Star Crusader: Battle Fleet Victorious

by Thomas, Michael G.

Billy laughed.

  “Okay, off-duty gear might not be best.”

  * * *

  Nate arrived at the door to the briefing room just as the group of marines turned up. All wore their duty uniforms, and Nate felt like something of an imposter in his lightweight Navy PDS gear. In the past, this would have been a flight suit, and only worn on operations. The new clothing was useful in that it was comfortable, and suitable for use as a pressurised suit to when in the cockpit. This way all Navy personnel were ready for operations. As temporary ensigns in the Alliance Navy, they were doing nothing wrong, but both he and his friends were always aware they were far from the experienced and fully trained marines.

  “Ironclads,” said a marine, “You ready for this?”

  Valdis pushed to the front and laughed.

  “Always.”

  Unlike Nate and the other Human pilots, Valdis and her Byotai kin were back to wearing their standard uniforms. No Alliance unit would be allowed to wear such provocative clothing, but none of them dared say a thing to them. The flight suit that formed the base layer was hidden beneath large armour plates, and Nate found it hard to avoid noticing the bare patches of skin they seemed happy to show. One male marine whistled appreciatively, and Valdis moved in front of him and stopped for a second.

  “Yes?”

  The man seemed taken aback and actually moved a step away from her. She leaned in and then jerked her body as though about to leap on him. The man reacted with a shudder, much to the amusement of his comrades.

  “To your seats, we haven’t got all day.”

  It was Commander Higgins, and he was even more serious than normal. Nate remembered the first time he’d seen the man, and the countless times he’d helped them with their piloting. Months ago he would have been right where Nate was, and now he was commanding the air-wing of this robotic attack.

  “Hurry up,” said Cassandra, even though they were already heading to their spots.

  They sat down, and Nate looked about the place to check on the others. There must have been about forty personnel in the group, and most he’d never seen before. One was the Corporal from the first contest, now a welcome friend on the ship. He gave Nate a nod, who quickly returned the favour. The doors shut, and the lights dimmed. It was a reasonably big room, with staggered seating and a platform at the far end for whoever was giving the briefing. Small lights provided a modicum of lighting, but all eyes were on the model of the gigantic orbital space station and its multitude of shipyards.

  Alongside the Commander was the redoubtable figure of General Honorius, and just seeing the aged, but experienced officer sent a chill through the briefing room. He looked out to them, but said nothing at first. With each passing second, the mood became ever more serious, and still he waited. Nate looked to his friends, but of them all, only Valdis appeared enthralled with him. Nate leaned towards her and whispered as quietly as he could, “What’s he waiting for?”

  When she looked back, she actually looked quite irritable.

  “Quiet, Nate. He’s preparing the air.”

  Billy looked to Nate and shrugged, barely able to conceal his amusement. That was the moment the old warrior spoke, and a moment later the translator system in the room converted his words so that all could hear. Nate was impressed by the computer’s attempt to add inflection and even a hint of accent.

  “In less than a day, we will begin this battle. New information has come to light, and we have just hours to change the plan.”

  A handful of the marines murmured at this news, but a single, long and hard glance from the General instantly silenced them.

  “Colonel Gun confirms that this ship received information from a damaged, but still partially functional emergency buoy on approach to the target.”

  He opened his mouth and paused, taking long, slow breaths.

  “The news is difficult to hear. But this information comes from the last ship of my 4th fleet. Attack Cruiser 'Marauder' tried to call for help and vanished in the vicinity of the Ctenosaura Rift. Her loss is a tragedy, but she succeeded in bringing us this updated information on the Beithir Primus Orbital Station. It would appear there have been changes, major changes.”

  He pointed to the imagery, and it morphed from the last information to that provide by the buoy. The station remained the same, though its position over the planet was now different. The view changed, as the imagery shifted to rotate it around so that the audience were now looking away from the facility.

  “Ships of the Star Empire fleet. Detailed assessment shows they are a mixture of classes, and most of them are already in progress of leaving the area.”

  He let that sink in for a moment.

  “These could be the heart of the fleet now just days from hitting Helios, and Admiral Churchill.”

  The camera shifted back to the orbital facility and continued to circle slowly around it. The changes in the shipyards drew quite a lot of attention. The General pointed to a section containing multiple large docks.

  “The station is my Empire’s strongest and most powerful in the region. It’s large, nearly two hundred kilometres in diameter, carries multiple regiments for defence, and is well protected by guns.”

  With his right arm, he pointed to one of the many dry docks.

  “This vessel is of alien origin, and we believe the Star Empire and CTC scientists are working to use its technology to build new, and more powerful ships and weapons.”

  A marine lifted his hand just above his head.

  “Uh, General. How can they use an old alien ship so quickly?”

  The General looked to Commander Higgins who then nodded and took over.

  “This is the Trusskan derelict we discovered some time ago. How the ship came into their hands we do not know. We can confirm it is a civilian ship, heavily damaged, and non-functional.”

  He paused for effect.

