Star Crusader: Siege of Kalar

by Thomas, Michael G.

  “Uh…what was…”

  “Sit down, you fool!” she snapped back, “There’s a good chance we won’t make it. That was just in case. Like your people say, live in the moment. Tomorrow we might all be dead. At this rate, we probably will be!”

  She winked at him and sealed her visor completely to protect her from the elements. Nate pulled on the straps and hit the Phantom’s control systems. The two of them worked quickly, powering up the core, and then triggering the sequence to fire up the engines.

  “Good work, Ironclads.”

  Nate applied low levels of downward thrust. The fighter shuddered a little, and Valdis hit the controls to stabilise the system.

  “It looks like they didn’t finish all the repairs.”

  Nate couldn’t talk and struggled with the controls as the craft tipped to the right. Small adjustments brought it back level, and he had to put nearly fifteen percent more energy into the thrusters.

  “Okay…that should work.”

  “Ironclads. Follow me out…don’t linger.”

  One Phantom led the way. Nate could tell it was the Lieutenant Commander’s before she even spoke. There was a smooth, technical way that she flew, very like that of Matilda. The younger pilots might have thousands of hours in the simulators, but Holder was the real deal. She’d been flying all kinds of fighters for years. They launched away from the deck, and in seconds the place looked tiny. Nate could see the wreckage of at least four Hawkmoths, and even a crowd of the enemy as they surged inside.

  “Should we open fire on them?” Valdis asked.

  Nate almost choked. The idea of firing on people always unnerved him.

  “No. What’s the point? Right now, we need to get outside.”

  As they both looked forward, the inner dock gates drifted apart, creating access to the double barrier and the safety of space.

  “We can do this. Push the engines as hard as you can.”

  Valdis made the adjustments as they reached the outer doors. The ones behind them were already sealed, and outer plates slid open, but not as fully as they should.

  “What?”

  Two Hawkmoths moved in front, blocking his way out. Nate had little choice between pushing the fighters into the framing or turning away. He chose to protect the diminutive fighters.

  “Hold on!”

  He pulled on the controls, spun around, and hit his engines. The Phantom slowed to a half in a mere second, and in time to avoid striking the massive structure. The others blasted through, with one Phantom striking its underside on the way out. Nate pulled them around in a further roll, shifted the nose of the fighter, and flipped onto its side.

  “You ready?”

  Valdis nodded.

  “Always.”

  Nate quickly hit the boosters and immediately felt the surge of power through the fighter. It was pure, raw power that pushed then up quickly, sending flames and dust across the deck. The engines flared bright white, and they blasted out of the gap and into the cold, cruel void. Nate had no idea what to expect as they left the massive Anchorage, only relaxing when he saw the IFF signatures of his comrades ahead. The other three fighters had circled near the exit point to wait for them.

  “Wow,” said Valdis, “Would you look at that.”

  Nate half expected the Anchorage to be in flames, but to his surprise, it looked almost serene. Then he spotted them, hundreds of small transport craft racing down to land. They were the same they’d seen inside, though out in space looked little bigger than a fighter.

  “I don’t get it. How did they get here so fast? We should have had hours, maybe even a day’s notice before they arrived.”

  Valdis was already looking off into the distance, and as her visor hissed open, her attention locked onto something else. Nate looked away from the floating city and towards where he expected to see the small Alliance flotilla and its Byotai allies.

  “Uh…that’s not good.”

  Instead of the line of friendly ships, Nate’s mouth hung wide open as he gazed upon four gigantic transports. They were vastly bigger than the Alliance ships, perhaps double or even triple the mass of the biggest Alliance vessel in the area. Yet there was something very different to these craft. Though long and bulky, the partial ring at the bow marked them as different. There were also two of the advanced cruisers with the partial ring nacelles around the front of the ships.

  “Is it me, or do those look familiar?”

  Valdis sighed.

  “Those sections are identical to the ships at homeworld. You know, the high-speed ones. It looks like they’ve made good use of that engine tech of yours.”

