Fernix (Harmony War Book 4)

by Chatfield,Michael

  The EMF fleet was breaking apart, running, their belief in their Carriers had been shaken and they were trying to save their own asses.

  There was little that Zeichner could do; as the Admiral of the Harmony Fleet she needed to look at the overall battle, the captains would fight their ships. It gave her too much time to see as two of her Cruisers were hammered with rail cannon rounds and missiles as they neared a Carrier.

  The Cruiser fired back at the EMFC, armor shredding off of both of the vessels, holes appearing underneath. Missiles exploded between them, and tracer fire connected the two ships. Then they were past one another, their automated systems firing their weapons to get an advantage at their closest point and then fire as they passed.

  The Carrier launched missiles, a full spread right at the Cruiser, and the Cruiser tried to angle away, but they were too slow with too much damage. At least one missile hit the rear engine compartment, and it disappeared as the ship’s automated weapons kept on firing like a wounded wild animal.

  Other Carriers seemed to sense the Cruiser was badly wounded, firing their own weapons and missiles at the craft.

  There wasn’t enough converging fire from the Cruiser and its fellow ships to stop all of the missiles, and one hit near the bow, clearing the armor and exposing the interior of the ship.

  It took a dozen more missiles to open the Cruiser up. Zeichner stopped counting as missile after missile rammed into the craft, turning it into floating debris.

  The EMF were focused on the one Cruiser, but Zeichner’s people were better trained, she could see that now. They fought with everything they had, following the plan they had been working on for nearly a decade.

  Fighters dove in towards the Carriers with reckless abandon, swatting down the Combat Shuttles that rose to greet them and piling round after round into the Carriers, their missiles targeted at the Carriers’ flight decks.

  The Harmony fleet gave the EMF’s aggression back in spades. Another missile barrage ripped free of Cruisers here and there.

  Their terrible battle colored the once peaceful darkness of Fernix system. The whole event was over faster than Zeichner felt possible. The Cruisers were rotating to face their line of acceleration, putting their engines at full burn to counter their acceleration.

  “I want a report from all of the Cruisers, and I want shuttles ready to gather up any Harmony personnel out in the area of operations,” Zeichner said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Baike’s voice was hard, trying to cover up his shock. The simulations had prepared them for this battle, but nothing had prepared them for the aftermath.

  Zeichner was damned happy to be alive, but guilt wormed its way in, knowing that many hadn’t survived and there were still thirty-seven intact Carriers headed for Fernix.

  Even when the enemy had been too cocky, their abilities lacking, and their Combat Shuttles hidden away, they had taken out two Harmony Cruisers and a third of the fighters.

  We took out nearly half of their number, she thought, looking at the viewscreens, she should feel elated, but tens of Combat Shuttles were transferring out from broken Carriers to others.

  Even only half armed and armored, the Earth Military Forces Carriers were behemoths. Whole Sections were missing and carved out, but still there were plenty of pockets where personnel had survived.

  The Combat Shuttles that were patrolling around the second Carrier fleet were moving in towards the debris. There were a hundred thousand combat capable Troopers on each of those ships and, while not all of them had survived, it looked like their buddies were picking them up.

  Her console blinked at her with urgent information. She checked it, her jaw flexing with the new information, looking at the second Carrier group.

  They were led by the Carrier Fearless, the other three had all been at Fernix. They were veteran Troopers and ship’s crew and it looked like their captains knew what they were doing.

  “We’re getting reports from the other Cruisers,” Baike said.

  “Very well, send them to my console, let’s take everyone down from battle stations and look to working on wounded and the ship,” Zeichner said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Baike said.

  Zeichner gave the secondary fleet another glance before flicking to the color coded reports of her fleet, which updated as time went on.

  Chapter 20

  EMFC Fearless

  Fernix System

  6/3294

  Major Ortiz walked over to the twelve Combat Shuttles that had just landed in one of Fearless’s hangar blisters.

