by Brown, Ryk
“What do you think you’re going to do?” Nathan asked. “Walk out of here?”
After moving to the next corridor over, Jessica and Sergeant Weatherly ascended the next ladder to the main deck again, finding themselves on the opposite side of the flight ops briefing room and just aft of it. She moved forward, drawing her weapon once again as she peered into the open doorway to the flight ops briefing room. She could see Tug clearly, and she could make out the captain’s hands as he talked to Mister Briden. She could also see the Prime Minister’s feet as well as the two weapons lying in front of them. There was also blood on the deck, but she didn’t know who it belonged to. She gestured to Sergeant Weatherly to move into position on the left side of the doorway, then looked directly at Tug.
“I was thinking I might borrow one of your little jump ships, Captain,” Mister Briden answered. “One big enough to take the Prime Minister, Mister Tugwell, and myself back to Takara.”
Tug noticed Jessica outside in the corridor as she signaled for him to move to his right. Tug did not look directly at her for fear of alerting Mister Briden to her presence. Instead, with his hands still held up at shoulder level, he took a step to his right. “What interest am I to you?”
“You think I do not know who you are?” Briden answered. “When I return to Takara with a jump drive and you as my prisoner, Caius will reward me handsomely.”
“I think not today,” Tug stated calmly. He then looked to Jessica. Briden’s eyes widened as he realized that someone was behind him. Instinctively spinning around to his right, the muzzle of his weapon left the back of the Prime Minister’s skull and swung slightly to the right toward Nathan.
The Corinari guard to the captain’s left saw the change in Mister Briden’s weapon and quickly moved out in front of the captain.
Jessica, who was standing in the corridor, fired a single shot from her pistol, placing her bullet squarely in the middle of Mister Briden’s forehead as Tug pulled the Prime Minister away from Mister Briden’s grip. Briden’s weapon discharged as blood and brain tissue spewed out of the gaping hole blown in of the back of his head by Jessica’s single, well placed round, sending a bolt of red energy across the room into the chest of the guard attempting to shield the captain from harm. The guard fell backward against Nathan, taking them both to the deck at the same time as the lifeless body of Mister Briden.
“Clear!” Jessica yelled. Corinari guards rushed in from the far door behind Nathan with two more following Sergeant Weatherly in from Jessica’s side. Jessica also entered the briefing room and looked around. Tug was on the floor on one side holding the Prime Minister and shielding him from harm. Mister Briden was lying on his left side, the back of his head oozing copious amounts of blood onto the deck. Nathan was on his back near the other door waiting for the guards to pull the wounded Corinari guard off of him. Jessica picked up the weapon that Mister Briden had dropped and handed it to the civilian security guard still holding his nose. “I think you lost this,” she told him with disdain as she tapped her comm-set. “Med teams to flight ops briefing room.”
Jessica reached out her hand and helped Tug off the floor. “Good job,” she told him.
“How do you say it? Nice shootin’, Tex?” he joked.
Jessica smiled. “Yeah, something like that.” She moved over to Nathan, squatting down next to him as the wounded guard was lifted away by the rest of the Corinari quickly filling the room. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nathan answered, a bit dismayed at what had transpired. “What the hell happened?”
“Briden was a spy,” Jessica told him.
“What? How did you…”
“You can thank Mister Willard,” she told him as she helped him to his feet.
“What?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Nathan looked at the wounded Corinari guard. He was still awake, but the expression on his face told Nathan that, although the man would live, the pain he was experiencing was considerable. He turned to the wounded guard. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure, sir,” the wounded Corinari guard answered, wincing in pain.
Nathan brushed himself off and made his way over to Tug who was speaking with the Prime Minister and Major Prechitt. “Everyone okay?”
“We are all fine, Captain.”
“I believe we were discussing the Prime Minister’s objections to Major Prechitt assuming command of the Corinari,” Nathan stated.
Tug looked briefly at the Prime Minister and Major Prechitt who appeared to be getting along much better than before. “I suspect we will be able to come to an agreement, Captain.”
* * *
Nathan strode into the command briefing room, the day’s events racing through his mind. “As you were,” he ordered before the guard at the door could alert the other attendees to his arrival. It seemed the more tired he was, the less patience he had for military protocol.
“I’ll get straight to it,” Nathan announced as he took his seat at the head of the briefing room table. “I’m inclined to approve Tug’s plan, but there are a few things I’d like to go over before I green-light it. My first concern is the space jump. Assuming that it is possible, is there any chance the Answari air defense batteries will detect the jumpers and fire on them?”
“Doubtful,” Tug responded.
“Not exactly the response I was hoping for,” Nathan admitted.
“Captain,” Major Prechitt interrupted, “I would be inclined to agree with Mister Tugwell. When I bailed out in orbit, my transponder was damaged. I had to hike several kilometers to the nearest city in order to call in and request pick up by Corinari Command. I later learned that, without the transponder signal, our forces had no way to track my descent. There is almost no metal in our suits, so they do not show up on most tracking systems. So unless the Ta’Akar have some tracking system we do not yet know about, I am confident that our strike team will go undetected.”