  Nate’s lip quivered with frustration. The Interstellar Drives on the ships of the IAB allowed them travel at impossible speeds. Combined with the Spacebridges, they could reach any star system in weeks, often in days. Conventional ships might need months to do the same, sometimes longer than a year. As he watched, he noticed another eight ships were escorting them. They were moving away from the outer hulls of the transports and opening their gun ports.

  “Uh…were they attached to the transports?”

  Valdis laughed.

  “Looks that way,” answered Cassandra, “My computer shows attachment points along the hull. They must have piggybacked the ride.”

  “Well spotted,” said Lieutenant Commander Holder, “Looks like our friends have come up with a new idea, a very new idea. Are you seeing this?”

  “Makes sense,” said Matilda, “The partial ring nacelles along the bow of each ship created the bubble in space-time. Anything inside it could move with the ship. Don’t forget, the whole point of the engine system is to travel without moving. They must be using it to increase the number of ships they can move.”

  Nate smiled as he listened. It was good to hear Matilda talking. She might be the outspoken one, but when she had something to say, it was always worth listening to.

  “Actually, that is a dammed good idea,” said Holder, “So why didn’t we think of doing that?”

  Matilda cleared her throat before answering. Nate knew what she was about to say. They’d had this discussion before, and had even experimented with the idea on custom servers where unauthorised add-ons could be tested safely.

  “Sir, I sent a proposal about this before the fighting started. It went from the Academy direct to CTC Special Weapons Division, and I heard nothing after that. Guess it went missing somewhere.”

  Nate’s nostrils flared.

  More like CTC was either already working on it, or they sold us out, and passed it on to these guys.

  “I see. Well, if we make it out of here, you’ll have to speak with the Admiral. This is the kind of solution that could change things for us, big time.”

  Her tone shifted as they moved farther away from the Anchorage and towards the line of enemy ships. Behind them was another formation of Alliance and Byotai vessels.

  “Squadron leaders, report in.”

  Nate relaxed a little at hearing the sound of the Byotai pilots. Several had been killed earlier, but it looked as though the squadron leaders remained.

  “Good. Form up on our flanks, and ready your weapons. This is going to get rough. We can’t do anything for the fleet until we’re through their fighter screen.”

  Nate hadn’t checked what kind of defences the enemy had and instantly felt guilty for such a failure. The tactical screen showed the position of the ships, but different icons marked the shuttles and smaller transports.

  “I don’t see any fighters,” said Cassandra, “Wait, there they are. Mark six one, behind the last two ships.”

  Nate moved his attention, gasping at the numbers. It was scary enough in the simulator, but far worse seeing so many craft for real.

  “I see them,” said Holder, “Okay, this is it, one group of Mokku fighters. Scanners show twenty plus, and more are launching. Stay in formation and ready your missiles.”

  Valdis reached out to the computer and activated the missile battery onboard. Unli
ke other fighters, the Phantom, or the T1 Heavy Nimkii fighter, as known to the Star Empire had been constructed with a roller magazine fed system. This motorised system sent warheads to each of the launchers fitted inside the four winglets. It was complex, but could be loaded and refired in seconds, allowing much smaller launchers to be fitted to the fighter.

  “Loaded,” said Nate.

  The others reported in, with just a handful of the Hawkmoths having trouble with their own systems. Target diamonds appeared over a dozen of the enemy craft, effectively marking them for death.

  “Sir, permission to break and attack,” Cassandra asked.

  Nate’s brow tightened. Cassandra was a good pilot, perhaps even better than him on a good day. But she knew that breaking off from the formation was the wrong choice.

  So why is she asking?

  “Negative. Stay in formation and check your weapons.”

  The group expanded into a looser formation, creating wider gaps for their weapons to track more clearly. Nate made some subtle corrections and then turned to Valdis.

  “Everything good?”

  Her head rocked forward.

  “All ready here, just waiting for the word.”

