The Guardians of Sol

by Spencer Kettenring

  “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.”

  And then he pressed the detonator.

  42

  February 27, 2290. The Liberation, Battle of Jupiter.

  The size of the enemy fleet had been an unpleasant surprise, but it was nothing insurmountable. The Gate of Dawn was holding position 'above' Jupiter station on the solar plane along with a hundred other, smaller, ships. It was a shame that the Gate's sister ship wasn't combat ready yet, but it had only been completely staffed for a week or so with no chance for a shake down cruise yet. Technical data from the Gate's shakedown was being used to preemptively prevent a few problems. Telamon wasn't prepared to risk an asset like the Hand of Fate before it was ready. He still wasn't sure who came up with the names for these ships. The third Citadel-class dreadnaught hadn't even received a name yet, but would be functional by the end of the year.

  Telamon looked down on the holographic display at the center of his command deck. His team of Swordmasters were glancing at that display, but mostly waiting for him to begin giving out orders. He took a deep calming breath and rested a hand on the new helmet currently attached at belt level. Word was that he would get to keep his Sentinel armor even after he stepped down from the position.

  "Eric, Benjamin: Begin analysis of the enemy fleet. Find the most likely ships that might be bearing their flag. Then give the Jovian lunar forces their instructions. Teysa," he addressed one of the few female first tier Swordmasters. Her uniqueness was mainly due to most women in the Corps having other interests to pursue. "Send the prepared message to Luna, then coordinate the second and third fleets with Raven."

  Telamon studied the board a little more. "Garrett, have the first fleet take a defensive position around Jupiter station as if they weren't expecting reinforcements any time soon. Everyone else," he told his last three Swordmasters. "You know the general strategy. Do what you can to smooth things along. If anyone needs help then help. Or ask."

  "Sir," Eric flagged his attention. "The enemy fleet has a very strong fighter screen between their ships and the moons. They must have gotten more information from the Mars ambush than we expected."

  "Someone must have gotten a call through. Oh well, have our fighters from the moons and other forward ops bases try to draw them off so the assault shuttles can make it through." The monstrous enemy dreadnaught finally jumped into the midst of the Centurion fleet. "What the hell is that thing?"

  "It bears a striking resemblance to the Chiron colony ship from a century ago," Teysa responded, looking up from her flight path calculations.

  "Entering it into calculations and simulations," Eric replied. “There is a ninety-eight percent likelihood that that is the enemy flagship. Redirecting and updating the assault teams’ orders."

  "The enemy fleet will be in optimum flanking positions in approximately thirty-eight minutes," Garrett informed everyone. "That will put them at the edge of Jupiter station's firing range. If we hit them just right they'll be forced into the brunt of its shots."

  "Adjusting the second fleet's flight path around Jupiter," Teysa reported.

  "Updating the third fleet's timetable and entry coordinates," Raven followed up.

  The tension grew as everyone did what little they could from where they were. Until the fleets met that was pretty much just waiting. Telamon was glad that they had taken the time to have the Gate retrieve the Gaea and the Hermes strike force; that added about twenty much needed ships to the Corps' fleets. The colony patrol fleets were down to bare bones strength right now. If the enemy had been more interested in collateral damage this would have been a terrible time for the colonies.

  It looked like Guardian fighter squadrons had torn a few holes in the enemy fighter screen. The display didn't have icons for the assault shuttles. For that they would have had to be broadcasting their IFF beacons and that would have completely defeated the purpose of developing stealthy shuttles. The pilots should report in once they returned to their various docking bays. A countdown at the corner of Telamon's personal screen hit zero. Theoretically, that meant that the strike teams were inserting into the enemy dreadnaught. The first fleet and the Centurion fleets were still about twenty minutes apart. The second fleet was beginning a slingshot maneuver that should bring them into flanking positions around the enemy. The Centurion dreadnaught began turning out of its previous flight path.

  "I've got assault shuttles reporting insertion success from Ganymede and Io!" Benjamin reported. "It looks like we have at least an eighty percent success rate."

  "What's that dreadnaught doing?" Telamon demanded.

  "It's... angling toward Ganymede," someone replied hesitantly. "That doesn't make sense, they shouldn't know about the station. It isn’t even on that side of the moon if they wanted to attack it."

