No Mercy (Blood War Book 4)

by Rod Carstens

  “Honey Badger, are you seeing this? My system says those are those little Von Fleet frigates and destroyers. Is that correct?”

  “Roger that. It’s a bunch of Von Fleet ships.”

  “All fighters, prepare for attack,” Steiner said.

  “We’re supposed to be scouting, Steinyman.”

  “I know. Send their positions back. Advise the admiral it is under my orders that we are attacking. I’m not leaving those Von Fleet guys to the Xotoli.”

  “Roger.”

  The squadron spread out in attack formation with Honey Badger on his wing. The fighters increased their speed until they were racing for the Xotoli position, hopefully fast enough to get into their Long Lance torpedoes range before the Xotoli sensors spotted them. Steiner watched the red Long Lance range line on his tactical display. Second by second they approached the line. Still no Xotoli response. They were too busy destroying the Von Fleet ships. Steiner saw one then another Von Fleet frigate disappear in a flash on his screen, but they continued to press the attack. Those Von Fleet guys had some balls, Steiner thought.

  The cruiser closest to them was the first to detect them. Its defensive systems lit up on Steiner’s screen, but it was too late. Steiner had planned his course so he would fly the length of the line of Xotoli ships, giving him a series of targets. When he was in range of the cruiser, he fired the first of his Long Lance torpedoes. Then came a destroyer, and his next Long Lance found another cruiser. Now the defensive fire was heavy as the Xotoli turned their attention from the Von Fleet ships to the attacking fighters.

  Steiner saw a Von Fleet destroyer close into almost point-blank range and fire those small rails they carried into the bridge area of a destroyer. The bridge exploded, throwing equipment, bodies, and debris into space. He flipped the fighter over and rammed the throttle forward to reverse his course. Steiner groaned under the gs as his ship slowly stopped, then raced back toward the Xotoli line of ships. Every one of those eight Xotoli ships was now in trouble. Between the Long Lances and the Von Fleet ships continuing to press the attack, they were all badly damaged. A destroyer was skewed and leaking liquids into space. Both of the cruisers were open to space in a number of places and did not appear to be under control. Steiner glanced at his tactical and saw that all of the fighters had made it through.

  “Honey Badger to Steinyman.”

  “Steinyman, go.”

  “We got company.”

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see them soon.”

  Steiner’s tactical display was filled with what appeared to be half of the Xotoli fleet.

  “Can we run?”

  “Negative. They’re between us and the fleet.”

  “Von Fleet Frigate 561 to Confederation flight.”

  “Von Fleet 561, this is Steinyman.”

  “Steinyman, thanks for the help. Looks like we can return the favor. We’re right behind you.”

  “Nice to have the company.”

  “Steinyman, you always get us in the deep end of the shit,” Honey Badger said.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  The fighters raced toward the much-larger Xotoli fleet.

  Chapter 41

  City-State of New York

  Phase Line Green

  1st Conscript Battalion

  Alpha Company

  “Time to wake up. We got company,” Lieutenant Ura said.

  Fenes’s eyes snapped open. He had no idea how long he had been put to sleep for. He glanced at the operational clock—it had been over two hours. He felt like a new man. Ura had been correct. He had needed the rest. Now he was ready for the attack. From his position he could look directly down the Avenue of the Americas into Central Park. He could see armored hybrids moving into the buildings while spike troops were jumping and swinging from one balcony to another like a bunch of armored monkeys.

  “Stand by. We’ve got that whole area wired. Let’s wait for the fun to start before we give away our positions,” Ura said.

  Fenes watched a group of armored hybrids sprint into a building just outside of the park on the ground floor. There were explosions, and he could hear the sound of a heavy mini firing. The side of the building was blown outward. Building materials and hybrid bodies flew out and crashed against the building across the street. He watched as a spike hybrid jumped to the third floor in an effort to get above the ground-level defenses. It was caught in midair by a robotic mini stationed on the third floor; it cut the hybrid’s body in half, spraying blood everywhere. Another squad of armored hybrids entered the building across the street from the first and was met with the same defenses. They turned to retreat before the building exploded but were hit by the fire of a heavy mini that was positioned down the avenue. The whole squad was torn apart and fell where they stood.

  A flight of Xotoli drones rose out of Central Park and raced for the buildings, firing as they approached, trying to eliminate the defenses. The Xotoli drones missiles and heavy weapons at the known defensive positions, and explosions racked the buildings along Central Park South as they drove straight ahead, simply trying to overcome the defenses with sheer numbers. Ura released his drones and the air over the battlefield was soon filled with drones dogfighting each other as well as attacking the defensive positions.

  “Fenes, release your drones. Have them attack the troops in the park. Don’t worry about losses. We got stockpiles at every phase line.”

  “Roger that. ECW, did you copy?”

  “Roger that. They're on the way.”

  Fenes saw that his ECW had chosen to fly his drones in low, hoping to sneak past the dogfighting higher up. They raced down the avenue at ten feet, firing at any moving hybrid. Most made it into the park.

  “Release them,” Fenes said.

