Battle for Proxima

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Damage to forward guns, casualties reported!” called the chief engineer.

  The rest of the officers in the CiC continued to manage the battle with the rogue cruiser, under the stern eye of their XO. In the centre, directly in front of the artificially projected screen that replicated the view expected from the bridge, sat Captain Tobler. He carefully examined the report screens to check on the status of his ship, it wasn’t looking good.

  “Armour?” he asked.

  “The starboard belt has been ruptured, Sir. Evacuation teams and engineers are already in position. They used the new weapons and it exploded three layers of armour.”

  “Exploded? Not burned?”

  “No, Sir, the weapon is agitating the target and then exploding it. We’re luck they are using their stern weapons, they are far less powerful.”

  He pressed the tactical database option on his display, bringing up the ship’s scans and imagery from the initial combat. The cruiser they were facing had been in the centre of the battle line when they assaulted the enemy. From the port side view, it was clear the ship was equipped with a heavy weapon mounting of some kind.

  ”Isn’t this one of the ships with the new weapons?”

  “It must be, Sir. The damage it is inflicting is out of all balance with its size and configuration. I have cross-checked the data coming in and yes, it would appear they are using a very, very high power weapons system. At first it looks like the firing pattern for our capital ship railguns, but there is a major difference.”

  Admiral Jarvis didn’t look impressed, she wasn’t the kind of officer who liked to listen to excessively long explanations.

  “Lieutenant, the short version, if you please.”

  The science officer looked a little confused, on one side sat the Captain of the ship, but further back in the CiC was the ever-watching eye of the Admiral.

  “Sorry, Sir. The figures suggest to me they must be using particle beams. There is no visible light from them as expected in space.”

  “Why?” asked Captain Tobler.

  “Surely you covered light effects in space, Captain?” retorted the Admiral, though for those that knew her it was clear she was being a little light hearted with him.

  “Uh, no, Sir. Perhaps you could elaborate?”

  Admiral Jarvis nodded to her science officer, who by now was sweating profusely.

  “Yes, Sir. A laser, or any other form of normally visibly direct energy weapon, is a highly focused beam of light. In the case of a laser it consists of the stream of photons travelling in one direction. None will escape to hit your eye and therefore make the beam visible.”

  Captain Tobler looked less than impressed and turned, assuming the lesson was over, only to spot the Admiral indicating for him to wait so the officer could finish his explanation. He sighed quietly to himself and beckoned for him to continue.

  “In a vacuum, you would only see the beam light up where it hit the target. There is nothing in the path to make the beam visible.”

  On the main screen in the CiC, a series of lightning fast flashes burst around the escaping cruiser. Though the blasts looked relatively small, they disguised the immense energy being expended in space against the thick armour of the ship.

  “When will she die!” growled Captain Tobler.

  “Sir, message from the Wasp and Ark Royal. They are moving in three fighter wings to provide a screen for the transports.”

  “Good, we need to get closer. Get onto engineering, we need more speed!”

  On the screen, a large section of the cruiser ripped apart and drifted off behind the ship. A group of three Thunderbolt fighter-bombers rushed through the damage. No sooner were they past than they were hit by fore turret. The streams of cannon shells were simply too fast and too accurate. Two were destroyed immediately. The third lost a wing and its main engines. It drifted out of control and away from the cruiser. The commanders on the Crusader watched in anger as the fighter pilots sacrificed themselves in a desperate attempt to halt the cruiser.

  Admiral Jarvis checked her tactical display and traced the movement of the ships with her hands. From what she could see, the cruiser would reach the Army transports first and then within another minute would be right in the middle of the Fleet. She lifted the intercom unit but was quickly interrupted.

  “Sir!” shouted Lieutenant Nilsson, the ships communication officer.

  “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  The excited officer turned around in her chair to face the Admiral. Captain Tobler stopped what he was doing for a few seconds as he waited on her words. Whatever it was, she seemed electrified by the news.

