The comm closed. A wormhole was opened to the Harkoza system and the Rogers slipped through to where Jasper was waiting with a hundred sixty-five ships, Malcom Stark with eight hundred.
Jasper opened a comm. “Scouts place the Karthians at six hours out.”
“Do we have a ship count?” Mace asked.
“Nineteen hundred,” said Jasper, “plus one of those stations.”
Mace pulled back. “They can move those that fast?”
Jasper sighed. “The fleet is coming at 60 percent light-speed.”
Mace shook his head. “We have to do everything we can to protect our wormhole generators. If they fall into their hands, they could jump to whatever system they want.”
Jasper said, “I haven’t mentioned it before, but I had a system built into the new Collins ships. If they detect anyone aboard the ship who is not Targarian or Human, a self-destruct timer for the generator is started. I’ll pass you the override code, but give it to no one. And don’t give out word of its existence. Once set, you have eight minutes to disable it. The alert flash will only show on the command chair. My people all know to contact me if that warning flashes. They don’t know what it is, but they know it’s important.”
Mace replied, “We’ll safeguard it. Are the Karthian ships all the same cruisers we saw before?”
Jasper shook his head. “About a third of them are smaller. We’re calling them frigates. We don’t yet know what they’re capable of.”
Mace let out a deep breath. “Nineteen hundred ships. And we have what? Nine hundred-ish?”
Jasper nodded. “I haven’t told you, but our little surprise solar flare ships we used against the Quelli … I have four hundred of them. We’ll be making use of the first ones in about three minutes. I’m patching through a feed from one of our scouts. You see their first mistake?”
Mace nodded. “Flying in a tight column?”
Jasper grinned, “Makes for easy pickings. We’re hoping that with their current speed we can fry fifty or sixty ships with a dozen of those solar ships.”
“You have any more of those under construction?”
Jasper nodded. “Four docks. They currently take a week to turn around. I wouldn’t place much of our strategy on their use. Solar flares are unreliable and ships have to be either flying in a straight line or sitting still for it to be a useful weapon.”
“What about the station? You targeting that as well?”
Jasper replied, “Another dozen solar ships. We plan on having two rows of ships waiting on the flares. One will hit the station and the front of the column. A second, anywhere from two to six seconds later, depending on the speed of the flare, will impact the column further back from an angle. We hope to get some of the ships taking evasive action.”
An assistant walked up to Jasper. “One minute, Sire.”
Jasper nodded. “Here we go.”
Mace asked, “Can I patch this through to Stark?”
Jasper scowled. “I suppose he will know of it soon enough.”
Mace passed the feed to the other ships. “Stark, watch the column front. We’re about to see our first action.”
“The solar flare weapon,” said Stark. “Yes, I know.”
Johnny turned with the mic muted. “Now, how could he possibly know that?”
“He either has a mole here on this ship, or on the Organ Cave.”
Johnny clenched a fist. Humphrey typed away on his console.
Jasper said, “Here it comes.”
Twenty-four micro-wormholes opened at the same time. Half a second later they expanded. Million-degree solar plasma suddenly smeared across the sensor display of the scout ship. Forty-seven Karthian ships were incinerated, another sixteen heavily damaged. The flares aimed at the station were off, but several decks going down one side were scorched and opened to the voids of space, the inhabitants instantly annihilated.
Six seconds later, the second set of wormholes opened. They were perfectly positioned to catch the large volume of ships that were turning away from the column. Another eighteen were vaporized, with thirty two others taking heavy damage. The great Karthian fleet spread out, coming to a stop as the situation was evaluated.
Jasper gave a command. “Phase three!”
Another sixty wormholes opened as the solar flare advanced. Seventy-five Karthian ships were destroyed and another forty severely damaged.
Jasper slapped his hand on his hand rest. “Yes! I love it when a plan comes together!”
After several seconds of confusion, the Karthian ships began to move forward, this time spread apart and changing directions at random intervals.
Jasper said, “As expected. We’ll be lucky to get a one to ten ratio now. I think those flare ships have seen their finest moment.”
“Park them for a while. Another opportunity will present itself. We just knocked out an eighth of that force without firing a shot.”
Jasper pushed another image to the comm display. “They have another six hundred parked at the rift already. If that builds much we’re gonna see two fronts of attack at the same time. There are three other Sarkesian worlds that are equal distance from that rift.”
The Karthian threat continued to come, moving to within two hours of a strike.
Jasper stood and paced in front of his comm camera. “Order the evacuation.”
Mace asked, “What you have going on?”
Jasper replied, “I’m evacuating the colonies at Gerthis and Swankek. That will free up nearly a hundred of those microwave cannons.”
Mace tilted his head. “Are you planning to move them somewhere else?”
Jasper nodded as a wide wormhole opened. “Here.”
The microwave stations moved through in columns of four from Gerthis. A second wormhole opened to Swankek. The orbital stations were moved into position around Harkoza.
Jasper said, “We’re gonna need the support. At this stage I’d rather sacrifice those stations than ships.”
Mace nodded. “A wise move. And better for your crews.”
