To Hell's Heart (Crimson Worlds)

by Allan, Jay

  “Reports coming in from across the line, general.” Merrick was standing right next to Cain, but they were both buttoned up in their armor, so they were speaking through the com. “Reapers attacking in force.” He turned to face Cain, though it was an unnecessary gesture in armor. “It looks like they’ve committed their reserve. And you were right…they had a force of Reapers. It looks like a big one too.”

  Cain was silent for a few seconds, staring at the tactical display on the large HQ ‘pad. “Hector, get me Colonel Sawyer.”

  “You are now connected to Colonel Sawyer, general.”

  “Dave, are your people ready to go?” Cain’s tone was sharp, anxious. He’d been waiting for this.

  “Yes, sir.” Sawyer had been a career sergeant and a member of Cain’s special action teams on Carson’s World. He’d spent the Battle of Sandoval as Erik’s senior aide, and now Cain had entrusted a special assignment to him, along with an elite team to carry it out. “We’re locked and loaded. Just waiting for your word.”

  “Well, you’ve got it, Dave.” There was a touch of emotion in Cain’s otherwise cold voice. He was fond of Sawyer, and he’d hate to see anything happen to the grizzled old leatherneck…though that wasn’t going to stop him from sending his old aide into the inferno. “Good luck, my friend. I’m really counting on you.” Cain always hated himself for adding self-serving remarks like that. But that didn’t stop him from doing it…because they worked.

  “You can count on me, sir.” Cain could hear it in Sawyer’s voice. It even worked on the old veterans. Sometimes it worked better on them.

  “Hector, get me McDaniels.” It was time for the Obliterators.

  “General McDaniels is on the line, sir.” Hector’s tone was matter-of-fact and respectful. Cain had hated his AI’s surliness and sarcasm for years, but now he wasn’t sure he didn’t miss it. At least a little.

  “Erin…it’s time.” Cain spoke slowly, deliberately. “Are your people ready?”

  “Yes, sir.” McDaniels sounded confident, steady. She’d been a little shaky when Holm and Cain handed her a box with two small platinum stars in it, but she’d had time to adjust since then. She’d been training her people nonstop on Sandoval…getting the new recruits up to speed in the heavy Obliterator suits and working her veterans to a razor’s edge. “We’re ready.”

  Cain took a breath. He was about to take a risk, a big one…one that could cost him his entire army. But he knew what he had to do. “Execute Plan Black, General McDaniels.” His voice was ice. “Immediately.”

  Chapter 22

  Bridge – AS Indianapolis

  System X2

  Midway Between X3 and X4 Warp Gates

  “Admiral, energy spike at X3 warp gate.” Carp’s voice was brittle, tense. Nothing would be coming back through that gate for another 12 hours…unless there was trouble. And trouble could only mean only one thing. First Imperium forces approaching.

  Jacobs had sent task forces through both the X3 and X4 warp gates to scout those systems. Admiral Compton was moving the entire fleet into X2, and Jacobs wanted to know just what was in the adjacent systems before that much Pact strength was committed.

  He was in the small office located just off the bridge, sitting back in his chair, eyes closed, grabbing a few minutes’ rest. But he snapped awake when he got Carp’s message, and he jumped up and bounded through the small hatch and onto the bridge. “Report, commander.”

  “No details yet, sir…wait…” Carp turned back toward his workstation, scanning the data streaming in. “It’s a drone, sir. It’s broadcasting Priority Level Gold.” Gold was the highest importance assigned to Alliance military communications. It indicated a full-fledged emergency. “Decoding the message now, sir.”

  Jacobs walked across the bridge and sat in the command chair, waiting silently for Carp to relay the drone’s contents. But he knew what the message would be…what else could it say? An off-schedule Gold message had to mean an enemy attack was imminent. “Retransmit to Admiral Compton immediately, Lieutenant Hooper.”

