No Mercy (Blood War Book 4)

by Rod Carstens

  Kitmura slowly spun the globe in the 3-D display.

  “Admiral, what we just planned leaves the rest of the planet unprotected,” Kitmura said, staring at the spinning globe closely.

  “Yes, it does. I don’t know how we can defend the entire planet with the assets we have. I’m afraid we’ll have to hope Sand and his troops can kill our Xotoli friend quickly and hope the collateral damage is not as bad as I’m afraid it will be.”

  They both stood there silently as Earth, with all of its huge cities, slowly spun in the display. The thought of so many people unprotected made was staggering but there was nothing else to do. At least they had a very specific target that would stop the whole war in its tracks, something she had never thought possible before. As bad as it looked, they had a real chance to win a battle and stop the war. No, it was time to stop questioning the strategy and commit to it. She had to trust her judgment. It was what she got paid for, and it was time to earn the salary.

  “We need to get this intel to Sand as quickly as possible. Are our laser-comm buoys still good?” Usiche asked. Kitmura nodded.

  “I’ll notify civilian emergency management to evacuate all nonessential personnel from New York. All appointed and elected officials will stay behind in shelters.”

  “Will the secretary general go for leaving the elected and appointed officials here?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’ll run it past him before we make the announcement, but he’ll be for it. I know him now.”

  Kitmura checked his data screen. “Yes, ma’am. The buoys are up and secure. I will put together a brief for Sand for your review before I send it.”

  “Good. Do it as quickly as you can. Sand is going to need this info as soon as possible. He hasn’t got much in the way of troops, so he’s going to have to get creative.”

  Kitmura turned and moved to the door. He stopped and glanced back at the admiral. She was standing, staring at the display, her arms crossed and her face set and hard.

  Chapter 20

  Mars Patrol Area Bravo

  Training Squadron Delta

  Flight 14A

  It had been a long and difficult flight out to the intersection point with the Xotoli battleship, but the trainees had done well. They had held their formation and kept the chatter to a minimum. The battleship loomed large in Steiner's tactical display. He didn’t have to zoom anymore to see it clearly. It was obviously damaged. His passive sensors were reading all sorts of liquids and gases being vented into space from numerous damaged areas of the ship. He glanced at the range and their relative closing speeds. It was time to set up their attack.

  “Steinyman to Honey Badger.”

  “Go, Steinyman.”

  “She’s limping, but still got enough speed for a fight. Her tactical sensors must have been damaged because all she has up is a short-range array. We’ll be able to get close and still not be detected.”

  “Roger that. That’s unless she’s trying to draw us in close. Any drones out?”

  “None that I can detect.”

  “All right, you take two flights and I’ll take the other two.”

  “How do you want to play it?”

  “You make a bottom-up run and I’ll make a starboard approach. Then we go with it from there.”

  Steinyman switched to the squadron’s all-hands frequency and announced, “ All flights this is Steinyman. Flights one and two on me. Flights three and four on Honey Badger. Remember to take your time and make sure before you fire. We aren’t carrying full combat loads. So make every shot count. Honey Badger, send the new headings.”

  Steiner dialed the new heading numbers into his ship and said, “On my mark, we translate. Three, two, one, mark. Translate.”

  Like they had practiced it for weeks ahead, the squadron broke into two attack groups and began their run in to the target. He was still receiving the sensor readings from Honey Badger as they set up their attack approach. Steinyman and the others were quickly approaching the red line that showed the range of the sensors that were still active on the battleship. Both flights of ships were going to cross it almost simaltaniously if they could cross it at the same instant they just might create enough confusion to give them the seconds they needed to begin their attack. The Long Lance torpedoes were larger and more powerful than the ones he had carried at Rift and 703. They were now well within range, but he wanted to give the Xotoli as little time as possible to detect and spin up their countermeasures to destroy the torpedoes.

  If they could just get to that sensor line before they fired...

