A burst of white shard-bolts struck Alaka's shields as he rushed a mechanized soldier that was a metre taller than him. The cutting end of the staff slashed across the front of it, and its nearly depleted shields failed as Alaka spun, flipped so he landed between it and its fellow. The staff came around again, and as Alaka planted his feet he smashed his foe's shoulder with the kinetic multiplier side of his staff, sending it flying sideways into its fellow soldier hard enough to topple them both.
The Citadel suit to Alaka's left brought both his bladed hands around to cut at him, but his staff met them both, deflecting the attack neatly. The pair of Nafalli backing him up drove the bladed ends of their staves into the canopy of the assailant, cutting long slashes into the metal. Then they turned their staves around and stabbed it with kinetic multipliers that turned the force of their thrusts that made the cockpit and the pilot burst with the impact.
The rest of the Nafalli kept blasting the armoured soldiers with their heavy beam weapons, shortening the time Jake's people needed to take their shields down dramatically. Jake gave up on the idea of getting into melee with one of the encounter suits after seeing Alaka and his fighters get to work and directed four squads as they targeted three mechs at a time, forty-eight of them taxing shields to nothing then riddling their armour with bullets until someone got close and finished them off.
It wasn't a perfect strategy, even Stephanie was grazed by one of the cutters as she ripped a cockpit open enough to disable the pilot. Another mech turned and slashed at her from behind, cutting through Stephanie's armour and most of her leg. The cut was so clean that her medical system was able to fix it in seconds, but she almost lost her limb entirely. It was her third kill, and despite the close call, she had a souvenir; the pilot was drugged into stasis and captured in a body bag like containment sack that she threw down. One of the Nafalli affixed it to his back and kept fighting.
Nancy Ferguson was the first but not the last to lose her life fighting the Citadel mechanized armour unit. Jake lost three in his own squads, while the fighting force lost eight humans and one Nafalli before they had killed all but the last two mechanized units. No one stopped to consider the dead. There was no time for that, too much sentimentality could get you killed.
"No quarter! No prisoners!" Jake reinforced as he noticed his people begin to slow down. He gave the whole fighting force orders at once and they followed, putting distance between them and the remaining two mechs. The pair fought as though they had hundreds of allies behind them, slashing at the few Haven soldiers who were close enough, then firing at them as their targets backed off.
Every soldier under Jake's command was shooting, circling their enemies, and the Nafalli joined in, even though he suspected they didn't see this as the honourable way to end the fight. To Jake, the mechanized suits were piloted by frameworks, which put them only a hair above robots. These soldiers weren't unique, they were manufactured, and if he was wrong about them, he didn't much care. Haven Fleet's quick in-and-out rescue plan had gone to crap, and Citadel was no small part of that.
The mechanized suits were picked and blasted to pieces. When their outer armour failed they still flailed as though there was a chance it was worth fighting, but Nafalli cutting beams sliced through the frame of both. The pilots were blasted by anti-framework rounds, some of the last they had. It was time to go. There was nothing on Haven Shore for them to fear except a few frameworks coming up the beach. More importantly, there was nothing to defend.
* * *
Hal was just touching down on the deck of the Triton when Damon said; "Getting a notification from the ground now. Admiral Valent's troops just finished taking all those mechanized Citadel guys out."
"That was quick." Hal replied, surprised.
"They're starting their ascent. They have casualties that are slowing them down, though," Damon reported from the station behind.
"Get back there and make sure that our passengers get off ship as quick as they can. Our trio has to get back so we can cover the Admiral's people. They're going to ascend slowly and they'll lose people if they run into fighters."
"Gotcha," Damon said, moving with more purpose than Hal had seen since he met him.
"We're going back to help the Admiral?" Pixie's voice asked through his personal comm.
"Yeah," Hal replied. "Think your ship can handle it?"
"We'll be good as long as you and the Crow keep fighters off my port side," she said. "We're unloading our passengers quick."
