“Sir.” Jack raised his hand. “One carrier group against all that?”
“We are synchronizing our approach with the Overlord Carrier Group. We will attack together. Fleet believes that two carrier groups should be a match for the Leviathan. The Monarch Carrier Group destroyers, that’s us, the Aries, and the Pisces, are to sweep around the port flank of the Chitin flotilla. Overlord Carrier Group destroyers will take the starboard flank and the two carriers will engage the Leviathan head-on with support from all frigates and corvettes.”
Griff turned to Jack. “Looks like you’ll be preparing the battalion for internal defense again, Jack.”
Jack nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Pretorius switched the holoimage to show the two carrier groups in their attack formation. “Both carriers will launch their full fighter force to cover the destroyers from Chitin craft that will attempt to board. We expect to catch the Chitins by surprise, and with superior numbers so they shouldn’t be able to get any boarding operations underway.”
“I want the ship prepared in any case, Captain,” the major said. He turned to Jack. “And I want those recommendations about the potential company commanders from you as soon as possible. I don’t want to be managing a battalion with only one commander reporting to me. Clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Jack nodded.
Jack deployed the battalion throughout the Scorpio. If the Chits were going to get on board, they would head for critical areas and quickly try to disable the ship. Life support, engine rooms, and command deck were heavily guarded. The barrier system devised by Jack was reinstalled to slow Chit movement through the ship.
A ship-wide announcement informed Jack that the Scorpio and the rest of the Monarch Carrier Group would be in combat position in a few minutes. Jack watched through a porthole in one of the outer doors of the hangar deck.
The Chitin Leviathan appeared in the distance as it fired its primary weapon toward the incoming Fleet ships. The fire from the Fleet craft lit up space. The batteries on the Scorpio poured fire at the Chitin Hydras that raced forward to meet the attack.
Jack saw the Leviathan light up as high-energy lasers from both carriers slammed into its black hull. Then the ordnance from both carriers came pouring in. High ex rounds slammed into the Leviathan. The explosions lit up space and the massive Chitin craft. The Leviathan returned fire. Jack pressed his face to the porthole to see the plasma blast burn its way toward the carriers.
The fighter craft from the carriers flew alongside the Scorpio, startling Jack. They turned and flew toward the Leviathan and its support craft, their engine flares blocking everything else from view. As they powered away, Jack saw their pulse lasers pouring fire into a group of Hydras.
The Leviathan took another pulse of the high-energy laser and another salvo of high-explosive and kinetic shot. Then the combat drones came within detonation range. The antimatter explosions grew like billowing clouds, almost perfectly symmetrical. Their energy slammed into the Leviathan.
The Scorpio began to smell of battle as the exhaust from the gun batteries burned back into the ship. Another salvo lit up space and the top-mounted, high-energy laser incinerated a nearby Chitin Hydra. The fighter craft swooped across the advancing Hydras and Krakens that tried to battle their way toward the Scorpio.
Then the call came over Jack’s communicator, the call he both dreaded and longed for. A Chitin Hydra had attached itself to the hull and was cutting through. The Hydra had broken through the fighter defense and attached itself to the Scorpio near the engine room. Jack ran. He was not going to leave this to the Marines stationed there. He was a leader, and he was going to personally lead this fight.
As Jack ran along the Marine deck to the aft exit, he saw the Leviathan give off another massive blast from its primary weapon. The huge plasma gout was as big as a Fleet carrier. A carrier could only take a few direct hits from the Leviathan weapon. This battle was a question of time and damage ratio. If the carriers could inflict more damage on the Leviathan than it could deliver to either carrier, then the Chits would lose. If one carrier went down, then the Leviathan would have a chance.
As Jack ran, he saw the exploding ships, small craft falling to the chaotic dogfight around the two capital ships in their heavy-hitting slugfest. Chitin craft and Fleet ships falling to fire, but as long as the Leviathan went down, the battle victory would go to the Fleet.