“At least until they get into visual range,” Jessica pointed out.
“If we jump at night, wearing black gear, no one would see us until we were practically on top of them,” Tug pointed out. “In fact, as Answari is near the coast, she sometimes has a thick layer of fog in the early morning that does not burn off until the sun rises. That might give us additional cover.”
“It would also make it more dangerous for the strike teams,” Nathan observed, “so let’s be careful what we wish for.”
“The auto-nav systems used by Corinari paratroopers does not require good visibility to operate,” Lieutenant Waddell added. “The fog would not impede their accuracy.”
“They’ll be dropping into a city full of buildings,” Jessica pointed out. “Will your auto-nav systems steer them around man-made obstacles such as building spires, streetlights, trees…”
“Unfortunately, no,” Lieutenant Waddell admitted.
“Okay, so weather might be an issue,” Nathan said, “not only at the drop zone, but also at the upper altitudes that they’ll be passing through. All of that will have to be taken into account.”
“We have ample data on the weather patterns of Takara,” Tug explained. “This information is publicly broadcast all around the planet. We can pick up the forecasts during our last recon before the attack and adjust our timetable accordingly.”
“Very well,” Nathan said, accepting their answers. “My next concern is with the palace guards. Historically, such guards are the elite of any military. They are also usually the most loyal and, therefore, the most dangerous.”
“That was indeed the case in the past,” Mister Dumar admitted, “but over the last decade as the Ta’Akar have withdrawn their forces from worlds outside the cluster and concentrated them in and around their home system, the people of Answari—as well as the palace guards—have become more complacent. In addition, it is common for noble families of greater influence to get their sons assigned to positions in palace security. Many believe this has had a negative effect on the combat e
ffectiveness of the palace guard. In fact, many consider the palace guards to be more a ceremonial group than an effective combat unit.”
“The whiskey has been watered down,” Jessica mused.
“Something to that effect,” Dumar said, “if I understand the use of your metaphor correctly.”
“So you believe that the palace guards are not a threat?” Cameron wondered.
“Of course they are a threat, Commander,” Tug insisted. “He is only saying that they are no more a threat than any other imperial combat unit. It is the Ghatazhak that should be feared, but they are usually assigned to ships of the line, not to the palace guard.”
“The other issue is resources. We only have fifteen hundred men at our disposal. Most of your invasion plans call for upwards of ten thousand men, Tug.”
“Those battle plans were originally conceived without consideration of jump-drive technology,” Tug defended.
“Perhaps,” Nathan said, “but still, fifteen hundred men seems a bit light, don’t you think? Besides, we only have six jump shuttles, one of which we have to leave behind as a comm relay with Darvano, as they will be unprotected should an imperial warship suddenly arrive while we’re gone. With only five shuttles, it will take fifteen jumps to deliver the entire ground force to the streets of Answari.”
“Actually, it will take more like thirty jumps,” Lieutenant Waddell corrected. “The auto-nav rigs are bulkier than standard rigs, and if we pack them into the shuttles too tightly, we are asking for problems.”
“How many can we safely carry per jump then?” Cameron asked.
“I would not put more than ten or twelve into a single shuttle,” Lieutenant Waddell told them, “not if you want to ensure a safe jump.”
“What if the shuttles land on the surface, or even hover and have them fast-rope down?” Jessica suggested.
“That would increase the number of troops per jump to twenty,” Lieutenant Waddell agreed, “but it would also increase their exposure to enemy fire. The last thing any pilot wants to do is hover over a hot landing zone.”
“The argument does not matter,” Major Prechitt told them. “We only have about three hundred auto-nav jump rigs, and close to a hundred of those will be used by the first group that is space jumping.”
“What about standard jump rigs?” Lieutenant Waddell asked. “Surely we have more than enough of those.”
“Yes, but Answari is an enormous city, and it is densely populated,” Tug explained. “To land a large force of paratroopers, you need wide-open space. That would mean they would have to land on the outskirts of the city and work their way inward toward the palace. That would be over twenty kilometers, during which they would face considerable resistance from civilian security forces. Even with their greater numbers, it would take too long, and there would be too much loss of life.”
“The first wave of jump shuttles should take them completely by surprise, sir,” Jessica pointed out. “The second wave may also be able to get in and out without taking too much fire, but the third wave? If that LZ isn’t buttoned down by the time the third wave jumps in, they’re going to get pounded.”
“You’re going to have to secure the landing zone as quickly as possible, Lieutenant,” Nathan advised him. “If you don’t, you’re going to have a hard time getting reinforced any time soon.”
“If you want me to secure the area, we will need air support,” Lieutenant Waddell replied. “If we don’t own the skies above our heads, their air support will be all over us.”
“Once those big guns are taken out, we can commit at least thirty to forty atmospheric fighters to the surface campaign,” Major Prechitt added.
“That will not be enough,” Tug warned. “There are at least one hundred fighters stationed at the Answari airbase.”
