by gerald hall
Of equal importance, our gardens serve to process all of our biological waste, clean our drinking water and scrub the carbon dioxide out of our air. We only need to add a little additional water from the planet below when necessary. The imported foodstuffs add any additional organic material that we ever need quite nicely.”
“I’m very impressed, Colin. How much additional expansion do you think that we can make to our population and overall capacity?”
“I think that we could easily add another ten thousand people to our population if necessary, Boss. We are still hollowing out chambers and using the nickel, iron and other metals that we obtain for various maintenance and construction projects. Those chambers give us more space for a variety of purposes. Of course, our main interior chamber is still plenty large enough for a substantial expansion of our force, if necessary.”
“There won’t be a danger of weakening the structural integrity of this asteroid from your tunneling, I hope?”
“Not at all, Boss. We have a lot of potential volume here. Plus, we check every area that we want to excavate very thoroughly before we begin to tunnel. We don’t want to create an unwanted fissure or cause an existing one to expand beyond our control.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I want to be able to stay here for a very long time, if necessary.
Chapter Thirty Nine:
Jump Tender Alacrity
K-224 Star System, M 67 Star Cluster, Orion Arm
April 30, 2322
Alacrity was lying doggo within the system’s asteroid belt, waiting for potential targets. At the last major colony that they had visited only three light-years away from New Hope Station, Alec had learned that there had been at least three attacks on shipping in this system in the past four months. No one had been able to identify the raiders though. The ships attacked were ransacked, their sensor logs purged and their entire crews murdered.
This was plenty of motivation for Alec and his crew to stake out the star system to see if they could find the attackers and possibly put an end to their murderous reign. The privateer jump tender had been quietly waiting a long nine days when the first hint of activity appeared.
“Sir, we just had another jump tender transition into the system. It appears to be a Tramp-class vessel.”
“Do you think that she is just a civilian ship passing through?”
“I don’t know yet. She’s carrying a full load on her docking collars. I am maneuvering our remote sensor drones to get a closer look at her now, Sir”
Angela Collins and Jonathan Murrel had been traveling aboard Alacrity for a long needed break from work at the time. They just happened to be visiting Alacrity’s bridge when the unidentified jump tender appeared.
“I’m getting a much better look at that jump tender now. She appears to be carrying one or two battlers on the docking collars, Sir.” The sensor tech professionally reported.
The imagery from the remote sensors was also being displayed on one of Alacrity’s main screens so that Alec and the rest of the bridge crew could see.
Angela and Jonathan both immediately stiffened when they also saw the image of the jump tender on the screen.
“Captain Martinson, that ship belongs to The True Way.” Angela said after hesitating for a moment.
“How do you know that, Angela?”
“Because that Tramp-class jump tender is named ‘Purity of Flame’. I served on her at one time when I was a follower of the The True Way. Also Jonathan here was held captive and tortured aboard her. Like Alacrity, she also is armed with concealed weapons, a lot of them.” She tersely said.
“What does that Truist ship have on her docking collars?”
“I don’t know about the two cargo shuttles, Sir. But she was operating with a Lion-class heavy battler and a Tiger-class assault troop shuttle when I left her. It looks like she still has them too.”
By then, word of the Truist jump tender had spread through the Alacrity as Alec had immediately called his ship to General Quarters. Colin Sampson very soon arrived on Alacrity’s bridge.
“Colin, the Lion-class is what replaced the Narwhal, wasn’t it?” Alec asked.
“Yes, Sir. The Lion-class is five thousand tons heavier than my old Orca, but faster, better armored and with an even more powerful weapon suite. She’s state of the art for Earth Fleet, for sure.”
“Then we need to find a way to take her intact to replace Orca. We had to leave our second Archer back home to defend our base after having to scrap Orca. I’m up for suggestions.”
“Well, that Lu’non battler that that I fixed up was designed to grapple with an enemy ship and put aboard boarding troops even if the target was still maneuvering. She would be ideal if we want to take that Lion for ourselves.”
“Did you leave that part of that Lu’non battler intact?”
“Of course, I did. I figured that you just never knew when that might come in handy.”
“Excellent. Looks like we are going to find out just how well that particular Lu’non technology works for us now.” Alec declared before continuing to explain his plans for the upcoming fight.
“The modifications to that Lu’non battler may have changed her appearance enough to fool those bastards on that Truist ship. So Justin is going to lead us here. That will add to the element of surprise since his ship will also be the hardest one to detect because of its small size.
Now, we want the Lion first. So we are going to have to separate her from the rest of the Truist ships. We can get that Tramp and the other ships afterwards. But that Lion will be the biggest prize and the greatest threat.
I wish that we had the Phoenix with us right now. But we’ve got three battlers here and both of our Q-ships with us here. So, Tess in her Longbow and Colin in his Archer will have the task of culling out that Lion. Then, we will have Justin Carter in the Mosquito cram as many of our powered armor marines and armed robots in as he can. His job is to grapple, board and capture that Lion.
