“Yes, Sir. I’ve been relaying your information to the surface. Command is sending in two evac birds for the wounded. Do you need assistance?”
“Negative, we’re clear here.”
“Wait, Sir, there’s something not right. I’m picking up movement from the tunnel parallel to your position.”
“Which tunnel? I’m not showing anything in that area.”
“Underneath you, Sir. I’m picking up massive seismic readings two hundred metres below you, and rising!”
“Seismic? An earthquake?”
“No, it’s alive and moving up, I suggest in tunnels or shafts towards your position. They are moving fast!”
“Okay, Sergeant, stand your ground. Radio it in,” he said, before turning his intercom onto the open channel.
“All units fall back to the central shaft immediately. We are expecting trouble! Move it!”
On his scanner the IFF signals of his marines showed them moving slowly through the narrow shafts. From the side the civilians staggered out, covering their eyes with their hands. There was no light down there, the bright lamps of the Vanguards must have been blinding for them.
“Sir, they are one hundred metres away, you need to hurry!” came an urgent transmission from Lovett.
“Go! All units fall back to the Landing Platform! Take the civilians and move!”
Most of the marines were out and moving fast alongside the confused and obviously terrified people. Only two marines remained, Sergeant Morato and Private Alsop.
“Sergeant, where are you!” he roared across the intercom.
“We’re coming, part of the tunnel collapsed, we’re taking a diversion. ETA, two minutes. What’s the problem?”
Spartan felt the ground shake slightly and panned his searchlights throughout the tunnel. The last marines were now over two hundred metres away and moving fast. The ground was now shaking strongly. Then he saw them. Several mounds that looked like molehills appeared in the dusty ground, followed by heads and hands. As they lifted themselves out, he knew instantly that they were Biomechs, the artificial creatures used by the Zealots in their unholy crusade against the Confederacy.
“Oh...shit!” he shouted. He quickly lowered both of his arms, aiming his weapons at the horde.
“Teresa, get your ass here now!”
CHAPTER TWO
Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles have a long history of service with the military, dating back to their use on Old Earth. Of their many advantages, are their smaller size and removal of components required for human survival. They can accelerate faster and can carry more fuel and weapons than a comparative manned craft. The main disadvantages come from the reliance upon computers and technology, both of which can be impaired, damaged or destroyed with ship direct fire energy defences.
Robots in Space
Most of the major warships of the Confederate Fleet were circling the gas giant of Khimaira. Until recently the vessels had been split up into small task forces and divisions, so that they could conduct minor operations through the sector. The change of strategy, initiated by Admiral Jarvis, had concentrated the bulk of the surviving ships into one place. There were over thirty heavy warships that included cruisers, frigates and carriers, as well as more than twenty smaller destroyers and cutters. Each of the massive vessels coasted in orbit, with scores of fighters moving at a distance to guard the ships. A force of this size and power was capable of striking at any single target in the Proxima System with overwhelming force and firepower. The additional military transports carried soldiers, marines and heavy equipment suitable for ground attack.
The capital ships had a blunt, sinister look to them, their slab shaped fronts and rotating sections providing artificial gravity. Many companies had worked for years on complex engineering solutions to the problems of gravity on ships. In hundreds of years of spaceflight, nothing had evolved enough to be remotely useful in the ever-changing conditions, velocity and acceleration of military vessels. For now, the idea of being able to walk about any part of a ship was sheer fantasy. The ships lacked the sleek shapes used by some of the civilian vessels, but these were the workhorses of the Navy and their designs were purely functional.
The great hulk of the recently refitted and repaired battlecruiser, CCS Crusader, was at the heart of the task force. This warship had survived her first encounter with a battleship months before, it was still being repaired in orbit. Next to the Crusader was the similarly massive shape of the CCS Wasp, a light carrier and a mighty vessel in its own right. Since the arrival of the 7th Fleet, the force had been increased by the addition of six powerful ships. The first was the assault cruiser CCS Royal Oak. This was a specially modified conventional cruiser, with additional space put aside for troops transporters and torpedo launchers. There were also four armoured cruisers plus the jewel of the 7th fleet, the CCS Ark Royal. Named after many famous British warships, she was a type of assault carrier. Larger than the CCS Wasp, she combined a bigger flight group with heavier armour and more weapons. This gave her the survivability of an armoured cruiser with more fighters and gunboats than a light carrier. A myriad of heavy frigates moved around these mighty vessels. While smaller than cruisers, were easily capable of taking on a larger ship when used in groups of two or three. They carried much smaller crews, usually around two hundred per ship. Three massive Army transports and a single Marine transport, the CCS Santa Maria, huddled together protected by half a dozen frigates and several wings of fighters. It was a host any Admiral would be proud of.
Khimaira was served by a number of floating bases that straddled the gaseous atmosphere. There were many more stations positioned out in space. The planet was an important refuelling point for the Fleet. Of even more importance, it was far enough away from the enemy strongholds in Kerberos, Agora and Orthrus.
