by W. R. Hobbs
“Yes they are in position awaiting orders,” General Tucker affirmed.
“Good. Standby for further orders.”
As Tucker left to carry out his orders, Bracken turned to Dr. Hauer. “Doctor, it would’ve been nice to have a heads up about this variable,” Bracken remarked, frustrated by Hauer’s lack of disclosure about Raylen.
“Until the broadcast just now, I did not know if our operative had even infiltrated the conference much less gotten near the emperor. Moreover, it has no effect on our tactics – yet,” the doctor replied.
“I want you and Leroux to get back down to Level 181 immediately,” Bracken instructed, knowing that the battle was about to enter a more unpredictable phase.
Dulce Airspace
As fate may have planned, the Griffin squads from Dugway and the Gigim Xul squads from the Nekelmu destroyer launched at almost the same exact time. The Ansharian interceptors descended through Earth’s atmosphere on their way to establish a perimeter in the airspace above Dulce while the Griffins reached the land forces.The Ansharians sent about half their squads toward the land force but were met by the Griffins flying directly at them. A myriad of blue and green particle beams crisscrossed the engaging fighters as the most stupendous air battle in Earth’s history got underway.
“We have engaged over a hundred Ansharian interceptors at Dulce. We have also tracked four frigates and the destroyer in low orbit holding in a landing pattern. The interceptors are causing significant damage. We will be able to maintain the assault for only a few more minutes,” General Kirsch informed Bracken as he returned from the conference room and stood next to him in front of the multiple viewers on the command deck.
“Dispatch the remaining Griffins to Dulce and initiate the Helios approach,” Bracken ordered Tucker, running the accepted risk of leaving the surface of Dugway nearly unprotected by air support.
Bracken and Gideon had previously decided that a decisive blow to the Nekelmu should be the primary mission objective. Without it, the Ansharian command and control in orbit over the NAU would be critically disabled. The Helios battle group was designed to lure the destroyer closer to the Dugway facility. And the tactic had worked. As the six Helios cruisers ascended to a matching altitude with the Nekelmu, Gibil redirected the destroyer with an escort group toward Dugway to engage the cruisers.
While Dugway’s surface was susceptible, Gibil also ordered the commencement of the S2 infiltration. The SETH force, utilizing a sensory cloaked Helios commanded by Director Ningishzida, had maintained a position just north of the Great Salt Lake. The undetected cruiser was hovering at 1000 feet over Dugway’s surface in less than two minutes from the initiation of Gibil’s order. The S2s jumped from the cruiser’s launch bay in unison, concentrating the fire of their positron rifles on the hanger doors embedded in the desert floor.
“Sir, the Ansharian destroyer is almost in range. It has destroyed one of the cruisers and disabled another,” alerted one of Bracken’s men.
“Prepare for cannon bombardment,” Bracken barked.
“We have a target lock, sir.”
“Fire!”
Upon the general’s order, Dugway’s defensive plasma cannons emerged from their underground pods with Gideon’s modifications fully online. The array began firing rapid pulses that were now much stronger, faster and with further range. The Nekelmu’s shield was disabled after only twelve shots. The array was then able to achieve four direct hits to the destroyer’s engines before the Nekelmu changed its heading to escape the trajectory of the cannons.
The free falling S2s escaped the rapid cannon bursts unscathed. After their concentration of fire produced a sizable hole in the hanger doors, some of the SETHs were able to redirect their fire to the cannon array as they dropped past them into Dugway’s underground hanger bay, landing feet first with enough force to crack the concrete floor.
The S2 attack on the cannons at such a short range successfully interrupted the firing on the Nekelmu. Even so, the destroyer had been badly damaged and was limping back to high orbit.
“Sir, the Nekelmu sustained direct hits causing significant damage but the cannon array has gone offline. The destroyer is moving back out of trajectory range. And we are detecting a breach in the hanger bay,” General Kirsch updated.