We will keep Hidden Blade close to us in case someone attempts an unexpected attack on us. She just doesn’t have the armor to be taking on a Lion. Make sure that she is also not using the Hiddle Blade IFF on her transponder. We don’t want to alert our friends out there as to our true nature. Our other Q-ship is to begin firing capital missiles at the Tramp. Keep her off balance since she will not know if the missiles are conventional or nuclear armed. Either way, she will be forced to react to them.
We will have to figure out everything else on the fly. But you all have worked together long enough to have a damned good idea of what to do. Let’s make it happen. We have a lot of prize money waiting out there for us with the rest of the Truist ships too. I’m also sure that there is a score or two that needs to be settled as well.”
“Just beware of any Uomo Dominante warriors that you encounter. They are utterly fanatical and are equipped with the ability to use their implants as suicide explosive charges.” Angela warned.
“Thank you, Angela. Any additional information about the strengths and weaknesses of that particular battler would be very helpful. Please meet with Justin and his boarding team and tell them everything that you can remember.”
Aboard the Truist jump tender, they are surprised to see the appearance of Alacrity, but not particularly alarmed. As far as they could tell, she was just another old jump tender with little to no armament of her own.
“We have just picked up a jump tender moving towards us, Demi-Precentor. It is an older civilian design but close to the same size as Purity of Flame. She appears to be carrying four shuttles of various sizes on her docking collars along with a pair of large cargo modules.”
The Truist leader smiled like a wolf examining a lamb.
“Well, it looks like we have another victim to claim in the name of our Master and The True Way. We will seize them and add them to our treasure. As far as their crew is concerned, they will either convert to The True Way or they will die.”
“What are your instructions, Sir?”
“Launch both Dagger of Truth and Blessed Sword to intercept the infidel jump tender. Blessed Sword will take the lead. I seriously doubt that they would resist when facing a Lion-class heavy battler.”
“It looks like the enemy commander is sending two small battlers against us, Sir.” Sword’s captain reported.
“Those two vessels barely have as much tonnage combined as Blessed Sword masses alone.”
“Then our opponents are fools. Close on the infidel battlers and kill them all.” The Demi-Precentor ordered confidently.
She was surprised a couple of minutes later when one of her sensor technicians finally detected Justin’s battler.
“I thought that you said that she had only two battlers?”
“That is what our sensors initially indicated. The third one is much smaller than the other two.”
“Never mind, it is too small to be of any real consequence in this fight. Continue with our original battle plan. We will swat that little ship down when she comes into range along with the others.”
The Truists did not count on what those three privateer battlers were capable of nor just how skilled their crews had become. The battle quickly became a twirling knife fight with everyone frantically jockeying for firing position at very close range. The crews that weren’t at the top of their game found their ships being battered mercilessly.
A frantic call for help from the Truist troop shuttle quickly got Mirabella Lucas’ attention. She reacted swiftly to the threat to her primary troop transport.
“That Conestoga is firing capital missiles at Dagger of Truth. It must be another Q-ship conversion. We cannot afford to lose most of our troops to a lucky hit from one of those missiles, especially if they might have nuclear warheads. Have Dagger’s commander focus on avoiding those missiles at all costs.” The Truist commander ordered.
This attack by the privateer Q-ship kept the enemy Tiger from bringing its own weapons to bear in support of its fellow Truist ships. This was exactly what Alec wanted. His Q-ships could not stand in the face of concentrated enemy fire. But they could harass from long range and be a threat that the Truists had to respect.
“OK, Mosquito. Go ahead and begin your run on that Lion. We will try to distract her fire with our own attack runs.” Colin radioed to the former Lu’non battler.
“Rolling in now.” Justin replied just as he turned to get even closer to his target.
An entire flank on the side of the Truist heavy battler erupted in flame as it fired a bank of short range cluster munitions at Justin’s little battler, very narrowing missing it with a potentially crippling blow.
“Justin, be sure to stay the hell out of the firing arcs for that Lion’s damned DFCs. She will tear you apart at that range if she can bring them to bear.”
“Don’t worry, Colin. This ship is agile as hell. I’ll stay clear of them. You and Tess just keep her occupied for a few more seconds so that I can set up for my boarding run.” The young battler commander quickly replied, the strain of high-G maneuvering still clearly evident in his voice.
A few seconds later, there was a howl of triumph clearly heard over the privateers’ command frequency. Justin’s battler had successfully latched onto the enemy Lion.
“Got him! We’re locked onto one of the Lion’s airlocks now!”
“Excellent! Once you have a good seal, go ahead and begin the breach. But do it fast, before the Truists can get their interior defenses set up.”
“Roger that, Captain. We’ve got the breaching charge already set up and the temporary air lock ready to go behind it.” Sergeant Julian Arromanche immediately replied.
“Alright, Marines. We have to send out the combat bots on autonomous mode. So make sure that the IFF on your armor is on the right setting. I don’t want any of our people lost to friendly fire.” Justin informed his Marines just before the beaching charge detonated, punctuating the beginning of the boarding action..
