“Is she constrained in any way?”
“I don’t think so” replied Dai “at least she’s able to stand.”
“How did she look?”
“It’s a long way, Sir. Even with the sights it’s not really possible to see a lot of detail. But hey, she’s alive.”
“Yes, that’s good. Now we need to get her out. Thanks Dai. I’ll work up a plan and get back to you. Where’s that sleth patrol now?”
“Last seen heading back to the base. That was ten or so minutes ago. They’ll be there soon.”
“They gave up the search pretty quick, don’t you think?” asked Art. “No other movements heading your way?”
“None so far. Maybe they don’t have many troopers or maybe they are just slow. It’s not the way we would do it, is it Sir?”
“No it isn’t. Who knows for sure. Any heavy weapons or vehicles?”
“Just the air defence system we already know about. No vehicles. I’ll get Akos to do a thorough scan.”
“Roger that. What about an entrance?”
“Nothing obvious on the eastern side. I’d guess that access is via the connecting spoke to the main building. But don’t worry about that Sir I can gain us entry anywhere you like.”
“Yes but I don’t want her suffocating while we fight our way to her. Was she in a suit?”
“Wait one” said Dai. After a few seconds, “Akos doesn’t think so, but it’s hard to tell from this distance.”
“Leave it with me. Keep your eyes peeled and stay out of trouble.”
“You bet” said Dai and signed off.
Art looked back up from his console to Ella. He was about to say something when he was hailed again.
“Bravo 1 this is Whisky 1. Sleth shuttle has just launched from their cap and is heading your way. ETA in 90 minutes. Sunray wants your SITREP.”
“Shit” said Art aloud to Ella. “It never rains.”
“You can bet they are sending reinforcements to deal with us” stated Ella emphatically.
“Yeah I know” said Art. Again he raised his finger this time begging for her forbearance while he reported back.
“Whisky 1, advise Sunray that we have positive ID on objective. We have also had a brief contact with local sleth patrol. No casualties. I’m launching immediate attack to free objective. Request interception of enemy shuttle.”
“Wait for reply” said Parinya. She would have to relay this to Hermes and await for Warner’s response.
“Fuck” said Dave when he received the SITREP. He glanced around the control centre of the Hermes ignoring the faces around him. This was exactly what he feared being dragged into taking ever increasing risks. If he did not do anything then the sleth relieving force would probably overrun Bravo team. If he committed Whisky 1 it would leave her defenceless for the rest of the mission and it along with Bravo team would never get off the surface. If he committed the Hermes now then there was a good chance that without the decoy they would be taken out by the enemy cap.
All eyes in the control centre were on him. His head said to cut his losses but his heart and the adrenalin that was rapidly rising inside him said to go for it. They were already committed.
“Launch the decoy” he commanded. “Chase, commit plan Charlie.”
“Committed Sir” replied Chase.
“Whisky 1, advise Bravo 1 that we are committed to intercept. Estimated time of intercept in 80 minutes. Make that 0920. Tell him to get a move on. Be prepared to evac Bravo team on their request.”
“Roger Sir” said Parinya. She then hailed Art with Dave’s response.
Ella saw a big smile appear on Art’s face. She knew it was on and there was no point in objecting anymore.
Art hailed everyone in Bravo team. “Listen up everyone. We have positive ID on Chalker. The sleth are bringing in reinforcements. The Hermes is going to intercept their shuttle in 80 minutes. We need to attack now. We don’t have time for anything fancy. We’ll go straight in from the south.”
As he entered the planning graphics into his console, he continued, “we’ll form up here where our firm base was earlier.” Everyone was looking at their consoles and could see the planning graphics as Art entered them. “Ella you will stay at the FUP (Forming Up Place) and control the bots from there. The bots will go in the first wave and hopefully do most of the heavy lifting. Jacinta you provide cover for Ella at the FUP during the initial assault.”
“Buster you will command the left assault group with Keto and Roj. I’ll take the right group with Dakota and Jack. Akos, I want you to stay put and maintain eyes on the objective. Keep me informed of any developments that you can see. Dai, make your way to the firm base and once the assault clears the southern entrance, you and Jacinta destroy the air defence system.”
“If things go pear shape we fall back to the FUP. There are probably a million and one factors we’re not covering but we don’t have any time to lose” said Art. “Is there any showstopper not covered?”
“Suit for Chalker” chimed in Ella. “Jacinta’s got it.”
“Good point” replied Art. “Jack, grab the suit from Jacinta.”
“Right oh boss” boomed Jack.
“Anything else?” asked Art. After a few seconds silence he ordered “alright then get your gear. We move off in 5 minutes.”
He then hailed Parinya and gave her the heads up on the attack.
She quickly perused the plan on her console and then asked “You don’t want us to support?”
“I’ll holler if we need you. Be ready we will most likely need a quick extraction.”
“Understood” confirmed Parinya. “Good luck.”
Art looked around and saw that everyone was ready bar him. He double-checked his pulse rifle was loaded. He knew it was but old, good habits die hard. He slung his pack up on his back, took a deep breath and then a good suck on his water tube. “OK Buster, lead us out.”
