Crimson Worlds: Prequel - Bitter Glory

by Jay Allan

  “Point defense lasers ready, sir.” Lieutenant Kiernan shot back the reply almost immediately. “Projected time to firing range, 45 seconds.”

  “Very well, lieutenant.” Compton’s voice was calm. They’d known the enemy capital ship had at least one functioning laser cannon…they’d seen it firing at the fleeing Burke. Now they knew the battleship had a missile launcher operating too. The incoming volley was small, only 11 missiles, but Compton wasn’t going to let his people get sloppy. If they screwed up, if one of those 75 megaton warheads got through, it could vaporize Scorpion with a near miss. “I want the shotgun crews on standby, ready to fire on anything that gets through.”

  “Yes, sir.” The shotguns were something new, a series of multi-barrel coilguns blasting heavy metal projectiles into the path of oncoming missiles at hyper-velocity speeds. At the velocities involved, it didn’t take a very large chunk of osmium-iridium alloy to take out a missile. Compton had never used the shotguns before, but he had high hopes for the innovative system. Squadron Captain Simmons had run some training exercises with the new weapons before 3rd Squadron left the Amiens battlegroup, but none of Scorpion’s crew had ever fired them under combat conditions.

  “Laser batteries engaging enemy missiles, captain.” Kiernan’s voice was mostly calm, perhaps just a touch of edginess. Odds were, Scorpion and Wasp could intercept 11 missiles, and it looked like that was all the enemy battleship had to throw at them. Still, there were no guarantees…it was very possible that one or more of the warheads would penetrate the point defense zone and detonate close enough to cause serious damage.

  Compton nodded slightly, but he didn’t respond. He knew it was hard for the crew to sit there, waiting to see if they survived or not. There were six, maybe eight members of the crew – less than 10% - directly involved in the anti-missile effort. Everyone else had to sit tight…and see if their comrades saved their lives.

  “Three missiles destroyed.” Kiernan was counting the hits out loud. Compton hadn’t ordered her to do it, but it was arguably within her sphere of duties. He didn’t see what harm it would do, so he let her keep it up, though he was as focused on the tactical display as she was. “Five down.”

  It’s the lasers, Compton thought…the lasers are the big threat. He was still a bit distracted by the missiles, but he was thinking mostly about the Shang’s laser batteries. They’d fired one at the Burke…and it was a heavy laser cannon, part of the battleship’s main armament. It had been a bad shot, nowhere close to the target, but the probe reported it was at full power. A heavy laser cannon was a weapon designed to fight other capital ships – it could destroy Scorpion with one direct hit…or blast it to rubble with two or three glancing shots.

  “Nine missiles intercepted, sir. Coming into shotgun range.”

  That caught Compton’s attention. He wanted to see his newest weapons in action. The point defense lasers were very effective, but they had to score a direct hit on an enemy missile hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. The shotguns were an area effect weapon…any missile caught within a 2 klick radius had at least a 30% chance of destruction. Thirty percent didn’t sound very effective, but successful point defense was based on a layered approach, and the shotguns promised to add another tier of defensive protection to the mix.

  “Both remaining missiles destroyed by shotgun batteries, sir.” Kiernan was turned around, facing Compton.

  That was quick, Compton thought. Destroying two missiles wasn’t a very conclusive test, but he was impressed anyway. He wasn’t looking forward to the next missile barrage that would head his way, but he’d be curious to see how the shotguns fared against a heavier attack.

  “Projected entry into laser range in 12-14 minutes.” Kiernan again, following the book on making announcements. “Laser interdiction systems report fully operational.”

  The LIS, commonly referred to as angeldust, fired bursts of reflective material to interdict and dissipate incoming laser fire. They were highly effective when well-targeted, but it was notoriously difficult to place them properly. Lasers attacks traveled at lightspeed, so gunners had to anticipate the lines of fire in advance. Success tended to be a seamless cooperation between man and machine, the computers calculating possible angles of attack and the gunners adding their own gut instincts.

