Void Dragon

by William Kephart

  Things weren’t looking good for Weilan Zhamisce, that was for sure. The noose was tightening and pretty soon he wouldn’t have any more room to dodge, and that’s when the killing blow would come.

  In a final, desperate act, Major Zhamisce remembered something from his training.

  When the Enemy wants something from you, give it to him when he least expects it!

  He dived.

  In their haste to corral him the Enemy had never considered that he might flee downward.

  Swimming and shooting wasn’t easy but he could’ve sworn he perforated a few of them who paused in the water to watch him when he dived. They were slippery as hell otherwise, and nearly impossible to hit underwater without a whole fireteam going full auto.

  Fast too. Zhamisce swore he could feel their rage as they followed him down. It was no time at all before he was surrounded again.

  Oh, they’re shooting at me. His suit had sensors that could sense disturbances in the water. Once the warning went off he didn’t have time to do anything but flail like a mad dog and try to take a few—

  PURRRRRRKKKKKRRRRRRLLLLLL

  A physical wave of heat bowled them over, Kuei’tang and Zhamisce alike, as the depleted xinium charge flash-boiled the water around the iceberg gun.

  Zhamisce recovered first. Perhaps it was something about how the Enemy suits had a better connection with the aquatic environment, or perhaps something to do with Kuei’tang physiology, but that heat wave thoroughly discombobulated them and he still had his wits about him, mostly.

  He rushed for the surface leaving a white streak of propellant in his wake. With no need to take evasive action it was a simple straight shot and Zhamisce burst into the open air, sun, and freedom!

  Just as quick as he could Zhamisce recalibrated his suit for surface mode, which amounted to a change in the propellant on his jump jets and summoning the ski blades folded into his boots.

  His unit had likely moved on just as soon as the charges went off and it would be a race to catch up. They’d only taken out a quarter of the guns intelligence said were present in their assigned grid and were well behind schedule, dangerously behind if those things were at all accurate.

  This whole op has been one cock up after another. We’ve got to get this thing back on track somehow.

  He didn’t end up having to chase his marines for long. Zhamisce ran right into them, going in the opposite direction.

  “Major, you’re alive!” Sergeant Toryn said.

  “Barely. What’s going on here? The next gun on our grid is the other way.”

  “Change of plans, sir. Marshal Lü sent a runner. He wants everyone in this sector at his command post,” Ogun said evenly.

  Strange, but if Lü has a plan…

  “Okay, let’s go and see what the Marshal says.”

  Zhamisce knew him only by reputation. Lü was in a league with General Cotto when it came to Marine Corps living legends, liberator of Shanxi and ultimate victor of the second siege of the same, the only man who ever made the enemy quit and make it stick. He must have some trick, lord knows we need it.

  The Marshal’s CP was a fortified island in the corner of Rat Sector. Pretty much everything on the grid had been cleared of Enemy activity so the trip was actually kind of nice and scenic, if a battlefield could be described as such.

  Zhamisce found himself surprised at how much gear they’d managed to bring down to the planet in such a short time. As they approached they heard the tell-tale sound of a sonic boom. An interceptor was departing and flying low, had to be nearly in the water to avoid the Enemy’s flak grid.

  Officers were gathered around in a war council and a battalion or more of grunts was milling about.

  What the hell is he doing? No wonder we’re behind schedule if he has half the sector standing around here with their thumbs up their asses.

  “We’ve got another one,” said an officer. “CO’s over here for the meeting!” he called out and waved Zhamisce over.

  “Hey, isn’t that the one that was on the Void Dragon?” said another.

  The officers more or less hustled him to the front of the crowd with plenty back slapping and random greetings until he was face with the man himself, and damned if Lü wasn’t as ugly as people said.

  “Mm. You’re the one that was with Wen on Harbin? Tzimisce?” Lü rumbled.

  “Zhamisce, sir.”

  “Okay, okay. How’re your marines doing?”

  “Behind schedule, sir.”