  “Transmission from the Vengeance. They will be here in less than five minutes.”

  “The War Barge? Five minutes? How?” she demanded.

  Captain Tobler checked his logs and shook his head.

  “You must be wrong, Lieutenant. There is no way she can be here so fast. We’re not expecting the reinforcement fleet to be here for at least a day.”

  Commander Andrews, the ship’s XO, examined the navigation screen before looking over to the Admiral.

  “No, the Lieutenant is correct. The crazy sons of bitches have their engines on full reverse burn. They must have covered the distance with terrible g-forces, probably double normal gravity. They’re gonna feel that when their teeth stop aching!”

  Admiral Jarvis looked confused, her forehead wrinkled as the skin tightened.

  “Double normal gravity? Is that even possible?”

  “When we were ambushed on our way here, a number of our ships were forced to accelerate past normal tolerances. There were consequences, including casualties in the crew, but it did keep the rest of us alive. They have taken a major risk to make the trip this fast, Sir.”

  Lieutenant Nilsson lifted her hand, trying to get the attention of the officers.

  “Sir, incoming message from Vengeance.”

  “Put it on loudspeaker, Lieutenant.”

  She lowered the intercom and placed it in a cradle. Flicking a toggle switch was all that was needed to move the audio feed to the main speaker system in the CiC.

  “Captain Severus of CCS Vengeance. What is your status?”

  “Sir, I‘m detecting decelerating ships, they are moving fast, really fast. Whoever they are they will slow down right in the middle of this battle, Sir,” said Lieutenant Nilsson.

  “Is it the Vengeance?”

  “I think so. Yes, I have three ships. The Vengeance, a heavy transport and a light cruiser.”

  “What are you doing here early?” she asked.

  The speakers crackled for a few seconds, the distortion making the first few words impossible to hear. The only other sound was the odd hit coming from the light weapons of the frigates now moving closer to the Crusader.

  “…critical information on Euryale. Had to get here fast...intruders...risk”

  The entire CiC went silent as they all listened intently, each trying to work out what the message meant. Admiral Jarvis picked up the intercom that immediately reverted their communication back to a private channel.

  “This is the Admiral. We appreciate your assistance but the battle is almost over. Deploy your forces at a safe distance from the planet.”

  There was a violent series of whistles and spikes before audio was restored.

  “No, Admiral, it is about to start…we have lost…computer failure…need..” the audio cut to a high pitch whine before fading back for one last burst, “...stay away!”

  The signal cut out and the Admiral stood in shock, unsure as to what was happening. Several alerts icons indicated a series of cannon shells striking the outer armour of the ship. The frigates must have been returning fire, a last desperate gesture as they moved around the Crusader in an attempt to overwhelm her.

  “Here she comes!” called out the tactical officer.

  On the main screen a dot quickly magnified into what appeared to be a burning hot object. As it came closer it slowed, the heat b
looms now clearly showing as the stern of the ship, its engines on full burn.

  “What is her distance?” she demanded.

  “Seventeen thousand kilometres, Sir,” replied the tactical officer.

  Admiral Jarvis examined the burning hot vessel as it altered course and adjusted its position. The hull was pockmarked with dents and holes from battles past. She was an old warhorse, a vessel way out of her depth. Though her armour was thick, her engines were underpowered and her weapons simple, antiquated automatic canons. She was a relic from humanity’s past.

  “Wait,” called out the XO, “are you seeing this?”

  Captain Tobler looked at the screen and tactical display, the XO pointed out the position of the ship.

  “I don’t understand, the Vengeance is moving towards us?”

  On the main screen, the scorched and damaged hulk of the mighty ship was clearly turning and moving at speed towards the Crusader. Admiral Jarvis wasted no time and grabbed the intercom, clicking it onto a general broadcast.