  “Very well.” Compton hated this part…the waiting. He knew his ship could damage the enemy vessel, even destroy it. But the plasma torpedoes were a short-ranged weapon, and Scorpion would have to endure the enemy laser fire long before it could launch its own attack. “Prepare for random zigzag pattern, 1-3g bursts, 4-20 second intervals.”

  “Yes, sir.” Kiernan bent over her workstation, furiously entering data for a few seconds. “Evasive maneuver instructions locked into navcom, sir. Ready to activate at your command.” Once the program was activated, Scorpion’s navigation computer would execute a series of semi-random engine burns designed to confound the enemy’s targeting systems. The randomization wasn’t total, however; the navcom would keep the ship within preset parameters of its initial course.

  Compton sat quietly, waiting just as everyone else to see what weapons the wounded battleship had left. He was focused on the enemy, as he always was in battle. But he couldn’t get the Burke out of his mind. He was nagged by the thought that their first duty was to rescue those civilians. He glanced at the chronometer…in about fifteen minutes a response from the research vessel should reach Wasp and Scorpion.

  “Entering projected laser range in one minute, captain.” Kiernan’s crisp voice pulled Compton from his thoughts about the Burke.

  “Very well, lieutenant.” Compton cleared his head, forcing himself to concentrate on the enemy battleship. “Execute navcom program.”

  “Yes, captain.” Kiernan moved her fingers over the workstation and, almost immediately, Scorpion lurched hard as the AI executed nearly 3g of thrust.

  “Angeldust crews authorized to fire at will.” Good anti-laser crews needed freedom to use their own instincts as well as the numbers crunched by the AIs…and Scorpion had a very good crew. Compton trusted his people, and he wasn’t going to second guess their shots.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The ship lurched hard again, thrusting now at 1.8g. The engines were firing along a radically different vector, but that change wasn’t perceptible inside Scorpion. The vector change moved the ship slightly from its previous line, making it more difficult for a laser battery to score a hit.

  “”Laser fire, sir.” Kiernan drew out the words slightly, eyes on the display waiting to continue the report. “Clean miss. It appears to have been aimed at Wasp.” A short pause then: “Definitely a heavy laser cannon.”

  Damn, Compton thought. They’d detected the shot against Burke from far out, and there was no way to measure accurately its power. Now they knew for sure. It was one of the battleship’s primary laser batteries, a weapon designed to fight other capital ships. Compton had been hoping the enemy vessel was down to secondary lasers. They would have been bad enough, but a direct hit from a primary could easily destroy his ship. The hunting expedition had now become a gauntlet Scorpion and Wasp had to run.

  Chapter 12

  Control Center

  AS Wasp

  Wolf 424 System

  “I want that fire under control.” Garret’s voice was sharp…and loud. He was pissed, and it showed. “Now!”

  “Yes, sir.” Forsten’s voice was showing the strain. No one had wanted to believe the crippled CAC battleship still had any of its primary armament functioning. The hit Wasp took was partially dissipated by a well-placed angeldust cloud, and it was off-center…a glancing blow. But it was enough to rip through the vessel’s engineering deck. The engines were offline, and there was a fire near the reactor. With the loss of the engines, the ship lost its evasive maneuvers, making it much easier to target. Garret was doing what he could to keep up the zigzagging with the positioning thrusters, but they just weren’t strong enough to accomplish much. A sec
ond hit, even another glancing blow, would be the end of Wasp.

  “Laser interdiction crews, I want maximum fire, best possible dispersion pattern.” The angeldust was all Garret’s ship had left to protect itself. They’d be in range to launch torpedoes in another two minutes, but two minutes could be a very long time.

  The com crackled with the angeldust team’s acknowledgement, but Garret’s attention had already shifted. “Lieutenant, what is the status on that fire?” Wasp was in rough enough shape, but if the flames got any closer to the reactor she’d lose power…and that would be the end.

  Forsten took a quick breath. “Sir, Ensign Finch requests permission to evacuate the affected sector.”

