"You saw that?"
"I am a very resourceful AI. Sir."
"And one with an attitude. How long until I can get up and run?"
"Fifteen seconds," she replied. "In case you are feeling impatient, I would like to remind you that the forty-five second systems start up is half of what it was at my installation, and according to my records a full two point two five seconds faster than it was prior to my installation. Systems are all green. You may proceed. Thanks to my streamlining of the process you are likely to reach your assigned shuttle even before those men who were closer to their armor when the alert first began."
"Fine, I don't appreciate you enough. Since we're on the subject now. Is there anything you can do to streamline the start up procedures for the rest of my squad?"
"That seems likely. Although without my direct attention it is unlikely that the procedure will ever be as fast as yours."
"Good enough. Put it on our to-do list for after the battle."
I slowed as I actually entered the hangar bay. All of the pilots were doing their preflight checks. Even the fastest of them wouldn't be ready for another five to ten minutes. I swept my eyes over the new stealth assault shuttles. The arrowhead shaped craft were both prettier and more intimidating than their older, golden counterparts. I had trouble remembering which one my squad was assigned to. Rommy picked up on my confusion from my eye movements and a navigation marker flagged one of the shuttles for me. I muttered my thanks to her and boarded.
The section for the squads was a littler smaller on this version of shuttle, with space for one less squad of Castigars. Of course, if it were loaded with Venators you could still probably fit at least sixty of them in with room to spare. I preferred to go into battle with fewer men of larger girth so thirty six Castigars would have to do. I secured myself to my position on the wall just as my men began filtering in. The chatter on the squad channel was full of jokes and relief. A good sign.
"Rommy, display the enemy fleet's flight path for me."
A nebulous red blob appeared on my HUD and a curved path of a slightly different hue stretched out before it.
"The enemy's path will take them past both the Ganymede facility and ours. Europa and Callisto are too far away to be of immediate assistance," Rommy informed me. "The battle plan is still workable if timed correctly. New orders are coming through the command net to that effect."
The information streamed down one side of my HUD. Our new orders were to coordinate our assault on the enemy command ship, more than likely the largest one, between the Ganymede and Io forces. Rommy provided me with estimates of both facilities’ ready times as well as countdowns for launch.
"Heh, actually early for once," Haywire teased me over the com from his spot three seats down. "We're finally looking at the big one. Biggest brawl since the Chinese and Indians got into it during the third world war."
"Yeah, even the war with the AEU was more like a series of skirmishes. What took you so long, anyway?"
"I had to end my call with Sarah. It devolved into one of those 'no you hang up first' deals."
"I guess it’s nice that my sister found a guy both of us trust, but I feel like I should warn you one more time not to hurt her. If only because I would hate to have to cripple my best friend."
He laughed at me. "No need to worry about that, brother. If I can get some more quality time with her I might just take her down yours and Rachel's path."
"I hope you're not talking about having her develop equipment for you. Sarah's good with basic maintenance but anything she touches beyond that has a habit of blowing up. Probably one of the reasons she's a good pilot, now that I think of it."
I tried not to think about her and her friends flying their death traps in combat against hundreds or thousands of enemy flying death traps in the battle soon. Time is always the enemy in these situations. The count down read seven minutes and change for Ganymede, and closer to fifteen for us. Too much time to think, not enough time to change anything. It was quite frustrating.
"She'll be fine, Rhys. Her squadron has the top marks in the fleet. You know that they'll have the best equipment available. We only need to worry about us. Any word on our target yet?"
"Yeah, pull up the strategic display," I told him. I knew that he wouldn't have bothered yet despite having the authority to do so. It was something that he needed to fix if he ever intended to have a squad of his own. "No visual reports yet, but the biggest ship is probably their flag. That's our target. Cut off the head and all that."
"Just looking at the raw data, that flagship has to be close to three kilometers long. That's a lot of ground to cover even if we've got fifteen squads on hand," He said, referencing B company and forty percent of C company from the first legion that were with them on Io.
"Ganymede is close enough to help. That'll add another fifteen to twenty-five squads to our party. Two or three of those will probably be Specials as well. You're also assuming that all the shuttles are going to make it."
"They're stealth shuttles, Boss."
"Which means that they have less armor. An enemy pilot might not see a shuttle in time to stop an impact, or a stray shot from a battleship, friend or foe, could hit them. Hell, one of our fighter pilots might not see the shuttle in time."
A short chime cut off the rest of what I was going to say. Jimmy could figure out the rest of my speech himself. Ganymede's launch count had hit zero. The last few men filed in and were busy securing themselves. The shuttle's pilot hustled past in his sleeker and more utilitarian armor.
"We're launching in seven minutes," I informed my squad and the two B company squads we shared the shuttle with. I had Rommy bring up the display on their HUDs as well as some of the first few clear visual images of the enemy fleet. She magnified and isolated the assumed flagship for me. The gigantic vessel held to the same vaguely conical construction as other Centurion ships, but something about it niggled at the edges of memory. "This ship is our initial target. Once onboard we are to find and eliminate enemy leadership. We do not have any schematics for the ship, so it looks like we'll be doing a deck by deck, room by room search. Fortunately we will be joined by a force from Ganymede so the search should," I finished with a touch of sardonic cheer. "It’ll only take a few days instead of all week."
