by Tyler Totten
“Grand Admiral, it is an honor to meet you. Admiral Tin Min spoke so highly of you. His loss is one that should not have come to pass.” Yen sounded remarkably remorseful.
Qiang regarded the man carefully. He was older, closer to his mentor than himself in age. “How can you help us, comrade Colonel?”
“I am assigned to the operation to…retake Luyten’s. I can ensure that the civilians are not massacred.” He said diplomatically.
“Ensure?” Qiang said skeptically.
“Yes, comrade Admiral. I am a member of ISS and was charged by Minister Tong personally to ensure the success of the mission. To that end, my orders and mission allow for me to overrule, arrest, and detain any member of the military. I can ensure the task force never utilizes nukes and that the marines show restraint.”
“Comrade Colonel, I believe the time is well past such actions and half-measures.” Qiang said, testing the waters.
“Then you mean to do the final push?” This time it was the ISS Captain who had accompanied the Yen who spoke. Yen silenced him with a look.
“I do.” All heads swiveled to look at Qiang, some shocked, some looking satisfied, some resigned.
Chu spoke first. “We are not ready.”
“We can no longer wait.” Qiang pressed. “I just recently discussed issues with my theater commanders. We have ground to a halt and the Russians can no longer secure their border. American patrols run rampant through the Russian rear, destroying what supplies remain.” Chu sighed.
“I must concede that point.” Chu sighed again. “As bad as our supply situation has become, the Russian situation is even worse.”
“Their collapse is imminent and then we will be fighting this war alone.” Qiang said, bringing grimaces to all present. “The Luyten’s predicament both forces our hand and aides our cause. There isn’t another time to act.”
“Needs must when the devil drives.” The ISS Major said laconically.
“So it would seem.” Yen reluctantly agreed. “If we are to move now, there is much to discuss.”
“Let us begin.” Qiang said. When everyone nodded their assent, they got down to it. They didn’t leave until the wee hours of the next day.
Sol System
Ceres Space Dock Number Three
Athena walked briskly into the wardroom and waved the assembled officers back to their seats. Each of the captains and their XOs of the larger ships were present as were the gunboat captains. The exception was Captain Snyder and her XO from Normandy. Her ship was docked inside one of Ceres massive pressurized docks receiving repairs. Normandy had barely made it back from their last mission and even the most optimistic projection didn’t see her back in service for months. If the war wasn’t so desperate, she’d be sent immediately to be stripped and scrapped. Also present was Captain Kim and Lieutenant Scott and Lieutenant William Noble.
“Thank you all for coming.” Athena looked around again, attempting to gain some insight into what they were thinking. “I called this meeting to gather the pulse, so to speak. I need to know where everyone is at. By that, I don’t mean status on ships and munitions, crew head-counts and readiness reports. How’s the morale of your people, are the crews hanging together well? How are each of you? I need a completely open, no bullshit assessment. At some point we’re going to be thrown back into the fire and I need to know how each ship is going to handle it.”
“My crew is pissed, sir.” Ticonderoga’s captain, Captain Harley Stretton spoke with barely controlled anger. “After what happened to Normandy, we want revenge. We’re rearing to go sir.”
“I would concur with Captain Stretton. Thunderer has been blooded and they’ve all proven themselves, but we lost a great many friends and members of the Aegis family. Nobody wants to be sitting idle for long.” Martin was more controlled but still forceful.
Athena nodded to the two captains. She had seen the extent of Normandy’s damage for herself, visiting the ship shortly after it had pulled into Ceres pressurized dock. Her entire fusion plant needed replacement, her engines were a wreck, and the hull had more holes than Swiss cheese. Athena had been shocked to see a ship so damaged make it to the dock.
“The gunboat crews?” Athena inquired of Noble.
“Still spitting fire and breathing deuterium.” Noble answered without hesitation. “You show us what needs doing, we’ll handle it.”
“Same old gunboat crews.” Athena smiled. He nodded back. Several captains hid their smiles.
“Inchon is solid, sir.”
“Alright. I get the same impression from my own crew. The chiefs tell me that everyone is a combination of pissed, confident, and proud.” Athena mentally relaxed. “We been tempered by combat and come out of it stronger.”