  "Well it isn't leaving it’s fleet behind."

  Every single one of his Swordmasters was stymied. There were fifteen minutes until projected fleet contact. The dreadnaught aligned its bow with the planetoid. Visual displays showed a sharp crack of light as some kind of particle beam blasted into Ganymede's surface. As that beam began to fade it was followed by a second one and a third after that. Each beam was, according to various sensors, at least as powerful as the Gate's main cannon. And the dreadnaught had fired three times. The enemy flagship returned to its previous course.

  "I'm getting reports of increasing tectonic disturbances all over Ganymede," Eric alerted everyone. "The moon is breaking itself apart. I'm sending the order to evacuate the research facility. They'll make their way to Europa and Callisto."

  "Good. Now see what you can do to keep that monster out of firing range of Jupiter station. If you need to accelerate any plans feel free to do so," Telamon told them.

  *****

  It was amazing watching the Swordmasters use the fleets to spar with the Centurion Admiral. The man obviously had a good reason to have received his rank. Telamon idly wondered if the Admiral had his own teams helping him coordinate his fleet. Most of the actual fighting had been limited so far. Instead he watched a lot of maneuvering of ships and fighters around each other and the orbital debris. Things would get really interesting if the battle were still going in a few hours when remnants of Ganymede would drift through.

  The battlefield was much like that of a match between chess masters, or perhaps one between two master swordsmen. Every little change in posture bought one from the enemy. Fighter screens came together and moved apart before shots could be fired.

  A group of Guardian ships were clumped just a little too close together in front of the dreadnaught and were obliterated by one of its particle cannons. The Gate of Dawn reciprocated, and while it missed the dreadnaught it did hit a few other vessels. Smaller Centurion ships let loose with their own lesser beams, but their targets were usually angled out of the way by the time they should have gotten hit. The Guardians did lose a few Aegis destroyers during those exchanges.

  The third fleet finally jumped into orbit and took up harassing positions around the enemy rear. The numbers were a bit more even now, perhaps even slightly in the Guardians' favor. Raven was coordinating the second fleet with one of the other Swordmasters to begin separating the dreadnaught from its entourage. In response the dreadnaught moved further into the middle of its own fleet. Conical destroyers and ellipsoid frigates closed ranks around its aft. The biggest ships of the third fleet let loose with their MAC guns. Most of the ferrous slugs that came close to the dreadnaught were hurled away by the ship's EM shields. The few rounds that hit anything only destroyed a few small frigates.

  The dreadnaught fired its cannons at another cluster of Guardian destroyers. This time, the Gate was close enough to use its own EM emitters to disburse the beams enough for the other Corps ships shielding to handle. The spray of charged particles momentarily blinded the ships' sensors instead of destroying the vessels outright. The dreadnaught tried again
and again every time its cannons charged but met the same effect both times.

  The enemy admiral tried to use the blinding side effect to ambush affected ships with his own vessels. The first fleet took some nasty losses before the Swordmasters figured out how to compensate. The Gate fired at angles that the dreadnaught couldn't reciprocate the former's behavior.

  "Teysa, how long do we have before that interception fleet gets here?" The interim Sentinel asked.

  "They were getting into formation the last time that I inquired. It should be any minute now, sir."

  "Let me know the moment they arrive. They'll be just the thing we need to shake things up."

  *****

  The interception fleet arrived even later than promised. Something about drive core issues. The hundred odd Saber-class gunboats were about a fifth of the size of the smaller frigate variant of the Aegis-class, but with all of the weaponry. The Swordmasters crafted subtle lanes through the lines of the Corps' fleets that the Centurions didn't notice until it was too late. The Sabers moved into position.

  "Gentlemen," Telamon grinned. "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."

  The gunboats lurched forward and into enemy lines. They were not quite as quick or as nimble as a fighter, but they were much more so than a destroyer or battle cruiser. The gunboats were fronted by half-saucers covered in missile ports. Forward sweeping wings came up right behind the saucer. The wings held more than a few powerful plasma cannons capable of severely damaging even the densest hull plating. The last half of each craft was taken up by four powerful engines that provided the gunboats all of the energy that they needed.

