“Take cover and hold them back!” said Jack.
Few of the marines were paying much attention now, and the disciplined firing line had broken down into small groups of warriors trying to defend the tiny areas they had retreated to. More explosions ripped through the outer wall, and a heavy round struck Callahan, leaving a fist-sized dent in his chest. He staggered down and was dragged into cover by Riku. She checked his damage that was merely superficial and then looked to Jack.
“What are we going to do? Fort Macquarie has fallen.”
Jack emptied his magazine at the horde and then took a step back. The breach was shattered and now filled with hundreds of creatures, as well as three of the massive mechanical war machines. Gunfire from the surviving Bulldogs plus several other squads of Vanguards blasted them. They succeeded in bringing one of them down with a crash. It was a minor victory as small groups of the creatures managed to climb parts of the wall. In just a few minutes, there were bitter hand-to-hand fights at every point. Streams of non-combatant and Helion soldiers ran about, but there was nowhere to hide.
What the hell are you going to do? Jack thought, watching the disaster unfold before his very eyes, even as he continued to shoot one creature after another.
He glanced in the direction of the breach, looking for any sign of Gun, but all he could see were hundreds of bodies; including the creatures, marines, and shattered armored hulks of the Vanguards. Then he saw the streaks of fire coming from the vehicle pool.
Bulldogs! We need to get out of here!
* * *
The journey through the Rift to the Proxima side of the Centauri triple star system had been uneventful. Even the subsequent trip to Prometheus through the newly installed local Rift connection had gone by without Captain Vetlaya noticing the subtle bump as they moved through to a different part of space. The formation of ships was long and widely spaced apart; the massive shape of ANS Dreadnought taking up the vanguard. Small groups of tugs and escort vessels had circled the Rift, but as they moved through the fold in space, none of them followed, just the long column of Alliance warships made their slow and steady journey to the other side. The Battlecruiser nearly made it completely through when a number of flash alert warnings flooded into the ship. One indicated a local threat, but then they were through, and the Rift collapsed behind them suddenly.
“Captain, something’s not right,” said the helmsman.
The view from the CIC should have been one of the fiery red world of Prometheus, but the external feeds showed an inky blackness with massive arcs of power jumping about. The great Battlecruiser shuddered as a great arc of blue light stuck the nose and sent sparks along the hull.
“Battle stations!” called out the XO in a calm, yet assertive voice.
As per usual the lights dimmed, and the warning siren sounded for a few seconds.
“What the hell happened?” demanded Captain Vetlaya.
They should have been near the arrival station in high orbit around Prometheus, but instead they were right on the edge of the most violent storm Captain Vetlaya had ever seen. Prometheus was infamous for its unrelenting series of dangerous storms that filled the area and made it perilous to even the mightiest warships. From her position in the CIC, she had the perfect view of the storm, and even to her experienced eyes it was truly terrifying. Clouds of energy surrounding the small fleet, and great arcs rippled around them and lashed at their hulls.
“What happened?” she asked from her position again, “Why the hell aren’t we at Prometheus?”
A triple flash of energy ripped into the port side of the Battlecruiser, and the entire ship shuddered as though a full broadside of gunfire had just hit her. A few officers were forced to grab onto the myriad of grab rails fitted throughout the ship for such an eventuality. Finally, the helmsman established where they were and whirled about to face his Captain.
“Sir, we’re approximately three days from Prometheus. Something happened with the Rift when we came through.”
“What exactly?”
“I think I might have an idea,” called out Lieutenant Dan, the ships tactical officer.
“Well?” said Vetlaya with a raised left eyebrow.
“Sir.”
He brought up a video feed of the Rift behind them as they’d arrived. He paused it just before it collapsed.
“At this point, we received a corrupted and heavily scrambled message from the control station. I don’t have much, Sir, but at the same time our sensors detected high levels of radiation, levels that match the expulsion of significant quantities of gamma radiation.”
“Gamma? What caused that?”
The man rubbed his chin as he explained.
“I’ve run six reference checks, and it matches a fission explosion, less than a kilometer from the Rift entrance. Either the station suffered a catastrophic explosion, or somebody triggered a weapon as we went through.”
The helmsman nodded in agreement at this analysis.
“If we’d entered the Rift two seconds earlier, we’d have been destroyed in the collapse.”
That thought sent shivers through the Captain’s body. It wasn’t just the danger to her and her ship; it was the rest of the fleet. She turned about and looked to the tactical display, but it showed little more than their ship and the storms around them.
“The task force?”
There was silence in the room as the officers checked their logs and scanners. Finally, the XO spoke up.
“Well, where are they?”
Lieutenant Dan looked to them both nervously.
“We were the first through the Rift. I’m getting no IFF signatures from them.”
“That cannot be,” muttered the XO.
He wandered over to the computer displays around Lieutenant Dan to see for himself. Even so, every single display throughout the CIC showed nothing more than the data coming from their own ship and the storm outside. Finally, the XO turned around and placed his head in his hands.
