Though the enemy could not yet ascertain their numbers, Keyes knew exactly how many there were. While most of the Roostships had accompanied Ek into the Baxa System, Keyes had retained seventy of them in total, along with one hundred and forty-eight UHF warships to go with the fourteen remaining Gok vessels.
The enemy craft, carefully arranged to maximize damage against the Providence and the ships accompanying her, fell into utter disarray in their panic to react to the nearly two-hundred warships charging their rear.
It wasn’t difficult to tell that the Ixan captains were experiencing considerable disagreement over how best to confront two allied forces at once, converging on them from both sides, with numbers far greater than the Ixan fleet’s.
The decision was soon taken from their hands, as the allies drew up and lanced into the Ixa with primary lasers, cutting their numbers by nearly a third before sending kinetic impactors to slam into their hulls. They followed up with missiles to finish the job.
The battle quickly became a rout, compounded by the fact that several Ixan ships attempted to flee back to the darkgate, no doubt to inform approaching Ixa about the true numbers awaiting them in the Corydalis System.
None of the ships attempting to escape the way they’d come succeeded in leaving the system. The larger allied force dealt with them handily before that could happen.
When it was over, Keyes turned to his sensor operator. “Damage report, Werner.”
“We took some kinetic impactors along our port side, sir. But the damage was negligible. Deployment of damage control teams appears unnecessary.”
“What were our losses fleetwide?”
“One Gok warship, eight Roostships, and eleven UHF ships, sir.”
Keyes gave a nod, his lips tight. It was an incredible victory by any standards, but they would feel every single loss in the engagements to come.
“Let’s prepare for the next wave,” he said as he watched the Silencer continue across the system, toward the Corydalis-Baxa darkgate. “Allow yourselves a moment to savor that victory, but no more than a moment. You must steel yourselves for what’s ahead. Nothing else today will come so easily.”
Chapter 65
Furious Battle
In the end, Skids’s panic proved unnecessary, as he was able to effect an emergency landing within the area Caine had identified as appropriate for a landing zone; not too far from the hilltop stronghold that was their objective, but not so close that they would be obliterated by the Ixa’s defenses. No one aboard the shuttle was harmed.
Husher exited the airlock into a humid, overgrown jungle, with Ochrim close behind. Most of Klaxon’s surface was covered by jungle, and much of the remainder was desert.
Of the two biomes, Husher considered this one better for their mission parameters, though the Ixa had no doubt chosen it for a reason, and he knew they would take advantage of the jungle terrain at least as much as he planned to.
Caine emerged into the clearing where they’d landed, with a platoon comprised of humans and Wingers at her back, along with another comprised entirely of Gok.
Husher didn’t know the Gok military to be particularly well-organized, but these Gok clearly were, maintaining tight formation as they crossed the jungle terrain. He had to assume Caine had been drilling them hard during the recent weeks. Most of them held the heavy components required to assemble field guns and Howitzers, many of the pieces requiring two Gok to carry. Tort was among them, and he carried the nuke they intended for Baxa himself.
Tort also carried his energy gun slung over his back, which he refused to relinquish, even when, while still on the Vanquisher, Caine had warned him he might not be able to carry both across the distances they needed to travel. He’d implored her to let him keep it, swearing he could handle it, and she hadn’t escalated her warning to an actual order.
The humans and Wingers with Caine fanned out to secure the clearing’s perimeter, and their training also shone through.
If we fail today, it won’t be for lack of exquisite soldiers.
Shuttles carrying human, Winger, Gok, and Kaithian troops were touching down all around them. Above, Talon squadrons waged furious battle with their drone fighter counterparts, vying for air superiority.
“We’re not going to win the sky battle,” Caine said as she drew close enough to be heard while speaking at little more than a whisper. Her faceplate was raised—they intended to keep radio chatter to as close to zero as possible—and Wahlburg trailed behind her, his eyes busy scanning the jungle. “So we can’t expect much fire support from the Talons, if any.”
“We knew that going in.” As long as the Talons can prevent the drones from dominating the skies, this mission will remain within the realm of possibility.
“You’re right,” she said, nodding. “Which is why we’re going to locate a viable site for a fire support base within minutes, right?”
Husher turned to Aheera, who had exited the shuttle at his side. They hadn’t spoken since leaving the Vanquisher, but what need had they for speech?
We have a need for it now. To allow the others to hear us.
“You’re better at parsing the Consensus than I am,” he said. “We lost some Kaithe coming in, but not many. Do I have that right? I’m having difficulty sifting through the noise.”
“You are correct,” the Kaithian said. “Four hundred of my people are already fanning through the jungle, and most of your platoons are accompanied by at least a dozen Kaithe each. I can help you sift through the flood of information to focus on the relevant streams.”
“I haven’t told you what the relevant information is, yet,” Caine said, one hand on her hip.
Amusement flashed from Aheera—Husher had grown adept enough with his expanded cognition to know that the emotion was coming from her. The Kaithian already knew what information Caine needed, as did Husher. But they both saw the wisdom in letting Caine ask for it, instead of presumptuously volunteering it.
