Free Fleet Box Set 2

by Michael Chatfield

  Flashes of light came from around the mobile station.

  “What are those?” Elisati pointed to the lights.

  “Those are ships,” Wahquim changed one of the view screens to show a space map, war-station was displayed with, wings of Fighters deploying, Corvette's free-floating around the station as Battle cruisers and Dreadnought's settled around key positions, two carriers and five battle-carrier's rested at cardinal points. Destroyer's linked up with the other larger craft.

  The large fleet that had been holding off of Parnmal powered their engines and headed off to the war-station and its company. Their accompanying merchant freighters followed.

  We really need to make sure that the Free Fleet doesn't become a better organized Syndicate, she thought, ideas of cut outs and protocols were already popping into her head, and she would add them into contracts with the Free Fleet. They were a company, she had to make sure that they strayed a company interested in satisfying peace, instead of any customer that came to them, or to start making their own contracts.

  ***

  Min Hae climbed aboard Verslva again, checking on cargo bay twenty-three. Ashota rested there, looking rather bored, but also interested in what was happening. Min Hae still hadn't revealed who he was, he wanted to surprise the Kalu with the fact that they had met once already. He moved towards the command centre, passing specially trained Commandos. They were specialists at infiltration and causing the most chaos with minimal supplies.

  Min Hae would go with them and the massive carrier carrying essential supplies to Bregend. Then Bregend and his now upgraded fleet were going to provide support to Min Hae and his people. They were going behind enemy lines. Hopefully they could find this peaceful planet, if not then Min Hae was aiming on blowing the hell out of the ship-building centres of the Kalu to dust.

  Hopefully he was right with Elisati being the right person to be in charge of the new Union. If not, well he had been in contact with forty-three others. At least one of them would hopefully please the people.

  “Signal Commander Jakxu, it's time we got that freighter to Bregend,” Min Hae said, sitting in his command chair.

  Sometimes it was good to be Commander.

  Chapter War rages on

  The first three days had been hell. People had to change over, we had to get in the hang of fighting for every damned minute we were awake, then go through routines that felt out of place, such as sleeping and eating.

  On the third day, the Fighters that had gone up to the carriers, returned, with them they brought full weapon racks, multiple-warhead missiles and fresh pilots. The injured were able to fight, or were recovering, the new were fresh and ready.

  I had just cleared a swarm, shooting it as it sped away, then the MEF's descended. Swarms turned upwards to attack them, the MEF's came down like darts, missiles streaking ahead of them, making the swarms buckle, peel and fall apart. Railgun fired added in with the missile onslaught, swarms were decimated. One swarm turned towards our lines.

  “Well let's not let them have all the fun,” I growled as we piled into the swarm, it was like putting a blow-torch to a popsickle. The Kalu dropped, peeled away and stopped their forward momentum as thousands of rounds piled into them. Fighters twitched and writhed on the grounds as the HAPA's split their fire to the remaining swarms and incoming Kalu.

  That was yesterday.

  “It looks like they've got their numbers back,” Bok Soo said into my ear. He was a few meters behind me in the trench lines. I was standing in a depression, able to see the Kalu, but not being completely open. HAPA's made big targets, though it had only been recently that fighting had calmed down enough for us to create pits to cover the HAPA's mass.

  “It does look so,” I said, the loader behind me whirring as ammunition filled my resevoirs.

  “Incoming!” Bok Soo said as a swarm, bigger than any that had come before dove through the atmosphere, heading straight for our encampment.

  Lasers flashed, PDS coming up to touch them as they careened through the sky.

  Fighters spat out of the carriers, moving in any direction they thought would give them the most cover. Fighters on both sides were rippped apart.

  MEF's fired missiles, railguns everything they had whenever they were on target

  The first wave of MEF's fired their missiles in staggered volleys, they hit, making openings for the second wave and so on. The second wave followed up.

  “Second swarm incoming!” Bok Soo said as another massive swarm entered atmosphere.

  “Looks like the Kalu believe we are a bigger threat,” Krom said, pride filling his voice.

