by T S Paul
The nine massive laser cannons opened fire on the Earth Station. Due to their size and distance, the Station was unable to return effective fire. Only its torpedoes had any chance of hitting the battleship.
Three salvos were all that was needed to destroy the station keeping engines and blast the station into three large pieces. Captain Poole could only smile as the three large chunks of the station began to descend into the atmosphere.
“Sir, a message from the Flag! The Admiral says job well done. We are to proceed to the moon and assist with taking out the bases there.”
~~~~~
Things were following the plan so far. I’m not a perfect strategist but I have access to those who are or were with the help of Wilson. He can contact my sister, grandmother, or even raid digital libraries for things to help me. I’m making do. Earth orbit was now littered with debris as two stations and a shipyard met their doom. Large chunks of the destroyed stations were starting to rain down on the planet. It was time to turn the pirates loose.
“Communications, contact Commodore Lonegan and turn his pirates loose.”
I swear I’ve either read too much pirate fiction or Wilson has been subliminally influencing me again. All I could hear in my head was. “Avast ye scurvy dogs! There’s lootin’ to be had!”
Chapter 17
“Admiral, our sensors just picked up a jump trace!”
I reached for my tablet and pulled up the star map. “Could it be a messenger from Mars?” I looked at Bee and Tree. Both CATTs shook their heads at me.
“Bellona says no ships.”
“If it’s the enemy, do we have an ETA?”
“Yes, Admiral. Navigation estimates one hour at top speed. If it’s one of ours, it will be here a little earlier.”
“Understood. Start the recall. We need to be on our way out when they get here, or it will be all over.” I leaned back in my chair and sighed. We had been in Earth orbit for about twelve hours. The current count was two shipyards and three large space stations. The lunar base was a blackened wreckage filled the hole. Three aimed asteroids were tossed at it in kinetic strikes. The same could be said for a metal processing plant in what Wilson said was China. Several obvious military bases also took direct hits from the fleet. Earth only launched one flight of starfighters in defense of the planet, and they were blown up rather quickly by the Silver Valkyries from my own planet. We owned the skies above Earth. The pirates took out an additional two space stations and a large orbital farm. It made me wonder about the pirates who landed. How were they faring?
I signaled Commander Tasman. “Have the pirate's been notified to return to their ships?”
“We told them, but most aren’t listening. They landed all over the place. Most not even in the same general area. At last count, they set down over ten thousand individual raiders.”
“Wow, that many? Impressive.”
“Yes, Ma’am. It might have been if they concentrated their forces. Instead, they bounced around willy-nilly attacking strange things.”
“Strange things?”
“Yes, we had a report from one of our starfighters. A pirate drop ship landed next to a giant metal antenna in what our maps say is France? The city was nothing but ruins but they came off the ship shooting and set the place on fire.” I started to chuckle at that.
“They are pirates.”
“But do they have to be dumb pirates? Another group of ships dropped into that military base the Texas pasted. As soon as the ships landed, they were attacked on all sides by armed military. The dumb-asses didn’t bother to see if we got them all before landing. They were wiped out. Our fighters then had to shoot down the dropships. The clones boarded and tried to attack us with them.” She just shook his head.
“What of Commodore Lonegan, how did he fare?”
“He landed in Ireland. I think you told him to do that?” She looked expectantly at me.
“Yes, I was trying to convince him to go along with this raid. His ancestors were Irish.”
“So, they landed a group near a large manufacturing plant. They didn’t find what they expected. Here we have a vid of it. The commodore has political ambitions now. He was recording to boost himself up back home.”
The small vid screen next to my desk lit up. It surprised me for a moment; I was expecting the larger one. I glanced at the Commander. She grimaced. “It is a bit on the graphic side. I didn’t think the girls would have liked it.”
The screen came to life with a shot of the commodore stepping off the ship with a large group of pirates. Lonegan waxed poetically about blights and nasty factories contaminating the ‘old sod’ as he put it. The camera switched to a very sloppy assault that brought forth chuckles from my guards and Dar. Pirates do not charge into battle well. They were unprepared for the locked door and fell all over each other getting it open. Inside they immediately encountered a misshapen Clone trooper in a black cloak firing a laser rifle at them.
I sat up in my chair and paused the vid. “Was that a Zeta?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It was. The commodore ran across one of their processing plants.”
“I’m not going to like this am I?”
Abigail just shook her head. I pushed the button to continue. The vid came back on with the pirates killing the Zeta and venturing deeper into the facility. I was sickened along with the commodore and his men as they explored the Zeta processing plant. The images were not any different than those from Capital.
