“Did you say something there, private?” Jones raised an eyebrow.
“No sir, just clearing my throat sir,” Grunt replied quickly.
“Glad to hear that. If that throat thing keeps bugging you I just might have to assign you extra PT to try and get your body back in shape,” the platoon's commander smiled wickedly.
“Feeling much better already, sir. Thank you, sir.” He darted forward with his pack under the amused eyes of the platoon.
“Follow Grunt then.” Jones nodded, and as one they headed for the launch bay.
The launch was a spectacular experience. Lee had managed to get a seat next to Jones almost at the front of the dropship, and the pilots weren't in a sealed enclosure allowing her an almost unobstructed view through the cockpit. She watched in pure wonder as the orange sky first paled and then darkened into the black of space as the craft effortlessly broke out of the red planet's gravity and eased into orbit. Far ahead of them she could see the blinking lights of another dropship, probably the HQ platoon and Captain Madison following the same vector as Lee's own ride, and he expected the rest of the Company was following on behind him.
“That's our destination,” Jones noticed Samatha's look and pointed out helpfully. “The U.V.S. SANTIAGO. She'll ferry us to Orion.”
Lee and a few other guys leaned forward and glimpsed the massive gray troop ship. She was immediately grateful it was an official troop ship and not some commandeered freighter. She still had nightmares from the last time the regiment had moved out and they had crammed her solid in some spluttering freighter like a sardine. Well, at least official troop carriers wouldn't exactly range high on the 'to do'-lists of any alien raiders or pirates. The gray tin cans carried as much firepower as regular destroyers. As the panorama outside widened she decided raiders wouldn't be a problem anyway.
“Wow, look at all those ships!” Grunt gasped beside her, echoing Sammy's own thoughts. “Looks like somebody noticed how important I am. 'bout time I got a decent escort!”
As the dropship continued its approach Lee counted four more of the same type, bulky beasts capable of carrying – and landing - a full division of troops and armor. Scattered around them were a half a dozen destroyers and a pair of heavy cruisers, their lean frames, armored gun turrets and sensor domes prowling past the bulky troop vessels.
“Gentlemen, this looks like a major redeployment,” Jones nodded. “Guess that battalion of tanks they loaded up before the important people,” he tilted his head into Grunt's direction, “is heading our way too.”
“Holy crap!” Sergeant Masters exclaimed, immediately huffing in embarrassment. “Sorry sir, but... just look at that!”
Jones peered in the direction his sergeant had advised, with Lee craning after him, and sure enough his eyes widened at the sight. Beyond the impressive flotilla of troop ships a squadron of the latest class of dreadnoughts, the astonishingly mean looking Cortez-class, floated majestically above Mars against the diamond-spotted backdrop of space. Usually seeing one or two of these vessels was a treat, but Lee had counted ten divisions – that meant twenty of those beasts! - before the dropship's flightpath moved them out of view, and their heavy screen of cruisers, destroyers and EW platforms with them.
Mars was one of the NAU's major fleet bases, but even here it was rather uncommon to have that much firepower gathered in one space. This here was more than Sammy had seen before, and from the Sergeant's reaction that counted for many of the veterans, too.
“Oh yeah, major redeployment,” Jones repeated. “I guess the Joint Chiefs want a show of strength to the alien races. There's supposed to be a bit of trouble on the Rasenni border according to newsfeeds. Guess they want to discourage someone trying the same to us.”
“A division or two of dreadnoughts should send that message, sir,” Masters nodded. “And I guess deploying reinforcements to the garrisons on the outer colonies sends the same message.”
“Well, at least we know why we're going. At least it's not the Chinese,” Jones rolled his eyes. Nobody was keen to start the Third Solar War. “And it should mean a short term deployment, at least until the Rasenni problems die down. I'd say that's pretty good news, ladies and gentlemen.”
The thought made Samantha feel a little more comfortable. It was good news, indeed, for it meant she'd be back home when the brass' show of force was over. With a little luck that meant maybe a month or two tops.
