No Mercy (Blood War Book 4)

by Rod Carstens

  The mention of the Legion brought back memories of Hu’s own days in Legion boot camp. It seemed much longer back than a couple of years ago. It had been before Rift and the war with the Xotoli. It was as if those years were decades of experiences piled on top of one another. Now only ten percent of the men and women he’d started with were still alive.

  Hu stared down at his drink, letting the number sink in. The others were drinking and laughing, but Hu had lost track of all that. He was lost in the numbers. Hu didn’t say anything, but the number made his stomach tighten with fear, anxiety, sadness, and a lot of other emotions he didn’t understand. All those dead friends and they were still running from the Xotoli. The best they had done was fight them to a standstill on Rift. They’d barely gotten off 703 alive, and now after Chika they were running for their lives again. What was all the sacrifice for? Just keep killing them until they stopped coming? They were running out of bodies, and who gave a shit? The men and women in this club and on this ship were the only ones who cared. Goddamnit, he cared, and people were going to fucking know about it before they bought it.

  Hu stood and yelled, “Everybody charge your glasses!”

  The club became quiet and turned to him.

  “Fill your goddamn glasses, I said! I have a toast.”

  Toland shook Lee until he was awake. She put a drink in his hand. Everyone made sure they had a full glass. Hu raised his high.

  “Nobody gives a shit about us except us! We’ve only got each other, so we need to honor our friends!” Hu paused, then said, “To those we’ve lost and to the next one to die!”

  A big Wolf stood and shouted, “Sing your death song and die like a hero going home!”

  Before anyone could take a drink a Rift stood. Hu recognized her. She had a cascade of Legion tear tattoos down her face; she had been fighting longer than Hu. “Let my family know! How we fought for our planets is written in our blood!”

  When no one else rose to add to the toast, Hu emptied his glass then reared back and threw it as hard as he could into the corner of the compartment. It smashed on the bulkhead. Hu was watching Lee. His eyes had cleared up when he gave his toast. Slowly he used his one good arm to throw his glass against the bulkhead. Toland was next, then almost as one the other Marines in the club threw their glasses into the same corner. Hu sat down.

  “Now we need new fucking glasses,” Nani said, getting up to go to the bar.

  Chapter 18

  CVN Phoenix

  Combat Information Center

  Task Force 54.1

  “Admiral Grogen, it's a good thing Admiral Raurk gave us a heads up about the Xotoli task force in the asteroid best. I had to adjust all my sensors range and sensativity now they show there has been a big fight there all right.”

  “Put it up.”

  The chief put the data she was receiving on the compartment-wide display at the front of the room. Initially there were just readings from various sensors. Then she had the combat computer produce a visualization using the readings. The display showed where there had been Confederation explosions as white blossoms and Xotoli weapons as red blossoms, with the leftover radiation and debris as large rings around which the weapons had detonated. Quadrant Four was covered from one end to the other with these icons.

  What she saw startled her. There had been a large fleet action in and around the asteroid belt not long ago, or the readings would not have been as intense as they were now.

  “Can you contact the Quadrant Four command center?”

  The communications chief worked at establishing contact with the command.

  “No, Admiral. I hailed them on every type of comm I’ve got and I’ve got nothing.”

  “Very well. Give me a visual of the area.”

  The display changed to a visual of the asteroid belt in Quadrant Four. Then it zoomed in on Vesta itself. There was an audible gasp in the CIC when the display showed the condition of the asteroid. It was literally cracked in half. Fluids and gases still leaked from the ruins of the command complex at its center. The surrounding asteroids that had housed sensors and weapons platforms were just so much floating debris, completely destroyed by all manner of weapons. Then the tech changed the view, and the Xotoli ships came on up on the display or what was left of them. They were just so much floating space junk now.

  A Xotoli destroyer had literally been torn in half. You could see compartments open to space. Thousands of pieces of what must have been equipment and personal effects floated around it like a small solar system. A cruiser had several large holes in it and was still spilling oxygen and liquids into space. When the tech zoomed in, Ririsa could see thousands of small holes in the ship’s skin. The canister rounds had worked. They had been the final blow to the ship. No damage-control system could begin to repair that much damage quickly enough to save the ship. The pellets must have penetrated deep into the ship, destroying systems and killing the crew as well as holing the vessel.

  “Does the computer have an estimate of how many ships were involved? There is so much junk it's hard to tell.”

  “Stand by, ma’am. I’ll run the numbers.”

  The tech ran the numbers, then said, “Ma’am, it appears there were approximately fifteen ships.”

  “That’s not enough to invade a whole system,” Ririsa said to herself. “What were they doing?”

  Ririsa didn’t like it when she didn’t understand the Xotoli’s intentions.

  “Chief, let’s go to general quarters, and advise the rest of the task force to do the same. Scramble a flight of fighters to join the screen.”

  “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  “General quarters, general quarters! This is not a drill. Scramble the stand-by flight.”

  Ririsa wanted to approach this mess with her claws out and ready for anything.

  “Spin up all weapons systems and have them calculate firing solutions for all of the Xotoli ships we now have on sensor, no matter what their apparent condition.”