  “This is the Admiral. All ships, this is not a drill. The War Barge Vengeance has just arrived. She is to be considered hostile. All vessels are to maintain a safe distance, leave her to the capital ships. I repeat the Vengeance is a possible hostile vessel, keep away!”

  She replaced the intercom and looked at the officers in the CiC.

  “You heard Captain Severus. He told us to keep away and there were intruders. If I had to guess, I would say the Vengeance is under the enemy’s control.”

  The XO shook his head and turned to the Captain, to find him nodding in agreement with the Admiral.

  “It matches the facts. If she is hostile, we have a big problem.”

  “Weapons, she’s powering up her weapons grid.”

  “No, it can’t be. The Vengeance is an old ship, I know Captain Severus. He’s a good man.”

  “Irrelevant, Commander. If the ship has been compromised there could be a Union crew on board. We’re lucky they didn’t arrive without warning, be thankful to Captain Severus.”

  Lieutenant Nilsson tapped her ear as she listened carefully to transmissions from other vessels. Something must have grabbed her attention as she turned quickly to the Captain.

  “Sir, two more ships moving into range, it’s the Yorkdale and an unidentified frigate.”

  “As expected,” he replied, “their course?”

  “Uh, Sir, this isn’t right. They are moving on the Vengeance. Both ships show signs of damage. The Yorkdale is missing a part of her starboard engine and the frigate has sustained heavy damage.”

  “What the hell is going on out there?” demanded Admiral Jarvis.

  “Getting a transmission from the Yorkdale,” continued the Lieutenant.

  “Put it through!”

  The main display flicked from the bridge camera display to the video transmission from the massive transport. At first, the video was nothing but blackness but the display suddenly adjusted to the brightness and contrast. In the middle of the screen was a view of a badly damaged bridge. It was not unlike the CiC of the Crusader, but lacking in many of the crew positions and computer equipment. A shape moved past the camera and then blocked it completely. Then the shape moved back to show a dark silhouette of a large man. As the image adjusted again, it was the face of a Jötnar. A murmur of surprise fell from Captain Tobler’s lips.

  “Commander Gun?” asked Admiral Jarvis.

  The Biomech stood and gazed into the screen for a moment before grinning. He had a bandage over his head and covering one eye.

  “Admiral. We deal with Vengeance!” he said and then turned from the camera. His voice appeared angry, but it wasn’t obviously different to the way the Jötnar spoke to most of the Confed officers.

  “What the hell is going on?” demanded Captain Tobler.

  A human officer, his uniform ragged and bloody appeared on the screen. He wore the insignia of a Major.

  “Major, what is going on?”

  “Admiral, we were attacked by a force of renegade vessels as we left the storms at Prometheus. Vengeance was boarded and they turned the guns on us before getting away. We have been in pursuit ever since. They jammed our transmissions, they mean to attack the troops ships!”

  “You know this?”

  “Gun and some of his wounded Jötnar managed to get information from some of their captured soldiers.”

  Admiral Jarvis turned to Captain Tobler. “Captain, status of the Leviathan?”

  “She’s closing on the transports. Santa Maria and Santa Cruz are moving to block her. The other transports are dropping as low as they can into high orbit. We’re gaining on her.”

  “What about the Vengeance?”

  “Good God!” he muttered as he watched his screen.

  “What?” she demanded.

  One of the crew tapped a key that sent the main forward camera feed straight to the primary display. It showed the vast hulk of the War Barge surging forward with all its engines on full burn. The ship was of a similar length to the Crusader but much wider and contained far more bulk. From the left of the display, the even larger shape of the Yorkdale, the recently requisitioned transport, pushed ahead. It appeared to happen in slow motion to those watching as the two ships collided. The bow of the Yorkdale splintered and shattered as it ripped through the flank of the War Barge.

  “What are they doing?” demanded the Admiral.

  To the side of the main display was the direct feed to the marine Major on the Yorkdale. All around him were sparks and flames. Several Jötnar rushed past in the background.