“I want as much intel as you can give me on the location and composition of enemy troops, their movements, and any defensive structures they have between us and that hilltop base. I also need to know the sites from which they’ll be projecting their own fire support, ASAP.”
Ochrim raised a finger. “If you’d like—”
“Quiet, Ixan,” Caine said. “If you were about to offer me your knowledge of the area, you can cram it up your ass. I haven’t quite gotten to trusting you. Besides, even if you do have intel on the Ixa’s defenses, it’s stale, and you aren’t military so you’ll leave out the important parts anyway. Husher?” Caine had turned to him again.
Husher nodded, and he strove to adopt a receptive mindset, to let Aheera highlight salient data from the tide of information coming in from the Kaithe in the field, as well as the Kaithe in orbit around the planet.
One of the primary advantages of using the Kaithian network for facilitating the battlefield chain of command was that there was no com chatter for the enemy to intercept. No doubt Baxa had the best decryption techniques in existence at his disposal, but Husher’s link with the Kaithe was untouchable.
He used his HUD to bring up a map of the area, which the shuttle’s sensors had compiled and transmitted to every marine, even as they sped toward the planet. “Bring up your map, Sergeant,” he said.
“All right,” she said. “I’m looking at it.”
“That shallow valley would be the easiest terrain for us to traverse, and the Ixa know it. They have two firebases in the area, whose fields of fire overlap inside that valley. The terrain to the west is much rougher, and the jungle’s a lot thicker there, but if we take that route it will also obscure our movements.”
“Baxa must recognize that, too.”
“He does. He has soldiers crawling all over the area, including a lot of Gok. Plus, there are defensive structures scattered throughout the route. But if we can keep moving, avoiding outposts when we can and neutralizing enemy forces as efficiently as possible, we can reach ano
ther clearing the Kaithe have discovered, which would be perfect for our own fire support base. Its range would cover both the western enemy firebase as well as the approach to the Ixan stronghold.”
“I like it,” Caine said. “Tell the platoons to disperse themselves across the terrain as much as possible, at random intervals. It’s important for us to diffuse our risk, especially with how valuable the Kaithian network is.” She turned her head a little, speaking over her shoulder: “Wahlburg, you’re responsible for escorting the Ixan.”
The marine paused his scrutiny of the jungle to stare at Caine wearing a scandalized expression. “Seriously? You’re going to waste your best sniper on guard duty for a reptile?”
“We don’t have much use for sniping in this terrain. And if you question my orders one more time today, you’ll be escorting him with two black eyes.” Caine raised her gun, checked the action, and lowered it again before raising her voice. “All right, people, let’s move out. Do not engage the enemy unless they spot you. Remember, strafing and bombing runs from the Ixan drone fighters are still very much a possibility. Let’s move.”
Chapter 66
Not the Time to Mourn
Fesky loosed a Sidewinder at a drone fighter before engaging her Condor’s gyros, spinning it around its short axis to send a stream of kinetic impactors at another drone.
Both enemy ships successfully launched their parasitic microcouplers before going down, and she took out each of them in turn, so that neither would latch on to her or one of her pilots.
Admiral Keyes had not wanted to risk repeating the same trick against the second wave of Ixa that he’d used against the first.
He was right not to.
Hiding most of the fleet behind the darkgate again could have ended in disaster. The second wave probably would have known about the first, and when they arrived to find it totally obliterated, they would become suspicious.
They might have even turned around to check behind the darkgate first, engaging the hidden ships before the Providence and her smaller group could arrive to support them.
That would have effectively ended the engagement, since the second wave turned out to be larger than the first by nearly one hundred and fifty warships.
The third wave had arrived shortly after the second. It had over three hundred vessels.
A total of five hundred Ixan ships now pressed the Providence and the allied warships hard, with more Ixa entering the system in a steady flow.
The battle raged around the Corydalis-Baxa darkgate, with Keyes and the other captains playing savage, desperate defense.
Fesky flipped her fighter around to mow down a stream of missiles fired at her by an Ixan cruiser, and then she shot a parasitic microcoupler just before it reached a nearby Talon. This battle was making her break out every trick she’d learned during her decades-long career.
Preventing these Ixa from reaching Baxa, where they would be assimilated and used to augment his already incredible power, was crucial.
Even so, the fleet Keyes commanded was smaller than the one commanded by Ek. The Ixa faced by Ek were controlled directly by Baxa, whereas these were not…and yet, for the first time since joining the crew of the Providence, Fesky was losing hope that even Keyes’s ingenuity could eke out a victory.
As she wove through the battle, deftly neutralizing every target available to her while evading the considerable ordnance the enemy directed at her, she also kept an eye on the tactical display, giving orders to the various Air Group squadrons, making them dance.
This high-level multitasking only came with tens of thousands of hours drilling along with hundreds of hours in actual combat. Almost nothing could crack Fesky’s cool.
She kept her Condors operating at the periphery of the engagement whenever possible, flanking the Ixan drone fighters, luring them into the meat grinder that was the fully reconstituted, fully trained Providence Air Group.
Her squadron arrangement took advantage of her human pilots’ inventiveness, her Winger pilots’ coordination, and the former insurgent pilots’ boldness. They operated in concert to deal massive damage to the enemy, and Fesky couldn’t be prouder.