  “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

  “Advise Commander Temesgen to do the same. And I may have them put more Long Lances into the larger vessels.”

  If there was one lesson Ririsa had learned at Rift, it was that a good crew and damage control could resurrect a vessel that appears dead in space. She should know, because she had fought with the Capella long after she should have been a floating hulk. She was not going to take any chances with the Xotoli. The stakes were too high.

  “Ma’am, I am picking up the backwash of a Xotoli vessel. At least one has survived and is headed for the vicinity of Mars.”

  “Very well.”

  She could launch a fighter strike, but the distance was too great. They wouldn’t catch a vessel under way, and she had no idea what she would be launching them into. She needed more information before she risked any lives. She didn’t have enough fighters as it was, and she couldn’t afford to throw them at the first contact she found. If she’d understood what the Xotoli were up to, it would have been different. Just fifteen ships made no sense.

  “Ma’am, I have what appears to be four swift boats in the asteroid belt moving away from Vesta.”

  “Can you raise them?”

  The tech searched for the frequency and hailed the swift boats.

  “Swift boat in the vicinity of Vesta, this is the Phoenix. Please identify yourself.”

  “Phoenix, this is Direct Action Unit One.”

  “Direct Action One, what is your status?”

  “Phoenix, we have the survivors of Vesta and are attempting to reach Ceres.”

  Ririsa leaned forward in her seat and said, “Tell them to change course. We will recover them.”

  The technician relayed the message.

  “Phoenix, that’s the best news I’ve had in a long time. We are calculating the course now.”

  Ririsa needed the information those survivors had, and as soon as she could debrief them. She needed to know what she was getting into.

  When they had reco
vered the three swift boats, Ririsa went down to sick bay to talk to the survivors. She stepped into the hatch and was met by the ship’s surgeon. Behind her, sick bay was crowded with nurses, PAs, medics, and robotic assistants as they began to treat the wounded.

  “Doctor, what’s it look like?”

  “Admiral, they are a beat-up bunch. Lots of crush injuries from the collapse of the facility.”

  “We’ll have most of them stabilized and on the way to recovery, but some will need new limbs grown and will have to wait until we get to Earth, where we can transfer them to facilities that can perform the procedures. Now if you’ll excuse me, Admiral, we have more than we can manage right now. Here’s the casualty list.”

  Ririsa glanced down at the tablet, and as she scanned the names she recognized two from her past. She saw where they had put them and walked over to the stretcher.

  “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Ririsa said.

  Jakob Petrussen and Marga Mathis looked up, and both smiled.

  “Captain. I mean, Admiral. It’s good to see you again,” Petrussen said.

  “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch,” Marga said. “Long time no see, Ririsa. I mean Admiral.”

  Petrussen looked from his old captain to the old Legionnaire.

  “What, how...”

  “Chief Marga and I served together a long time ago, when I was just a Lieutenant J.G. and she was the Legion platoon sergeant. Apparently it’s a small navy.”

  Marga and Ririsa shared the look of two old friends and lovers.

  “I’m surprised you remembered me, Admiral,” Petrussen said.

  “If you don’t think I remember Petty Officer Jakob Petrussen who gave me a piece of the Capella, then you are mistaken. How is he, Marga?”

  Petrussen was still in the cocoon stretcher Marga had put him in on Vesta, but it was now hooked up to the ship’s medical system.

  “Good, Riris...Admiral. He is stable and the ship’s medical system is taking care of his injuries.”

  “Is he alert enough to give me a briefing?”

  “Yes, I had to dial back my special cocktail, so I think he’s nice and lucid.”

  “Admiral, did you know that Marga is very attractive to younger men?”

  Marga and Ririsa exchanged a look, and Marga made adjustments to the fluids.

  “Maybe now.”

  “You are a piece of work, Marga.”

  “I haven’t touched him, I promise. At least not yet.”

  “You got something to look forward to, Chief. I should know.”

  Marga arched an eyebrow but said nothing.

  “Admiral, I’m ready now,” Petrussen said.

  “Go ahead, Chief.”

  “They opened a wormhole directly in front of Quadrant Four and their threat axis took them right through us. It was as if they knew we were there and wanted to test our defenses. There were destroyers, cruisers, a battleship, and these new missile boats that look like troopships. We stayed passive until a tenth of a light-second.”

  “A tenth of a light-second?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Commander Tepuruan said he wanted to get in a knife fight. So we opened up on them with the scrams and the rails. The scrams would hit almost immediately, followed by the canister rail rounds.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Sure did, Admiral. It’s one hell of a one-two punch. So after that it was a slugging match at close range. We were able to take out everything but the battleship. It was badly damaged but it got through. They got us with multiple hits and the roof collapsed. After that it’s all foggy until I woke up on the swift boat.”

  Ririsa looked over at Marga. “Did Tepuruan survive? I would like to commend him on his stand.”

  “Afraid not. The last collapse got him. He was next to Jakob.”

  “I intend to put him in for a citation. We’ll download the lessons learned and I’ll use it to do the write-up. Marga, walk with me.”

  Ririsa and Marga walked a few feet away.

  “It’s good to see you again, Marga.”