  “Well I wish they thought we weren't worth the resources,” I said, moving my arms, the powered servos whirring at the movement.

  “Ahh but it is a good day to die with this many ready to greet us in the light!” Shreesht said, also sounding too damned excited

  There was nothing pretty about the battles we were fighting, it was firepower against firepower and mass.

  When the Kalu got amongst our ranks, then the battle would change drastically.

  The second swarm broke, star Warriors heading for the landing grounds as the swarm raced to add their weight to the first which had lost it's cohesion, the MEF's had split them, every large weapons system that could be was brought to bear and hammering the small formations.

  “Bok Soo, allow the Kalu Warriors to get in close. I want to see how the Fighters react,” I said.

  “Understood,” Bok Soo said. I could hear him issuing orders on other channels as I looked at the battlefield and my options.

  Fighting the Kalu on the ground was damned terrible work, but fighting them in space was suicide, atleast with our numbers. We needed more ships and more Fighters. On the ground though, everyone had been trained to fight in powered armor, and then work on their specified trade.

  We had quadrupled the casualties inflicted in our space battle, on Heija.

  “Coming into missile range,” Shreesht said, both his and Krom's rocket packs whirring so they were on their shoulders instead of tucked on their backs.

  I readied my own, targetting reticules moving wildly with the swarm.

  “Tighten up,” I said, the ground based cannons hitting the swarm with rail rounds and plasma. They were more stable than the HAPA's own cannons. Krom, Shreesht and I moved within a few feet of one another. If a HAPA got seperated in a swarm, the Fighters would hammer them, sometimes even try to drag them off the battlefield with their magnetic clamps.

  We braced ourselves.

  “Alright, five seconds, check your targets, I want Echo one four to go first with units to either side firing afterwards,” Bok Soo said.

  The first barrage of missiles leapt free of their packs, arcing up into the sky, the targeted swarm tried to twist out of the way, but the slow manner in which they tumbled over one another to turn was too slow for the missiles as they split and hit the swarms. Other HAPA's and portable missile packs fired, the swarm that had been ripped apart was destroyed in their smaller collections.

  I fired into a small swarm that was hit by two missiles, Krom and Shreesht adding their fire as the second swarm came into range.

  The ground rumbled and the air screamed as the ships fired five missiles, they were as big as a suit of powered armor, instead of the five warheads of the small missiles the MEF's and the ground Fighters were using, these had thirty and a grade higher. They were meant to destroy star Warriors after all.

  The missiles accelerating out of their bays rushed towards the swarm, three were destroyed. Two split apart, looking like a firework of blue lights before they reached the swarm.

  “Brace!” Bok Soo barked. The HAPA's lowered themselves down as much as possible as missile after missile struck the swarm, so close that they sometimes detonated one another. Atmosphere ruled here. In the vaccum of space the ships would have died in the explosion and been fine, now the forces of air pressure threw the Fighters into disarray. Wind buffeted the Commando lines wi
th gale-like force.

  A number of HAPA's lost their footing, getting thrown or falling.

  I fought nature's angry storm, created by our attempts to break nature's laws and bring destruction upon our enemies.

  It pulled at us, then pushed us, rocking us.

  “Alright, that's enough sitting back,” I said, standing, as my systems reported full functionality.

  I brought my cannons online, firing at the nearest swarm, Shreesht and Krom rose, joining me as the other HAPA's and Commandos shook off the dust that covered us all and got back in the fight.

  I targeted a close swarm, sending two missiles at it and firing at another. The first swarm tried to get the missiles, but with moving so much they weren't able to get a solid hit on them.

  “Good for area affect, not so good at accuracy,” I said, remembering what Resilient had told me when trying to get me up to speed on the Kalu and their tactics.

  The swarm, not being able to cut down the missile, and unable to get out of the way quickly enough, was raked by nuclear fire. I changed from the smaller swarm, back to my original target, a missile pod fired at it as I changed to a swarm down the line.

  The HAPA responded with its cannons sparking on the fighter's armor, the penetrator rounds doing their work as Fighters exploded, or lost control.