That got me a few weak laughs. With our purpose clear, or clear enough, I suppose, everyone went back to finishing their last minute preparations.
"Rommy, do an analysis on that flagship. Tell me why it looks so familiar to me."
"Accessing available ship records. Comparing profiles and schematics. Eighty percent match found." An image of a large ship similar to the enemy flagship appeared on my display. "The enemy flagship shares many design characteristics with the last colony ship sent out of system. Pay particular attention to the three central ridges. You’ll notice that they are more pronounced on this ship than they were on the Chiron. The flagship is about twenty-five percent shorter. If the ships share basic defensive capabilities then it is likely that the flagship can fire at least three charged particle beams several times more powerful than their standard ships before recharge."
"How likely is it that HQ has come to the same conclusions?" I wondered. I might need to send her conclusions up the chain of command.
"I am hardly the only smart AI in the Corps. The Sentinel and his planners likely have the assistance of at least two with greater processing power than me. Additionally, any first tier Swordmaster should be able to draw the same conclusions. They would just take a little longer."
"I won't worry about it then." The Io countdown chimed a scant second before the shuttle lurched into motion.
"Alright gentleman," our pilot began. He was annoyingly chipper. "On our flight today you can see the little known rings of Jupiter on our right. Our destination is the enemy vessel so large it is positively begging to be squashed by the wrath of a jealous God. Our scenic route will take us past an idyllic void filled with dueling fighters and battleship
s. Pay special attention to the lovely radiation bloom at two o'clock by thirty degrees above the horizon. Flight time will be about fifteen minutes. Refreshments will not be served. Sorry."
I was hooked into the external sensors of the shuttle like I had been at Venus. It was a nice change to be flying at something instead of away. Guardian Corps fighters had engaged the enemy fighter screen several minutes ago. Mostly they were still skirmishing as destroyers and frigates maneuvered into position to support each other. I wondered how exactly the battle would change once enemy command began getting reports of hull breaches in their flagship.
An enemy fighter flashed by under our shuttle. Close enough that I probably could have seen the pilot in the cockpit if I'd been paying attention. The Cerberus fighter chasing it passed over our shuttle close enough that its backwash threatened to light us up on sensors. I swore automatically, but our pilot went on narrating our surroundings in a benign, almost bored, monotone that kept me calm. I couldn't wait to get something a little sturdier under my feet again. The shuttles of our assault force wended their way through the enemy formation. The gigantic flagship kept getting more gigantic.
"Any idea where the command deck might be on that thing?" I inquired of my AI.
"I can no longer access Guardian databases due to electronic warfare countermeasures being used by both sides. I also do not have the free active memory to store the Chiron's schematics and perform at optimal combat levels." She paused. "Another problem to fix after this battle."
"Add it to the list." I think that we had come up with six or seven simple but critical problems that needed attention. Later.
That flagship loomed closer, and closer. Impact. The assault shuttle shredded through the hull and the powerful hydraulics at the tip tore a hole large enough for two Castigars to charge through at one time. The other four shuttles from Io impacted at other points nearby in the hull. Hopefully the force from Ganymede was making their entrance at the same time. Shot-put's team led the way, shields and weapons up. Hard Edge squad followed them through. Then Haywire's team. Then Flunky squad. My team held the rear. There were a few unarmored Centurions that looked like they had asphyxiated after impact. A few more were such bloody messes that Shot-put's team must have put them down.
Unlike Guardian ships or the few Centurion ships that I knew about, the flagship's decks were designed vertically with the floors facing the engine instead of having it at one end. The gravitic vertigo going from the alignment of the shuttle to the alignment of the ship as I dropped from one to the other was more annoying than an orbital drop, though mercilessly shorter.
"Rommy, do me some math. Each deck is about four meters high. Estimate at least one meter of structure between decks. How many decks are we looking forward to searching?"
"The bottom and top hundred meters are likely to be inhospitable for our targets as well. Approximately five hundred and sixty decks. Fortunately this design means that each deck is significantly smaller than they would be in more conventional designs. Search time is likely to be limited to ten or fifteen minutes each."
"Great." I did some thinking for myself for once, using one of the focusing techniques from the second tier that I had just begun to learn in the last few weeks. The flagship had no obvious command structures. It was likely that the command deck was somewhere in the forward third of the superstructure. The core of the back two thirds was more than likely taken up by the engines, particle accelerators, and generators needed by any interstellar ship. "Rommy, approximately which deck are we on?"
"If we assume that the closest hospitable deck by the engine outputs is deck five-sixty then we should be somewhere around deck four hundred."
"Thank you." I told her. That meant there was a way into engineering close by. Hopefully someone else would take advantage of that. We still had our orders and I was more oriented now. "Alright, let's start heading up. We have maybe three hundred decks to cover before we're liable to get to anyone important. Somebody find me some stairs or another way that doesn't require us to face the lifts."
