Coalition Defense Force Boxed Set: First to Fight

by Gibbs, Daniel

  “Navigation, flank speed.”

  “Conn, Navigation. Flank speed, aye,” Hammond said crisply.

  “TAO, firing point procedures, Master Two, magnetic cannons and neutron beams.”

  “Conn, TAO. Firing solutions set for Master Two.”

  “Match bearings, shoot, all weapons,” David said as he peered down at the tactical plot to see the effect of the weapons’ release.

  Magnetic-cannon rounds thundered away from the Lion, the energy release nudging the ship slightly to the side, followed by neutron-beam strikes.

  “Conn, TAO. Master Two has sustained significant damage,” Ruth confirmed. Just a few seconds later, she continued. “Conn, TAO. Aspect change, Master One, Two, and Five. Sublight engine light-off. They’re moving toward us at flank speed. Enemy vessels are firing, sir.”

  David’s eyes were glued to the tactical plot. He knew that he had to defeat the League ships in detail. As plasma charges smacked the Lion’s shields, the ship shuddered and rocked. “TAO, firing point procedures, Master Two. Target its engines and weapons with all forward magnetic cannons and neutron beams.”

  “Conn, TAO. Firing solutions set for Master Two.”

  “Match bearings, shoot, all weapons.”

  More rounds shot out of the mag-cannons and raced toward the Rand-class cruiser then slammed into its weakened shields. The first few were stopped, their kinetic energy absorbed, before the cruiser’s shields failed. The rest of the shells breached the vessel’s hull, causing multiple explosions. Ruth deftly followed up with neutron beams, which speared the stricken vessel from one end to the other. A moment later, the League cruiser exploded into a large cloud of debris.

  “Conn, TAO. Master Two destroyed, sir!” Ruth nearly shouted, almost gleeful.

  David had noticed that Ruth seemed to enjoy destroying League ships. He made a mental note to discuss that privately with her at some point before looking back down at his tactical plot. “Good shooting, TAO,” he said, dialing it down a bit. “TAO, firing point procedures, Master Five. Magnetic cannons and neutron beams.”

  The battle was becoming something of a rote engagement. While the Lion clearly held the edge against smaller League ships—she’d taken a beating in the process. David’s status display showed that the Lion’s forward shields had dipped below sixty percent of their energy rating. Doing some quick math, he estimated they only had five or six more salvos before the forward shields collapsed again. The last Rand had to be neutralized quickly, and he ran multiple scenarios on methods to disable the Destruction without a protracted fight.

  “Conn, TAO. Firing solutions set for Master Five.”

  “TAO, match bearings, shoot, all weapons,” David said almost automatically, his battle rhythm kicking in.

  As the Lion stabbed at the remaining Rand with its weapons suite, incoming fire from both League ships slammed into the Lion’s shield grid. Sectors overloaded and failed, leaving other deflector emitters to compensate for their loss. Soon, the overworked shield generator would fail again and leave the Lion defenseless along her forward arc.

  “Conn, TAO. Aspect change, Master Five. Master Five has taken position out of the line of fire behind Master One.”

  “Acknowledged, TAO.” David said peered at his plot. So this is it. All or nothing, and success depended on his next course of action. “Communications, get me Colonel Amir.”

  “Colonel Amir is now linked into your comm panel, sir,” Taylor said after a moment.

  “Go ahead, Colonel Cohen.” The transmitter crackled.

  “Amir, do you have enough anti-ship munitions left to effectively engage the point-defense systems on the Destruction?”

  “Many of my bombers are Winchester, sir.” Winchester was the code for “out of ammunition.” “But we have enough to degrade the Destruction’s point-defense emplacements on one arc.”

  David looked at Ruth. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do, everyone. We only get one shot, so pay attention. Navigation, lay in a course that takes us to point-blank range of Master One then moves on a parallel course to her. TAO, we’re going to engage Master One with our magnetic cannons and our neutron beams as we approach and fire a final broadside into her at point-blank range, then we’re going to launch every last missile we have in our forward VRLS array into that ship. While we’re doing this, Colonel Amir and his wing will engage Master One and destroy as many point-defense emplacements as possible to ensure enough of our missiles get through to knock Master One out. Everyone clear on their part?”