  Lü tsked. “I’m afraid we all are. We can't clear them out, not with the troops that made it planetside, and not on any kind of reasonable timetable. Securing this planet would be the work of weeks, and we don’t have weeks! We’ve got no way of silencing all, or even a significant portion of the iceberg guns before they destroy our fleet, and they can by the way, even the frigates.”

  Oh no. “Then we've lost?” Zhamisce asked in a small voice.

  “No, not yet. Look up.”

  The battle was raging overhead, visible in the clear blue daylight. Little specs that he knew were kilometer long warships were bringing the thunder down on one another, and speaking of thunder…

  Distant cracks and roars were audible everywhere, but he knew there was no way for the sounds of a space battle to make it down to the planet.

  “You hear that?” Lü asked. “The fire from the iceberg guns is really picking up, and we’ve only destroyed a small percentage of them, certainly less than ten percent. That’s not good enough! Blinding them with the shroud hasn’t worked either.”

  The shroud was their jamming system, weaponized light-noise and junk data used to make long range targeting impossible. If that wasn’t working…

  “How?” Zhamisce wondered.

  “My chief of engineers says they’re actually using some kind of visual system. Look up again, those frigates are visible with the naked eye if you strain enough. That weird gyroscope thing they have assists the gun’s crew in tracking and range finding, real miracle tech. I want it.”

  What? “Sir?”

  “We’re abandoning rat sector. Look here.”

  Lü hit a digital map floating behind him with his fist. The orange massive light projection flickered a bit before settling on a single zone.

  “There, grid N-7. It lies on the border between Ox and Tiger. Your friend Wen has done pretty well with Rat, and Enemy casualties have been fairly high, so no point sticking around here. If we want to do damage we’ll have the most chance there. Grid N-7 is right under the bulk of the Enemy fleet.”

  “What’s the plan, sir? Zhamisce asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious, kid? We turn the guns on them!” He smiled. “I’ve got a signal company here that has a few guys who speak the Enemy language, or at least they have datapads with everything Montjoie figured out. They’ll take control of the Iceberg guns at N-7.”

  It was absolutely insane. He expected people who studied a language for a few days to puzzle out experimental Enemy tech and use it against them? But what choice did they have?

  “And what will we do?”

  “Escort them. A single concentrated spearhead should be able to pierce their outer defenses and open a hole we can exploit with our reserves, such as they are. Everyone will attack a single focal point. That’s the message the interceptors are carrying, by the way.”

  “We're giving up everywhere else?”

  “If we can't win everywhere I'll settle for winning somewhere.”

  “And once we break through?”

  “I expect they'll counterattack once they realize what we’re doing, so dig in and hold on for dear life. It’s imperative that you capture those guns intact and give our signal company time to figure things out. It’s our one shot.”

  “And you, sir?”

  “Heh. Diversion. Don’t worry about me. I think I’ll let you lead the vanguard, Major. You get results, or so I hear.”

  ***

  “They’re moving!”

  The Enemy dreadno
ught line was swinging like a hinge, Tiger was coming right for them with ships from the far off Rabbit sector burning right for their vulnerable right flank.

  It’s as I feared, Jiang thought. They received their first distress particles a few minutes ago, which could only mean one thing, the iceberg guns could hit the frigates. Somehow, someway, the Enemy had built a gun that could hit a small ship in open space while it floated in the water.

  They couldn’t make heads or tails of casualty figures at this range, and it’d been a slow, stuttering thing, but the frigates had been forced to pull back. With no pressure from the swarm the Enemy dreadnought line was now free to close and engage them.

  Her first officer gave her a look and she silenced him with a glare. No, we will not retreat!

  “Hold position and keep firing!” Jiang ordered. The frigates were just regrouping, had to be. If she lost faith now everything would be for nothing.

  The battle wasn’t lost, not even close. Jiang hadn’t failed to notice the Kuei’tang ships from Rat and Ox had retired to the rear, safe behind the iceberg guns. Wen and Nima’s sectors, they must’ve given them hell. More Enemy dreadnoughts have fallen today than in the rest of the war combined. We keep fighting!