  “Reload!” Krom barked, down to thirty percent ammunition. Thanks to my recent reload I was at seventy percent. The HAPA's ammunition storage was immense, but with our rate of fire and the size of the rounds, it was easy to burn through quickly.

  “Warriors are coming in,” Bok Soo said, I lowered my left arm, firing two more missiles, moving to fight another incoming swarm. The small swarms were coming together, making it harder to finish them off before they got to our lines. New swarms were already incoming. None were the size of the two massive swarms, but given enough time they would be.

  Krom's pack got hit, blow outs went off, stopping the worst, but shearing the HAPA apart. I was torn, I wanted to help him, but I knew to stop firing was to put others in danger.

  “Get him medical attention,” I yelled over the local channel. “We'll give you cover,” I said, firing off four more missiles at the nearest swarms, Shreesht and I hammering the swarms with everything we had. We had better weapons and training, but it was a numbers game. They could suck up a ton of damage but they would keep on coming. They were driven like wild damned dogs looking for a meal.

  Commandos jumped into the pit me and Shreesht were in, they climbed over the HAPA, hitting releases, and cutting Krom from the wreckage.

  I risked a look back, my left side getting raked by lasers. I couldn't take the time to look on him. I moved, firing, fire and move that was all I could do.

  “Left launcher out,” Shreesht said.

  “Got six remainig, four left two right,” I said.

  “Two right,” Shreesht said.

  “Down,” I said, swinging my cannons over Shreehst, a swarm deciding that we were a prime target swirling to meet us as I fired into them. Shreesht added his firepower, and there wasn't a swarm.

  “Clear,” I said, lowering my left shoulder as I cleared Shreesht and fired my remaining four into a medium sized swarm.

  A check of my HUD showed that Krom was being taken to medical aid, and that the Warriors were just a few hundred meters away.

  “Let the Warriors get in close but not through our lines, commanders see to it,” Bok Soo said, iterating what I had requested.

  I had a hunch, and while it would be damned hard, it could save some lives.

  “Planner I want the rate of all Kalu forces fire compared to when Warriors are close to the line and when they are not,” I said, sending a request for reload, I was down to forty percent now.

  “Working on it,” Planner's voice no longer robotic sounding as he had been when we had first arrived. Resilient was helping out, and he had coded and spun off lesser AI's to deal with most issues.

  “Mother fucker,” I said, a Kalu group was using some low ground behind a rise as cover.

  “Gonna need a step Shreesht,” I said turning towards Shreesht.

  He took a knee, continuing to fire over the ridge of our pit.

  “Set!” I got two steps before smashing my left foot into the ground, my right came down on the back of his HAPA, giving me the step I needed as I pushed off, the Kalu now visible, and the gravity low enough to keep me in the air for a bit. I fired my two remaining missiles into the bank that gave them cover. I landed, shooting and moving outside of the pit, the added hieght putting the now stunned Kalu in my sights.

  The buzzsaw sounds of my cannons ripped along the Kalu formation. I jumped sideways, standing still was death, lasers raked my armor and HAPA as I moved backwards. The Armored Marine Commandos now had a clear line of fire, plasma eroded the small rise even more and turned Kalu into screeching creatures, their armor now their prison.

  I slid into the pit, Shreesht moving and weaving.

  “Requested an ammo resupply. Krom's okay, his left leg and arm got chewed up pretty good. He's not going for the treatments though. Apparently he's hampering an armorer for a new set of armor, then he'll be back,” Shreesht said.

  “Sounds about what I'd imagine the tough bastard would do,” I laughed, imagining the four hundred pound Avarian putting the fear of life into some poor armorer.

  “FTL network is established, I have a number of messages, and the fighter's laser attacks are reduced by approximately sixty seven percent on AMC units. The ships take more hits,” Planner said.

  “Have the ships get their shields up and work on just the Fighters then, HAPA's in support of Commandos as they fight the Warriors. Forward the message to Bok Soo, it's not an order, just a recommendation,” I said.

  “Understood, doing,” Planner said.

  I ducked into the pit, I was at twenty percent on ammo, and Shreesht was at fifteen.