“It’s just us then.”
Captain Vetlaya leaned back in her seat and sighed uncontrollably. The task force was small, but every ship contained hundreds and hundreds of Alliance crewmembers. Even the loss of a single ship would be hard felt. The loss of all but one ship was unimaginable.
“This cannot be. They must have been scattered, or stuck in the Rift behind us.”
It was at that moment the science station officer finished her analysis. She checked her data one last time before closing her eyes at the terrible news. Then she looked up at the Captain and tried to think of a way, any way that she could explain the news without crushing her. There was nothing though in the end, just the cold hard truth of what had just happened.
“Captain, I’ve finished analyzing the radiation and debris behind us. The computer gives an eighty-seven percent likelihood that the blast signature matches a cruiser size ship. It is my opinion that one of our Crusader class ships was caught in the collapse, and their powerplant went critical.”
The possible loss of the ship was devastating enough to Captain Vetlaya, but what truly worried her was that if the explosion had come from the ship, then what had forced the Rift to collapse around them? Her attention was brought back to the present as yet more lightning surges whipped along the ship. The doors hissed open, and in walked a confused looking Colonel Morato. She marched in, flanked by two of her Marine guards.
“Captain. What’s going on? I’ve just lost contact with my Marine detachments aboard ANS Falcon.”
Teresa could see the screen around the Captain, and the flashes of light from the storms. She’d seem them before during her adventures in the Great Uprising, but it was the look on the face of Captain Vetlaya that startled her the most.
“Colonel, we have lost contact with them all.”
The ship shook again, and this time one of the screens flickered black and then came back to show an external feed of the right of the ship. Great black marks ran down the length of the vessel, and two patterns
the size of an entire fighter had burned right through the hull.
“This is insanity. We will never navigate through this storm,” said Captain Vetlaya.
There was a hint of hysteria to her voice that panicked the crew, and Teresa could tell they were all on the edge. She was easily the oldest of the crew there, and she suspected none of them had ever been through a storm like this one. Teresa looked at the mainscreen and remembered the dangerous routes they’d needed to follow when travelling to Prometheus on the top-secret ship known as Tamarisk. It was something she didn’t really think about much these days, but today was different.
“Helm, we need to get away from the epicenter. Plot a new course on this heading.”
Teresa listened to the words of the Captain. None of them made any sense. These storms were almost impossible to chart and required a degree of knowledge and instinct to move through.
“Captain, I don’t think I can get us through this,” said the helmsman.
Captain Vetlaya walked to his position and looked at the display herself.
“Nonsense, just follow my directions, and get us the hell out of here!”
Another arc of blue light flashed along the ship, but this time there was no obvious damage. The Captain spotted Teresa watching her and indicated for her to leave.
“Colonel, there is nothing for you to do here. I suggest you check on your marines.”
Teresa shook her head in disagreement.
“No, Captain, I think I’m the only chance you have.”
The Captain turned about, her face a panoply of misery and worry.
“Really? You’ve navigated through the storms of Prometheus in a starship before, have you?”
Teresa smiled calmly.
“Actually, I have...more than once.”
The XO, helmsman, and even the tactical officer stopped what they were doing and watched the Marine officer with look ranging from suspicion to astonishment. The XO spoke first.
“You’re serious, Colonel? You’ve honestly been through these storms?”
Teresa walked closer to the main screen and examined the storms carefully.
“More than that. I’ve been involved in ship boarding actions and space combat in this very region. Now, if I may?”
The XO looked to Captain Vetlaya who nodded quickly. The look of disbelief on her face would have been amusing on any other day. He looked back to Teresa.
“Very well, how should we proceed?”
Teresa moved her hand in front of the display and brought up the region of space around them. There were few navigable features as was common in space, yet they were still only a few days away from Prometheus. There were a sizable number of debris fields that circled the star, much like the asteroid belt of Sol.
“Back in the Uprising, we lay down a series of public and secret beacons to be used for emergency deployment in this area,” she said to nobody in particular.
“Of course, back then we had no ability to reach the planet, except by taking the long route of nearly a year to avoid the storms. Using our secret routes, the journey could be done in weeks.”
Captain Vetlaya couldn’t believe her ears.
“Are you telling me these navigation beacons are still out here?”
Teresa moved to the science console and took over its operation, leaving the young officer looked confused. Teresa accessed the communication arrays and sent out a series of pulse-coded transmissions on a wide band. Nothing happened.
“Well, what now?” asked the XO.
Teresa said nothing and simply waited, watching the screen for signs of the illusive beacons. To the shock of every single person in the CIC, a small green flashing symbol appeared on the tactical overlay. It was a long way off, perhaps half a million kilometers. One of the officers started to speak, but another light and then another appeared. In less than a minute, there were a dozen on the display, and more continued to appear.