  Nate grinned. No matter how bad things got, Valdis seemed to take it all in her stride. Many of the Byotai were similar in that respect, but there was also something about the few survivors of her squadron. They had a strange attitude to life and death that Nate found quite appealing. Since the fall of their Empire, each seemed more interested in the present than the future. But not Nate, all he could think of was his friends, and the vast numbers of enemies now waiting between them and the fleet.

  We can do this. Can’t we?

  “Fire at will!”

  Valdis took control of the missile gunnery system and unleashed the first four missiles. Moments later the other three Phantoms did the same. As the last missile left the launcher, the first of the next batch fired. This went on until all four had expended eight warheads apiece.

  “Now form up in attack formation Alpha. Sword and Vampire Squadrons to the rear, Ironclads will be the ram. Lock onto remaining targets and prepare for Alpha formation strike. We will penetrate their line and then break into attack units.”

  Several days earlier this would have meant nothing, but after their drill and training at the Anchorage, they all had a good idea of what to do. The Ironclads moved into their diamond formation, and the two wings of Hawkmoths above and behind in two large v formations. From a distance, it looked like a large arrowhead, and could have been a civilian display formation to the uninitiated. A number of the fighters vanished from the scanners, followed by more as the Hawkmoths’ missiles did their work.

  “Here we go. Fire on my mark!”

  Nate licked his lips as he made small adjustments. Holder was at the front, and he was flying slightly back, and to her left. Directly ahead the two lines of ships were now busily engaged, sending shots and missiles into each other. It was a classic ship engagement, and Nate could only imagine how much damage each side was sustaining. They raced past a cruiser that had pulled away from the battle to head off anybody trying to escape from the Anchorage. The remaining fighters circled the capital ship, using its defence turrets to protect them from the last few missiles coming their way.

  “Ironclads, hit the cruiser’s control centre. Everybody else on the fighters, now!”

  The large formation shifted direction like a great flock of birds avoiding a predator. The Hawkmoths buzzed about, their pilots doing their best to maintain the formation, simultaneously keeping a careful look out for signs of danger. The formation made for the cruiser and lined up on the target.

  “Fire!”

  The main guns of the Phantoms opened fire. Their heavy 75mm slugs slammed into the ship but caused only light damage. That didn’t stop the four of them blasting away repeatedly.

  “That got their attention,” said Lilija, who’d been silent until now.

  “Confirmed,” replied Matilda, “We’ve multiple targets on approach vector. They want to pull us away from the cruiser.”

  “Good work, pilots. Let’s make them suffer.”

  Nate relaxed a little, listening to the calm voice of Lieutenant Commander Holder. This was where she excelled, right in the middle of a massive furball, where command and controls would break down in an instant. As expected, the Mokku fighters swarmed around them, firing their guns and doing their best to break apart the formation.

  “Hold!”

  The Hawkmoths stayed in formation but rotated to fire their guns. It was a strange thing to look at, the fighters altering their bearing as though turrets on a massive warship, yet they continued along their previous course. There were so many of them there that any Mokku coming too close was cut apart by the concentrated fire of at least four fighters. It was a slaughter, yet on they came, some singly, but most in small units of three of four.

  “There’s way too many of them!” Billy yelled as four raced through the combined Alliance and Byotai formation. One Hawkmoth exploded before concentrated fire from the four Phantoms ripped them apart. Shattered wreckage raced past and caught the left side of another Hawkmoth. The damaged fighter spun out of control and vanished from view. A single Hawkmoth split away to help its comrade, but Lieutenant Commander Holder called after the pilot.

  “Back in formation, now!”

  Her voice was hard as nails, and even the Byotai pilot must have felt her wrath. This time they listened and moved back as a trio of Mokkus skimmed past, firing away. Nate exhaled nervously. Thankful the pilot had listened. Another ten metres away and they would have been caught in the crossfire. The pilot started to speak, but Lieutenant Commander Holder cut him off with her stern, commanding tone.

  “Stay in formation, and keep firing. Do not disengage. We do not have the numbers to improvise. Play it safe, and play it smart, your time will come.”