Hal wiped his eyes. They stung a little, it was to be expected after such a long day, after doing so many different errand and fighting missions for Triton and Fleet Flight. He took a moment to enjoy relative quiet and safety, then opened a channel. "Triton Flight, this is Traveller aboard the Jester. We're going back out to provide cover for Admiral Valent. We're launching next."
"Negative, we're keeping the launch doors closed. Shields are low in that section," Flight replied.
"The Jester, Crow and Laura are launching in a few seconds under our own power," Hal sighed. "Acknowledge."
"I'm sorry, you don't determine… please stand by," Flight started to respond.
Admiral McPatrick broke into the communication then. "You're up next, Jester. Watch for crossfire on your way out and good hunting."
"Thank you, Admiral," Hal said.
"Looks like you've got some real attention from the higher-ups," Damon said as he returned to his seat.
During the last few hours, the Jester had been ordered to carry out more missions than he could count on one hand, and he was starting to feel a little worn. "I don't think I want attention from the Admiralty," he said. "Maybe they could spread it around a little."
Twenty-Five
The Wheel
* * *
It was infuriating, watching a circle of ships rotate so they could share the damage that the Order of Eden ships were dealing. Every generator aboard the Sunspire was working to keep their shields running and even with other ships adding to the barriers protecting them, the highest they could manage to raise their energy reserves was three percent. They were a hair away from destruction.
The fighter screen was showing its importance as it dominated the space between the Order and Haven ships. They were living in the crossfire, and thanks to the skill of the pilots, neural assisted interfaces and computer systems aboard their ships, they were able to take out most of the heavy munitions the Order launched before they reached the Sunspire and the other ships in the wheel formation. That was while they hunted down drones and fighters. The interdiction screen was starting to loosen up.
That wasn't enough. The Order fleet had swelled, covering the Haven ships thoroughly, preventing them from leaving orbit. Admiral Rice knew there were several battlegroups in the system and that included many carriers, cruisers, even a few of the older but still deadly battleships. Unlike Vindyne, the Order didn't use disposable ships or technology. Their ships were truly military grade, and the people who were in command were dedicated. They knew it was a matter of time.
Everyone aboard the Sunspire were focused on their duties. Most didn't allow themselves to think about the slow decline of their shields, the strikes against their thick outer hull as they became more frequent. Yes, the ship's skin could regenerate, but it wasn’t keeping up. The outer hull that protected the very middle of the ship was wearing thin thanks to continual strikes from cannon rounds that no fighter could stop, that their shields could only partially block. They were digging for the bridge, they were working to take her out.
Worse, there were Citadel ships somewhere. One of the smaller ones revealed itself momentarily when it launched a significant landing force to Tamber. It took Admiral Valent's team only minutes to clear that mess up, and they were on their way up, covered by three corvettes. There was no new solution for her there, though. Perhaps Valent could offer some insight or modification to a plan that had them holding, sharing damage with seven other ships, but she couldn't trust that such sal
vation was forthcoming.
It would be more likely that he'd look at their situation and come to the same conclusion she did: they were stuck. Even with the thinning interdiction field, their constant return fire at key Order of Eden ships, they were outnumbered twelve to one. Everything in or near the Haven System was concentrating on wearing the seven Haven ships down. The Triton was in the middle of their wheel, the eighth ship, a vault of reactors working to shore up the shields of the vessels most in need. A gunnery deck launching difficult to fabricate guided rounds, and thirty torpedo bays that kept the Order worrying about their heaviest cruiser. The crew of the Triton were so desperate for materials so their ammunition generation tech could keep up with the demand that they were throwing non-essential items into recyclers. If it kept up, the Triton would be unfurnished and whole decks would be stripped of secondary wall panels, but that was the least of their worries. They could keep doing that for days, using most of the energy they'd normally reserve for ammunition to keep their shields running.