  “Yes, sir.” She moved her hands quickly over her touchscreens. “Drone’s message retransmitted to Midway, sir.” She paused, then added, “The flagship is 1.75 light hours from our position, admiral.” Jacobs hadn’t asked, but it was part of Hooper’s idea of doing the job completely. It was certainly relevant. Jacobs couldn’t expect any orders or guidance from Admiral Compton for almost 4 hours. Until then he was on his own.

  “I have the decoded message, admiral.” Carp was reading directly from his display. “From Captain Mondragon to any Pact command staff.” He spoke clearly and deliberately. “I am reporting enemy forces approaching from deeper in the X3 system. As we have not yet been able to map the deep system or discover any egress warp gates, I cannot specify the point of origin. It is clearly an as yet unknown warp gate.”

  Jacobs sat silently, anxious for details on enemy strengths. You’re not going to get that, he thought, not now…Mondragon would have sent this drone as soon as he picked up enemy activity. He wouldn’t have had detailed data yet…the information Jacobs really wanted – needed – might not arrive for hours.

  “Enemy task force is too far out for detailed analysis, however preliminary scans indicate a substantial concentration…significantly larger than any force yet encountered on this campaign.” Carp paused, clearing his throat. “I have dispatched a line of 10 vessels to approach the enemy formation and conduct detailed scans.”

  Jacobs looked down at the floor and sighed. Mondragon did the right thing, what he had to do. But Jacobs knew they’d be lucky if any of those ships made it back. It wasn’t a death sentence for those ten crews, not exactly, but it was something close.

  “Enemy force is approaching at 0.06c, on a projected trajectory for the X2 warp gate.” Carp hesitated again. There had been no reason not to assume the enemy was coming toward them, but now they had confirmation. “I will send any further information as soon as it is available. Mondragon out.”

  “Lieutenant Hooper, send a drone into X4. I want a report from Captain Cleret now.” With two egress warp gates in X2, Mondragon had been forced to send Cleret through one of them. He was completely comfortable with Mondragon acting independently, but he didn’t trust Cleret as far as he could kick the insufferable Europan boor. But he only had the resources he had. With the concentration of Europan ships in his fleet, Jacobs couldn’t just relieve Cleret without risking significant dissension. Repeatedly picking Mondragon over Cleret had caused enough trouble, but with two simultaneous missions, he was backed into a corner.

  “Yes, admiral.” Hooper turned her attention to her controls, programming the drone and setting it for launch. “Drone ready, sir. Beginning launch sequence now.”

  The drone was a precaution. Jacobs didn’t trust Cleret, but the fool would certainly send back word if he ran into an enemy force. Still, he thought, no harm in being careful.

  He was definitely worried about Mondragon and his people, though. With an enemy force moving at 6% of lightspeed, he wasn’t sure if any of the scouts would be able to escape back into X2. Jacobs didn’t know the current velocities of Mondragon’s ships, but he assumed they were all heading insystem, which only made their escape more problematic. And he knew Mondragon wasn’t going to turn and run until he had all the intel he needed on the enemy force.

  “Commander Carp, bring the fleet to status yellow.” A sustained alert would wear down the crews, but Jacobs decided it was more important to maintain increased readiness. His people were close to the warp gate, and he had sketchy data on what was coming.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jacobs looked down at his display and reviewed Compton’s updated strength report. The admiral had 5 full battlegroups in X2 now, moving insystem to take position to defend the captured enemy vessel. He knew there was a lot more strength on the way, some of it scheduled to arrive soon, but he didn’t have the data to even guess whether the rest of Compton’s people or the enemy would arrive
first.

  He switched over the display to his own dispositions. He only had 11 cruisers and 12 fast attack ships, plus his hastily-converted makeshift carriers. The rest of his forces were in X3 and X4. “Commander Carp, plot a fleet course toward the X3 warp gate.” His small force didn’t have much of a chance against a large enemy fleet, but he figured they might have to buy time for Compton’s forces to assemble. If that was what they had to do, he thought, then so be it.

  “Yes, admiral.” Carp’s voice was tentative. He knew what Jacobs was thinking.