They continued discussing their crews for another hour, detailing the challenges each had faced and how they had adapted. For many of these officers, this was their first major command assignment. Athena sympathized. She’d gone from a cruiser XO to a Rear Admiral with a fleet in the space of a couple months. War had a way of bringing people along faster than they’d like. Athena turned her attention to the next matter at hand as the conversation began to slow down.
“Our next assignment is something of a softball compared to what we’ve been dealt thus far.” Athena began.
“Well I’d like to hope so.” Stretton snorted.
“Come on, sir, I was just starting to get used to the regular suicide missions. Getting quite comfortable with the idea.” Noble intoned humorously. Noble had been one of the gunboat captains on Tripoli’s first mission as well.
“Isn’t that on the checklist for any gunboat engagement?” Martin joked. “Step One: Accept low probability of survival.”
“Ha. Ha.” Noble said with mock scorn.
“As long as it isn’t too easy, sir.” Kim said smiling at Lieutenant Scott. “We have to maintain the lead we have on our Aegis comrades. The score right now is one battlestation versus one battlecruiser. I’d like to widen that lead.”
“Sure, take down one stationary target and suddenly you’re in the lead.” Scott joked back.
“What have you got for us sir?” Sanders asked. Athena smirked at him. He knew what she had, she’d briefed him before this meeting and this was obviously his attempt to move the meeting along.
“Glad you asked, XO.” Athena activated the holo-display at the table’s center. “We’ve got travel orders. Our destination, at least initially, is the Delta Eridani system.”
“That’s the Australian frontline, isn’t it?” Noble inquired.
“It is.” Athena responded.
“You said initially, sir.” Scott probed. “Does that mean we’re potentially mounting a raid of Luyten’s?” Now she sounded excited.
Of course she is, Athena thought, any raid is liable to mean they play a role as well. Nothing operators like more than getting into the thick of it when there’s a job that needs doing.
“That is a possibility. Due to the supply situation, we may not have enough resources to actually mount the raid, but NavInt has suggested that our presence may at least force the Chinese to move the fleet they currently have at Procyon to Luyten’s as a hedge against that.” Athena continued. “We’re to meet up with the Australian task force in-system.”
“Would there be any potential for some boarding operations?” Kim picked up Scott’s line of thought.
“You people are crazier than the gunboat drivers.” Stretton remarked humorously, though Athena thought she detected a slight tone of incredulity.
“I hardly think so.” Noble sniffed. Everyone laughed again.
This time Martin brought them back on point. “You said there was an Aussie task force in system?”
“Yes.” Athena brought the task force into focus on the display. “Australian Destroyer Squadron Seventeen. They have the light cruiser Hobart, the destroyers Adelaide, Newcastle, Darwin, and Ballarat. We’ve also been told that the scout frigates Ararat and Broome may be in the region, though
likely not in the Delta Eridani system. The Australian Special Air Service Regiment has been, uhm, borrowing them for several weeks now.”
“Borrowing them, sir?” Stretton probed, smiling a little.
“Yes, well, they are much like our own long range frigates, quick and stealthy. SASR has been using them to make runs of operators and weapons into Luyten’s some, plus running raids on any listening stations that the PRC tries to establish in the undeveloped systems in-between them. Apparently they’ve been raising hell.”
“NavInt suggested that was why a PRC Marine battalion was moved to Procyon.” Captain Kim interjected, looking to Athena for confirmation.
“That’s correct.” Athena confirmed.
“Someone’s been reading those dreary intel reports.” Lieutenant Scott joked. Kim made a face back, though Athena knew it was only a poke. Everyone at this table pushed through the NavInt’s weekly and daily briefing packets. They were long and were so full of double-talk and qualifying statements that they required substantial reading between the lines and a large supply of patience. Athena wondered if clear and concise was even possible for NavInt.
“We are going to be deploying without Normandy, but we’ll have our full complement of gunboats. I’ve suggested to Admiral Mondragon that we could use some destroyers or frigates to make our overall strike force more capable in line with what we all discussed at our first meeting, but we’re not likely to get them. Fleet is already stressed so much that there just aren’t additional ships to send. We will hopefully coordinate with the Aussie DESRON for any mission, so that should help to fill the gap.”