  Nods came from Ruth and Hammond, and Amir said, “Yes, sir.”

  “Colonel Amir, proceed to attack Master One’s point-defense emplacements.”

  “Aye, sir. Amir out.”

  “Conn, Navigation. Course laid in as ordered,” Hammond called out.

  “Navigation, engage full speed.”

  “Engaged, sir.”

  The inertial force of the massive ship moving forward could be felt throughout the vessel. Even with inertial dampening fields, David was still pressed back into his seat just a bit.

  “TAO, firing point procedures, Master One, magnetic cannons and neutron beams.”

  “Firing solutions set.”

  “TAO, match bearings, shoot all weapons,” David ordered.

  The tactical plot showed the remaining fighters from Amir’s wing engaging Master One. Over the next few minutes, multiple salvos were exchanged between the Lion and the Destruction. While Amir’s small craft took a beating, they succeeded at knocking down many point-defense emplacements along the side of the Destruction that David planned to assault with one hundred twelve missiles.

  “TAO, firing point procedures, Master One, magnetic cannons, neutron beams, and all remaining missiles in our forward missile cell.”

  “Conn, TAO. Firing solutions set.”

  “Navigation, ETA to parallel course on Master One?”

  “Thirty seconds, sir.”

  Almost as soon as Hammond finished her report, Ruth broke in, “Conn, TAO. Forward shield has collapsed, sir.”

  David confirmed it almost immediately on his viewer. Recalling a quote from military history—“Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.”—he pressed on. “Navigation, steady as she goes. Flank speed. TAO, lock all magnetic cannons into position for a full broadside.”

  The Destruction continued to pound the Lion. The ship shuddered with each hit. Several consoles on the bridge suffered from blown fuses, and a power junction in the overhead blew out. Yet through it all, David’s gaze went between the view of the outside and his tactical plot.

  As the ship lined up for what he hoped was the final attack, he gave the order to fire. “TAO, shoot, all weapons, Master One.”

  One hundred twelve missiles thundered out of the Lion’s forward launch array along with a salvo of magnetic-cannon shells. The shells hit first at close range, severely weakening the shields of the Destruction. It took the missiles a few seconds to lock on to the Destruction, then they plunged into short terminal burns, exploding across the surface of the massive ship. The degraded point-defense systems could only stop a few of the multimegaton-yield fusion weapons, which continued to rain down on the dreadnought. Eventually, the Destruction’s shields failed, and the warheads exploded on its armor and superstructure. Large chunks of the enemy vessel’s armor blasted off into space. Adding to the maelstrom was neutron-beam fire from the Lion of Judah, slicing through the weakened hull of the Destruction. The onslaught was simply too great. Secondary explosions began throughout the Destruction, and without warning, its engineering section violently blew apart, crippling what was left of the starship.

  * * *

  “Our stern has exploded, Admiral!” a panicked tactical officer called out.

  The bridge rocked furiously, throwing crew members out of their harnesses. Fires started as massive power overloads coursed through the energy conduits of the mighty vessel, shorting on consoles and causing secondary explosions.

  “Engineer
ing, report!” Seville shouted.

  “Confirmed, Admiral. Our stern along with the reactor cores suffered a catastrophic breach.”

  No. So close. How could these religious fanatics defeat my finest ships? “Can we move?”

  “Admiral… we don’t have any engines or reactors to power them. The Destruction is crippled,” an engineering sub-station officer replied.

  “We should consider abandoning ship,” Strappi whispered into Seville’s ear.

  As Seville pondered the idea, another wave of explosions rocked the bridge, causing pieces of the overhead to collapse. Metal shards blasted the bridge, some impaling members of the crew and others destroying consoles. Smoke spread out, covering the entire space in a haze. Before he could react, debris fell directly on top of his chair. Searing pain swept through his body, and he screamed. Then unconsciousness took him into its merciful embrace.