  Ammo supply was only seven minutes away thankfully.

  “Fire me the messages.”

  “Relaying, Rick has categorized and sorted them into normal operations, operation The Enemy of my Enemy is My Friend, training numbers and ship numbers,” Planner said.

  “Training and ship numbers,” I said, a swarm that I didn't like the look of coming close to my area. I pushed off of the wall of the pit, standing and firing into the oncoming swarm. Lasers hit a few inches above my head, another clipped my shoulder, dragging across my armored chest.

  I stayed steady, moving my cannons with the swarm.

  “Take that you bastards!” I yelled.

  “Ammunition is three minutes out,” Shreesht said, raising up and firing a burst with his left and then right. “Refurbishment has increased, the Empress, whose name it turns out is actually Empress has signed a muutal agreement with the Free Fleet. The Kuruvian Empire and Free Fleet will have taxes placed upon their work. Though yard workers can transfer with minimal training onto Free Fleet yards. This was signed a week ago, there has been a massive influx of engineers. The Kurvians are looking to building freighters rather than upgrading. It is expected that they will produce a freighter every two weeks. An information trade has been established, the Free Fleet will be paid in resources or labour as royalty for the usage of Free Fleet practices.

  “Cheerleader, LaRe and Silly have worked out what to give the Kuruvian's what they need to push them along. The Jump fighter second round of trainees are nearly done training. It is Commander Heston's recommendation that Commander Smith be given command of the Jump fighter. Based on his score he is the best Jump fighter pilot we have, plus he is one of the few creatures that is not accustomed to swimming, or flying,” Planner said.

  “Do it, he has proven himself. It will be interesting to see how he deals with command.” I stomped around in a random pattern, moving my aim to a new swarm, the first now upon our lines. Shooting it could lead to me hitting my own people.

  “I will pass it on. Furthermore, the Free Fleet's ability to upgrade and expand is expected to double
within two months. Bregend's yard is now operational, his engineers believe that they will be able to resurrect the ships in the system within eight months. Bregend has been tasked out by Min Hae, to assess and disturb the production of Kalu fighting forces in their operational space. There is now at least a patrol for every three systems, with another patrol three jumps away or less. Felix, Silly and LaRe have been thinking up some new ship designs. They want to make a bomber,” Planner said.

  “Ammunition is here,” Shreesht said.

  “You go first, you're down to seven,” I said, trying to do the work of three HAPA's. The laser fire had dwindled now that the Warriors were only a few hundred meters away.

  “Need help!” A commander said, I ceased firing, turning my left cannon over to the area where they were having an issue with massing Kalu. A five second burst cleared the area.

  “Thank you for the assist Salchar,” the commander said.

  “No problem,” I replied before switching back to Planner.

  “Go on,” I said, trying to not think of Felix, LaRe and Silly bringing back the Cruiser.

  “It was taken from ideas of Earth, a bomber that was big enough to carry a hell of a punch, but small and manouverable enough to get close to the enemy, add in some damned impressive firepower from the MEF's and Jump fighter's. It would have automated Plasma turrets based off of the Jump fighter, multi-warhead missiles and a hell of a lot of them, more importantly it could be used as a fast drop craft. So Felix says,” Planner finished.

  “Explain,” I asked, having no idea what that meant. Warning lights flashed as I dropped below ten percent. My cannons blazing at the incoming swarms still, piling bursts into Kalu Warriors that got too close.

  “It could hold ten HAPA's or twenty armor wearing Commandos, dropping them from its internal storage. It would be akin to a shuttle being a plane and a bomber being a helicopter. It could drop commandos onto the battlefield, wherever that might be, in small groups and really fast, as the shuttle takes longer, but drops way more ships. Felix is also building disposable missile pods that can be attached to a ships hull, and he has built a system that will allow our ships to accelerate as fast as Kalu ships, though it will mean adding acceleration couches, or having everyone in powered armor. Railgun conversion packs are being made, they need testing, but Felix believes that they could drop a shield in just a few hits, or blow a hole in a Star Destroyer,” Planner said.