As the dropship settled into its final approach she caught a better glimpse of a passing Cortez a few kilometers away. If the Union wanted to intimidate other nations, aliens or not, a bunch of those ships were the perfect messengers. Twelve hundred meters long and weighing just a bit more than ten million metric tons, with an excessively large part of that devoted to armor, its every side dotted with gun turrets and missile magazines, the thing was about as subtle as a spiked club to the head. There was no question about what those ships were built to do. They didn't have the flattened wing structure and bright glaring colors that made them look like the distantly bird-like Ukhuri ships, or the lean features that made Ashani ships resemble a panther ready to pounce. They simply didn't need them. They just naturally looked like they were ready to bust heads, no decoration required.
Samantha nodded with pride. Anyone who tried to tangle with one of those monsters was going to come off second best. Then the ship disappeared as the dropship entered the bay and the next stage of their journey began.
“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”
General George S. Patton, The Second World War
C H A P T E R 5
Oscan Star System, Rasenni Empire
June, 2797 C.E.
Patrol duty was a waste of time and effort. In fact, not only was patrol duty in generally a waste of time and effort, but patrolling this particular backyard of a star system was a highly offensive waste of his time and effort. Judoc could only conclude that at some point he had deeply insulted the gods, to be left with such a dreary and ignoble assignment.
This particular star system with its unremarkable mix of a blue main sequence star and a red giant was part of the territory claimed by Principality of Sechláinn, one of the older and relatively influential political families in the great Rasenni Empire. As a loyal servant of the principality Captain Judoc would follow his orders to check up on his lord's territories, no matter how far out in the galactic boondocks they were. It wasn't the type of task he would have chosen for himself.
Unfortunately there simply was nothing better. More than once Judoc had come to the realization that he had been born in the wrong age. He had missed the glory days of the empire by a good few hundred years, although he would have settled for a commission just a few decades ago when the first wave of obvious setbacks had hit the Rasenni, most notably the revolt and the subsequent humiliating withdrawal the thrice-damned Ukhuri had forced on them. He often dreamed of leading the expeditionary force to that planet to simply bomb it down to its crust, sterilizing the galaxy of its greatest plague. The remembrance of the long held dream made him smile.
Oscan also was a blasted and empty world incapable of supporting life. A few domed colonies existed, housing barely a hundred thousand Rasenni settlers. Its only value was as a location of mines for the raw materials for the fleet yards owned by the lord of the Sechláinn family. Each of the great noble families represented in the Imperial Diet maintained respectably sized naval assets of their own to secure their respective holdings from outsiders and, more usually, each other's' aspirations. While nowhere near as formidable as the centrally controlled Royal Navy the local principality fleets were still a considerable threat to border worlds and each other. Combined they almost matched the Royal Navy's numbers, and with the sudden absence of an Emperor, tensions were running higher than usual, necessitating an increased presence to show they were ready to protect their territory.
“Our sensors show nothing, captain,” Commander Cadeyrn reported from his post. “Just
like they showed nothing all the other times we've been running system-wide sensor sweeps.”
Most military vessels could attain detailed real-time scans of a radius of several astronomical units, giving them a rather precise mass and IR footprint on most vessels operating inside their sensor envelope. After that the quality of the readouts dropped remarkably fast within a few million kilometers. Rasenni sensors, however, as with much of their military technology, were a generation or two ahead of the rest, allowing for truly system-wide sweeps even by smaller ships. If there was something to see, that was.
Judoc nodded absentmindedly. He could appreciate the officer's boredom and from the general atmosphere on the bridge could sense it was a common feeling. The Rasenni fleets simply weren't meant for such dull duties! They should be out there, dueling with Tuathaan raiders or playing a game of wits with the Dominion's navy, not guarding a system which nobody wanted to ever visit, let alone attack.
“We'll run one more sweep, then go home and report our duty done to Lord Sechláinn.”