  Enemy frigates and destroyers went up in nuclear flames under a hail of concussion missiles and plasma bombs. The enemy battle cruisers were more resilient, and everything that came too close to the dreadnaught met its own fiery end.

  "Saber losses are approaching forty percent!" Raven called out.

  "But enemy formations are shattering," Eric returned. "I'm pulling the other Jovian lunar forces back to the station perimeter. We should finish surrounding them and then destroy them."

  "They must see the same things that we are. If we offer terms they should surrender," another Swordmaster put forward his opinion. "We’ll gain valuable intelligence and resources. Maybe even get that dreadnaught for our own use."

  "Don't you remember what happened when just half of a battle cruiser ended up by the Forge?" Teysa admonished. "They are far more likely to try to cause as much damage to us in suicidal attacks than they are to surrender. I recommend disruption of their power supplies if we cannot destroy them outright. Maintain a strong screen between them and Jupiter station."

  "Tighten the cordon. We'll keep the station protected. Keep trying to disable the dreadnought. We'll try both avenues," Telamon told them. "Open a channel to that dreadnought for me."

  The Swordmasters scrambled to do as he asked. The first fleet moved back to defensive positions around Jupiter station. The Gate maintained its position between the station and the dreadnaught.

  "Admiral Kar Granos. Please be kind enough to answer." Telamon calmly spoke into the com receiver. After a few minutes an image of the scarred admiral came up on the display closest to the Sentinel.

  "Have you finally decided to surrender?" The arrogant bastard asked. "If so, you should do it soon if you wish to spare the men aboard my ship. They are putting up a good fight but it is only a matter of time before my men eliminate them."

  "Actually, I called to offer you terms for your surrender. But if that's not going to happen, I suppose we'll just keep whittling your forces down until there's nothing left. I'm not actually worried about my men. You see," Telamon continued genteelly. An explosion shook Granos' end of the connection. "They're some of the best in the corps. My guess is that you will be seeing some of them soon. I suppose this really was a waste of everyone's time. See you in hell." Telamon closed the connection. "Alright, I should have just listened to Teysa. Frederick, you need to work on your cynicism. Finish the bastards off."

  The interception fleet moved to back up the fighters that were still fighting. The Second and Third fleets pushed in from every side. Pushed the Centurions toward the wall of the First fleet. The Centurion formation changed and sped up. They began to focus all of their fire forward, to the station and the ships in front of it. The Gate returned fire, and diffused or redirected most of what came into its area of control. A group of the most damaged Centurion vessels made suicide runs against the screening fleet. Many were obliterated before they could deal much damage, but they did open a hole in the formation. The Centurion battle cruisers brushed past, and even through, the smaller ships of the first fleet. The Guardians lost three Bastion-class cruisers and a handful of other ships.

  Jupiter station dwarfed even the Gate of Dawn and was well equipped to defend itself. The shield-like pylons hid the largest magnetic accelerations cannons in the solar system, while soaking up and redirecting whatever ambient energy was at hand. The MAC guns began tearing through battle cruisers that did not change course. None of them were changing course. The Centurion dreadnaught was still accelerating. The Gate of Dawn was forced to change course or be destroyed. Their particle cannons were still fairly ineffective against each other. An intact enemy battle cruiser made it through all lines of defense and slammed into Jupiter station's nearest shield pylon, it was not a clean hit, yet a large section of the lower half sheared off. Other incoming battle cruisers loosed their particle cannons at any available target, obliterating many vessels and their return fire, but dispersing upon the station’s EM and defensive shielding.

  "What's everyone doing?" Telamon demanded even though he could see things beginning to move in that direction already. "Save that station!"

  "Sir, I'm picking up gravitic fluctuations around the dreadnaught!" Raven reported, visibly shaken.

  "Dreadnaught impact in three minutes," Eric yelled. "There aren’t any ships close enough for intercept! The dreadnaught will probably survive impact."

  "Gravitic fluctuations are increasing! I think they're going to jump!"

  "That would be suicide. They don't have enough clearance!"

  "I don't think they care anymore," Telamon whispered.

