Offensive: Rise Of Mankind Book 9

by John Walker

  The fighters were prepped before the jump, engines idling. As soon as they winked in, Estaban gave the order and they deployed, six wings from each ship. They broke off in groups of two and three, laying into the groups capable of outing them. The operation proved so immediately successful, not a single message went off and they were able to eliminate the threat of early detection.

  He reported the results to Gray. “Our ships are on their way to the next objective.” They were moving into position for when the enemy detected them shortly after the Behemoth made the mad dash for the base to deploy the marines. The Crystal Font deposited their own shuttles on the Earth ship so they could make a coordinated attack together.

  “Excellent.” Gray turned to Lieutenant Commander Stephanie Redding. “You ready for this?”

  “Aye, sir. I’m good.”

  “Punch it.” Gray turned to Olly. “Keep me informed. I want to know the moment they wake up. Leonard, fantastic coordinates by the way. Solid jump.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Ensign Leonard Marcus said. “I’ve plotted several microjumps in the event we need them.”

  They’d considered microjumping next to the base but once they had to pick up the wayward intelligence agent, that idea was thrown out. The repercussions of what it might do, the damage they could cause from a shockwave, would be too dangerous. Besides, some of the base was deep underground and trying to get there in zero G would take longer than they wanted to commit to.

  Adam informed Lieutenant Colonel Marshall Dupont that his people could deploy soon. They were prepared, in their shuttles and ready to launch. They got a reprieve from the last mission and, at least during the briefing, seemed to be looking forward to this one. After facing Orion’s Light a couple of times, they wanted to see them taken down just as much as anyone.

  “On your mark,” Adam said to Gray, “marines are prepared to go.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.” Gray stood up, watching the screen. “They don’t seem to notice us yet.”

  “Coms are all quiet,” Olly said. “I’m not sure if that’s good or not. What if they’re not here?”

  “We have some pretty compelling reports that they are,” Gray said. “Relax. They just think they’re safe. No one knows about this place in their heads so they haven’t prepared themselves for the possibility that we might be coming. Even their defenses were half baked. That means they were confident in this place and what it meant to be isolated.”

  “Gray,” Adam stood and spoke quietly to the captain. “When we attack and they find us, they might out that agent right away. We are showing up right on the tail end of his arrival.”

  Gray nodded. “That’s a possibility. I hope he’s prepared for it. I’m sure he thought about it when he ratted them out. It might up his timeline. But if Siva was right and he attacks when we get there, then they’ll all be too busy freaking out to do anything about him. Our presence buys him a few more minutes of life…hopefully enough to escape.”

  “I agree.” Adam sat back down and went back to watching his screen. They had a lot more of the action to go before they’d be done. He settled himself in for a long shift.

  ***

  Meagan pulled away from her target with Squadron Leader Mick Tauren off to her side. They reformed with the rest of Panther Wing, kicked on the engines and let momentum carry them toward their next objective. She checked her scanner, smiling as she noted the efficiency of Alma’s pilots.

  Can’t wait to see our compared results. I’m going to beat you, Alma.

  During their training exercise, Meagan made a friendly wager with the kielan pilot and their computers were prepared to tally their statistics. Not that she believed the Orion’s Light opposition would be so weak they would steamroll them but it gave her something else to worry about. The fact she’d been in full on combat more often since joining the Behemoth than her entire military family combined certainly started to worry her.

  Space fighters taxed the human body, especially when they were pulling off some of the outrageous maneuvers they were capable of. Even with inertial dampeners, the entire exercise was dangerous. She received numerous physicals, along with the rest of her wing, to ensure they were not becoming ill.

  After the war, I’ll either have to seek a promotion like Revente or retire. Maybe take on a bridge role like Redding. Much as she worried about causing herself long term harm, the thought of waiting back on the ship annoyed her. She loved the rush of combat, of flying into dangerous situations and pulling defeat from wild odds.

  It’s one of the reasons she became a pilot.

  They coasted along toward the next defense platform, an armed space station capable of housing ten. Her scanners brought it up, indicating that only four of the twelve guns were online and functional. While this made it somewhat easier to handle, it wouldn’t be a cakewalk. Depending on their controls, turrets could be quite deadly.

  “We’re closing in,” Meagan called out. “Note which of their weapons that are active. They’ve got good firing arc from all angles.” She hummed as a statistic popped up on her screen. “Looks like we’re dealing with some anti-missile tech too. Save the ordinance. No point in letting them shoot something down. Keep it to guns and stay mobile. We’re too early in the game to punch out now.”

  The wing separated, making for several smaller targets rather than the group they flew in by. Meagan and Mick stuck together, putting nearly fifty kilometers between them as they went high, preparing to plunge down. The turrets kicked on, firing blasts in several directions. Meagan saw other pilots in her peripheral vision, performing evasive maneuvers.

  That’s it, keep them busy. Mick took the lead, diving toward the defensive station. Meagan followed and they both laid into the platform at the same time. Her weapons heated the cockpit, making her flight suit cling to sweat but she’d long grown used to the sensation. Most of the annoyances in a fighter had long since stopped bothering her.