  The ECW released them, letting each individual drone use its built-in AI to determine targets of opportunity as well as sending back more detailed information on hybrid positions. Fenes switched to the information flow from the drones. The park was covered with red triangles, but they were organized into units. Some were deliberately moving south while others were trying to flank on both sides. He saw Chucha’s position engage them on the left and Ura’s company begin to engage them on the right. They formed the forward parts of the kill sack. They had to hold their positions and the flanks while trying to force the hybrids into the sack.

  He saw a group of armored hybrids try to cross Eighth Avenue, only to be cut down by the minis of Chucha’s positions. More moved forward, firing as they ran, but they too were cut down. His ECW added drones to the fight, and the hybrids were soon stopped and fell back into Central Park. The Xotoli had erected armored strongpoints along the south edge of the park to provide cover and supporting fire. They stretched from the Pond to Columbus Circle. More hybrids were trying to flank them in Mati’s sector—a larger push than against Chucha. Many more red triangles covered that section of his tactical display.

  Despite their defenses the Xotoli had pushed across Fifth Avenue and were occupying several buildings. A flight of Mike boats emerged from their perches and made runs on those buildings with the metal storms and rockets. Three buildings collapsed under the onslaught. The red triangles disappeared from his display.

  Spike troops began to run directly into the buildings on the south side of the park. They made the buildings and were soon moving through them, using them for cover from the fire on either side. Armored troops did the same. The defenses in these buildings were much weaker than to either flank, so the hybrids were making good progress toward Ura’s and Fenes’s lines. They were walking into the sack. It was finally working. Both Chucha and Mati still had a fight on their hands, with the main body pushing south through the buildings deeper and deeper into the trap, until they occupied the buildings directly across the street from Fenes’s position. Spike troops began to appear on balconies and terraces in those buildings. They were at least ten stories below Fenes’s positio
ns so Fenes and his troops were looking directly down on them.

  Fenes lifted his rail to his shoulder and carefully took aim at a spike troop on a wooded terrace much like the one he was standing on. He watched it carefully move among the trees, looking for its next leap. They were incredibly fast in the open, but when they had to move through cover they were no faster than any human.

  Fenes fired, hitting the hybrid in the middle of the chest and knocking it to the ground. Its armor kept the round from killing it, and it was still moving. Fenes put three more into the body and it was still. He glanced at his tactical display. The platoon was firing at any hybrid that showed itself. They were holding the line. Not one hybrid had made it across 55th Street. But the red triangles showing the hybrids in the buildings were multiplying rapidly. He guessed they’d found an underground route to the building and were preparing to rush the line.

  “All units, this is Ura. Take cover. I repeat, take cover. We are going to blow it.”

  Fenes ducked down below the railing of the walkway. The plan called for leveling the buildings in the kill sack as a last resort. He’d thought they had more time, but Ura was in comm with the battalion and Sand, so the decision had come down from on high.

  “All units take cover.” Fenes repeated the order.

  “Five.”

  “Four.”

  “Three.”

  “Two.”

  Ura paused before he said, “Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole!”

  When the first of the explosives went off, the buildings shook. The explosions continued one after another, until Fenes was sure something had gone wrong. Then, before the echoes of the blasts died, a huge, rolling cloud of dust and debris washed over Fenes and the rest of the platoon making it as dark as midnight the cloud was so thick. Even changing his filters didn’t help. The atmosphere was filled with so much dust and fine particles even his armors tech couldn't cut through it. As the cloud slowly settled and he could begin to see Fenes stood and looked over the railing of the terrace. Every building in the kill sack, from Chucha’s positions along Broadway to Mati’s positions along Fifth Avenue and north to Central Park South, was down, pancaked into piles of rubble. He could see nothing moving in all of the destruction.

  Then, slowly, hybrids began to emerge.

  “Kill them!” Ura yelled.

  Fenes and the rest of the platoon began to fire at the hybrids that were stumbling from the ruins. One in armor pushed a huge piece of debris off of itself and stood, firing up at the surrounding buildings. Fenes thought it almost looked brave instead of like something bred with an animal’s instinct to kill no matter what. He blew its head off with two rounds.

  Then he heard something—a roar he had not heard before, loud and getting closer. He looked up from the debris and the dying hybrid in time to see four Xotoli APCs racing toward their positions over the debris of the fallen buildings. They were firing their cannons and rockets into the building as they approached. A rocket hit close enough to knock Fenes down on the terrace. He bounced back to his feet in time to see the four APCs fly directly into the building five floors below him. They crashed through the outer walls and into the building..

  “We got hybrids in the building! We got hybrids in the building!”

  “Fenes, get your platoon down there. Now!”

  “Follow me!” Fenes yelled as he turned and raced down a flight of stairs his tactical display showed him. As he jumped down the stairs a flight at a time, his tactical display showed the four APCs with red triangles emerging from them. They had deliberately crashed the ships into the building to get troops into their position. He could see green triangles mixing with the red. It was already hand-to-hand. They had to get down there before the Xotoli figured out that this had worked.

