Her efforts soon bore fruit, and Baxa’s forces drew back as the AI tried to account for the change in tactics—the increased efficiency of the allied forces. Seeing this, Ek pressed the attack, exploiting Baxa’s hesitation.
She knew the advantage she had secured would not last for long. Baxa would recover and adapt. But while he did, Ek would put down as many Ixan warships as she could.
Chapter 68
Fire Support
Husher dropped to one knee behind a fallen tree, spraying bullets as he descended, and then taking cover in time for the return fire.
Kaithe were everywhere—hidden near both the enemy’s flanks, and even crouched silently in the branches overhead. As such, Husher had the sort of visual on his enemy that other soldiers could only dream of.
It allowed him to time his next salvo perfectly, popping up just as an enemy Gok trooper was lining up its shot. Husher sent lead streaming into its face, and it fell backward, clawing at its eyes.
Allied Gok pounded past his location, not bothering with cover, sending white-hot energy bolts at the enemy where they cowered behind foliage, much of which caught fire.
Taking advantage of the turmoil, Husher leapt to his feet as well, charging forward, confident in the knowledge that he had a clear view of anyone with the opportunity to fire upon him. If one of those drew a bead on him, he’d hit the ground and return fire.
The enemy Ixa and Gok formations broke, and they fled in the direction of their stronghold. They didn’t get very far before Kaithe began dropping on them from above.
Everything Husher remembered from the simulation on the Kaithian homeworld was true: the childlike aliens were vicious in combat, using their powerful tails to toss around Gok and Ixan alike. Husher saw one Kaithian appear from behind a tree and drive her tail straight into an Ixan’s face, leaving it a ruined mess.
Husher stopped, turning to find Caine. She was approaching from behind, much more cautiously than the Gok. “You should order them to stop giving chase,” he said. Some of the human and Winger marines had caught the Gok’s fervor, and were advancing just as recklessly.
“Why?” she said.
“Because I’m reasonably confident the enemy soldiers are only giving the appearance of fleeing in terror. They’re under Baxa’s control, and I doubt Baxa breaks that easily. So why would he make his forces flee, unless he was trying to lead us into a trap?”
“You’re right. Distribute the order through the Kaithian network.”
He nodded. “Doing so now.”
Wahlburg and Ochrim appeared through the foliage. The Ixan seemed to be handling the chaos fairly well, but the marine still wore a sour expression over the task he’d been assigned.
A few minutes later, Husher received word via the Consensus that he’d been right about Baxa’s trap. The enemy troops had retreated to a place where the jungle opened onto a wide field, which would have been perfect for the enemy firebase to hammer with artillery.
Now those troops will have to backtrack to be of any use. As intelligent as Baxa was, he’d clearly underestimated his foe’s perceptiveness.
They weren’t far from the site where they intended to erect their own fire support base, and Caine had Husher order all nearby troops to advance on it, double-time. She left it to him to deal with enemy troops encroaching on their route, and he had mortar teams roaming up and down the line, executing counterpreparation fire whenever an enemy platoon drew too near.
At last, they reached the clearing, along with the Gok platoon carrying the necessary equipment.
“I want the two anti-air guns set up first, there and there,” Caine barked, pointing. “The drone fighters will want to prioritize this area for their bombing and strafing runs going forward, and we can’t rely exclusively on the Talons to protect us. After the anti-air, get those field guns set up and begin counterbattery fire against the nearest enemy firebase, immediately. In the meantime, we’ll lean on Husher’s mortar teams to cover us against enemy ground troops.”
Once she’d instructed the Gok on exactly how she wanted the fire support base set up, Caine walked over to Husher. “As long as we leave some Kaithe here, there’s no reason we can’t continue pressing the attack,” she said. “You can pass my orders back through your link.”
“Agreed.” He looked to his left, where Aheera, Tort, Wahlburg, and Ochrim stood close together, though each seemed intent on ignoring the others. “Let’s move.”
Husher used the Consensus network to rally every platoon that wasn’t needed to defend their new firebase, and they pressed on toward their hilltop objective.
Chapter 69
A Battle Group unto Herself
“Captain, an Ixan cruiser is bearing down on us,” Werner said, sounding breathless. “She’ll have a clear shot for a missile barrage, if she’s looking for one.”
Keyes nodded, gripping his chair’s armrests lightly. “Then let’s knock her back on her heels before she has the chance. Loose fifty Banshees at the cruiser, Tactical.”
“We’re running low on missiles, sir,” his XO said.
“I know that, Arsenyev,” he said gently. “But these will be well spent. I’d rather use up some of our limited supply in offense than use a greater number as we scramble to defend against a missile attack.”
Keyes watched the chaotic engagement unfold on his console’s tactical display, monitoring the nearby space for viable targets and likely threats while keeping an eye on the allied battle groups to see whether any could be used more effectively.
The Providence was a battle group unto herself, roving the engagement with her Air Group surrounding her, dealing death wherever she went. She was a target of great interest to the Ixa, and they’d already tried twice to tighten the noose around her. Both times, the loose formation of five allied battle groups, whose captains Keyes had ordered to remain in the neighborhood without giving the impression of cohesion, had converged on the supercarrier.