  * * *

  The bridge crew of the Lion watched the destruction unfold on their monitors.

  Ruth’s voice went up an octave. “Conn, TAO. Master One neutralized, sir.”

  Shouts and cheers rang out from across the bridge, but the master chief cut them off quickly. “As you were. Maintain proper bridge protocol.”

  David stood and walked over to Ruth’s station. “Is any part of Master One combat capable, TAO?”

  Ruth shook her head. “Negative, sir. I’m showing life-pod launches now. Master Five is picking them up and has powered down its weapons systems. She’s charging her Lawrence drive. Would you like to engage, sir?”

  The League had killed so many, destroying the lives of millions of people throughout the Terran Coalition, not to mention its own citizens. I’m no better than them if I kill fleeing people in life pods. Forget that it's against the law. It’s wrong. Enough death for one day. “Negative, TAO. Do not engage. We’ll let them run back to Earth and spread word of our new combat capability.”

  David half expected Ruth to argue with him. Fire shone in her eyes, but decorum prevailed.

  “Aye, sir. Standing down,” she said, frustration evident.

  David walked back to his chair and sat down. “Communications, signal the air boss to launch search and rescue. Let’s get our pilots home.”

  * * *

  Seville slowly became aware of his surroundings as consciousness returned. The walls of the passageway slowly moved, and he realized someone was dragging him.

  “Where am I?”

  “Deck three, Admiral,” Strappi said, panting.

  Seville fell to the deck roughly.

  The political officer’s face appeared in his line of sight. “I gave the order to abandon ship. The Destruction is lost, as was the battle.”

  “My crew?”

  “The remaining cruiser is picking up as many life pods as it can. They’re waiting until we can get you on board and the Terrans have ceased firing. We must hurry, Admiral.”

  “I’m not going to be of much use. I can’t feel my legs,” Seville said hoarsely.

  “Just lie still. We’re only a hundred meters from safety.”

  All he’d have to do is leave me to die. I would have left him, just like I left his counterpart twenty-seven years ago. Why would he help me now?

  Strappi picked Seville up again by the shoulders and dragged him down the corridor. It seemed like hours before they reached a bank of escape pods, and he was roughly shoved into the nearest open hatch. As the pod hurtled toward the lone League vessel that remained intact, he pondered what had gone wrong.

  I don’t care what it takes or how long it takes me. I will kill David Cohen and destroy the Terran Coalition. Pain spread across every fiber of his being, while his mind focused on nothing but revenge.

  36

  Calvin looked down at the ticking clock. Like something out of a goofy holodrama, each second counted down to their last moments.

  “Gunny, can you disarm this thing?” he asked Uzun before taking up a defensive position in front of the console.

  Uzun immediately pulled out a small tablet and began interfacing it with the League machine. After thirty seconds, he said, “Colonel, without the command codes for this ship, I can’t disarm the self-destruct from here.”

  Calvin whirled around. “Gunny, I need options. Right now. Because leaving my brothers and sisters behind is not an option.”

  “I can disarm it from inside the reactor core.”

  Making a face, Calvin said, “Gunny, isn’t an energized reactor core highly radioactive, not to mention incredibly hot?”

  “This ship’s reactor was SCRAMED, so it’s cooled off enough that I can walk around it inside my suit.”

  “Okay, but the radiation hasn’t just disappeared. You can’t go in there,” Calvin retorted.

  Uzun grabbed Calvin’s battle armor and pulled his helmet in so that it touched his. “Colonel, listen to me. I have to disarm the self-destruct on this ship, or we’re all dead. There’s still enough time for the boarding teams to get out but not to evacuate the POWs. I’m not leaving a brother- or sister-in-arms behind, just like you wouldn’t. The only way for me to stop that self-destruct is to enter the reactor core.”

  Calvin shook his head. “No can do, Gunny. You enter that core, and you’re dead. There’s got to be another way.”

  Uzun shook Calvin’s battle armor. “I will have forty-five seconds once I get inside. That’s enough to cut the required circuits so that the self-destruct charges won’t fire. There is no other option. Now, get the hell out of my way.”

