by D. J. Holmes
When the countdown hit zero and they were just one thousand meters away from the Chinese ship Jones fired their deceleration thrusters. They contained just enough force to reduce their approach velocity to a few meters per second. Becket braced herself as her EVA boots hit the deck of the frigate with a loud thud. She was sure that someone would have heard her landing but Jones had assured all of them that nothing, except setting off a large explosion, would alert anyone to their presence. As she realized they had made it relief washed over her. They had actually done it! It was a first in human history. All her fears suddenly turned into a giddy elation at having survived but as the rest of the marines began to move around the hull Becket tried to focus on their mission.
As she looked around the strange hull of the Chinese ship she made a mental note to herself. When she got back to Drake she would send a request to the Admiralty to look into placing sensors that could detect EVA suits along the hull of RSN ships. Having been out here herself she knew she would always be paranoid that an intruder would be walking around Drake’s hull unnoticed.
Major Johnston was the first to spot the thicker armor section that identified where an access panel into the destroyer’s hull was. Keying his COM unit he signaled to the rest of the Special Forces squad. Within a minute they had their equipment set up.
The marines had brought a plasma-cutting tool specially adapted to cut through valstronium armor. Normally the valstronium armor would flow around itself, filling any gaps created by the cutting process. This cutter inserted a titanium alloy strut into hole being cut that held back the valstronium. Once the cutting tool was set up it got to work automatically.
Samuel was already beginning to relax. In many ways the hardest part of the mission was over. EVA boarding missions had been dismissed as too chancy to attempt. Yet here they were. Now that they had made it onto the hull of the destroyer, things were starting to feel familiar again. Soon they would be past the hull and into the ship. Then Jones and his fellow marines could do what they did best; close quarters combat. Their intel suggested that the destroyer’s crew numbered about two hundred. With luck most of them would be naval crew members and not the Chinese equivalent to the marines. If there were any soldiers aboard things would certainly be getting interesting.
The cutting tool sent a beep to signal that it had competed its task. Looking over Samuel saw a square hole in the valstronium armor. One of the marines, the demolition expert, had already stepped into it and was setting his shaped charges.
The schematics RSNI had provided for a Chinese Luda class destroyer indicated that the ship’s bridge should be exactly three decks below where he was standing. The plan was for the team to blow their way through the outer hull into the first deck. Then they would split up.
The marine setting the charges stood away from the hole and held up five fingers. Everyone braced for the coming explosion. A flash of light was the only sign anything had happened but, as soon as he saw it, Samuel swung into action. Three marines were already through the hole by the time he got there and jumped through.
The first things to greet him were two bodies, both with large holes blown in them from flying metal shrapnel. On his HUD display a red arrow appeared, directing him to the hatch that would lead deeper into the ship and towards the bridge. Before heading further in he turned to check on the other marines. Two groups of three marines were already heading off towards the rear of the ship.
One fire team was tasked with taking out the portside weapons control center; the other was going to secure the engineering section. Everyone else was preparing themselves behind him. When their eyes met Jones nodded, nodding back Samuel turned and headed off, following his HUD directions.
The first two corridors he came to were deserted but as they rounded the third, two Chinese crew members were struggling for breath, the air still rushing out the hole they had made in the ship’s hull. Neither attempted to put up any resistance.
At the end of the third corridor, they came to an airlock that had automatically locked in place. Stepping aside Samuel allowed another marine to begin to work on the airlock. As he looked past the marine through the airlock’s window he could see four Chinese setting up a blockade. Somehow they had managed to get a heavy laser turret in place to greet them. Samuel didn’t even try not to swear. The Chinese response was a lot quicker than their intel suggested. Had they somehow found out about the British Special Opps procedures for boarding another ship? Samuel’s first thought was to dismiss the possibility. Everyone knew the British counter intelligence services were very good. The Chinese couldn’t have got their hands on the intel. But then he thought about it for a couple of seconds. He had established the protocol almost twenty years ago. What were the chances it was still a closely guarded secret? Probably everyone at the Marine headquarters back on Earth had long since dismissed the idea. It was only Mr. Jones who had resurrected it. Maybe the Chinese had got whiff of the British idea and implemented regulations to counter just such an attack. Whatever the reason for the quick response Johnston wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Change of plan marine,” he said over the COM channel, “blow the air lock, I want the next section sucking vacuum as well.”
The initial plan had been to dump their EVA suits as soon as they came to an airlock. However, the marines had not been able to wear their combat armor under the suits. If they got into a heavy firefight they would be at a disadvantage. Speed was their best weapon.