  He increased the magnification on his windshield until he could see the battleship up close. It was a monster with a myriad of sensor boxes, targeting rectangles, and gun mounts covering its surface. Like many of the Confederation ships, its bridge was aft, towering fifty or more decks above the huge expanse of the forward section of the ship. It was a jet black that seemed to shine with an evil intent. He wondered if they had designed it to look menacing. There was an ancient saying from the days when men only flew in the atmosphere that a fighter flew the way it looked. Maybe the Xotoli thought a ship fought the way it looked.

  Well, he was about to find out. Steiner glanced at his tactical display. They were almost at the sensor line. He doubled checked the postioning of the two flights, one on each wing of his ship; they were in perfect combat formation. He looked back at his tactical display. He had set a countdown clock showing his time to the sensor line. It would be a few more seconds. The ten-second countdown began.

  “All right, flights one and two. On my mark let’s turn our targeting systems on. As soon as you get a solution, fire. Don’t wait for my command. Let’s give them something to worry about. Good luck, and remember your training.”

  He glanced at his tactical display. Honey Badger had her flights in place. Here we go.

  “Three, two, one, mark.”

  Steiner’s ship ranged the huge Xotoli ship then sent the solutions to the torpedo. As soon as he saw a green light, he fired his torpedoe. His ship rocked as the torpedo left the tube and raced for the battleship.

  These Long Lances were big enough to carry their own countermeasures. He switched the tactical display to show what the Xotoli were seeing. Instead of a spread of torpedoes, they were seeing a cloud of them. Each torpedo created not just one but multiple targets for the Xotoli sensors and operators to sort through. Each sensor return was approaching at a different speed and had a different targeting point. At launching speed, Steiner and the rest of the ships could not maneuver away from the Xotoli ship. They were going to have to make a very close pass before they could transition out of their attack vectors.

  Steiner pressed his ship’s minigun button and held it down. A glowing red line of thirty-millimeter explosive rounds reached out to the battleship. Given every tenth round was a marker round, it looked as if there was a glowing red line from his fighter to the Xotoli ship. At over five thousand rounds a minute, the mini was a truly nasty weapon. It was now blowing holes in the armored side of the battleship. Some of the rounds would penetrate deep into the ship before they exploded. Others were exploding on the surface in a cluster of orange-red blasts.

  The first of the torpedoes struck the battleship. Penetrating deep into the vessel before exploding. More of the battleships defensive systems opened up on them as they neared the vessel. The space around the ship was filled with powerful red lasers, their versions of a mini, anti-fighter rockets, and some things that he could not identify. The Long Lance torpedoes countermeasures were working well. Most of the defensive systems were not finding their targets. But Steiner knew if you hung around too long they would get lucky.

  He was over the battleship, so he slowly rotated the nose of his fighter to continue to rake the ship with fire. A torpedoe exploded deep in the interior of the ship as he passed over the ship. The hull heaved upward as the explosion tore apart its interior. He rotated the nose of his ship until he was at a right angle to it, holding down the mini’s button, ma
king sure that he never stopped raking the ship with continuous fire.

  He passed over some sort of observation window and saw the most terrifying sight any spaceman could see. A fire in the interior of the ship was raging. He knew that once a ship caught fire it would feed on all the oxygen and hazardous materials it took to run a ship. The torpedoes had done their job. The battleship was dying now.

  Steiner flashed past the Xotoli ship and into clear space. The defensive fire had diminished considerably. He flew on before slowly coming around to form up with the rest of the squadron. As he did he watched the display carefully. He started to count the number of ships that were emerging from the cloud of defensive fire that surrounded the battleship. There were only ten. He had lost five ships.

  “Honey Badger to Steinyman.”

  “Go.”

  “She’s dead in space. She’s not going to threaten anybody. Those new Long Lances did the job.”

  “I only count ten fighters. Am I missing any?”

  “Negative. That is my count. We lost five.”