But Jack had his own battle to fight. The Chits had made it on board and Jack was going to make them wish they hadn’t.
The sound of pulse rifle fire echoed along the main corridor and Jack sprinted toward it. A Marine squad guarding a barricade near the engine room saw Jack coming.
“Sir,” their squad leader said. “They’ve broken through.”
“Hold position,” Jack said as he ran past.
Jack saw the shadow of a Chitin soldier at the end of a corridor leading to the engine room. The pulse rifle fire was strong and holding the Chits back. The corridor was dead straight and if Jack stepped around the corner, he would be in the Marines’ line of fire. Jack lay on the floor and crawled forward. He looked around the corner and saw the Chitin soldiers taking a sustained fire, but they lumbered toward the Marine squad defending the access to the engine room. The Chitin soldiers took the hits, their shell-like heads fracturing as the rounds hit home.
Jack heard the pulse rifle fire subside. A final burst and then a shout from the squad holding the engine room.
“Target down. Threat neutralized,” a Marine shouted. “Check those Chits.”
Jack called to the squad holding the engine room on his helmet communicator.
“Commander Forge here. Hold your fire, I’m coming out.”
Jack held his rifle around the corner and then stepped into the corridor. He counted the bodies of seven Chits in the corridor. The breach in the corridor where the Chitin Hydra had attached itself was open, leading to the hydra itself. Jack made a sign for silence. He called a Marine forward to take position on the other side of the breach. Jack moved forward to his side of the breach cautiously, quietly, excitedly.
The Hydra had a maximum crew of eight. There were only seven bodies in the corridor. Jack indicated to the Marine who was coming forward that there may still be a Chit inside. The tag on the enhanced data display showed Jack that the Marine coming forward was Dave Jarett, the squad leader from 3rd squad of Adder Company.
Jack and Jarett came closer to the opening. Beyond the breach was the interior of the Chitin Hydra, an alien world only a few steps away. Jack’s heart beat hard as he expected that at any minute, a Chit might come charging out, its tentacles flailing and stabbing, its plasma spears slicing through the air toward Jack or Jarett.
Jack could see that Jarett’s heart rate was climbing as they came near the breach. His own was climbing too.
Jack made a series of hand signals instructing Jarett that they would attack with grenades. With his gestures, he instructed that they would both lob a grenade into the Chitin craft on his signal.
Jarett nodded and slung his pulse rifle over his shoulder. Jack did the same and pulled a grenade off the strap at his shoulder. He checked Jarett was ready. With a nod, they both depressed the fuse standby. A single bright flash indicated the grenades were primed. Another nod from Jack and they both slung their grenades around the corner and into the hydra’s interior.
Suddenly, a Chitin burst out and turned on Jack, knocking him backward. Jack pulled his sidearm, the most easily deployed weapon at this point, and fired a quick succession of rounds into the Chitin’s head. A ridged tentacle stabbed at Jack’s head. He moved quickly aside, the ridged tentacle piercing the deck plate. Jack loosed another burst of fire, the black carapace of the Chitin’s head smashing with every round.
The grenades in the Hydra detonated, sending a shower of debris and smoke into the corridor.
Jack rolled away from another stabbing tentacle and fired with his pulse pistol again. Then the Chitin stopped dead as an electron bayonet b
urst through the head, splattering the foul slime from the Chitin interior all over Jack’s helmet. The EB was withdrawn, then cut through again.
The Chitin fell lifeless, its slimy guts spilling over the deck. Standing behind was Dave Jarett. He stepped over the fallen Chitin soldier and reached down. Jack took his arm and let the squad leader pull him to his feet.
“I think we got them, sir,” Jarett said. “Thanks for the help.”
“Good work, Marine,” Jack said.
Then the call came over the ship’s address system from Captain Pretorius.
“Chitin Leviathan is going down in flames. All other Chitin craft withdrawing. Well done, Scorpio. Well done.”