But pride would not win this engagement.
If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not sure anything can.
A glance at the tactical display showed her three drone fighters tailing Airman Bradley. The airman was not Fesky’s favorite person, but she would never deny aid to any of her pilots.
“Sit tight, Meteor,” she said over a two-way channel. “I’m coming to back you up.”
“I got this, Madcap.” And indeed, it seemed he did. The pressure was apparently doing as much for Bradley’s performance as it was for hers, as he proceeded to display the best flying she’d ever seen from him.
Bradley neutralized one drone fighter with a spray of kinetic impactors, and he assigned a trio of missiles each to the remaining two, before whipping around again and accelerating.
She was about to peel away to find another fight when she noticed Bradley didn’t appear to be paying attention to the microcouplers the drone fighters had launched at him. The bombs sped closer, yet he was doing nothing to stop them.
“Meteor,” she squawked. “You have three microcouplers on your six, not to mention an Ixan missile cruiser dead ahead. I’m coming to assist.”
“I see them, Madcap. I know what I’m doing.”
“If you don’t turn and shoot them right now, you’ll—”
“I don’t intend to shoot them. I want you to know I’m sorry for ever disrespecting you, Madcap. You’re the best CAG I could have asked for, and I should have appreciated that, instead of snubbing you just because you’re a Winger. Give them hell for me, okay?”
“Meteor!”
The three parasitic microcouplers reached Bradley’s fighter, latching onto his hull—just before he dove his Condor straight into the enemy missile cruiser’s hull.
The microcouplers exploded deep inside the cruiser’s guts, tearing it clean in half and letting the void rush in.
Trembling slightly, Fesky refocused on the battle. Now was not the time to mourn. If she honored Bradley’s request to give them hell, perhaps there would be time for that later.
Something caught her eye on the tactical display, and she switched to visual, zooming in on a destroyer operating on the periphery of the engagement. Sensor logs told her that it had just arrived at the battle.
It was the Silencer. The same vessel that had bruised the Providence on Pirate’s Path, just a few short months ago. The vessel that, according to Ochrim, was captained by Baxa’s son.
Teth is commanding this battle.
Tearing her eyes away from the sight, and trying to ignore the pit that had opened in her stomach, Fesky moved to engage a four-drone formation that appeared to have her in its sights.
Chapter 67
Recover and Adapt
During her recovery on Mars, when she had not been studying the Prophecies, Ek had spent every minute poring over Roostship capabilities, as well as the biographies of every captain in the Interplanetary Defense Force.
Since leaving Mars, she had used all of her spare time to watch and rewatch footage from the allies’ recent engagements with Ixa, memorizing the enemy tactics, their formations, their flight patterns, their capabilities, the way they thought.
Now, she saw that all that preparation did not come close to being enough. The ships under her command fell in rapid succession, including a Kaithian vessel, which weakened the mission on Klaxon’s surface.
The Ixan warships did not just fire on the allied ships—they fired with incredible precision, in such a way that made evasive maneuvers costly, and often ended with the target more exposed than before.
The ships under Baxa’s control did not just evade ordnance—they dodged missiles and kinetic impactors by a matter of meters, instantly returning fire. When they did take a hit, it was often to a noncritical section of hull, leaving them at least partially operationa
l.
Ek managed to take down enemy ships, but each minor victory exacted a heavy toll on her forces.
She decided she needed to dispense altogether with existing protocols for military engagements. Both human and Winger protocols provided a framework for battle in which a fleet’s flockhead or admiral dispensed orders via the communications officer, with each order representing a broad objective or tactic. The specifics of execution were left to the individual captains.
We cannot afford such inefficiencies any longer.
“Communications, open a fleetwide broadcast channel and leave it open for the duration of the engagement.”
“Ma’am?”
“You have your order.”
The channel was soon open, and the instant it was, Ek spoke. “Attention all captains. We are changing our operational approach, effective immediately. Going forward, your role will be to execute precise orders, which I will deliver in rapid succession, so listen carefully. For the sake of expedience, I will also dispense with ranks.” In this way, she intended to take full advantage of her long hours of study, as well as her ability to perceive the flow of battle better than any Winger or human.
She inhaled deeply from from her breather. “Browning, adjust attitude fifteen degrees upward and answer the missile barrage from the pursuing Ixan cruiser with rapid acceleration and EW tactics to throw off their missile guidance systems. Korbyn, target the battle group on your starboard side with all available Talons while pointing your Roostship’s nose thirty degrees to the left and slowing to half your acceleration while firing main railguns at the Ixan destroyer approaching you head on. Yra, target the same destroyer with ten missiles, sending twenty Talons to back up Stallman while he engages the pair of Ixan corvettes I will designate on the tactical display. Stallman, engage port-side engines to avoid the impactors those corvettes will likely launch at you, while directing your secondary lasers…”
Though it was exhausting, she kept up the cascade of orders, which she arrived at through careful study of the tactical display as she spoke. Faltering was not an option, even though with her resurfacing space sickness, everything took a greater toll on her now.
Reckoning: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 3 Page 20