Chapter 24. Hermes 0830, 28 June
The Hermes was at full throttle racing east to the planet side of the moon from where it could engage the shuttle and then the cap and its escorts. The decoy was accelerating west and should be detected a good twenty minutes ahead of the Hermes. Well that was the plan. Hopefully, the sleth would despatch its escorts to the decoy.
Aubrey was watching the main display intently. Every now and then she glanced at Dave. He had that intense look about him. His brow was drawn tight and there was a visible crease line above his nose. She knew he was taking a big gamble here. They all were.
She glanced back to the display noted the timer that indicated when the decoy would crest the moon and commence emitting. “Decoy Active in 1 minute.”
She looked across to Dave again. His forehead was now smooth and his eyes closed. She knew he was praying and she silently added her hope. She wasn’t religious at all but any assistance at this stage was welcome.
“Active now” called out Ivan.
Without direct line of sight, there would be a delay while the sensors, now deployed in geostationary orbit above Zuon, reported back any enemy reactions.
Aubrey had to force herself to breathe. So much depended on the enemy taking the bait and doing so before they crested the moon and would be detected also.
She looked at the other timer that indicated when they would crest the moon and have a firing solution. That was now 18 minutes away. There would always be a delay while decisions were made but they needed the sleth to decide and act early. The earlier the better.
“Solution in 15 minutes” said Aubrey. She was trying not to sound worried but she was starting to get anxious. She looked across to Crystal Wong at the battle systems station. Crystal just shook her head confirming that they had no indicators of enemy reaction.
“Solution in 14 minutes” said Aubrey. She deliberately clasped her hands behind her back, straightened her spine and took a few paces.
“Corvette A is moving” called out Crystal. “Vectoring and accelerating to decoy.”
Au
brey breathed easier. “Only one corvette on the move?”
“Affirmative” responded Crystal.
Silently to herself Aubrey said ‘Damm’.
Another minutes passed by but Aubrey let it pass without reminding everyone of the countdown. She caught Dave’s eye. He was trying to reassure her with just his gaze. She appreciated the effort but it wasn’t enough.
“Solution in 12” she said.
“Corvette B is moving” called out Crystal. “Also vectoring to decoy.”
Aubrey gave a slight sigh in relief. She noted Dave’s tilted head and smile. The smile was not so full blooded though as there was still a big mountain to climb.
She glanced back to the display. “Solution in 10 minutes.”
Minutes passed in silence as the timer ticked down and the Hermes powered on.
“Solution in 4 minutes” said Aubrey. “Final systems check.”
She looked to Crystal. Crystal nodded. No words were needed between them. Crystal understood that Aubrey wanted confirmation that she was ready to fire. The sooner she could fire the better, thought Crystal. Her main worry would be focussing on and reacting to the threats that would follow their detection by the enemy cap.
“Solution in 3” said Aubrey consciously using a measured tone. She looked across to Ivan. He too nodded signalling that he was ready with the electronic counter measures.
“Solution in 2” said Aubrey though this time the tone wasn’t as measured as she would have liked, betraying a little stress in her state. She took a deep breath and exhaled long. She glanced back to see Dave doing exactly the same.
“Solution in 1. Fire on my mark” advised Aubrey. “Cresting now.”
There was a noticeable pause as Crystal confirmed the direct detection of the shuttle and registered the targeting lock. The target icon on her console began flashing intermittently and then locked on green. “Target locked” she called out.
“Fire” commanded Aubrey.
“Missiles away” acknowledged Crystal.
“Active scan from cap” squeezed in Ivan.
“2 missiles at shuttle, 28 missiles at cap” continued Crystal.
Again there was a noticeable pause. Everyone was waiting for the first reports of enemy missiles heading their way. A whole minute passed without anyone saying anything. Finally Aubrey queried Crystal “what’s the enemy cap doing?”
“Nothing. No missiles. No movement. Nothing.”
“Maybe she’s defenceless” suggested Chase.
“She wouldn’t have committed her second escort then” responded Dave.
“Caps accelerating” called out Crystal “and vectoring to us.”
“I bet her missiles are down or spent and she’s closing to beam range” called out Aubrey. She looked to Dave to see if he wanted to take command but he simply turned his left hand out with the palm upwards. She appreciated his confidence. “Right well we’re not going to let that happen, not until our missiles hit. James, take us back the way we came pronto.”
“Roger that” acknowledged James and the Hermes banked sharply beginning what would be a U turn.
“Corvettes A and B are changing course” called out Crystal. “They are heading to the far side of the moon. They are trying to envelope us. The cap is picking up speed. If it goes full throttle they will be in beam range in…12 minutes.”
“How long till those escorts come within their missile range?” queried Aubrey.
Crystal worked her console then updated the display with the results showing the converging tracks. “About 20 minutes.” She looked up to see Aubrey deep in thought, crafting the best stratagem.
Chase chimed in “I have two possible courses of action (COA) depending on the level of damage our missiles inflict on the cap.”
“Show them.”
Chase updated the main display with his options. “COA 1 is in orange and assumes the cap suffers severe damage. COA 2 is yellow and assumes only light damage.”
