Space Fleet Sagas Foundation Trilogy: Books One, Two, and Three in the Space Fleet Sagas

by Don Foxe

  6,423 captives were freed, some of them for the second time, recaptured after their first daring escape months before. They were also receiving triage with severe and critical cases EVAC’ed to Star Gazer.

  Sparks and Storm sent word to resistance groups hiding around the former space port. Small groups, many less than a dozen fighters to groups of over 1,000 men, women and children made their way to the camp Earth troops re-designated HARMONY. Tents were raised. Food and supplies delivered to make Harmony livable for ground troops who would bivouac here instead of back on board Star Gazer. And for the people of Fell who joined them.

  Two days after the raid on Harmony, Elie called for a meeting of the original Phase 2 planning team in the same conference room as before. Joining them this time was Commander Cornitsch.

  “We don’t have time for a full after action report from everyone, but I think we need to do a quick review and make plans for the next step,” Elie said to the assembled. “Col. Gregory.”

  Gregory stood as Elie sat. He started with, “With the wounded who have since died, we have 436 killed in action. All bodies recovered and currently in storage aboard the Star Gazer. 1,274 wounded, of which 589 will not be able to return to service. The remaining 685 have minor to serious wounds, and we are not setting a timeline for anyone’s return to duty. The METS garments saved a lot of lives.

  “We have 10,000 battle-ready troops who saw no action. The ones who participated in the first counterstrike, and the entire support division are rested and capable of action at our command,” he told Elie. “Captain Shah received wounds to her upper body while leading a counter attack, but refuses rest. I’d order her downtime, but I’m honestly afraid of the woman,” Anton joked in front of his top officer.

  “I’m fine,” Shah reported to everyone. “I got cut up by tree branches, and maybe got a scar from a laser that nipped my left shoulder. I shoot right-handed, so no prob.”

  “Put her in for a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star,” Elie said to Gregory. “Along with all the others wounded and those reported for meritorious actions. Make her a Major before the day is over,” she strongly recommended to the ground commander.

  “I know of no major battles ever waged on Earth where a complete and decisive victory over so many enemy combatants was accomplished in such short order,” Gregory added. “The numbers are staggering if you step back and look at it dispassionately. The combination of highly skilled operators and a sound mission plan going up against amateurs. I do not want our people to become overconfident, but this war may take a lot less time than originally estimated.”

  Elie recalled Coop’s concerns that fighting the Zenge and the Mischene had been surprisingly easy for the humans of Earth. There was no way a race that sailed the stars for 5,000 years was going to continue to roll over and die. At some point, payback would rear its head. It always did. But for now, everyone was stoked and morale was high.

  “Sparks?” Elie asked, figuring the Fell communications expert would know what she wanted.

  “We have established communications with several groups of Fellen resistance fighters and civilians hiding from the invaders. The SC tribe of SCoslene Island request we provide weapons and tactical support teams. They are willing, and would prefer, to engage and destroy the Zenge infestation themselves,” Sparks said. “If we can arm up to 120,000 of their fighters, it will give them a two-to-one superiority over the enemy. They also request that we eliminate the Zenge’s hover-craft and launches, and provide air cover when they mount the offensive to retake their island.”

  “Can we provide that many weapons?” Elie asked Gregory.

  “We can now,” the Colonel replied. “With the extra we brought for that purpose, and the weapons we retrieved from the armament storage compartments on the cargo ships, as well as off of dead Zenge, Captain Hollisvey should be able to make the SCoslene militia one bad-ass army. I’ll designate twelve-hundred operators to train and provide tactical support. You can determine what they need from the air when a final mission plan is completed. I say we give them weapons, then give my guys thirty days to train them up for the task.”

  “In the meantime we have the hover-launch we brought with us and a Mischene hover craft we didn’t destroy at Harmony. We can use those to distract the Zenge forces on SCoslene for a month. With an occasional run by Angel Wing to make sure they keep their heads down,” Elie added. “It should provide the SC tribe the time and space needed to prep for a counter-offensive.”