4
“I’ve read your action report from the asteroid rescue, Jack.” Major Griff sat back in his chair.
Jack stood opposite Griff.
“And I’ve read your latest from our action against the Leviathan.”
Griff looked up at Jack.
“You are a company commander now, Jack.” Griff held his hand out and offered Jack a seat. “Your job is to direct the troops, not rush at the nearest Chit, guns blazing.”
Jack sat down. He wasn’t taking the criticism well. “I can’t just sit at the rear, Harry,” Jack said. “I need to act.”
“You need to adapt to your new responsibilities. What good is a company commander if they rush ahead of the troops and get themselves killed? The troops need your direction.”
Jack nodded.
“I don’t mean to criticize you too harshly, Jack. Too many officers stay out of the fight and fail to understand what is happening in the hot-zone, but you know the front line. You know what it’s like under fire, and you know how good the Marines in this battalion are. Let them do their job. You must do yours. Am I making myself clear? No more rushing in. Leading the troops does not mean you have to be the first to the fight.”
Jack nodded. It was hard letting others do the heavy lifting. Jack wanted to win every fight. He knew he had to accept that the company and the squads were his weapon now, not the pulse rifle and the electron bayonet. He would have to learn to fight with these.
“Have you decided who you are going to recommend for commander duties?”
“Working on it, Harry.” Jack hated that he had to pull a Marine out of their squad and put them in charge, but someone had to do it.
Griff dismissed Jack and pulled a set of holographic files across his desk.
“Permission to speak, sir?” Jack asked.
“By all means,” Griff said, looking at the files on his desk.
“I’m a Marine and I’m going to fight. If I need to go into battle, I will, no hesitation.”
Griff looked up from his work. He nodded. “Just don’t get yourself killed, okay? I haven’t got enough officers as it is. I can’t afford to lose you too.”
The communicator on Griff’s desk beeped. Captain Pretorius’s voice came through.
“Major Griff. Assemble your officers and join me on the command deck.”
Griff looked up at Jack. “My officers?” he said with a single laugh. “That’s you, Jack. Let’s go.”
The holostage was active with an image of a civilian vessel about the size of a Fleet frigate. Jack stepped up next to Griff. The captain climbed down from his chair and joined the Marine officers.
“The Scorpio has been tasked with intercepting this civilian craft.” The captain tapped the holoimage and zoomed in. “As you can see, this craft is a standard bus, carrying around a hundred civilians. This one craft is the entire population of a number of smaller mining asteroids. The group is retreating back to home space under the civil withdrawal directive.”
The captain tapped the holostage and called up a new image from inside the bus. The internal surveillance showed Chitin soldiers in the corridors.
“They were attacked by a group of Hydras and they have been boarded. The civilians took refuge in a secure compartment deep inside the ship, away from any external hull plates.”
The Hydras were like limpets and latched on to the outer hull of a craft. They cut their way through, removing a circular section of hull to gain entry. Once the Chits were inside, though, they were restricted to the ship’s corridors and conduits.
“We will intercept them in twenty minutes. What I want from the battalion is to rescue the civilians from the Chitin boarding party. After we destroy the Chits, we will bring the civilians on board the Scorpio and deliver them to Eros.”
“Do we know how many Chits are on board?” Jack asked, looking at the image of a Chit scurrying along a corridor.
“The captain of the bus reported five Hydras approaching his ship before he hid with the passengers. That would make a maximum of forty Chitin soldiers on board.”
Griff nodded. “If we were on open ground, I could take out forty Chits. But in those corridors, packed in like that…” Griff trailed off.
“We will be fighting them practically one on one,” Jack said. “No point sending over an entire company. There will only be room for a couple of squads in there anyway.”
“And you won’t be able to use pulse rifles in there,” Pretorius said. “It’s a civilian ship, a pulse round will tear right though that hull.”
Jack studied the hologram blueprints of the vessel. There was one main corridor running the length of the vessel with minor corridors running off to port and starboard. The civilians were holed up in a compartment under the central corridor toward the aft section.