  Fuck, Garret thought…that was bad on two counts. If Finch was running things, it meant Lieutenant Carson was down. And if he was already looking to smother the fire with vacuum, things were worse down there than Garret had thought. “Ensign Finch is authorized to use whatever means he considers necessary.” Garret was angry, not at his crew, but at the situation. At himself. He’d underestimated the enemy, convinced himself it would be an easy kill…not because he had solid evidence, but because he’d wanted to go after the prize. Now they had the fight of their lives on their hands…and the fate of the Burke’s crew hung in the balance. If Scorpion and Wasp lost this fight they would die…Charlotte would die.

  He pushed that thought out of his mind. He didn’t even know for sure she was there. And he didn’t have time for self-recriminations now. His ship needed him. If they were going to get through this, it was going to take everything he had.

  Wasp shook…Finch depressurizing the engineering deck, Garret immediately realized. It was an extreme measure, but it would work. The vacuum would kill the fire instantly, and the rest of the ship was sealed off from the effects. As long as all the bulkheads held.

  “Captain, Ensign Finch reports all fires are out. He is repressurizing now, but he can’t assess the damage until they can get back in there.” Forsten looked down at the workstation. “Captain, we have a message coming in from the Burke.”

  “Hold it, lieutenant.” Garret’s resolve shook a little, but it held. He had to win this fight first before he could do anything for the Burke. He was imagining what the message said, and in his mind it was Charlotte’s voice. He knew that was foolishness, and he shoved it hard, deeper into the back of his mind. There was no point in allowing distraction now. They were committed, and winning this fight was the only way anyone was getting out of this system alive. “Arm plasma torpedoes.”

  Garret had been counting off the time between enemy shots. They were clearly suffering some sort of power loss on the CAC vessel. Normally those lasers would recharge in less than a minute, but the enemy was firing more like every three. If we get through this, Garret thought, that’s going to be why.

  “Plasma torpedoes ready, sir. Ensign Jinks wants to know if you want to try a long-ranged shot or hold until point blank.”

  Garret was silent for a few seconds. He’d intended to hold fire until short range, but now he wasn’t sure his ships would get that close. Not unless they knocked out that laser battery.

  “Sir!” Forsten’s voice was loud, almost shouting. “Another laser shot. Scorpion’s been hit.”

  Garret’s gut clenched, but his combat instincts stayed in control. “How bad?”

  “No data yet, sir.” Forsten was frantically working his displays. “Looks like it clipped her port and aft. Captain Compton is still assessing damage.”

  Garret reached toward his com controls, but he pulled back. The last thing Terrance Compton needs now, Garret thought, was the squadron commander on his ass…he’ll report when he can.

  “Advise Ensign Jinks to prep his best shot at long range with two torpedoes.” Garret swallowed hard…his throat was dry and tight. “But I want two held back for a point blank shot.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Garret sat quietly, staring at the main screen. He wanted to target these shots himself, but he knew Jinks was a top notch gunner…and the ensign had been following the enemy ship in the targeting scope. He and Forsten had proven themselves to be a top notch team so far. Garret knew jumping in now and firing off a shot himself would just be more hubris. You’ve done enough to get your people killed, he thought…now you have to trust them to do their jobs.

  The ship bucked softly, then again. A few seconds later, Forsten turned and spoke softly. “Two shots away, sir.”

  The bridge was silent. Everyone knew how much was riding on Jinks’ targeting. The plasma torpedoes were material weapons, and at this distance it would take almost two minutes to reach the target. Garret was counting down softly. Based on the enemy’s rate of fire and the timing of that last shot, he figured it was 50/50 they’d get another laser blast off before Wasp’s torpedoes hit. If they hit.

  “Enemy ship changing thrust pattern, sir.” Forsten was staring into the scope on his console. “It looks like they’ve detected our launch.”

  Garret didn’t respond. He leaned back in his chair, sliding around as always, unconsciously trying to find the non-existent comfortable spot. There was nothing any of them could do now but wait. The enemy ship would try to evade Wasp’s torpedoes, but with its degraded thrust capacity, its options were limited.

  “Projected torpedo impact number one in ten seconds.” Forsten’s tone was edgy, his voice cracking slightly. “Five…four…three…two…one…”

  There was silence on the bridge. Not for the first time, Garret envied the ground-pounders, who could usually hear their ordnance and see if they scored a hit. Wasp’s target was over a million kilometers away, and its crew would discover quite clinically whether their torpedoes found their way home.