  “May I?” Fitz asked to be recognized. Receiving a nod from Elie, he said, “Mags, Folly, and Sparks should be in Angel 5. I’m good, and my team is good, but I’m never going to be as good as Magpie. The mission would be better served if I’m in the hover-launch. Trinity can pilot the Mischene hover craft, and Anwar coordinates for both of us from either ship.”

  Elie objected with, “Fitz, you don’t need to do that. You’ve proven that you’re an excellent pilot.”

  “Agreed,” Fitz said with a grin. “I am an excellent pilot, and anywhere else in this universe there wouldn’t be more than three or four better. Except right here and right now. Those three or four are present, and I’m proud beyond belief to serve with them. We need the best in the best ships, Magpie’s crew belong in Angel 5, but I will want her back when it’s time to leave.”

  “Agreed,” Elie said, a small catch in her voice.

  “We could use our people alone and most likely complete the mission on SCoslene in less time,” Gregory said. “But Fellen need to do as much of the fighting as possible. They must feel they helped earned their planet’s freedom.”

  “We have an SOS from the southern Crown,” Sparks said, interrupting the Russian.

  “The ES tribe inhabit that region, and they have been harassing the Zenge for months,” Sky said.

  “When Mags and Sabre took out the plasma cannon and strafed the base, you also eliminated about 10,000 of the 20,000 troops stationed there. With communications down around the world, none of the Zenge divisions know what is going on outside of their mission zones. With no one to tell them not to, the remaining 10,000 Zenge soldiers have mounted an all out offensive against the ES. About 30,000 members of the tribe, civilians with an estimated five hundred armed resistance fighters, have been backed down a dead-end valley in the Southern Crown. The location has no rear exit. They have children, including babies and toddlers. The mountain walls are too steep for many of them to climb out. The only good news is the valley funnels into their fortified position. The Zenge cannot simply send all 10,000 at them at once. Food and water are running out, and so is ammunition. They expect the Zenge to mount a full-on assault within the week.

  “I know you wanted the next attack to be where the largest resistance force could be mustered to assist, but I would suggest the ES need us now,” Sparks finished and waited.

  “Can we just send Angel Wing and strafe the crap out of the Zenge?” Rachelle asked.

  “The Zenge army is within a few hundred yards of the ES,” Sparks said. “I know you guys are good, and could navigate the canyon, but I’m afraid blow-back would kill a lot of the ES.”

  “We can drop troops in behind them,” Shah said.

  “When they see what’s behind them they will attack the ES and wipe them out in a suicide charge,” Elie said.

  “They also have plasma cannons on transporters,” Sparks said. “They haven’t turned them on the ES yet, but they could cause trouble for low-flying aircraft. They could bring the mountain walls down on the tribe. I don’t know why they haven’t done that yet.”

  “Bloodlust,” Elie said. “They want the ES to die up close and personal. They also have a thing about children of the enemy.” Elie remembered the stories of captured children being taken from the adults in the cargo ship cages. The Zenge preferred to eat the young first.

  “I have an idea,” Fitz spoke up. “Our ships don’t have shield capability within the atmosphere, but the Parrian cargo ships use electro-magnetic force fields. They
aren’t super strong, but they keep them safe from space debris, and they can deflect most small-arms fire. Maybe even a smaller ground-transport plasma weapon.”

  “But cargo ships do not have weapons,” Hollisvey said. “You wouldn’t be able to hold off the Zenge while you try to load the ES and escape.”

  “Not thinking about an escape,” Fitz said. “We have eight ships sitting at Harmony. We use them to build a wall between the Zenge and the ES.”

  “Then Angel Wing can do what we do and not have to worry about blowback,” Noa said. “Brilliant, Fitz.”

  “Then all we need are cargo pilots willing to risk their lives,” Elie said.

  “No problem, Captain Casalobos,” Commander Cornitsch said. “The Star Gazer has several crew members who are qualified to pilot freight haulers. I can assure you getting volunteers will be easy. We would all like some pay back for what the Zenge did to Star Gazer and Captain Poonch.”

