by Randy Dyess
“Understood,” Robert replied.
“I think the groupings would have damaged anything the size of the Titan and destroyed anything smaller. From the data we recorded on Candus, that is the majority of their fleet.”
“Okay, let’s try another pass. This time, I want continuous fire against all asteroids in range. Monitor the projectile supply and cut off fire after two thousand rounds,” Dakota said.
“Strafing run?” Robert said.
“Yes. Let’s see how many asteroids we can clear out of our way in one pass.”
“Understood. Inputting the parameters into the AI now,” Robert said.
“Captain,” the helm officer said, “I’ve created a flight path to put us in the range of over two thousand asteroids with the same size and mass used for the spider landing and assault ships.”
“Understood. Input course and execute when weapons report a green light.”
“You have the green light,” Robert said. “The AI has created the firing pattern for the area indicated. I’ve alerted the gun crew and we’re ready.”
“Execute,” Dakota said.
The Sullivan’s Revenge accelerated and maneuvered for the new course. Two minutes later, the ship shook as the two main railguns started their firing pattern.”
“Ceasing fire,” Robert said.
“That was quick. How many rounds did we get off?” Dakota asked.
“Only five hundred. My display shows heating in the battery coils. If we had fired another few hundred rounds, they would have melted. We have a limitation in the design.”
“Package the data and fire it off to Cheyenne’s team. Hopefully, they can overcome the design issue.”
“Sending all data from testing runs to our research lab,” the tactical officer said.
“Dakota, what about a real test?” Robert asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s go to Shaserus and try against actual spider ships.”
“Do you think we’re ready?”
"I've been thinking about that,” Robert said. "We're having the marines test out the kinetic weapons against the spiders on Shaserus, so we need to step up and test our weapons against the spider fleet. We can’t continue to ask others to put themselves in harm’s way to test our weapon designs. We have the ship and the weapons, and the spiders aren’t going to wait for us to be one hundred percent ready."
Dakota thought about Robert’s proposal. "Agreed. Do we have enough time to make it to Shaserus before the spider fleet leaves?"
“Based on Cheyenne’s projections, we should arrive just after the first attack, but before the raid is finished. We should be able to find targets,” Robert replied.
"Helm, input a flight path to bring us out behind the larger of Shaserus’ moons,” Dakota ordered. "Let's see if we can get there without being discovered."
"Dakota, you need to understand that any landing ship coming up from Shaserus’ surface will be filled with people, as well as spiders,” Robert said.
She looked at him for a few minutes before replying, “I know, but we must stop these attacks. This is species against species, and our efforts will probably cause the death of thousands of people, but I can accept that.”
“As long as you know it going in,” Robert said. “I don’t want you to think about it later and regret your decision.”
“Thank you, Robert, but I’ve made peace with it,” Dakota said. "Helm, as soon as you get the flight path calculated, engage."
The small bridge crew of the Sullivan’s Revenge nodded their agreement. Mankind had been on the run against the spiders and everyone aboard the Sullivan’s Revenge wanted it to end.
*****
Eight hours later, the Sullivan’s Revenge exited its FTL endpoint. The helm officer had placed them exactly where they needed to be. The spider fleet was currently on the opposite side of the planet, where over ninety percent of its population lived near the marine base.
"Good job,” Dakota said. "I want three probes launched. Place one in front of this moon and the other two as close to the spider fleet as possible."
"What are you thinking?” Robert asked.
"I want to see if we can't find a small group of landing ships coming up from the planet and heading toward the fleet,” Dakota said. "Let's see if we can test the weapon away from the fleet, if possible."
"Aye, Captain," the tactical officer replied. "Launching probes now."
"Now the only thing left is the waiting,” Robert said. "This is the part that gets on your nerves."
"I know. The same thing happened before the battle at Pirate's Bay," Dakota said. "Let's hope we don't have to wait as long as we did that time."
"Captain," the tactical officer said, "I see five spider landing ships coming into orbit on the opposite side of the planet from the spider fleet. They might make a good target."
Both Dakota in Robert looked at the tactical view screen. "I agree," Dakota said. "Helm, plot a course to intercept. I want railguns up and ready to fire as soon as we come within range."
"Aye, Captain," the helm officer replied.
"Everyone, be on the lookout for plasma balls," Dakota said. "Cheyenne and her team added several powerful thrusters on the Sullivan’s Revenge during refitting. They are confident that the new thrusters will be able to maneuver us to avoid the plasma balls.”
"Course plotted,” the helm officer said.
"Engage,” Dakota ordered.
"Here we go,” Robert said.
“Let's pray our sister is as smart as we think she is. We need something to work if these new weapons don't or mankind's going to be in a lot of trouble."
The Sullivan’s Revenge accelerated around the small moon, and it would only take four minutes before they were in the range of the new railguns. They had no knowledge of the range of the plasma balls, though, and prayed it would not extend far enough to hit their ship.
The spider landing ships either ignored or did not see the Sullivan’s Revenge as it made its way around the moon. "Weapons hot,” Dakota ordered. "Target all five spider landing ships. Fire when ready. "
"Targets acquired. Firing solutions are ready. We’re firing three rounds from forward railgun and two rounds from aft," Robert said.