  The hangar door was closing as the shuttle’s ramps opened. Ortiz saw someone step out of the shuttle, trip on something and roll down. Their Repulsor was always pointed at the ceiling, despite their fall.

  At the bottom, they got right back up, tapping the deck with their armored foot.

  “Yeah, that’s a fucking floor alright,” Dashtund said. “Heya, major, nice armor.”

  “I see why they didn’t want to give you armor, scraped the damned deck just walking down the ramp,” Ortiz said.

  “Umm, it was like that when I got here, major,” Dashtund said, the excuse weak.

  The smile he was wearing did nothing to prove his innocence as he held out a fist to the major, holding his Repulsor in one hand.

  Ortiz grinned, spitting into his dip pouch in his powered armor. Touching his fist to Dashtund’s shaking hands was a risky proposition so they made do.

  “I wouldn’t listen to him if I was you, Ortiz,” Jerome said, stepping off one of the other shuttles.

  The Regiment of Troopers was milling about, following their leaders over to Ortiz.

  Ortiz could pick out the other miscreants that made up the Regiment, the mass of the Triple-Twos and a good number from his own Company from back when he’d been a lieutenant. Ortiz was damned proud of them.

  “Ahhh of course not, known the cheating bastard too long, brother,” Ortiz grinned, bumping fists with Jerome.

  “So, you’re in for the poker game later?” Tyler asked.

  “Couldn’t miss that now,” Ortiz looked around, bumping fists with his people.

  “Well it’s good to be on a ship of professionals,” Jerome said.

  “Amen to that,” Mark agreed.

  “Follow me. You’re camping out in some storage rooms, didn’t want you messing up the place. Yu?” Ortiz asked, looking at the Combat Shuttle’s windows.

  “Yeah, major?” Yu waved from a Combat Shuttle’s cockpit.

  “Coordinate with flight control, there’s a lot of supplies floating around out there, we need every Trooper, bullet and ration we can get our hands on,” Ortiz said.

  “Will do.”

  “Mark, have your Company offload our extra supplies,” Haas said.

  “On it,” Mark looked to his people. “One Section per shuttle get the kit moved over to the far airlock, fast as possible, let’s see how well you can use that powered armor!” His Company moved into action, Sections spreading out, Mark jumping in to help out.

  Ortiz nodded in appreciation, they hadn’t had it easy, but it looked like they’d done the best they could with what they had.

  “Now, let’s go get those quarters sorted out,” Ortiz said, turning and leading the way.

  There wasn’t much time to go until they made planet fall. They were heading right for Blue Moon.

  Ortiz got them up to speed on everything that was going on; their chain of command had kept them sorely in the dark.

  Chapter 21

  Harmony Forces Command

  Blue Moon, Fernix System

  6/3294

  “Admiral Zeichner is reporting that her fleet is heavily damaged, but she believes that they will be able to hit the EMF fleet again before they make contact with Fernix Prime or the Blue Moon,” Colonel Kroetch said, looking to General Ando. “If they do, then they will not be available for assistance for a few days as they cut speed and come back about.”

  The command center had been a manager’s offi
ce, but the entire factory had been turned over to a staging area for the Chosen. On the floor below, Chosen were lounging around their powered armor. Markings depicted rank and they were painted flat black with red accents, just like Harmony’s uniforms.

  In the room, view screens covered walls and a large table displayed the area around the factory; a hologram in one corner showed the enemy fleet, another in the opposite corner showed Fernix and Blue Moon that was orbiting it.

  “Very well, I want a readiness check, have all units with full stores,” Ando said, glancing at the timer on one of the view screens. There were just two days left until the EMF arrived in Fernix’s orbit, then they would be able to strike the planet, the Blue Moon orbiting it or the shipyards and machine shops that littered the planet’s orbitals.

  He didn’t know what the EMF’s plan would be, but he’d stationed the majority of his personnel on Blue Moon and a quarter on Fernix Prime. The land masses were too small and they were too open to give him much advantage.