The crew brightened up a little and re-calibrated the sensors as the ship turned from the main planet and pointed its bow rimwards to head on another leisurely journey between the different outposts on its circuit. Judoc's ship was a fairly powerful unit, the crescent winged Ice Raven-class attack ship. On the scale of warships it jumped all over the place, fulfilling some of the class requirements for destroyers, frigates and gunships. The vessel was designed for high speed attacks in close collaboration with its sisters across the lines of battle. And every morning Judoc would ask the pantheon of gods to grant him the chance to show the full potential of his ship and crew. He prayed for war.
“Picking up gravitic disturbances at the edge of the inner system!” Cadeyrn cried with a mix of anxiety and glee. Finally something was happening. He checked his sensor readings. “Registering a thermal bleed-out!”
A ship's transition back into normal space was always preceded by a thermal footprint. The larger the ship or the more ships were arriving the larger the footprint was.
Judoc bolted upright and scrambled to the sensor station. “There are no scheduled arrivals,” he muttered. “What ship is it?”
“Can't get a reading yet,” the sensor officer reported. “We should have a transition any moment now.”
A million possibilities went through Judoc's mind: could it be raiders or perhaps an alien power? Was it a cargo ship in distress? Maybe a wayward freighter belonging to one of the Pact powers which he could claim as a prize? Either way his twin hearts were racing at the notion of something actually happening out here.
“Sweet Lord of War,” Cadeyrn whispered in astonishment. “Transition completed. It's a bloody Ukhuri heavy cruiser!"
“Ukhuri?” Judoc was just as surprised. “Just the one?”
Cadeyrn shot his CO a baffled glance. 'Just the one?' That 'one' probably out-massed them by a factor of five! He steadied his voice to present Judoc with an answer. “Yes, captain. One of those double hulled designs, moving slowly towards the colony.”
“Fantastic!” Judoc grinned. “Charge the main battery and ready missiles! Helm, reverse course and set us up for a flanking attack. Get me into effective range. Comm, send a priority dispatch to the principality's local command. We have an Ukhuri attacker!”
The attack ship swung onto course and accelerated towards the intruder. Without even a warning or demand to surrender it locked its weapons on the Ukhuri cruiser. “Activate full EW protocols and ready the hack-packs. Time to target?”
Captain Judoc said a quick 'thank you' to the gods for this glorious opportunity to prove his prowess. This was exactly what he had wanted.
“At our current acceleration we'll be in energy weapons' range in sixty-five minutes, captain,” Cadeyrn replied. “Enemy cruiser is maintaining its course. Either their sensor officer's blind or they simply don't care.” The energy output of their drive alone should have put them squarely in the intruder's sight, even at this distance. Contrary to common belief there really was no stealth in space for warships. The sheer amount of energy their systems ate with every second made it impossible to completely hide a million ton ship going at .05c from sensors, though there were persistent rumors about some smugglers and black ops ships being able to do so at least for short periods of time.
The waiting began. Judoc's ship was extremely fast, but even at its speeds it took time to merge the courses of the two pebbles in the huge pond that were the ships and the star system. But he bore the wait with almost angelic patience, intently studying both the enemy and the reaction of his own crew. Each pleased him greatly, and he looked forward to what would soon unfold here. The minutes raced past.
Then Cadeyrn spoke up again. “Reading active sensor emissions now. Low band tachyon sweep, not very focused.” A short warning blared across the bridge. “Enemy cruiser's painting us. Seems he's got some problems with the smoke screen we've set up,” Cadeyrn reported with a smile. “Intruder is holding his course. Apparently our visitor is not in any kind of hurry.” He checked his own instruments. “Range is down to one point fiver million clicks.”
“Any sign of enemy fighters?”
“None, captain. Enemy electronic warfare suite is, well, laughable. If that's the best they've got to offer, our own stuff will cut right through them.” Cadeyrn hesitated. “Isn't that strange, sir? I mean, shouldn't they be going for the colony and the orbitals at full speed, especially now that they've seen us? They must know that their presence is no longer a secret. A few hours from now this place will be crawling with ships flying our house's flag, and that rust bucket there will have a hell of a time getting back out of the gravity well in time.”