  Steiner was stunned when he heard that he had lost five fighters in the attack. He had always pulled his stunts by himself. Now he was responsible for the deaths of five new pilots under his command. It had been his decision to attack. He had never asked for this. He was a lone wolf and wanted to stay that way.

  “Steinyman, this is Honey Badger.”

  Steiner didn’t answer. He was still trying to absorb what had just happened.

  “Steiner!”

  “Go ahead, Honey Badger.”

  “I am picking up what must be the Chika task force just on the edge of my sensors. They are headed this way at flank speed instead of heading back to Mars. I suggest we wait for the task force. We can hitch a ride back on the Phoenix.”

  “Check. All Fourteen Alpha ships form up. We are going to hitch a ride home on the Phoenix.”

  As the rest of the squadron formed up around him, Steiner couldn’t stop staring at the formation. Five missing ships. Damn.

  “Phoenix, this is training flight Fourteen Alpha requesting landing instructions,” Steiner said.

  It had been a long few hours, but not as long as if they had gone back to Mars. He was exhausted with the letdown after combat. He could only imagine what the trainees were feeling.

  “Fourteen Alpha, your first two flights should make a starboard approach. Have your second two flights make a port approach. You should now have the green.”

  A green rectangle appeared on Steiner’s display. A long series of them showed the approach to the ship. The rest of the flight fell in line behind him as he put the nose of his ship in the middle of the rectangle and began his approach.

  The Phoenix had been converted into a carrier after Rift, and this was the first time he had seen it. It looked even bigger than it had been as a battleship. As he neared the ship, he saw the skin of the vessel covered with all manner of defensive systems and sensors. She was a dark grey in color, with Phoenix written in bold white letters on her bow. She had two landing decks, one on the starboard side of the ship and one on the port. The landing-deck doors were open, and Steiner could see the well-lighted deck was waiting for them. He made his approach, slowing until he was almost drifting as he crossed the threshold of the deck and entered the landing bay.

  A small tug robot met him and guided him to his tie-down. As he went through his shutdown checklist, the size of the landing hangar amazed him. This hangar bay dwarfed the old destroyer Capella’s bay. The rest of his flight was guided to their tie-down positions on the hangar-bay deck. Robots swarmed over all of them to secure the fighters and to begin any needed repairs or rearming. The red, flashing atmosphere-pressure light on the hangers bulkhead finally turned green, and Steiner opened his cockpit hatch and climbed out.

  When he jumped down to the deck, he looked up to see Admiral Grogen approaching with a big smile on her face.

  “Well, well, look what turned up.”

  “Admiral, it's good to see you. It’s been too long.”

  He had served with the now Admiral Grogen on the Cappella at Rift. It had been her first command and now she was the admiral in charge of a whole task force. The war had certainly changed career paths.

  “Ma’am, we hit the battleship hard, but we only had a training load on board. She’s drifting now, but you know the old rule.”

  “I certainly do. What appears to be a dead ship can come back alive with a good crew and proper damage control. I will send a strike force out as soon as I can get them armed and ready. Good job, Steinyman.”

  “I lost five trainees. I would like to make sure they get their wings and a medal for their bravery.”

  Grogen looked at him with a knowing look on her face.

  “Welcome to command, Steinyman. You always were a lone wolf. I’m afraid you joined a very exclusive club. Ordering men and women into combat brings with it a heavy weight.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  “Look, I’ve contacted the flight school and let them know you’re on board and safe. I’ve also asked that you and the other pilots be transferred to my command. They agreed, and so you are now part of the Phoenix crew. We are headed to Earth and the biggest naval battle in history. I’m going to need all of the veteran pilots I can lay my hands on, so tag, you’re it. You ready for a rematch with the Xotoli?”

  “Yes, ma’am. This time we’ll be waiting for them.”

  Grogen smiled and said, “Get your people together, get some chow, and get to debriefing. I’ve got a strike force to launch. They’ll finish off that battleship. But before they do, I’ve got a special job for you.”

