Con-Red: Recourse

by Feinstein, Max

  There was a long second of respite before the gunship let loose with projectiles of its own. A dozen enemy missiles fired out from launchers along the craft’s curved sides. Half of these accelerated towards Archers One through Four and a number of other army vehicles, while the other six split into two groups and proceeded on intercept missions of their own at the incoming Dragonfire fighters. All of the anti-air fire instantly adjusted to this new threat and the Sentinels began to scatter from their current positions. With both forces now so close together it did not take long for those missiles to reach their targets. Two were actually caught in the defensive fire, but four large explosions still rocked the entire valley below as the rest struck their targets. Archers Two and Three were the first to parish in mushroom cloud explosions. Four Centaur IFVs and a single Chimera tank disappeared in similar blasts milliseconds later. Thankfully most of their supporting troops had been offloaded before their Rear Guard deployment.

  At almost the exact same time that the enemy missiles took off towards their objectives the fighter launched Arinna TMWs ceased their terrain following mode and arched up into the sky towards the Gamma gunship. They closed the distance rapidly from the ship’s underside as their afterburners ignited. If the Gamma’s crew was surprised, it never showed as another energy surge was detected in response to the new threat. As before a wave of energy released from the gunship towards the missiles, but this one was weaker than the previous one. It struck the incoming Arinnas nonetheless, causing two of them to shut down and the rest to veer off course slightly.

  The two surviving Starbursts and three TMWs quickly adjusted their course back towards the gunship. Their systems were much more heavily shielded against interference of all sorts, allowing them to endure a higher level of punishment than the ground based Avenger missiles used by the Sentinels. Even with the slight course delay it only took a second for the first warheads to reach the gunship and two small flashes of white light finally sparked in the dimming sky as the pulse weapons detonated. The wave of magnetic radiation that followed washed over the Gamma’s underside and disrupted most of the ship’s internal systems to various degrees, most notably those on the ventral side. Shields along the entire lower half of the ship flickered brightly as their projectors tried to compensate, but it was already too late and three much larger bursts of light lit up the entire surrounding area.

  Kilometers away Colonel Hallsworth watched the blooming detonations on one of the command vehicle’s internal displays. The darmatium warheads of the MS-230s were quite distinct and instantly recognizable to those that had witnessed them before. Even so, Jonathan knew that the explosions could have been brighter still if the weapon’s safeties had not been engaged. Federation military law put limits on how much explosive force could be used on habitable planets, especially ones already colonized. In order to comply with that law all heavy weapons launchers and platforms were fitted with automated arming systems that could adjust a weapon’s explosive yield based on a variety of factors. One of these conditions was whether the launcher was in space or within a planet’s atmosphere.

  Even at a decreased power setting the sight was impressive to see and Jonathan’s eyes were glued on the display to see what had become of the gunship. The entire craft disappeared for a second within a blanket of blinding light. The Arinna warheads were actually two stage weapons. Upon detonation a strong force field was generated for a fraction of a second and directed most of the explosive force towards the designated target. This allowed the missile to cause more damage even at a lower yield.

  As the explosion died down, Jonathan heart sank for a moment with the Gamma becoming visible once again. It was not the sleek brand new vessel it had been a second ago, however. Almost the entire underside of the ship looked blackened and melted. Large gaping holes were clearly seen through the sensors dotting bottom surface, linked together with stress fractures. One of these opening actually stretched towards the craft’s port side, creating a large somewhat semicircular break in the curved hull. Internal support structures could be seen in the open now, mangled and jotting out in various directions.

  Damaged as it was, the Gamma continued to glide forward, intent on reaching the convoy at all costs. With a thin trail of smoke flowing behind it the gunship unleashed another salvo of twelve missiles, some directed at remaining elements of Rear Guard and the remainder in the convoy’s general direction. As these new threats rose into the air their twins closed on the four Dragonfires, which responded rather calmly thanks to years of training. Under Captain Qinto Umberlin’s command the fighters separated inside their flights and quickly let loose with a pair of small interceptors each. A second after these miniscule projectiles left their under wingtip ejector pods the entire formation went to full military power and flowered out in four different directions. The enemy missiles tried to follow, but four of the six disappeared in a cloud of smoke as the countermeasure weapons found their marks. The remaining two matched the fighters maneuver and continued to follow their two original targets.

  Both chased fighter craft immediately started applying evasive maneuvers they were taught at the flight academy, but the large alien warheads kept pace and slowly began to close on their prey. Each evading pilot kept a constant vigilant eye on their specific missile while conducting one hard maneuver after the next. In an effort to throw the pursuing weapons off their tail the pilots both triggered their fighter’s decoy system, which launched a single micro-drone from the rear. These m-drones instantly began mimicking their individual fighter’s electronics and heat signatures while veering away to accelerate away from the launching Dragonfire. For a split second the decoys seemed to work, drawing the enemy missiles towards them, but somehow their effect faded just as quickly and these warheads quickly turned back towards their original targets.

