Jack clambered out of the trench. Immediately, the spitz fire from along the trench flashed across the surface. The Chit fire team that had positioned the spitz gun in the trench were hastily trying to elevate the launchers to fire at the Marines that came at them from either side. They were too slow.
Jack fired into the trench as he advanced. The Marines on either side poured their fire and fury onto the Chit gun. The soldiers returned fire with their own plasma spear weapons, but were quickly overcome by the determined Marine assault.
Jack dropped back into the trench next to the spitz gun. He prodded it with his rifle.
“Can we turn it against them?” a Marine asked.
“No.” Jack turned away from the abandoned gun and looked toward their main objective—the massive defense battery. It fired another blast into space.
“Why can’t we use it?” A Marine picked up the spitz gun and tugged at what looked like the controls. “Why can’t we fire it?”
“We need a Chit suit, probably. I don’t know. All I know is we have to destroy that defensive gun, and quick.”
The Marines ran along the trench, blindly firing around corners and keeping their heads down. Jack took a knee at one dogleg in the trench and took a sneak peek. It was the end of the trench system. They were so close to the main objective. It was time for them to do what they’d set out to do.
The ground-based defensive cannon was set in a deep trench of its own. No doubt there would be more Chits defending the cannon, and more spitz guns too. There was a hundred meters of open ground to cover to the trench around the massive series of defense cannons.
The battling advance along the trench had been fast, but it had been slow enough for the straggling Marines to catch up. Jack and Navidi caught their breath.
“Speed is the key,” Navidi said.
“We’re quick or we’re dead,” Jack agreed. He peeked over the edge of the trench toward the battery. He half-expected to come under fire right away. There was only the darkness and the gas giant Penthus glowing brown and orange in the black of space.
“Maybe they’ve gone back to Zelos?” Navidi said. He checked that his pulse rifle was loaded and powered.
“Maybe,” Jack agreed.
“Maybe we should just throw these antimatter charges over and into that deep trench around the battery?” Navidi said.
“No,” Jack said disappointedly. “We have to lay them at intervals around the base. We won’t be sure to destroy the guns otherwise.”
“Do you always have to be right?” Navidi asked, taking a quick look over the edge of the trench.
“All right, Marines. This is what we came to do,” Jack called back to the mass of Marines. He could see there were members of every squad of Cobra Company. He was pleased to see Torent alongside Osho and Bubble, waiting for their orders with the rest of Cobra. “Move in hard and fast. Fire at anything with tentacles. When you get in the battery trench, wait for command.” Jack turned to Navidi. “Electron bayonets?” Jack fired up his EB.
“Do you want them to see us coming?” Navidi replied.
Jack realized the burning EBs would light up each Marine in the dark and make them much easier targets, so he powered it down.
“Guess I’m not right all the time,” he said to Navidi, then turned to the Marines of Cobra Company. “Quickly, quietly. See you at the battery. Go.”
Jack climbed over the side of the trench and began running toward the massive battery.
Then the spitz guns opened fire.
A fighter came racing in low. With incredible speed, its forward laser sliced through the glassy rock and the trench, throwing up rock and Chits and the broken fragments of their spitz guns.
“We’re open for business, Cobra.” Jack raced on. He felt alone. He feared he was the last survivor of Cobra. Then Osho caught up, the only Marine who could match Jack for speed. The two jumped into the trench around the massive defense battery together.
The charred remains of Chitin soldiers littered the deep trench. The fighter’s laser had cut and fried them in seconds. Jack skirted around the battery’s wide curved outer wall, looking for any nearby Chitins. The rest of Cobra Company dropped into the trench. Jack marshaled them to order.
Navidi took a team to clear the trench in one direction while Jack led a team in the other.
“Lay an antimatter charge every ten meters. And make sure we don’t fire on each other when we meet up on the other side,” Jack said.
The other battery, far away to the east, fired another massive gout of plasma. It raced away into space toward the distance craft. Jack could see the flashes of light far overhead that marked the battle going on in orbit. Jack knew that Boa hadn’t completed their objective yet.
Jack fought his way around the defensive battery, dropping Chits as he went, then met up with Navidi and the rest of Cobra on the far side. Jack looked up at the massive barrels of the orbital defense battery. It hadn’t fired since they’d taken the trench around it.
“Looks like we’ve chased them all away,” Navidi said.
“Looks that way.” Jack leaned against the curved composite wall of the battery’s base. He noticed a small groove in an arch shape.
“We better clear out and detonate these charges,” Navidi said. “We need to get at least a kilometer away or we’ll be blasted along with it.”
Jack pressed his fingers into the groove he’d found. The composite moved and slid aside to reveal a gently sloping ramp.
The Marines took a step back in surprise. Jack looked inside.
Navidi stepped up next to Jack. “Do you want to throw a few charges down there as well?” He grabbed one out of a pocket on his suit.
Jack glanced over to the far-eastern battery as another blast of plasma was fired toward the carrier group above.
“Why are they still firing?” Jack asked out loud.
“Because Boa company hasn’t finished them off,” Navidi replied. “Now let’s get out of here and blow this thing.”