Jasper scowled. “Not the crews on those stations. That’s two hundred of my citizens I just sent to their death.”
“And possibly twenty-five hundred lives you saved. Such is the burden of commanding during war.”
Jasper winced. “I bet those soldiers are wishing they were commanders about now.”
Mace said, “We’ll be pulling the trigger right alongside them, Mr. Collins. Your Targarians have always struck me as people of honor. They’ll sacrifice themselves if it means others will have the chance to live.”
As the approaching fleet reached only an hour away, Stark added his own attack to the mix. Fifty of the radica ships, newly modified to regain their prior advantage, came through wormholes directly in the path of the immense station. Following right behind were two hundred of Stark’s cruisers.
The cruisers raced in under the cover of the radica ships as the green waves of energy were rejected. The cruisers quickly attached themselves to the hull of the station. Breach holes were cut and Human Marines stormed aboard with one-way tickets. As the Karthian ships surrounding the station closed, Stark’s cruisers detached, jumping back through newly opened wormholes.
Malcom Stark said, “We’ll see how they like having ten thousand Marines on that station.”
Mace said, “I doubt it makes it to Harkova.”
Stark’s silhouette bowed. “There’s no substitute for boots on the ground.”
Fifty Karthian troop transports were diverted to the fight on the station. Fifteen minutes later, it dropped from the speed of the fleet and was soon out of range of the scout ship sensors. The extra cruisers and radica ships joined the ranks of the fleet at Harkoza.
Mace said, “Nicely done. We might actually have a chance in this fight.”
As the attacking fleet drew within half an hour of Harkoza, Stark came over the comm. “I just wanted to offer status of the station assault. It seems the Karthians have changed tactics there as well. O
ur progress is steady, but slow. We’ve captured five out of the sixty-six decks. Moving up or down a deck is difficult.”
Jenny came onto the bridge. “Start cutting your way through. Make your own transits.”
“That has been attempted several times. They are quick to swarm the breach, preventing us from breaking through.”
Mace asked, “What weapons are your forces using?”
“They are equipped with plasma rifles and AK-47s. The Karthian body armor is proving extremely tough against our bullets. And they have some kind of dissipater unit that negates most of the plasma charge. Our hand grenades have been the only effective weapon, and our teams have limited supplies.”
“What they need is this thunder glove,” said Johnny.
“You have a hand weapon that would be useful?”
Johnny replied, “Well yeah, but I only have one.”
“Mr. Hardy, how do we get that weapon aboard the station? If we don’t push forward at a fast pace, that station will be here at Harkoza joining the fight.”
“I thought it had stopped?”
“Only for a moment. It’s headed this way again.”
Johnny said, “This glove doesn’t go anywhere that I don’t.”
“Then you must go to the station. I will gladly send a ship to get you aboard.”
Johnny turned. “I don’t wanna go fight with them. I don’t know your people or the tactics they use.”
Jenny said, “I’ll go… with you that is. I’ll get your back.”
Mace sighed. “Maybe we send a team.”
Liam Hobbs said, “If you think for a minute you are going, Mr. Hardy, you are sorely mistaken. We need you in this coming fight.”
Jordan Crawford added, “He’s right. This time neither of us can go. You because you’re needed when this fight starts, and me because at some point you will need relief. This is going to be a fight that could go on for days.”
Mace tapped his fingers on his armrest. “OK… Johnny, you and Jenny. But this is voluntary. If you aren’t comfortable, you don’t go. The decision is yours.”
Johnny chuckled. “Comfortable. I’m sure I won’t be comfortable either going or staying. I’ll go under one condition: if we make a breakthrough, every effort will be made to bring me back to this ship. I don’t want to be stuck out there.”
Stark replied, “Every effort will be made to recover you and Miz Taub, Mr. Tretcher. A ship will be there to collect you momentarily.”
Johnny stood. “Comm me as often as you can. I want to know what’s happening here.”
Mace nodded. “Will do. You better go see Jane before going to the docking bay. Stark will have a shuttle here in a couple minutes.”
Johnny left the bridge with Jenny following behind.
“I hope we’re doing the right thing here,” said Mace.
Jordan Crawford replied: “We are. If they don’t get the push they need from that glove, Stark can bring them back.”
Mace turned to the comm. “You hear that? If their help is ineffective, you bring them right back. They are vital parts of this crew.”
Stark nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You do that. Now, what are our plans for a defense here?”
Stark pushed a short list over the comm. “Our radica go in first, followed by the cruisers, with our smaller assault ships coming to bear when the battlefield has turned chaotic. Our cruisers each have a modified shuttle, our assault craft that carry a team of twenty-five Marines. The shuttles have been fitted with a fast breaching collar which should allow boarding of a vessel in less than thirty seconds. That assumes an average hull thickness. If there is trouble, we still have the plasma cutters.”
“That’s gonna be a mess out there.”
“Complete chaos if all goes well.”
Chapter 13
*
A shuttle landed in docking bay one. Johnny said goodbye to Jane, Zax, Fina, and Derwood. Jenny gave a long goodbye kiss to Mace. The shuttle lifted out of the bay and disappeared into the void.