The Fleet, under the command of Admiral Jarvis, was almost ready for the enforcement of Confederate rule in the sector. It was the Admiral’s firm belief that the Fleet would be able to force each secessionist colony to return to the fold, providing the Fleet was able to flex enough muscle.
In the Combat Information Centre, CiC, stood Admiral Jarvis and her veteran command staff. By now they were all experienced veterans who had faced the enemy, both in space and on the ground. She stood completely still, gazing out through the virtual windows. They were projected onto the walls of the armoured compartment, deep inside the ship. The look on her face was of grim determination, that of a woman who had one simple goal. She was poised to begin her war of reconquest. The ship had taken back its duties as flagship of the Fleet and now operated as the Confederation’s control centre. From this vessel, the Admiral could control the Fleet as well as the smaller task forces based at Kerberos, Prime and Prometheus. The Marine command staff were also able to operate from the vessel, exercising full command and control of the combat troops and garrisons dotted throughout the colonies.
Two new officers entered the room and marched up the Admiral. The first was a captain, though not anyone she recognised. The second, however, was Rear Admiral William Churchill. The officers saluted smartly before speaking.
“Admiral, thank you for seeing us at such short notice. We have information that we thought pertinent to share,” explained the Rear Admiral.
She looked to her right where the Army and Marine officers were going over their own details, and considered calling them over. Though their input was desirable, she also liked to keep information compartmentalised until she was confident of its value. She looked directly at the Rear Admiral and smiled.
“Not a problem, Admiral, what it is?”
“As you know, our force has been on the run for a long time now. It is only with luck, and the loss of many lives, that our six ships made it out in one piece.”
“Yes, your escape from the ambush of the 7th Fleet is truly a blessing to our forces here. I take it your crew and vessels are being taken care of?”
“Of course, that isn’t the issue though. With the help of yo
ur intelligence teams, we may have found one of the reasons for the successful ambush on the Fleet.”
“Go on.”
“During the escape, we managed to track down a small ring of agents on several of the surviving ships. Although most killed themselves, we were able to track one who was trying to gain access to the CiC on one of our cruisers. He was killed in our raid, we assumed he was attempting sabotage.”
“I take it you have found something else?”
“Yes. Your computer security teams performed a system purge on the cruiser and identified several anomalies. Following further investigation, we have found some partially installed automation software tools in our system. We also found three hardware devices that were wired into our servers, but the installations were incomplete. In the last hour, we have managed to break their codes and decrypt the data streams. It seems they were designed to allow our vessels to be controlled via another ship, or certainly able to receive orders.”
“You think this is what was done to several of your vessels? How many ships were lost to friendly fire?”
“Half were lost in the first hour, most as a result of the firepower from a single traitorous battleship. The captain was completely reliable and we assumed he must have been murdered by the Zealots.”
“If you’re right, then this technology could have been what the Zealots used to gain control of several vessels in this sector,” Admiral Jarvis said, as she rested her chin on her hands and considered the possibilities.
“How effective is the control of a vessel, if an automated system is able to access and control the CiC?” she asked.
“Only in some measure. Engines, course, some atmosphere controls and the computer controlled weapons. Most of our vessels, especially those built since the War, have been heavily compartmentalised. It increases the number of crew, but definitely reduces computer problems if any individual parts of the ship are compromised in any way.”
“Are our systems vulnerable to software?”
“No, the software we found simply enabled a gateway to be created between the hardware and our systems. The software wasn’t able to establish any kind of memory hole to operate an intelligent system. It appears both the hardware and software are required for it to work. If I may?” he asked.
Admiral Jarvis nodded. With a quick movement, he flipped out his datapad and showed her a tactical display of a large fleet.
“This information makes sense to me. In the ambush a number of our cruisers turned on the Fleet against orders and opened fire. If you look here, you can see them moving in formation then all at once, to the millisecond, they slightly alter course and cross the T of the entire Fleet. We assumed they had turned traitor, but it seems the ships themselves may have been overridden by the enemy.”
“How is this possible? The hardware on our ships is heavily protected, and the computer systems have minimal control of our systems,” asked Admiral Jarvis. “All our ships can be operated manually, we do not have the capacity to allow remote control of any ships in the Fleet, for just that reason.”
“That is true. It seems the infiltrators were trying to install specific equipment, including advanced artificial intelligence hubs, directly into the combat centres of the warships. We have obtained one partially functional unit, and since our arrival here we have managed to break their codes. The device has been receiving prompts from a specific set of coordinates.”
“Where?” asked Admiral Jarvis.
“That is the problem, we have nothing on our charts, and it seems to be about 50AU from Prime. It must have been a ship or relay device of some kind. What you might find even more interesting though, is that the codes we extracted show command instructions were sent from this place directly to our ships. Even more worrying, the signals look like they have also been sent in the last twenty-four hours to ground installations, stations and capital ships in this sector.”