Jack looked into the dark space inside the opening. Maybe, he thought, the defense battery was connected to the drydock by this underground access.
“If we destroy this western battery,” Jack said, looking up at the massive barrels above him, “but the main assault fails, we’ve lost.”
“Don’t worry about the main assault,” Navidi said. “Let Major Cruz worry about that. Let’s just worry about getting out of here.”
“I’m going to check out this tunnel,” Jack said.
“Easy, Jack,” Navidi said. “That’s off mission. “You might be a squad leader, but they’ll still thrash you for going off mission.”
“Our mission is to defeat the Chits, right?”
“They told me you were a rebellious scroat,” Navidi said.
Jack looked deeper inside and then took a step into the tunnel. “Stay here,” Jack said to Navidi. “If I’m wrong, then this tunnel goes nowhere. If I get caught, trapped or killed, you need to blow this battery. Get me?”
“You can’t go alone,” Navidi said. “But you can’t order anyone to go off mission.”
“I’ll go.” Bubble stepped forward, his voice cracking in fear, tears only a second away.
“You can’t take that coward with you,” a 4th squad Marine said, laughing at the idiocy of Jack taking a Marine who was constantly in a state of distress.
“He’s no coward,” Jack said forcefully, turning on the insolent Marine.
“But he’s crying all the time. He’s afraid all the kravin time,” the Marine retorted.
“I know, he’s wracked by fear,” Jack said, “and still, he goes forward. Still, he stands alongside his squad-mates and he fights. He is afraid and he goes forward anyway. He’s a real Marine. He’s probably the bravest Marine here,” Jack said, squaring off against the 4th squad Marine.
“I’ll go too,” Osho said, placing a hand on Bubble’s shoulder.
“And you’ll only get in trouble if I don’t go along,” Sam Torent s
aid.
Three other Marines stepped forward and volunteered for the new mission, to delve into the dark with Jack and follow the squad leader’s hunch that the tunnel led to the drydock.
The massive bolt of plasma from the eastern defense battery and the flickering light of the spitz guns around the drydock itself told the Marines all they needed to know—the main assault was stalling, and so was the eastern assault. Only Cobra had completed their objective.
“It’s not enough that we succeed,” Jack said, stepping inside the archway. “The whole mission has to succeed, or we all fail. Don’t let them retake this position, Navidi,” Jack said.
He stepped into the dark.
21
The commander of the Corvette looked out of the small forward viewing port on the command deck of his ship. He was stationed on the outer edge of the Penthus System. The Corvette was rigged for silent running and the scanners were listening on full sensitivity for the approach of any Chitin craft rushing to the battle of the Proxis Drydock. The distant flashes of light showed him where the battle was taking place, but from this distance, he couldn’t make out details. He stepped over to his holostage and accessed the latest reports.
The Monarch and her support destroyers were taking ground fire from one of the defensive batteries, but the ships were staying out of range. The assault on the eastern battery was stalled, reportedly pinned down by heavy plasma spear fire. The main assault on the drydock was stalling, and an extra company from the Pisces was being readied to support the main assault.
“They have to take out that eastern defensive battery so the destroyers can give orbital support,” the commander said to himself.
“Commander,” a young officer called out, “I’m receiving a transmission, sir. It’s coming from the outer moon. It’s coming from Kratos, sir.”
“There’s no one on Kratos,” the commander said. “The only action is on Proxis.”
“Signal from Kratos confirmed, sir. It’s a distress call and it’s coming from the moon’s surface.”
“We are supposed to be on communication silence out here. If we respond, we’ll give away our position.” The commander tapped the console on the edge of his holostage. He accessed the transmission.
An image of two Marines came on the holostage. One was kneeling, while the other was laying on the ground.
“This is Commander Finch,” the kneeling Marine was saying. “I’m stranded on Kratos. Request evac ASAP. Anyone receiving this transmission respond immediately. This Marine is injured. We are both in need of medical attention. Please, if you can hear this, send help.”
The message flickered and repeated. The Corvette commander stepped back from the holostage. If he responded, he would give away his position. If he requested advice from the Monarch, he would give away his position. If he launched a rescue boat, he would give away his position.
“How old is that message?” the commander asked.
“It was re-sent a few hours ago, but the first transmission was sent days ago. They could be dead by now, sir,” the young officer replied.
The commander looked through the view port at the distant battle.
“Launch the rescue boat and inform the Monarch we are picking up two stranded Marines.”
The commander watched the rescue boat speed away from the Corvette and down to the surface of the nearby moon. He watched the sensor display nervously. After what seemed like hours of waiting, the young officer reported that the boat had touched down.
“The Marines have been picked up, sir. The rescue boat is taking off. They are on their way back to the ship now, sir.”
Then the commander saw the smallest reflector signal on his extended range scanner system.
“There,” he called. “Focus all scanners on that point.”
The scanners zeroed in and the holostage displayed what had been detected.
“It’s a Kraken, sir. Incoming at high speed. Strike that, sir. Five krakens. Five of the bastards,” the young officer babbled.