Bracken looked at the video feed from the hanger bay and saw the S2s leveling his soldiers. He ordered an interior lock down but it was too late. The S2s had gained entry into the surface elevator and repelled down the shaft leading to the command level. The soldiers that were surrounding the elevator door were blown backwards from the explosive concussion created by the S2s breach into the level. Out of the jagged hole nine S2s repelled into Dugway’s nerve center, with only one casualty on the hanger level.
The S2s began laying down suppressive fire across the command deck as one of them interfaced with a computer array.
“He is on Level 181,” the SETH informed his group.
They are going after Hauer! Bracken thought as he and General Kirsch crouched behind the other side of the command deck opposite the elevator banks.
Six of the S2s entered the other shaft that led from the command deck to the lower levels, using the lift cable to singularly repel. The three remaining S2s on the command deck began methodically walking through the area killing every soldier in their sights.
“We gotta stop them!” Bracken yelled to Kirsch. “I need to get to my office. Lay down some cover fire.”
General Kirsch reached under the computer console he was using for cover and grabbed one of the automatic rifles from a downed soldier. After some difficulty he was able to drag the weapon to him and began targeting the nearest S2.
The distraction caused all three S2s to begin vectoring on Kirsch’s location while his bullets simply bounced off the targets. This tactic allowed Bracken to make a break for his office. One of the S2s detected his movement and a flurry of positron blasts chased Bracken into the office before he dove behind his desk, painfully landing on his injured arm.
Two of the S2s proceeded toward Bracken’s office while the other one kept Kirsch pinned down. Bracken peaked over his desk to see the S2s nearly on top of him. He ducked back down and waited for the SETHs to reach the exact spot to which he had drawn them. As they raised their rifles in unison to fire on Bracken, the lasers from the ceiling activated and struck one of the S2s directly in the skull and the other one in the left side of his neck.
Oddly enough, it was the S2 struck in the neck that was hit in the more vulnerable spot and he instantly deactivated, hitting the floor. The other S2 was severely stunned but still operative and he began firing down on Bracken. The desk was splintering apart when the general hit the laser control one last time. With his final attempt, Bracken was able to hit the firing S2 again, this time in his left shoulder. The laser breached his vest and penetrated into his torso, frying all of his internal organs as he fell to the floor.
Bracken struggled to his feet to ascertain the situation with the remaining S2. It was bearing down on Kirsch about to initiate a fatal shot. Without any offensive capability, Bracken yelled at the SETH to distract him from his target. At that moment a compliment of Dugway reinforcements arrived from the adjacent section on the command level. These soldiers were armed with more powerful particle weapons, but before they were able to assault the SETH, he fired on Bracken, hitting him squarely in the chest. The general flew back violently several feet from the force of the blast and landed in the back of his office against the wall.
The reinforcements opened fire on the S2 with the tactical hybrid withstanding several shots as he trained his weapon on them and proceeded in their direction. Kirsch used the distraction to grab a grenade from one of the slain soldiers. It was a miniature type of Semtex sticky ordinance. He ran toward the SETH but it sensed Kirsch’s approach and swung his right arm around to deflect him. Kirsch flew across the command deck landing on a computer array. Despite the punishing strike, Kirsch had managed to place the gren
ade under the base of the S2s skull on the back of his neck. As the SETH turned to face the remaining soldiers, an indicator flashed in his optical display showing the location of the explosive device, but it was too late. The explosive ripped the S2s skull from his body and caused a portion of the steel ceiling structure to land on top of him.
Gideon and Leroux had returned on Level 181 only minutes before the interior red alert lights began flashing again. As the S2s breached the doors just like on the command deck, Bracken’s additional security detail was no match and they were decimated.
The SETHs were now tapped into the base’s internal sensors that allowed them to track Hauer directly to Leroux’s lab where both doctors were located. The lab’s thick metal doors blew off their hinges and the S2s entered through the bulkhead. Gideon stepped in front of Leroux, attempting to ensure her safety.