“We’ll have to draw them off somehow,” Nathan said.
“It wouldn’t hurt to send a few cruise missiles their way,” Jessica suggested. “Maybe have Josh and Loki do their thing again.”
“If successful, that would greatly diminish their strength,” Tug noted, “perhaps even by half.”
“It would only be a temporary solution at best,” Dumar added. “The next closest airbase is at Dahleek, just over two thousand kilometers west of Answari. They would be able to respond in less than an hour.”
“If everything goes according to plan, this will be over in less than an hour,” Tug commented.
“That, is a really big ‘if’,” Nathan pointed out. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Look, this is obviously a really big operation with multiple elements, each working toward separate yet related objectives. Perhaps it would be easier to look at each of them separately. For example, the Aurora’s job is to deliver the jumpers to orbit, keep the rest of the imperial fleet away from Takara, and to make sure that the Avendahl doesn’t surprise us all by powering up and jumping into the fray.” Nathan looked at Tug. “What’s the primary objective of the jumpers?”
“Ten teams will jump from orbit. Eight of them are tasked with destroying or otherwise disabling the air defense batteries around Answari. The other two teams will drop inside the palace grounds wearing the uniforms of the palace guards. The first team will destroy the command center, and the second team will locate and execute Caius.”
“What about the ground assault?” Nathan asked.
“Their job is to convince the palace guards that their objective is to capture the palace through a direct assault,” Tug explained.
“Convince?” Lieutenant Waddell asked.
“Yes. It is extremely important that the palace guards, as well as imperial command, believe that your forces and the fighters that are providing your air support are the only threat they face. This diversion is vital to the success of the teams entering the palace grounds. The empire, although recently decreased in size, is quite powerful. If their command and control structure is left in place, even without Caius, they will rally their forces and go on the offensive. They will squash your forces with ease once they are allowed to coordinate and concentrate their resources. Without this ability, they will be like confused children, seeking only to protect themselves until someone tells them what to do. If we are successful, this confusion may last months, quite possibly even years. During this time, the empire will cease to exist as we currently know it. Darvano and all the other systems within the Pentaurus cluster and beyond will no longer be restricted from interstellar travel or technological growth. More importantly, all the systems will be given an opportunity to develop defenses of their own. That is why we seek to cut off the head of the dragon.”
The briefing room was quiet for a moment as they all considered Tug’s impassioned words. Nathan took a moment to observe the faces of everyone in the room. He could see the doubt in their eyes, but he could also see their resolve, their acceptance of their duty. All except for Cameron.
“Commander?” Nathan asked. “Something on your mind?”
“I’m just wondering how we’re going to coordinate all of this,” she answered. “Space jumpers, missile launches, jump shuttles ferrying in troops at regular intervals. We’re going to have forces on the ground in a dozen different locations, fighters in the air and in orbit, maybe even further out in the system—not to mention what the Aurora is going to be doing. The communications logistics alone are daunting.”
“What’s your point, Commander?” Nathan asked.
“Normally this would be handled in our CIC,” Cameron told them, “but we’re going to be jumping all over the system, which means the transmission times between parties will be constantly changing. Also, if the ground forces need to contact us, they’re not going to have any idea where we are or how long it will take for us to receive their transmission and respond. That’s a hell of a way to fight a battle, sir.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Nathan admitted, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“To be honest, I do not believe any of us had,” Tug agreed.
“Any ideas,
Commander?” Nathan asked.
“We need a stationary command and control point,” she stated. “Preferably one close enough to the action to be effective in coordinating our forces.”
“Well, we can’t very well yank out our CIC and leave it in orbit over Takara,” Nathan stated.
“Of course not,” Cameron agreed, “but maybe we could set one up inside a shuttle and park it at one of Takara’s gravity points.”
“That would only be a few seconds delay for comm signals,” Jessica stated.
“It would be at risk,” Dumar pointed out. “With all the signals it would be sending out, it would be too easy to detect and destroy.”
“We could park it just outside the system and use a jump shuttle to relay comm signals between the CIC and the units on the surface.”
“We need those shuttles to ferry troops to the ground,” Lieutenant Waddell reminded them.
“The jump shuttles could carry comm signals with each jump,” Cameron suggested. “Once all troops are on the ground, they could then concentrate on just carrying comm signals back and forth.”
“What about comms with the Aurora?” Nathan asked.
“We’ll just have to jump back every so often for an update,” Cameron decided. “Once the jump shuttles are done ferrying troops to the surface, one or two of them could also be used to run comm messages between the Aurora and the CIC.”
“Not bad,” Nathan admitted.
“How the hell are we going to build a CIC in a shuttle on such short notice?” Jessica wondered.
“We could use one of our mobile command posts,” Lieutenant Waddell said.
“Will they fit inside a shuttle?” Cameron asked.
“Not inside a jump shuttle,” he admitted, “but I’m pretty sure it would fit inside one of the bigger cargo shuttles. You might even have enough room to fully extend its bays.”