“Be prepared to follow up with additional rounds, if necessary,” Dakota said. “You have control of the solution.”
"Understood. Firing now."
The Sullivan’s Revenge shuddered when the five shots left the two railguns. Everyone kept their fingers crossed as the projectiles made their way to the spider ships. It took less than a second for them to travel the ten million kilometers to the landing ships, but it felt like an eternity.
"Contact. All five shots were directly on target," the tactical officer said.
"What's the damage?” Dakota asked.
"Coming in now,” the tactical officer replied. "We did it! All five landing ships have been destroyed. The projectiles didn't just punch through their hulls—they ripped the ships apart. "
A cheer went out among the bridge crew. They officially had a weapon they could use against the smaller spider ships. "Attention, all hands,” Dakota said into her headset, “we have destroyed five spider landing ships using five of the new projectiles." Although they couldn't hear it, the bridge crew knew cheers were ringing out throughout the Sullivan’s Revenge.
"Do you want to try one of the larger ships?” Robert asked.
"No. We know they work against the landing ships—”
"Captain,” the tactical officer interrupted, “I see five spider ships breaking off from the main fleet. They’re the size of assault ships!”
She looked at her brother, who nodded. “Helm, plot an intercept course to the five new targets,” Dakota ordered. “Let’s see if these railguns work against assault ships."
"Yes, Captain," the helm officer replied.
"Robert, are the railguns recharged?” Dakota asked.
"Yes—they have a three-second recharge ra
te. We have enough power for five hundred more rounds before we’ll have to bring them offline to cool the battery coils."
"Well, let's hope it doesn't take five hundred rounds. Helm, as soon as you plot the intercept course, I want you to plot an FTL endpoint for the next system away and start inputting the calculations,” Dakota said. "Robert, fire at maximum range—I want to see what happens if we fire before optimal range.”
“Adjusting AI for maximum range,” Robert replied.
“Tactical, record the responses from the spider ships," Dakota said.
"Yes, Captain. We will be in maximum firing range in ten seconds," the tactical officer said. The bridge crew held their breath for the entire ten seconds. Human landing ships were smaller and lightly armored compared to assault ships, and now was the time to tell if the same was true for spider ships.
"Firing now," Robert said. "Calculating a second round at optimal firing range."
"Good. How long between the two rounds?" Dakota asked.
"I estimate three minutes," Robert replied.
"Contact," the tactical officer said.
Before he could say anything else, both Robert and Dakota yelled out, "What's the damage assessment?"
"Coming in now.” Once again, the bridge crew held their breath. “Three rounds missed their targets—the spiders maneuvered at the last minute. Two rounds impacted their targets, and one is still moving, but venting gas into space. The other skipped off the ship and caused no damage.”
“They had enough time to react,” Robert said.
“What is the response from the spider ships?”
“Other than the maneuvering during the last shot, nothing. They’re still coming at us on the same course and same speed. No weapons fire.”
“Want to try again with a second round?” Dakota asked Robert.
“Yes. We need to have the data to refine our solutions.”
“Stand by to fire again,” Dakota ordered. The three minutes it took the Sullivan’s Revenge to get to optimal firing range passed slowly.
“Firing,” Robert said as the ship shuddered from the new round of shots.
“Captain, the spider ships are maneuvering,” the tactical officer said. "Contact. They couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.
"What's the damage?"
“The damaged ship is dead in the water. Three more rounds have impacted and two more ships are not moving. Another ship is venting, but still moving. The remaining ship is unaffected—we must have missed.”
“Fire another round,” Dakota commanded.
“Inputting solutions,” Robert said.
“Helm, get ready to get us out of here if we don’t stop this last spider ship.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Firing solution ready,” Robert said.
“Fire!”
“Firing.”
“Damage assessment?”
“All four rounds hit. The three damaged ships have large holes in their hulls and look destroyed. The fourth is venting, but still moving.”
“We didn’t destroy them outright on the first few shots like the asteroids, but when we did hit them, we damaged them,” Dakota said.
“Correct” Robert said. “I am adjusting AI parameters to fire multiple rounds into each ship. Making all shots a three-round volley.”
“Captain, the remaining spider ship is firing. We have one plasma ball on course toward us.”
“Helm, use evasive action. Robert, fire another solution at that ship.”
“Captain, evasive actions have worked. The plasma ball has dissipated.”
“Firing solution ready,” Robert said.
“Captain, the spider ship is changing course. It’s headed back to the fleet. They’ve had enough.”
“What about the other four?”
“Still dead in the water. No movement or reactions from them.”
“Let’s go in and finish them off.”
“Captain, the damaged spider ships have exploded! All ships are gone!”
Dakota looked at Robert, “Did you fire?”
“No.”
“Was it the damage we did to them?
“I don’t think so. All four damaged ships just happened to blow up at the same time.”
“Self-destruct?”
“That would be my bet. It’s going to make capturing one of those ships for study almost impossible,” Robert said.