“When do we leave, sir?” Martin asked the question everyone was thinking.
“Admiral Mondragon has given us long enough to finish critical repairs, but we’ll have to finish alignments and minor repairs after we depart. Right now, departure is in four days. I know that is tight, but we need to move fast. We’ve got to keep the Chinese off balance and always guessing.” Athena pressed the point home. Most of the captains had wanted between five days and a week to finish repairs. That didn’t mean those ships would be like-new, just patched and repaired to each captain’s satisfaction. Knowing how eager each was to get back into combat, Athena didn’t think any of their desired repairs were superfluous. Cutting that short didn’t sit well with her.
“The yard superintendents have assured me they can meet the schedule, no matter what they need to do.” Martin assured. His assurance carried some weight, seeing as his father owned the docks and employed those very same superintendents.
Athena nodded. Soon, they’d be back and gunning for the dragon.
Luyten’s System
6th Fleet: PRC People’s Voice
Admiral Du Jie was not having a good day. He had several problems, chief among them and foremost in his mind was his current mission. The problem was, he didn’t like this mission, not one bit. To compound it, an ISS destroyer had joined his fleet in Procyon, complete with the infamous Colonel Yen.
Of all the ISS officers to be saddled with, Colonel Yen! Du raged inside his own head, all the while keeping his outward expression calm and commanding for the benefit of his staff surrounding him on the battleship’s flag bridge. Until the arrival of the ISS, Du had this operation planned in a rudimentary way. He had already discussed it with the marine detachment commander, Major Shen Chao. Du had been relieved to discover that the Major was of a similar mind on the planned massacre of civilians. Thankfully, Grand Admiral Chen had written orders that were sufficiently vague in their application so as to give Du some room to maneuver. He was almost certain that it had been purposeful, though Major Shen had reasonably suggested that the vague nature could also be to absolve the Grand Admiral’s own conscience of what he was ordering and that these orders had obviously come indirectly from the Party itself. Of course, these conversations were held in private, away from prying eyes and ears. Shen’s suggestion that the order came from the Party seemed to be reinforced by the arrival of ISS in strength. They claimed they were here to ‘assist’, but Du could see through that thin veil. Now, Du had to figure out how to accomplish his mission without it turning into a massacre.
“Admiral Du, sir. Major Shen is calling to remind you about your meeting today at eighteen-hundred hours in your day cabin.” His communications officer broke into Du’s thoughts.
“My eighteen-hundred meeting, yes of course I had completely forgotten. Please tell the Major he has my thanks for reminding me and that I shall be there.” Du thanked the ancestors that the Major was a quick thinker. We need a new plan, perhaps a desperate one. Du grimaced, the ISS officers would need to be dealt with.
DP Draconis System
RF Iron Fist
Corporal Gennady Kapista sprinted down a service access-way, he didn’t know which one, in the auxiliary engineering spaces of the massive battleship. Everything had fallen apart so quickly, he still wasn’t completely sure what had happened. His Federal Security Service unit had been deployed by the local governor onto Iron Fist, a move that had surprised Gennady greatly. Russian Federation warships had their own infantry units already accompanying them. Once they had boarded the shuttle for orbit his commander, Captain Sukin, had informed them that they were to arrest Admiral Rogov and his entire command staff. Governor Yakimenko then wanted them to demand the rest of the fleet in orbit declare allegiance to him. That’s when Gennady had begun to understand, this was a coup of sorts, that Yakimenko was declaring himself master of DP Draconis. Those who sided with the governor, they would be serving under the new government. Yakimenko was promising favorable peace terms with the Americans and prosperity for the system.
Any man who wanted out, well that wasn’t really an option.
