by Tyler Totten
“Shay, swarm.” Scott called over the comm.
“Wilco.” He responded.
A moment later, six rotor-drones leapt into the air and sped towards the hatch in a wild formation. Each exited into the outer compartment at a different angle and velocity. Each drone sought an armored target and dove in. They bobbed and weaved around the armored figures, trying to get near a vital component. Their charges were too small to make it through the armor, but they could severely damage the visor or the back of a joint. Additionally, the rifles each marine carried were somewhat susceptible to damage from a smaller charge. Scott didn’t actually expect any damage to result from the little kamikazes, but that wasn’t their primary purpose. The Chinese marines simply couldn’t ignore them.
The Agema took advantage of their enemies’ occupied state to repeat Mae’s previous maneuverer and leap up into the overhead. One at a time they slipped up into the turret sleeve. As the drones were destroyed, the volume of fire returned. Scott nodded to Mae and she detonated the final set of charges. A rush of outgoing air followed as the compartment began to vent to space. Mae went first, entering the new hole and exiting to space. Each of them followed in turn. As Scott moved to the hole, the marines entered the compartment below, no doubt noticing the lack of return fire. She angled her arm downward and emptied her launcher into the compartment. She saw that at least four marines were caught in the open by the grenades and killed. Even a suit breach could mean death in the vacuum of space. With that, she slipped up through the hole and onto the hull of the battlecruiser.
“Scratch one battlestation!” Johnson called out excitedly as the gunboats finished their last gun run on the wounded station. Secondary explosions rippled through her hull as the damage began to cascade. Finally, she broke apart. As a testament to the strength and durability of the station, her fusion cores didn’t breach containment. The station’s three largest pieces slowly broke apart, propelled by a series of smaller explosions.
“One to go.” Athena reminded them.
“Sir, internal comm for you. It’s Captain Kim.” Daniels reported.
“Put her through.” Athena said. “Captain Kim, what can I do for you? I’m sure you are aware we are a bit busy up here.”
“Yes sir, Admiral, sir. I’ll get straight to the point.” Kim took an audible breath and let it out. “I request permission to board the battlestation with my RASAT.”
“How do you propose to get aboard?” Athena said. She could almost hear the surprise in the young captain over the comm.
“Uh, sir. The gunboats should be able to FTL in close and release shuttles. We will likely lose a few on the way in, but less than what you’re losing in the fleet right now. We’re going to need as much ordnance as we can get to fight in the next system.”
Athena checked the holo-display and did a quick mental calculation. They had at least ten minutes before they would be in a position to make a run at the last station.
“Send me your plan, Captain, I’ll review it. I have a couple minutes before I need to commit to the attack again.”
“Thank you sir. The plan is in your priority inbox sir.” Captain Kim sounded surprised and relieved that Athena was actually giving her plan consideration.
Athena didn’t need the whole ten minutes. After five she commed Captain Kim again.
“Alright, I’ll give you a go, but I’m going to make a couple changes to your plan. You’re taking both Armadillos, no gunboats.” Athena said, thinking quickly. She outlines the other, mostly minor, changes she had made to the Captain’s plan. It had been good, but a ship-handler could see some easy places to refine her insertion. Athena couldn’t fault her for that, she did admirably for someone with little to no formal training in warship combat.
“No gunboats sir?” Kim sounded a little doubtful.
“Trust me Captain, the gunboats may be nimble, but the Armadillos were built to charge the guns. They’ll deliver you to your target.” Athena soothed.
“Yes sir. I trust you sir.” Kim responded.
“Very well. Prepare your people. Get ready to shuttle everyone over to the Armadillos. We’ll assemble the fleet in outer system before we make our run on them.” Athena told her.
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Scott dropped behind a point-defense turret, seeing that each of her teammates were in similar cover. They had been fighting a running gun battle across the upper hull of the battlecruiser for the better part of an hour now. They had initially moved to the same entry hole they had entered through. The hole was somewhat bigger now, the explosion of the rigged shuttle having ripped a larger hole. Unfortunately the blast had also mangled hatches inside. The resulting decompression had been sealed off by the Chinese DC parties. There was no way in there.
Now they were most of the way to Sword’s intended position. As they approached the maintenance hatch, Scott could see that it was open. She tensed immediately and approached the hatch carefully. Behind her, Shay and Mae dropped the last two Chinese marines who were still on the outer hull. More would undoubtedly be sent out, but for now they were alone. Scott threw a sensor probe down into the hole.
“Sword, this is Arrow Actual.” Scott broadcast.
“Arrow Actual, this is Sword Actual. Back door’s open and the grill’s hot. Come on down.” Came the reply.
“Should I bring the beer?” Scott asked.
“Not today Arrow, we’re cooking with fire, better bring the whiskey.” Sword had correctly completed the code check. Scott dropped down into the hole, flashing a message to her team to do the same. Once again, artificial gravity grabbed her as she moved inside, forcing her to flex her legs on landing. Her suit sensors detected the armored form before she did. She got the immediate feeling that this one was friendly, her suit ensuring she wouldn’t shoot a fellow Agema.