  “Nonetheless, the technology on board surpasses anything any of you have seen before. Computer systems, machine learning, and robotics that makes us look like we’re still in the Bronze Age. None of this should be in their hands, and this is a problem.”

  Nate found the vessel to be one of the most fascinating things he’d ever seen. In the simulator, he’d flown with and against alien ships from many races, but only those that were known. The Trusskans were still something of an enigma, an extinct people that may have never even existed, had it not been for this discovery.

  “It would appear that CTC have been colluding with the founders of the Star Empire and selling them tech for several years, maybe longer. Clearly, this was a work in progress before the rebellion began.”

  The image shifted from the alien relic and towards the upper part of the facility. There were many landing platforms, docking limbs, and docks, but one part of the facility stuck out like a great wound. It was bigger than any other single feature of the station. Scales along the sides of the imagery showed it approximately a kilometre long, putting it in a category above anything any of them had seen before when compared to a ship.

  “And then there is this. None of our intelligence reports suggested anything like existed, but it would appear that the Star Empire is building some kind of super weapon into the starbase itself.”

  The mood in the room changed substantially as they all looked upon the vessel. Nate looked to his friends, and all of them seemed locked onto the shape and barely noticed him staring. Matilda finally noticed and moved her a head a fraction before whispering.

  “This is a problem. You saw the fleet, didn’t you? We don’t have the ships to do this.”

  Commander Higgins pointed to the dock and then to various parts of the vessel.

  “Our estimates show it is twice the length of an Alliance of Byotai battleship, and up to three times the mass. The power already generated at the core suggests it’s some kind of heavy weapon installation, with similarities to our Rift generator hardware.”

  He turned from the imagery to the crowd of pilots and marines and licked h
is lower lip before carrying on.

  “We suspect the Star Empire plans on harnessing Rift technology to create a new generation of weapon system. This would give them the ability to transport warheads and objects into battle, with devastating effect.”

  Every one of them looked at him in silence.

  “This device could theoretically be a Rift generator platform of a kind we’ve never come across before, and if assessment is correct, it could be used to create bridges anywhere they want at will. They could bypass our fleets or hit our homeworld with impunity, and leave before we could even mobilise a fleet.”

  He nodded as though agreeing with himself.

  “Whatever their plans, this development cannot be allowed to continue, and that is where you come in.”

  The effect on the audience was electric.

  “So…our mission is a difficult one, but it is critical to the future of the Alliance. This facility, and whatever they are constructing, must be stopped. While our comrades prepare to engage the Star Empire’s primary fleet near Helios, we must deal with this before it becomes fully operational. Even more important, though, is the destruction of the alien derelict. Its secrets are worth more than every planet in the Orion Nebula, and High Command has tasked us with its destruction, no matter the cost.”

  Nate gulped as he heard those words. Commander Higgins pointed behind him and towards the station.

  “This is where we come in. The Victorious Battle Fleet will approach Ctenosaura Primus, establish a perimeter at the Rift exit point, and then jump directly into the target area.”

  He was greeted by silence, and General Honorius shifted uncomfortably as he waited for the details of the plan. With each passing moment, the mission seemed less and less doable, and some of the marines began to voice their dismay. Finally, the Commander lifted a hand to silence them.

  “Then…we will launch a full-scale strike against the orbital facility. If we fail, then the enemy will retain control of this derelict and its hidden secrets. We cannot let the enemy plunder its riches a day longer. We annihilate it, and remove their ability to bring this new device into service, and anything else they are working on. I am not joking when I say that this mission is critical to the survival of our species.”

  The mapping changed back to the imagery of the five ships of the fleet.

  “Your task will be to provide fighter cover for the landing parties and then to engage targets of opportunity. Now, let’s go over the details.”

  He pointed into the crowd and towards Nate, but before he spoke, his hand moved off towards many others.

  “This is a collaborative plan. If you have any suggestions, I want to know. Now who wants to start?”

  Matilda lifted her hand immediately, and Nate soon followed. As he looked around, more and more hands rose. Commander Higgins nodded with satisfaction before looking back at Nate.

  “Excellent. Let’s get started.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Alliance Assault Carrier 'ANS Victorious', Behind Enemy Lines

  28 December 2472

  The mission will be tough, but we will succeed. We have forty qualified and experienced drone operators able to command five squadrons indefinitely. The fate of the Alliance is in our hands.

  Nate had tried to sleep, but all he could think of was the massive battle to come. It was a strange way to fight a battle, with eight operators per ship handling the drone fighter operations for the entire battle. There were no carriers or heavy fighters, just the tiny drones little bigger than a large anti-ship torpedo.

  Instead of waiting in his room with the others, he’d made his way down to the Operations Levels, where marines and pilots alike checked their gear and made tweaks to their equipment. Nate walked closer to a Jackal dropship and stopped to examine its hull. Waiting alongside it were many of the Grunt foot soldiers, though there were gaps as so many of them were now on board their allotted Jackal spacecraft. A beautiful looking craft, and the next generation of transports for the Alliance, yet its role was little different to spacecraft fifty years old. His mind drifted between the present and the past, with the firm words of Commander Higgins rebounding in his skull.