  “And prepare all remaining laser buoys for launch.” He turned toward Hooper. “Lieutenant, prepare a maximum efficiency deployment plan to cover the warp gate.” The laser buoys were the one thing Jacobs had that packed a big punch. The bomb-pumped x-ray lasers could damage even heavy First Imperium vessels.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jacobs leaned back and looked straight ahead thinking quietly to himself…at least I’m going to prepare a warm welcome for these SOBs.

  Terrance Compton read the incoming reports with growing consternation. The enemy force approaching X2 was a full-fledged battle fleet. Mondragon’s people had confirmed its strength at 2 Leviathans and 40 Gargoyles, preceded by a screen of 24 Gremlins. Based on the enemy forces encountered on the campaign so far, Compton had to assume they were all antimatter armed.

  That intel hadn’t been cheap. Mondragon’s task force had been unable to change vectors back to the warp gate and escape to X2. The enemy fleet’s velocity was simply too high. Half his ships had apparently been destroyed, and the rest had scattered into the depths of the system.

  The enemy was strong, but Compton had a considerable concentration of power himself. There were now 11 battlegroups in X2, each built around one of the newest and most powerful battleships possessed by the Powers. He had another four making their way through the X1 system, with ETAs ranging from 11 hours to 2 ½ days. He’d left his most damaged units in Sigma 4, positioned around the planet to support Cain’s ground forces.

  If he’d had no consideration beyond defeating the enemy fleet he would have stayed where he was, close to the X1 warp gate and his approaching reinforcements. But he had to protect the captured enemy ship. Sparks’ people were working around the clock, trying to attach a towing cradle to the mysterious dark matter infused hull, but progress had been slow. It was going to take days, possibly weeks to get that vessel out of the system. And that meant Compton had to fight this enemy fleet…fight it and defeat it.

  Compton was usually extremely decisive, but now he sat quietly considering his options, not sure which was best. If he moved deeper into the system and met the enemy near their entry warp gate, he could coordinate with Jacob’s forces and Scouting Fleet’s laser buoys. But that would rush the battle, making the engagement occur sooner. His own approaching units, not to mention Garret and the rest of the fleet, would have that much less time to approach.

  On the other hand, if he remained where he was, the captured ship would be in the battle zone, at considerable risk of being destroyed. He’d have to stop Sparks’ work on the vessel until the fighting was over. That was a risk he couldn’t take. The enemy vessel was too important.

  Whatever choice he made, with the enemy moving at high velocity, they would pass quickly through his own fleet…and then they would be between him and the captured ship. They could continue through the X1 warp gate all the way to Sigma 4, with Compton chasing behind, trying to catch up. Garret might arrive in time to face them, but Compton had no way of knowing where or when.

  He pulled up a map of the system on his display. The warp gate was a white star in one corner, with the string of laser buoys positioned slightly insystem. He touched the display behind the lasers and just insystem from Jacobs’ ships. “Designate intercept zone A, Joker.” He was speaking softly, instructing his AI to mark the display accordingly.

  “Done, Admiral Compton.”

  A line of orange light appeared where Compton had pointed. He was going to hit them there with Duke’s attack ships and half of Greta’s squadrons. He knew a synchronized attack of bombers and suicide boats would be tough to coordinate, but he had tremendous confidence in his two commanders. He believed they could pull it off.

  He drew a second line behind the first. “Designate as fleet deployment area.” That was where his battleline would make its stand.

  Another line appeared at the specified location. “Done, admiral.”

  He took a breath and looked down at the display. He was going to send orders to the approaching forces in X1 to consolidate and transit into X2 as a cohesive force. With any luck, they’d hit whatever enemy forces were left after the main fleets passed each other…hopefully before the captured ship was exposed to attack.

  He sat silently, mentally troubleshooting his plan. There were more holes in it than he cared to consider, but he couldn’t come up with anything he thought was a better option. He turned toward Carp. “Commander, prepare to transmit a fleet battle order.”