“LT, good to see you.” Sergeant Willis, commander of Sword, said to her. The rest of her team dropped in beside her. Wordlessly the maintenance hatch closed above them and locked.
“Status?” Scott inquired.
“Well, sir. We have to thank you.” Willis began as they walked the short distance into the main compartment. “It worked perfectly. When you started blasting their own ships and hull with that big gun, they sent almost all of their security your way. We didn’t even see an armored security marine until about four minutes ago. They seem to be short a lot of crew.”
“Well that would be good.” Scott said as she processed the data of Sword’s time aboard the Chinese battlecruiser as Sword and Arrow connected their small data networks.
“Another wave incoming, sir.” Corporal Anthony Cole, another Sword team member, reported. “Getting at least four armored marines and another squad of standard security in hard suits.”
“On my way.” Willis responded.
“Mae, Sommer?” Scott inquired.
“I’m good on ammo, sir.” Sommer replied.
“All set here.” Mae intoned.
“Thank you sir.” Willis said as they headed towards the firefight. “Lance Corporal Stone is on the hack.”
Scott motioned to Shay to follow and approached the armored figure standing in front of the console that dominated the space.
“How are things progressing, Lance Corporal?” Scott asked as they came up beside her.
“Slowly sir.” Lance Corporal Amy Stone replied, her tone clearly frustrated.
“Need a hand?” Shay inquired, already unpacking his kit.
“Hell yes.” She said.
“I’ll give you a hand as well.” Scott said, stepping up closer to the console.
“That should speed things up considerably sir.” Stone replied gratefully.
The three plugged in and worked quickly to establish a digital safe haven, connecting their combined processing power together. Someone was monitoring their effort and attempting to counter. They had been doing a good job with just Stone working at their defenses, but with two more human-comp
uter assailants to concern themselves with, the Agema suddenly made progress, breaking through the firewalls established around them and giving them access to the local sensors that were handled by this sub-station. Stone and Shay ceased their offensive efforts and Scott turned to the sensors they now controlled. She overrode the safety protocols, cranking up the power in each, seeking the most destructive inputs. She also generated several active sensor pulses, directing them on the single remaining battlestation in a hope of blinding some of their more sensitive sensor arrays. Each of the local sensors burnt out in turn. She could feel the strain of their opponents against Shay and Stone, so she accelerated her efforts. As she coaxed the last sensor into failure, she turned back to their attackers, adding the weight of her mind and her AI to the attack. The enemy attack faltered and then fell back behind a new, stronger firewall.
That is a tough barrier Stone commented sourly over their computerized link, no words were exchanged.
Agreed, thoughts? Scott asked as they assaulted the firewall, looking for backdoors or weak spots in maintenance protocols and other systems.
Here’s one sir. Shay sent them a new map, showing a path to the shuttle bay and the shuttle bay itself. We could use the local sensors and lock-down protocols to give us a clear path. We would have to get into them. I don’t know how easy that’ll be.
I like it, let’s look into it. Scott turned her thoughts to Sergeant Willis. “How’s it going up there?”
“Calming down sir, we pushed them back with heavy losses for them. Private Bill Rhodes took a round to the shoulder. I’m sending him back to you.” Willis responded.
“Very well, we’ll look after him.” Scott looked up, seeing the private enter the compartment. The firefight was only 15m away, so it had been a short walk.
“Status, Private?” Scott could see his status, but getting people to talk was generally helpful and allowed them to remain focused as the nerves and stims wore off.
“Two rounds to the shoulder, one penetrated my armor, sir.” He paused for a second, probably reviewing his own damage and injury reports. “Foam has patched the wound and restored the pressure seal and reduced blood loss. I have repair bots in my system aiding in patching me up. Still operationally effective, but at reduced capacity sir.”
“Very good. How’s your hacking?” Scott asked.
“Passable sir.” His responses were still clear and strong.
Scott reviewed the data she was getting from his armor. He seemed to be okay, so long as that shoulder didn’t need to be used too much. She did need to put him to work, however, see if he couldn’t be the force that broke them through this barrier.
“Then let’s get to work.” Scott said, gesturing to another section of the console that contained an external port. Rhodes stepped up to the console and flipped away the clear plastic locking cover with the swipe of his armored hand.
“Sir! Need some help here.” Shay choked out.
Scott dove in and saw that the Chinese had countered against them, pushing back hard. Shay and Stone had done well, but Scott had been away a moment too long and now the situation was precarious. She surged in and was soon joined by Rhodes. It sacrificed the surprise element of his presence, but the weight he brought allowed the attack to be turned back immediately.
Full bore, fight to the finish. Scott instructed. They had to use brute force now. If they were overwhelmed again they might not be able to get back out before at least one of them lost themselves in the machine.
Partial breakthrough sir. Rhodes reported. Scott turned a small portion of her attention in the direction of his breakthrough.
Looks legit. Continue progressing towards the local shuttle bay controls, Rhodes. Stone, launch a diversionary attack on local point-defense. I’ll assist you. Shay, man the fort. Scott received affirmatives from each.