“Stow that cursing on my deck,” the commander said. “Power to the weapons. Open the landing bay and let’s get the rescue boat on board.”
The commander watched the holostage as the five Krakens closed the distance quickly. The rescue boat seemed to move sluggishly, even though he’d ordered the boat’s pilot to push it to its limit. The boat reached the landing bay. The doors closed.
“Full power to the drive,” the commander said. The Krakens came closer as the Corvette powered up its drive. The Corvette was faster than any Chitin craft, but its acceleration was limited. The craft was designed for long-distance, system-wide reconnaissance. Speed was important but acceleration was not, not during usual operations.
“The Chits are coming into weapons range,” the weapons officer reported. “Shall I give fire, sir?”
The commander watched the holostage.
“Chits are firing, sir.”
The image of the plasma arc slashing out from the lead Kraken flicked over the holostage. The arc came within a whisker of the Corvette’s engine assembly.
“We’re pulling away,” the drive officer reported. “We’re pulling away, sir.”
The command deck erupted in jubilant shouts as the holostage showed the Corvette increase the distance between it and the pursuing craft.
“Send a message to the Monarch. Inform them we’ve been detected and are returning to home space.” The commander watched the Krakens give up the chase. “Who is this Commander Finch,” he said to himself. “I hope I haven’t made a mistake rescuing him.”
The commander stepped away from the holostage and walked toward the exit. “I’m going to welcome our guests aboard.”
22
Group Captain Li looked at the holostage on the Monarch’s command deck. The battle was failing. The main assault on the drydock was stalled, and the fresh company from the Pisces wasn’t making any impact. In fact, the extra numbers seemed to hamper the assault. The Marines were too densely packed on the battlefield and the rapid-fire spitz guns were keeping everyone pinned.
If the eastern battery would stop firing, Li knew she could move her destroyers in and give close orbital support to the main assault. But the data on the plasma cannon showed it was capable of breaking a destroyer in two with one perfectly aimed shot. Li didn’t know how many shots the Chits would need to deliver a perfectly aimed one, but she couldn’t risk losing a destroyer. It would risk the entire Fleet if just one destroyer was lost.
And it looked as if she was about to lose one destroyer. The Aries was covered in Krakens, with twenty attached to her hull. As many as two hundred Chitin soldiers could be boarding the Aries. Captain Lauafa had informed Li that she had deployed her reserve Marines throughout the ship and sealed off the drive room and command deck. The Aries could remain operational and stay in the battle even with so many Chits on board. Whether the Aries could survive much longer afterwards was another story.
The fire report came in. The Monarch’s attempted bombardment of the drydock with its kinetic shot cannon was ineffective, the ordnance was being prevented from reaching the surface by Chitin craft positioning themselves in front of the Monarch’s fire, sacrificing themselves to protect the drydock.
“At least we know it’s important to them,” she said to herself. “They really want to keep that drydock operational. Krav it,” she exploded. She brought her fists down on the holostage. “I want that eastern defensive battery out of action so I can move my destroyers in. Send another company to support the eastern assault, and message Commander Griff. Tell him I want Cobra Company to move to support the main assault.”
23
The tunnel stretched into the darkness. Jack sent a micro drone ahead to scout the area. The data was relayed back to his meat suit and a path was revealed by the enhanced data overlay on his helmet.
The tunnel stretched forward in a perfectly straight line. The micro drone finally showed him that the tunnel ended at a small arch, much like the one
he’d entered through.
Jack and his handful of Marines jogged forward in silence. He brought them to a halt just before the arch. Jack risked a look, then took a step forward. The tunnel led into a vast, dark space. Curved composite walls stretched away on either side to form a wide circle. It was the base of the Chitin drydock. The diameter was close to three hundred meters. Above their heads, the space was filled with a network of composite gantries. Jack could make out the shape of several Chitin craft, a mixture of Kraken and Hydra. They were glowing with the telltale signs of being powered up and readied for action. Scurrying over them and the gantries between, Jack could discern the figures of Chitin soldiers, tiny at this distance but deadly enough should Jack and his Marines be discovered.
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Bubble asked nervously.
“Too busy serving those ships.” Jack stepped back into the tunnel with his Marines. “Probably about to launch their craft to attack the carrier group.”
The small group all looked expectantly at Jack. They wanted their orders and expected Jack to give them. But Jack was making this up as he went along. However, their task was clear: destroy the drydock.
“Okay, Marines, we have a chance to knock out this entire facility with one blow. We lay our antimatter charges quietly around the perimeter and scamper back to Navidi and the others. We can destroy this facility, and maybe save a few Marines engaged in the main assault.”
They each grabbed a charge and got ready to carry out Jack’s plan.
“Jack,” Navidi’s voice came over the helmet communicator. “I’ve got orders from Commander Griff. Cobra is to relocate and support the main assault. I can’t hold this position anymore.”
Jack understood what Navidi was saying. He would have to detonate his explosives and destroy the western defensive battery.
“Copy that,” Jack said. “Get clear and get it done. Blow that damn gun and get out of there. Good luck.”
Jack Forge, Fleet Marine Boxed Set (Books 1 - 9) Page 25