  Under ideal conditions the newest model dreadnought could make ten guangbai, but the flanking force from Rabbit wasn’t moving half so fast. They’d taken casualties too and were cautious not to present their vulnerable flanks to Jiang’s fleet. Even the pinning force from Tiger wasn’t really able to overwhelm them with firepower as they would’ve at the start of the battle. We can hold for a few minutes, yet.

  “The iceberg guns have ceased firing, Admiral,” her first officer said. “Do you suppose—”

  That the marines have finally cleared them out? One can hope. “Unknown. Release particles for ‘attention right flank’ please, Commander.”

  Jiang could kiss engineer who thought of signal particles, such a useful tool, but only for big battles like this. If the frigates were still out there they’d be able to pick it up and parry the Enemy’s rightward thrust. They were well clear of the planet’s orbit and quite vulnerable. If Wen pounced now...

  They waited, waited for Wen or Nima or someone to pick up the signal and deal with the death that was headed right for them. Surely a few minutes over the planet hadn’t wiped them out. They were coming back.

  “We’re taking casualties, Admiral!” said her gunnery officer.

  “What? How? I’m watching the force from Rabbit closely and they aren’t nearly in range.”

  She answered her own question before they had a chance. “Maximum reverse,” she said over their replies.

  The pinning force from Tiger had closed to seventy five guangbai, point blank range as dreadnoughts went, and even a single Kuei’tang sector still outnumbered their whole dreadnought line. Their shields were strong, but would fail after sustained frontal bombardment from a superior force. Such firepower...no matter.

  “Let’s see how far they’re willing to chase us.”

  It wasn’t fast. Dreadnoughts didn’t go anywhere fast, but they tiptoed backward at a steady enough rate, and it made Rabbit Sector’s pursuit angle a bit less acute, giving them just a little bit more time.

  Wen, where are you? They could run for a while but not forever.

  “Concentrate fire,” Jiang ordered.

  Her flagship the Liangshan released another starburst of special particles, and the fire of her dreadnought line, previously spread out to keep the Enemy honest and focused directly to the front, instead concentrated on every fourth Enemy ship, whichever was closest.

  The first volley didn’t do much, but the second scored a few kills. It’s about time the old fleet got on the scoreboard, Jiang thought.

  It didn’t deter the Enemy one whit, though. They just kept coming.

  “Again!” she commanded.

  The projectiles they fired were as large as train cars, and not exactly fast to load, but they hit like comets. The Kuei’tang already looked a little deterred from pursuing them too closely, or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on her part.

  Their next shot struck an Enemy shield cone at a mildly acute angle, and it immolated like over-sized firecracker. Jiang had never been in a battle that lasted this long and was learning all sorts of new things. Before this she’d thought dreadnought shields were all but impervious from the front, but here they were failing left and right, hers and theirs. The Gongyue fleet was getting the worst of it now, and if something didn’t change soon...

  “Right wing is taking fire!” said a junior officer from astrogation, the one in charge of keeping track of the rest of the line. Rabbit Sector had finally caught up with them and was pressing them on their flank.

  Damnit! We’ve been at this too long!

  “Hold,” she said coldly.

  “Admiral, they have us—”

  “I said hold!”

  She wasn’t about to give up! The right would just have to make do.

  “Admiral, they’re dropping like flies out there!”

  Don’t you think I know that, simpleton?

  With Rabbit on the right and Tiger to the front their whole line was about to roll up like a carpet, but they had no choice but to keep fighting. There would be no coming back from a defeat here, better to die in open space like free people than see their planets scourged and settled by aliens. If that happened she had no intention of living to see it.

  Better to go down with my ship, as better admirals did in ancient times.

  “Admiral? Admiral! Shall I send out bugout bursts to cover our withdrawal?” her first officer asked.

  Jiang didn’t bother to reply. It’d been a good life. She didn’t have many regrets except of the small personal variety, lost loves, old friends fallen out of touch, that sort of thing. Here she was, leading the last sortie of the Great Gongyue Fleet. Not too shabby.