  He had twenty million Chosen under arms, including those that were in the fleet, and over two hundred million civilians that were under his protection. The EMF had started off with just under six and a half million Troopers when they had entered Fernix. He had no idea what the count was now, but it had to be closer to four million.

  Half of his Chosen had powered armor, the rest had normal armor. All of them had been trained for years. They were ready for the EMF.

  Chapter 22

  Tower

  Earth, Sol System

  6/3294

  “So it looks like all but four of the captains and their generals at Fernix thought that it would be a good idea to take the enemy seriously,” Nivad said, looking to the view screen that turned the wall into a window.

  “Captain Hall of EMFC Fearless will be given overall command of the fleet in Fernix. Only his force of four Carriers took the threat seriously, instead of getting nearly half of their force destroyed.

  “General Attia will assume command of the ground forces; he might not be much better than the other generals but his people have survived through Masoul and Osdal. He hopefully had the sense to listen to the same advisors as before and pull a victory out of Fernix.”

  Wallace held his hand up. Nivad pointed at him, bowing to allow him to talk.

  “If Osdal showed us one thing, it’s that we can’t fight them all at once. We have more biological warheads and not many Troopers. If we hit the planet with the biological weapons, we can have our Troopers fighting on the Blue Moon and the other infrastructure. I also vote that we bomb the Blue Moon with any biologicals we have remaining after hitting Fernix Prime,” Wallace said.

  “Agreed, do it,” Nivad said.

  “So, as we’re tapped into Harmony’s FTL relay, we’ve been picking up connections, and we assumed that they were the systems and their ships. We’ve still got a number of them in the direction of Housapel. We think that most of them were in the fleet that was destroyed, because they blinked off the map. Harmony might have more than light communications systems in Housapel,” Wallace said, his face hard.

  “Track it as best as possible, have a half-decent captain head up the entire force and look out for the other fleet,” Nivad said, pointing to Alice.

  “Our numbers are showing the biggest growth yet. People loved the fight for Housapel. We’ve censored the feeds from Fernix, and we have feeds of Mark Victor avoiding battle in case we need to pull him down later.”

  “Good, how are the replacement colonists going?” Nivad looked to Dalia.

  “They are being transported. Freighters are at Masoul, getting the sphere trading once again.”

  The representative of Osdal put her hand up and Nivad pointed at her.

  “The Osdal Partnership is getting annoyed at the private companies that are starting up. They are trying to cut them off, but the companies are finding a way to work around it, causing more companies to be created. The Company,” she checked her surface, looking like she didn’t quite believe her own words, “The Yard, located here in Sol, is a large supporter of a mining Company, and they’re setting up a trade with just the system.”

  “We need competition to keep the companies on their feet. Makes the people think that they have some kind of control over their lives. There will be outliers, but not many of them. Enough to give the people hope, so make sure that you build a file on the companies. If they overstep their boundaries then we will give the Osdal Partnership a gift,” Nivad said.

  “Yes, sir,” the representative said, writing notes on her surface.

  “Wallace, how are the scans from our scouting forces?” Nivad asked.

  “The systems are looking good; with a bit of terraforming we can have another seven habitable worlds over three systems. We are pushing further to look at more opportunities.”

  Nivad nodded. Now we just need to know where their predecessors went and where three EMF Carriers disappeared to, six hundred years ago.

  Another man might have been excited, but Nivad was working through possibilities and wondering what games he could play with each one.

  Everyone and everything was a pawn.

  Chapter 23

  Fearless

  Blue Moon, Fernix System

  7/3294

  “Well, this is going to be shitty,” Jerome said, packing his lip with chew, and spitting into the one-way valve in his powered armor.

  “Always a ray of sunshine, Jerome,” Tyler said chewing on gum.

  “Chew?” Mark asked. Jerome tossed the tin, and Mark grabbed it out of the air with his armored hand, showing the dexterity of the thing.