The other Castigars spread out. Each of the teams were covering each other's backs. Flunky team 3 found an access hatch to the Centurion version of the Jeffries tubes, but good luck fitting a Castigar in one of those.
"Anyone see any of those floor hatches we found in that other ship?"
I got a bunch of negative replies. I swore. It relieved a bit of stress. Without stairs or those floor hatches we might be stuck on this floor. The enemy would be able to stop or reroute any lifts I might try to use so those were out of the question. I doubted that we could even make use of the lifts like we did before since the flagship had full power and could use the lift boxes as massive and high velocity bludgeons against us.
"Find a computer terminal for me," Rommy whispered in my ear. "The samples of Centurion code we have should enable me to at least find you a way or two up. If we're lucky I might even be able to lock down the lift system."
"If we're lucky?"
"The enemy might have an AI or two of their own running security and processing. I only have basic electronic warfare programming. If I run into a security AI I will need to break off access immediately before I am subverted or destroyed."
"I don't want to risk you like that, Rommy. Push comes to shove we'll just burn holes through each deck until we get to the target."
"Thank you, sir. I'll begin structural analysis for weak points or emergency-"
"Castle," one of the B company team leaders interrupted her. "I think we found something. Please advise."
The sergeant piped his video feed to my HUD and I studied what he sent me. It looked like one of the emergency hatches that Rommy had promised to look for. I told the sergeant as much. Structural analysis suggested that stairs or a ramp to other levels lay on the other side. The hatch probably wouldn't open while the hall was open to vacuum.
"Voodoo, Squatter. Go grab the patch kit from the shuttle. Then tell the pilot to get ready to pull out."
The pair moved out and made the stomach churning leap through the differing gravities. A few minutes later they came back out with a fat canvas pack in Squatter's hand. I gave the word to the pilot and she carefully backed out of the breach. She would head back to Io to refuel and wait for further orders. The edges of the hull were already oozing towards each other. Intriguing. Something I'm sure Rachel and Ruiz would love to analyze. But the process was so slow it would be at least an hour before the breach was sealed that way and we couldn't remain trapped that long. If nothing else the enemy was sure to send troops of their own to investigate the hull breach. Squatter and Voodoo used the adhesive and a particularly strong and dense sheet of some polymer to speed the process. A minute later I was standing by the emergency hatch as the pressure equalized and the light cycled green.
The stairs were large enough and sturdy enough to support a bunch of men in heavy armor in a hurry. That was considerate of the enemy. The next two levels were locked out, suggesting that other shuttles had 'landed' there. We found another locked level four or five levels above those. That one cycled green just as my rearguard passed it. We added another two squads to our number. Apparently their third squad was risking the lifts. I wished them luck. We made it to the estimated deck three hundred when we hit our first major resistance. Honestly, it surprised me that the response took that long.
The stair hatches on three oh one and two ninety-eight opened just as a grenade bounced down from two ninety-seven. The flashbang forced the guys upfront to switch completely over to thermals to save their eyes, whether they wanted that or not. The disorientation was just enough to cost them their lives. The two men from Hard Edge at the front still lasted the few seconds the men behind them needed to properly respond. The other two men from that team leapt forward up the stairs to hold off the enemy coming down from there. The Flunky team behind them automatically pushed forward to hold off the breach from two ninety-eight. Haywire's team was holding the rear on the three oh one landing, and w
as doing the best. Instead of merely keeping the Centurions at bay, the Specials' superior equipment let them scythe through their opponents. The shatter hammers were particularly vicious in close quarters.
I sent John's team to back up the Flunky team on two ninety-eight. The Hard Edge pair was still doing pretty well, and was already being backed up by the rest of their squad. Another team of Flunkies went down to support Haywire. There was only enough room in the stairwell for two men to fight or walk at one time. I suppose that was good for us. It limited the advantage of their numbers. I still wanted to move forward though, so holding the enemy off wasn't quite good enough for me. I began the tight process of moving from the middle of our little column to the front. The initial pair of Hard Edge men had already cycled back and were making minor repairs to their equipment. Good men and solid soldiers – most of the damage was superficial.
Once Hektor and I were in position the Hard Edge team engaging the enemy in the stairwell fell back to the two ninety-eight landing and into that hallway. The enemy rushed forward into a straight right that shredded the man's face and helmet when they met my knuckle blade. Hektor used his shield and a short sword to cut down man after man. I crushed a Centurion's armored ribs in with my own shield. I launched an explosive round from my left gauntlet that bounced off the stairwell wall to explode somewhere out of sight. The surprise lessened the pressure on Hektor and me imperceptibly, but it was enough. We brought our shields up simultaneously and launched ourselves forward. Our thrusters gave us the extra boost we needed to change the flow. The Centurions seemed to panic and retreated up the stairs. My team stepped aside to allow Hard Edge and the two other squads we picked up to pursue the enemy while we caught our breath.
"Good work there, Hektor. Makes me glad I took a chance on you."
"Sheesh, you give your boss a good beating once or twice and he never lets you live it down."
The Guardians of Sol Page 32