  Their barrage hit an environmental shield, tearing through it with the first couple of shots then hammering the hull. Guns turned to fend them off, firing wildly in their direction. Meagan dropped below the turret and fired again, this time knocking out one of the weapons and causing a breach.

  The weapons stopped firing instantly as bulbous fire erupted from the side. Mick and Meagan parted to go around the structure just as a body was sucked out the breach. A quick scan indicated there had only been one person aboard. That’s one down. She checked to see if a communication managed to leave the structure but according to The Behemoth, they were still clear.

  Two more to go. As they adjusted their course, Meagan caught a glimpse of something to her left and she jerked her head just in time to see an enemy fighter, plunging straight for her. She jammed the flight stick forward and hit a burst, the inertial dampeners struggling to keep up with the suddenness of her maneuver.

  The enemy flew past her only thirty feet away. That bastard was trying to ram me! How’d he evade my scans?

  Meagan checked again and he showed up, his engines just heating up. His ship was effectively off! Wow…that’s dedication.

  “Be careful. Do you see that guy?”

  “Yeah,” Mick said. “Ballsy move to pull that off.”

  “Panther Eight, you got him?”

  Lieutenant Tara Galloway replied, “yes, ma’am. Seven and I are on it.”

  “I want to know where he came from…” Meagan looked over her scanner. A larger structure orbited an asteroid nearby. She tapped her screen. That thing could house a ship or two. We need to take it out. The intel fed back to The Behemoth with her recommendation that they deal with it as soon as possible.

  Revente contacted her a moment later. “What happened?”

  She related the brief story.

  “Okay, you get over there. I’ll put Tiger on your next target.”

  “Thank you.” Meagan patched in to the rest of the wing. “Eight, did you deal with that enemy?”

  “Yes, ma’am. He didn’t really
have much fight in him since his engines hadn’t fully charged.”

  “We’re going after the source. Let’s make sure there aren’t any more. Come on.” Meagan adjusted course and headed off, prepared for a much larger target and potentially, a lot more guns. We’ve got this but if they had fighters on there, then more people are likely in the station and that means more chances to give us away.

  ***

  Olly watched his scanner with unblinking eyes, waiting for the moment that his jamming failed and the enemy discovered their presence. Orion’s Light had been smart to put people so far out of the way to watch for incursions but they failed to think anyone might be able to prevent those protectors from saying a damn thing.

  It can’t last forever. One of them will figure out how I’m jamming them…if they have any sense at all.

  The pilots reported taking out the first several forward observation posts. That’s the first line of defense. The next ones would be harder since they were larger and could house fighters. And the zealots proved it. He saw a report appear stating a fighter with its engines off turned itself into a missile.

  It didn’t work out but that kind of suicidal tactic made this fight as dangerous as fighting the devarans.

  Olly noted that the enemy fleet was massed mostly near the base though some of them spread out toward a small moon some distance away. They still didn’t respond. The Behemoth was still well outside of visual range. Even if they started firing their cannons it wouldn’t give them away for a while.

  But just in case, they used the fighters instead. Their lower profile gave them the advantage of stealth, at least in the beginning. Once the marines launched, the battle would be full on. No more sneaking at that point. Full commitment. Until then, they could at least get closer without engagement or having to use microjumping.

  Olly adjusted his jamming, strengthening it where their pilots were headed. Vinthari Deva Thi’Noch on The Crystal Font synched up with him, reporting that she had to make some adjustments as well. He briefly looked at her equations and couldn’t help but be impressed. She was clever and that boded well for the overall exercise.

  A red light flashed on his console and he tapped it, frowning as a message filled his screen. One of the enemies launched a probe back toward their fleet, something that moved much faster than the pilots could possibly manage. Olly targeted it and tried to shut it down but the simplicity of the mechanism made it impossible.

  If that has an SOS, we’re given away. He plotted the time it would take to get out of his jamming range: six minutes.

  Olly turned to report. “Captain, we’ve got six minutes left before they know we’re here.”

  “What?” Adam looked up from his own terminal. “How’s that possible? I thought you said you had the entire area blanketed with that jamming you came up with.”

  “I did, sir.” Olly tried not to be annoyed as he addressed the commander. “They launched an old school probe. It’s basically just an engine and set of cameras with a tiny com device. Nothing on board to really hack and it’s moving way too fast for our fighters to intercept. It’ll be out of our jamming in six minutes…well…five minutes and thirty seconds now.”

  “Understood,” Gray said. “Redding, we need to be further in by that time.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “I’ll let the pilots know we’re pushing forward,” Adam said.

  Gray nodded to Olly. “Tell your cohort on The Crystal Font if she doesn’t already know. They need to make some adjustments too.”

  Olly returned to his terminal and made contact. The real fight was about to begin and after so many engagements with Orion’s Light, he knew it would not be pretty…or easy. Even if they can’t stand against our firepower, these guys rely on tricks. I hope everyone makes it home this time. I’m done losing friends.