  “It’s good to see you too. It’s been a very long time.”

  “No rejuvenations for you even with your experience?”

  “No, they said they had to set a limit because of the cost-benefit analysis.”

  “You still interested in getting in the fight?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good. How many of the DAT team survived?”

  “We all did, because we weren’t in the command center. Our general-quarters station was in the hangar bay.”

  “Good. Until I can find some specific missions for you, you and the rest of the team are now my bodyguards. Admiral Raurk wanted me to have some because of the hybrid threat. I don’t think I need any, but she does, and you remember how she can be.”

  “I sure do. I’ll tell the others and organize watches.”

  “I need Petrussen. He was on the Cappella and fought through till the end. Now he shows up as the chief in charge of the systems for a quadrant of the asteroid belt. I need that experience in my weapons-systems center. How long before he’ll be ready for duty?”

  Marga glanced over at Petrussen. He was asleep.

  “He’s responding well. I think he’ll be ready in a few days.”

  “Good. Keep me informed. Report to me as soon as you can on the bodyguard watches.”

  “Yes, Admiral.”

  Ririsa turned to leave, then said, “Younger men?”

  “You were younger.”

  “You need to pick on someone your own age for a change.”

  “You didn’t complain.”

  Ririsa smiled as she remembered the shore liberties they’d shared together so many years ago. “No, I didn’t. Good to have you around. I’m going to need all of the experience I can put my hands on for this one, Marga. It’s not going to be pretty or easy.”

  “Admiral, you have quite a reputation in the fleet. If anyone is up to it, you are, old friend.”

  They exchanged a final glance, and Ririsa turned and left Marga. As she moved down the passageways she decided the asteroid bunch had put up a damn smart and effective fight. But there was a Xotoli battleship loose in the system. She was going to have to figure out how to put a stop to it.

  Chapter 19

  Sol System

  Earth

  City-State of New York

  Operations Center of the Secretary General

  Admiral Usiche Raurk and Rear Admiral Yasuji Kitmura were leaning over the 3-D tactical display table in the middle of the CIC. She had a close-up of the Earth up on the display. Usiche took one finger and spun the virtual Earth around until the City-State of New York was facing them. She stopped it with a finger and stared at the 3-D map of the sprawling metropolis.

  “Okay, Kitmura. You got a crystal ball in that head of yours. We now know they have just mapped our solar system. Our time is running out. If you were the Xotoli, how would you invade a fortified planet with billions of people on its surface?”

  Kitmura paused for a long moment before he said, “You know from what Netis said their primary target is going to be where the secretary general is. And that is New York.”

  He touched the model and spread his fingers. The display zoomed in on Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs.

  “Okay,” Usiche said. “Askars needs to kill the secretary himself, so he's going to make sure he is where Monnetal is located. That means New York. New York is also the command center for all of our forces.”

  “They don’t need to invade the whole planet. They only need to take New York and kill Monnetal. When they’ve done that, then the rest of Earth is theirs for the taking,” Usiche said.

  “Yes. While that will take a couple hundred thousand troops, they’ve already showed the capability to move nearly that many at Rift.”

  “Yes, he’ll concentrate his ground forces on New York while his navy gains control of the space around Earth, and then he’ll take New York apart until he finds Monnetal.”
r />   “Can it be that simple?” Kitmura said. “Or are we coming up with a strategy that fits our capabilities?”

  Raurk thought for a moment. Looking at the display, the complexity of New York and the interconnections between the city, the port, and its harbor in space made it a prime objective even without the fact that the seat of the Confederation resided there.

  “No, I think that's what he'll do. Trying to take a whole planet when all he has to do is take out one man is a waste of resources. This guy is smart. He is going to concentrate his forces and efforts on the one thing that will win the war for him and make him the head honcho. No, I don’t think it is wishful thinking.”

  “It’s how Sand stopped them on Rift. He knew they were after the command and control and it worked. It gave us enough time to regain control of the space around Rift. But it reverses here. We are going to have to fight for space until Sand can kill Askars and force the Xotoli to leave. Can we do it?” Kitmura asked.

  “Good question, but we don’t have any other options. We do have the Moon fortifications, but that won’t stop them. It will just keep them looking over their shoulders. Not to mention the rails and scrams we have installed around the world and the satellite mines in orbit. But none of that will win the battle. It’s up to us to buy enough time for the ground troops find and kill Askars.”

  “Admiral, where will they enter the system? They found that the asteroid belt is no walk in the park.”

  “Right. I don’t think I would waste my time and effort to blow through those defenses.”

  Usiche brought her fingers together until the display showed the solar system from Earth to Mars. She stared at the planets as they slowly rotated around the sun for some minutes.

  “No, if it were me, I would choose the area between Mars and Earth for my wormhole entrance. Far enough out to stretch Earth’s defenses, yet close enough to attack. I think we’ll be fighting naval battles from Mars to Earth.”

  “Quite a big area, Admiral.”

  “We’ve got Grogen. She’s almost back in the system.”

  “Is Grogen up to it?” Kitmura asked.

  “If she isn’t, no one is. She's a fighting admiral with more combat experience than any other officer in the fleet. So we go with our best.”