“I am the one you want. She has nothing to do with your objective,” Gideon logically pleaded.
The tactic worked and the S2s did not fire on her. One of them grabbed Gideon as another knocked Leroux unconscious.
On the command level, General Kirsch had gotten back to his feet and contacted Colonel Hawthorne on Level 120 which was the secondary command level. He ordered all base operations transferred to that level and locked it down with maximum security.
“Sir, visual recon on the surface alerts that a Helios is hovering above the hangers but our systems are not detecting it. The remainder of our F-35s have been attacking the ship but with no affect. The air wing is nearly wiped out. We have also detected something ascending from Level 181 in shaft two but it is not the elevator,” Hawthorne informed Kirsch.
“Recall all forces from Dulce.” Kirsch ordered, realizing they needed to reestablish their defensive capability above all else.
“Yes sir,” the colonel replied.
“The movement you are tracking are S2s. They will have to return to this level before they can reach the surface through the other shaft. The SETHs’ directive seems to be the capture of Dr. Hauer. Can you get any more men up here?” Kirsch asked.
“Their ascent is too fast. They will be on your level in just a few seconds,” the colonel warned.
Kirsch processed the warning just as he heard an increasingly loud sound come from the newly created hole to shaft two. The S2s had quickly ascended the shaft by using small rocket devices that extended from the sides of their cybernetic thighs. One of the SETHS had strapped Gideon to his front. Once they reached the demolished command level, the infiltration squad switched to the surface shaft without delay.
Kirsch hid behind some of the debris, spying their movement and knowing all too well it would be foolish to confront them at this point.
The duration of S2 flight time was limited and the climb back to the command level had nearly exhausted their capability. In order to transverse the shaft to the surface, the SETH’s manually climbed the 600 foot cable to the hanger level. Their cybernetic arms allowed to them climb at an incredible rate and they were in the hanger in less than a minute.
There was a residual of troops in the hanger but they were unable to fire without risking harm to Gideon. They reluctantly held their positions behind various forms of cover with their weapons trained on the S2s, while the infiltrators waited for the Helios to descend closer to the blast hole in the hanger doors.
The remaining six SETHs had conserved just enough lift capability from their auxiliary rockets to reach the Helios. The soldiers watched them lift off, out of the hanger and into the bay of the cruiser. The Helios lifted off as a squad of supporting interceptors blasted more gaping holes into the Dugway facility, creating an avalanche of debris into the hangers and completely blocking the surface entrance to the underground levels.
“Proceed to high orbit with the Nekelmu,” Director Ningishzida ordered, completing the Ansharian’s successful capture of Gideon and the temporary disruption of the command and control of Dugway’s forces.
That is how you conduct an assault, the new director thought as he reflected on Lindherst’s earlier failure.
Level 120 – Secondary Command Center
General Kirsch’s injuries were major but he had successfully struggled to reconstitute command and control of the base. As the general stood in front of the main viewer with a neck brace stabilizing his fractured upper vertebrae, he reported to General Straka who was now located at Mt. Shasta.
“General Bracken has been gravely wounded. He sustained a direct blast to his upper torso. He has been transported to the infirmary and he is currently in surgery but it doesn’t look good Eric. We destroyed four of the S2 infiltrators but the rest managed to capture Dr. Hauer and escape. The attack on the Ansharian destroyer was only partially successful. Although they sustained heavy damage, they were able to escape back to high orbit. Indications are that the S2s’ Helios has joined them,” Kirsch reported.
“When will you be operational?” Straka asked.
“The surface hangers and entry to the base have been destroyed. It will take at least 12 hours to clear a path to the shafts. We have been able to recall our remaining assets including five Griffins and one Helios back into a defensive posture on the surface but our numbers have been greatly diminished. Fortunately the Ansharians did not pursue, but it would be wise to assume they are preparing another assault – probably sooner than later,” the wincing general concluded.
