“Intel from Admiral Anderson says these are transports for Bioray landers. This must be the ground assault component.”
The warship shuddered as she sustained a triple burst of energy from two of the Biomantas, and they swept overhead, each pursued by a Khreenk Corsair and a flight of Alliance Hammerhead gunships. Admiral Pezal grabbed his harness as he selected the Alliance squadrons in turn and allocated general targets. He avoided specifics, so as to give his junior captains the chance to use their initiative. Half of the Alliance squadrons turned their attacks to the Sawfish and their escort fighters, the other half he split, one group to help the Khreenk in their fight against the Biomantas, and the remainder with him to continue their attack on the Ark. He connected verbally to the other ships in this smaller formation.
“Target this location and fire on my mark!”
The eleven ships moved in from their different positions, with their selection of missile systems, guns, and particle beam emitters focused directly on the small target area. Warning sirens sang their song as the ships from both sides mingled together in a vast dogfight that included over a hundred capital ships and three times as many fighters. Admiral Pezal would not be distracted though. He could see the other ships were busy, and his job was to limit the opportunities the Biomechs would have in assaulting Spascia.
“Fire!”
The target was just fifty meters from the venting on the Ark and directly above what Commander D'Vani suggested might be a primary power unit. One explosion followed the other until a series of arcs and flashes obliterated a section the size of a Battlecruiser from the Ark. A great chorus of excitement burst throughout the ship as the scanner detected debris, bodies, and machines drifting about the massive enemy vessel. The scanner quickly identified the form of what appeared to be a Ravager class warship as it tumbled amongst the wreckage.
“Major damage, Admiral. That power plant took over ten percent of the entire Ark with it. It must have been a major auxiliary system,” said Lieutenant Powalk.
His look of excitement quickly vanished at that word. Admiral Pezal felt the blood drain from his face as he watched Lieutenant Powalk.
I thought that would have ended the damned Ark. Now it’s just an auxiliary unit?
"So the thing is still operational?"
Lieutenant Powalk nodded.
"Yes, Sir. Just give me a second..."
He pressed multiple buttons as though he’d just made a terrible mistake. Screen after screen of data moved about on his displays, but none calmed him. He reached one showing the center of the Ark. He stopped as if it was exactly what he'd been looking for. Finally, he looked up and directly into Admiral Pezal’s face and gulped.
“What?”
The man swallowed and then looked to the mainscreen. Nothing else followed, as the entire forward section of ANS Victory vanished in a fireball and sent shredded metal through the rest of the crippled hull. The last thing Admiral Pezal saw, was the screen in front of him vanish into a thousand pieces, before he turned to dust.
* * *
Captain Jim ‘The Hammer’ Evans spun his Lightning fighter about on its axis so that he was facing backwards and tried to do his favorite maneuver. These Biomech fighters had either been programmed against it, or had learned since their last encounter. Both targets had moved sideways in a strafing movement that moved them away from the nose-mounted guns on the fighter. One of the small craft jumped up in relation to his fighter while the other moved directly below.
“Dammit!” he muttered, removing his finger from the trigger.
The Biomech fighters were pure Biomech machines, a fusion of a biological computer and a mechanical machine. The basic shape was of a single powerful engine surrounded by vent outlets, giving it the incredible speed to change attitude in the middle of a fight. It was fitted with small but powerful automatic cannons that could shred a fighter in seconds, and that was exactly what they tried to do.
“Alert! Alert! Alert!” wailed the threat computer.
Captain Evans almost choked at seeing the position he was in, just as the gunfire ripped through his left wing. Damage alerts activated instantly as system after system failed.
"I know we're hit dammit!" he snapped.
For a brief moment, he found himself angrier at the fighter’s computer system than at the Biomech fighters still shooting at him. Another few rounds struck the tail, but nothing major seemed to fail.
Hey, you're still breathing. Remember your training!
He looked at the figures coming in on his visor and identified the damaged and working systems.
"Okay, good. We have power, one engine, and weapons. That's enough."
He stamped down on the foot pedals that simulated what would be rudder control on a conventional airplane, but in this case they were managed by the computer to power the thrusters that altered the yaw of the fighter. Now that he was facing in the same direction as his attackers, he slammed the emergency retro button. The straps pulled in tightly, and it felt as if he'd hit a wall. The Biomech fighters raced past him and did the same, but they had already moved past him.
Now, bring them down!
A quick squeeze sent a stream of cannon rounds into the rear of the nearest fighter. It sparked and flashed before exploding in a spectacular explosion.
One down.
His scanners picked up the shape of the other fighter altering its course to join a formation of three others to his right. It gave him just a few seconds to check on the position of the rest of his wing.
"Form up on my six. We have work to do!"
The other Lightnings did their best to get back into position, but most were still engaged in vicious dogfights, even his wingman was busy with his own troubles.
This isn't going well.