  Elie turned to Captain Fitzsimmons and said, “Your idea, Fitz. You create the mission plan and decide what you need. And you fly lead in Angel 5. You can swap out with Magpie after this run. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” a smiling pilot replied.

  The passage between the Zenge position and the Fellen was a little more than 1700-feet wide. Parrian cargo ships are no frills cargo boxes 800-feet long, 400-feet wide and 200-feet tall. Because there is no friction is space, a rectangular design operates between worlds just as well as some sleek fighter ship. The problem with Parrian cargo carriers is that they fly like big boxes once they enter a world’s atmosphere. They use hover technology and minimal thrusters, to accomplish basic maneuvers such as go forward and back, and up and down. Other than that, they do not do much. The more powerful engines were located on the exterior, lower four corners. These provided trust for escape velocity and directional speed in space flight.

  Elie, in the Space Fleet hover-launch, and Mags in the Mischene hover craft flew point through the Crown. The two skirting mountain tops, and flying through wide gorges until they reached the entrance to the valley where the Zenge held siege on the Fellen. The ships hovered side by side, and then fired multiple projectiles into the rear of the Zenge troops.

  They were immediately hosed with laser fire from the enemy soldiers. The Zenge turned their plasma cannon on them, and away from the civilians who posed no immediate threat.

  With the Zenge occupied covering their rear, a line of cargo haulers flown by Bosine and Woolifer pilots came across the top of the mountain that created the back wall the Fellen were pinned against. The first ship landed cross-wise in the kill zone between inhabitants and invaders. The next ship landing only fifty feet behind it. The two, laid end-to-end, blocked the floor of the valley passage.

  Zenge, forced to deal with activity on two fronts, split their armament. The mobile plasma cannon fired at the hover ships, while laser fire was directed at the Parrian cargo ships.

  The Parrian force fields held against the lighter fire, and soon all eight haulers were stacked into the tight space. Cargo vessels, two wide and four deep creating a 1600-foot wide, 800-foot tall wall.

  When the last ship parked atop its sister carrier, Angel Wing, led by Angel 5, strafed the Zenge position with lasers, rail-guns and tachyon cannons. By the time Elie came through last, the 10,000 Zenge were dead and buried under tons of mountain slides. Nothing passed through the cargo hauler wall and their combined force fields. The people of the ES tribe never felt the heat of the short battle.

  With the danger over, the Parrian cargo haulers began the work of ferrying the 30,000 members of the ES tribe back to their village near the northern face of the Southern Crown of Fell. With the remaining Zenge warriors no longer a threat, there was no reason they could not recover their lives and their homes.

  Over the next five months the 100,000 plus military personnel from Earth, with the Bosine, Posine, and Woolifers of Osperantue, and Hollisvey, the lone Pagoran, became unofficial citizens of Fell.

  The remaining five space ports were taken back from the Zenge with over 30,000 of the 48,920 captives freed from cargo ship prisons. Vengeful Zenge killed the rest, including some the result of collateral damage during suicide bombings.

  The Angel Wing crews, now including the two hover craft, were celebrities for the heroics taken to protect Earth’s warriors, and Fell’s citizens while eliminating the invaders.

  Stories of incredible feats of strength, speed, and daring were spread across temporary camps concerning the Space Rangers from Earth.

  The legend of Hiro the ninja and his invincible sword became the favorite stories around tribal gatherings and family meetings across the planet, with Catherea, the Forest Ghost a very close second.

  The SC tribe, with Special Ops forces assisting and communications techs in close support, were in the process of retaking SCoslene. Fitz and Trinity became the new names of two villages the SC tribe reclaimed, honoring the flyers who provided ground forces with such close support, SC tribe members swore they could see the pilots’ eyes as they flew sortie after sortie into the teeth of Zenge weapons’ fire.