Together with the allied ships, the Providence eviscerated the prey she’d lured in. But after the second such occurrence, the Ixa grew wise to the tactic. Now, they mostly kept their distance from the Providence, except for the odd warship playing the hero, as the missile cruiser had.
Keyes’s mouth quirked as the Ixan cruiser blossomed with fire, having failed to shoot down the final six missiles of the fifty-strong barrage.
His satisfaction was quickly quenched, however, as a strike force of Ixan destroyers and cruisers descended on one of his battle groups operating at the periphery of the engagement. They tore it to shreds.
The strike force’s flagship was a destroyer Keyes knew well. He’d certainly watched the footage enough of his engagement with her captain.
Teth.
It seemed clear Teth was in command of the entire enemy fleet. Since the Silencer had arrived, the hundreds of Ixan vessels appeared to center on her, and they closed around her whenever the destroyer was threatened. According to Ochrim, Teth had been the main agent of Baxa’s will before Husher freed the AI, so it made sense that he would be put in charge here.
Teth’s forces seemed to have finished entering the system, and half of them were still in transit across it, screaming toward the battle raging around the Corydalis-Baxa darkgate. Once all the Ixan ships arrived, the dwindling allied fleet would face an enemy over one thousand strong. After that, it would be laughable to think they could hold out for more than an hour. Even defending for that long would require a minor miracle.
Something caught Keyes’s eye on the tactical display, and he quickly ran some numbers on his console, complementing them with his own projections.
Yes, he thought, tracing his finger across the console’s screen. Teth’s strike force was almost certainly maneuvering to attack the Providence, even though it wasn’t heading directly for her. Soon, the distribution of enemy ships would favor such a charge. And the five battle groups Keyes had ordered to operate nearby would not be enough to defeat that force.
Despite
the danger, he had to admit that he was impressed by Teth’s gambit. Keyes almost hadn’t spotted it.
Glancing around the CIC, he checked to see whether any of his officers had noticed what he’d seen. None of them seemed alarmed—at least, no more alarmed than was warranted by being so woefully outnumbered.
Keyes returned to his study of the tactical display, zooming it out to view the entire battle. There was no way any battle group could spare warships to back him up, not without severely comprising their own already-specious security, but perhaps…
“Coms, put out a call to all Roostships requesting that they send us as many Talons as they can spare, as discreetly as possible. We’re going to need the extra fighters to run missile defense.”
Khoo was peering at Keyes from the Tactical station, wearing a quizzical expression. “Admiral, surely our point defense turrets—”
“Oh, no,” Arsenyev said, staring at the CIC’s main viewscreen, which also showed a zoomed-out tactical display. The color had drained from her face.
She’s seen what I’ve seen.
Wordlessly, Keyes circled the strike force positioning itself to attack and sent the designation over to Khoo’s console with a flicking gesture. Studying it, the Tactical officer nodded grimly.
“The transmission has been sent, Admiral,” the Coms officer said.
“Very good. Follow it up with one to the captains of our five accompanying battle groups, notifying them of the danger but instructing them not to give any sign that they’ve noticed.”
“What’s our plan, Admiral?” Arsenyev asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
That revelation didn’t do much for his crew’s morale—he could see that in the way they sat even more stiffly than before. But he didn’t believe in lying to his subordinates. Besides, he would come up with something.
“Admiral…” Werner trailed off nervously.
The tactical display gave the reason for his trepidation: Teth’s force was unfurling across the battle space, finally proclaiming their intention to envelop the Providence and destroy her. The carriers among them began to launch drone fighters, and Keyes realized they’d been keeping them in reserve for this very moment.
Our primary capacitor is discharged…missiles almost depleted…
He cleared his throat. “Commence kinetic impactor salvos against the enemy targets, with a two-mile spread in every direction.” It was far from a brilliant move, but impactors now formed the bulk of the Providence’s remaining arsenal, and he needed to use them before the Condors and Talons engaged. After that, it would be much harder to fire impactors without the risk of hitting friendly fighters.
The impactors disabled a single missile cruiser while taking out less than a squadron of drones and doing superficial damage to three other Ixan warships. Otherwise, their effect was negligible.
Soon after, Keyes realized that there was little to be gained by having the nearby allied battle groups continue to feign ignorance. Instead, he had them move to confront the oncoming Ixan force, unleashing wave after wave of missiles at them.
The Ixa responded in kind, speeding forward to engage. To Keyes’s surprise, the Silencer still had its primary capacitor charged, and it used it to take out one of the Providence’s main engines. Keyes cursed under his breath, restraining an urge to pound his armrest in frustration.
In the end, by using the remainder of the supercarrier’s Banshees and by suffering crippling losses to the battle groups backing her up, they managed to defeat the attacking Ixan force, and the Providence survived. Just before Teth’s strike force crumbled, his destroyer broke away to seek the protection of another Ixan battle group.
Even though the Providence was important to the engagement symbolically, Keyes could tell his CIC crew did not feel any satisfaction about their success. Nearly half of the remaining Condor pilots had also fallen defending their supercarrier, along with over three hundred Talons.