  The Ironclads did as ordered, but another two Hawkmoths ignored the commands and split off. They raced away, chasing the Mokku fighters, the turrets on the enemy cruisers lashing them with gunfire. Nate saw one cut apart and felt an urge to give chase to help, but he knew it was the wrong call.

  “Sword Five. Need help!” said the translated voice, “Help me!”

  A third Hawkmoth broke away from formation, much to Holder’s ire.

  “Get back in formation!”

  The pilot hesitated and left it too long. Another group of Mokku fighters raced at it, blasting away with their four small automatic cannons. Shots ripped through the light hull of the Byotai craft, finally tearing a wing off. Then came an explosion that gutted it entirely.

  “Stay together,” she said once more. This time her voice was gentler, and Nate was sure he could detect disappointment, “Remember your training. Work together as a single organism. Together we can take on ten times our number.”

  If the Byotai had followed orders, they’d probably still be alive. Nate shook his head and looked ahead. Mokku fighters circled around them, but the tight formation of fighters was too much, as it lifted up and moved in on a wing of five fighters. The outnumbered Star Empire pilots scattered in panic, only to be raked by fire as the mixed Alliance and Byotai unit raced passed them. It took another twenty seconds before the remaining Mokku pilots gave up. The last seven fighters broke away to avoid being shot to pieces, and one even managed to evade a missile launched from a Hawkmoth. The missile chased after it, spinning rapidly to make it hard to track.

  “Okay, good work, people. We’ve broken the fighter screen. Now it’s time to move in on the transports. Let’s see if we can stop them deploying more…”

  A voice crackled over the internal speakers, drowning out Holder.

  “This is Victorious. All pilots, we need urgent assistance. A second force has entered the system, ETA one hour, maybe sooner. We need a laager defence before we’re overwhelmed. I repeat; all fighter squadrons withdraw to Victorious. Initialise fleet defence protocol.”

  “Hi
ggins,” said Valdis.

  Both scanned around to look for signs of this mysterious force, but nothing showed on their short or long-range scanners. Nate tapped the unit, but was thwarted by large amounts of Byotai data, little of which made sense to him. He cursed the lack of time for them to install new hardware to bring the craft up to Alliance specifications.

  “Could be a ghost broadcast?” Valdis suggested, “They might just be transmitting to make it look like they’re coming.”

  “Yeah,” said Nate, “That would be a neat trick if you could pull it off. Have you checked the long-range thermal scans?”

  Valdis nodded quickly.

  “Yes. Nothing new out there, other than the burning ships and fighters we already have to contend with.”

  Valdis might not fully understand sarcasm, but she definitely seemed to be getting there. On any other day Nate might have laughed, but the reports coming in from the other pilots unnerved him. This was what often occurred in the simulator, right before something unexpected happened, and it was usually defeat.

  “Negative, Commander. We see nothing on our scopes,” said Nate, “I think…”

  Three lights flashed, and Nate’s throat ran dry as the shapes appeared on his scanner, minutes away from the fleet. Two were cruiser-size ships, but the third was all too familiar. It was big and both recognised the shape immediately. It was bigger than even the advanced cruisers of the Star Empire, though of a very similar design style. It was neither Byotai nor Anicinàbe but a fusion of the two, with additional technology stolen from the Alliance. More recently it appeared the technical data might have been given or sold by corrupt employees of the vast CTC megacorporation.

  “The Raiukat. It must be!”

  Nate and Matilda looked to each other.

  “We’re in trouble,” said Nate.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Kalar Anchorage, 9th Quadrant

  January 13th 2473

  Alliance Assault Carrier 'ANS Victorious'

  The first attack came as missile after missile hurtled towards the formation of Alliance ships. Normally, the missiles would have wrought terrible damage on them, but they were ready for it. In less than ten seconds, the fleet responded to the attack with a massive volume of defensive fire. The ships of the IAB were state of the art, designed with input from many military departments, as well as from military veterans such as Spartan and Gun. Their weapons were optimised for maximum effort over short duration combat.