“If we can take the central corridor, we will have the ship.” Jack stood up. “I need to assemble my team, sir.” Jack turned to Griff.
Griff gave Jack a disapproving look. “You want to lead the team yourself?”
Jack knew what Griff was saying. He should send a squad or two and let them do the work, and he should stay behind to monitor and direct, then write up the after-action report.
“I am the clear choice, sir. We will have to traverse open space to gain entry to the ship. I’ve got combat experience with such a maneuver.”
Griff looked at Pretorius.
“It’s your call, Major,” Pretorius said. “I’ve been tasked with getting you there and taking the civilians away when you are done. The rest is a Marine operation. Who you send is entirely up to you, Major.”
Griff turned to Jack and nodded. “Assemble your team, Jack. Be ready to move when we are in range.”
Pretorius checked the course data. “That will be in twenty minutes, Commander.”
Jack left the holostage and walked quickly off the command deck. He activated his communicator. “Attention, Cobra Company. First Squad and Sixth Squad, suit up and assemble on the Marine deck immediately. This is not a drill. Forge out.”
5
The Marine deck hangar door slid open, revealing the deep black of open space. Nearby, only a few hundred meters away, was the civilian bus. It looked big from the outside, but Jack knew once they were inside, it would be tight corridors teeming with Chitin soldiers.
Jack sent Navidi out first, leading 1st squad. He activated his suit’s thrusters once the last of 1st squad was away. There wasn’t enough room for more than one squad, so 6th would hold position on the Scorpio as a reserve.
They would enter through the cockpit’s emergency escape hatch. It was at the front of the bus and would make for the easiest entry point. It was a clear space between the five Chitin craft that clung to the outer hull like huge black blisters. The cockpit escape hatch could be resealed after the Marines had boarded, and the Marines would have a readymade operating base from which to launch their mission to retake the bus, kill the Chitin infiltrators, and save the civilians.
Jack held back and watched as Navidi landed on the cockpit. The squad leader of 1st squad was quick and accurate. He popped the emergency hatch and went inside.
The cockpit was only big enough for its flight crew of four. 1st squad would have to infiltrate deeper into the craft to allow the rest of the squad to enter. It would be an anxious
time for Jack. The mission could fail here before it had even begun.
“Contact,” Navidi’s voice came over Jack’s helmet communicator.
Jack saw the flashes of the electron bayonets from corridor beyond the cockpit. He waited, patient but anxious, for the last member of 1st squad to enter the bus. Once they were aboard, Jack went in himself, closing the emergency hatch behind him.
The shouts of the Marines in the corridor outside the cockpit filled the communicator channel. They shouted out when they had engaged a Chitin soldier, and shouted when a Chitin went down. Then Jack heard the words he dreaded but knew would come.
“Harrison down. Chits speared him. He’s bleeding out.”
Jack looked out of the cockpit to the corridor beyond. It ran only ten meters to a stairway down to the main corridor. Three dead Chits lay on the deck. A group of Marines were defending the top of the stairway, their EBs on maximum extension.
Halfway along the corridor, next to a Chit with its head split in two, Navidi kneeled next to the body of Harrison.
Navidi looked up at Jack. “The suit is keeping him alive, sir,” Navidi said. The squad leader looked back to his man. “I don’t know how long he can last.”
“This is our medical treatment point,” Jack said. “Leave a detachment here to hold this area. Bring the rest of your squad with me.”
Jack walked to the end of the corridor. He could hear the scurrying of the Chits in the main corridor below. “Squad leader,” Jack called out. “You’re with me.” Jack looked back to Navidi, who was reluctantly leaving his fallen Marine. He walked toward Jack and lit up his electron bayonet.
Jack powered up his EB. “We can get angry later, Joe,” he said. “Let’s get the job done first, okay?”
Jack Forge, Fleet Marine Boxed Set (Books 1 - 9) Page 39