  With that, Grogen turned and walked away. Steiner stood there waiting for the other pilots, then led them to the debriefing room.

  Chapter 21

  Landing Ship Dock Tarawa

  General Dasan Sand’s Briefing Room

  General Sand strode into the room. All of the officers stood as one as he approached the lectern. He stood behind it and looked at the assembled men and women. Every officer down to the platoon leaders was in the room. He had known many of them for close to a decade, and what he was about to ask of them would certainly get many of them killed. His head started to pound again, in spite of Doc Khan’s special mixture. This was not going to be easy.

  “As you were.”

  The men and women sat down.

  “I just received a lengthy intelligence report from Admiral Raurk. In it she explains much about our alien friends. It provides us with answers we have needed for a long time. It also provides us with a target that can bring an end to this war.”

  A murmur raced through the room. Sand held his hand up for silence.

  “I know that seems farfetched at this point in time, but I can assure you it is correct. And the responsibility to take out this target falls directly on our shoulders.”

  Again the murmurs. This time Sand let them talk for a moment before he held up his hand.

  “If you remember Mai Netis, she has been a wealth of knowledge about the Xotoli. She was bred by them to be a hybrid, but as you remember she saved my life and has been working with intelligence since her capture. The Xotoli raised her, so she understands them as no other human. It seems our alien friends believe their god has given them all the resources in the universe. That means anyone using any resources is considered an infidel. So we now know this war is, at its center, a religious war to the Xotoli. From our own history you know how difficult those wars are to fight.

  “But there is something else that gives us the chance to stop this war. It seems each generation of warriors must prove themselves by going to war against a powerful foe. This generation chose us. But it gets better. Each generation has a leader and he chooses the war and is the leader of that war. It seems this Xotoli has to personally kill the secretary general. As soon as he does that, then he has won the war and becomes his generation’s leader. Now how does this mean that we can stop this war?”

  Again he paused for
effect then explained the Askars belief that this was a religious war driven by one Xotoli's ambition to become their leader. He finished the intelliegence brief by saying.

  "We will find him and we will kill him, no matter what it takes,” Sand snapped.

  “Because the secretary general resides in New York, Admiral Raurk and I agree the Xotoli won’t waste troops and resources trying to capture the whole Earth. Instead they are going to focus their ground troops on New York while their navy keeps the space above them clear. Given this analysis, we are going to do the same. We are going to make our stand in New York.”

  Sand touched the lectern, and a 3-D display of New York came up. He paused, not for effect but because his head was killing him and he needed a moment to gather himself.

  “I suspect that the Xotoli will attack New York first.” Sand pointed to the huge port on the display. “We are going to establish platoon-sized interlocking strongpoints and let them come to us. When they get within range, we hit them hard and fall back.”

  Sand touched the display and it immediately began running a simulation of the battle. “You will notice that when a platoon falls back it will eventually pull them into these pockets with platoons on three sides. These killing sacks are going to be where we do the most damage. Then we fall back again and again until we are on the island of Manhattan. It is covered with Megas, as you can see. Each of these buildings is considered a Mega it's over three hundred stories high. Some are six hundred stories high. They are essentially cities within themselves. Now the admiral and I both think that the Xotoli can’t afford to destroy these with naval gunfire, since they might kill the secretary general and for this guy Askars to become the big man he has to kill the secretary general himself. So we bleed them and retreat onto Manhattan, where we will make our stand, and find and kill this Askars.”

  Sand’s head pounded with each beat of his heart, but he continued.

  “If we kill this guy, the war is over. We win. If we don’t and they kill the secretary general, they win. As simple as that sounds, after years of fighting these fucks that’s what it comes down to. That means it comes down to the men and women in this room and those under your command. This is our last battle, one way or another. Either we stop them here or die trying. No retreat, no withdrawal, because it won’t mean anything. They will hunt us down and kill us. You know how they like to kill, so it’s up to us. If they defeat us then that leaves the rest of the population of Earth to these kaks. Billions of men, women, and children.”