The fight was such a mess that he didn't even see the shape of ANS New Carlos until the last moment. Using his thruster control override, he screamed over the top of its hull, watching with glee as the massive warship unleashed a hail of round from its multiple turrets at the Biomech fighters. Where there had been four Biomechs, there were none, and the others that had been chasing his comrades were suffering a similar dilemma. Captain Evans adjusted his course and moved in to help two of his officers.
We can do this.
* * *
The Spascia Fleet had now split into separate divisions to deliver their attacks against the Biomech Ark. Even the larger capital ships looked like minnows alongside a large shark as they did their best to destroy it. The invisible pulsed particle beams from the more advanced ships caused damage almost instantly, whereas the massed gunfire from the older warships smashed holes through rock, ice, and metal with ease. It wasn’t enough though.
Even as explosions began to rock the target, the massive Ark activated its guns. Like the particle beam emitters on the Crusader class ships, the pulsed particle beams could strike a target at the speed of light, and strike with an energy output well in excess of a gigajoule of kinetic energy. The Ark was able to put out ten times as much energy, its only restriction being a charge time of almost a full minute, and it used this to devastating effect. It wasn’t just the particle emitters that were causing trouble. The Ark’s turret defenses had activated in the last minute, and the entire facility was surrounded in a massive cloud of flak. A short burst raked the dorsal sections of three destroyers as they past directly beneath the Ark.
“Rotate and present our belly. We can’t take another volley topside,” said Commodore Hampel.
The Liberty class destroyer twisted about on its axis just as another barrage swept past the ship. Most of the small chunks of metal whooshed past, but at least three struck the hull plating, one tearing a hole almost a meter wide that breached the outer seals.
“This is insanity. Fire on her with everything we have, and get us the hell out of range of those flak guns.”
The ship shuddered as its powerful engines activated and sent it hurtling away from the turrets. Even as they moved, explosio
ns marked the total destruction of a number of ships.
“Sir, I’m detecting something massive. It’s the Ark.”
Commodore Hampel felt sick as he watched the shattered hulk of ANS Victory sustaining a continuous bombardment from the Ark. The emitters from the Biomech fortress activated and fire simultaneously at a single point. Each time they made contact, another massive section of the capital ship would vanish and explode into tiny fragments.
“We cannot fight that kind of firepower. The entire fleet will be gone in thirty minutes,” he said more to himself than anybody else.
Either we destroy the fortress and disable its weapons, or we get the hell out of here.
His gut instinct told him that with the range of particle beams being effectively infinite, there would be little chance of escape. Yet the idea of closing with the station filled him with dread. Even its defensive flak guns were capable of annihilating the Spascia Fleet.
Another ship, this time a Helion advanced cruiser, succumbed to the overwhelming firepower of the Ark. The first barrage exploded the ship as though it had been blown apart by a massive explosive charge fitted directly at the heart of the vessel. As the blast cleared, there was little left other than chunks of warship no bigger than a fighter.
“Sir, the Helions are withdrawing.”
Commodore Hampel, the Captain of ANS New Carlos, and the man in charge of the defensive screen for the fleet, looked around at his small cadre of officers. It was a vastly smaller group than he was used to, even on the smaller Hunter class frigate, ANS Spearfish that he had transferred from only a week earlier. He looked for the tactical display and then remembered that to reduce the amount of crew and displays, the single holographic unit directly behind the frontline of officers presented information for most of them. It was a new design feature on board the brand new Liberty class destroyers, and it was taking him a while to adjust.
“So, the Khreenk are holding their own, the Helions are gone, and our ships are bearing the brunt of the enemy firepower. How are we doing with their transports?”
“Three down, Sir, the rest have formed a convoy and are moving at speed toward...” said Lieutenant Morgan.
“Spascia, I assume?”
The ships executive officer, who also doubled as the tactical officer, nodded slowly.
“Well, who is in charge now that Admiral Pezal is gone?”
It was a pointless question, and one he already knew the answer to. The chain of command had been well established before the battle began, but that didn’t make the decision to act any more comfortable.
“Very well.”
He activated the earpiece and connected directly to every captain in the fleet.
“This is Commodore Hampel, ANS New Carlos. I am taking command of the Spascia Fleet. All Alliance and Helion ships are to move into contact with the Sawfish convoy. Deploy fighters and move in close."
A ripple of gunfire clattered along the port flank of ship, but the armor deflected or absorbed the worst of it. He shuddered a little as his eyes ran down the damage reports.
Nothing devastating...yet!
He selected the icons for the Khreenk squadrons made up of the agile and surprisingly versatile warships.
“Corsairs, I need you to split up and run interference. I want ten Corsairs to assist the convoy assault; the rest will keep the Ark busy. Don’t try and destroy it. Just get those damned guns off my ships.”
There was no argument from any of the officers, and the formations of ships moved apart and changed course in a slow motion ballet. The entire arrangement might have even been beautiful to watch, apart from the continuous exchanges of gunfire and exploding ships. The combat around Spascia was no longer a stand-up fight to try and destroy the Biomechs. This was now a hit and run operation, pure and simple.
“All Alliance ships, stay away from the Ark, and do as much damage as you can. We need every one of these ships.”
He glanced over to his XO.