Everyone shielded themselves as the airlock blew. Samuel rushed through the opening, plasma gun blazing. He was counting on the sudden depressurization to throw off the Chinese crewmen’s aim. Luck was with him as the first two laser bolts blasted past him. Over the COM channel he heard a grunt as one of the marines caught a laser bolt full in the chest. It was too late however, by now three of his group were through and the combined fire from all their plasma rifles overwhelmed the blockade and the laser turret exploded as it took a plasma bolt to its energy cell. The Chinese crew had been stuck between trying to defend themselves and pull on their oxygen masks. In the cold hard expanse of space a human only had seconds before they would lose consciousness due to the drop in pressure. The naval uniforms every spacer wore were designed to give the crew of a ship a few extra vital seconds and limited protection from the cold. They weren’t, however, designed to function in a combat situation.
Samuel rushed past the blockade and bundled into another group of Chinese in breathing masks. The cold of the vacuum would be making life difficult for them but their masks would allow them to resist for a minute or so. As they raised their guns to engage him, his finger was already depressing the trigger of his rifle. Plasma bolts vaporized all three.
Finally, he reached the access hatch that would allow him to descend to the next floor. His HUD was telling him that the hatch to the bridge was only five meters beyond the access hatch at his feet.
Without needing to wait for confirmation he opened the hatch and a marine threw in three stun grenades. As their suits registered the flash, Samuel and the marine jumped through the hatch onto the deck below them. Six Chinese crewmen were writhing on the floor. Samuel left the other marine to deal with them as he approached the hatch to the bridge. As expected it was sealed shut. Through the window he could see the bridge crew frantically preparing themselves. Checking his timer he saw that they had only been in the Chinese ship for three minutes. It was a pity they couldn’t blast their way into the bridge; they could already be storming it. Instead they had to wait while Jones connected a RSNI datapad to the door controls. Jones had assured them that this piece of RSNI tech would be able to override the door’s controls and open them in less than a minute. The RSNI had obtained the Chinese air lock and access hatch software and worked out a hack that would let them control it. Largely thanks to the Chinese never expecting to have to defend themselves from an internal hack, it would quickly have the door open.
As the datapad got to work Samuel took stock of the
ir position. Above them the final marine was guarding the hatch they had used to gain access to this floor. The marines who had jumped through the hatch along with Sub Lieutenant Becket, were guarding the other end of the corridor while he and Jones waited for the door to open.
Patiently, Samuel forced himself to count his breaths as he waited. The seconds ticked by slowly. Finally, Jones held up his hand to signal that the hack was almost complete.
Reaching behind his back Samuel pulled out his electric stun gun. It fired a highly charged electrical bolt capable of immediately knocking out anyone it hit. It wasn’t very accurate as the electric charge jumped through the air somewhat randomly, however, the bridge’s command consoles would be protected against electrical surges, meaning that he didn’t have to worry too much about accuracy. The gun would allow him to take out the bridge crew without harming the functionality of the ship. Samuel had designed the guns himself over twenty years ago and he was pleased that he would finally get to try one out for real.
“Becket get up here and switch to your stun gun.” Samuel called out, looking back as he spoke. He was slightly embarrassed for the Lieutenant as she jumped when he spoke her name. So far their operation had been carried out in almost complete silence.
As the bridge door finally slid open, Samuel and Jones each threw two stun grenades in. They both rushed in after them, closely followed by Becket. All three spread their bolts of electricity around the bridge, scoring hits on almost all of the crew.
One man, dressed in what Samuel assumed to be a Captain’s uniform jumped at Jones from out of nowhere. He was wielding a plasma knife and he drove it into Jones’ leg. The RSNI officer grunted and fell to one knee. Before the Captain could pull it out and thrust it home again, Becket was at Jones’ side and had driven her fist into the Chinese Captain’s face. His body crumpled as her powerful punch, strengthened by the EVA suit’s enhanced force, disintegrated his skull.
Before his body had even come to rest, Becket was already shoving him out of the way of the Captain’s command console. With a practiced flick of her wrist she disconnected the gloves of her EVA suit. Somewhere behind them another airlock had closed so the bridge was still fully pressurized despite their advance. Immediately, her hands began to fly over the inputs as she attempted to assert control over the ship.
Jones had managed to get himself into a seat and was looking at the hole in his EVA suit that led to his leg. Grimacing at the pain he saw on Jones’ face Samuel contacted the other fire squads. “This is Major Johnston, we have secured the bridge. Request status update over.”
Sargent Gera, who was commanding the fire team sent after the engine room answered first. “This is fire team three, the engine room is secure also. We are dealing with a heavy counter attack but the Chinese don’t seem to have any combat armor on-board so we are holding them off.”
Corporal Almaty’s voice then came over the COM. Samuel grimaced again; Sargent Harte was meant to be leading the second fire team. “We are still pushing towards the port weapons control section. Sargent Harte is down. I’m not sure we will be able to take it intact, we’re going to have to go with plan Zeta and set charges to blow the whole section.”
Samuel thought about it for a second. Ideally they wanted to capture the Chinese ship intact but the ship had a separate control section for each of its main missile batteries. If one was destroyed the other would still be available for the tech guys to go over. On the other hand, the charges would send metal shrapnel shooting through the ship, possibly damaging nearby sections. Quickly he decided that losing two men on this mission was already enough.