Just as soon as the breach into the Lion was made, eight combat bots of various types rushed into the Truist battler on their thrusters. As soon as the bots cleared the breach, they began firing on anything that moved and didn’t have the properly coded IFF. The passageway was quickly filled with laser bolts and high velocity projectiles going both ways.
The heavy firing from the agile but deadly bots drove back the defenders just far enough for Justin’s armored troops to enter into the fray. Many of the Marines were armed with low-recoil, gyrojet rifles designed specifically for Zero-G combat along with a handful of man-portable lasers. But the gyrojets and lasers weren’t the only weapons that the marines carried. The Marines each carried multiple hand grenades of various types that they employed quite enthusiastically.
But when Justin’s Marines came across a locked bulkhead door that blocked their way into Engineering, one of them would simply call back. “We need a door-knocker down by Engineering.”
A few moments later, an armored Marine would jaunt up with a shoulder-launched heavy anti-tank rocket. Everyone would then take shelter from the launcher’s backblast and the coming explosion of its warhead.
“Fire in the hole!” the gunner would yell as a warning to his teammates just before firing his rocket.
A couple of seconds later, there was a huge explosion at the offending bulkhead door. After the smoke cleared, everyone could see that the door had now been blown off of its hinges. The blast had also either killed or otherwise neutralized all of the Truist defenders in the vicinity of the door. Enemy resistance in Engineering was over only a few seconds afterwards.
Justin’s Marines methodically employed the same tactics in their drive towards the enemy battler’s bridge. No one aboard the Truist heavy battler dared imagine that anyone would board and seize their ship. But less than twenty minutes after Justin’s battler had latched onto the Lion, the fight was all over.
The big Syndicate battler now belonged to Alec and his fellow privateers. There had been a few injuries among the Marines, but they did not lose a single man or women during the capture of the Lion. In fact, all of them were eager to participate in the capture of the Truist jump tender next.
After a small craft with a handful of technicians arrived from Alacrity to try to get the Lion working, Justin’s battler and its load of Marines left the defeated enemy battler and began to proceed towards the Truist jump tender.
Once again, Justin took the lead with his former Lu’non battler. The Truists aboard the Purity of Flame were caught unaware as to just how quick the little battler was. A couple of surgical hits from Colin and Tess’s battlers crippled the jump tender’s drives just before Justin got into range to make his boarding run.
The Tramp was nowhere nearly as maneuverable as the earlier Lion even without the damage to her drives, so Justin was easily able to latch onto the jump tender’s hull. Soon, they had also made a successful breech of the jump tender’s hull and began to take it over, one compartment at a time.
Demi-Precentor Mirabella Lucas stood on the bridge in horror as her command was being systematically dismantled around her.
“We must defeat the boarders defiling our holy ship! Everyone take up arms to defend her.” She demanded.
“Ma’am, we already have sent everyone available to fight out towards the enemy boarding force to engage them.” One of her remaining bridge technicians replied.
“Send them all, no matter what tasks that they are engaged in! Our Master demands that we fight to the last to defend our ship against the infidels.” Mirabella demanded, in spite of how irrational it appeared to the rest of her bridge crew.
But, the Truist jump tender now only held a skeleton crew, having sent many of its original personnel to replace casualties on the other ships over the past few months. When Justin’s battler caught up to the jump tender and made his boarding attempt, its success was a foregone conclusion. Justin’s Marines and combat robots easily broke through the Truist jump tender’s defenders and took control of her engineering section.
The rest of Alec’s Marines were aboard Tess’s battler. She made her own successful boarding attempt. Her Marines breeched the Tramp’s hull at a second location and began their movement forward against growing resistance. But the tactics that worked so well aboard the Lion also proved to be very successful here also.
The superior firepower and protection of the powered armor suits, supplemented by the firepower of the combat bots, began to overwhelm the Truists’ largely unarmored defenders in spite of the latter’s fanaticism and superior numbers.
The Truists all fought to the death. The Demi-Precentor herself died on the jump tender’s bridge with a laser pistol in her hand facing a solid wall of powered armor troops.
But in the end, it made no difference. The Truist jump tender and her two attached Dromedary cargo shuttles were captured largely intact. There were no survivors among the Truist defenders. They either died fighting or they committed suicide rather than surrender. Now, Alec’s people turned their focus upon the single surviving Truist warship
“I think that most of the experienced Truist troops are onboard the Tiger. That is why our boarding force had a relatively easy time of capturing that Lion. They never expected that someone else would be boarding them. Plus the Lion seems to have been operating with a relatively low number of crew, even for that class.” Alec commented after reading the quick after action reports from both boarding actions.
“So what do we do about that Tiger then? I doubt that she is going to surrender without one hell of a fight.” Colin asked.
“We either capture or destroy her. If they choose to go after Alacrity, then we will blow her out of space with extreme prejudice.” Alec coldly declared.
Alec gathered all of his forces and began the pursuit of the Tiger. Once they got into weapons range, Alec made one last attempt to end the fight without further loss of life.
“Tell those people on that Tiger to surrender or they will be boarded.” Alec ordered his communications tech to transmit to the last Truist vessel to be engaged in combat.