  “They are out of control, Sir. Commander Gun and his forces are boarding the Vengeance.

  The Admiral turned to Captain Tobler, who shook his head in exasperation.

  “They can’t be trusted,” he said sternly.

  “Maybe, maybe not. Either way it gives us a chance. Put us on a pursuit course with the Leviathan, get the Cruz and Santa Maria to do the same. We’ll surround her and pound her hull to dust.”

  “What about the Vengeance? She is still drifting towards the Fleet. We can’t deal with both of them.”

  “You deal with the Leviathan, I’ll bring the rest of the Fleet in to help deal with her.”

  “Aye, Sir.”

  * * *

  Spartan and his platoon were just one hundred metres from the transportation hub. The ground rose slightly where two roads and a rail system moved into a series of wide tunnels and structures. Most of the low buildings were heavily damaged from the fighting.

  “Sitrep!” he called out.

  “All squads accounted for. Two Vanguards damaged but still operational,” answered Teresa who was standing three metres to his left. As she spoke, she continued to engage the enemy who were firmly entrenched.

  “Lieutenant Weathers, how is the right flank doing?”

  A dozen cannon rounds blasted around Spartan and one managed to shatter an ammunition link to one of his guns. A series of warning alarms triggered inside the suit.

  “We’ve cleared the enemy right up to the wall but we can’t cross the highway, it’s blocking out route and it runs all the way to the hub.”

  “Damn!” Spartan growled to himself. He lifted himself up and examined the highway that ran to the front of the tunnel entrance. The entire system reminded him of the underground highways and tunnels on Prime.

  “Spartan!” Teresa called, indicating behind her with her left hand.

  Spartan turned to see a small group of Vanguards led by Captain Daniels. Behind them moved two of the armoured mules he’d seen on the Santa Cruz.

  “Getting into trouble again, I see!” he said as he approached.

  “Good to see you, Sir. We’ve hit heavy resistance and large numbers of enemy reinforcements are approaching from the west.”

  Captain Daniels and his escort moved into position and immediately started adding their fire to the battle. At least a dozen rockets blasted from the entrenched enemy around the smashed buildings of the transport hub
. Scores of rifles and machineguns added their own fire. The Vanguards were in position to the south and west of the hub but the blistering fire kept them all securely behind cover.

  “Spartan. I’ve received the latest reconnaissance from our fighters and there is a big problem.”

  More bullets hit near them, but the violent response from the Vanguards quickly forced the enemy back out of sight. One of the men in 2nd Squad tried to push forward but was struck within five seconds by three separate rockets. Two slammed into the torso knocking him back and the third tore off his right arm up to the elbow.

  “Get him to safety!” barked Spartan. He waved for two other marines to move him. More bullets rattled around them.

  “Where the hell is our air cover?” shouted Teresa rhetorically.

  “It’s there, trust me. The problem is the enemy aren’t just moving men and machines down the highway to the city. They’re bringing prisoners from the spaceport with them. Two bombing runs have already been called off to avoid civilian casualties,” shouted Daniels.

  Spartan leaned around the corner of the rubble that used to be some kind of vehicle shop. He fired a quick burst that killed an enemy soldier and wounded another, then moved back behind the masonry. He looked over to Captain Daniels.

  “You’re kidding? How many?”

  Daniels looked at a screen inside his suit before looking up to Spartan.

  “Look, our estimates put the enemy infantry at over six battalions of militia with a similar number of Biomechs. We calculate another two to three thousand troops in the northern suburbs and on their way to clear the city.”

  “Is that who the Air Force have been bombing the crap out of?” asked Teresa.

  Captain Daniels turned and signalled for the mules to move towards them. More gunfire continued, the intensity now far greater than before. He looked back at Teresa.

  “Yes. They’ve already hit the lead units approaching the city and have moved to the north. With more of these units taking prisoners it’s making air support difficult.”