  Another crash just to his right threw him hard against the stairway wall, with two other troops from the platoon landing in a heap on top of him. Through a new hole in the stairway wall he saw the side of a Xotoli APC. A door dilated open and an armored trooper jumped out, firing from the hip. It turned toward Fenes, its weapon coming up. Fenes tried to move but the other two troops were still on top of him. He waited for the impact of the rounds.

  Chapter 42

  CVN Phoenix

  Combat Information Center

  Task Force 54

  High Earth Orbit

  “Admiral, the scouting flight is engaging a large Xotoli force. They are reporting that a force of Xotoli ships was attacking a Von Fleet task force. They are attacking that force now.”

  “What! Put the positions on the screen.”

  The only Von Fleet task force anywhere near that area was a bunch of small frigates and destroyers. When the tactical display came up with a mirror of the fighters’ sensor readings, she could hardly believe her eyes. Those little Von Fleet ships were taking on Xotoli ships of the line even though they didn’t stand a chance. Well, they hadn’t stood a chance until the scouting ships got into the fight.

  Ririsa watched as the fighters and small Von Fleet ships pressed the attack. Von Fleet ship after Von Fleet ship took hits that caused horrific damage, but they pressed on while the fighters attacked the rear of the Xotoli ships. The fighters had turned the tide, and the Xotoli ships all glowed that grey on the display that said they were damaged and no longer in the fight. Steinyman had done it again—been in the right place at the right time to get a lick in. But she needed more than this if she was going to slow the Xotoli.

  “Admiral, the Aquila just reported a very large Xotoli force.”

  “Put it up.”

  The battle captain changed the display and there they were. It looked like the main body of the Xotoli naval forces had come from the dayside of Earth and was now headed for the nightside. They were going to try for the knockout blow of destroying the Phoenix, and she was trapped between Earth and the Moon. But something wasn't right about their course. They weren’t turning to engage her.

  “Put up their course and sensor envelope.”

  The battle captain changed the display and Ririsa could not believe her eyes. They were going to the aid of the Xotoli ships in the battle with the little Von Fleet ships and her fighters. What were they thinking? Ririsa realized it didn’t matter. They had given her the opportunity she had been waiting for. Now was the time to act with as much force as she could muster.

  “Battle Captain, designate the large Xotoli force as Battle Space Alpha. Launch all fighters. Tell all protective fighter flights to join the launch and attack any ship in the battle space. Advise our screening vessels to join up with the Aquila and attack the Xotoli.”

  “Aye, Admiral.”

  Ririsa had just thrown the dice. She was all-in. She hoped Steinyman and those Von Fleet ships could keep the attention of the Xotoli long enough for her attack to work.

  Steiner only had one torpedo left after his run on the line of Xotoli ships. He glanced at his display and saw some of the flight had two so they were still a force to be reckoned with. His display was filled with Xotoli. It looked like a battle task force with a battleship as its main ship of the line, with cruisers and destroyers surrounding it.

  “Steinyman to Honey Badger. We’ll go for the battleship.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  The squadron broke up into pairs, with one of the fighters making a torpedo run while the wingman covered the attack, protecting them from other fighters. Steiner put his targeting computer on the battleship and let it work the numbers for a solution. He bore in through heavier and heavier anti-fighter fire from the screening ships. An anti-fighter missile exploded close to his port side as Honey Badger’s countermeasures worked to cover him. Then there was a flash to his port side as a missile took Honey Badger out. More missiles were headed his way. He only had seconds left. If he could just get this last torpedo off into the bridge and hopefully the CIC of that big bastard of a battleship...

  “Warning, warning. Incoming missile. Change course. Change course.”

  “Yea
h, yeah. I know, you don’t have to remind me.”

  Steinyman bore in, and just before the defensive missile struck his ship, he fired. He never saw the Long Lance it struck just below the bridge, penetrating deep into the ship before it exploded destroying the bridge and other vital command systems.

  “Admiral, our ships are reporting contact.”

  Ririsa could see that on the screen, but she didn’t want to correct the tech. Everyone was leaning forward in their chairs as they watched the pitched battle. In the darkened room, lit only by the multicolored displays, the faces of the men and women monitoring the battle were grim. They all knew what was at stake. Her destroyers and cruisers had been able to close and attack the larger Xotoli force before it could turn and face them. Long Lances, rails, and beam weapons were tearing into the Xotoli before they got off a salvo. It was working. The Xotoli were taking a beating. The scouting flight and the Von Fleet ships had drawn their attention long enough for her to find the right time to use everything she had.

  But she knew that the battle was far from over. Her first attack had to be effective enough that the Xotoli force could neither recover from it nor counterpunch. It had to make them break contact and retire. She had not held anything in reserve. This would either stop the Xotoli or they would turn on her and roll up her forces.

  A Confederation destroyer had just placed a salvo of Long Lances into the Xotoli battleship. It was literally breaking apart. She had never seen a battleship destroyed so completely before. It was not the only Xotoli ship to sustain unrecoverable damage. Cruisers and destroyers were floating dead in space or in pieces. Her gamble had worked. They had won. But no naval battle was over until every ship was destroyed or had retired.