Judoc snorted. “They're Ukhuri! Who knows what these animals think. Anyway, we'll make sure our friend here won't have to worry about getting back again,” he grinned and pointed at the growing image on the bridge's main screen. “Any reactions?”
“Negative, sir. Distance now at two hundred and thirty-five thousand. Reaching effective combat range in twenty seconds.”
As if to belie that statement the Ukhuri cruiser opened fire. A focused plasma laser beam streaked out from the garishly painted hull. It missed the Rasenni attack ship by several thousand kilometers and fizzled out with no effect in the depths of the Oscan star system.
“Keep her steady. We make one pass then come around. Stand by damage control teams!”
“Aye, sir- … Ninety thousand, captain!” Cadeyrn cried.
Ninety thousand kilometers was the maximum range at which Judoc's ship's own offensive laser batteries still took full effect. While it was easily possible to hit enemy ships up to ranges of a light-second and more, the demand on the ship's power plants, the lasers' cooling systems and the complex arrays of focusing lenses grew exponentially if you tried. At around one hundred thousand kilometers the coherence of the laser beams began to fray out, leading to a loss of the power transmitted upon impact. The effects would still be destructive, but considerably less so than at maximum effective range.
“All batteries, open fire!” Judoc commanded and his ship's bow erupted into fiery beams of focused energy. The attack ship ignored the Ukhuri's laughably simple ECM suite and cut into the cruiser's port side hull, sending smoldering black debris and puffs of atmosphere erupting into space.
The Ukhuri cruiser fired back with its topside lasers, but they had no chance of hitting such a fast moving ship in its impenetrable cloud of sensor distortions. Judoc brought his little ship tightly around, its main guns blazing on while the Ukhuri captain began to fill the space around his attacker with everything his own vector allowed him to fire.
“Missiles locked on enemy drive and frontal batteries, sir!”
“This'll discourage the Ukhuri from raiding our space!” Judoc grinned widely, imagining the praise and laurels which awaited him. “Destroy them!”
Missiles erupted from tubes hidden in the crescent wings of the Rasenni ship. They flared into life and raced for the
back of the Ukhuri ship. Covered by Judoc's EW suite and equally capable systems of their own, they raced towards their target, its point defense laser clusters failing miserably to intercept barely thirty percent of them. They burned into the ship's armored hull, their penetrators burying them deep into its bowels. A new sun flared to life as eight nuclear explosions engulfed the cruiser in fire.
Judoc watched with pride as the fireballs receded, leaving only a burned out skeletal hulk in their wake. It was a flawless victory, quick and painless for his ship and, with a little bit of luck, worthy of a promotion to a combat fleet.
“Inform base the enemy raider has been dealt with, then hold position until reinforcements arrive to confirm our kill.”
“Absolutely, sir,” Cadeyrn replied enthusiastically. This was why he had joined the navy, to achieve a swift victory and progress in social standing based on the attached praise. “I'm glad we stayed for another pass.”
“Devotion to duty is always rewarded, Commander,” Judoc smiled. “Today proves that. Well done, crew! Today we proved that we are still lions!”
Aeta Star System, Ashani Dominion
A Week Later.
“It has begun. The wheel of time turns, Rasenni bastards. Soon it'll be my people who will be doing the conquering.”
Strategos Tear'al nodded in agreement. “Indeed. The Ukhuri have come far since the days of the occupation. The time is right for you to take your revenge.”
The head of the Eye of Satevis, the central intelligence agency named after the ancient Ashani god of knowledge, sat comfortably in a cushioned chair in his spacious quarters aboard the main orbital starbase the Dominion's navy had constructed to serve as the local command facility. The conquered Aetu below were slaves busily strip-mining their own world to feed the Ashani war machine. The leaders of that military saw no reason to rub shoulders with their workers or visit the dust filled and ravaged world, so they lived above in luxury.
Opening Moves Page 11