  As the missiles closed in for the kill the pilots fought for survival. Their Dragonfire’s semiautonomous assistance programing quickly activated the built in automated missile defense system, trying to help the fighter survive by locking onto the trailing menace and engaged it with a single semi-sustained pulse laser beam. The AMDS was located within two small cupolas fixed to the dorsal and ventral rear of the fighter, giving the system 360 degrees of coverage. Without the pilot having to issue a single order the top mounted rotational dome fired out a green beam of light and focused it on the incoming warhead. The laser followed the missile inflight, but disengaged after a few seconds to cool down. Unfortunately for the pilots, none of the ADMSs had any effect in burning through either missile’s skin.

  Not letting this defensive failure get into their heads was a difficult feat in mental control, one that the more veteran pilot was better skilled in dealing with. Wildcat Two was the group’s second in command and the first one to witness the failure of his own ADMS. Instead of panicking Lieutenant Alexander ‘Sparks’ Eaton came up with another plan. He slowed the Dragonfire just enough to let the missile settle in directly behind him, counted down to three inside his head, and then slammed his hand down on the command counsel to deploy the fighter’s airbrake. At the very same moment Alex threw the craft on its side and pulled up on the flight controls to conduct a rapid turn. The inertial dampeners barely complied, but were just enough to keep him from passing out from the tremendous amount of g-forces slamming into his body. The fighter spun around almost instantly, rotating end to end and groaning slightly under the extreme atmospheric stress. Unable to compensate for the maneuver the missile shot past and started to turn back, but the pilot never gave it a chance by squeezing on his own trigger and blasting the warhead from the sky with dual well placed particle beams.

  Group commander Captain Umberlin dispatched the second warhead at almost the same time with his own interceptor missile just before the alien weapon reached his wingman’s rear shield. The resulting blast was large enough to engulf the rear of Wildcat Four and cause the pilot some disorientation as she fought to control the buckling craft. As she started to stabilize the Drag
onfire and reassess her bearings a series of orange energy beams slammed into her already weakened shields. During this whole engagement the Gamma had gone mostly unnoticed by the Wildcats and managed to get within optimal firing range of its beam weapons. It quickly unleashed a full barrage against the closest of the Dragonfire fighters.

  Qinto was the second person closest to the gunship and saw the bright flash of weapons fire first. He witnessed a series of lights run along the top of the Gamma and coalesce into a single point, which quickly discharged a long beam of energy. The Captain only had enough time to call out a warning over the group’s TacNet before taking the fighter into a steep dive to avoid the incoming beams. His wingmate was less lucky, her shields held out against two of the beams, but the third and fourth pierced thru and impacted the fighter’s armored hull. Her port side wing completely disintegrated as a beam sliced through it from bottom to top and compromised its integrity. The second beam slammed into the ship’s underside, melting the armor there before punching its way into the starboard side engine located above.

  Smoke began trailing behind the Dragonfire as the engine fought to stay alive, but exploded a second later, ripping a large gap in the fighter’s side. This further diminished the craft’s flight characteristics within a planetary atmosphere, causing the computer flight systems to take over more of the ship’s controls to keep the fighter airborne. As if that wasn’t enough the air around the stricken fighter shimmered and an invisible ray passed over the ship. Not one of the other pilots witnessed the occurrence, but each of their fighters’ radiological detectors lit up before the sound of an agonizing pain fill scream erupted through their helmet speakers. They all recognized the voice and called out for a status report, but received no response. At the same time Wildcat Four’s transponder signal disappeared from every sensor display. A quick visual search found the fighter tumbling out of the air with all systems shut down and spinning out of control towards the ground below.

  A lone functioning emergency monitoring system automatically identified that its fighter was out of control and the pilot appeared incapacitated. According to its programming it calculated that the Dragonfire’s survival was close to zero percent. As such, the system engaged the pilot’s safety webbing, securing her completely to the flight seat, and triggered the ejection procedure. In a fraction of a second multiple explosive bolts fired around the outside of the cockpit and the whole cockpit assembly separated from the fighter’s structural frame. Emergency repulsor fields activated immediately afterward in short, timed bursts to start slowing the cockpit’s descent.

  “Wildcats, it’s time to take that beast down!” Captain Umberlin called out forcefully over the TacLink and relayed a series of revised orders just as the second half of the missile barrage detonated above half a dozen vehicles from the Rear Guard element.

  With a resounding yell in acknowledgement Wildcats Two and Three accelerated to full military power and spread out to proceed at the enemy gunship from three different locations. The sky around them light up with renewed streaks of deadly energy beams directed at them from the gunship as both sides closed on one another. Each fighter was able to evade most of the fire through a variation of different maneuvers when the Gamma split up its limited weapons between the three Dragonfires. Below this battle in the purple hazed sky the valley glowed as secondary explosions went off from vehicles destroyed and damaged by the gunship’s ground attack.