I looked expectantly at the commander. “He tossed his cookies for about ten minutes. They exited through the loading docks and came across the holding pens. Some of his men tried to help the detainees, but were attacked.”
“Believe me when I say I sympathize with the humans down there, but we cannot help them. Your Primus and I agonized over this very subject. We knew they had plants like this. Something similar happened in the Empire. One of the pockets of resistance fighters raided one of the Zeta units. They tried to free the humans in the pens and were killed by those they tried to help. The clones have it down to a science. Starve them until all humanity is gone. Anyone who tries to help is ripped to pieces for food. We have to stop them out there. So this doesn’t happen to our people.” I pointed at the star map. “Did Lonegan answer the recall?”
“Not yet. We lost track of him after Ireland. They scattered and went looking for places to raid elsewhere.”
“try to find him. We need to leave, and I promised Kate I wouldn’t just leave them here. Do we know any more about what is coming?”
“Not sure Ma’am. Our sensors have picked up multiple ships, but they seem to be using stealth systems similar to that of the Imperials.”
“Damn. Have our ships start forming battle lines and prep the fighters; this could get nasty.” The commander rushed off to take care of the work I dumped on her.
“Wilson sent a message.” I looked down at my feet. Bee and Tree were staring up at me.
“What did you say?”
“Wilson, Junior sent a message that the fleet was returning. He said that Earth sent word of the attack and the ships turned around and launched at max speed. The system was jammed so he could not get the word out right away. They suspect a spy and are tearing the station apart looking for one. He is safe for now.”
“OK, send him my thanks. Better late than never.” I called up the battle plot and began making plans.
~~~~~~
“Commodore, the Martians just sent us a recall order.” The bosun ducked to avoid glancing laser fire. They had been looting a storehouse when several dozen black-clad troops showed up.
“What did you say?” Commodore Lonegan was pinned down along with a group of his crew shooting at clone soldiers. So nice of the Martians to not tell them about the clones or the fact that they were fecking everywhere!
“The Martians sent word for us to return to the ships. Enemy ships are returning, and we need to get the frigging hell out of here!”
Lonegan cursed as he fired at the clon
es again. He waved at his men. “Back to the ship! Time to get out of here!” Many of his men looked relieved; this had most definitely not been the raid of the century for them. That factory was the worse!
The clone commander didn’t like his prey escaping, so he ordered his men to flank the pirates. The dropship sat at the center of a wheat field. The stalks of grain were still smoking where the fires from the landing burned. The two pilots stood guard on the ramp smoking. Not being trained for ground combat they failed to see their attackers. A small squad of Delta warriors gutted the pilots and hid the bodies inside.
Lonegan was panting when he could finally see the ship. He leaned heavily against a farm machine. Ducking, he checked his ammunition levels. The running battle seemed like it had gone on for hours when it was only minutes. Seeing a clear path. he motioned to the crew, and they began to run through the field toward the ship. Their pursuers continued to fire at the fleeing pirates.
“Fire up the engines and let's get the flaming hell out of here!” Lonegan felt like he was on his last breath as he nearly collapsed on the ramp of the ship. His bosun and half the fighters ran into the ship to rearm and start takeoff procedures. Their screams soon joined the sounds of battle as the clones closed in. Lonegan tried crawling off the side of the ramp to escape as his men were cut down where they stood by the enemy fire. With his eyes bulging and face red, he screamed as the clones dragged him into the ship. He could hear them laughing as sounds like knives being sharpened echoed into his ears.
~~~~~~
The returning Earth fleet was larger than usual. Protecting the Theta clones was their primary duty during transit. Every available ship had been sent along with any birthing supplies needed. The future of the program had been in their hands. The message from Earth had shocked the Alpha commanders on board. Who would dare to attack Earth? How did they know it was vulnerable? The ships were unloaded with haste and maxed their engines to return.
“Sir. Transmissions from the Program have stopped.”
Alpha 537 turned away from his console and stared at the Gamma. “Protocol states that if attacked they are to seal the base and lock down. Communications are supposed to be blacked out.”
“Yes, Sir. We should be within sight of Earth in twenty minutes.” The Alpha waved him away.
Looking at the Zeta sitting at the table Alpha 537 motioned toward the bridge. “Do we even have an Earth to go back to?”
The Zeta’s eyes widened. “Careful. Talk like that will get you a visit from me. The Program has contingency plans for things such as this. There is always a plan, never fear. My suggestion is to activate battle stations. They may have scouts out.”
The Alpha inclined his head to the Zeta and walked out to the bridge to order it. The Zeta just sat and stared at the star chart on the wall. So much to do, so little time.