  Ironclads will lead the first wave of three squadrons. We’ll open up breaches in their defences for the landing parties. Expect heavy losses and immediate transition to attrition drones.

  Nate looked at the side of the Jackal as the smooth housing closed up around the fighter. It looked like a large external fuel tank, with half of its bulk recessed into the Jackal’s hull, but he knew better. Once deployed into battle, the craft would open like a flower so that its powerful engine and single onboard weapon were ready for combat.

  “If nothing else, they’ll make damned good cruise missiles.”

  He spoke quietly, and it came out as little more than a mumble. After their time flying more complex and capable spacecraft, it was a sobering moment realising that so much was at stake with little more than glorified flying torpedoes. A technician noticed his interest and then saw the wings on his Naval uniform. His expression shifted, and Nate was sure the man was wondering what a kid was doing down here. He continued his inspection and left Nate alone to carry on with his examination of the spacecraft.

  As Nate ran his hands down the side of the Jackal, he thought of that first terrible battle where so many had died at Mognathus 7, the Imperial shipyard and fleet training Academy. He’d escaped aboard a Mauler back then, and the memory of the desperate scene sent shivers through his body. A lot of people hadn’t made it out alive, and that was something he could never forget.

  “Son, everything okay?”

  Nate turned around and found himself looking back at a short man in full IAB Marine attire. Even his head was covered, but the plate was raised so that his face was visible. Insignia on his uniform marked him out as a private, yet he looked like he was in his late thirties, maybe older. At his shoulder was a high-tech looking carbine, and very different to the coilguns he’d seen Valentine and the others using.

  “Uh…yes, I’m fine. Just needed some air.”

  The man nodded in agreement.

  “I know how you feel. The name’s Private Hendrix. I transferred three months ago. Don’t worry about these guys; they are the best at what they do. You should have seen what happened back at the base.”

  Nate was intrigued, all thoughts of the mission having vanished to the back of his mind. For a second, he thought the man was referring to his own incident on the Byotai station. But that could never be, only Relentless and a handful of marines had made it out of there.

  “Base? The Interstellar Assault Brigade base at the Taxxu System, beyond the Black Rift?”

  The man grinned.

  “Yeah, when you say it like that, it sounds a lot more interesting that it is. I was a rookie cadet on that place, right when CTC turned on us. They hit us real hard.”

  His expression had shifted, and Nate could see the hurt in his eyes. He looked at the man, all the while more and more people moved about the deck. They might be several hours away from their destination, but they were all using every spare second to prep, and then double-check.

  “I thought they were an old, well known corporation. Half of our fighters and equipment are built in their factories. Aren’t they the largest manufacturer in the Alliance?”

  The man nodded.

  “Tell me about it. One minute we’re working together, next they’re landing mercs right in the middle of our training ground. If anybody else had been in charge, they’d have taken it. And then what?”

  Nate was surprised to hear the man speaking so candidly about what happened. Another two of his unit moved closer, and they exchanged words about it while Nate watched and listened. It sounded like something from a movie, with vast battles, machines and soldiers falling, and a massive death toll. He physically winced as they described some of the close quarter combat, quickly reminding Nate that he had no interest in that part of the military.

  What if the St
ar Empire had taken control of Taxxu? They’d have a high-tech fortress and factory right in the middle of our territory. Maybe we’d have come to an agreement to stop more fighting. CTC would be able to do what it wanted then, with their protection.

  Nate tried to see how it all fitted together. Matilda was a lot better at this than him and would probably come up with a hundred different outcomes in just a few minutes. She could look at different pieces of data and come to conclusions faster than most computers. So intensely was he thinking that, the man moved closer to Nate without him even noticing.

  “This is all gonna get a loss messier before the end, trust me.”

  Before either of them could say more, every single person on the deck snapped to attention. Nate nearly forgot to join in, but Private Hendrix made a quick noise that got his attention. Nate snapped his heels together and straightened his back. He might have been dressed and equipped in his PDS Naval gear, but he still felt like a cadet among these seasoned warriors. Shapes moved closer, and then he saw them. At the front was Colonel Gun, the massive Jötnar warrior. At his flanks were several more of his kin, and each wore the bulky heavy armour known simply as Jötnar Assault Suits, or JAS for short. They were big lumps of metal, heavily armoured, and carrying heavy rotary weapons on their shoulder. They weren’t on parade. They were ready for combat.

  Wow!

  On they went with some of them speaking with their leader. Then came Major Spartan, with another of the Jötnar at his flank. Nate didn’t know this one, but the two were clearly friends, based on how they spoke to each other. After just a few more seconds, they were gone, but not before Nate spotted another group in black armour coming in the opposite direction. He glimpsed a few parts of their armour, but even from this far back, he could see it was heavy equipment, the kind of gear used in siege operations. They almost crashed into the Colonel’s unit, and he was sure one or two of them seemed to throw themselves into the path of Major Spartan.

  Weird.