“Captain, ten spider assault ships are breaking off from the main fleet and heading toward us.”
"Dakota, I think we tested enough weapons for now," Robert said.
"I agree. Helm, plot an FTL tunnel to take us to the next system, then reset and come back to the far side of the moon,” Dakota said. "All hands, we just damaged five spider assault ships and destroyed five spider landing ships. Four of the assault ships self-destructed and one is running back to the main fleet. We have a weapon that works." This time, she swore she could hear the cheers. Not only had they created a weapon that would destroy the landing ships, but it was also strong enough to damage the larger assault ships.
"Do you plan on sticking around and seeing if Sergeant Major McCoons made it out?" Robert asked.
"Yes—we owe him that much. We can't leave him stranded if he was able to survive."
"Agreed," Robert said. "Change out the bridge crew. Let's let the first watch get something to eat and get some rest. You never know if the spider fleet will come after us."
"That sounds good. After we finish eating, why don't the two of us meet in my ready room? We need to draw our actions and results into an actual tactical battle plan and get the combat AI working on simulations. Cheyenne needs to know how the weapons worked and how we used them."
Chapter 16
Sergeant Major McCoons, Sergeant Henry, Fidel, and Rutger made it to the top of the hill and looked out over the base.
"What do you see?" Sergeant Henry asked McCoons.
“Nothing, Sam. The base is deserted,” he answered. “Nothing’s moving—no spiders or spider ships—and nothing’s moving over the city, either.”
“The formation is in view,” Sergeant Henry said. “It’ll only be another thirty minutes before they get here. What do you want to do, Alphus?”
The sergeant major walked to the opposite side of the hilltop to check the progress of the marines. Sergeant Preston had set a slow pace to give them a chance to rest after their long night.
“Should we go down?" Sergeant Henry asked.
“I think we need to,” McCoons replied. “The spiders could just be hiding in the remaining warehouses, waiting for us to arrive. Let’s go check them out before the formation arrives.”
“I agree,” Fidel said. “We need to make sure the base is empty. The marines seem too exhausted to ask them to go through another major fight.”
The four men made their way down the hill and toward the base. Once on the outskirts of it, Sergeant Major McCoons called a halt. “Listen up. Let’s go around the mechanic’s shop to warehouse five. We’ll take this nice and slow and check out every nook and cranny big enough for a spider. Remember, these things can climb, so look up. We’ll search the three warehouses on this side of the base and then wait for the rest of the formation before doing a complete search.”
“Understood,” Sergeant Henry replied. “I think we have about four hours of sunlight left. That should be enough to give the base a once-over.”
“Let’s go, then,” Sergeant Major McCoons said. “Get your nano-blades out and ready.”
Thirty minutes later, they were resting in food warehouse number five. They had searched the other two between them and the edge of the base and found nothing other than crates of supplies. It was the same thing with the mechanic’s shop and warehouse: nothing. The spiders and the bodies of the dead marines were gone.
“Let’s go meet the formation,” the sergeant major said after searching the last warehouse. “The point scouts should be at the edge of the base by now.”
They walked b
ack to the edge of the base where the trail to the beach started, and Sergeant Henry, Rutger, and Fidel sat in the shade of a grove of what passed as trees on Shaserus. Sergeant Major McCoons walked further up the trail and stood beside a large rock while waiting for the marine scouts to appear.
“Over here,” McCoons said to them when he saw them edging their way onto the base. “We’re clear on this side.”
“Yes, Sergeant Major,” the lead scout replied before signaling his team to join them.
“Take your scouts, go back to the formation, and have Sergeant Preston double-time it back. Tell Sergeant Yamikani to send first squad to the north side of the base and check for spider activity. Second squad will go to the south and work their way toward first squad. The rest will go to food warehouse five and set up a company area.”
“Yes, Sergeant Major.” The scout leader started leading his team toward the main marine formation.
*****
The marines spent the next three hours and the rest of the sunlight thoroughly searching the base for spider activity and for the bodies of dead marines, but neither could be found. Sergeant Preston and third squad spent an hour digging around in the rubble of the armory looking for their weapons. The ones they did find didn’t work—the heat from the plasma balls and fire had destroyed them. The combat armor survived the heat, but the electronics in the suits had not survived the spider’s EMP. They found plenty of food and water, though, and everyone gathered in the new company area for a meal.
“Listen up,” Sergeant Major McCoons said to the group sitting or lying on the floor after their meal, “now that the spider raid is over, we have some decisions to make. I’m going to go out on a limb here and tell you exactly what I’m thinking because I think a lot of you will have the same feelings. If you do not share my views, that’s okay. All I ask of you is to keep this conversation private. We’ve all been through a lot in the last few days and I’ve had enough.”
A murmur went up as they wondered what the sergeant major was talking about. “Most of you have heard my descriptions of what happened on Candus. I know some of you didn’t believe me, but you do now. The weapons we had been training with didn’t come from the Senate or the Terran Marines—they came from a small shipping company operating in the outer rims. They managed to obtain a mission report written by Senate Intelligence Agent Burchard, here,” he said, pointing to the group of agents.