Chapter 18
Sirens were echoing across the entire allied fleet. I stared at the ships on the battle plot. The enemy was here, and we were out of position! The Pirates were still lifting from the planet. Commodore Lonegan had disappeared, and none of the pirate captains were willing to step into the position yet.
“How many pirate drop ships do we have left to pick up?”
“We aren’t sure. There is a half-dozen lifting now. We don’t have any communications over there.”
I looked down at Bee. “Is Edward still over on Lonegan’s ship? Can he find us, someone, to take over?” The CATT nodded and stared off into nothing.
“Edward says most of the crew went below with the Commodore and have not returned. He thinks there is a pirate in the brig who might be able to take command.”
“Tell him to get him. Break him out if he has too.”
I shook my head. Damn pirates. The battle plot was flashing red; I could see the enemy fleet closing. They were almost in range of our newest weapons. “Abigail, tell the fleet the pirates are on their own. Everyone needs to come about and prepare to engage the Earthies. If we can make a path, I want all ships to jump out as soon as possible. Send orders to that effect please.”
Very slowly our line of battle formed. The newer ships created a wall protecting the older ships. The Pirates were scattered along the rear and in theory, would protect us. My Martian ships were armed with the new Lind Missile systems. The system used computer algorithms to calculate the possible movements of the enemy ships. They could outmaneuver almost any ship. I ordered our ships to fire as soon as we were in range.
The ship shuddered for just a moment. “Commander, launch the fighters. Tell them to concentrate of disabling as many of those ships as possible.”
The commander gave the order but also gave me a funny look. I told her, “It’s more expensive to repair a ship than build a new one. They don’t have a shipyard anymore. They will use up all their spares fixing these ships and not be able to help the ones near us. Just hitting them in the logistics.”
“Inform the battleships I want broadsides just as soon as the guns bear.” This was going to get very nasty.
~~~~~~
Edward the CATT knew the old pirate cruiser fairly well. The crew pretty much ignored him; they were used to him now. The brig was aft of the galley near the engine room. It usually had a guard, but the man had gone with Lonegan to the surface. All the cells save one were empty. Inside the last cell was Captain Middleton. The Commodore had locked him up after he protested against the code too much. His father was one of the keepers of the rules and had always said they were more like guidelines than laws.
“Do you wish out of here?” The captain thought he might be dreaming and stared at the cup in front of him. What was in that brew?
“Did you hear me?”
The red-headed man looked around and finally spotted the black cat by the cell door. “Are you talking to me?”
“Do you see anyone else around?” The captain stared into his cup again. That was some good stuff! He needed about a bucket of it next time.
“Stop looking into your cup and answer the question! I’m not a figment of your imagination. Yes, I know I’m a cat. Now, do you want out of here?”
The captain nodded to the cat.
“Good. Then I have a deal for you. I will get you out if you assume command of the pirate fleet. Lonegan is either dead or missing. He never came back to the ship. The Earth fleet is attacking, and orders to fight have been given. My mistress wishes for your ships to escape but she needs the Earthies knocked out so we can all jump.” The ship shuddered as something exploded outside the ship.
“Your mistress?” The older man was still wondering if it was the drink talking.
“Yes, Admiral Lee, the Martian Commander. She is the one that sent me here to be the liaison with Lonegan.”
“You really are real?”
“Really? Do you want out or not? Either take command or die with the rest of the pirates when the Earth ships break through.”
“Get me out. I will send the orders!”
Lasers shot from the CATT’s eyes cutting through the bars of the cell. Captain Mason Middleton was free!
“Come on Mr. Cat. We have a fleet to save.” The older man stumped past Edward at a running hop, his wooden log thumping on the deck.
“My name is Edward.”
~~~~~~
I gripped the table as another explosion rippled across the ship. We were taking a pounding! The Earth ships were targeting the newer ships with missiles and primary laser weapons. The Martian shields were barely stopping the barrage.
“Admiral, the Texas reports they have broken through on the flank and are beginning to draw off some of the fire.”
“Order them to jump back to the rendezvous point! We can hold a little longer!” The commander faltered and started to say something. “Damn it, Commander Tasman. Send the frakking order!”
The big carrier shook again, and we were all slammed to the deck as an explosion aft of us jerked the ship to the right suddenly. “Damage report! Send that order commander.”
&nb
sp; The commander grabbed the communications officer and began sending the ‘bug out’ order. I grabbed my table and checked the damage report. One of the Earth missiles punched a hole through amidships destroying one of the storerooms for the galley.
The Texas jumped, as did the Martian cruiser Walkabout Creek. The HK Paney was hugging our left flank fending off stray missiles.