  Uzun was right. Calvin would do it himself, but he didn’t know what to do inside the core. “Okay, Gunny. When you get to heaven’s shores, you make sure they’re properly guarded by Marines. You hear me?” He tried his utmost to push the pain out of his voice.

  Uzun moved forward and entered the heavily lead-lined airlock that led to the reactor core. “I’ll do my best, Colonel.” As the airlock cycled, he continued, “Colonel, it was an honor to serve with you.”

  Calvin watched from the window. “Likewise, Gunny. Godspeed.”

  Uzun snapped off a final salute as the inner airlock door opened, and he dashed through. The door automatically closed behind him.

  Calvin stared at the countdown on his heads-up display. After forty seconds, and with fifteen seconds to go on the countdown, he heard Uzun’s scratchy voice from his communications set.

  “Colonel, it’s done. I disconnected more than enough circuits to prevent a self-destruct.” Uzun coughed and gasped.

  “Gunny, you hang tight. I’m going to get help, and we’re going to get you out of there,” Calvin said.

  “You’re a good liar, Colonel. I only have one request. Tell my wife and my sons I love them very much and that I hope to see them again in paradise.”

  Calvin almost told Uzun that he would tell them himself but decided against it. There was no way the man was walking out of that core alive. “You have my word, Gunny,” he said, choking down his emotion.

  “Thank you, Colonel.”

  “You hang in there, Uzun. That’s an order, Marine.”

  There’s gotta be a way for me to get in here. Calvin ran the gauntlet of his suit across the airlock opening, scanning its interior. The radiation was off the charts. I go in there, I’m dead too. Nothing I can do to help him now. He pulled up the life-sign indicator for Uzun’s suit and found it had flatlined. “Dammit.”

  Cabello and two other Marines walked toward him.

  Bringing himself to attention, Cabello saluted Calvin. “Colonel, mission accomplished. This ship is secured.”

  Calvin quickly returned the salute. “Good work, Major. Casualties? Status of the POWs?”

  “Six Marines KIA, sir. Almost everyone else on the breach team was wounded, including me. Minor injuries, for the most part. A lot of bruised egos. POWs are secured, but they’re not in great shape. We need to get doctors up here, and they’ll need some food. Still, this is a good day. We saved a lot of our own.”

  Calvin looked over his shoulder
at the airlock door. “It still cost us a lot. Uzun sacrificed himself to stop the self-destruct.” He turned back to Cabello. “There are days I get really sick of this war, Major. I’m sick of seeing good men and women willingly sacrifice themselves just to save another. It’s a damn waste, if you ask me. All for some bunch of communist assholes that can’t be content with controlling hundreds of planets.” He was silent as his eyes swept the engineering space. “Get support up here and start rounding up the prisoners.”

  “Yes, sir,” Cabello said crisply before walking off.

  Calvin stared at the airlock door, thinking about Uzun’s sacrifice along with those made throughout the war. Not only those who perished for the cause of freedom, but also their families. No one in the Terran Coalition had been left untouched. Including my wife. While saving the POWs was a victory, it seemed like a bitter defeat to have been so close to peace, only to find out it was all a lie.

  37

  The last two League ships jumped out, taking with them as many life pods as they could carry, though many were left behind. The Lion’s search and rescue teams collected them along with ejected pilots.

  The mood on the bridge of the Lion of Judah was near jubilation as David stared at the tactical view, watching as Colonel Amir’s wing returned. He shared their mood, knowing that the decisive defeat of the League battle group could mark a turning point in the war. If nothing else, it would provide a much-needed boost to the flagging morale of a war-weary nation. What better way to do that than by destroying the flagship of the League fleet and hopefully killing its leader?

  He chastised himself for hoping Seville was dead. Regardless of the man’s crimes, it wasn’t his place to judge. That was God’s job, but a part of him sorely hoped that one of the shells fired into the side of the Destruction had arranged a face-to-face meeting.

  Where’s Sheila? She needs to get back up here and share in the celebration of a job well done.