For his part, Kapista figured that this was the best option. The trouble had started almost as soon as they had boarded the ship. Kapista could only assume that Admiral Rogov had heard of the Governor’s little coup sometime between their docking with the battleship and before they made it to the flag bridge. Just outside of the flag bridge corridor, the bridge guards in sight, they’d been ambushed. Security forces had opened up from several of the side corridors and compartments. Kapista credited his escape with some overly eager members of Iron Fist’s security detachment. They had opened fire before the entire team of twelve was in the open. Kapista and three others immediately ducked back around the corner, with Lieutenant Emanuil and Private Terebov scrambling back around to join them. Lieutenant Emanuil had ordered Kapista and Private Terebov to double back and try to flank them. No sooner had Kapista rounded the corner to start back had he run into two armored security members, coming to close the trap. Armor took time to get into, Kapista knew, and so these two were late to the party. He had thrown himself into the nearest zero-g ladderwell, sparing him from the ceramic flechettes that tore Terebov in half. Kapista’s rifle had become lodged on a rung and he hadn’t stopped to free it, merely slipping out of the sling and continuing to propel himself downward. He heard noise above him and dove through the first offshoot. He had still been tagged in the calf by a flechette, ripping his uniform trousers and causing a minor but bloody wound.
“Reconsidering that whole coup thing, now aren’t you Gennady?” He mocked himself softly. He knew he needed a way off this ship, get back to the orbital station somehow. That was, as far as he knew, under the control of the FSB by now. Captain Sukin had told them it was being captured as they spoke. “Lifepods!” His mind working through to the solution. He continued to move deeper into the auxillairy spaces, looking for a console. A noise made him drop and whirl around. He drew his service pistol and checked the action. It wouldn’t help him against power-armor troops, but he doubted they could maneuver effectively in these tight confines without causing damage to the equipment. No, he would only face non-powered security here. He unconsciously ran his hand over his own flexible ballistic armor. I’m not in power armor either.
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Admiral Rogov glared at his tactical display, watching as sensors updated the plot to reflect the sudden change in allegiance of units in the system. Already the massive orbital fortress and its smaller missile platforms turned an ugly crimson.
That slimy bastard of a governor! Rogov raged. Already, the threat receiver was lighting up as the battleship was swept by targeting radars from the rebellious station. The situation was about to get very hot.
“Sir, we are being painted.” Called out his Sensor Operator.
“Yes, I can see that.” Rogov said gruffly. “What is the status of the fleet?”
“The destroyers haven’t rearmed yet, sir, and Bystryy is still operating on a single fusion reactor.” His aide reported grimly. The fleet had recently tangled with an American gunboat squadron, backed by two long range frigates. The frigates had come as a surprise, appearing from nowhere and putting a missile into his only cruiser, Bystryy. He was of an older design, but still quite tough. He accelerated like a pig, however, and even worse so with only one of his three fusion reactors. He’d never be able to stand in the line against the battlestation.
“Order him to come about and head for the Slip Gate to VVO 5. Warn HQ that Governor Yakimenko has rebelled, attempting to take effective control the system. Requesting reinforcements immediately. System defenses in rebellion.” Rogov snapped out.
“Aye sir.”
“Vampir, Vampir!” Sensors called out. “Battlestation has launched many missiles, thirty and count still increasing!”
“Calm yourself!” Rogov snapped. “All ships, weapons free. Engage hostile missiles. Prepare for snap firing of all ready missiles.”
“Weapons release acknowledged, sir.” Communications responded crisply.
“What is the status of Bystryy?” Rogov asked Comms.
“They’re coming about sir, maneuvering for clear space now. They have to clear the repair dock, sir.” Comms reported.
“Dammit.” Rogov swore under his breath. He felt the launch of his own missiles at the battlestation. He looked at the plot and saw that his five ships had launched just fifty missiles, thirty of them from Iron Fist. He swore again, that wouldn’t be enough to get through the battlestation’s powerful point defenses. Meanwhile, his own fleet had to deal with nearly sixty, with somewhat weaker point defenses. Rogov had a sour taste in his mouth. This was not a fight he could win and Rogov was a man who expected to win. The American gunboats had learned that. He had dispatched six of the ten and one of the frigates for the loss of just one destroyer, plus the damaged Bystryy. It had left him with almost no munitions, however, and the destroyers hadn’t had the chance to fully re-arm. The tender, Rogov was relieved to see, was running just ahead of Bystryy, and heading out of system with it. All of the missiles from the rebellious station were targeted on his own ships, not the two running for the system’s Alpha Slip Gate.