“Time to impact?” queried Aubrey.
“Subject to momentum of cap between 4 and 8 minutes” advised Crystal. “Now that we’ve crested again, she’s masked from our direct sensors. It will be another minute before we know her current velocity from the relays.”
Aubrey looked to the display then using her console interrogated the pathing data. “We need to commit to COA 1 before we know the results of our strike.” It wasn’t a question and it wasn’t a statement anyone was prepared to respond to or comment on. So Aubrey was left in silence to ponder. She waited.
“The cap is no longer accelerating” called out Crystal. “Looks like she can’t achieve her max speed.” She paused while she queried her console for the detail she needed. “Revised time to impact now 7 minutes.”
“OK let’s commit to COA 1. Lock it in Chase.”
“Locked in” replied Chase.
The Hermes performed another tight U turn. This would put her on a track heading back to the cap and away from the escorts, thus reducing the time of confrontation with the cap while delaying that with the escorts.
“SITREP on shuttle intercept?” queried Dave.
“Missiles were still good at last relay and intercept in 12 minutes” replied Crystal.
“Time to direct detection of cap?” asked Aubrey.
“5 minutes” said Crystal “and time to their beam intercept is 10 minutes. Second missile strike on cap is locked in and set for launch as soon as we have direct detection.”
“And then we high tail it back to the escorts” added Chase.
“Right” said Aubrey. She set her timers counting down on the main display.
Chapter 25. Zuon 0910, 28 June
Art held his hand up and the column stopped just short of the FUP. “Dai, where are you?”
“At the FUP” she replied. She looked at her console and could see the blue icon for the main body. “You must be just south of me.”
“We’re coming through now. Hold your fire.”
“Roger that.”
Another 30 paces and Art could see Dai standing to the side of the area they had used this morning as their firm base.
“Jacinta go forward 15 paces and deploy where you can best provide covering fire while we shake out.”
“Onto it.”
Extending his arms out to the left and right Art hailed “Buster shake them out into line formation here” and pointing forward he continued “Ella deploy your bots five metres forward.”
While the troops deployed into formation Art hailed “Akos, SITREP?”
“All’s quiet here” said Akos “There’s two troopers patrolling the perimeter that come past my view every twenty minutes or so. They went past about ten minutes ago. Chalker’s no longer visible.”
“OK we’re going to commence our assault in a couple of minutes. We should remain in cover for another five minutes. Expect the fireworks to start then. Keep me posted if you see Chalker again or any other movements. Feel free to engage any enemy once the firing starts but make sure you have a positive ID.”
“Understood.”
Art looked at the main line and could see everyone was ready. He went over to Ella who was just finishing adding her planning graphics for the two bots onto her bot box. He peered over her shoulder and saw that the assigned route was to what they expected to be the main entrance of the main building. The 3D data model they were working from was pretty crude. So they would have to wing it as they went. Buster came over to take a look as well.
Art pointed to the icon indicating the first bound that was at the outer edge of base perimeter. “Once we get to here we keep our eyes peeled for an entrance into any of these structures. They are all linked, so we get inside and then work our way to the objective. The bots continue to the main building drawing as much heat away from us as possible. If I need the bots to redeploy after that I’ll hail you Ella.”
“Right Sir.”
“Dai give us 5 minutes head start, then you and Jacinta make your way to the air defence
system.”
“Five minutes, Sir” Dai acknowledged.
“Everyone, if things go pear shape fall back here” said Art. “We will try and advance to the perimeter without engaging the enemy. After that take down everything that moves but be alert for Chalker. We’ll fire and move the two teams into the base till we can gain entrance to a building. Stay tuned to your team leader. Ella, start the bots.”
“Roger” replied Ella and hit the start icon on her console. The two bots began their assault silently.
“Whisky 1 this is Bravo 1, commencing assault.”
Chapter 26. Hermes 0915, 28 June
“We have direct detection of the cap” called out Crystal. “Our first strike missiles impact in 2 minutes. All running fine. Second strike missiles away. Impact in 5 minutes.”
“Hard turn commencing” advised James and everyone in the control centre braced themselves.
Aubrey kept her eye on the counter that really mattered. “4 minutes to beam intercept” she called out. “James, once we come out of the turn, don’t spare the horses.”
“No Maam, I’ve got the whip out.” Chase even managed a smile at that.
“Cap is accelerating” cried Crystal “and engaging our missiles. We have hits.” She paused while her station display was updating furiously. “16 hits.” Her attention was on the effect these hits had. “Cap is slowing…slowing a lot.”
Everyone else could see the impact now on the main display. The beam intercept timer decremented to 2 minutes.
“Applying whip now” called out James.
Then what Aubrey was waiting for happened. With a sense of relief she called out “beam intercept in 3 minutes….make that 4 minutes”.
“Second strike impact in one minute” called out Crystal. “All ten running fine.”
As the cap slowed and the Hermes accelerated away the beam intercept timer was increasing rapidly. Aubrey removed it from the display.
Redemption: Book 2 of Warner's World Page 10