“Colonel, I was told to not underestimate you by Admiral Anderson. I can see why.”
Teresa grinned politely.
“Anderson is the man I came through these storms with. Now, I will help your navigator with the route. It won’t be easy, but I think I can get us to Prometheus in a few days, and without taking too much damage.”
“Whatever you need is yours, Colonel. What can we do?”
“Right now the most important thing is the magnetic shielding. Deactivate the weapons and any non-essential equipment, and put all you have into the shielding.”
Captain Vetlaya nodded and looked to her XO to start the arrangements. Teresa, on the other hand, turned her eyes back to the display and the flickering lights that showed her the secretive beacons.
Now all I need to do is remember how to get through all of this.
* * *
General Daniels and his small entourage looked on at the live stream of the battle on the surface of Eos with horror. They’d just finished assessing the situation at the two smaller bases and had moved to the much more serious attack at Fort Macquarie. As the primary Alliance base on Eos, it housed the bulk of the marines as well as all the New Helion Army units.
“This cannot be true,” said Colonel Brünner.
He pointed at the casualty reports and then to the flagged enemy units.
“According to the last report from Colonel Koerner, the smaller bases are holding, but they can’t stand for much longer.”
“I know,” replied General Daniels, “What really concerns me though is Fort Macquarie.”
He enlarged the map, bringing up the Fort and an area fifty square kilometers around it. The amount of red units surrounding the base still shocked him.
“We estimate heavy casualties from the Fort. The last messages were fragmented but said the Biomechs had breached the eastern wall and were at defenses. The estimate on their numbers is insane.”
Colonel Brünner nodded in agreement.
“Yes, the lowest estimate is now twenty thousand, with half as many scattered up to fifty kilometers away. Can they hold?”
He looked to the General, waiting for something on his face that would fill him with confidence. Instead, he saw the look of a man that knew it was only going to get worse. The NHA had broken under pressure, and their air cover was gone. He just needed to hear it from the General himself.
“Not a chance. The best estimate is losses of at least fifty percent from the initial bombardment and the first assault. At some point today, they will overwhelm the wall. My best guess is that once they breach the wall, it will be over in less than an hour.”
Colonel Brünner looked as unimpressed with this news as was his General, but there was little either could do other than monitor the battle from here. They paused for what seemed like an age, and then General Daniels moved from their small combat center and toward Admiral Lewis and his cadre of officers.
“General, what’s the plan?”
Daniels turned his head as he walked, and Colonel Brünner instantly recognized the decisive look on the General’s face. Any decision was preferable to inaction.
“I want our boys out of there.”
“We’re going to send in the reserve?” asked the Colonel.
General Daniels stopped, lowered his head for a moment, and then spoke.
“No, this isn’t a battle we can win. This has become a rescue operation. Get your marines ready, Colonel. I need to speak with the Admiral.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The small iron silicate world of Luthien would provide a powerful base of operations for both the T’Kari and Jötnar citizens of the Alliance. Rich in resources and strategically placed, it provided a pool of hardened warriors and advanced technology; the equal of which even the worlds of Prometheus and Hyperion couldn’t match.
The New Colonies
Khan slammed his heavy foot into the corner of the locker, and it split in three places. Into the widest gap, he jammed the broke piece of metal and tugged once, twice, and then the door tore off and fell to the ground
.
“Good work,” said Spartan. He reached inside and pulled out a thermal shotgun. He recognized the design as being the kind of gear used on civilian ships for probably the last fifty years, perhaps even longer.
Not like they get to see much in the way of new tech out here, is it?
There were five shotguns plus the same number of bandoliers, each filled with a dozen boxes to reload the weapon. Spartan tossed a set of gear to the engineer and a shotgun and two bandoliers to Khan. He placed them both over his shoulder as if he was carrying a small bag. The shotgun looked tiny in his large hands, but there was a problem.
“Uh…I don’t think they made this in my size,” he said with an odd grin.
Spartan extended his stunted arm, and Khan threw it back. Just a few seconds after being cradled under Spartan’s arm, he pulled on three levers. With a single twist, the trigger assembly fell off, leaving an exposed trigger.
“There! Modified and upgraded for your enjoyment, my friend.”
Khan laughed and pulled out a box to slam into the base of the weapon. It hummed slightly as the capacitors charged up and the shells loaded into the weapon. Only after they were all armed and ready did Spartan turn his attention back to Simon, the station’s senior engineer.
“Glad you remembered about this place.”
The man nodded with an almost expressionless face.
“We don’t carry weapons as a general rule, but I should have thought about the customs tugs a little sooner. There are two more on the station.”
Spartan shook his head.
“No, we don’t have time. Where are they now?”
Simon pulled out the tired-looking datapad from the pouch on his left leg and tapped it twice, turning it to show them.
“The two machines that made it on board are making their way here, the headquarters and command center of the station.”
Star Crusades Nexus: Book 05 - Prophecy of Fire Page 17