As Mace walked onto the bridge, Humphrey said, “Fifteen minutes. We’ll have them on the sensors any moment.”
“Jasper, what are your plans?”
“We’re following a similar strategy to Stark. The Collins go in first, followed by the cruisers with shuttles and Marines. We’ve studied Stark’s assaults on that previous station. Got the recorded data from the stations data store we downloaded. Unless they’ve changed tactics, we know how they fight and have been training to counter it.”
Mace looked around the bridge. “I guess that leaves us. Anyone have suggestions as to how we play this?”
The bridge was silent.
Mace held up his hands. “Come on, people. No opinions?”
Liam said, “Run and shoot. That’s about all we have.”
Mace replied, “OK. We have our cannons, and that green weapon. Is there a way we can make good use of the wormhole weapon?”
Hans said, “If we can locate their reactors, and if it will make it that deep into their hulls, we could take ships out in that manner. Otherwise I would suggest using it to hit their gravity drives. We could just fly around targeting drives.”
Mace nodded. “I like both of those suggestions.”
Jordan said, “We don’t have shuttles, so a boarding party is out. And I don’t think we would want to do that anyway as we wouldn’t be able to stay with a shuttle to protect it. Us against a single ship, yes. Against that armada, no.”
“OK. Mr. Mueller, it looks like we’re all here to support your efforts.”
Hans replied, “I’d prefer it if you assigned one or two weapons to me and gave the others to someone else. I can multitask, but not to the level we will need here.”
“Anyone else want to take one on?” Mace asked. “I can take the green weapon if all I have to do is fire it at indiscriminate targets. Mr. Mallot, you think you could handle the wormhole weapon if Mr. Mueller sticks to his cannons?”
Humphrey nodded. “Would be my pleasure.”
Mace replied, “You Canadians are too nice. But OK, I think we have our efforts lined up. Mr. Crawford, if you can, support Mr. Mallot. Be his eyes for the bigger prize.”
Mace opened a comm. “Mr. Moskowitz to the bridge.”
Jeff arrived seconds later. “You rang?”
Mace pointed to a chair beside him. “Have a seat. I have control of the green energy weapon. I want you to identify targets for me.”
“Do we have a navigation plan?” asked Liam.
“Keep us on the outskirts of the fight. If we start taking a beating, get us out of there. We’ll have to play this on the fly. If we find something that works, we keep at it. If not, we look for something different. Mr. Crawford, once you see that Mr. Mallot has a handle on things, I want you to get some sleep. Take a pill if you have to. When I’m ready to hand over command, you’ll need to be rested. If this fight lasts as long as I think it might, we’re gonna need you awake and ready to go.”
Humphrey said, “Five minutes.”
Mace opened a comm to all decks. “The fighting will be getting underway in a few minutes. Make sure you’re strapped in as much as possible. Things could get rough. We’re just going to be flying and shooting. Keep your stations as operational as you can. If you have issues, ask for help. You’ve all been through this before to some degree. This will likely be worse. But as I’ve said a hundred times prior, there’s no finer crew. When it starts, just do your best. This could be a long fight, and it’s a fight we have to win, if not here at Harkoza, then at whatever location we fall back to. Fight the good fight. That is all.”
Humphrey pushed an image of the incoming horde to the main display. “Here they come.”
Jasper said, “Wait until they’re within range of the microwave stations. We need all the firepower we can get.”
The image on the wall display showed the two sides clashing. Green symbols flowed into red and yellow as blue ones continuously fired their weap
ons. The display was quickly an incomprehensible mess of colored icons that both flashed and changed colors.
Mace nodded toward Liam. “Mr. Hobbs, pick a spot and go.”
The Rogers lurched forward into battle. Within seconds, the first rumbles could be felt as plasma rounds for the opposing ships impacted the hull. Hans Mueller began to return fire, making use of both the microwave and plasma cannons.
“We have a hull breach on designate 447,” Hans yelled. “Mr. Hobbs! Bring us back around and I’ll finish them off!”
Liam replied, “Turning. Number 447 coming up on port.”
Hans fired. “She’s burning!”
The quick victory was met by three hard blasts to the Rogers’ hull, rocking everyone inside.
“Damage report!”
Humphrey fired the wormhole weapon. “Minor! Transducers still at 100 percent!”
The starboard drive of a Karthian cruiser took a hit, taking the drive offline.
Jordan pointed to the next approaching ship on the display. “This one, coming in hot to port. Wait! It’s turning away. Hit 523, coming up from below!”
Mace fired the green energy weapon.
Jeff said, “Miss. Try this one… 162.”
Again the green energy weapon let loose its potent round. The target evaded the slow pulse with minimal effort.
Mace said, “We have to get closer. They have too much time to react.”
The plasma cannons caused little more than an inconvenience. The dampening fields surrounding most ships—or the composition of their hulls—made the plasma weapons almost useless. Once a ship had taken damage, plasma regained its significance. As Hans loosed round after round from the microwave cannons, one ship after another took hits with most only causing minor damage—damage that was easily repaired.
HADRON Chaos Page 12