  Angel Wing came in to take out fortified bunkers or cannon emplacements. Sparks and Storm provided recon and directions from high overhead in one of the Parrian cargo haulers. It had been refitted as an orbital communications and tactical center with the best in Fell communications and scanning technology, as well as Osperantue optics systems. They named the ship HELLFIRE. When another hauler was modified and launched so the planet would receive constant coverage, it was named BRIMSTONE. Both names courtesy of Col. Anton Gregory.

  During this time, with the skies cleared of enemy ships, the SFPT-99, commanded by Sam Harrington, made regular trips to the system. They delivered needed supplies, and provided an occasional security blanket, in case more Zenge or Mischene attempted to enter the system.

  Dead and injured humans were shipped back to Earth. Badly injured aboard the 99, where medical personnel could keep watch. The KIA were placed in bodybags and returned by Morgan since the vessel operated with space-fold capability.

  The Kennedy patrolled Earth’s solar system, giving the Roosevelt needed experience with space-fold travel.

  CHAPTER 51

  “It’s all very odd,” Adele said to Mags.

  “What’s odd?” Elie asked, setting her tray of food on the picnic table and joining the small group seated for lunch, enjoying a rare sunny day on Fell.

  The SFPT-99 arrived two days earlier. Supplies were being shuttled to the surface. Later this same day, injured personnel requiring more attention than available in the war zone would be air-lifted by the LBJ back to Roosevelt. Departure back to Earth was scheduled for eight hours from now.

  “Adele was telling us about the media coverage of Operation Counterstrike on Earth,” Mags answered. Joining them at the table were the former crew of Angel 5, Fitz, Anwar, and Harper.

  “It is like there are two very different operations occurring in the galaxy at the exact same time. Both involve Earth fighters, and both are happening on a planet called Fell, but that is all they have in common,” Adele said.

  “What differences?” Harper asked.

  “I am here,” the Avatar said. “Here you have waged battles resulting in tens-of-thousands of enemy soldiers killed or captured. Millions of citizens have been freed from invaders. The people hold you, and Earth, in esteem. The volunteers from Earth appear happy, actually, eager to do more. More importantly, the casualties among Space Fleet personnel, while regrettable, appear to me as significantly less than one would expect from fighting against such an enemy as the Zenge and Mischene.”

  “Okay. That sounds pretty close to what’s happening,” Mags said. “It’s wetter, colder, and more tiring to the bone than just numbers, but we are kicking ass.”

  “The people on Earth are mourning the dead. Ever since word of Angel 6’s destruction, every day the names of the dead are presented on constant repeating feeds. Pictures of dead heroes, and interviews with family a
nd friends. People crying for their lost ones. Commentators speak of the Fellen as if they are cold, and would prefer you to leave. The story of how the SCoslene tribes are taking back their island without human help is considered one of great bravery, but also an example of why Earth should leave Fell to Fellens.”

  “The people on Earth think Fellens can free themselves without our help?” Anwar asked, his food forgotten.

  “I cannot say what the people on Earth think,” Adele admitted. “I can only tell you what the news outlets and streaming information sources report. They report human deaths and casualties. When the Morgan docks at EMS2, and flag-draped caskets are removed, the pictures are beamed live worldwide. Wounded taken from the 99 are treated the same way.”

  “The media, even now, when profits are no longer a driving motivator, will always try to broadcast sensational pictures,” Elie said. “Grief, destruction, despair and carnage attracts more hits than small victories. If they could see what we see, Earth would fill with pride.”

  “Why don’t they see what we see?” Anwar asked. “In previous wars, reporters were embedded with troops. Why did that not happen with Operation Crossroads?”

  “Can’t say for sure,” Elie admitted. “The somewhat secret nature of the mission, and the special hardware we are using for the first time might be part of the reason. The first such excursion by Earth on an alien planet might be another part. Whatever the reasons, Space Fleet admin nixed reporters.”

  “Patterson?” Harper asked.

  “She had to okay the decision, but it probably came from analysts down the chain,” Elie replied.

  “Admiral Singletary,” Adele said absently. “I have heard Captain Harrington speak ill of the Rear Admiral. I believe he commands Space Fleet’s public relations department, along with several other administrative sections.”