The Providence limped through space, with only kinetic impactors at her disposal. Staring bleakly at the tactical display, Keyes finally began to accept the bald fact staring him plain in the face: it was over.
The allied fleet in Corydalis would fall, and the Ixa that overcame them would pour into their home system, only to be co-opted by Baxa. That would doom Ek, and soon after it would doom Husher and Caine.
The end had arrived.
Chapter 70
Slipping
Ek gave orders over the fleetwide broadcast channel as fast as she could, despite the way her head swam, and how hollow she felt.
Thankfully, the captains under her command trusted her to direct them in a way that kept them as safe as possible while delivering maximum damage, and so no one interrupted the flow of instructions with any challenges. “Cervenka, execute a full-retro thrust while spraying the indicated drone fighter squadron with kinetic impactors. Williams—”
Her entire Command Roostship rocked, tossing Ek into her restraints, causing them to dig into her body. “What was that?” she asked once the tremors stopped.
The sensors adjutant was looking at her with his beak slightly parted, looking guilty. “Ma’am, a rocket got through the ship’s hull and opened her up to space. I thought our point defense system could handle the barrage, but I didn’t want to interrupt you to get your perspective. I’m so sorry. If you need me to contact my deputy to take over for—”
Ek held up a placating hand. “Please. Just focus on your role.” She stared at the tactical display in disbelief. I am slipping. She should have seen that barrage coming, as well the inadequacy of the Roostship’s turrets to stop it. But she had been so intent on keeping the rest of the fleet safe…
The other captains would be wondering why she had ceased her litany of commands. Her mounting nausea was disrupting her concentration, but she couldn’t tell them that. She just needed to press on. Returning to her scrutiny of the battle space, she forced herself to take deeper breaths.
Baxa had taken less than an hour to adapt to her fleet’s newfound responsiveness, and the only way for her to improve her position again would be to continue the rapid delivery of orders while improving each order’s effectiveness. She needed to do better. She needed—
“Flockhead!” The sensors adjutant was pointing at the bridge’s main screen, which showed an Ixan carrier bearing down on them while streaming drone fighters from its flight decks.
“Rally the Talons,” she said. “Tell them we need their protection. Navigation adjutant, set a course for the middle of the drone swarm, and time our arrival to sync with that of our fighters.”
“Ma’am?”
“If we draw near enough for our point defense turrets to have an effect, we may be able to protect our fighter wing in turn. Otherwise, I fear the damage the drones’ microcouplers will do.”
“Yes, Flockhead.”
Her ship leapt forward, and the enemy reacted in a way that suggested surprise, their formations slipping.
It was not much, but it was something. Ek knew her maneuver carried a lot of risk, however playing it safe would never keep her fleet alive long enough for Husher to complete his mission. She needed to continue employing novel tactics, or Baxa would dispatch her fleet with ease.
As her Command Roostship thrust itself into the crowd of deadly drones and the Talons arrived to help, Ek returned to her tirade of orders.
Admiral Keyes’s words returned to her, then, from another time when all seemed lost:
We hold on.
Chapter 71
Shock and Grief
At the same time he saw it, Husher also felt the Kaithian leap from the ground, wrap its muscular tail around the Gok’s neck, and snap it, sending the forest-green giant to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The tiny alien darted forward the moment she’d confirmed the kill, hunting for the next, and so did Husher. He’d confirmed the kill, and now he sought his next prey.
He also ran through the treetops, branches flitting by beneath his blue-wh
ite feet, the furnace of the afternoon sun flickering through the canopy overhead. A patch of dark green drew his eye to the jungle’s undergrowth, followed by a flash of midnight—the color of the Ixan military’s uniform.
There. We must have the field guns apply defensive fire there. He transmitted the location through the Consensus and fled through the trees to avoid getting hit by the field guns.
Husher also ran after Caine from tree to boulder to tree, assault rifle at the ready, feeling his cognition dwindling as more and more Kaithe fell. The anxiety that caused him—the sensation that a part of him was dying—was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.
The only solace came from the fact that as they neutralized Ixa, Baxa’s power also had to be dwindling.
A savage psychic blow hit him, sending him to his knees. It felt like thousands of Kaithe had died at once, and as he clutched his head, he realized that was exactly what had happened: Baxa must have taken out another one of their ships in orbit.
“Husher?” Caine whispered. He looked up to meet her eyes, which looked worried.
“I’m fine.” He lowered his hands and rose to one knee, but then another Kaithian ship went down, and he seized his head again, squeezing it. He screamed.
“Husher!” She ran to him, dropping to a knee beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder while darting glances backward, no doubt to check for any enemy operatives who might have heard his cry. “You have to hold it together,” she said softly. “If you can’t, this engagement is over. You know that.”
“Yeah.” He staggered to his feet, raising his assault rifle to a ready position again. Realizing he’d lifted it too far, he readjusted its position. “Let’s move.”
“We’re almost as far as we can go. The Ixan stronghold isn’t in range of our fire support base, but if we fire rockets from the edge of the area it protects, we can hit it. Where are our rocket launchers?”
Reckoning: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 3 Page 21