was to go kick the dots which seemed to grow in number, the missiles got feedback from hundreds of Star Warriors, yet there were still blind spots. The Kaluian stealth tech was excellent, and there was so many of them that only close in missiles would get a certain number.

  “Corvette's and Destroyers report readiness, Battle Cruisers ready, Dreadnoughts online. Battle-Carriers and pilots are ready, same for Talhalla,” Rick said, keeping a running commentary going.

  I wondered, not for the first time, if leaving War-station behind had been a smart move. I’d ordered Commander Whorst to take War-Station to Inkal, the system where Bregend was working to refit and rebuild the fleet of ships there.

  I checked my powered armor over.

  “Alright, ladies gents and creatures of every damned sex, let's go and kick the proverbial hornets’ nest. Ben, plot us a course along the end of their formation. Marleen, I want those guns ready, we don't have enough missiles to keep up complete coverage for that long,” I said.

  “Course locked in,” Ben said as I finished.

  “Milra, take us in, Krat keep those shields ready to supercharge and Walf when you need it, you'll get missile launches,” I turned to Rick.

  “They're prepped and ready,” he said, his face unreadable.

  “Once again into the dark.”

  “At least this time we aren't being pulled there in boxes,” he said.

  I snorted, thinking about how this mess had all started as I flew through different screens. Everything was as ready as it was going to get. Now we just had to wait three hours to cross the edge of the Kalu grouping.

  ***

  Edvasho pawed the ground, his armored claws digging into the surface.

  “They look to be advancing on us,” a seer said.

  “Let them, we will wait and then crush them, no matter their useless missiles,” Edvasho said, Ashota's time had run out, the time for learning their enemy was gone, now they and the enemy would teach one another lessons with their Star Warriors.

  Edvasho opened a message channel to his Warriors.

  “Today, the second teaching war begins! We will carve our names into these creature's corpses and descend on their planets to their wails of mercy. We will stain their worlds with their blood, we will enter a new age with our victory, expanding our clan's claims and remind these pitiful things, why they tremble at the name Kalu,” he said viciously. Closing the channel as he heard the thumps and bangs of war-ready Kalu. Edvasho smacked a support beam with his head, his armor taking the blow as he let the thump of his paws on the ground add to those of his fellow Kaluian Warriors.

  ***

  I was debating taking a wake up when Walf spoke up.

  “We have anomalous readings coming from the Kalu Star Warriors,” he said.

  “They're using their drives and nuclear explosives to go faster,” Resilient said.

  Just as they did in the Kalu-Union war.

  Sure enough sensors registered explosions seconds later. The Kalu picked up speed in a hurry, all of them steaming right for my fleet.

  “The hell are those?” I asked, looking at a type of ship that had not been in the Kalu formations when they had attacked the Union.

  “Those, are called Star Destroyer's. They're the Kaluian equivalent of carriers,” Resilient said, something very like dread in her voice.

  “Have you ever fought them?” I asked.

  “No, but a ship from the AI league ran into them three years ago. I didn't realize until I ran it through my sensors and checked it against the League's database.”

  I nodded, injecting the wake-up.

  Seems the stakes just went up.

  “Well it looks to be about time,” Rick said.

  “Time to make them regret ever trying to restart this war,” I said darkly, opening and closing my armored hand, the one I had melted off with a damned plasma cannon.

  The timer rolled down.

  “As soon as we're in range, start calling out missile barrages,” I said.

  “Yes sir,” Marleen said, looking to me briefly before she started checking her own systems.

  I looked back to the main screen.

  “Incoming,” Walf said, and he wasn't wrong. It was raining missiles. The Kalu weren't firing in volleys, but all of them firing on their own timing, making it a continuous stream of nuclear powered warheads coming right for me and mine.

  It would be some time before they reached us.

  “Ovaloid formation, rotating,” I said, Ben getting to work on the co-ordination as Milra shifted Resilient.

  We would go in ovaloid formation, all of the ships rotating around like a rolling pin on a counter-top. This would spread the damage over our ships, give them time to charge and give them a good amount of exposure.

  Ship commanders would have to decide how they rotated their gun crews, if they used their heavily armored bellies or for most of them, their larger more powerfully armed spines.

  “Vort, connect me with the fleet.”

  “You’re on Commander.”

  “Again I asked you all to follow me into the hell we call battle and again you answered the call. I salute you all and give you my thanks,” I looked directly into the visual feed.

  “Gunners load those guns, engineers keep us running, and let’s show them why you don’t fuck with the Free Fleet!” My voice rose to a roar, hungry yells joined in.

  “Shields supercharge. Combined split ship reports between me and Rick. Tactical I know your habit to be on the gunner deck, please choose your station,” I looked to my screens, checkin
g the fleet again as I issued my orders.

  “Thank you Commander, I’ll be down below,” Marleen said.

  Marleen and Rick shared a look.

  “Well are you going to kiss or just stare at one another?” I said as it continued for a moment.

  Both of them blushed before Marleen jogged over to him quickly giving him a peck before jogging out her cheeks bright red.

  My face hardened, the moment of levity gone as I looked up to the main screen.

  The fleet had transformed from a three dimensional square to a large triangle which consisted of the heaviest warships and two smaller triangles connected to either base tip of the larger triangle. It reminded me of the symbol for a very old video game in which a usually green robed traveller went off in search of a princess that seemed to be constantly stolen.

  Time seemed to pass quickly for once.

  “In range within two minutes,” Walf said.

  “Alright Ricky, once more into the unknown,” I said, turning to him.

  “It’s going to be a rough one,” his face cold like steel.

  “When isn’t it?” I said my own voice harsh but resolute, their was no going back now.

  “In range!” Walf yelled, cutting off any other conversation.

  “Fire,” I said, my voice cold. Waiting meant killing less of them. A first battery was used to pound at a creature's morale. The Kalu had bloodlust, morale was a far consideration to them.

  Resilient bucked as all of her guns fired from both batteries on port and starboard laser and rail gun cannons unleashing their massive payloads. PRC's along her spine added their heavier firepower. Other ships fired as soon as they came into range, our formation was stacked and staggered so that every ship had clear lines of fire.

  “They’re firing, lasers,” Marleen's second in command, Prev said, confirming that the Kalu's armament hadn't changed.

  There weren't many lasers, and most of the Kalu didn't have the best aim thankfully. Still tens of hits smashed into Resilient and the other ships almost as fast as the Kalu fired.

  “Second tier within firing envelope,” Walf said suddenly.

 

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