  This time around the fighters closed to within the Arinna’s minimal safe distance before launching a single Starburst pulse warhead followed immediately by an MS-230. All six were targeted at the gunship’s dorsal side and streaked away just as the fighters were fired upon again. Wildcat Two’s shields buckled under the impact of two sustained beams, allowing some of the energy from the second one to leak through the shield and strafe the fighter’s underside from the nose to one of the ventral launch bays. Unfortunately it was also the bay from which the second missile had just been ejected and was therefore partially open. Alarms lit up inside the cockpit as the lone remaining missile secured within that bay began to cook inside its own casing and reached critical levels. Alexander’s adrenaline levels sored at the realization, but his mind instantly cleared as medical implants within him released a counter-agent, allowing him to think more clearly. He took a quick breath and reached over to punch the pulsating holographic button to eject the harmful weapon from his fighter. As the warhead forcefully expelled under his craft he pulled back on the control stick at his left side and sent the Dragonfire screamed up into the air completely on its tail on full afterburner.

  Thankfully the Arinna had not been armed at the time and the resulting explosion was much less violent than it could have been. Lieutenant Eaton leveled out as soon as it was safe before pointed his nose down towards the Gamma now beneath him. He watched as the large gunship adjusted its beam fire at the newly launched missiles. One of the first warheads detonated because of a luck shot, but its partner reached the shield boundary and unleashed its pulse into the ship from above it. Instead of detonating the third and last Starburst against these top shields, Captain Umberlin redirected it and his Arinna to the Gamma’s more exposed underside.

  Alex watched from above as both Wildcat One and Three turned away from their initial approach to move away from the expected blast radius. Three bright explosions seemed to blossom all at once, but two were slightly ahead of the third. The ones above detonated first, shrouding the whole ship in a brilliant white. For the most part the topside shields were at full power, but the Starburst’s detonation had triggered a ship wide disruption and caused them to waver considerably. They absorbed approximately half of the blast before becoming overwhelmed and allowed the rest to slam into the Gamma’s armored hull. The force of the explosion melted or vaporized everything it touched within a large circular area, destroying everything from weapons, shield projectors, and every sensor node to thick armor plating throughout that portion of the ship.

  Just after the apex of these dual bursts, as the light began a quick decrescendo, the third Arinna detonated and rocked the vessel from below. This time there were no shields to dissipate some of the force since the Starburst missile preceding the warhead was able to overwhelm the remaining ventral electrical systems completely. The TWM flew in totally unopposed and slammed into the mangled remains of the hull itself. It pierced the weakened exterior with ease and exploded within the rear half of the gunship. With no armor to stop the power force the directed explosion consumed everything in its path until it burst through the ship’s dorsal surface. Armor plating throughout that area fractured and tore outward from the expanding blast underneath it.

  For only two kilometers away now Jonathan Hallsworth stood inside the Bastion TACCOM and watched the entirety of the WildCats engagement unfold on the large display wall. The Tactical Command Center was located deep within the underground complex and its information displays covered a large portion of the room, allowing all pertinent information to be displayed at once or on command. At the moment the majority was taken up by a video feed showing the enemy gunship getting enveloped by a trio of antimatter blasts. Along the leading edges of this central image were displays from multiply outside facing cameras showing medical vehicles racing out of one of Bastion’s internal vehicle bays. These vehicles were being dispatched to assist army and medical personal taking care of victims caught in the gunship’s last missile strike. Most of the incoming missiles had missed their mark thanks to the still active cloak field, but two had impacted at a transport holding area that had been set up to better manage the influx of vehicles into the main Bastion vehicle bay. The clustering of civilians meant that even a single missile detonation could cause mass casualties and that is precisely what happened.

  “Casualties now at ten dead and thirty-five wounded, sir,” stated the masculine voice belonging to Bain, Bastion’s artificial intelligence, from speakers located around the room.

  Jonathan turned his eyes away from the resc
ue effort just as more bodies were pulled out from the entangled mess of composite, metal, and flesh. Everyone hurried to get all the bodies outside, living or not, into the complex so that the outer doors could be sealed. The Colonel knew that another attack against Bastion would soon follow since in all likelihood the Gamma gunship had already updated its superiors of the status of the convoy as it knew it. It would not be sending any more reports, however, Jonathan noted with satisfaction as he watched the large craft’s forward progress cease when its engines were destroyed by the third Arinna’s detonation. The ship seemed to hang in place for a second when the light around it died down before another large explosion rocked it from inside. Its generators had been damaged as well and had finally gone critical, causing the whole rear section to shatter from the force of the blast. Cut nearly in two the remains of the Gamma fell out of the sky never to fire a shot in anger ever again.

  “Recall the Wildcats immediately, have crews standing by to refit and rearm those fighters, we might need them again,” Jonathan order and cross his arms behind his hand, “dispatch a SAR team to locate our downed pilot and bring her home.”

  With the help of Bain the orders were rapidly transmitted to the proper personnel and a pair of specialized Search and Rescue Jackal Armed Reconnaissance Vehicles launched from hidden tunnels carved in the mountainside. The two Jackals flew out fast and low towards Wildcat Four’s emergency beacon, their crews highly trained in the art of recovering their objectives quickly and efficiently even in the face of extreme danger. As these vehicles raced away from Bastion the remains of Rear Guard finally made their way to the command complex. They were badly bruised in both equipment and moral, but still hungry to engage the enemy once more and avenge their fallen comrades.