  Jerome put his hands back in his powered armor, fitting them around the actuators that allowed him to move the PA’s fingers. A command from his implants sealed his armor up.

  Mark packed a lip and checked his own spitting rig, making sure it worked. “This thing back fires I’m going to be pissed.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Ortiz said, coming through the racks to find them all.

  “Need a lip?” Mark asked, holding out Jerome’s tin.

  “Thanks for offering my chew, dick.”

  “Pssht, had a chew in since I woke up,” Ortiz grinned.

  “You owe me like, three tins from Masoul, still,” Mark said.

  “I got you cigars afterwards,” Jerome said, happy for the bantering to get rid of his pre-drop jitters. It didn’t go away the more drops you did. You understood what was going to happen more and more and knew there wasn’t a whole fucking lot you could do about your Combat Shuttle getting hit or not.

  “I guess,” Mark said, handing the tin back to Jerome, his heavy PA making the floor shake.

  “You two done with your squabbles? It’s time to get loaded. The fine people of the EMFC Fearless want us off of their flight deck,” Ortiz said.

  “Present Company excluded,” Zukic looked at Ortiz, grinning.

  “Telling me I’m not your type?” Ortiz said, looking shocked.

  “Ahhh, like them a bit more round around the chest and butt, not in the middle,” Zukic said grinning. Jerome couldn’t help but grin as well.

  “Fucking everyone’s a critic, diet, go to the gym, stop chewing, bunch of fucking perfectionists,” Ortiz sighed, shaking his head.

  “Was some time that a man could just be plump, chew, and no one would give a rat’s fart,” Haas came up beside Ortiz, tapping his armored shoulder with his own hand.

  “Amen to that bro… wait, you calling me plump now?”

  “Like a fucking pincushion,” Haas said.

  “Prick.”

  “That an invitation?” Haas deadpanned.

  “Fuck, you lot were wasted on those fuckers over at Dauntless,” Ortiz said, smiling at them all. They’d been through a lot and they’d missed one another.

  “Need someone to keep you in check, major,” Alexis said wandering into the group.

  “I’m guessing we’re ready for boarding?” Jerome asked.

  “Yep
.”

  Jerome nodded.

  “See you on the ground, fuckers,” he said, sealing his helmet.

  “Leave something for the rest of us,” Ortiz said.

  “Got my people on rations, none of those officer banquets,” Jerome said, grinning and spitting.

  “Smart arse,” Ortiz smiled, shaking his head.

  Jerome moved out of the armory and to his Company with Alexis and Tyler behind him, and he let them have their moment. He knew how hard it was for the two of them. They were braver than him, getting married as Troopers.

  “Alright you lazy bastards, it’s time we went and said hello to the neighbors and make them regret ever thinking themselves as Chosen for anything more than a bullet catch.” Jerome’s Company, were all geared up and ready in their armory, checking gear, and waiting for the order to move out. “Let’s go and catch our ride.” He headed for the large airlock that led from the armory to the flight deck.

  The Company got themselves ironed out, and one Platoon with Sasaki leading them stepped into the airlock with Jerome, her name carved into her breastplate.

  “Finally a battle where we aren’t in a fucking shuttle for four weeks,” she said.

  “Don’t you like it when Tal breaks the shitter?”

  “That was one time!” Tal objected on the Company leadership channel.

  “Smelled fucking horrible. Nearly burned through the fucking ship’s armor,” Dooks added.

  “Taco night is not the night you go balls out, especially when you’re cramped together with everyone on a shuttle,” Jerome agreed as the airlock cycled.

  “Man, I couldn’t say no to burritos,” Tal said.

  “Could have said no to the fifteen litres of hot sauce, though,” Sasaki said.

  “May have a point there,” Tal laughed.

  Jerome grinned, spitting into his rig.

  He and Sasaki’s Platoon stepped out onto the flight deck. It was open to space, and filled with Combat Shuttles, their ramps open and waiting for their Trooper payloads. Here and there, flight deck techs were running around fixing last minute issues.