  “First torpedo wide.” Forsten was narrating the flow of data they all had on their workstations. “Clean miss.”

  Garret could feel the emotions deflate all around him. The whole crew was watching, waiting. It would take at least five minutes to reload the tubes even if Garret chose to expend his last two torpedoes at long range.

  “Torpedo two looks good!” Forsten’s voice was high pitched, excited. “Confirmed, captain. Direct hit, amidships!”

  Garret let out a long breath. One hit was probably not enough to take out a capital ship, even one that was badly hurt. The damage assessment would give an idea how much Jinks’ shot had helped them. He was focused on one thing…knocking out that laser. But had they? At least we’re on the scoreboard, Garret thought grimly.

  Chapter 13

  Control Center

  AS Scorpion

  Wolf 424 System

  “I want that thrust now!” Terrance Compton was usually measured and calm, but he didn’t like to repeat himself.

  “Working on it, sir.” Lieutenant Kiernan was scribbling hard. Scorpion’s AI systems had been knocked out, and they were still rebooting. But that was going to take three minutes, and Scorpion didn’t have three minutes. She looked up. “This is a little rough, captain.” Kiernan was nervous, afraid she’d miscalculated. Plotting courses by hand was difficult to say the least.

  “Execute, lieutenant.” Compton leaned back, regaining his composure.

  “Yes, sir.” Kiernan turned, nervously dictating the thrust angles to the navigator in clear, slow tones. This was no time for carelessness. There was enough chance she’d made a mistake in the math.

  Scorpion lurched as its thrusters fired at 5g, slamming the bridge crew hard into their seats. A few seconds later there was the relief of freefall, and then another hard burn along a different vector. The ship was zigzagging wildly, trying to shake the enemy targeting. But despite appearances, there was nothing random about the nav plan. Compton was positioning himself for a shot.

  “Lieutenant Horton, are you done rerouting fire control yet?” Compton had his finger to his ear, speaking loudly and slowly into his comlink. Scorpion’s com was working, but there were overloads throughout the system, and the connection with engineering was staticky. The last hit h
ad taken out Scorpion’s gunnery center. Lieutenant Crowel was dead along with his entire team, the primary targeting systems so much torn up junk.

  “Not yet, sir.” There was a lot of interference, and Compton had to struggle to understand his chief engineer. “I’ve had to replace two junction boxes and reboot the targeting software.” There was a short pause. For an instant, Compton thought the com had failed, but then Horton’s voice was back. “I’ll have it operational in two minutes…three tops.”

  “Two, engineer.” Compton’s reply was sharp and quick. “Two minutes.” There was only one person left alive on Scorpion who was going to take this shot…Terrance Compton.

  “Yes, sir.” The stress was obvious in Horton’s voice, even over the damaged connection.

  “Sir, Wasp is launching torpedoes!” Kiernan spun around as she spoke, her voice loud with excitement.

  Compton’s head snapped toward his own screen, watching the plotting trajectory of Garret’s two torpedoes. Long range, Compton thought as he stared at the two yellow symbols that represented Wasp’s ordnance.

  “Project range to target one minute, forty seconds.” Kiernan was narrating the progress of Wasp’s attack, though everyone on the bridge was frozen, monitoring the torpedoes on their workstations for themselves.

  Time passed slowly on Scorpion’s bridge. Waiting. Just waiting. Feeling the seconds slowly pass, watching to see if Wasp’s attack would succeed. Compton, staring at his screen, impatient for Scorpion’s own weapons to come back online. And through it all, the nerve-wracking wait for the enemy to fire its next laser blast…an attack that could come any time or not at all. An attack that could easily destroy Wasp or Scorpion.

  “One minute until impact range.” Kiernan’s eyes were focused on the targeting display.

  “Captain…” Horton’s voice on the com. “…You’ll have fire control in 30 seconds, sir.” The distortion in the com line made it hard to understand, but Compton had been waiting for this.