“Lieutenant, we’re getting a lot more fire up here now. We’ve got at least 30 effectives, some in armor. Exact numbers are indeterminate, they’ve established a jamming field locally, blocking drone access and LOS drones are being countered by enemy hunter-killer drones. They’ll be sending their own scouts this way soon enough.” Willis reported.
“We’re making progress here, estimate one minute to complete exfil plan.” Scott responded. As she finished speaking, an explosion rocked the compartment, followed immediately by an outrushing of air. “Shit, Willis, they just breached our entry point on the hull.”
“Coordinated attack, they’re pressing here too sir.” Willis responded.
“Damn.” Scott turned to face the doorway. We have company. She sent the other hackers the status in a quick burst.
Go sir, we’ll finish this. Shay said, raw determination coming through the link to her.
Disconnecting. Scott pulled the connection just as the first armored marine burst through the hatchway. She fired a burst, dropping him to the deck. The second marine followed his companion. Scott was moving before he hit the deck, firing a burst of three high-explosive grenades through the hatch as she did.
The lack of atmosphere meant that she didn’t need to be quiet, but it also meant that she couldn’t hear the enemy moving around. She also had no idea how many were left. She fired another burst of grenades before lobbing a camera through the hatch. As it stuck to the far bulkhead she could see the results of her grenades. Another armored marine lay on the deck, dead or incapacitated. There was no one living and mobile in the small space. She panned the small camera up and glimpsed at least two more marines just outside the hatch before one of them shot out the camera. She fired another burst of grenades through the hatch to make them think twice about entering too soon. She felt the autoloader engage to reload her empty grenade magazine. As it did so she stepped back to Shay and made contact with his suit to allow for a secure link. Status?
Rough, sir. His thoughts came through strained. They’re pressing on us hard. Rhodes has broken through and is securing the shuttle bay. Only one shuttle is currently in the bay and operational. He has depressurized the bay to prevent any unsuited personnel from entering, but we’d better move soon. They’ll detect our actions soon enough, we can’t spoof them forever.
Can you break contact?
Not at this time, sir. On the boards here.
Stone? Scott asked.
Hard pressed sir, but I think I could break off without risking elimination Stone replied after a moment’s consideration. Scott inwardly shuddered at the thought. If one was overcome within the computer the resulting reverse hack tended to turn the person in question into a vegetable, or simply killed them. Even if the operator managed to escape if the suit AI didn’t, the suit would die become nearly immobile. There was a manual control for the suit, but it didn’t work very well and a wrong move in combat would kill you without the suit’s safety and compensation systems. Most operators preferred to bail out of their armor and proceed on foot. In their current situation, that could prove difficult.
Be ready then. Scott broke contact and turned back to the airlock. The Chinese wouldn’t wait indefinitely. “Sgt Willis, status?”
“We broke up the attack, sir, but we’re low on ammo. No casualties yet, but once we’re down to blades…”
“Roger. We’re getting ready to move.” Scott said, still focused on the hatch. “Send Corporal Mae back to our position. We’ll need help achieving disconnect. I also have company back here, but I have it handled for now.” She fired another burst of grenades through the hatch and threw two more cameras. One died quickly, but the second revealed that she had killed yet another marine and a second was bleeding onto the deck. If his suit didn’t seal itself soon, he’d be added to the casualty list. She fired a two-round burst of grenades to make it the latter. As she did, a grenade bounced into the compartment.
“Grenade!” Scott yelled, diving for cover. The three Agema hacking couldn’t maneuver and had to remain in place, hoping for the best. The blast was small, but Rhodes still spun awkwardly. Scott fired more grenades as she moved over to
Rhodes. She initiated a link.
Rhodes, how you doing? She asked as she looked over his vitals. He’d taken shrapnel to the leg, a light graze to his actual leg, but still a bloody mess.
Good to go sir. His pain was still there. The suit would be working hard to minimize it, but he’d taken two hits now and still had the strain of the hack. Shuttle is secured, moving towards Stone now.
Good man. Scott turned her attention to Shay. Has your position improved?
Negative sir, if anything it is worse. I think they know we’re trying break contact.
Mae entered the compartment. Scott directed her with a hand gesture to focus on the open hatch to the airlock. She signaled her understanding and moved to the hatch, deploying a camera and sighting in. Rifle fire came from above, Scott’s suit sensors detected, clearly the enemy was still up there.
Alright, let’s get out of here. Stone, prepare to bail. Rhodes, you’re with me, we’re going to bail Shay out. Both confirmed her orders. Go!
Rhodes and Scott surged forward in the computer, burning through the lighter firewalls and blocks that the Chinese had established, and using brute force attack to overcome them. Shay had also left a number of backdoors they utilized to move through the tougher points. The three of them linked and began establishing their own firewalls and roadblocks, slowing their relentless pursuers. They made it back to their digital safe haven as the flood gates opened. All of their blocks collapsed and the enemy pressed directly upon them.
This could be a problem, sir. Shay observed blandly.
Damn. I will remain behind, bail out now. I’ll hold and then disconnect once you’re out. Scott said.