“Permission granted, continue with plan Zeta if you can’t secure the weapons control section, over.”
Samuel looked up just in time to see Becket jump with excitement. “I did it, I’m into their command and control network, the ship is basically ours. I’m beginning to lock out local control of all the ship’s main systems now.”
Most of the ship’s minor functions were only controlled from the bridge. Navigation and propulsion could also be controlled from engineering and each battery of missiles from their local command sections. With engineering captured, the remaining Chinese crewmen couldn’t maneuver the ship. Once the port weapons control section was destroyed they also wouldn’t be able to defend themselves from further borders, for Drake was coming up along the destroyer’s port side, ready to dock with her prey.
“Becket, I want you to close and lock all the access hatches. We need to keep the remaining crew from being able to meet up and organize a more serious counter attack. Then prepare to shut down all communications throughout the ship; we’ll rely on our COMS units for now. Before you shut them down, I want you to open a ship wide channel.”
It took Becket another thirty seconds to lock down all the access hatches. Once she had the channel open she nodded to Major Johnston and then began a full systems check of the ship.
On Becket’s cue Samuel began speaking into the command chair’s COM. “Attention all Chinese crew members. My name is Major Johnston of the Royal Space Navy Marines. We have boarded your ship and taken control of your bridge and engineering.”
Samuel paused and switched back to his personal COMS unit. “Corporal Almaty how long until your explosives go off.”
“Thirty seconds sir,” came the reply.
Switching back to the ship wide channel he continued. “In thirty seconds we will be blowing the port weapons control center. I suggest you evacuate it immediately.” Johnston then paused and counted down the seconds. Right on time the entire ship rocked as Corporal Almaty’s explosives went off. Satisfied that they now had the ship suitably under their control Samuel reached behind his back and switched on his locater beacon. It sent out strong radio pulses, which would alert Drake that the mission had been a success. With luck, Drake would be able to pull along the port side of the Chinese destroyer and extend a docking arm within thirty minutes. Then his men could be reinforced.
Again he switched to the ship wide COM channel. “Chinese crewmen, we have now secured your port weapons batteries. Our ship, HMS Drake will be closing to dock with this vessel and transfer the rest of our marines and a prize crew aboard. This is the first and only chance I will be giving you to surrender. Your ship was illegally within a system awarded to the Great Britain by the UN Interplanetary Committee. By lying in stealth, your intentions were clearly not friendly. Surrender now or face being treated as common pirates.”
As he finished his call for surrender, Becket motioned for him to look at the holo-display. “Major, I have finished the systems check. As you can see the ship is almost fully functional. The upper two decks, ten and eleven, have almost entirely been vented into space. However, no major damage has been caused. The explosion from the port battery control center has caused secondary damage to the sensor relays but the computer is working to bypass the damage now. I have full control of the ship from here. I’m going to begin a deceleration burn on the engines to allow Drake to come alongside quicker.”
“Impressive Lieutenant, you have done well on this mission.” Johnston commended. Now all his men had to do was hold tight for the next thirty minutes or so and hope the Chinese didn’t try anything.
Chapter 12 – All Haste
The distances involved in interstellar war means that whoever is on the offensive almost always has the advantage. It simply takes too long for help to arrive after an attack has begun.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD
28th February 2465, HMS Drake, the Excalibur system
Aboard Drake, James was beginning to get very worried. The mission timing was meant to be very precise. The marines and Sub Lieutenant Becket should have landed on the destroyer almost ten minutes ago. By now they ought to have signaled if they had managed to capture the ship.
Just then a small fireball erupted from within the hull of the destroyer. James had been watching the visual and so had seen it almost instantaneously. Fisher saw it on her conso
le too.
“Sir, infra-red is picking up a small explosion from the destroyer. I estimate it to be coming from the port side weapons control center.”
James had already surmised that from the visuals and so only nodded. Instead he addressed the bridge as a whole. “Blowing the control center was a fall back plan if they couldn’t capture it. They must have the bridge or they would have blown the whole ship. Navigation, take us alongside them, keep us under their portside.”
Seconds later Major Johnston’s radio beacon sprang to life on the sensors but three more minutes passed before a communication finally reached Drake on the operations channel. “Drake, this is Major Johnston, do you copy, over?”
“Major, this is Commander Somerville. What is your situation?”
“Ah, Commander, my long range COMS must have taken some damage, I am speaking to you through the ships communications array, we had to reactivate it. We have secured the bridge and engineering, the port missile batteries have been disabled. Sargent Harte and Corporal Smith are both dead. Mr. Jones has sustained a nasty injury to his leg but he should be ok. We have begun a slow deceleration burn to allow Drake to come alongside sooner. Lieutenant Becket has the ship firmly under control.”