They didn't have days. If they didn't do something soon, they'd would have less than twenty minutes before they were open to the boarding craft that the Order carriers were launching, keeping ready behind them for the right time.
"Ma'am," the tactical officer to her right said. "Our turn is coming up."
He'd seen that her attention had drifted, her head was down, but not the wheel in her mind. The vulnerable, deteriorating rotation of the Sunspire, Sentinel, Guardian, Juggernaut, Intrepid then the newer ships: The Merciless and the Rassaaga with the Triton in the middle. They needed a break, a chance for their energy reserves to go up even ten percent so they could change formation and charge free. Admiral Jessica Rice was desperate to find a solution that didn't mean sacrificing at least one ship. "Don't worry, Commander, I couldn't be more aware of what's going on," Jessica said, her gaze steady, her voice low. It wasn't an admonishment, but a message to him: I'm with you until the end, but I haven't lost hope. We will be ready when salvation comes or make our own opportunity. "You know the routine; roll until our port side is facing the enemy, and resume firing everything we can send their way. Let's take five destroyers out this time, starting with that one, the Light Seeker. Order the fleet to focus a nine second volley then move on to the Owned Right."
"Abandon our attacks on the lead cruiser? The Archon?" asked a junior tactical officer who just joined them on the bridge. Where he was before it all started, she couldn't tell, but she didn't have time to care.
"Yes. For all we know that's a red herring," his commanding officer said from the tactical section of the bridge as he passed the order without delay. "We are chipping away at their firepower."
"Any chance of getting our starboard guns back in shape?" Admiral Rice asked her engineering team. They had lost five main emplacements on that side.
"I'm afraid we won't be getting anything back online. We're setting the hull in that section to grow over the gun emplacements, there just isn't enough to repair there."
"I understand. Open fire and do not stop firing until we're out of ammunition or out of air," Admiral Rice said firmly.
* * *
The weaving, wandering pattern Ronin, Easy and Dame were guided on as they hunted for a Citadel ship with a Geist aboard was maddening. Edda Paley understood why they were searching, every few minutes a coded message would come from the Triton, where Admiral McPatrick was listening for the Geist. They were told several times to search areas that were empty, near Tamber orbit where nothing was happening. The interdiction signals were spreading across the whole solar system, everyone was trapped, and she did her best not to be irritated at following leads that took them to empty areas of space. If they found the Geist, used their heavy munitions properly, it would severely damage Citadel's command structure.
The fact that Admiral McPatrick could feel the Geist at all, even intermittently, meant that it was coming out from behind shielding, probably issuing commands through telepathic links to Citadel soldiers. Whoever was listening was depending on it.
Even still, watching Haven ships huddled in a wheel formation, their shields and hulls getting chipped at over time, made her feel ill. New coordinates appeared on her tactical display, it was another destination to search. It came only seconds after the previous one. "This could be it," Ronin warned. "Be ready to pull up fast, if this is a big cloaking field, like Oz suspects, then we could fly right into whatever it is before we see it." He throttled down, turning the gain on all their scanning systems up.
"Aye, ready," Dame replied.
"Staying loose and watching my screens," Easy added.
There was a lot of noise, that was the problem with passive scanners: the more you turned the gain up, the more noise you welcomed in, and there was no shortage of it near orbit, combat, and everything else that was floating around or emitting energy in the area. "This is a mess," she said to herself, allowing an uncharacteristic complaint slip out in a mutter. With quickly moving fingers she identified new noise on the scan data display and discounted it, helping her wingmates weed out the useless noise.
"That reminds me," Easy said. "I might have a more permanent bunk situation, so I might not be living out of a bag for once. Do you have any suggestions for a good spot in the racks, Dame? I'm looking for a nice bunk far from any snorers or anyone else with disturbing nocturnal habits."
"This is not the time for that kind of conversation," Edda replied with a sigh, continuing her work.