  ***

  Alma spun her ship to avoid a series of blasts from a stationary gun and squeezed her trigger. Pulse blasts clipped off the communications tower on her target, venting oxygen into space. The guns stopped and her computer alerted her to fall back. As she pulled away, a bright flash bathed her ship, indicating the complete destruction of the platform.

  Take that, Pointer. Alma checked in as she reformed with her wing. Zanthari Wena Fi’Devo, the communications officer, contacted her. “We’ve received word from The Behemoth that one of the platforms has found a way to alert the enemy to our presence. Please prepare for open engagement.”

  About time. Alma’s eyes narrowed. I’m glad to see these terrorists aren’t complete fools. I was beginning to question whether Intelligence might be an ironic name. They don’t seem like such a big threat. I suppose we’ll see once we engage their fighters. If they can fly at all, then we might encounter a challenge.

  Alma’s scanner brought up a series of blips at extreme range, a quick response wing checking the action. Undoubtedly, their tech people would figure out that they were being jammed and, more importantly, that their observation posts were destroyed. Their fleet, such as it was, would likely move to engage.

  Unless they’re smart enough to realize this is a hopeless battle and flee. They could make this entire operation pointless if they were so inclined.

  “Five fighters,” Rahan’s voice crackled in her ear. “They’re moving pretty fast too. They must have some decent tech to allow it.”

  Zanthari Tular Bu’Duan was their replacement for Hilot, who died recently. She came from another wing that lost the other two members. Alma picked her for her flight record. The woman proved to be tough and as she joined their wing to face down the five incoming fighters, she pinged that she was ready.

  “My plan,” Alma said, “is to double front my shields and charge in. You two break when we’re in range and flank them. I’ll dive to avoid your fire then loop around to assist.”

  “Got it,” Rahan said.

  “Acknowledged.” Tular added.

  Let’s see if I’m as smart as I think I am. Alma tapped her computer to establish her defenses then hit her afterburners. The new inertial dampeners kept her from even pressing too hard into her seat. Extraordinary. Those Behemoth pilots definitely had it good with a brilliant inventor on board.

  The enemy fighters came into visual range quickly, their heat coronas lighting up space. Attack range came a moment later and the blasts from their cannons filled the void. Alma made only slight course corrections to avoid their attacks but couldn’t do much at the speed she was moving. Her ship became a missile until itself and any pilot knew, contact with her would mean death.

  The shields flared from a couple indirect hits. Alma counted down in her head from five, throttling back at two and diving at zero. The ships flew by over her and she yanked the controls back. This maneuver, from the speed she was going to a climb, made the dampeners work hard. They whined and even with their effort, she had to tense up to avoid passing out.

  Coming back around, she saw her wing mates descending upon their targets. Rahan blasted one in the engines, annihilating it in an instant. Tular spun, came around and clipped one on the side. It began to spin wildly as if the stabilizers had been destroyed. It made Alma wince because she knew full well the pilot within had died…probably badly.

  The last three broke their formation, working for an advantageous angle. Alma zeroed in on one and called it with her computer, which pinged her companions to give them an indication they should find another target. She moved in closer, coming up on his rear but he dove then banked, shaking her off temporarily.

  As he spun around, he let loose a barrage which she had to spin to avoid. Using her reverse thrusters, she slowed her forward momentum and used the side thrusters to nudge her out of the way of his next attack. He seemed to lack such finesse and flew by at full speed, opening his belly to her.

  Alma engaged her engines again, turning to close on his tail. He tried to fly wildly but she remained patient, watching for his pattern. When it emerged, left twice, right once, down then up, she anticipated it and fi
red…Pulse blasts slapped his shields, making them spark. His left engine flared and went dark, slowing him down.

  Without the speed or maneuverability, Alma climbed to get a good angle of his top. She fired again, this time littering the top of his craft until holes began appearing and the entire ship exploded in a globe of purple and blue. Glancing at her scanners, she noted that her companions finished theirs off as well.

  Rahan spoke up, “if they were curious about whether or not this was an attack, we’ve helped them make that determination.”

  “Indeed,” Alma replied. “Now for the next objective…though I suspect we’re about to get an update to our orders. No need to take out their observation posts if we’ve already got their attention. Get ready. I have a feeling we’re about to see the full might of their fighter squadrons…if they’re even that organized.”

  ***

  Deva stared intently at her screens, tracking the motions of both The Behemoth crews and their own. Their overall efficiency impressed her. They were cutting through the enemy and moving on quickly, taking full advantage of Lieutenant Darnell’s jamming. The fact one of the stations figured out how to get around it shocked her.

  Darnell distracted her somewhat. His skill surprised her, considering the humans didn’t have such advanced technology for very long. He seemed to be a real prodigy and when he shared his applications, she could’ve been fooled into thinking he attended the same school she did.

  The cleverness is what struck her the most. He came up with creative ways to use their technology, things that some of her colleagues might not have even thought to try. It made him incredibly interesting and when they briefly met in person to go over their parts in this conflict, she couldn’t believe he was a younger man and attractive as well.