“I need a withdrawal location ASAP. This fleet has to be retained, no matter the cost. We can keep this fight up for a short time, but at some point that Ark will turn its attention on our easier to hit ships. That is the moment we’re in trouble.”
He noticed the look on his tactical officer’s face and immediately felt the blood drain from his face.
“What?”
“Uh, tactical reports from Helios Prime itself. It says another Ark has detached from the comet and is decelerating. Ground forces on Helios Prime are bracing themselves for a major assault when it makes contact.”
Commodore Hampel raised an eyebrow.
“So? That’s not unexpected.”
“It’s the size, Sir. The estimates put it at something like five times the size of this one, perhaps even larger.”
He shrugged in reply.
“Son, we have our own worries, right now. The Helion Fleet is substantial. I’m sure they can deal with this situation. If not, well, we’ll get to that when it becomes necessary.”
Still, if they are sending a larger Ark to Helios Prime, it’s easy to see where their real effort is being focused, all the more reason to preserve this fleet for what’s to come.
He looked to the mainscreen and noted with satisfaction the bulk of the Alliance-Helion fleet had carried out his wishes. Those that could had now moved in amongst the enemy ships as they made their way to Spascia, while the Biomech Ark followed on its longer route to take it into a high orbit around Spascia, like some foul marauding moon. A beam flashed on the mainscreen as the computer overlaid the invisible particle beam from the Ark. It struck the corner of a Khreenk vessel but also managed to strike a Biomech Ravager astern. Both ships exploded in a flash of light. Commodore Hampel felt a pang of guilt at the loss of the Khreenk ship, but the shattered remains of the Ravager more than made up for it.
Every ship we can bring down is one less landing party for our boys on the ground to deal with.
He looked at the countdown and the list of potential paths his ships could take. There was one that would require a great degree of fine control, finesse, and more than a little guile.
“Helm, double-check this for me.”
The imagery showed the standard parabolic orbit the fleet would be expected to follow around Spascia. The modified version he had entered into the system would taken them lower than even the course they had taken at Eos.
“Really, Sir?” asked the officer incredulously.
“Yes, I want to know if it is doable.”
The man still seemed almost unable to comprehend the plan.
“Sir, you realize this will put us inside Spascia’s atmosphere? The Crusaders are unable to do that, not without taking a serious risk of catastrophic damage.”
He nodded slowly.
“That’s right. I want to put the fleet in the upper atmosphere and then accelerate out into a position on the other side of the planet. The lower we go, the more the particle beams of that Ark will dissipate.”
The helmsman looked back to his screen while shaking his head. Something caught his eye and he looked back.
“Sir, there’s one other option.”
“Which is?”
“The Rift, Sir. It would take us back to Helios Prime.”
The Commodore looked at the tactical display and realized it was something he’d missed. The ship shuddered as it loosed more gunfire at the enemy, but it failed to distract him from the situation. The display showed Spascia, the intertwined ships from both sides, and the menacing shape of the Ark. The icon showing the orbiting Rift station and its minor defenses flickered green. He watched it and for a second felt a moment of doubt. The Helios Rift would take them away from the violence of Spascia and right into whatever was heading for the homeworld of the Helions. He considered it only for a few seconds and then looked back at the man and shook his head.
“No, our job is here. If we abandon Spascia, we will leave our ground forces with no air or space cover. The enemy will be able to attack at will
.”
He pointed to the outline of Spascia.
“This is what we’re going to do…”
* * *
Jack wiped away the sweat and looked over to the line of soldiers, marines, and civilians. Riku was a short distance away with a pair of NHA soldiers, and he could see so many more working on their defenses. Since arriving, they'd achieved far more than he would ever had expected. The air defense unit was a meter lower than when it had been first wheeled in, and the Combat Engineer Suit marines had actually dug a pit for the machine to operate inside. Jack and the others had spent the time improving the walls for the fitment of heavy weapons at every conceivable point. With the basics completed, it was now time to work on something that was proving backbreaking. Jack looked down at the zigzagging trench they had been working on. Sergeant Stone spotted him stopping and called out to him.
"Private, we've got work to do."
"I know, Sergeant. I just don't get it."
The seasoned marine marched over to him as fresh as he'd been since their landing. Hours seemed like weeks to Jack's bones, and he could see that Callahan, Riku, and the others were also feeling the same.
"What is your problem, Son? You object to the hard work and grind? Back in the twentieth century they spent five years slogging it out in trenches just like this."
That did even less to persuade him, and now he straightened out his back and looked back at the building on this alien world they had decided to use as a blockhouse.
"This city is a ruin. Our marines are fast, tough, and can make a difference, if we use them right. So why the hell are we digging in, like this?"
Lieutenant Elvidge overheard the last part from his position two floor up, where he was assisting in siteing a series of surface-to-air missile batteries.
"Private, you causing trouble down there?"
Jack looked up and shook his head.
"No, Sir, no problems here."
Sergeant Stone pointed at the trench works.
Star Crusades Nexus: The Third Trilogy Page 10