  The command deck was going to pieces around her but she didn’t blame them. They were young, and thought they had long lives ahead of them. It was like being underwater. The sounds seemed muffled and far away. She wondered what death would be like.

  Hm, all those years and only at the end does my philosophical side show. What a—

  Someone was shaking her!

  “What!?” she shouted viciously.

  “Admiral, the frigates are here! We’re saved!”

  ***

  “Fire at will!”

  “Commodore, engineering says we’re barely holding together as it is!”

  “Fire at will, damn you!” Wen repeated.

  They’d almost bought it when the fire from the planet really picked up, almost. Lieutenant Guan had been slow to shift them out of there and Wen was at just about the limit of her patience.

  Damage control teams had worked furiously to get the Yellow Wind in fighting shape, and Wen gave them as much time as she dared, which wasn’t much. They weren’t the only ones from Rat Sector to need patching up, either. More or less the whole sector group was in a sorry state, and the poor bastards from Tiger and Rabbit were worse.

  They ran, ran away from the battle and back to the rally point, where Wen found Nima and what remained of Xinren and Liu’s groups. Nobody had much idea what to do. The iceberg guns were more accurate than they had any right to be and just about everyone had taken at least one solid hit. It was fortunate for them that the guns didn’t have much punch compared to space grade weapons. Wen wanted to rush back into the fight, but sometimes will is not enough. Returning to that melee was certain death and they wouldn’t even be able to do much damage as they were.

  There was nothing to do but sit back and lick their wounds; half her ships would probably fall apart after just one more shift. So they waited, waited until they got Jiang’s message, “attention right flank”.

  Those signal particles traveled at the speed of light, but the rally point was at the very edge of the system. If they were receiving them now it meant Admiral Jiang needed help fifteen minutes ago! />
  Wen had no choice but to risk another jump. They materialized right in the midst of the Kuei’tang’s pincer movement and from that moment on Wen was engaged in the most desperate grapple of her career.

  “I need more juice! Twenty guangbai is not good enough! Get us in range!” Wen shouted.

  “Commodore, it’s an awful risk,” came the reply from engineering. “The bulkheads are structurally unstable and our massive light generator doesn’t have enough capacity to reinforce them, run the engine, and keep shields up.”

  “Then lower shields.”

  “Commodore—”

  “Just do it! Flank speed! Now!”

  They made twenty five guangbai after some uneven acceleration and swung around to cut in on an Enemy dreadnought.

  “Gunnery, you know what to do.”

  The port acceleration rail had taken a hit earlier and their muzzle velocity was anemic, so it took multiple hits dead square to crack the Enemy’s shield, even at the thinnest section. Wen wasn’t really worried about return fire, either. She had a hell of a crowd to hide in. Her frigates were attacking dreadnoughts in clusters and there was fire going in every direction. They were doing damage but it was like attacking a boulder with a chisel. There were so many.

  Still, it was good to be in open space. Without the planet to worry about Wen was free to strike anywhere she pleased. The battle was spread out over thousands of guangbai and they spent more time burning from target to target than actually fighting. Coordination had gone to hell and it was every ship for itself where the fight was hottest. They lost their target multiple times in the chaos and Wen was forced to command by dead reckoning at points.

  It took a while for them to realize what was happening but eventually Jiang’s dreadnoughts were able to form a secondary line to engage the Enemy flankers directly and the fire they were laying down was serving as a fine distraction. Wen’s frigates had really evened the odds and almost imperceptibly the tide began to turn.

  “Keep it up people! Just a little longer and we’ll have them!”

  They weren’t the only ship to suffer gunnery issues but a fine workaround emerged as if by instinct. The little ships began to run together in wolfpacks, concentrating their fire together. Without so much as sending out a signal the Yellow Wind found itself being followed by its own personal retinue, and before long they had cut a fair swath in the Enemy line. What was once a unified body became a series of isolated pockets as they were cut off from one another and defeated in detail. Before long they ran out of targets in easy traveling distance.