"Why not? This scan data sifting can't be taking up more than ten percent of your bandwidth."
"She's going to be moving into Samurai Squadron once we get out of this too, Easy," Ronin interjected. "Besides, we assign bunks when you arrive. You don't get to choose."
"Ah, so we'll both be newbie Samurai," Easy concluded. "That'll be great, we can get to know our wing at the same… Whoa!"
A flash of clarity appeared on Dame's scanners. It was unmistakeable: an array of punter systems launching fifteen Ramiel fighters. The curve of the hull they were installed in was gradually curved, almost flat. Easy was directly in the path of one of the smaller fighters. He barely got out of its way. The cloaking system re-asserted itself, and the hull ahead of them disappeared from sensors.
"Think my cloak held up?" Easy asked as he settled back into formation.
Ronin lead them in a broad arc away from where the large ship was detected. "You'd be shreds of metals and grease if they noticed you. Good job getting out of the way," he replied. "Break off, you two. Fly slow, parallel to the hull shape we just detected. I'm launching a pair of Bursters. If you see a section of that thing's hull and its shields have a hole in them, then launch a pair of Drillers. We need to tag this whale."
"Aye," Dame and Easy said at the same time.
When they were several kilometres away from Ronin, he launched a pair of Bursters. The missiles were cloaked as well as any could be, and he got away from their origin point just in case they were detected. He must have known that they wouldn't be as effective as they could be that way, though. A cloaked Burster only started going off when it was manually triggered from the launcher or touched an energy barrier, so there was a high chance it would be destroyed after a few seconds. Dame decided not to comment. She couldn't think of a better strategy for finding and tagging the large ship they were after.
To the three pilots' relief, there was no sign that Ronin was detected when he launched the missiles. His cloaking systems hid the event, and the missiles themselves proceeded contested. They moved through the space where they detected the large section of ship hull, and Dame contained her disappointment.
Easy wasn't as well disciplined. "Damn, I thought this hunt was over."
"Hold on," Ronin breathed after a few seconds. He ordered one of his missiles to slow, letting the other proceed. Then, when it was well ahead of its twin, he activated it. Big blooms of energy started flashing rapidly around it as the shield interfering pulses that earned it the name 'Burster,' collided with the
shields of the large ship nearly two kilometres ahead of it. "There it is!" he exclaimed as he sent the second missile in fast before the outline of the gargantuan vessel's shields was revealed bit by bit. Just from that shape Dame could tell it was much bigger than the Triton. Taller, broader by far, at least the size of a significant station.
Then a section of hull behind the shields was revealed as a pair of high powered beams pulsed, destroying the first Burster, but the second, the one that Ronin held back, was rushing towards it, still cloaked. With a quick jerk, it turned to circle a small section of shielding over the row of punters that they'd seen before and started to blast the energy barrier with thirty electromagnetic bursts per second. "Now, fire your Drillers now," Ronin ordered calmly.
The Burster was joined by two more as Ronin launched another pair at maximum speed. It took them seconds to cross the distance, and when the first one was blasted by the Citadel ship's deadly beams, those took their place. Trusting their Wing Commander's order, she and Easy launched their Drillers, turning away jaggedly as soon as they were away.
By the time they were about to cross through the threshold of the Citadel ship's shields, there was a neat, hole in its defences. One, then two of their high-speed Driller missiles were destroyed by point defence beams. Then, as it was about to make contact, the third was reduced to hot shreds of metal. The fourth struck, and to their delight, jammed into the hull firmly. The plasma drill in its head activated. A capsule around its middle burst, sending nanobots across the hull that painted the deepening hole in the ship's hull for anything that cared to fire at it to hit. No cloaking system could hide that twenty by twenty metre section of hull. "That's it! We've marked it, our job's done!" Ronin said, ordering them on a course that would take them behind the semi-circle of Order of Eden ships that had their friends trapped.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 14 Page 21