  Chapter 23

  “Dead Man’s Ridge”

  12 Kilometers South of Enemy Base

  Planet Sigma 4 II

  “Where the hell are those Obliterators?” Jake Carlson was talking to himself, his comlink mic switched off. His people had gotten the retreat order twenty minutes before, but by then they were already falling back. The enemy had launched a Reaper attack across the line, throwing their heavy units against the exhausted and depleted Marines and Janissaries. The lines didn’t break – at least not yet – but that was only because they were all veteran units. They did retreat, giving up the ground they had fought so hard to occupy only a few hours before.

  Carlson’s carefully reorganized battalion was a shattered mess again, his survivors hopelessly intermixed. They’d lost all unit integrity, and he now commanded a mob fighting in scattered groups and as individuals. He was trying to form at least an ersatz reserve unit, but mostly he was just shouting encouragement, trying to keep his men and women in the line past the point of human endurance.

  “Jake, what’s your status?” It was Brown and, from the tone of his voice, things weren’t any better on his end.

  “Status? Fucked, that’s my status.” Carlson was a stone cold veteran, but he was near the end of his rope. Two-thirds of his Marines were down. They weren’t all dead, but the wounded had pretty bleak prospects for recovery with his units in headlong retreat. Marines didn’t abandon their wounded, no matter what. He was frantically trying to figure a way to get to his injured people, but he had no idea how he was going to manage it. A few makeshift squads had fought their way back to retrieve wounded comrades, but most of the Marines who were down were trapped behind the sudden enemy advance. He’d been planning to advance and grab the wounded when the Obliterators counterattacked, but the heavy units still hadn’t come. Carlson kept looking back and checking his scanner, but there was still nothing. McDaniel’s people were nowhere to be found.

  “You have to hang on, Jake. We all have to.”

  Brown sounded better than he had any right to, Carlson thought…I guess this clusterfuck has made him forget his other demons for a while. Was fear easier to handle than guilt? Maybe, he thought. “Where are the Obliterators?” Carlson couldn’t figure what was going on. He knew it would be a tough fight, but he’d never thought Erik Cain would let this happen.

  “I don’t know, Jake. I checked with HQ, and all they told me was assistance is on the way.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Carlson was being insubordinate; he knew that. But after being trapped in the shelters on Adelaide with Brown for a couple years, the two had developed a close bond. Besides, Jake didn’t give a shit for military propriety anymore. At least not right now.

  “I don’t know, Jake.” Brown’s tone was mildly scolding. He needed Carlson…he couldn’t have the veteran captain losing it on him now. “I guess neither one of us is commanding this army.”

  “There isn’t going to be an army in another
couple hours.”

  “Jake, just do the best you can.” Brown understood Carlson’s anger, but it wasn’t helping anything. “It’s all any of us can…” Brown paused, then said, “Hold on, Jake.”

  He was gone half a minute, maybe 45 seconds. “Jake, hang on, you’ve got support on the way.”

  “Finally.” There was a hint of relief in Carlson’s voice. “We need those Obliterators now.”

  “You’re not getting McDaniels’ people, Jake. The Obliterators are committed elsewhere.”

  “Elsewhere? What the hell is going on?” Carlson was confused, and anger flared again in his voice.

  “Colonel Sawyer is bringing up HVM teams. You’re getting a dozen assigned to you. I need you to use them well…because they’re all you’re getting for a while.”

  Carlson stood where he was, stunned, silent. Hyper-velocity missiles were effective against Reapers, but a dozen launchers was no substitute for the Obliterators he’d been expecting. He wanted to argue, to complain, but he knew better. It wouldn’t do any good, and he’d been a Marine long enough to understand his duty. No matter how much it sucked.

  “Let’s go people…speed is essential here.” McDaniels was moving quickly toward the enemy base, careful to move side to side so she didn’t take a huge leap into the air. She’d been in the rear, organizing the overall operation, but she intended to be in the front lines when they attacked. The entire army was essentially bait, drawing off the enemy Reapers and giving her this opportunity. There was no way to know how many of 1st Army’s combatants were dying because her Obliterators were here attacking the enemy base instead of facing the Reapers assaulting their lines. She couldn’t do anything about that, but she was going to make sure her people made it pay…that those on the battle lines were at least not dying in vain.