“Interesting, thank you, Admiral, I will send this to my intelligence staff immediately. These AI hubs, do you have the one you captured?” she asked with a curious look.
The Rear Admiral smiled, “Of course, that is why I came here, to deliver the device for further examination.” He turned to his Captain and spoke quietly. The man then left the room.
The two stood in silence for a moment before the Captain returned with two Marine guards who were carrying a heavy case. They moved closer and lowered it to the floor. As one the marines started to open it, Admiral Jarvis pushed her hand in the way.
“Is it safe?” she asked worriedly.
“Yes, it is damaged and not fully functional,” said the Rear Admiral. He gestured to the two marines who flipped open the lid. The first thing that caught her attention was the smell, like that of rotting fish.
“What?” she asked in surprise.
The marines bent forward and lifted a mechanical device about the size of a ball. They placed it down. It was obviously metallic, but dripped some kind of fluid at a point where cables and pipes had been connected.
“It is some kind of bio-mechanical device. If you look here, you can see the remains of a brain, as well as a mechanical pump and circulatory system.”
“This thing was connected to your ship?” she asked.
“No, but others like it were installed in cruisers and able to override the engines, guidance and any of the automated weapon systems.”
“Incredible, and you have no idea of its origins?”
He shook his head.
“Thank you, this is critical intelligence that I’m sure will prove significant. Would you mind discussing this with my intelligence team? We need to find out more on this technology. Are there likely to be more? Where are they made, and what are their full capabilities?”
Admiral Churchill nodded in acknowledgement and saluted, before marching smartly away. The two marines reloaded the objected into its crate. They followed one of the bridge officers who escorted them away to the bowels of the ship. Admiral Jarvis stood quietly, thinking about the implications of a biomechanical artificial intelligence that could operate machines and equipment. It couldn’t be a co-incidence that in Proxima, they had been hit hard first by the religious insurgency and then by the manufactured Biomech creatures. Somewhere was the truth, and she was becoming less and less convinced it was a simple religious uprising. There was something much bigger going on here.
She looked about the spacious CiC and the number of officers moving about attending to their duties. Further back was a small group of Army and Marine officers. They were busy examining the unit rosters of the operational combat units. Off to their side, the large vertical strategic map showed the entire military situation in the sector. Examining the display was General Rivers, Commander of the Confed ground forces and Lieutenant Colonel Blake, the commanding officer of the elite 5th Reconnaissance Battalion. Admiral Jarvis moved towards them, glancing at the board before speaking.
“Gentlemen, I have just received bizarre information on devices placed aboard the 7th Fleet. It seems agents of the enemy were able to place them on board key ships, and then they were able to turn their guns on the rest of the Fleet.”
“How are they controlled?” asked the General.
“At the centre of the devices are, what appears to be biological components, possibly even parts of a brain.”
General Rivers raised an eyebrow, along with a whimsical look to his face.
“A brain controlling a ship?” he asked incredulously.
“Why not? It is hardly less convincing that the Biomechs we have already faced. This unit doesn’t need to provide advanced intelligence, just enough to manage a number of systems independently of the vessel’s computer software.”
“I suppose it is possible. Why have we not come across it ourselves, though?”
“This device was found after a thorough investigation by an experienced team. I suggest we order similar searches of all vessels in the Fleet.”
“I agree. What about other systems, like stations and
military bases? Could they have done the same?” asked the General.
Before Admiral Jarvis could continue, a junior officer approached.
“Admiral, I have the latest reports from Kerberos.”
She nodded, and with a simple flick of the hand the officer moved the data from his datapad over to the Admiral’s. With a smart salute the man moved away, leaving her in the centre of the room. As the Admiral read the details she started to shake her head in disbelief.
“You will want to hear this,” she said ominously.
General Rivers turned to her.
“The message is damaged, but it would appear that Fort Hood on Kerberos was assaulted by militia forces, under the authority of the Kerberon Regime.”
“Casualties?”
“Total, from what we can tell, General. Reconnaissance from an automated cutter in high orbit detected an explosion above the base, followed by an hour-long firefight. We have some of the distress calls, but most were jammed or destroyed. The last message was from a Captain Erdeniz. He said something about Biomechs in the base, then he was cut off.”
“Erdeniz? He was based on this ship if I am not mistaken?”
Admiral Jarvis paused. She looked pale, perhaps even a little guilty.
“He was posted to the base, along with many of the other wounded personnel from the Crusader. He was due to return with the next intake of crew in two weeks time,” she said quietly.
“I don’t understand, I thought our bases were being blockaded, but not attacked?” asked the General. “What about the ships in orbit?”
She double-checked the display.
“We should still have four ships in orbit, as well as an Army transport,” she said while pressing several buttons. As she watched, a number of red flagged alerts popped up from Kerberos and one from the Rim.
“This isn’t good. The news from Kerberos is that a number of civilian ships have approached the taskforce, demanding they leave. Our ships have pulled back to a higher position but are refusing to move,” she explained as she examined the screen.
Battle for Proxima Page 3