  Another failing battle cruiser rammed Jupiter station, threatening to push it into the Jovian atmosphere. Strange lights, like an aurora began playing along the edges of the dreadnaught. It picked up speed for an instant and then just shattered. Space around it took on a mind-bendingly broken look for several long minutes before reverting to normal.

  "What just happened?" Telamon asked.

  "They tried to make a slipspace jump but something went wrong. We probably won't know exactly what until we get the data to scientists, and maybe not even then. The dreadnaught seems to have lost between one third and two thirds of its mass."

  "Enemy battle cruisers are still closing in on Jupiter station," Teysa reminded them. "Its MAC guns no longer have good lanes of fire against ships trying to ram it. The most damaged battle cruisers are sacrificing themselves to destroy the station while the rest shield them."

  "There's nothing we can do," Eric groaned in defeat. Another battle cruiser slammed into the largest manmade construct in the solar system.

  "If it hasn't already happened, order the station to evacuate!" Telamon commanded.

  "It’s too late," Teysa whispered as two more cruisers destroyed another pylon. Shuttles and fighters streamed from the station's docking bays. But there were not enough. "The station will be caught in Jupiter's gravity well within twenty minutes. It'll be lost to the atmosphere within an hour after that."

  "There are half a million people on that station! Don't tell me we can't do anything for them!" Telamon demanded.

  The Gate of Dawn and a few Bastion-class ships had caught up and were destroying the last few battle cruisers before they could sacrifice themselves against either the station or the fleets.

  "Can the Gate use its EM projectors to pull the stati
on back up? Or at least slow it down?" The Sentinel inquired.

  "At best it won't do anything, and at worst it might drag the ship down with the station. We still have almost an hour though," Eric responded. "I'm signaling the First fleet to begin rescue operations for the station's populace. I just hope that the escape pods were designed with escape velocity in mind."

  "Good. Have half of the second fleet assist them, and have the other half conduct rescue ops for the rest of the battlefield. Assign the third fleet and the interception squadron to clean up operations for whatever enemy forces are left," Telamon ordered, then sighed. "I'm going to go sit down in my office for awhile."

  "We'll cover everything here, sir," Eric assured him. "Go get some rest. You’ve earned it, old man."

  Epilogue 1

  Date: June 13, 2290. Ceremonial Hall of the Confederate Assembly. L1 Central Colony.

  It had been a long and hard clean up. Less than a fifth of Jupiter station's populace had been successfully evacuated. Another one or two hundred thousand had been lost in the First, Second, Third, and interception fleets during the battle. More than a third of the strike force that had been aboard the dreadnaught was still unaccounted for. Thankfully, Telamon thought, his son and most of the other Thundermakers were among the living and were getting some rest in Von Braun city.

  The Spartan looked out over the assembled dignitaries. Ceremonies had been held earlier in the week to formally induct the Republics, Zulu nations, Corporations, and Asian Empire into the Confederacy. The costly Guardian victory over the Centurion invasion fleet had finally impressed the extant nations into uniting under the Confederate flag. Telamon wasn't sure why they hadn't before, but he supposed that such a dangerous outside threat might make any nation reconsider its sovereign isolation.

  Telamon's successor, Tenkenhito, second son of the Japanese emperor's second son, was taking the stand to give his acceptance speech. The topic was strength in unity. Very symbolic. Michael would have loved it. Of course, if Michael were still around Telamon wouldn't need a successor. Tenken's appointment to the position of Sentinel was as well earned as it was due to political expediency. No Guardian would follow an incompetent Sentinel - one of the dictates of the meritocracy. Tenken had led the few Asian units that worked directly with Guardians during the Centurion war. The man had all of the skills of a first tier Swordmaster, an easy way with other soldiers, and the political alacrity to deal with and lead the civilian assembly. Telamon had noticed the sometimes irreverent interactions between Corps soldiers and their superior officers were off-putting to the more serious man. He would get over it. He’d have to if he wanted to lead. Tenkenhito understood how the Corps operated. He understood how imperial soldiers operated. He even understood how Republic military and Zulu warriors operated. He would do well integrating all of the disparate groups together. He had already been a great help in crafting the foundational plans for the retaliation fleet that would leave in a few years to free Vadasz’s people.