“Kirsch, I assuming command of Operation Goliath and you are now in command of the forces in the Central Sector. General Bracken had informed me that with the exception of the Atlantic naval battle group he was pulling back all forces to a defensive posture in every sector. Make sure those maneuvers are completed in your area. I want you to inventory all of your remaining assets and forward the numbers to me.
“I will alert the other unit leaders to what has transpired at Dugway and the change in command. We have a difficult time ahead of us and Hauer’s capture may have compromised the Torahnossian effort to enable the arrival of their fleet. At this point, all we can do is hope that their forces are capable of achieving their task without much of our direct assistance. At a minimum though, our defensive positions should preoccupy a significant number of C7 and Ansharian assets, hopefully easing the enemy resistance to whatever the Torahnossians are planning.
Straka paused, “Phillip, I want an immediate update on Bracken’s condition once he is out surgery. Let’s pray he pulls through,”
“Agreed. Kirsch out.”
CHAPTER 18
The Nekelmu – In Orbit Over Utah
In less than 12 hours from the time that Emperor Suen-Nergal ordered the initial assault, the first battles of the revolution in the North American Union had devolved into a deadlock. Neither of the factions had attained their desired results, but the Ansharians had fared the best.
The Battle of Dulce had resulted in massive losses for the revolutionaries. Even though the reconstituted US forces successfully gained control of the majority of the main locations that held strategic importance in the Western, Southern and Central Zones, they had paid a heavy price. Over 120,000 soldiers had been killed and another 68,000 wounded or missing.
Bracken's armaments were also greatly reduced in number with the smoldering remains of jet fighters and tanks strewn across the key battlefields throughout each zone. The Northern Zone had been their biggest failure. Only one of the targeted C7 facilities had been taken and the forces experienced over a seventy percent attrition rate.
General Jelavich of the Slav-Turko Union and Commander Han of the Indo-Asian Union attempted similar insurgent maneuvers in their respective regions despite the outcomes in the NAU. But they were more handedly thwarted than their North American counterparts and both military leaders were killed as a result of their efforts.
One of the few significant successes achieved by the US forces was Operation Trident. Admiral Cabral had executed the operation almost flawlessly. After reaching the divergence point in the middle of the Atlantic, the C7 navies concentrated
in front of the battle group as predicted. The C7 armada anticipated a direct attack on the European continent based on the formations of the US fleets.
As the C7 coalesced and headed for their opponents, Cabral ordered the separation of flanks. The outnumbered US ships effectively divided the C7 navies and drew the northern and southern flanks into submarine traps. The main battle groups that remained in the middle engaged each other head on. The power and expertise of the US Navy successfully neutralized the majority of their enemy’s vessels sending the rest back to maintain a close defensive perimeter around Europe. The counteroffensive successfully prevented any C7 vessels from reaching the US east coast.
When it came to the control of the nuclear arsenals of Earth, not very much had changed from the status quo. The quantum encryption installed on the US systems had successfully prevented the Ansharians from regaining control. However, all other arsenals around the world were tightly under the C7’s grip.
Although the Ansharians maintained complete control of all regions except the NAU, their losses in the numerous battles with the US forces were both unexpected and significant. The Nekelmu barely made it back into orbit. The cannon shots had disrupted their primary engines which were still offline as well as their sensors.
Gibil was able to reach safety using the destroyer’s thrusters and the Nekelmu’s crew had been working on system repair for the past several hours. The emperor had ordered the repositioning of the Kashurra away from orbit over Europe and rendezvoused with Gibil to assist in repairs.
Even though the Nekelmu had not been destroyed, the overall strategy to divide the Ansharian fleet and then lure the carrier away from Europe had been accomplished by Bracken’s reformulation of Operation Goliath. The only problem was that the US forces no longer possessed the capability to capitalize on this tactical success and the Kashurra had repositioned in the meantime.